I am so excited to share another one of my birth stories with you all! I shared Avri’s birth story after she was born and I am so glad I did. I will always have those words to remember and reflect on one of the best days of my life. Now, I get to put Ayden’s birth story down on paper to always remember yet another one of the best days of my life. You can read Avri’s birth story here. I can’t wait to let both my girls read their birth story some day!
Just like when sharing Avri’s birth story, I share Ayden’s birth story not only to always remember it, but also in hopes to inspire other women to educate and prepare themselves for a natural vaginal birth in hopes of having the delivery they imagine.
My labor was 8.5 hours and everything I could imagine with Avri and I thought that was fast for a first time mom. It was a perfect and special labor and delivery. I only hoped to have a similar experience with Ayden. I also mentally prepared myself to not expect things to go so smoothly because I didn’t want to be let down. I was mentally open to let things take its course when it came time for Ayden to come earth side. Well, I can confidently say that these two deliveries were very different, however, they were both perfect and magical in their own way. I thought my labor was fast with Avri, well, it didn’t even compare to how fast Ayden’s was.
So, let’s go back to my due date. I was due January 22nd and on that exact day I was informed that my OB was out for the next 10 days with COVID. My heart sank. I was an emotional wreck as she was the doctor that delivered Avri and she was again supposed to be part of the dream delivery team. After having a slight meltdown, I collected myself and immediately went into action to figure out who was going to deliver my baby. Luckily, my OB clinic has some amazing doctors and I was setup with another doctor right away. Nick and I met him the Monday after my due date and I felt instantly better and knew I was in good hands.
At this point, I was feeling good and didn’t mind being a few days late. Avri was three days late so I was hoping to have a similar experience with Ayden. But, that was not the case. At one week overdue I had a stress test to make sure baby was doing ok. Everything checked out with the stress test and my new doctor was on board with me of not inducing at this point. Here is when it started getting mentally tough. I was uncomfortable and not sleeping well. I had braxton hicks contractions very regularly throughout my entire third trimester. At about 40 weeks I started having very mild contractions where they were noticeable, but I could go about my day. I started getting discourage around 41 weeks because I was having contractions every day, but they would eventually stop. We were doing all the natural inducing tricks to encourage baby along and some would result in contractions, but they eventually faded. I experienced these contractions up to the day I gave birth.
I delivered Ayden on a Sunday. That Saturday we brought Avri to spend the night at my parents house so we could have a day to get a few things done and relax in anticipation baby would be arriving soon. Saturday I tried pumping to help induce labor. At this point, I was willing to try just about anything as the thought of going past 42 weeks and having to potentially have the discussion of induction really scared me. My OB and doula mentioned pumping could help move things along. I despise pumping and that is why I waited so long. My doula had me pump for 10 minutes every hour on the hour for four hours. I didn’t feel a single contraction from pumping and went to bed that night once again feel defeated.
I was annoyed waking up Sunday still pregnant and felt like she was never going to come. Sex is always mentioned as a natural labor inducer and I always swore that is what put me into labor with Avri. But, we tried that more times than I would have liked at that point in pregnancy, but we decided to try it one last time (like I said early, we were doing alllll the things to get baby out). Sex always resulted in the exact same thing for me. I would start having immediate contractions and they would last for quite a few hours, but eventually faded away. And sure enough, the exact same thing started happening Sunday morning. Even though I was having contractions I was able to go about my day not really noticing them at this point and figured they would eventually fade.
My parents brought Avri home Sunday afternoon and decided to stick around town for the rest of the day to do some shopping (they live about an hour and twenty minutes away). Luckily they did, because my mom wouldn’t have been able to make it to our house in time to watch Avri which was our initial plan assuming I’d be in labor for hours. My contractions never increased in intensity as the day went on and I felt the exact same as I did that morning, so I again expected to go to bed that night still pregnant. But, thankfully, I was wrong. Here is when the fun began. 🙂
6:45pm: We just got done eating dinner and cleaning up the kitchen. Nick was playing with Avri in the living room and I had a contraction that just felt different. I don’t know how else to explain it, other than it felt different than the contractions I was having throughout the day. I mentioned to Nick that is felt different and that I was going to do some breathing exercises. I had another contraction and it seemed to last forever and was more intense than the previous one. When I told Nick about that contraction he shot up and started racing around the house packing like a madman and saying, “this is it” we better get packed! I started laughing and told him to chill because I wasn’t sure yet if these were legit contractions. And plus, if they were legit contractions I assumed we would have hours before needing to go to the hospital.
7:05pm: Nick was still running around like a crazy person, so I decided to start packing a few last minute things I needed too just in case this was it. At this point, I still wasn’t convinced I was in labor. We took this picture at 7:08pm to document our (possibly) last night as a family of three.
