For those of you who wanted some pictures :) Here are some pictures from the past two weeks, including time with Nana and Pops :) I love being a Mom!!!! :) Bryan loves being a Dad, too!!! :) Being a mom includes learning patience, dealing with frustration, but also having lots of time for cuddles and kisses :) It's so crazy but fun!! I wish every mom could have such a good experience and give everything needed to her baby. Unfortunately, we are in a culture in which so many people pop out babies and don't give them what they need. God bless the moms who are loving, nurturing, and soothing in just the right amounts. I know I am not perfect by any means, but I feel like I am a good mom!! I look forward to the things I will continue to learn along the way. Enjoy the pictures! I surely do :) Love and miss, K

Here it is, Aidan's birthing story :)

Petrak Family Birthing Story 6/13/12 The story does not start on 6/13/12…it actually starts on 6/12/12  I was at work , expecting to have a minimum of 10 more days of work prior to the addition of our family, Aidan Douglas Petrak  I was filing, where the secretary said, “Hey, I won’t be here the rest of the week, so good luck if something happens before Monday.” I thanked her and said, “That’s not likely—first babies are usually late anyway, but I wouldn’t mind!” In the evening, my friend Julie and I met for a late dinner and music. During the conversation, she said, “It would be nice if you had Aidan before the 15th so I can see him before we go on family vacation!” I agreed and thought, “Right.” I had packed the hospital bag the day before, thinking that I had been encouraged to get the bag packed early JUST IN CASE. I had even made a point of writing a note on top to remind us of what else we needed that we could not yet pack in case it had to be grabbed quickly. I went to sleep, gearing up for my family session and meeting the next day. On 6/13/12, I woke up and had to use the restroom. It was precisely 1:39, which I know because I was looking at facebook at the time. I went and kept going….and going…and going…and going. I literally sat there for 1 hour and 20 minutes, intermittently getting up to be “done” and then feeling more water. Bryan suddenly said, “What if your water broke?” Remember, first time birth here…never have experienced water breaking and had been told that it would either be a gush of fluid—which I had seen on TV and in the movies, which really do accurately depict our lives…HA! What did I do next? Look up sources for water breaking and compare. Almost everyone’s story mentioned women whose story sounded like mine—having to pee, not being able to stop. Finally, Bryan suggested we go to the hospital. Fearing that we would get there and I would be told I was nuts for going, I suggested we call. When I got a person on the phone, she said, “If you think your water broke, just come in.” So we did. Since water continues to break—another fact I had not realized at the time—but I was afraid it would keep going—I brought a trash bag to sit on in the car. Bryan had me get dressed and ran around the house gathering the remaining objects. I suddenly said, “Make sure you throw the car seat in the car!! Don’t try to install it—just THROW IT IN.” Bryan gladly grabbed it and threw it in the car. One of the necessary items to bring, other than the bag, was the birthing ball. I had enjoyed Lamaze class and had become excited about the idea of a natural birth and using the birthing ball to help me with contractions. We brought it in with us to the hospital—made it to the hospital by 4AM—and carried it until we got to the labor and delivery room. Since the water had already broken, they moved me there quickly so I didn’t have to move around too much. I was unable to use the birthing ball because they expressed concerns of the cord being prolapse and coming out before the baby and messing up the delivery. I’m sure there are more accurate medical terms for this, but that was enough to keep me in the bed. For the longest time I did not have contractions, so they said that labor had not officially started. Bryan’s mother and my doctor and nurses kept coming into the room and I just smiled at them, not feeling any pain. I was very happy at this time, thinking, “Hey, maybe it won’t be too bad!” Again, HA! During this time, Bryan and I were listening to my Mumford and Sons station on Pandora, basically just passing the time. They kept checking me and said that I had not started labor so they decided to induce me. I begin feeling pressure, not real pain. I was like, “Hey, the Lamaze teacher was right!” Contractions keep coming, and they start to feel worse. They start hurting. They start hurting to the point I am crying. I thought, “I have to be at least 5 or 6 cm by this point.”’ Plus, I was thinking that if I made it to 8 cm that I would be able to make it through the delivery with a natural birthing experience. They checked me and said I was ONE CENTIMETER. Um, WHAT??!? Oh, no, I am getting the epidural! I realized it was not worth it to have the natural birth experience. Now pregnancy tends to make non-emotional people emotional. People such as myself who are naturally emotive—shock…--become more emotional. Not only was I afraid of the epidural needle, hearing it was TERRIBLE, I suddenly began thinking about some of the mothers with whom I had worked in my job who did not give consistent care and basically abandoned their children. I cried and said I could not imagine how a woman could go through such pain and not give everything to their child. The anesthesiologist thought I was just in massive pain, but when I explained the combination, she and the nurse and Bryan combined into this perfectly empathic therapist who made me feel better while I was getting the epidural. I am so grateful to them!!! After the epidural, wow, I felt better!! No judgment either way, but I am very VERY glad that I got the epidural. People who want to do differently, great, but I am NOT one of them!! At this time, I went back to enjoying music and watching tv, occasionally sleeping. I was checked again and had made it to 2 cm. This is around 7PM. Wow, this was taking forever! Remember, I had been there since around 4AM this morning. One concern they had was that when I had contractions, Aidan’s heart rate dropped slightly, so I was given oxygen. Around 9PM, Bryan had just talked to the doctor, who had told Bryan that he was going to check me again soon. He said that if I were not too much further in progress that we would need to do a c-section. Bryan told me, worrying about what I would say, but I said, “That’s fine—whatever the baby needs.” Turned out that I was still only 3 cm at this point, so it was decided that I would have a c-section. They prepped me and brought me in, which was when Aidan’s vitals dropped. They cut me up immediately, pulled him out, and the cord was around his neck. Thank GOD, they got the cord off of him, and he started crying loudly. I am SO glad I did not know about the cord at this time!! I had been extra numbed—try sliding from one bed to another being numb from your shoulders down!! I used my head a LOT! At any rate, I heard Bryan and my son cry for the first time and was amazed. It was the most beautiful sound because I knew then he was okay. He was then brought to me but I could not hold him, of course, but I got to smile at him. Bryan got to hold him, and I was glad! When they finally finished closing me up—took forever because I wanted to hold my baby!!!—they brought me to the room and gave him to me. Wow, that was the best, most surreal feeling EVER. He weighed 6 lbs, 13 oz (born on 6-13-12!) and was 19 ½ inches long. I still feel that having Aidan is surreal. Bryan and I are so grateful that we have been blessed to be able to raise Aidan and to teach him about God. He has the most beautiful little cry, which becomes angry quickly and sounds like a bleating lamb! His hair is silky soft, and his little baby body is like velvet. My favorite times with him are when he is lying on my chest. Ahhh, bliss!! 