My 39th week began just like week 37 and 38. I had another appointment with my Dr. and
learned that while I was 85% effaced, I was still only a 1 and it was looking
as though I wasn’t going to go into labor on my own. By this point in my pregnancy I was
miserable, completely uncomfortable and ready to have baby Parker here. I scheduled my induction for February 20th
and left the appointment glad I finally had an official end-date but was bummed
(and in all honestly a bit angry) that I was still looking at another week of
pregnancy. In order to get through the
remainder of the week, I scheduled a nail appointment, a pedicure, a hair
appointment and a massage, all in hopes that either the pedi or massage would
induce labor, or that a little pampering would make me a little more
comfortable.
Even though I was done being pregnant and super
uncomfortable, I still had a lot to do at work and chose to work up until my
due date of February 16th. I
spent my days preparing to go on maternity leave for 3 months and since I
currently report to 8 managers, support a team of 80 and assist another 30+
people, divvying up my work was quite the task.
Not to mention I have never taken more than 10 days off of work since I
was 15 so I started getting anxiety about leaving for 12 weeks and getting all
my stuff done.
On Valentine’s Day Mike and I chose not to do anything to
celebrate because I was too pregnant and was not so secretly wishing that
Parker would make his debut a little early.
I went about the day as normal,
feeling very productive but ready for Friday afternoon so I could officially be
on maternity leave. One of my managers (Adam)
and I decided to go to lunch at Crown Burger and were enjoying some time
catching up before I left. While at
lunch I started to feel some contractions but I didn’t think much of them because
I had been experiencing Braxton Hicks for quite some time. We headed back to the office after lunch and
I continued about my day.
As about 12:45 pm I noticed the contractions were getting more painful, closer together and were taking my breath away. I started to time them and found they were
about 12 minutes apart but were
quickly getting closer together and stronger. When
they were measuring 10 minutes apart I texted Mike and told him that I was
having contractions and they felt different then any I had experienced
before. He immediately called me while I
was having a contraction and told me he thought I was in labor and asked if he
should leave. I wasn’t convinced I was
in labor yet so I told him not to leave until I did and I would keep him
updated. Within 15 minutes my
contractions shortened to 6-8 minutes apart and I was no longer able to talk
through them. I emailed my mom and told
her I believed I was in labor and might need her to drive me to the hospital
and then called Mike and told him to leave and come and get me. I then went into my manager Mark's office to
tell him I thought I was in labor and I apparently looked as though I was about
to give birth then and there so he made me sit down and asked if I needed him
to call security or an ambulance. I told
him Mike was on his way so he sent Josh to grab me a water and began to time my
contractions. By the time Mike got to my
office at 2:08 pm, my contractions were extremely painful and were 6-7 minutes
apart and I had to be escorted down to Mike’s car by BJ. I finally believed
that this was it; I was in labor.
After Mike picked me up we ran home to grab the hospital bag
and headed over to IMC. Mike dropped me
off at the front door and I walked in to be greeted by Mike’s best friend Drew’s
sister Lauren (She works as a nurse in labor and delivery). It was really nice to start the process with
a familiar face and she showed me back to the “triage” room, where I would be
checked and verified that I was indeed in labor.
Our nurse Shannon (who was amazing) checked me and found I was dilated
to a 3 and 90% effaced. Shannon called
Dr. Terry and he decided I had progressed enough from my appointment on
February 13th and wanted to admit me and break my water. I was admitted at 3:30 pm with extremely strong contractions and finally at 4:00 pm the anesthesiologist came
in and administered the most amazing drug ever, an epidural. After experiencing contractions for 4 hours,
there was no way I could have continued on without drugs and I definitely have
respect for anyone who can undergo a natural childbirth, but that just isn’t
for me.
