Aiden's visit with his Aunt & Uncle from NC

This past weekend Aiden met his Aunt Amy & Uncle Brian from North Carolina (Alison's older brother and sister in law). He really took to them. He liked being held by them and was even trying to talk to his Uncle. He also celebrated his first Christmas with them. He will miss them.

Aiden's First Month!

Aiden is 4 weeks today and will be celebrating his first month birthday on Saturday. It has been a wonderful, and at times exhausting, month. He has become more alert, he gives us smiles at times, is eating well, and changing his sleep schedule on a daily basis. We're just enjoying life with our son, and missing our sleep. 

He recently started sleeping in his own room, in the crib, which has been going okay. We're trying it out to see if he sleeps better in there then the bassnet. He now takes 4 oz of formula in most bottles. He has gone outside for a walk, and we have taken him to Trader Joe's, this week, for food shopping. Tomorrow we're hoping to see Santa...we'll see.

Aiden has his month check up on Monday and we'll let you know how it goes and how he's doing.

Aiden's First Thanksgiving

Aiden celebrated his first Thanksgiving yesterday with his Grammie & Pop (Alison's parents), Nonni & Poppy (Keith's parents), Aunt Stacey, and Uncle Marc & Aunt June. He also met his cousins Natalie and Marc for the first time yesterday. Both Natalie and Marc were very excited to meet him and were in awe. Here are some pics.

Video of Aiden

Here's a video of Aiden

Pics of Aiden

As promise, here are some pics of Aiden in the hospital and adjusting to being home. Enjoy!

Aiden Edward has arrived!

Our little son, Aiden arrived on Thursday, November 20th at 3:37pm. He was 7lbs and 8 oz at 21 inches long. For those of you who are interested, below is Aiden's birth story, and don't worry I left the graphic details out.

After being a week overdue, the Dr brought me in Weds night to ripen my cervix and then to start induction on Thurs. When I came in Weds night they were going to give me Cervidil, but the Aiden's heartbeat was on the high end, so they monitored me for a few hours until it was regulated.

 About 4:30am they gave me cervidil to help ripen my cervix, which was 1 cm then. They said it usually takes 12 hours. By 8 am I was up to 3-4 cm, by 10 I was 4-5, so they took the medicine out. The contractions were coming pretty fast (at least it seemed that way) and in my mind were pretty strong (maybe my tolerance for pain is a lot less then I  thought). I was very uncomfortable and in a lot of pain. At 11ish, I was able to get my epidural and by then was in heaven. The pain was gone and I think Keith was a lot happier to see me smiling again. 

Unfortunately the epidural, made my blood pressure drop lower then it usually is (at one point it was 90/45) and so I was put on oxygen. By 12pm, I was at 9 cm and they broke my water. They were impressed how quickly I progressed, especially because I obviously couldn't do it without help.

They started the pitcin around 1pm and at 2pm, they had me start pushing. The pushing wasn't bad besides of the oxygen mask on my face  (although I wasn't really feeling anything thanks to the epidural) but was exhausting. (It's nothing like TV...not that I really thought that) I pushed for about an hour and they baby's heart rate started to go into decels. The Dr (who was my actual Dr in the practice..how lucky was  I...not that I would have cared if it was any of the other 3 because they're great too) was growing very concern about the Baby's heartbeat and even though Aiden dropped more, they weren't sure if he was going to get all the way through my pelvis. The Dr started talking about C-section and they even got everything out to prepare me for it. I pushed a few more times, and the Dr came back (the Dr is in and out while your pushing, but I did have a wonderful nurse Karen who was with Keith and I most of the day) in and said he would give me one last time to push, but he wanted to try the forceps because I was growing so tired and Aiden's heartrate was still in decels. He knew I wasn't a forcep fan, but said he would only try it once. I pushed 3 more times and at 3:37pm on Thurs. Nov 20th, Aiden Edward made his appearance.

Although the pushing made me exhausted, I felt great afterwards, but maybe it was just meeting my son. Apparently I tore pretty bad- 4th degree laceration (which is the highest degree), but thanks to the epidural I didn't feel a thing. I 
did lose a lot of blood (more then normal) and so my blood pressure was still low. It took them about 45 mins to stitch me up, but for most of that time, Aiden was on my chest and Keith and I just got to bond with him. Due to the tearing, they had kept me on an IV to get fluids, antibiotics, and some pain meds all night and catherized me. So I wasn't 
allowed out of bed (till late Fri morning) and I have been treated just like having a C-section patient anyway. I just hope it heals well!

Luckily, I'm feeling great and moving around. All the nurses and Drs are so impressed with how well I'm getting around and moving. They said that my attitude is great and they think that is why I'm healing well. They are making me take pain meds (percocet) to make sure I'm comfortable, even though I didn't want to.

