Presley Reagan Parker

Meet our sweet precious little Presley Reagan Parker.
She was born on Sunday, June 5, 2011 at 10:48 AM weighing 3 lbs 0.6 oz at the Naval Hospital on Guam after I was admitted 2 days before due to Pre Term Labor. She was technically suppose to be 30wks & 3 days, but they decided to go off my first dating ultrasound which made her 29wks & 6days. I think one of the main reasons why they did this, was for that technical loophole of not being able to stay overseas with a preemie 30wks or under. So Presley was born via emergency c-section at 29wks 6days due to a Class 2 Placental Abruption. I started to go into Pre Term labor on Friday, and was admitted to the hospital since I was making cervical changes & they FINALLY agreed to give me the steroid shots. The Procardia was helping to keep my contractions down, and my blood pressure under control, so we were all hopeful things were starting to turn around for the better & that I would be able to make it at least a few more weeks. Saturday night around 9pm my contractions started to come back full force and were happening every 5 mins, then by 10pm they were coming every 4 mins. Early am hours I was checked and my cervical length had shortened drastically and my OB decided it was now time to Med EVAC us. We were to be med evac'd in the morning, at around 10am. Well by 4am I was in full blown active labor and dilated a little past 4cm, and my cervix was basically gone & the contractions were now coming every 2 minutes. They were starting to get SO painful. By 7am, I was in tears with every contraction, and by 8am, my cervix was gone, I was 5cm dilated & they were giving me my last steroid shot 2 hours early & starting to get things prepped for an emergency c-section as there was no doubt that Presley was coming NOW. It was so scary & I was so worried Presley wasn't going to make it. I was also in an unbearable amount of pain & contracting every minute with no time in between to recover. They were trying to wait as long as possible to give the steroids some time to take effect & was put on the evil Mag drip. I was checked again at 10am, Presley had moved to station +1 & I was 6cm dilated. I then started to hemorrhage pretty badly and was rushed to the OR & Presley was born shortly after. It took forever for her to cry, but she finally did and it was a beautiful tiny little cry. She was whisked away by the NICU team to be intubated & get ready for transport to Okinawa. They finished working on me, tied my tubes and then I woke up in recovery a bit later. I didn't get to see Presley until around 7pm, and was just able to look at her for a few minutes and touch her sweet TINY little hand before they took us by ambulance up to Andersen AFB & we were then Med Evac'd to Okinawa Japan.

So we are now here in Okinawa, Japan & are told we will not be returning to Guam & will be moving to the states. We will keep you all updated on this process and will let you all know where our next duty station is going to be. They said the process takes about 8-10 weeks, around the same time frame they think Presley will need to be in the NICU. She is doing pretty good with all things considered. She is intubated (on a vent) but is trying to breathe above the vent, so she shouldn't have to stay on it for too long. She's lost a tiny bit of weight since birth and now weighs 2 lbs 13oz. She is a tiny little thing, but is a fighter & is doing great.

I'm healing pretty quickly, and my c-section this time wasn't as painful as I remember the last one being. However, it's proving to be quite hard to deal with when I have a kicking little Liberty to take care of and who wants to be held 24/7. Since my labor with Presley was so much different this time around then last time with Libby, I am a lot more sore down in my pelvic area and my bones down there just feel like they are going to split in half whenever I'm walking.. which we have to walk everywhere since we don't have a car or a japanese license. We are staying in the Storks Nest here, and it's about a 5 minute walk to the hospital, so all this walking I'm having to do is making me just exhausted.

Liberty & Aaron are also here in Okinawa & are doing great. Aaron is doing such an amazing job being a full time Daddy while I'm healing, and I couldn't have done this without him. He's been amazing, and I'm so lucky to have him as my husband and the father of our children (wow that is so surreal to say..children!) We're taking it a day at a time, and we just feel so blessed that Presley is doing pretty good, and we just can't believe she is already here & we love her so very much.

I will try to keep this blog updated as much as possible, and use this blog as a way to update everyone on a day to day basis on how Presley is doing. I have to give a warning right now though, that I can't promise to be positive 100% of the time, because lets face it, life is HARD right now, and we are all just physically and emotionally exhausted. So if I complain, or go off on a rant here and there, please bear with me, or I guess don't read it if it bothers you. Even though I am SOO greatful that Presley is my little girl, and I wouldn't change anything about her because I think she is beyond perfect... this road is not going to be easy & I will admit, I've cried myself to sleep, I hate that my baby girl is having to fight for her life, and I hate that she is in the hospital because my body/medical care for me failed her. I know it's not my fault, but that doesn't mean it makes me feel any better or that it makes it any easier. Everyone keeps saying I am so strong, and even though it's so nice to hear, I just feel so weak. So, I will try as hard as I can to keep this blog happy & upbeat, but I make no promises :) HUGE THANK YOU to every single one of you who has been there for me, for Presley, and for Aaron & Liberty too. We are so very grateful for all the prayers, and for all the kind words, it means so very much to me & I know every single prayer helps.