We Had a Baby! Introducing Anne Irene Parker

Our little Annie came into this world in a hurry. She was born on Monday, October 1st at 5:25 p.m., after about 5 minutes of pushing and less than 5 hours of labor. 8 lbs., 2 ounces, 21 inches long and 9 days early.

With the exception of just a couple nights so far, this baby has been a dream. She is incredibly pleasant to be around. She's content, likes to sleep, and is a good eater. She was born with lots of dark hair, fair skin and a cute, chubby double chin. We all adore her. Every morning when Lucas wakes up, the first thing he wants to do is see baby Annie.

Blue face! She had the cord wrapped around her neck.

Here are the details of how Annie arrived. It's a lot of reading, so if you want, you can just look at the pictures. :)

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This mama is so glad that whole labor and delivery thing is over!

Lucas was totally skeptical of the baby at first.

 I had contractions pretty much all through this pregnancy. But the Thursday before Annie arrived, I started having regular contractions that came about 5 minutes apart. Although the contractions weren't painful, they went on this way for a few hours., so we called the doctor on-call and she suggested that we go in to the hospital. I really doubted I would have a baby that day, but my doctor had been emphatic about me calling once I had contractions 8 minutes apart, because "second babies come a lot faster!" Of course, once we arrived at the hospital, the contractions stopped and they sent us home.

I spent the weekend half expecting to go into labor again, half feeling like I needed to reset my expectations to my actual due date.

Monday morning when I woke up, I felt a little off, but nothing major was wrong. I took my time getting ready for the day and took Lucas to the park. While we were at the playground, my stomach started hurting. It took me a while to realize that the small pains I was feeling could actually be contractions. I emailed Daniel at about 12:45 p.m. to let him know I was having contractions again and would let him know if it was the real deal. Naturally, we were a little gun shy after the false labor a few days earlier. I also called my wonderful brother-in-law, McKay, who had been staying with us that week, to ask him to stay close by in case I really was in labor and needed him to watch Lucas.

McKay immediately offered to meet me at the playground to help with Lucas, and was there in just a few minutes. On the way home we stopped by the grocery store (if I was going to have a baby that day, I wanted to make sure I had good snacks for the hospital - and I had eaten most of the snacks I'd packed on Thursday!). We got home, fed Lucas, put him down for a nap, and I went to lie down to see if the contractions would stop or slow down. They didn't, but I didn't feel like they were bad enough to call Daniel yet.

I called my mom and chatted with her for a while. She insisted that I get off the phone with her and immediately call Daniel and my doctor. Since I was still doing OK, I told her I would in an hour or so. "No," she said. "You need to call Daniel now." So I emailed him and suggested that he start making his way home. I called my doctor and told her I'd probably labor at home for another hour before going into the hospital.

Lucas warming up a bit.

Well, everything progressed really quickly from there. Daniel got home at 3:45, and we decided it was best to just get to the hospital. (I was planning to take a bath, but halfway in, the contractions got bad enough we decided to just leave). On the way to the hospital in the taxi, I actually said to Daniel after a particularly strong contraction: I can't believe people  do this without pain medication." Ha! Little did I know...

We got to the hospital around 4:15. They measured me, and when they told me I was already dilated to 7 centimeters, I knew there was a good chance I wouldn't get an epidural. Since my doctor wasn't expecting me so soon she went into help with a C-section and the triage staff left me to labor. In a matter of minutes, my contractions went from, "You don't look like a woman that's dilated to a 7 - you're too happy" to "Daniel, open the door so they can hear me screaming!"

I am not one of those stoic women who silently internalizes the pain. I yell.

They finally moved me out of triage and into the labor and delivery room. At last, my doctor walked in, measured me and said: "Megan, you can wait for an epidural or you can have this baby in literally 5 minutes." I asked if there was any other pain medication I could get. I was desperate! Nope, but she assured me it would go fast.

At that moment I had another contraction and knew I had to push. I had been having the urge since triage and waiting for an epidural was not an option. Three contractions and 5 minutes later (just over an hour after we arrived at the hospital) there was a slime-covered, crying baby in my arms. It was incredible. I couldn't believe my baby was there so soon. And I couldn't believe I did it without an epidural.

An all natural labor is completely different. You feel EVERYTHING, and you know exactly how hard you have to push. In fact, it's like your body takes over and you just do it. After Annie was born, I realized my throat was sore from yelling during the delivery, and I pushed so hard, I had red spots all over my face, throat, chest and shoulders where blood vessels broke. 

One of the best all-time pictures of Lucas. He was very anxious about that bottle. I'm not sure if it was because he wanted to feed the baby by himself or if he wanted the bottle to drink.

This delivery was also completely different from when we had Lucas. There were so many complications with him -- low heart and oxygen rates, monster contractions that had to be stopped with a shot because they were lasting too long, signing release forms for a c-section, just in case... And then a lot of waiting to let my body "labor down" on the epidural while letting the baby recover from the shock of the epidural, long contractions and first "trial" push. During the delivery there was a clear sense of urgency and concern from the doctor. And when Lucas came out, they immediately whisked him away to make sure he was OK. There were several tense, silent moments while Daniel and I looked at each other wondering if our baby was alright before we finally heard him cry.

Annie, on the other hand, came so fast and furious there was no worrying about the heart rate or oxygen level. And when she came out, she immediately cried as the doctor lifted her onto my chest. It was amazing. 

About 10 or 15 minutes after Annie was born, the nurse in the labor and delivery room said, "You realize that if you had gotten the epidural, you'd only be getting it now." I don't know how I would have been able to wait.

After Annie was born, Daniel and I spent the next few hours holding and admiring her, calling our loved ones to let them know the news and just being together. I only stayed one night in the hospital. It just isn't restful for me to be there -- between having and hearing a roommate, hearing newborns crying through the night and getting your vitals checked every few hours, it's almost impossible to get in some quality sleep. Besides, I missed my family! Especially my first baby.

Annie didn't get a name that day. We had talked about her name for a long time. Daniel loved the name Annie and I was still undecided. But when I tried out other names on her, nothing else seemed to fit as well. Annie's middle name, Irene, is after my grandma, Shirley Irene Gattis Perkins, and her mother, Margaret Irene Hicks Gattis. 

The next day, when we introduced Lucas to the new baby, he was pretty skeptical about the whole thing. I mean, his mom, who is always around, disappears for a day. When he finally sees her again there's a baby there? What!?!

But when we brought Annie home he couldn't contain his excitement. He jumped all around the apartment and kept pointing to and talking about the baby. One of the first things he did -- in true big brother fashion -- was to tickle Annie's toes (he loves tickling). He kept asking to hold the baby and got upset when he didn't get to do it himself. 

Lucas has been a pretty good big brother. So far, I haven't seen much jealousy. He talks to Annie in a sweet, high voice: "Hi Annie!" and says, "how cute!" If anything, she's in danger of being over-loved with attempts at being picked up by her big brother and pacifiers being shoved in her face.




Daniel and I have been slowly adjusting to having two kids. He has been wonderful about getting home from work early, helping out around the house or taking care of Annie in the middle of the night when I'm just too exhausted. I've been trying to take it easy as much as possible while I recover, which has been fairly doable thanks to so many family, friends and new friends who have offered to watch Lucas, bring us meals and help us out. In fact, we've felt overwhelmed by all the love we've been shown by so many people. We feel incredibly blessed.