Post Partum Health Issues

I can definitely say that both Parker and I really were blessed during the labor and delivery.  Sometimes I hear stories or I think about all the things that could have gone wrong, but we were blessed to have a perfect delivery and perfect baby.

After I had Parker, I had major problems with my back.  I could not stand for more than a few minutes at a time.  I ended up seeing a chiropractor that put my rib plate back into place three days after Parker was born.  He also fixed my Ia-tel Hernia which was causing me acid reflux for the past 10 years.  Over the next five weeks, I kept falling apart.  My knee swelled up for 3 days and my middle finger did the same thing.  My left hip flexor caused me some problems and I had a hard time walking for three days.

 Bryce and I went on a date to the shooting range in Layton.  We shot our pistols and then had a little competition to shoot the target at a quick pace without aiming.  It was so much fun to shoot my gun and get more familiar with it. The next day, I was so sore and my right shoulder had the largest knot in it.

  I also had problems with vertigo for three weeks.  I had a massage therapist work on my neck and shoulders.  I went to my cranio sacral therapist.  I had a chiropractor adjust my neck.  I tried the "do it yourself" technique to try to get it to go away.  Finally, I went back to Wayne Hirsbrunner, the chiropractor that fixed my ribs and acid.  After doing some resistant tests on my arm, he decided that the pressure in my spinal fluid was low.  He shook my neck and head and I haven't had vertigo since then. 

 Another problem I have been experiencing is kind of embarrassing. When use the bathroom, it is somewhat painful. This has been going on for a 5 weeks now.  I talked to my brother, who suffered from an Anal Fissure a year ago and had to get surgery, and he told me to get into a doctor.  I finally went to my OB and he told me that if was most likely from having a baby.  He said its not a hemorrhoid and its not cancer. He told me that when you have a baby, it really causes havoc to your rectum.  That was nice to know.  After talking to a friend of mine, its sounds like it is common to have problems after having a baby. 

2 Month Appointment

Parker weighed in at 11 lbs for her two month old appointment (50%).  She was 23 inches long(55%).  Of course, her head was in the 75 percentile.  The doctor has repeatedly asked me "how he (Parker) is doing" when he walks in our room. All three times, I had her wrapped in a pink blanket, but because she is Parker, she will be called a boy!

Parker had to get three shots and take a live dose of the Rotovirus. That night she projectile vomited all over the both of us and then she had little desire to eat.  For the next five days, she went from four ounces to two ounces a feeding. It must have really bothered her belly.  She didn't run a fever or have any other side effects.

Parker loves to squeal and act dramatic when she poops in her diapers.  She acts like its the end of the world if you don't change her immediately after she poops.  She loves to lay on her back and look at the lights or fan.  She really loves it if someone will talk to her.  Clayton loves to climb in her crib and entertain her for me.  He is so helpful and loves to check on her and make her happy.

 We all adore this little princess that has come into our lives.  Cooper doesn't hold her much, but he gives her a kiss on her head every night before bedtime.  He also tells me she is the cutest baby ever.  He still likes to talk to her in a high pitched voice, but she likes it and smiles at him all the time!

Baby Blessing for Parker

 On March 16th, we were able to get our sweet little Parker blessed in church.  Bryce gave a beautiful blessing.  The men who stood in the circle were: Paul, Kyle, Bruce, Papa Douglas, Derek, Brad, Weston, and Jared.  Parker was perfect and slept through the entire blessing and entire meeting!

 It was a cool and breezy morning, but Jocelynn was able to snap some good pictures of our family. Parker did good considering it was cold and she was in a little dress.  She looked so precious and angelic on this day!

 We had so many visitors come to our house afterwards for a brunch.  We served a french toast casserole, breakfast casserole, fruit, muffins, and pumpkin bars.  We had about 45 people in our home, so it was a little chaotic.  Before we started to eat, I read my journal entry on Faith and then we blessed the food and enjoyed visiting with each other.  Parker got passed from person to person, but she was good.

 Parker was blessed to feel the love that her family and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has for her.  She was blessed to have a burning testimony and desire to live the principles of the gospel and be an example to those around you.  She was told to not hide her light, but let it shine for everyone to see.  She was told that people will be drawn to her because of her example. She was blessed to have a desire to be married in the temple and find a worthy young man to take her there. 

 By the end of the day and as most of our friends and family had left, Jocelynn started taking pictures of Parker in her beautiful long dress.  She was good for a few minutes and then she was done.  She screamed and cried and was finished with the pictures.  As soon as we changed her, I cuddled her in a blanket and she drifted off to sleep. 

7 Weeks Old

 The first four weeks of Parker’s life seemed to go really smoothly.  She was eating 2-3 oz every four hours and sleeping all the time.  Bryce and I hold her a lot, which has ended up spoiling her a bit. She has had some stomach issues the last three weeks.  We ended up putting her on Zantac because she seemed to be having acid.  Though now I am not so sure.  She gets really fussy now and then and we can tell that her stomach is bothering her.  There is really no rhyme or reason with her.  She will be fine one minute and then mad the next.  She wants her binki but doesn’t want it at the same time.  When she realizes there is no milk in the binki, she gets upset and screams.

 We have really enjoyed her so far.  I also realize that these hard times with her will pass.  It seems like babies go through stages so quickly.  She still has her days and nights mixed up.  When she eats at night, she thinks she needs to stay up for an hour or so.  We try to feed her around 10:30 at night and then she usually goes about 5-6 hours till her next feeding.  Bryce has been so good to help me with her at night.  Together, we have been able to function and not lose too much sleep.  

 Parker is 7 weeks today.  She is really growing quickly.  Her cheeks have really filled out and she seems to be longer.  She just started smiling 3 days ago.  She has to be in the perfect mood to smile though.  She loves her swing and car seat.  She can sleep in both of them like a champ.  She also loves it when we talk to her.  She tries to move her mouth and mimic us.  

 Parker loves to takes baths. This is something she has always enjoyed since the first day she was born.  I have been bathing her in our kitchen sink, but she is starting to outgrow it.  She also enjoys it when we prop her head back a little when we hold her out in front of us.  It makes me wonder if her head was positioned like that while she was in my stomach. Cooper is finally starting to show a little more attention to Parker.  He wants to hold her now and then and he enjoys talking to her.  Clayton likes to lay next to her.