7:20pm: Nick started getting Avri in the bath and ready for bed and I was needing to walk and focus on breathing through my contractions at this point. I was now convinced I was in labor. I knew my doctor was off quarantine at midnight that night and I texted her asking her if she wanted to deliver a baby that night assuming we still had hours until baby’s arrival. I was also texting my doula updates and how I was feeling. We decided together that she would come to our house sooner rather than later as we figured it would be a faster labor than Avri’s. Avri was so cute as I was laboring. As the contractions got more intense, I became more vocal through them and Avri kept asking me, “whatcha doing momma?” I kept telling her that her baby sister was ready to come meet her.
7:50pm: Nick was with Avri in her room putting her to bed. I went to the bathroom and realized I had my bloody show. I also started having body shakes which I couldn’t control or make stop. I knew my doula was on her way, but I texted her that I had my bloody show and for some reason couldn’t stop shaking. She called me immediately. She is the most calm person I know, which I love about her. In her very calm demeanor, she asks if anyone is at our house for Avri. I told her my mom was on her way. She then continued to tell me that she feels it would be best that Nick and I head to the hospital as soon as my mom gets there because what I described to her sounds like I may be in transition. I had her on speaker and Nick could hear the conversation. Nick comes running out of Avri’s room and immediately taking bags out to the car.
8:00pm: My mom arrived at our house and as she was walking in the house, Nick and I were walking out. We only live about 5 minutes from the hospital, but I remember telling Nick to drive faster because I was starting to feel some pressure.
8:12pm: We arrived at the hospital at the exact same time our doula did. Contractions were intense and very close together. From the emergency room entrance to our room, I had four contractions.
8:22pm: We arrived to our room and I wanted my birthing gown on. I got that on and the nurse wanted to check my cervix. Things were a blur at this point and I wasn’t able to pay attention much to what people were doing or saying. The nurse checked me and I remember hearing her say, “I feel no cervix whatsoever.” Meaning, I was fully dilated and effaced. At this point, my waters were what was keeping baby in.
8:29pm: I had another contraction and my waters broke, actually it exploded. The nurse told me to get onto the bed because baby was coming right now (my doctor hadn’t made it to my room yet). I couldn’t help but push, but I remember asking if I could because again, things were a blur and I wasn’t really sure what everyone was saying. I got the clear to push, so I did.
8:32pm: Ayden Maye Weiss was born.
Shock, happiness and joy overtook my body and mind. What in the hell just happened? After waiting nine days past her due date, Ayden came fast and furious into our lives and it was absolutely perfect. It was much much quicker than anticipated, neither one of my doctors made it to her delivery (props to nurse Amber delivering Ayden!), but I wouldn’t change a thing if I could.
Ayden was a healthy and thriving 7 pound 8 ounce and 20.5 inches long perfect bundle of joy. We marveled in all the newborn snuggles, smells and bonding and were lucky enough to go home the very next afternoon. Everything seemed so magical and perfect. Avri got to meet her little sister and it was love at first sight. Everything was absolutely amazing. Until…
Monday evening, remind you she was born Sunday. My mom made us dinner and my dad came to meet Ayden. Avri wanted to give Ayden a “check-up” (she is very much into playing doctor) so I was sitting with both girls on the couch. All of a sudden Ayden’s face turns bright red and she is drive heaving a bit like she was going to puke. Nothing was coming up and all of a sudden her face was purple. She wasn’t breathing. She was choking. Panic swept over me and I scooped her up yelling that she wasn’t breathing. Nick jumped into action and called 911 as I was trying to remember things from my infant CPR class (thank the lord for that). After what seemed like forever, she was finally able to catch her breath and her coloring started coming back.
We rushed her to the emergency room to try and get some answers of why our one day old infant just choked and stopped breathing. We ended up getting admitted for another night so they could monitor her breathing. The on-call pediatrician was amazing. I was a complete wreck, couldn’t talk without bursting into tears and was absolutely terrified. The pediatrician explained to us that because Ayden had such a short time in the birth canal, she still had a lot of amniotic fluid in her lungs that needed to come out. At home, she choked on a large amount of amniotic fluid that was trying to work its way out. Luckily, while we were in the emergency room and when we got to our room she had large spit ups of amniotic fluid. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much we could do about it as it just needed to take its course. Her breathing and oxygen levels were great all night long and we were able to go home the next day.
On top of that, we noticed that she would make these little squeaks and somewhat lose her breath randomly. At her first check-up we brought this up to her pediatrician and he said she most likely has a narrow airway which also lead to the choking. Again, nothing we can do about it except wait for it to expand as she gets older.
It’s safe to say I didn’t sleep the first few weeks of her life. Any little noise I heard when she was sleeping I sprung to my feet to make sure she was okay. I would lay awake just watching her to make sure she was breathing or gently put my hand on her chest to make sure it was moving. She still has her little squeaks, but she doesn’t ever seem to lose her breath much anymore. It was the scariest moment of my life and I still get emotional just thinking about it.
