Parker's Birth Day!

After having severe back pain all of Thanksgiving (Matt's birthday!), I decided to call the doctor Friday morning, the 23rd.  I wasn't really having stereotypical measurable contractions, but still quite a bit of pain that kept me up at night.  They told me to just come in and get checked to see if anything was going on.  Little did I know that I was already 6 cm dilated!  The doctor was stunned, and was announcing it to everyone in the office that "this patient just walked in here smiling and is 6 cm dilated!) We didn't even get to go home to get our bags-  I was wheeled straight to the labor and delivery hall. 

Within 2-3 hours, I moved to 8 cm, and the nurses started setting up the room for delivery.  We were told that things would move very quickly based on what they had seen so far....boy were they wrong.  My contractions were not measurable on the monitors because they were basically constant, and in my back.  I ended up stalling at 8 cm.  Epidural? Yes please! 

After moving so fast, it took me about 8 hours and a LOT of Pitocin to move from 8 cm to 10 cm: pushing time.  Because my contractions were not measurable, pushing was difficult.  After 45 minutes or so of pushing, the nurse decided to put a scalp monitor on Parker's head to better see his heart beat, as it seemed to drop during each pushing session--which was scary for us, as no one wants to hear about a monitor attached with a hook to their baby's scalp.  The nurse inferred that the cord must have been wrapped around him somewhere.

After an hour and a half of pushing, baby Parker's heart rate dropped well into the danger zone.  It appeared to the nurses that he was in the "sunny side up" position, and struggling to get past my pubic bone.  They stopped me from pushing, and called Dr. McCool back in.  At one point, Matt saw baby's heart beat hit 0, and the decision to rush a c-section was made.  I was wheeled into the OR, and surgery started very quickly.

Parker Jonathan Preis was born via C-section at 10:02pm on November 23, 2012!  Hearing his first cry was the most incredible experience that I will never forget.  He weighed 7 pounds and 1 ounce, and was 20 inches long.  

Though the c-section was difficult and recovery is a tough,  we are blessed with this sweet baby boy that I get to spend the next 8 weeks with.

Welcome, sweet baby, we love you with all of our hearts!