Parker's first two nights at home

Well we're finally home! Parker was very excited to see the place his parents talked about non-stop. No i.v. lines, no respirators, no needles, just a nice warm bed and two very eager parents. Surprisingly, Parker was only up 2x last night (for his feedings), which each take about an hour.

I'm doing well and almost back to myself. Turns out I developed severe pre-eclampsia, which caused my blood pressure to rise, and caused my kidneys & liver to stop functioning optimally. Thankfully it never progressed into full-blown eclampsia which can cause seisures and if untreated can eventually cause organ failure (and death). On Friday, when we went in (due to a blood pressure scare), they started me on i.v. magnesium sulfate ("mag") to prevent seisures, and decided to started the induction (originally scheduled for Tuesday) right away. After insisting upon a cheeseburger, I would not eat or drink again for 52 hours. The induction worked almost right away and the contractions kicked in. Once I was on the "mag", I started feeling pretty "out of it", almost drunk, and was kept in bed for a further 24 hours after Parker was born.

In total we were in labor for 30 some hours, but I wasn't keeping track- it was so worth it.
I was still able to get an epidural, which I thought would make the labor a piece of cake- but that wasn't exactly the case. After the first wave of numbness subsided, I started getting periodic patches of sensitivity, and we'd have to change positions frequently to allow the meds to circulate more evenly. By the time Parker was ready to make his debut, I was feeling alot of pain, and the anethesiologists were sick of hearing me complain and said I had exhausted all my pain management options. Thankfully I was fully dilated and the only thing left to do was push the baby out! Oddly, pushing was the only time when I had some level of pain relief. I pushed for a total of 2 hours, but it felt like only about 10 minutes and Parker was born.

Parker, who was also drunk from the "mag" didn't cry for quite awhile, which was good because they wanted to suction his lungs for the meconium that he'd aspirated inside me (a serious complication that can cause pneumonia). That was very scary, as I could barely see him, and couldn't hear him at all! After being stabilized with a respirator they finally wheeled him over so I could see him. However it would be another 24 hours before I saw him again, and even longer before I could hold him for the first time. Patrick was wonderful though, and brought me pictures and updates around the clock on how our son was doing. Despite staying in the NICU, Patrick (or I after I'd recovered) managed to give Parker all his (bottle) feedings, except the very first one after he was born.

Once I was discharged, we stayed at the Helen Rossi rooms at the hospital, so we could have access to Parker around the clock, and not have to commute from North Liberty. In case you can't tell from the pictures, we didn't get much sleep and didn't maintain the highest level of hygeine- as there was alot of paperwork, procedures, feedings to schedule and try to be present for.

Alot of good came out of Parker's stay in the NICU. We got around the clock expertise from nursing staff & others on how to bath, feed, diaper & medicate our little boy. Plus we had tons of help from lactation specialists and as a result, Parker is breast feeding very well.

We are so blessed for all your well wishes and look forward to introducing you to our little boy soon!
Kristin