First Family Outing!!

Saturday night we went to our first wedding! Michael and Amy got married Saturday at 6pm. Parker was PERFECT! He slept literally the whole entire time! He slept through the ceremony, slept throughout the reception except to eat once :) Changing his diaper in the small bathroom in Jessies lap was quite amusing haha, especially when he peed straight up in the air twice! Jessie and I were laughing hysterically!! Here are some pics, enjoy!!

Parker 1 Week Old

Parker has already changed soooo much!!! He just gets cuter by the day! His second week home with us has been a little more difficult than the first...he started getting very gassy due to his formula (we think) so he hasnt been sleeping quite as well and is crying a lot more :( we can tell it has to do with his tummy hurting and it is so sad it just breaks my heart!! He also got to take his first REAL bath this week :) and I have some cute pictures of that too!!

First Trip to Grandma's

Today was our first trip out of the house since Parker was born (other than dr's and riding around yesterday). We went and spent the day with Grandmama while Steven helped Grandaddy moved a load of things to their new house. WWe had such a nice day and we were so glad to get out of the house for a while!!

He was worn out!

Newborn Week!!

Sucking his thumb for the first time!!
Like Daddy like Son haha!!

Happy after eating
After his first bath :)

Parkers first week at home has gone fairly well for us!! So far he is a very good baby. The first 2 nights I ended up sleping in the recliner with Parker for a few hours. But we have kinda figured out a schedule now! Steven and I spend some "awake" time with him usually about 8 at night until he gets sleepy (the other night that was at 11:30!! He was awake 3 hours straight!) Then we get him all ready for bed and tuck him in his cradle. I get to sleep for a few hours and he starts to cry when hes hungry. We get up and come downstairs and he eats his 3 oz botthe! (hes already eating so much it seems!) then I change him (he doesnt cry when wet/dirty) and then I let him finish his bottle so that hes back asleep really good. He goes back down with no trouble and only wakes up at the time for his next bottle :)...all in all he has been an easy baby to figure out (so far, who knows what the future holds for us haha). Enjoy these pictures of his first week at home!

The Birth of Baby Parker!

So, Parker is finally here!! What a long long process!! We were scheduled to check into the hospital at 6pm on Monday April 7th for a dose of cervidil (cervix softening medicine). We stopped at Zaxby's and ate it in the parking deck as fast as we could, bc of course we were running a few minutes late.

We got to the room and I got the dose of cervidil, and wasnt allowed to get up for at least 2 hours (yeah thats easy to tell a pregnant person haha!!) I also got a dose of ambien to help me sleep and Steven snored all night. At 830 Tuesday morning they hooked my IV up to the pitocin and started up the contractions. My mom got there at 10:30 and Jessie very shortly after that. My contractions were painful but never really got to bad. I went from 2cm to 4cm very quickly and I was offered the epidural. Jess and Steven had gone down to get lunch and I finally accepted the epidural about 1. That was more painful that I had expected. My mom stayed in with me and I had to sit on the side of the bed completely still through contractions. The first time they did it it didnt take, so they tried again and complete relief!! It only took about 39 minutes and no more pain!! Even getting checked didnt hurt anymore! WOOHOO

Dr. Campbell came in to check me about 3:30pm and while she was getting ready to break my water, it broke on its own. So I was pretty sure that things were going to go quickly. I did go to a 6 fairly quickly but then stopped all together it seemed. Hours and hours went by with little to no change. By 10:30 we were all convinced I was going to have to have a c-section. Dr. Campbell came back and put in an internal monitor to monitor my contractions, apparently they just werent strong enough to dialate me anymore so they upped my pitocin to 40!! That is the max dosage they can give. At this point the nurse said Parkers head was already cone shaped from being stuck in a plus one position for so many hours :(. Dr. Campbell said shed be back once I was ready but that it would still be several several hours. So Jessie had to leave to take Mya home and was very upset thinking she wasnt going to get to be there when Parker was born.

Dad "slept" in the waiting area, and Steven snored all night lol. Mom laid back in the recliner but got up every 15 mins when my bp alarm went off to silence the alarm. Finally about 330 they came in to check me and i was at 9.5cm and fully effaced!! IT WAS TIME!!! Mom called jessie at 5:15 bc i was getting ready to push...

Right before time to push my epidural alarm started going off bc the medicine bag was low. I sent Steven out to find a nurse bc my nurse was helping get an epidural for someone else. The lady came in and just silenced the alarm!! By the time I started pushing about 10 mins, I could feel just about everything!! The pressure was horrible and I was screaming like a maniac after pushing...I kept asking how much longer and if he was coming out yet!! In between contractions were horrible!! Jessie came in at about 5:45 and Mom went to the waiting area with Dad and Mya. I pushed and pushed and had to stop for a quick second bc the ambilical cord was wrapped around his neck!! Steven and Jessie kept saying "i can see his head and his hair!!" and I kept yelling "JUST GET HIM OUT!!" haha At 6:09am April 9th after 22 hours of labor, Parker Chase was BORN!!! Steven cut the cord and they took him to clean him up.

He weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 21.5 inches long!! I kept hearing them say something about his breathing sounds not being very good bc of thick mucus in his lungs :( They had to suction out his lungs and it was so pitiful! But once they did that he was fine!! Steven got to hold him and brought him over to me to see. I was feeling every stitch that Dr. Campbell was giving me and she was also massaging my stomach to get my placenta to release. After 3o mins and still no placenta, she started "going in after it"!!! OKAY my epidural was turned off at this point (even though it hadnt worked in a while anyways!!) I was screaming in pain bc she had her hand up in my uterus trying to get it to let go. I started bawling hysterically beggin them to stop! I COULDNT TAKE IT!! IT WAS THE MOST HORRIBLE PAIN IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!! Finally they said they were just going to have to take me to the OR and put me to sleep and have it taken out.

They came back a few mins later with an anesthesiologist and he was going to give me a "concoction" in my epidural catheter so I wouldnt have to have surgery. About 5 mins later, my entire lower body was completely numb!! THANK GOD! Dr Campbell went in with a scraper and scraped out the rest of my placenta (Steven said this was the worst part out of everything). She went in about 8 times while looking at an ultrasound (where you could see her hand in my uterus!!WHAT!!). Finally she said it was all out! THANK GOD AGAIN! About that time I told the anesthesiologist that my ears were ringing very loudly and I was feeling very naseaous. He put an oxygen mask on me, and thats pretty much the last thing I remember. I do remember occasionally thinking, dang I dont think Im breathing!!

Next thing I know, I wake up and my mom has been crying and Steven is wiping his eyes. Apparently my blood pressure dropped to 60/20 and I turned white and was non responsive for about 45 minutes. Steven said they had to pull the medication out of my epidural cathater. But by this time I was feeling much better!!

I finally got to see and hold Parker about 8:30am Wednesday, after I ate breakfast (first meal since Zaxbys 2 days earlier! Parker was perfect!! It was amazing and completely worth every second of trauma and pain!!

We stayed in the hospital until Friday around 2pm and we were finally allowed to go home!!

Day Before Induction Pictures

Last night was the final pre-baby night that Steven and I had. We went over and spent some time with Jess, John and Mya :) and took quite a few cute pictures that Im going to post on here. Then Steven and I went out to eat at our favorite chinese place then went and rented some movies and video games (for steven) to take to the hospital!! The next post Ill make I will have pictures of baby Parker!!!

He will be here Tuesday!!

I had another dr's appointment yesterday morning at 830am. One good thing about going that early is that they dont make you wait very long! haha

so i went back to my room, and they checked my weight (only gained half a lb since last week) and my blood pressure. it was back up to 168/93. they laid me back and hooked up the Non Stress Test monitors to me. Well, I had just eaten breakfast so Parker was ALL over the place!! and they couldnt get a steady heart rate...all they could hear was what sounded like him brushing up against the monitor. the dr came in and said, "well at least you know your blood pressure isnt effecting his movement at all!! my gosh your going to have your hands full with this one! (oooh god lol)

so instead of having me lay there forever, she sent me over for another ultrasound (thats always fun)...and they did a biophysical profile on him. he was very very very active, but perfect. blood flow through his ambilical cord and to his brain is great...all of his numbers are great...his head is still measuring big, but at this point, so is the rest of his body they said. head, arms, legs, stomach...everything!! they estimated him to be right at 8lbs already!! WHAAAAATTTT i was 36weeks5 days!!! still 3 weeks and 2 days away from his due date!!!

so they took me back to an exam room and they checked me...still 2cm dialated and 50%effaced...so she said bc of my bp and his enormous size, they are going to induce me Tuesday morning at 6am!!! I have to go in on Monday night at 6 to get some medication called cervidil to helf my cervix efface more, then they will start pitocin at 6am tuesday...hopefully we will have him by tuesday night (god i hope so lol) but it may be into wednesday before he decides to come since he is a first baby and hes large AND im not in labor on my own...but i have everyones numbers so i will make sure everyone is updated!!

By this time next week steven and i will be home (if everything goes well) with baby parker!!!

Countdown to Baby Parker!

So, we are in the final countdown to the arrival of baby Parker!! I cant believe in as little as 2 weeks, our family will welcome a little baby boy into it! I have known that this time would be coming for the past 9 months, but its still hard to imagine that the person that has been inside of me all of this time is about to make his entrance into the world and that Steven and I will be completely responsible for him and his wellbeing.

I am on bedrest at this point, due to blood pressure issues, which really hasnt been all that bad. I am still allowed to get up and move around, its really just working that Im not allowed to do. Im still trying to get my house organized and ready for him to come home, even thought I doubt Ill ever be completely "ready". And if I think about the labor part, hmmm that scares me just a little bit!! But due to Parkers size and my blood pressure issues, they will probably induce me anywhere from 38-39 weeks. I will be 37 weeks this saturday so that doesnt leave much time at all!! Unless he decides on his own that he wants to come earlier than that, even though I doubt it bc both of his parents are "late" everywhere they go!!!