baby P's birth story

Exactly one month ago at this time tonight I was in labor. It felt like a very long labor and delivery to me and was scary at times. Let me start from the beginning of Parker’s birth story. I went to my regular doctors appointment on Monday the 7th at 9:30 that morning. After Dr. N saw how swollen I was and my blood pressure she sent me straight to the hospital to stay for a 23 hour observation.

I ran by our house and threw a bag together because I was a little over 34 weeks and hadn’t packed a bag for myself of baby P. I drove myself to the hospital because Graysen had to go do a lunch in Athens at a doctors office. (Side note for those that don’t know he’s in medical sales and couldn’t cancel this lunch planned weeks in advance.)

I arrived at the hospital feeling fine, tired and swollen but fine. I was hooked up to monitors and an ultrasound was done as soon as I arrived. Baby P looked good and they watched me through the night. Graysen arrived that afternoon and we hung out in the hospital room as my parents and sister and best friend Emily came by to visit.

The next morning Graysen went home to feed our dog Oscar and get ready for work. I was expecting to leave around 11 am and was ready to go home. I had a list a mile long of things to do before Parker made his grand entrance. Boy oh boy was I in for an awakening.

The high risk doctor wanted to see me again and I was wheeled to a room for a second ultrasound. I felt like I was on Grey’s Anatomy, literally and I proceeded with my big mouth to tell the residents, nurses and high risk doctor this. They all laughed which eased the anxiety I had. The high risk doctor asked me several questions and after the tech did the ultrasound he told me that I would have to be induced for my health and Parker’s. My blood pressure was too high to carry on like I was.
I did the ugly cry and I do mean ugly! I was worried, scared and by myself!Was I ready? I didn’t have Parker’s bag packed, I wanted to finish a few things before we he came. As soon as I was wheeled back to my room by two very sweet nurses who consoled me I called Graysen and screamed through tears, “YOU HAVE TO GET HERE NOW!” He calmed me down and was on his way. I called my Mom and sister and they were both there within what seemed like minutes.

At 3:30pm I was moved to a high risk delivery room, which I must saw was huge! And the high risk nurses were amazing! Such a blessing at a time like this.The magnesium drip was started at 3:45 so that I would not have a seizure since my blood pressure was so high along with fluids and I was catheterized without an epidural or any pain meds. Whoa…that was one painful moment!




That night of December 8th I still hadn’t made any progress by 6:20 pm and I was pretty miserable. I had thrown up because of the “mag drip”, evidently that med is normally used to stop labor but they wanted mine to start. So around 9:45pm they started the pitocin and I was dilated to 2cm. All I remember is it was raining cats and dogs by this point and we were watching the rain go sideways out of the enormous hospital window.

Around 12:45am on the 9th the contractions started to get way too painful for my liking and I was given the epidural around midnight. I almost passed out from the epidural but I totally had myself worked up over it thinking it would paralyze me. Crazy, I know!! Only one person was allowed to stay in the room while this was given and I choose Graysen instead of my Mom. Should have chosen Mom who might have calmed me down more! Haha!

It was still pouring around 3am and I was wide awake when the resident came in to check me. Still 2cm and 50% effaced, seriously that’s it?!? They decided not to break my water at that time because baby P needed to move down a bit in me.
They asked if I wanted meds to sleep but I didn’t because I wanted to remember everything and I’m not a fan of meds.

5:45 am Wednesday morning Dr. N came in and I’ve never been happier to see her. She broke my water which didn’t hurt one bit! It was a weird feeling but not as painful as I’ve heard it can be.

I finally fell asleep around 8:15 am, I think from pure exhaustion! I had never been through so much in 24 hours! By 11 am I was still sleeping with cold packs on me. The “mag drip” that made me sick also made me hot and I’m talking hotter than I’ve ever been before! I was sweating and it was 64 degrees in the room. Graysen and my Mom were wrapped in blankets, sweatshirts and jackets as I sat in bed eating the best orange popsicle I’d ever tasted!

Around 1pm I was checked and was 5cm and 80% effaced. Showing of the 5 fingers for 5 cm! We were making progress!! I started having bad back pain around 2:20 pm and my Mom kept assuring me it was “normal” as Graysen was telling me to “just breath”. He rubbed my back and helped me through it.

The nurse recommend I get more in my epidural because she said Parker would be arriving soon and she didn’t want me to feel it as much as I was at that point. Anaesthesiology came in at 2:40 pm and gave me more meds. I was feeling pretty good at that point. I was even vain enough to finally put on some makeup for the day!
After that it all started to go extremely fast. Dr. N was in the room along with about 16 other nurses, literally, my brother counted as they walked in the door. Graysen was on one side and my Mom was on the other. My sister Amy and brother Phil were in the front room before you entered the big room I was in. I could hear them cheering me on! Graysen was my rock, he counted and breathed with me, we had the best eye contact with each other we’ve ever experienced. It was like God was giving us that moment to just be us like no one else was in the room. It was one I will never forget.

I pushed for 36 minutes and at 3:46pm on December 9, 2009 the most beautiful baby boy entered into our lives.

The moment he was born was life changing. I could help but cry from the joy I was experiencing. I got to hold Parker for a minute if that. Being a family of 3 was the most perfect feeling.

The next time we saw him he was in the NICU because he was having some trouble breathing and I of course was a basket case. After 6 long days of him in the NICU we brought him home on December
15th.

I’ve never felt so blessed. The journey was worth every minute of the swelling, heartburn and jabs to my right rib cage. I’ve never loved someone so much. I love my husband and friends and family but my love for baby P is different, it’s endless.






(You might wonder how I know all of these times and details...my wonderful husband had bought a brand new video camera a few days before, intened as our Christmas gift to each other and he documented every moment of Parker's birth story.)