Keith was a great coach, helping me get throught each contraction and trying to get me to breath and relax, which he didn't like seeing me in pain. He was our nurses assistant during the day and even got to take my temperature for her (which enjoyed to much) and with pushing he held my leg and cheered me on and help me to relax between each push. He even got to see more the he bargined for or that I said he was allowed to see- LOL. He cut the cord, which he did want to do. I'm so thankful for having such a great loving husband and we're just so in love with little 
Aiden and can't wait to introduce him to everyone.

Pics will come soon, promises!

Update and Good news!!

Well it looks like Alison will be heading into the hospital on Weds night now. The Dr called today and wants to move everything up a day. So Weds night we go into the hospital to start the process and Thurs Alison will be induce. With any luck (and hoping the hospital has wi-fi), we should be announcing the newest member of the Giosa clan by Thurs night/Fri morning.

Frustrations and Induction

Well Alison went back for her 41 week check up. And it was the same usual routine with nothing new to report, not much progress has been made. So Alison has been feeling a bit frustrated the last few days and now that she's officially on maternity leave, might go insane this week. 

Anyways, the Dr called the hospital to set up a time for induction. Alison has to go in Thurs night where they will give her medicine to help "ripen" her cervix and then on Friday morning they will officially induce her. So with any luck we should have a Baby by Friday evening, maybe sooner depending on how the progression goes. We'll definitely keep you posted.

40 weeks...the waiting game begins

Alison had her 40 week check up today (although she's not officially 40 weeks until Weds) and all looks great with the Baby. The heartbeat was 152 and as usual the Dr was happy with her blood pressure and weight. Unfortunately, Alison still has made no progress towards labor. They're having Alison "wait out the week" to see if there's any progress being made. She'll go back to the Drs on Monday for one last check up and if no progress, they'll schedule an induction date any day between the 19-21st (Alison is requesting the 19th).

The Dr seemed pretty postive that an induction will have to take place. In fact, they told Alison even if she has contractions 5 mins apart to wait a few hours to call because her cervix isn't doing anything. Dr said best situation would be to have contractions every night, which hasn't happen so far. So we'll continue to keep you posted, but we don't think we'll have any more news to report this week.

9 days and counting.....

Well Alison went for her 39 week check up today because the Dr is out of the office on Weds. Baby is doing well, although it was hiding when the nurse was trying to find the heartbeat. It took a few minutes, but it was a strong 150. The Baby is also very happy in it's current home, and appears to have no intentions showing itself early. It seems Alison hasn't made any real progress towards labor and the Dr seems to think the Baby will make it to it's due date. So we'll go back next Monday to see how things are progressing. Only other thing the Dr was concerned about is that although the Baby dropped, it's not completely engaged and they are worried it might not fit into the pelvis, but for now only time will tell. Dr wants to see what happens if when Alison goes into labor. Well will continue to keep you posted on Baby G's arrival...hopefully sooner then later.

Ultrasound Update

Well Alison went in for an ultrasound today because they were concerned about the Baby's size and her fluid levels, but everything looks great. The fluid levels were fine and the Baby is measuring in the 40th percentile for weight at 6lbs 13 oz. So it looks like everything is right on target. The tech (who we had for our 20 week) was so nice (again!) and gave us a few 3D pics. Needless to say, it was a bit complicated because the Baby kept putting "his" (no we don't know if it's a he or she) hands in front of his face and wouldn't move to get a close look at "his" face, but we got some good side view pics and saw the face, which is so adorable!

The Final Count Down....14 days to D Day

Well Alison had another Drs appointment today. Her blood pressure was good as usual and weight was the same. The baby's heartbeat was back up today at 153 beats per min, so it decided to be awake for today's visit. Again there was not much progress in the way of labor...this kid knows a good thing, I guess. Alison does have to go for another ultrasound. The doctor wants to check the baby size and make sure her fluid levels are okay. So we're excited that we get to see the baby one more time before it makes it's entry into the world. Alison's next appointment is Monday for her 39 week check up. We'll keep you posted!

37 weeks and counting.....

Well Alison had her 37 week check up today, which proved to be a bit frustrating for her. She has made no progress in two weeks. Baby has dropped a little, but not enough, and no dilation and still 50% efface. The Dr said we need to get this Baby moving...Alison's thoughts, "Really don't you think I want that. "LOL! The heartbeat was the lowest it's been since hearing it at 132, so this kid is blowing every wive's tale theory out of the water. Good news is Alison's weight has leveled off and she hasn't put anything on for 2 weeks, her blood pressure is good too. Now we just eagerly await Aiden or Gabrielle to make some progress towards labor and show up soon, preferably within the next 3 1/2 weeks.

New Site to Keep You Posted

As many of you know, we've been trying to keep you posted on Alison's pregnancy thru http://sites.bundleofjoys.com/thegiosas. Since that site doesn't hold much, we decided that we moved to a blogger site instead. So feel free to check here to be keep updated about Baby G's arrival and what's new with Keith and Alison