Parker's Birth

Our new family, Daddy, Mommy and Parker

A little facebooking -- after the epidural!

Let's see that big ole belly one more time! It won't be here much longer!

Me and my first nurse.

I couldn't drink water b/c I was nauseous. I just wanted a lollipop to keep my mouth moist. In that whole bag of dum dums, there was not one lemon or lime...can you believe it? Yes, Jared went through EVERY one!

Parker is 6 lbs, 1 oz!

Parker being poked and prodded

Parker and Daddy

Mommy and Parker

After having my membranes stripped (and the Scalini's eggplant parm) on Thursday, I started having contractions that I couldn't sleep through early, early Friday morning at around 1:15 a.m. I decided to get up and take a bath hoping I could relax and work through some of the pain. I wanted to let Jared sleep. In our birthing class, they said that I should let him get as much rest as possible if labor began in the middle of the night. During my bath, my contractions were varying from 4-8 minutes a part. I woke Jared up b/c I knew we were supposed to go to the hospital if they got to be 5-6 minutes a part. I wasn't sure what to do so I called my midwife. She told me that she didn't think it sounded like I was in true labor because my contractions didn't seem strong and regular enough. She said that I could come on in and they could check me and send me home if I wasn't far enough along. I told her that I would hold out a little longer to see if they became more intense.

Jared and I sat up for hours timing contractions. Finally after he called work to let them know he wasn't coming in, I sent him to bed at 6 a.m. so that he could get some more rest. I fell asleep on the couch at 7 a.m. and woke up to a contraction at 8:00 a.m. When I sat up, I felt my water break. I immediately woke up Jared to let him know that we needed to be on our way. He popped up (like the firefighter he is) and immediately began loading up the car. On our way out, my doctor's office told me that I should come to their office for assessment before heading to the hospital (they are right across the street). My midwife confirmed that my water broke and told me that I was only 2 1/1 cm dilated. I was discouraged by my dilation, but she sent me to the hospital.

We checked in around 9:15 a.m. They started me on pitocin around 10:30 a.m. Man, oh man, did the contractions intensify with the pitocin. I was trying to be strong and breath through them. The nurse told me that they wouldn't check my dilation very frequently since my water was broken, and that increased the chance of infection for me and for Parker. Jared's parents arrived shortly after lunch (my meals for the day included fruit popsicles and crangrape juice), and about that time, I requested an epidural. I was done trying to be a strong women. I was ready to enjoy the day and enjoy the arrival of my baby. The midwife came back to check my dilation, and I hadn't budged. She said that the epidural would help because they could then crank up the pitocin! At 1:30 p.m., Dr. Fishman gave me my epidural. It was great. I could still move my legs, but I couldn't feel contractions. What a relief!

Nikki came. She was our chief videographer and photographer of the day. She brought fun gossip magazines to entertain me. My mom arrived (after getting lost, of course) and brought a laptop. How fun was that. Throughout the birth, I was able to give facebook updates and receive encouraging words from friends and family. So fun! It was like a party with some of my favorite people in the labor room.

Labor still progressed pretty slowly. After reaching 7 1/2 cm, they had to give me oxygen and turn the pitocin off because Parker's heartbeat kept dropping, and repositioning me was not helping. The contractions were so intense, they were traumatizing Parker. After they turned it off, I didn't budge. Later they turned it up again, and I progressed quite quickly. During this time, we also discovered that I had a fever and likely an infection. They administered antibiotics to me and told me that Parker would have to have blood tests done immediately after birth as a result. At times, his heart rate would drop, so they put in an internal monitor to keep an eye on him. The contractions once again became too intense, and they couldn't reposition me so that his heart rate was stable. I was very concerned. I was back on oxygen, nurses were surrounding me trying to move me to a position that would help. Soon after, I learned that I was dilated to 10 cm and would begin pushing soon.

Everyone was kicked out other than Nikki and Jared, and then the pushing began! Because of the epidural, I couldn't feel a thing. My midwife, Michelle, and the nurses were great guiding me through. Jared was right by my side and incredibly encouraging. Nikki was the greatest cheerleader ever. I had a mirror, and every now and then, I could see the progress I was making. It was so exciting...yet pretty exhausting. After about 40 minutes of pushing, Parker made his big entrance! What an amazing, incredibly rewarding experience. I felt so close to Jared and so excited to see this baby I'd been carrying around all this time.

He was whisked away to be cleaned up and poked and prodded. During this time, I felt so helpless and so far away from him. I wanted my baby back, but I understood that he needed to be taken care of. Shortly after, the grandparents came and were introduced to their new grandson. Pictures were taken, people went home and we were moved to our new room. The end of the night, quite honestly, is a bit of a blur. What a day, what a night!