Parker's Arrival!

This is definitely going to be a long post but I really want this story down in writing so that I can read back through it down the road. I know you can never really prepare yourself for the arrival of your first born, but Parker's delivery turned out waaaaay different than I ever expected. We are so blessed that he is here with us safe and sound now, but, not going to lie, it really was a rough delivery for both him and myself; the reason for such a long post.

If you don't have the time or energy to read through the whole post, here are the highlights: water broke at the hospital, pushed for 5 hours, had a c-section, blood transfusion (for me) day after delivery, home with a sweet baby boy now.

And now, if you are still reading (thanks!) here is the story (in detail) of our sweet baby boy's birth....

I had a doctor's appointment with my OB on Friday of this week - which was 2 days past my due date. I left there with this plan... if Baby Boy Z didn't come on his own before Sunday evening, I was to go to the hospital and begin the induction process. After learning of this, my sister decided to drive to our house Friday evening and my parents on Saturday.

Saturday - August 4th - 3am... I woke up with a different type of contraction than I had felt in the days before. Although they were different, they still weren't strong or had any type of pattern to them. Went back to sleep and slept until morning. I was really craving donuts that morning so my awesome sister (she will probably get this title many more times before this post is complete) went and got us some! I pretty much just laid on the couch most of the morning - with strong-menstrual like cramping and on again/off again contractions. Around lunch time I started feeling a little better so we decided to get out of the house for some lunch. My parents were on there way to our house by this time - Megan had called to let them know I had started having some contractions. After my parents arrived around 3pm, we celebrated my mom's birthday with a cake Megan had made. We decided to go to church at 5 that afternoon. I hesitated in going because my contractions started to get stronger around 3pm that aftenroon. I went anyway, but had a piece of paper with me in church and timed the contractions for an hour. Still very sporadic at this time. We came home, got pizza from Pizza Hut and ate dinner. Shortly after dinner, my contractions started coming on stronger. I had Megan write down the time of them to see how consistent they were. We timed them for an hour and they were pretty regular, coming every 3 minutes lasting 30-60 seconds each. Right before we had started timing them, I had called the hospital to see what I should do. They told me to come to the hospital but if I weren't in real labor, I would have to be sent home because all of their beds were full. I could not believe what I was hearing. We timed the contractions for the next hour and at the end of that hour I decided they were close enough and strong enough that it was time to head to the hospital. So, Brad, Megan, and I loaded up the car (after Dad snapped a few pictures, of course!) and we headed down to KU Med. Megan had decided to go with us so she could keep Mom and Dad updated on what was going on. They were going to stay home and try to get some sleep and then come to the hospital closer to the time he was going to be born. I kept thinking about how glad I was that he was going to come on his own, rather than having to be induced the next night!

Once we arrived at the hospital, I was checked into triage because - of course- all of their beds were full. I was checked and dilated to a 2. The doctor said I was to rest for an hour and then be checked again. If I hadn't made much progress then I would be sent home. 90 minutes later she came back and I was almost to a 3. She left to go check and see if they had room for me to stay. Not even 30 seconds after she left, my water broke. Guess I wouldn't be going home now!

I was immediately taken to labor & delivery. I remember the contractions almost immediately began to get stronger. It was around midnight by this time. At 2 am I was dilated to a 6. Megan called mom and dad and they headed to the hospital since things were starting to progress at a quicker pace now. Not sure what time it was, but I remember getting the epidural. I remember they came in to start the epidural and then had to rush out to the ER. I also remember begging them to stay and finish it, but the doctor left anyway. 10 minutes later they came back to finish. When my parents arrived, I remember I was laying flat on my back - feeling pretty comfortable. I was dilated to a 9 by now. Later on I learned that I had went from a 6 to a 9 in 45 minutes.

