Introducing...

Parker Miles Bybee

Born July 11, 2009 at 9:16 p.m.

8 lbs., 4 oz., 20 1/2" long

Yay! Parker is here and we are all thrilled. I probably have about 2 1/2 minutes to complete this post so here are the important details:

I went into the hospital at noon on Saturday to be induced. Because both Evan and Maren had shoulder dystocia, which can, at worst, be life-threatening, we wanted to get Parker out as soon as possible once my cervix was "favorable". Dr. Taitano sat and talked with us for a long time about the option of a c-section before we got things started. He reminded us that that would be the only way to ensure a positive outcome and he advised us to think about it. In the end, we decided that Dr. Taitano had successfully delivered our other two babies who were stuck and we trusted him to do a great job with Parker, too. At around 4:00 I started having contractions. At 8:00 I was checked and was dilated to a four. I decided it was time for an epidural, even though I had thought maybe I would try without since I was given the option of going without one for the first time ever. The anesthesiologist probably got there around 8:30. Around 9:10 he walked out, after having tried about four times to get it in the right spot. Come to find out, I was going through transition while he was trying to get it in (though I only thought I was going to die, is all!), because as he was walking out, Dr. Taitano was checking me, declared me to be at a ten and that it was time to start pushing. Ha! So much for that epidural! Can I go ahead and claim that I never had one?? :-)

Parker was miraculously born without shoulder dystocia. What's crazy is that he is the biggest baby yet. Strange how these things happen. Evan, our smallest of the three, had the most severe shoulder dystocia. Anyway...he's a sweetie boy with the cutest black hair, button nose and a cleft chin! Who knows where the cleft chin genes came from, but I love it. Cute, cute! He had quite a bit of trouble in the hospital, spitting up all the time, gagging, stopping breathing! Luckily I only had to pull the red emergency cord once but things were pretty hairy a few times. It seems that this happens to all of our kids because they come down the birth canal so fast that the amniotic fluid doesn't get squeezed out of their lungs. Scary stuff. He's doing much better now. I'm feeling better each day but have had quite a bit of pain pretty much from head to toe. It sure helps to have a sweet little boy to kiss and love on!

Evan and Maren are both smitten with him. They are gentle, loving and wonderful with him. Evan wants to teach him everything and Maren wants to hold him and kiss him. Evan takes a lot of responsibility for him because, as he always reminds us, he is the one who prayed that we'd have another baby so he definitely has some ownership there. Ha! Anyway, I feel like this is all discombobulated but I've got to get to bed since he's asleep. Here are some of my favorite pictures...

Before. Not pretty but necessary, right? The great news? I only gained 10 - 12 pounds and am already under my pre-pregnancy weight. Ha! Not good if you go into pregnancy underweight but GREAT for me!!