Newborn Confessions

As a mom of a newborn, I must confess that I (or Greg) do the following:

1. If you are holding Parker and standing next to me, I will more than likely rock some part of my body as if I'm still holding her.
2. If Greg is driving and trying to maintain a certain speed so that she will go to sleep, he will ride close behind and then (safely) pass the car in front of us if it's driving "to slow" for his standards.
3. No matter how upbeat my Facebook posts sound, I'm tired.
4. Even on my third child, I still pray and hold my breath as I lay her down after rocking her to sleep. You never know what slightly wrong movement will wake her back up.
5. I love to nurse my child, but I still secretly envy every woman I see that is not currently a buffet table.
6. Some days are just plain hard, and on those days I remind myself to take it one day at a time.
7. I also try to remind myself that I will get to sleep an entire night again sooner than I realize.
8. Baby #3 is on a schedule, but it's not nearly as strict as the schedule we had #1 and #2 on. Shhh, don't tell anyone. The hardest part of my schedule is actually getting up in the morning after nighttime feeding and rocking. No matter how much sleep I (do or don't) get, the big girls will still get up at the same time each morning and I need to be up and ready for them.
9. I miss giving my big girls a bath, reading a bedtime story, saying our prayers, and putting them to bed. For now, that's Greg's job. I bathe, feed, and put Parker to bed. We must divide and conquer.
10. No nap is long enough.
11. No shower is long enough.
12. I miss me time.
13. I'm beyond ready to put Parker in her own room at night. It's hard for me to sleep when she grunt 1-2 hours before actually waking up to eat. I keep a stuffed animal Big Bird in my bed and I use that to cover my ear when she starts to grunt. It doesn't work very well.
14. Because of lack of sleep, I'm short tempered with my 3 1/2 and 2 year old and that's not their fault. I'm working on that.
15. I still listen to hear Parker breathing before climbing into bed at night.
16. When she spits up, I wish there was a way to bottle up the output. Breastmilk is liquid gold.
17. Because Greg is working and I'm at home, he sleeps all night and I take care of Parker. We've had this agreement with all of our girls. Yes, he will help when needed. Yes, I sometimes want to kick him when he snores while I'm up feeding or rocking. I mean that lovingly!
18. Quality time = me feeding Parker at night, Greg wakes up, looks at me, and we wave at each other.
19. My house is a mess and I'm ok with that ... no, I'm not ... but I'm to tired to do anything about it.
20. It's worth every moment!
    

More Pics from Parker's BirthDay!

Parker, Weasey (my mom), and Bailey

Parker and Pops (my dad)

Parker and Mimi (Greg's mom)

Parker and Uncle Brian (my brother)

Bailey and Lou posing in the window in their Big Sister shirts

First picture of our three girls! - Lou, Bailey, Parker

WE ARE BLESSED!

Miss Parker Gave us a Little Scare

About 3 hours after Parker was born, a Nursery Nurse came to our room to check on her and she noticed that she was a little gray around her mouth. She took her to the nursery and put her on a breathing monitor which showed that her oxygen was not as high as they would like it to be. She also noticed that Parker had a heart murmur. This is not the news that we wanted to hear, but we put our faith in God and trusted that he would make her whole. Our family left shortly after this news so that Parker could be monitored and we could rest. I asked Greg to pray with me so he prayed and I cried.

That evening, the NICU doctor ordered a chest Xray and it came back to show "no abnormalities." Parker was left on the breathing monitor all night so I went to the nursery to feed her whenever it was time. The next morning (Friday), our pediatrician ordered an EKG because he also heard the heart murmur. Her breathing had improved overnight, but her oxygen level still wasn't high enough. Thankfully, she did not have to be put on actual oxygen through this ordeal so that was a very good sign. The EKG came back to show that the connection between her left and right heart valve had not completely closed. This is the news her doctor expected to hear, and he assured us that this was not a huge concern and the connection should close within the next 24 hours. So, we put our trust in her doctor and our faith in God and we waited. Her pediatrician came in the next morning (Saturday) to check on her and the heart murmur was gone! The connection had closed, her breathing was perfect, and we were cleared to go home! Praise the Lord!

Her follow up visit on Monday showed no signs of breathing issues or the heart murmur.

Thank you again to all of our friends, family, and church family that stood in faith with us through this little scare. We appreciate you more than you'll ever know.

Proverbs 3:5 - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

Welcome to the Family, Miss Parker!

Parker Eva Morrison made her arrival on Thursday, 2/2/12 at 2:02pm. She was 7 lbs 15 oz and 20 1/4" long. Mom and Dad were very proud to welcome their third daughter into the family!



That morning we arrived at St. Francis Hospital at 6:00am for our induction. My doctor showed up around 8:30am to break my water. Over the morning hours, I progressed to having contractions every 2 minutes. At that time, I decided to call in the epidural. Excellent decision on my part! Just after lunchtime I was at a 5-6 and within 20-30 minutes I was at a 10 and ready to push. When kid #3 is ready to come out, there's not much you can do so stop her! I had to "hold her in" while my doctor was called to arrive as quickly as she could. When my doctor walked in the room, she said, "thanks for waiting on me!" I was literally afraid to laugh or sneeze while awaiting my doctors arrival for fear that she might come on out. Within minutes and only a few pushes, Miss Parker was here!

One proud Daddy introducing the older girls to their little sister for the first time!

Mommy (a little tired) and Parker

Our three beautiful girls!