After getting my epidural, labor was a breeze. We chose to only have our parents there
during the birthing process so for 8 hours we just hung out, laughed and joked
around with my parents and Mike’s parents as we waited for me to progress. Throughout my labor I had to be put on Pitocin on and off
because I wasn’t progressing quickly enough, but each time
they administered the Pitocin, Parker’s heart rate would drop and my
contractions would start coming harder and faster so they had to put me on
oxygen simultaneously as a precaution. Also, the nurse and Dr. couldn't tell if Parker was posterior or not so I had to keep changing sides in order to see if he would move in case he was posterior and I had blood in my urine so they pumped me full of five times the fluid they would normally give someone (hence why I am so puffy). They also had to insert a head monitor into Parker's head because they kept losing his heartrate so I had monitors everywhere and was stuck to my bed.
Finally at midnight I was a 10 and fully effaced so it was
time to start pushing. I asked my mom
and Mike to stay in the room with me and for the next three hours I tried hard to
get Parker here naturally. Unfortunately
by hour 2 my epidural began to wear off and I was becoming increasingly tired. On top of that, Parker wasn’t descending as
he should and with each push, his heart rate would drop. Finally at around 3:00 pm my Dr. decided that
my birth canal was too small and Parker wasn’t going to make it down so it was
time to have a c-section. By that point
I was exhausted and just wanted Parker to get here safe and sound so we started
to prep for a cesarean. Mike was the
only one who was allowed in the OR so he got suited up and we headed to the
operating room.
When they rolled me in, I don’t know if was exhaustion,
hormones, the fact that in a matter of moments I would be meeting my son or that I was about to be cut open, but I
immediately started crying. They
transferred me to the operating table and attempted to make me comfortable (my
mom had been bending my neck while I was pushing so when I got onto the table
my neck was in excruciating pain and I apparently started yelling at the anesthesiologist
as he was trying to add pillows to help with the pain thinking he was Mike,
sorry!) administered a few
more drugs, put up the sterile sheet and began cutting. A small unknown fact is that redheads have a
higher pain tolerance but also have a higher pain medication and anesthesia
tolerance meaning that we need more drugs to numb us or help with pain
management. Well lucky for me, the
anesthesiologist hadn’t administered enough numbing/pain medication and with
the first cut I screamed out in pain because I could actually feel them
cutting, not just the pressure. Due to
that, they had to administer three additional medications and give me laughing
gas in order for them to proceed and within seconds I was out.
When I came to, I could hear Parker crying, but I wasn’t
able to say anything and Mike was over with him. I looked around trying to see my baby, but
was unable to and literally waiting for Mike to come over to me was the longest
few minutes of my life. Finally Mike
came over with tears streaming down his face and told me Parker was absolutely perfect
and I lost it. We finally had our baby
after 4 years of waiting, a million emotions, numerous heartaches and when I could finally formulate a sentence I
said to Mike, “he is ours, we get to take him home and no one is going to take
him from us”. After a few minutes of us crying together, Mike left to go be
with Parker again and after what seemed like an eternity, he brought Parker to
me while they stitched me up. Meeting
him truly was the single most amazing experience of my life and at that moment
I became a mom and I knew this little guy would have my heart for the rest of my life. Words can’t express the emotions
that rushed through me during that time but I finally understood the true
meaning of unconditional love.
Parker Vincent
Born February 15, 2013 at 3:18 am
7 lbs 10 oz
20 1/2 inches
Full head of auburn hair
Big beautiful blue eyes
Absolutely perfect
After I was stitched up they wheeled me into the delivery
room with him and he was able to meet Grandpa Bob, Grandma Cathy, Mimi and G-pa. It was such an unbelievable experience and I
am so happy that our parents were able to be there as we welcomed him into the
world.
We stayed in the delivery room
for about another hour as I recovered from involuntary shakes. Finally I was ready to be taken to recovery
so our parents said goodbye and we headed upstairs. Unfortunately I was in a lot of pain and too
enamored with this little guy that I wasn’t able to sleep and just spent the
next few hours just staring at this incredible gift and sharing the news with
our friends and family.
Honestly, Parker is completely perfect, beautiful, animated,
cuddly and is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to Mike and I. We truly are blessed to have him in our
family and call him ours and I couldn’t imagine life without him. He is just magical and I fall more and more
in love with him every day. He was absolutely worth the wait.
More to come on his first three weeks of life soon and MANY more pictures...
*Thanks Keyle Carter for capturing this special event for us!
