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Monday, March 31, 2014

Baby Grant's Birth Story Part I

On the day Grant was born, we wheeled into the hospital at 7:43 p.m. and Grant was born at 7:56 p.m. Here's the first part of our story about how that happened:

March 23rd started off like any other Sunday. We were fresh off the heels of our Tennessee house hunting trip and I had big plans of unpacking and laundry and grocery shopping.

Sometime mid-morning I began to get noticeable Braxton-Hicks contractions. Nothing too out of the ordinary for me but they were a bit persistent unless I was laying down. So my plans of unpacking and going to the store changed and I spent as much time as possible playing with Parker while laying sideways on the couch.

I wasn't too concerned because just one week prior I had some worrisome Braxton Hicks as well. They showed up after we drove nine hours, over the course of two days, to go house hunting in Tennessee. Following the drive, and moving hotels twice, I found myself resting in our hotel room, wishing those Braxton Hicks contractions away. After a lot of rest and what felt like a million gallons of water, they stopped and I hardly had anymore the following week despite all the activity of our house hunting experience.

So now, a week later, on Sunday, March 23rd, I chalked up my Braxton Hicks to the long car ride we had taken home just the day before. However, around 6 p.m. when the contractions hadn't gone away for most of the day, I called our mid-wife. Since I had a routine appointment scheduled for the next morning, she offered to call in a prescription for a medicine that should reduce the contractions, and then she would see me in the morning at my appointment. The only pharmacy Honey and I found that was open on a Sunday past 6 p.m. was forty minutes away. When I called the midwife back to give her the phone number of the pharmacy Honey already had one foot out the door.

Before Honey could crank up the car, we had a turning point... As I was speaking to the midwife I also used the bathroom (helloooo, millions gallons of water?!) and noticed a spot of blood. I told her immediately and she changed her mind. She asked me to come on in to the hospital and get checked out. Given my history, then the contractions all day, and now blood, she thought that would be better.

Thank God I saw that blood while I was talking to her! Had Honey left to drive 80 minutes round rip to get that prescription, I would have been holding Baby Grant in my arms when he returned home. 

The midwife asked me to pack a bag because there was a chance I would be staying so they could watch me for 24-hours. She also mentioned she wanted me to hurry as safely as my body would allow. I explained that even though we had lined up some wonderful friends to help take care of Parker whenever "go-time" came, that I had not yet packed his bag (after all we were still somewhere around seven weeks until we were supposed to be "ready"!) and that would take me twice as long to get his things together. She said not to bother to pack his bag but to just bring him along with us. She said that worst case I would be admitted for 24 hours and my husband and son would go home.

As I gathered my things and packed my bag things changed dramatically. Since I went from lying down to up and moving, the contractions went from a bit of an annoyance to doubling me over with pain.  I had to stop and lie down to breathe through a few contractions.

The drive to the hospital 40 miles away is a bit of a blur. I reclined the seat a far as I could and I found out later that Honey drove between 80 and 100 miles per hour the whole way. Between contractions I felt tired and exhausted but I could at least talk. But when a contraction hit I was yelling out in pain. Honey placed a phone call to his parents and to my brother to give them a heads up. My parents were in Israel preparing to fly home after a 10-day-tour, so we were unable to reach them immediately.

During the drive my contractions got worse and I felt a strong urge to push. Since I had an epidural with Parker, I had never felt the pregnancy "urge-to-push" before. My husband, who was so strong and calm and just so perfect, was sweetly encouraging me not to push. I also felt liquid leaving my body and I was afraid that I was peeing all over my leather seats.

Honey called the mid-wife to confirm where we were to go upon arrival and to ask that someone meet us with a wheelchair since I would be unable to walk and he would need to go park and get Parker out.

We made it to the hospital in record time! I was wheeled to the Labor and Delivery triage while he and Parker went to park the car.

When I got to the triage room the nurse asked me to get on the table and into the gown. Between contractions I told her I could not do either alone. My contractions were coming so fast and hard that it was all I could do to rest in between each one. The nurse attempted to change me into the gown but all she could do was from the waist down. She checked me and I was at 10 centimeters so she called for assistance and announced it was GO TIME!

About that same time Michael, carrying Parker, met us in the hall and heard her announce that we were going to have a baby! I asked if there was time for an epidural to which about three nurses said NO!

The next thing I knew we were in labor and delivery...

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Sunday, March 30, 2014

Silent Sunday

This edition of Silent Sunday is coming to you live from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Overland Park Regional Medical Center where Honey and I are currently "living" along with our new baby boy, Grant Henry. Here are a few pictures of our week so far!

