The BEST day of a couple’s life…

September 15th, 2010 5:10PM - The new LOVE of our lives!

Steve and I thought we knew what love was until our world was rocked on September 15th by this little man...

Montauk, NY- July 2005

You see, love had come easy for us five years ago in New York. Being the romantic that I am, I say we fell in love while picnicking in Central Park on our first date. Steve might say it took a few more months until we spent a weekend together out in Montauk, NY where we camped on the beach together, shared our first campfire and s’mores under the stars.

We grew that love in NYC for a year spending time on the Upper East Side where Steve lived and down on Wall Street where I lived (and everywhere in between!), We traveled domestically a lot that year, we did 2 century rides and really got to know one another. In Nov. 2006 we moved to an amazing loft in midtown Atlanta and adopted PorkChop - our first little man:

PorkChop - 8 weeks old

A year after living in midtown - PorkChop needed a yard so we bought our house in Grant Park fixed it up in 45 days and have really created a new life that we love surrounded by loving neighbors and friends! 

Our casa

Oct. 3 last year we got married in our backyard, circled by those we love and those who love us. 

We knew about love from our family, friends and even the love we have for PorkChop and AppleSauce. 

 
But on Wednesday Sept 15th at 5:20PM, Parker Danne Dojnik joined our lives and OH MY GOODNESS – this LOVE cannot be compared to anything we would have ever known! 

Parker - A few hours old...

Danne (like Dan) is a combo of a family name – Anne and Dan  - Dan is for my step-dad who passed away last year and was very dear to me. Anne is a family name that all the women since my great grandmother have included either as a middle or confirmation name.

I never had so many wires & monitors hooked up to me!

Now a quick rewind... On the 14th we had a Dr's appt at 2PM -  I was already 5 days late, my amniotic fluid was really low and they originally thought Parker was going to be 10+ pounds! My doctor checked us into the hospital immediately and had to induce labor. With the help of cervadil I began having contractions and labored through the night until the morning (for about 12 hours). 

The cervadil does not typically bring on contractions but in my case it did. Steve was amazing through my whole labor & delivery - so supportive and so very attentive & loving! He picked out a gorgeous pair of blue and white sapphire earrings for my push present - (sapphire being Parker's birthstone).

At about 7AM on the 15th, Nurse Kate told me they were going to start pitocin to keep my labor moving along and that it was going to bring on major contractions and did I want an epidural? Yes!!!! 

Although in hindsight, I wish I would have waited. I had dilated 5 cm by about 2PM Parker didn't want to progress down the birth canal. I could not walk at this point to try and use gravity to help him down the canal since I had elected for the epidural - so my Doctor explained the baby's heart rate was getting a tad erratic and if he didn't progress by 4PM then we would need to do a C-section. 

Grandma Leslie and Aunt Andy were there to support us as we labored throughout the day. It was so comforting to have both of them there with us.  

So as some of you may know already - the little man made no further progress down the birth canal (stayed at -2 and needed to get to a +3). 

+3 is crowning

 



At 4PM our Doctor came back and recommended that we make the decision to go ahead with the C-section and we did. Within 30 minutes we were in the Operating Room and the amazing hospital staff had this dance perfectly choreographed. 





I kept asking where Steve was and soon enough they whisked him in and within 5 minutes OUR SON was born. His cry pierced the air and it was the best sound two parent's could ever hear! 

By 5:10 PM we had the perfect little boy delivered into the world! 
His stats:

It has been a whirlwind 3 weeks - although this post just focuses on his birth and week 1.  Funny enough, we started this blog post the day after Parker was born and we are just getting to finish this post 20 days later! We are sure that’s a clear indicator of how life is going to be! So if we owe you a phone call or email – please be patient – we will come up for air at some point I am sure.  We loaded up SKYPE – dxd16dxd is our screen name – so let us know if you are on SKYPE so we can video chat.

WEEK 1

Steve has been doing such an amazing job with our son. OUR SON - still getting used to that one! While we were in the hospital he changed EVERY diaper while Parker was in our room. Since I ended up having a C-Section getting up was not the easiest task. He also treated us Fox Bros for lunch and then to sushi and martini's the day after Parker arrived (that was the meal I missed most while pregnant)! 

So for Parker's first 4 days of life we were treated like king's and queen's at Piedmont Hospital. They have the best staff who's attentive to your every need and the 1:1 nurse/patient ratio is really amazing. You really feel taken care of and when you have to leave you are ready (well almost ready!). 

