Parker is "6"

Well since I wasn't home this weekend to celebrate Parker's Birthday I thought it would be fun to reminisce about when Parker was born.

November 14th 2002 started much like every other day. I was 3 days overdue and so wanted this to be the day that I would have my baby. I had a midweek RS activity at the church that day and went and didn't stop all day. Someones kid would spill and I was the one to hurry and clean it up. I got home that afternoon around 1 or 2 pm & thought I was exhausted so I would lay down for a nap. After about 20 minutes I realized I wasn't going to sleep and got up. I got online paid all the bills that were due later that month, went to the store to buy last minute things & got home around 5:30 when Travis came home. I was exhausted & hungry. Travis decided we should go get some dinner. I went in to go to the bathroom before we were gonna leave. I was walking back from the bathroom when my water broke in the hallway of our apartment at about 6:45pm. I quickly realized it was time, but had to stop to shave my legs before heading to the hospital. (It was November and I hadn't shaved in at least a week) We arrived at the hospital around 7:30 pm and the contractions were coming quick and very strong. We went to check in and the hospital was RETARDED they wouldn't admit me to a room because I didn't have my insurance card with me (even though I had pre-registered the day before) I had my Dad come to the hospital to get our keys so he could go get my purse. The hospital had me sit in a rocking chair in the hallway until they knew my dad was on his way back. They finally admit me to a room and by now I'm dilated to a 7 and things are going quickly. ( The problem with that is that I was group B strep + and needed antibiotic to treat that while I was labor and as it would turn out I didn't get enough antibiotics in me before Parker was born.) By 11:30pm I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. I pushed for almost 2 hrs and Parker was born November 15th 2002 @ 2:18am

(not sure of the weight & height at birth, it's an even longer story....)

When Parker was born he was very sick and was rushed off to the nursery before we could see him, but they didn't tell Travis and I anything. We just thought they took him to clean him up. Travis went out to talk to my family and tell them that he was born and they were all crying. They had been in the hallway and had heard the Dr's talking about how sick he was and that he would be sent via Life flight to Primary Children's Hospital ASAP.

This was the first time I saw Parker in the incubator ready to be sent to PCMC.

This was the 2nd time I got to see him. The hospital temp released me to go visit him.
This was when he was 5 days old and finally off the ventilator.

This was about day 10.

Parker remained at PCMC for 2 weeks and was released on Thanksgiving day. The day before Parker was released they performed the newborn hearing screen and he failed. They did a more extensive hearing test and we were told that Parker was Deaf and would never hear. They attributed the hearing loss to the medicine that he had been on to get rid of the infection/save his life. That was hard to take and took a while to really sink in. This was at about 1 1/2 months old.

Our little Man!

Parker started wearing hearing aids at 3 1/2 months old. His hearing fluctuated from Bad to good for the first year of his life. Trying to get a baby to wear hearing aids was very difficult and some days even weeks we were unsuccessful. Parker learned to sign and that was our main way of communication for a while. But Parker loved music and wanted to talk and was always rambling on and on.

So Cute!!

Parker age 2 1/2 meeting his sister Hannah for the first time.

Parker has always loved his sister and has been very protective of her.

When Parker was about 3 years old his hearing stopped fluctuating and he started wearing his hearing aids all the time (FINALLY) He has a mild sloping to profound hearing loss in both ears. He picked up on speech very quickly and doesn't sign much anymore. Don't let him fool you he still has a rather large sign vocab but prefers to talk.

Parker loves anything superhero.

Parker is very creative and has a very big heart. He loves school and learning and is very smart. Parker is very in tune with his feelings and it is amazing to see him grow.

I had parent teacher conference a week ago and Parker is doing very well in school. He is right at grade level and does amazingly well. The one thing his teacher said he needs to work on is that he can be very LOUD at times. (We are still working on that one, how do you explain to a child that he is being too loud when he doesn't hear exactly how LOUD he is??)

I just want to take this opportunity to tell Parker Happy 6th Birthday! I am so glad that I get the opportunity to be your mom. I can't even imagine my life without you.

I Love You!!!!