We love holding Baby Grant! You can see the breathing apparatus, a C-PAP, he wore during his first few days:

It was so wonderful to have sweet friends visit us this week:
What about big brother Parker? Well he loves the free ice cream and having his lunch in mommy's bed on the days he visits!
Baby Grant, finally without any head gear! Hooray for breathing on your own little one!
His first sponge bath was a great success!
He has a few probes attached to his body to count oxygen saturation levels, heart rate, and blood pressure. At this point he doesn't have any cords going inside his body with the exception of a feeding tube!!
We are so in love with him already!!
What a sweetheart! (You can see his feeding tube here.)
One of the perks of having a baby brother in the NICU is getting to have your afternoon nap while cuddled up with mommy on the days you visit. We both love this time together!
When he is here, Parker is very, very busy taking his wheels through the hospital!
And always stopping to smell the flowers!


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Saturday, March 29, 2014

Halloween: A Catch Up Post

Even thought I neglected to blog about it, we had a wonderful time celebrating Parker's second Halloween! It's so exciting to think that we will have two little ones to dress and take trick-or-treating for Halloween this year. Since becoming parents, this kid-centric day has become such a fun experience for Honey and I! This past Halloween was no exception...
We started Halloween with snuggles in Parker's room with him wearing his skeleton night-nights of course!
 That evening we got Parker dressed in his "Max, King of the Wild Things" costume:
And we went to the neighbor's house for a pre-trick-or-treating cookout!
While we were finishing up dinner a few children started to come by and Parker studied everyone's costume choices!
 Finally it was our turn! Daddy carried Parker between homes:
 And Parker got the hang of it very quickly! We taught him to take one piece of candy and place it in his bucket:
When we were done we came home to let Parker sort out his loot!
 It was such a fun evening! 

Here is Parker on Halloween 2012 and Halloween 2013:

Thanks for reading this catch up post! I'm already looking forward to next year!

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Thursday, March 27, 2014

Parker and Mommy go to Atlanta: A Catch Up Post

Another catch up post to recap one of the funnest weeks we had last fall! Honey had a chance to go hunting for a week in November so Parker Bear and I took off to Georgia to visit our family! We had the best time!!

Our day started around 3:45 am! Honey took us to the airport for our 6 am flight.
 Even Parker had to follow the rules in the security line...
 The flight was great and this little love slept the whole time!
 When we got "home" to Twinkle and Bing's house Bing and Parker got to reading books as soon as possible!
 Gigi and Snoopy came over from Alabama to visit us! Parker had fun showing them all of his new tricks.
 We also had a play date with Sammie too!
 And of course my grandmother couldn't wait to get her hands on her eighth great-grandchild!
 Parker had so much fun cheesing for her and my grandfather...
 But things turned serious once Parker spotted the ceiling fan...
 The highlight of the trip was when Uncle Ryan and Aunt Lindsay came to spend the night and bring Parker's big cousins David and Rachael! The cousins didn't waste any time and got to playing immediately!

 Bing got out his old metal trucks from his childhood. All three children loved playing with those old toys!
Parker took a quick break to facetime with his Daddy...
 
And then it was time for lunch. David asked to sit next to Parker.
 And then we headed outside...
 To ride the tractor!

 And jump on the trampoline!
Uncle Ryan with the boys...
 And Aunt Lindsay with all three littles...
 That evening we celebrated Bing's 63 birthday! I just love these pictures!
 Before bed Rachael made sure to give Parker a good night kiss!
 The next day we tried to get some pictures of the cousins in their matching pumpkin shirts. These are my favorite two pictures:
I can almost hear the laughter in this picture!
 And then it was time for more tractor riding! Uncle Ryan taught Parker how to hold on to the side rails and the boys were off!
 At one point David parked and turned around to talk to Parker. They were all so cute talking!
 Before it was time for David and Rachael to go David asked to get one more picture with Parker Bear!
 After we waved goodbye, Twinkle let Parker "drive" Bing's truck...
 That afternoon my cousin Little Wayne and his family came over to say hello. It was so nice to see them, I miss my family so much being out here in Kansas! Parker sure was happy to see Little Wayne!
 The next day Twinkle, Bing, Parker and I went out to lunch a little shopping. Parker was so excited that we were sitting outside near the sidewalk so he could watch the cars and trucks drive by!
 We were excited to be in town to celebrate Veteran's Day with one of our favorite veterans!
 And Parker decided to try his hand at driving the tractor...
 We got some pictures of Parker with Twinkle and Bing, although most of the pictures looked like this:
 we managed to get a good one!
Twinkle got some bath foam for Parker, he loved it!
 But not as much as he loved Twinkle reading to him!
 We had a great week! We boarded our flight home and we both took a wonderful nap!

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