I started pushing at 3:30am. Initially, Brad was the only one who stayed with me, along with one nurse. The nurse asked if I wanted my mom in the room for extra support, so she, along with my sister came back into the room. I pushed for 2.5 hours with very little progress. I learned that the baby was turned so that he was face up - a very uncomfortable and almost impossible position to be delivered in. He would need to turn to be delivered. We tried several different things to get him to twist around, without much luck. The nurse decided it was time for a break, so she let me labor back down - which meant I laid flat on my back. I did this for about an hour, only to find out that the tiny bit of progress we had made with all of the pushing was lost during that time. We began to push again - with the epidural turned way down because the nurse felt I would be able to push stronger this way. Worst thing she could have done. I was in so much pain... so that was all I could focus on. Somewhere during this time it was time for a shift change so we got a new set of nurses - this time two of them. Best. Nurses. Ever. We began pushing again. Some of this time was a blur, but what I do remember is this.... we were making no progress and the baby's heart rate dropped rapidly at one point in time. The room flooded with nurses and a couple of doctors. I was immediately told to lay down flat and given an oxygen mask. I had no idea what was going on but I knew it wasn't good because the machines were making all sorts of noise. Once his heart rate came back up they explained what happened. I cannot even begin to explain what emotion I was feeling at that time. Scariest moment of my life. At one point, a doctor came in and said that although we weren't giving up with the pushing yet, we just weren't making any progress. A c-section may have to be done to deliver this baby safely. We pushed for awhile longer for a total of 2.5 more hours and then she returned. She explained how he was positioned, how after 5 hours of pushing we had made no progress, how his heart rate had dropped, several other things that I don't remember and finally, that it was going to be best if we had a c-section. I immediately told her, let's do it!

By now, it was sometime Sunday morning, I would say probably 10:30am. We had been at the hospital for right around 12 hours. We had to wait awhile for my doctor to get to the hospital and also for the anesthesiologist to come back. During this time I tried to take a nap. Just as I was falling asleep, the baby's heart rate dropped again and once again the room was flooded with doctors and nurses. His hr came back up and we were rushed to the operating room.

I remember the clock on the wall of the OR said 11:57am when we entered. I remember the c-section very clearly, and will probably remember it for a long time to come. I understand that it was the best choice for our baby's safety and I would do it again if needed, but man oh man, it was just plain awful. I remember there were so many people in the OR, yet I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't see anything. I was laying flat with my arms stretched out to my sides, unable to move them. I was freezing and shivered the entire time. Brad was with me, too.

Parker Russell Zimmerman was born at 12:25pm. I remember hearing him cry for the first time. If I remember right, they handed him to Brad and he showed him to me for a few seconds. The nurses then took him to the nursery where my parents and sister got to see him for the first time. I don't know how much longer I was in the OR but it was quite awhile.

Once in the recovery room, I was so uncomfortable. All I wanted to do was move my legs and feet but I couldn't because of the numbness. I was starting to feel some pain by now and became sick to my stomach, too. Brad came to the recovery room with Parker, and Mom, Dad, and Megan were there, too. I remember holding Parker for the first time and announcing to my family his full name. Parker Russell - Russell is my dad's first name. After awhile Brad, Meg, and Dad headed home for awhile, while Mom stayed with Parker and I.

After a couple of hours we were moved to a room in the Mother and Baby wing of the hospital. I don't remember much after this except that Brad's family came to visit that night. Parker got to meet Grandpa & Grandma Zimmerman, Uncle Brian & Aunt Jen, his cousins Drew & Jack, and Uncle Kevin. Brad stayed with Parker and I that night.

The next day (Monday) I had to have a blood transfusion because my hemoglobin count was really low and my blood pressure had been really high throughout the night. This was due to the amount of blood I lost during the c-section.  I was very low energy, very pale, and could barely move on my own - which is why I couldn't remember much of the night before. When this was complete I did start to get my energy back.

Parker and I stayed in the hospital until Tuesday evening. Part of this was to monitor my blood pressure and hemoglobin levels. Another reason we stayed was to work with the lactation consultant. Due to the long delivery, Parker was exhausted and had a hard time waking up. Therefore, he wasn't eating much the first couple of days of his life. He started breast feeding better Tuesday afternoon. After 3 days of being there, I was sooooo ready to go home!

And here I sit - almost 4 weeks since he's been born. It's crazy how fast the time has gone! I had a couple of rough weeks of recovery time but I am feeling much better now. I was so blessed to have my mom stay with us for the first two weeks. She cooked, cleaned, washed bottles, helped with Parker both day and night, along with many other things. Parker is doing great! He also had a hard time during the first couple of weeks. He wasn't gaining weight in the beginning because he wasn't eating much. We also found that he was born with a short tongue - therefore unable to get his tongue out past his bottom pallet which causes problems with sucking (the reason he wasn't eating and gaining weight). The Friday after he was born we took him to an ENT where he had to have his tongue clipped. Basically, his tongue was numbed and the doctor clipped 1 cm of the underneath part of his tongue which helps him stretch it out better. (Yes, it was very hard for me to watch and hear him screaming but it only lasted about 5 minutes). We will have to wait until he gets a little older and can stick his tongue out better and lick foods to see if there will have to be an additional procedure done. After several more trips to the pediatricians office, Parker started gaining weight. He is now eating 3-4 ounce bottles roughly every 3 hours. He is a growing boy now!