Saturday, February 18, 2012

Labor Inducing Cookie Recipe


Born February 17, 2012 at 12:07am

Aiden's due date came and the doctors wanted to schedule me for an induction, since little Aiden wasn't showing signs of coming anytime soon. I was desperate to have him come on his own, I did not want to force him out before he was good and ready. The doctors told me that we would have to induce the following week, so I spent the next 24 hours stressing about making him come earlier than he would like. I remembered the recipe I had received at my baby shower for "Labor Inducing Cookies," and thought it wouldn't hurt to try them. I made them and ate them, within hours my back pain(turned out to be labor pains) started and  before 24 hours had transpired little Aiden had come into the world! Now, it could have been a coincidence that I ate the cookies just before going into labor but since I have no way of proving it I will choose to believe in the power of the cookie! :)



Labor Inducing Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 tablespoons (or 1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar (will also need extra sugar to roll cookie dough in)
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup molasses
2 egg whites
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and cayenne pepper in small mixing bowl.  Set dry ingredients aside.
Then blend butter in large mixing bowl.  Stir in brown sugar and granulated sugar slowly.  Add the molasses, then the egg whites.  Finally, add the dry ingredients to your mix. 
Roll dough into ¾ inch balls.  Roll cookie balls in sugar to lightly coat each cookie.  Place balls on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Aiden Has Arrived!!

The whole world became a little bit brighter on February 17, 2012 at 12:07 am, that is the moment that Aiden made his first appearance. He was born a healthy baby boy at 8 pounds 10 ounces and was 21 inches long. All of the doctors sang his praises, proclaiming him a perfect baby and congratulating us on such a successful labor. 
Labor was not as I had originally imagined, since it did not begin with my water breaking (as I had always expected it to be). Aiden was due on the fifteenth of February, when he did not make his appearance my doctors started to really push getting me induced as soon as possible. I was desperate not to have this happen if it was in my power. I tried all of the normal ways to jump start labor and also a way which I had never before heard of; Labor Inducing Cookies. I did not really think that they would be effective but considering Aiden was born within 24 hours of me eating them, I am a believer. 
Around 3 am on the 16th I started having severe back pain, that would not allow me to sleep. I did not think that is was labor since it was just pain in my back. Dave went to work and I went about my day as best I could. After a few more hours, the pain continued to increase so I told Dave that I felt like we should probably go to the hospital. When he got home, I had everything ready to go and we immediately left for the hospital. Once we were admitted, the doctor checked me out and informed me that I was 6 cm dilated and my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. It was nice to know that I was not going crazy earlier, and that the pain I had been feeling was truly because I was in labor. I decided to get an epidural, because I have this incredible aversion to pain and I got a lot of positive feedback from people in the medical community. The only negative moment was when my labor had stalled a bit and the nurse said that if it did not pick up again, we would have to look at the possibility of a c-section. We prayed really hard for the next 30 minutes and when the doctor came to check on me, I had jumped from a 7 to a 9 1/2! The doctor said it was time to push! About 45-60 minutes later little Aiden blessed us with his presence. He was absolutely perfect, as all the doctors had proclaimed. It was nice that it was not just a mother's biased opinion that thought so. :) Welcome little guy, you are well loved. I can't wait to introduce you to all of your eagerly awaiting family, I love you so very much!!!