The Arrival of our Plus One: Parker's Birth Story

~Parker James Meier~
Born: June 18, 2014 at 4:46 PM
Weight: 7 lbs and 15 oz
Height: 19.5 inches

Our sweet plus one was born on June 18, 2014 at 4:46 in the afternoon.  I had been scheduled to be induced on Tuesday, June 17th, but the hospital was busy and I got pushed to the waiting list for Wednesday since it was not medically necessary to go into labor.  I just wanted to see his sweet face!

We called the hospital at 5 AM on Wednesday, June 18th to see if I would make "the list" and be able to be induced.  The labor and delivery charge nurse told me to keep on waiting without any foods and to call back by 8 AM.  So, we went back to sleep until 8 AM.  I gave the hospital another call, but the charge nurse was busy and would have to call me back.  I thought for sure that we wouldn't get in, again.  However, the charge nurse did call me back very promptly to let me know that she had a bed for me and how soon could we get to the hospital?!

Before we left for the hospital!

Enter scared out of my mind zone.  Guess this was it!  We're going to meet out plus one!  We were out of the house in thirty minutes.  However, we got stuck in some serious traffic to get to the hospital.  Turns out there was an accident on Highway 59 that back up traffic all the way through downtown.  I've been making that drive for nine months and never had any problems, but when you needed to get there quick, there has to be an accident involved.  Go figure.  That's Houston for you.

We arrived at the hospital around 9:30 AM I think and I started the Pitocin (the stuff that makes your contractions kick in) around 10 AM.  I checked into the hospital dilated to 4 CM and still 70% effaced.  I had been at 3 CM and 70% effaced for over two weeks already.  They let me know that I was currently experiencing contractions, but I just couldn't feel them yet.  But, boy oh boy, once they give you the drugs, you sure can feel them!  Those puppies were pretty painful!

I asked for my epidural once I got to 6 CM dilated and 90% effaced.  That drug is like a magic pill.  It was amazing.  Instantly my pain was gone.

Robert was with me the whole time.  Both my mom, dad and Kirstie were also there.  Dad typically stayed in the waiting room, but he came to visit me, too!  Time flies when you're in labor, that's all I have to say.  I was so nervous.  I was trembling uncontrollably, but Robert handled it well and tried to keep me calm.  I had my own nurse, Megan, who stayed with me the entire time as well.

Everything was moving along really fast.  The doctor seemed surprise, it wasn't out of the cards that I could have a baby by 3 PM.  My body was gearing up fast.  At around 2 o'clock, Parker was turned the wrong way so they put me in a position to get him to roll face down.  At 3 o'clock, the doctor came back and we were ready to push!

The only problem was, Rob had just run down to get a Dr. Pepper!  They had me pushing before he even got back!  But, Rob handled it like a man and kept his eyes closed as he had to walk across the room to get to my head.  He didn't hold a leg, either.  Thanks babe... I had to hold my own leg.  :-)

Well, I pushed and pushed, but little Parker just didn't want to come out.  I had to go on oxygen to keep me and Parker's oxygen levels up.  I had no idea that I had needed to train for a marathon!  I had a full team of nurses in my room by that point cheerleading me on through every contraction.  They tried vacuuming him out several times, but he couldn't make it through the birth canal.  His heart rate started dropping and around 4 PM, the doctor decided it was time for a C-section because Parker wasn't handling the contractions very well anymore. 

And here's the slightly gross part, the doctor had to push little Parker out of the birth canal and back into my uterus.  You never want to know what that feels like.  That's when I started getting sick and the trembling came back full force.  They took me to the operating room to get me prepped and Rob to the C-section waiting room to get himself prepped in scrubs.

So then began the C-section.  Rob got to come in and they had the little sheet up so that you couldn't see anything.  Once they began the C-section, they were able to get little Parker out in 4 minutes.  It was very impressive.  Though, I'm not going to lie, having a baby pulled out of your body also feels very strange and made me sick, again.  They immediately whisked little Parker away straight to the NICU.  He was a little blue when he made his arrival.  They took Robert with them to the NICU where he got to see his son and get his footprints!  My mom and dad were there as well watching over Parker as they stitched me up and I went into recovery.

Here is Parker in the NICU with his Dee Dee Nana.  He had a head injury from the vacuum.  You can see it on his little head.  It's looking so much better now though!

Parker had burned up all of his energy trying to meet the world and immediately ate an entire ounce of formula.  Parker had to stay in the NICU until 4:30 AM the next morning so they could make sure he could maintain his temperature and eat appropriately.  He was so hungry that when my mom fed him, he stopped breathing.  It's tough being a newborn.. you have to learn to eat and breathe all at the same time!

I was wheeled to my own room around 8 at night.  The pain was pretty intense.. it's tough being stitched up in both places... on your tummy and down there!  But, it's healing nicely, I think.

Me, Rob and Parker spent 3 nights in the hospital and came home on Saturday, around 5 PM.  We've been enjoying our sweet baby boy Parker immensely.  In his first 5 days of life, he had already grown an inch!  He did lose 16% of his weight when we left the hospital, but he's gaining it back slowly, but surely.  We go back to the doctor on Thursday, June 26th for another weight check.

Parker on his first car ride home! 

We love you baby boy Parker.  Can't wait to see what you learn each and every day!   P.S. Mom would like for you to learn how to eat without sleeping halfway through, first!  :-)

 

Parker with Dee Dee Nana and Tee-Paw

Parker's first stroller ride!  But certainly not his last!  Aunt Kate has already walked a mile with him, again!

Parker does not like bath time.

