Gratuitious Cuteness!

Okay....I'm warning you now...there's more cuteness on this page than most people can handle in one day. It's overwhelming and could cause adverse effects on your fallopian tubes if you're a woman. Scroll at your own risk, that's all I'm saying. :-)



Okay...Here's baby Parker dressed to impress on the day we left the hospital.



Isn't the cuteness just jumping off the page at you? Those fingers...those cheeks...ugh, it's more than I can handle for sure. How I'm ever going to say no to this boy is beyond me.

Also, this cute bundle doesn't even come close to revealing the not so cute behavior that plagued us the night he came home. We were insulated in our nice warm hospital room. We were lulled into a false sense of security. We weren't exactly prepared for our first night home with this 8 pound munchkin. The night this boy came home with us was a night from hell. I won't sugar coat it, it was one of the hardest nights of my entire life. He had been through so much change that he was all out of sorts....and gassy....and just didn't feel good. Did I know how to soothe him, heck no! Did Grandma or Grandpa? No way....well, Grandma finally did get him hugged up to her so that his belly was up against hers and he seemed to like that....but mostly he just cried, and cried, and cried and couldn't be soothed. I cried and fought back the desire to drive back to the hospital and return him. No...I wouldn't have done that....well, maybe....no seriously, I wouldn't have ever done that. I was thinking irrationally from lack of sleep, we all were. Luckily we went to see the pediatrician the next day and he was all like, "Give him some infant Mylicon drops and he'll be fine." Well thanks doc...where were you like 12 hours ago? :-) Anyway, Mylicon is the next best thing since sliced bread and Parker's cheeks. If you're a new Mom or about-to-be Mom, stock up. Trust me!


And now....for my little ducky....




Now those cheeks...they slay me....those blue eyes, oh Lordy be I'm in trouble. What else is there to say? He's just too cute for words. Of course, he's mine so I can be that blatantly biased. :-)

Hugs to you all!
L.

My sweetest boy!

Here are the first pictures of me, Shooter and Parker from the OR delivery room. As you can see in the first pic, I have an ice pack on my chest. Apparently most women end up vomiting during a cesearean delivery, I lasted longer than most....I didn't get sick until the surgeons were sewing me up. That made spending time with Parker a little difficult, but we managed some first family pictures thanks to the wonderful anesthesia nurse, Barbara.

Here is the first picture of Mommy and Parker:

Here's the first picture of Daddy and Parker:

Here's our first family picture:

Here's Parker after his first bath while he was being worked on in the transition nursery. He inhaled some meconium during delivery and had to spend 4 hours in the transitional nursery being monitored. He was born at 5:11pm and I didn't get to hold him until a little after 9pm.

But once I got to hold him, I didn't let go for a while. This munchkin grabbed my heart and hasn't let go. Methinks it'll be that way for a long, long, long, long time. :0)

He's a little yellow here...we fought off jaundice and we won, but he looks a little like he's been in a tanning bed. :-)

Look at those cheeks will you? They slay me. I kiss and smooch and snuggle to them daily. I can't help it. They're addictive....like Cheetos only better for you!

Labor....wherefore art thou labor?

Well....now it's time to talk a little about my delivery of Baby Parker. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I was on Pitocin for several hours with no progression of my labor. As you can see by the picture below, I was in so much pain.... ;-)

Since I knew the day before that I was being induced, my parents had time to make it down from Tennessee. Here are me and my Dad in the labor room.

We were really hoping that Parker (and I) had progressed so that we could get the delivery show on the road. Here is Shooter giving Parker the what's what on how he needed to come on out and greet us. Unfortunately it didn't work!

Once the doctor came in and evaluated me, it was determined that we were off to surgery. Here I am prepped and ready to go!

I also had to give Shooter's head a good rub for luck....here we both are dressed, prepped and ready to head off to surgery so that we could meet our precious Parker.

Here is a picture of me with my L&D nurse DeAnna. She was the sweetest nurse and really made the time I spent in L&D a good experience. She accompanied me to the OR and then was there through my surgery as well.

More to come......

Baby Parker has arrived!!!

Well, as I posted Wednesday a week ago, I had been having issues with my blood pressure. After being observed on Tuesday I went back on Thursday just to be checked out and found out that my blood pressure was still as high and my doctor was very nervous about things.

She sent me back over to the hospital to be observed and see what happened after a few hours of rest. Well, the OB on call came to see me after an hour and said, "Well, I think we need to get you ready for a delivery. I'm ordering Cervadil for the night and then we'll start Pitocin in the morning to get your labor going." I nearly freaked out! Shooter comes to the hospital to stay with me and then I get on the phone with my parents so they can begin the drive from Tennessee to Hotlanta for the birth of their grandson.

On Friday morning they pulled the Cervadil and then started the Pitocin at 9am. At about 2:30pm I started having these horribly strong contractions that had me crying and writhing in bed. I then found out that they were so strong because I had a full bladder. Once I went to the bathroom they subsided to the non-existent point they were before. At 4pm the OB on call came in and checked me and I was barely, and I mean BARELY, 1 cm dilated after 7 hours on Pitocin. Also, Parker's heartbeat was starting to drop with each of my contractions so the OB on call was justifiably concerned. She decided at 4pm to do a c-section and Parker was born at 5:11pm on Friday, July 10th. He weighed in at a healthy 8 pounds 3 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. I found out later that I wouldn't have been able to deliver him anyway due to a huge kink in his cord, about the size of Shooter's fist. He had somehow somersaulted and knotted his cord in a big way!

I owe a huge debt of thanks to the OB who delivered Parker because she made a decision that saved me a lot of pain and saved Parker pain as well. I have recovered remarkably from my c-section and we're all doing amazingly well.

My parents have been here all week with me and have been a godsend. I do not know what I would have done had they not been here...especially Mom...whew....she's an angel for sure, peeps!

Anyway. I'm slowly working on getting photos in order and such and I'll be posting them soon!

Hugs to all of you!
L.

I would SO not make a good bedrest patient

Yesterday I had a bit of a scare during my doctor's visit. I went in, a little earlier than my scheduled appointment because I'd been having contractions, and discovered that my blood pressure was pretty high. Higher than it's been all through my pregnancy. I've been kinda worried that this day might come but had figured I was past the point where I'd really have to worry about it.

Well, after resting, my blood pressure still didn't go down far enough to please the doctor so she sent me over to the hospital for observation and blood work. Well, it took about an hour to just get in there, get settled, answer their questions, get hooked to monitors and have my blood drawn. Ugh! Then they said it would take another hour to get the results from my blood work. I hadn't had breakfast and it was lunch time...I was about to die! Luckily my nurse took pity on me and brought me a lunch menu so I ordered some lunch. Lunch came about 1pm, I'd arrived around 11:40am, and I didn't get the results from my blood work until between 3 and 3:30pm. I was so freakin' bored out of my mind that I thought I was going to go batty! The only thing on TV was the Michael Jackson memorial and I am so oversaturated with MJ coverage that I couldn't stand watching it. Also, I discovered that watching "A Baby Story" on TLC really isn't as entertaining when you're in the hospital hooked to monitors in a labor and delivery room! Thankfully my blood work results were all good and my observation went well so nothing further was needed to be done.

The doctor did send me home with strict instructions - no more work, rest, stay off my feet as much as possible and stay out of the heat. Not too hard...I can handle that!

I have to say that not having to worry about work has been one of the greatest gifts. I slept really well last night have abided by her orders to the letter!

I will keep everyone updated for when Parker arrives...he's being stubborn and slow so we might be waiting for a while. :-D

Recipe Time!! Mediterranean Couscous Salad

One Sunday evening I got really industrious and worked away in the kitchen making three salads/salsas for the week's dinners and lunches. One was a brand new one for me and one I completely made up on the fly. I have since worked with the dressing element of the salad and feel that it's now perfecto! I hope you enjoy trying this out!


Mediterranean Couscous Salad

1 cup dried couscous prepared according to package directions and cooled
3 Roma/plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 medium red onion, diced
2 english cucumbers, quartered, seeds removed and diced
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped well
1 8oz container feta cheese crumbles

In a large mixing bowl stir all of the ingredients above together until mixed well.

Dressing:
Juice of three lemons
Zest of one lemon
1 tsp minced garlic (I use the jarred kind)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

Whisk all these ingredients until thoroughly combined and then pour over the couscous mixture. Stir well until the vinaigrette is well incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for an hour before serving.

No news - the waiting game continues

Well....we're one week away from my due date. 7 measley days. I'm actually hoping that tonight or tomorrow will be the magical time. It's a full moon tomorrow and we all know that full moons bring out the crazy people and cause preggos to go into labor. I don't wanna jinx myself, but I just haven't felt right today. My tummy is really tight, my lower back hurts and the baby is really, really low!

I've been having some stern conversations with my son this weekend about how his father and I are very ready for him to come and that we can't wait to see his little face. His father has had conversations with him urging him to come out of the womb and into the room! This weekend didn't see much activity - only random Braxton Hicks contractions. Today....today feels different somehow. We'll see if it means anything. I have an OB appt tomorrow late in the day so we'll see what she says and see if I've made any progress.

In other news....can I tell you how oversaturated I am with all this Michael Jackson stuff? I mean, seriously....I've had enough of it. Shooter and I pulled into our local pharmacy yesterday and discovered that the sign out front was rigged to stay on the message, "We'll miss you, Michael J!!!!!!!" I nearly gagged. I've contemplated going to the pharmacy website and emailing them a complaint. Eh, it's probably my grouchy pregnancy hormones taking over my otherwise easy going self.

Okay....since I've been writing this....I'm feeling more and more uncomfortable and weird. Maybe it was my sandwich for lunch....then again, maybe it's labor. Let's all pray that it's the latter!

Hopefully the next time I return it'll be with pictures of baby Parker!