Isaac
maxine June 12th, 2008
My pregnancy with Isaac was fairly easy. I didn’t have too much nausea or vomiting (though it usually would happen at work), and all other aches, pains, and maladies were minimal. Imagine my surprise when Isaac showed up two weeks early! I had been getting all sorts of Braxton Hicks contractions for a while, but one night seemed particularly bad. The doctor had told me to call her if my contractions got within 3 minutes apart. For several hours, we timed contractions and saw that they were getting successively closer together, although they didn’t hurt. After they were two minutes apart for an hour, we finally called the doctor and went to the hospital. I figured I was just one of those lucky ones who didn’t feel painful contractions.
Wrong. The moment we pulled up to the hospital, my contractions stopped entirely. Great. My uterus has stage fright. Back home.
The following day, I thought my water had broken early in the morning. I was also feeling contractions that seemed more like what the Lamaze teacher had described - painful. So it was back to the hospital again, just one day later. They strapped me up to the monitors, and again my uterus got cold feet. Still, they were able to catch one full contraction on the graph, and it was definitely a contraction. So was I in early labor and would we be returning later in the day? “Um, it’s definitely a contraction, but just try to keep that baby in there for another couple of weeks.” Huh.
So, we went to a family picnic for my work later that morning. Everyone saw me contracting every 7 minutes, but I still wasn’t convinced that I was in labor (hey, 2 false alarms really does something to your confidence!). Ultimately, they were right. At 4:30AM on November 18, I checked in to the hospital. I wanted to labor without drugs if possible, but I hadn’t slept more than a handful of hours in the past 3 days and was beyond exhausted. I knew I wouldn’t have any strength left when it came time to push, so I opted for the epidural. By 6:00AM, I was in no pain and working on falling asleep. As tired as I was, I had a hard time sleeping with all the nurses running in and out of the room.
All too soon, it was time to push. Just as I had expected, I was so tired that I was literally falling asleep during the pushes! It was hard to do it without any feeling, but I managed.
After 32 hours of labor, Isaac Maxfield Parrish was born at 11:59AM on Sunday, November 18, 2007. He weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and measured 18 inches long.
We’re so blessed with such a darling boy, and we are so excited to see how he grows and develops!