Parker likes to ponder life a lot.  To eat, sleep or poop?  That is the question.

Getting Ready for our Plus One

Our Plus One is just around the corner!  It's hard to believe that any day now our two-person family will become a family of three.  Sometimes it seems like just yesterday that Rob and I were graduating high school together.  Yes, we've been together that long!  We made it through the throes of high school, the life-changing experience of college, graduating college during a recession, getting married, moving 10 hours away from our family, buying our first home, promotions at work, and numerous DIY projects.  We've officially been married for five years!  What a five years it has been.  Now, we're getting ready to embark on our next big journey... becoming parents.

When I sit and think about it, it's really scary!  How do you take care of a helpless human being?  Better yet, how does this helpless human being travel through the body and come out kicking and screaming?  Haven't made it to that part yet, but women seem to do it all the time, so I suppose it will all work out just fine.  How do you teach that love is patient and love is kind?  How do you show your baby that doing the right thing is not always the easy road?  How do do you explain that the road he is travelling will constantly split, make ninety degree turns, go up and down, hit a few dead ends and move so fast you don't realize how far you have traveled until you look back?  The world is a very scary place.. how do you protect your baby but offer freedom to grow and become independent at the same time?  There are a bazillion things I don't know.  And I hate not knowing the answer.  That's just not me.  Or well, I don 't know a lot of things, but I know how to find the answers.  In this case, there's no finding the answers... no book to tell you just what to do on any given day.  It's having faith.  It's giving it all you've got even on the bad days and hoping that one day, your baby will realize what all you've done for him and he will be the man God intended for him to be.

I know this journey for me and Rob is going to be bumpy, full of sleepless nights, joy, laughter, tears, bruises, but most importantly, I know it's going to be filled with love.  Below, you will see a picture of an elephant sitting in the never been used crib.  To most of you, it will just be this sweet looking elephant.  But, that's not what it symbolizes to me.

This is the elephant that Robert picked out for our baby boy.  It's not even from a fancy place.  It's from Ikea.  But, he snatched it up one day and wouldn't let anyone else carry it.  In fact, I'm pretty sure he used his own separate checkout lane to buy it.  I could be wrong though, but the point I'm trying to get across here is that Robert was very protective of his elephant for baby.  To this day, he goes in and checks on the elephant in the nursery.  He spent several minutes deciding the right place for the elephant to sit... should it sit on shelf.. or maybe the top railing of the crib.. the floor?  Once it was decided, he spent his time making sure the elephant sits just right.  (Yes, we know guys, the elephant cannot stay in the crib once baby is born, but for now, it's the place Rob has chosen).  Literally, every time we go into the nursery (sometimes, we just walk in and stare) and he re-adjusts the elephant and gives him a little pat or light rub.  When I see Rob with this elephant, I know how much he is going to love our sweet baby.  This elephant is his gift to his son and he wants it to be just perfect.  I love this.  Just seeing him this way over a stuffed elephant will bring tears to my eyes.  (Okay, maybe its just the extra hormones, but its precious nonetheless).

There is one thing that I have never doubted and it is how great a dad Robert is going to be.  There is one constant in my life and it is Robert.  He loves me with everything he has and I can tell he is going to love our baby boy with all that he is.  This gives me such hope and joy, just knowing this.  I can't wait to see him hold his son for the very first time.  That will be one moment that I hope I can remember for the rest of my life.  Just please Rob, don't pass out during the delivery!

As far as material items go, it looks like we are all set for our baby boy to arrive.  We've worked so hard to pull everything together.  We've done everything together. We've stenciled a wall, we've painted/stenciled a dresser, we've had the gosh darn laser leveler out for hours on end to get everything straight as an arrow on the wall.  We've assembled Ikea spice racks and turned them into book shelves (or, I'm afraid a climbing wall once he is old enough to walk/climb).  We assembled the crib (thanks to all of our previous Ikea experience, the crib only took us about 15 minutes to assemble--though it did not come from Ikea!), assembled a diaper changing table, painted said diaper changing table and then installed drawers in it.  We're all set for his arrival.  We've got what seems to be diapers and wipes galore (but I'm quite positive, will only last us approximately 1 week in all actuality).  I officially have a stack of baby wash clothes about 50 deep in the bathroom.  We've got the cutest hooded towels, too.  I've got loads of burp cloths, receiving blankets, and swaddle cloths.  All we need is the baby.

Robert and I pretty much do everything together.  We have always been this way.  Even since high school, we prefer to be homebodies and spend our time in each other's company.  That's probably not always a good thing, but we literally just love doing things together.  I ride along in the golf cart when he wants to golf.  He comes shopping with me, no complaints, ever.  He just sits with me when I want to read a book.  It's just what we do.  Some of my biggest fear when getting ready for our baby will be that, that will change.  Our focus will be our newborn child.  I know there will be days where I will be glad that Robert came home from work, but it won't be because we can curl up on the couch together.. it will be so that he can give baby a bath or change a diaper and I can have a few moments of peace.  Of course, there's nothing wrong with those moments or days, but I want to make sure that we stick together.  That our son sees what its like to truly be a family.  That he always sees how much his mom and dad love each other.  So, that when he meets the girl of his dreams, he will know what it means to court her and be the man she needs him to be.

All in all, we're as ready is as ready can be!  Rob's so sweet now.. correction, he is always sweet, but he's even more attentive than usual.  He rubs my back without complaint and he cooks me dinner even if he gets home after me.  He says now, every time I call him or text him, he gets really nervous.. I could be calling because I'm in labor!  So, here's to us and our new adventure, together.  When Rob and Jess become Rob & Jess, plus one.