I Sing For Joy At The Works Of Your Hands

So lately I've seen a lot of people pregnant, or with newborns, and everytime I see that it brings me back. Do you know what I mean? I'm sure you do, if you have a child that is. And reading other blogs I realized I've never actually told Parker's birth story, or probably even written it in words, so I thought it would be good to do so while the memory is fresh in my mind. First of all, a little history of how he came to be...

I suspected I was pregnant on April 16th. I will always remember that date. Didn't take a test until the 18th, one that cost about $15 and it was negative. The 21st STILL no monthly visitor, so I went to the DOLLAR TREE, wasn't about to spend another $15 on one of those tests, and that little $1 test told me I was indeed pregant. I was pretty calm, and pretty much instantly excited. When you realize someone is growing inside of you, something changes and you become instantly in love. A type of love you've never felt before. I quickly chose a OB/GYN, Dr. Walker, who delivered my goddaughter and her little brother. At my first appointment (about 7 weeks along) they did a quick ultrasound and I got to see and hear my baby's heartbeat.

I can't even describe the feelings I had while watching that little screen, but it sure was amazing. I had a GREAT pregnancy in the beginning, no morning sickness, although I was nauseated sometimes. This was a good thing since I was  in my second and most intense year of xray school.

On July 16th, I was 16 weeks pregnant and we found out that Parker was, in fact, a BOY, and we got to see his cute little profile for the first time. So special.

I had two ultrasounds after that, the first one was in August and was to measure everything and we were right on track. The last ultrasound was in October, and it was the fun one! We got to actually see what Parker looked like! And they even told us he had a ton of hair (which he did, but of course he had to lose it all a few months later for all the blonde hair to come in!)

Parker's due date was December 30, 2009. I really wanted him here before Christmas, so my Dr. had told me that if I didn't go into labor by the 23rd, and at the point I was 1 cm dilated and 50% efaced, he would induce me. I was so excited to have my little Christmas miracle arrive! Well, he ended up coming exactly 4 weeks before his due date.

On December 2, 2009 I was at my last day of clinicals for the semester. I had been having trouble with blood pressure and swelling, but as the day went on, my feet were swollen beyond recognition. They hurt SO bad and it was starting to freak me out. Everyone at the hospital was telling me I needed to call my doctor and tell him what was going on, so I did. They told me to get to labor & delivery immediately, but I asked if I could finish my shift. haha. They didn't want me to, but I stayed another hour or two and then went home, took a shower, grabbed my bag, and out the door I went. I even stopped and ate at Quiznos on the way, because I wanted to make sure I got supper. That night, I was told I would be leaving with a baby. I was confused at first, I figured they would just put me on bedrest, but my blood pressure was getting way too high and the excessive swelling was NOT normal. They explained that they would give me cervadil and let it sit for 12 hours, since I was only dilated to a 1. The next morning they would give me pitocin to induce labor and I would probably have Parker the day after that (first labors are slow, especially with pitocin...right?) I was pretty calm, but I couldn't sleep that night so they gave me some Staydol at 2AM to help that and wow was I freaked. That medicine made me pretty loopy and I had some crazy dreams.

The next morning, I woke up and was ready to get things rolling. My family all showed up around 10AM, right before the Dr. started the pitocin. The nurses explained that I probably wouldn't be having the baby until the next day, so most of my family left after giving me their well wishes. After the pitocin was started, things progressed really fast. The first time my doctor came to "check" me, I was already 3cm dilated, he asked me if I wanted him to break my water. I say, I don't know, should you?? I mean, he's the doctor, right? He told me it would make my labor go faster, so I was all for it.

At this point I was in a lot of pain, they arranged for me to get the epidural and told me it would be 30 minutes or so. I was having back labor, and it was a pain so intense that I can't describe it or even really remember how bad it actually hurt. They gave me a little Staydol again, this time didn't make me so loopy. After that they came to give me an epidural (yay, my saving grace...right?) Not so much. About 5 minutes afterwards they told me my legs should be getting numb... nothing. Ten minutes later... nothing. Fifteen minutes later... you get the point. The Anesthesiologist came in and told me he possibly misplaced the line for the epidural, which would explain why it wasn't working. They told me he would try again if I wanted. Ummm... no thank you, I'll take my chances with the pain!

The next time they checked me, I was 8cm dilated. Yes EIGHT! I couldn't believe it, everything was going so FAST, and they told me I would be in there forever for hours! Needless to say, I was very agitated at this point because I had no epidural, the pain was killing me, and my contractions were not registering on the monitor. So what do they do? They put on internal monitor on me AND Parker to monitor his heartrate. They realize that my contractions are off the charts (oh really, never would've guessed that) and weren't showing up on the monitor before because I was having back labor. I tell them I have to push. They don't believe me. I say, seriously, I have to push. Okay, sure, push if you want to. A few minutes later, the nurse decides to check me. I'm at a 9 and almost completely efaced.

All of a sudden, the doctor is in there and they are TELLING me to push now. Okay. Wasn't bad at first, but wow does that get annoying after awhile. And painful. After about 30 minutes of pushing they start getting all of this stuff ready. They place a towel over my abdomen, and bring all this other stuff over, and I realize he's about to arrive. Let me tell you the really annoying part, they are telling me as he is coming out that they can see his head. I was already clear on the fact that I didn't want to do the mirror thing. Not something I want to see. At this point the doctor asks me if I want to FEEL his head. Seriously? YES, I want to feel his head once he is out, why are we wasting time here??

So after 45 minutes of pushing, Parker James entered the world at 4:28 PM on December 3, 2009. He was 6 lbs 6 oz and 20 in long. The most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I was able to hold him, kiss him, love him for just a few minutes before he was taken off to the NICU. I was told he would have to stay the night in there, and was pretty sad about that, but they told me he would be okay so I was thankful at the same time. My epidural never did "kick in" in case you were wondering, so I was able to get up an hour after he was born. They were planning on taking me to see him in the NICU, and all of a sudden the nurse walks in with him and tells me he is perfectly fine and healthy, and he would get to stay with me tonight instead. I was relieved, scared, excited.

I am so blessed to be able to tell a story like this with a happy ending, instead of so many who suffer loss of their preemie babies. Those people, my fellow blogger friends, are constantly in my prayers. And I don't for one second take my life OR my baby for granted.

I sing for joy at the works of Your hands. – Psalm 92:4