Drumroll Please....

I know this is long overdue, but PARKER HAS ARRIVED!!! He was born Friday, February 26th at 6:35 pm - 7 lb., 20 in. Now that you have the vital stats, here is a quick recap of the day:

We checked in the hospital at 7:30 am. They gave us our room and I got my awesome hospital gown. They hooked me up to an IV (which they burst the first vein they tried and I still have a gnarly bruise to show for it!). My doctor was ready to break my water and get the show on the road, but we had to wait on the anesthesiologist for my epidural... there were 2 unexpected c-sections that he was tied up with. So we started the pitocin without him at about 10am. By 10:30 he came to administer the epidural (I only felt about 1 or 2 contractions!). Quickly after that, my doctor broke my water, then it was just a waiting game.

Things started slowly and the contractions weren't very strong. It probably took an hour or 2 to dilate another cm to 4. My nurse, Claudine, was a great French lady and she was motivated to get this baby out before her shift ended at 7pm. So, she kept coming in and increasing the pitocin to get things moving! Eventually I started making some quicker progress, meanwhile I wasn't feeling a thing! I could tell I was having a contraction only because my stomach would get really tight. Kyle and my Mom would watch the monitor and we saw how the intensity increased throughout the day. They started at about a level 7-8, then by the end of the day I was having level 15+ contractions and few that were off the charts!

We just watched movies all day and had a few visitors. Muffy, Marge and my Aunt Cindy came by to visit. Then my friends Allison and Whitney each came by to hang out for awhile. It was great to have a distraction and someone to keep me occupied!

Finally around 5pm they said I was at 8 cm and would probably push within the hour. At that point I could feel the pressure to push coming on and I knew I was getting ready! Sure enough, I moved along just as they thought and I was pushing by around 6pm. Overall, I pushed a maximum of about 30 minutes and Parker was born! Luckily it was a very easy delivery and he was a happy, healthy little boy! All the nurses said I was made to have babies considering how easy the delivery went! It was a really special experience for Kyle and I to share.

We got to spend about an hour with him and have a few visitors before they whisked him away to the nursery for a couple hours. The rest of our stay at the hospital was great! Well, except for the student nurse who put our embroidered pillowcases in with the rest of the hospital laundry!! What a mess, and we still haven't gotten them back...

We went home that Sunday and things have been going great! He had his first car ride to his 2 day checkup, and he had already gained weight from leaving the hospital! He also gave the doctor a little golden shower!!! We quickly realized that a spare onesie was a must for the diaper bag...

He has had a few colicky episodes, but it's not a daily occurrence. We are hoping his digestive system is just going through an adjustment period... Gripe water is our new best friend though! That stuff works magic. At his 2 wk checkup, he was over his birth weight as he should be. This now means we are allowed to let him sleep as long as he is willing during the night and only wake up when he is ready to feed. Unfortunately he is still on the every 3 hr schedule, so we are still getting up regularly throughout the night. We are lucky though that he usually sleeps straight through between feedings! He usually just falls right asleep in a food coma after a feeding, no matter what time of day...His umbilical cord finally fell off, so he got his first real bath today (full water instead of a sponge bath)!

Now that we are all caught up, I promise I will post on a regular basis to keep everyone updated on the latest happenings and pics! One last picture - Parker and his Daddy...