Monday, 4/11/11 - Parker Elizabeth Perque was born.
stats: 7lbs, 9oz, 20", born at 3:37pm - it was a stormy morning at 4:30am as we made our way to the hospital but it cleared quickly and turned into a beautiful day.
David and I decided to induce on her due date if she didn't come before then. I guess she liked it in the womb since we ended up going with that plan on 4/11. I heard/read stories about how inductions cause prolonged labor, etc but I talked to my doc about it (I was a good candidate since I was 3 cm already) and felt comfortable with our decision. After we settled in the the L&D room, the nurses started a low dose of pitocin at 8am. At 9am, Dr. Neyman came in and broke my water. From there contractions got progressively more intense. I wanted to hold off on the epidural as long as I could as to not slow things down. I also wanted my doc to deliver Parker and I knew she would not be around that evening. Around 1pm, I couldn't take the pain of the contractions anymore and I called for the epidural. At that point, I was 6.5cm dilated. The contractions continually got stronger and stronger and within an hour I was already at 9cm! We started pushing at 2:30pm once I got to 10cm and Parker arrived at 3:37pm! I will say it was a lot easier than I expected. The experience in the hospital was great - all the nurses (with the exception of one in L&D) were extremely helpful and informative.
Fast forward to home...They let us go home on Wednesday (4/13). It was a very rough night. I knew things would be a challenge but was not prepared of how hard it would be for the first 3 weeks. My milk came in late (day 5) and she was starving the night we got home. She was only getting tiny amounts of colostrum. We took her to the doctor on day 4 and since she had lost over 10% of her birth weight, we were told she needed a formula supplement. I will say that BF has been one of the most challenging things I have ever done in my life. After speaking with most of my friends with children, I'm comforted by the fact that I am not the only one who shares this sentiment. On a positive note, Parker has been sleeping better and better - at 4 weeks she can go about a 4 hour stretch when we first put her down.
Here are a series of pics you can peruse:
https://picasaweb.google.com/perque/Parker?authkey=Gv1sRgCN6jor7O-4Oq-QE&feat=directlink#
Also, here are a couple pics of her today on her 1 month birthday!
- David and I talk about baby poop a lot now - frequency, color, consistency, etc. :-)
- Breastfeeding is hard and definitely an art. I would encourage any of my friends who are about to have a child to know many women struggle with this and find a LC to help you through if you experience difficult times like I did.
- my husband - he's a "hands on" dad and has been so helpful throughout this whole experience. I feel like we are closer than ever.
- friends - we have such an amazing network of supportive friends. We have received great advice, delicious meals delivered and never-ending offers to help out.
- family - especially my mom. She has spent the night a few times, cooked, cleaned, walked the dogs, even driven in so I could just take a 2 hour nap. I can't express how grateful I am for this help!
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