Parker's Life Story..[Warning]..Long Post..

So...I know this is making for a long post, but for my first real post I would like to write about Parker's birth story, and how are lives our forever changed, so here goes nothin...

It had been a llllooooooonnnnggggg 9 months and I was ready to see my son and hold him in my arms.  Brian and I had researched all the tactics that could speed up the labor process and get him here as soon as possible.  I did everything from bouncing on a tramoline, bouncing on my exercise ball, and running....to eating anything and everything that was either Chinese or spicy!  Honestly I don't think that anything actually helped but to us it was worth the try.  

On July 5th I had a doctor aptmnt.  At this aptmnt they told me that I was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced. Our doctor asked if I wanted him to strip my membranes.  We only had to think about it for .2 seconds before we decided that we definitely wanted him to.  That night we made sure all our hospital bags were packed and we were set to go if needed.  But of course nothing happened that day...or the next day...or the next day.  Finally, Sunday morning at 3 am. I woke up with what felt similar to cramps.  I had no idea what contractions felt like so I tried not to get my hopes up.  I did my best to go back to sleep but at 5 am I decided to wake up Brian to tell him I was having contractions.  He was excited, but far too casual in my book....in other words...he went back to sleep. :) 

It was now time for me to decide whether I would be attending church.  Hmmmm...go to church and have my water break in Sunday School, or stay home and have it happen in the safe zone which was our apartment.  I told Bri that I thought it would be best for me to stay home.  Brian had an early morning meeting to go to but said that he would come back home to be with me after it was over.  About a half hour after he left my contractions were coming 3 to 5 minutes apart.  I texted him to let him know I definitely wanted him home.  Well...by the time he got home, they were completely inconsistent.  This process continued for another couple hours.  We then decided to go on a walk to see if we could get things moving again.  Of course we were somewhat self conscious because our ward was now out of church and were driving past as we were taking a nice stroll.  

Meanwhile on our walk...my pregnant women hormones started to kick in.  I burst out in tears because I just wanted our baby to come and thought it was never going to happen and I was going to be pregnant forever. Brian, being the awesome husband he is, just listened to me and tried to talk sense into me.  We got back home and about a half hour later I was standing in kitchen and I felt a little liquid drain that I couldn't control.  I told Brian that I thought my water just leaked.  He proceeded to tell me to do a little dance and perhaps the rest would come.  I thought it was just something to help my spirits so I decided to do a little jig. With three small shakes, a gush of water came out that was unstoppable.[perhaps more info than you wanted]  I ran and jumped in the bathtub while the water works just kept comin.  Brian grabbed the bags and the redbox that we needed to return[we couldn't afford a late charge!] and piled it in the car.  I came out to the car and we drove to the hospital! YAY!!!!  oh yeah, first we stopped at redbox! :)

We arrived at the hospital at around 2 pm.  The contractions were definitely coming harder and faster now.  They got us all checked in and I was able to wear the most becoming robe I have ever laid eyes on. [sarcasm]  It seemed so relaxed and chill at the hospital. I want all my babies to be born on Sunday! I loved it! [no sarcasm] :) The nurse came in and checked me. She said I was dilated to a 5 and was 90% effaced.  She asked if I wanted an epidural...      I answered calmly that I would like one but inside i was screaming YES!!!!!!!  I look up to anyone who can do it without.  The nurse then said I would need a liter of fluid before they could give it to me so she hooked me up to an IV.  That took about a half hour to get that in me and when she came back in she let me know the anesthesiologist was in with a c-section so would be another half hour or so.  He finally came to shoot me up with some drugs.  At this point I was dilated to a 6+ and of course I was right in the middle of a contraction as he was putting it in.  All went well though and once that epidural kicked in it was a whole new experience.  All this took place at around 4:30 pm. 

The nurse just told us to relax and get some rest at this point because I would be pushing in a few hours.  We did the best we could considering it was a hospital and all.  They were all so great though and Brian was in hog heaven.  They treated him with a feast of a sub sandwich while I downed my ice chips and popsicles.  At around 7:30 they came in to check me and let me know I was ready to start pushing.  So the work began....I  pushed for what felt like forever but was realistically only about 40 minutes.  My doctor got there to do the dirty work and our precious little Parker was born at 8:28 pm.  Coming in the world at 7lbs 12 oz and 20 in. long.  

I feel so blessed to have had such a smooth labor process. I love our little boy more than I ever knew possible. His spirit is so strong in such a small body and I hope I can be the mom he deserves.

And so, our journey begins....