Thanks Cassie & Sean!

We also had flowers, cupcakes and cookies delivered by friends and family - which just made us feel so loved! 

Parker's first few visitors were (aside from Mom/Andy who were there at birth) were Beth and Julie:

Beth visiting Parker

Julie holding Parker

Our new happy family (sans PorkChop)

Steve has only complained once about getting the dirty/cranky Parker experience while I get the pleasant task of filling his belly with breast milk every 2-3 hours (I am not sure that my sore boobs would agree with him that the task is always pleasant!)

Mom & I @ Frymegeddon!

My Mom was here since prior to Parker’s arrival and was such a saving grace! She cooked and cleaned and really took care of Steve and I. We had a great time while we waited for Parker to join us. We went to an auction where she bid and won on two fantastic items. One for her and one for Steve and I. She won a beautiful print of Japanese art ($15 which was really estimated at $85 per the tag on the back). For our anniversary she bid and won on a gorgeous hall mirror for our front foyer. We love it and really adds to our space! 


Mom also attended our friend's Jason and Abigail celebration of 10 years of dating anniversary party. The theme for the party was Frymegeddon (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/photo.php?pid=6665278&id=592806368). Attendees had the opportunity to enter their favorite deep fried food. Oh my goodness - what yumminess! Steve, Mom and I entered friend oreos with a twist - peanut butter. We did not win but had fun tasting everything. Steve also manned one of the frying stations and was a judge - so he had a chance to taste everything!

Mom also decorated the yard for Parker's homecoming - PorkChop even got in on the fun!

Our homecoming!

Ready to come home - Thanks Timmy for the cool outfit!

Parker was responding to her voice and she was totally enamored! She left last week and it was so hard to watch her go knowing, that now I need to go it alone with our little man.  

Parker smilin' with Grandma

Since we’ve been home Steve has been even more supportive and changed twice as many diapers as I have and has even gone back to work. I could not fathom going to work just yet. I now know by "job" is raising Parker. Although doing something you love really isn't work, right? Steve also announced our homecoming with a blast of a blue firework so all our neighbors knew Parker was home safe and sound!

Shane and Julie's Gourmet Chicken Pot Pie - delicious!!

We are also so lucky to have such amazing friends here in the ATL. Our friend's Julie and Beth had helped to arrange a calendar for the entire first week we were home. We had been covered for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We’ve had breakfast delivered in a swan from our neighbors Darrel and John (those are the same fellas who put the flamingo’s in our yard).  We have so many delicious dinner treats like a veggie, sausage lasagna , Fox Bros BBQ, No Mas Mexican, Chicken salad, Deviled Eggs, homemade Chicken Pot Pie, Sausage Chicken Gumbo and yummy salads (Greek and Mexican).  We also had muffins, eggs, bacon, croissants and fruit salad – it’s all been so heartwarming and belly-filling! THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Parker has had a ton of “firsts” over the first week – here are just a few:

One of Parker's sweet smiles:-)

-       We’ve all experience our first sweet smile from Parker Gosh does that smile just warm your heart all the way to your soul!

Parker's 1st Dr's appt.

-       First Dr’s appt – 8.1lbs (47^th percentile, 21 inches (57^th percentile) and his cabesa – 14.9cm (75^th percentile).

-       Parker’s already holding his head up, looking around and turning towards the voices he recognizes.

-       Last Monday my Mom and I both were christened by Parker pee and Steve was christened by a leaky diaper as well.

-       Last Tuesday was a big day for firsts Parker, PorkChop and I went on our first walk through our neighborhood – we only made it 2 blocks before my incision started to hurt a tad to much to continue.

-       He also had his first bottle fed to him last week by Dad and he’s still very willing to nurse! We kept hearing about nipple confusion – really would a man ever be confused about a nipple?

-       And lastly on Tuesday he spit up on me for the first time – it’s amazing that we find all of this endearing now – I wonder how long before that wears off?

First sponge bath with Mom & Dad

-       Last Wednesday Parker had his first sponge bath and his first walk with Dad in Grant Park.

-       Friday Night was Parker’s really fussy night – every other night we have been blessed with 3, 4 and even 5 hours chunks of sleep! I will say no more as I don’t want to jinx that!

I hope you enjoyed our birth story and first week. I will try to stay up-to-date with post every two weeks or so - but now that Parker's out in the real world - he's our first priority!