To end this on a high note, Ayden is completely healthy, already a fighter and fits perfectly into our family. Avri is an amazing big sister already, loves helping and is utterly obsessed with her. Ayden Maye, you are a true blessing to this family and I couldn’t imagine life without you. Love you so much baby girl! More below from Nick and our doula’s point of view.
Keep reading for Nick’s point of view:
Brooke and I had decided after Avri was born that we would for sure want a second child for Avri to play with and for us to love. Two kids is still “man-to-man” coverage so do-able with our busy schedules. We also wanted the kids to be close in age so that they could play together but also be there for each other and go through similar life events together. Well as we found out, the whole process of a second child would be fast. We didn’t have to try for very long before Brooke was pregnant again. Nine months flew by and soon we were getting close to the due date for new baby to arrive. Avri was excited to have a baby sister and we were loving the idea of having two little girls running around the house. Then finally the due date came…and passed.
This was probably the slowest any of the process would go was waiting on the day little girl would decide to come out and meet everyone. Finally on January 31st, Brooke mentioned contractions but minor contractions had become a thing of the norm. This evening, however, she mentioned they just felt “different”. Being who I am, I began to go into birth mode. I started packing my bag and gathering everything for the hospital. Due to COVID-19, we wouldn’t have the luxury of coming and going from the hospital as we pleased like our last birth, so we had to make sure we had everything we needed for a few days. As I was panic packing, I recall Brooke saying “calm down, we have time. If these are labor contractions, then we would have plenty of time from contractions to birth”. Please note this for later.
The in-laws had come to visit for the day and had just left to go to dinner in EC. We began to get Avri ready for bed when the contractions started to gain momentum. Following Brookes direction that “we have time” I gave Avri a bath and took our time. However, things escalated quickly. Brooke was soon on the phone with her mother and our Doula, Rhonda. Rhonda advised that we go to the hospital ASAP as she knew that things would move along much quicker this time. I hurriedly finished Avri’s bath and we read books and put Avri down for bed. I grabbed our bags and scrambled to the car, slipping on the ice covered driveway in the process. At that time, with perfect timing, Brooke’s mom, Anne, was just arriving to stay with Avri so we could go to the hospital. We walked Brooke to the car and rushed to the hospital. Luckily, the hospital is only 8 minutes from our house, traffic lights depending. Even with such a short trip, Brooke grabbed my hand half way and said “you need to drive faster”.
Things were happening much faster. We got there just in time to meet Rhonda at the entrance. I parked the car and grabbed the bag. It was 8:12pm. By 8:22pm they had us up in the room. As I was putting our bags away and getting Brooke’s birthing gown out, she stopped me. She needed my support to hold on to as she had another contraction. Once it passed, she put on her gown and had another contraction. This would be the shotgun start to the sprint. Within a second, her water broke and the nurse advised us she had to get onto the bed because the baby was already coming out. Brooke’s water was the only thing keeping the little girl inside the entire time. Around 8:29pm Brooke started pushing. I assumed my position I knew well from Avri’s birth and was seated right by Brooke’s head with her hand in mine so I could cheer/motivate her throughout the birthing process. She was on all fours, just like he ideal position from Avri’s birth. At 8:30pm, Rhonda asked if I wanted to see the birth. Thinking in my head that last time, I had time to bounce back and forth a couple times from birth side to cheering side of Brooke, I said that I would just stay by Brooke’s head and help her out. Well that was the last chance I got as Ayden was sliding out and into the world not 2 minutes later. At 8:32pm Ayden was out, in Brooke’s arms. Healthy, happy, and already loved by so many.
She reminded me so much of Avri in that moment but yet had her own already identifiable differences in their looks. I was so proud of Brooke. It was clear she was made to be a mom. She handled both pregnancies and labors with so much poise and apparent ease that it seemed as though this was what she was made to do. Her goals were no stretch marks or tearing for both labors, and she crushed her goals, but to me; just giving birth how she did to two perfect little girls was the only goal she needed to; and did crush. I thought our first labor was perfect. Natural, easy, fast (from what I knew), and healthy; but this birth was even more perfect. And now we had two perfect little girls. My only regret was that Avri was not able to come see us in that moment. Our moment together as a new family of four would have to wait until we were ready to go home. Which also would be sooner than we thought. I couldn’t be prouder to be the husband to such an amazing woman and mother and daddy to the most amazing and perfect little girls in the world. I can’t wait to watch all my girls grow up together and experience all the highs and lows of our perfect family of four. Welcome to the family Ayden Maye Weiss.
Keep reading for your Doula’s, Rhonda’s, point of view: