Ahhh Heaven...

Let me first say how this has definitely been a summer for boys!  Shout out to Bossy - congrats Doll!!  :)

Now to update you all with...my birth story!!!

As I believe I had mentioned before, if Parker didn't come by his due date I was scheduled to be induced on the 21st of this month.  And as I'm sure you've guessed, he did not arrive on his own so his little butt got evicted!

Mr. CB and I checked in at  the Maternity Admissions Unit at 7:15am that morning.  I think they had an admission because I wasn't "checked in" and taken back to Labor and Delivery until 8.  No biggie...I knew my LO was going to be here sometime that day.  Once I got in the room, I had to strip down and put a hospital gown on and then I got my IV for the pitocin and hooked up to the monitor to watch my contractions and monitor Parker's heart rate.

The pitocin was started at a rate of 6mL per hour, but I wasn't feeling anything so the rate kept being increased.  At around 10:30am, my OB came by and broke my bag of waters.  That crap kinda hurt and the leaking was NOT cool!  LOL  I felt like I was constantly peeing on myself.  At around 3-4cm, the pain was starting to get uncomfortable so I had my name put on the list for an epidural (I'm a kind of "go with the flow" kind of girl, so my birth plan included an epidural if I felt I needed one...especially with the pitocin which can make labor pains more acute).  Luckily I was only second on the list so I didn't have to wait long.

The anesthesiologist was fantastic - I wasn't scared at all and barely felt a thing.  It was so funny because before I knew it, the nurse asked "Did you feel that one?"  I was like "Huh?"  And she told me that I was at the height of a contraction.  I wasn't feeling a thing and suddenly everything was fabulous!  Anyway, things progressed somewhat steadily for the rest of the afternoon (times are blurry that day).  I chilled in the bed, sipping Sprite and cranberry juice and talking to my family while updating ALL the girls at work via text messaging.

Later that afternoon/early evening , Parker was still "sunny-side up" so my OB had me lay far on my side with my knee up to open my pelvis and hopefully coax Parker to turn.  At around 8:30pm she came back in, checked me and had me do a couple of "practice pushes" to see what would happen.  After the second push, she said "Okay, let's start pushing!"  Oh man I was so excited...and my parents had gone to get something to eat!!  I had my BF call them on her cell phone but my mom didn't answer! (Her cell has a Minnesota number because that's where she's from)  So I had Mr. CB call them on my cell for her and within a minute my mom was busting in the door.  Luckily, my OB and the nurse were getting everything ready so she didn't miss anything.

It was hard to know if I was pushing correctly since I couldn't feel anything from the waist down.  But I had an awesome team.  My husband was at my head telling me how great I was doing, my mom and BF each had a leg, and of course my doc and nurse.  After about 45 minutes of pushing, Parker was finally here!!!

My sweet boy was born on Tuesday August 21, 2012 at 9:17pm.  He weighed 10 pounds 5 ounces and was 22.5 inches long!!!  When the nurse announced that, I couldn't believe my ears.  There was no way the big fella lived in my belly...I never would have guessed he weighed that much.  But he is mine and the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

This past week has been tiring but I have never been happier being at home with Parker and my husband.  We are one happy family.  I am so thankful for this blog > offering a way for us to support each other through such difficult and happy times and seeing that wishes can and do some true.

I wish all my fellow buds this much happiness and I will definitely keep reading posts!

Curly Bud...signing off.

10 weeks.

40 weeks (the BF painted this...the brown at the bottom is supposed to be sand!)

Luckily, he's a much happier baby than he was the night he born...

This  was taken the morning we went home from the hospital.