My heart skipped a beat...

My world came to a screeching halt on Saturday, August 30th at noon when I was leaving work and saw blood. I was 13 weeks, 2 days pregnant….how could this happen? I was advised by the on-call doctor that the hospital could do nothing for me and I needed to put my feet up and rest at home. I cried from the time I got home until Chad woke up at 3:30pm. He told me that we didn’t need permission to go to the hospital and took me. They checked me out and found nothing that would indicate why I was bleeding. They easily found the heartbeat on the Doppler and chased the baby around my belly trying to get a read on the bpm. I was sent home w/ the instructions that if the bleeding got heavier to return to the hospital. I was back at the hospital on Monday, September 1st for that very reason. This time, I was given an ultrasound by Chris…the 'my lips must remain sealed until the radiologist interprets the results' ultrasound tech. I was informed by my ER doctor that I had placenta previa. It was what I had been hoping the bleeding was from and went home relieved, knowing that it was unlikely to cause me any problems in pregnancy.

Tuesday, September 2nd was like Christmas Day. I was so excited as Chad, my mom and I drove to the ultrasound clinic in Columbus. I was so excited that I couldn’t wait for the tech to confirm that a daughter was in my belly. After hearing the heartbeat, seeing limbs, counting fingers and toes…we got the news we so impatiently had been waiting for. “It’s a girl!”





I remember biting my lip to fight back the happy tears and looking over at Chad. The ultrasound tech placed our pictures in a pink little envelope and recorded Parker’s heartbeat in a bear.





It felt so great to call her Parker instead of 'baby' or 'it'. I quickly cleared all the gender neutral clothes out of her room and passed them on to a friend having a boy.
On September 9th, I had another ultrasound at my doctor’s office to check my cervix and the placenta previa. The ultrasound tech gave us news that seemed better than I had expected…it wasn’t placenta previa but a subchorionic hematoma. My cervix was holding up well and I was given the instructions to remain on pelvic rest and to return in 5 weeks on October 14, 2008. My doctor seemed less concerned about the hematoma than the placenta previa. Wow…5 weeks, like normal people with normal pregnancies visit their doctors. No more weekly or bi-weekly check ups and ultrasounds.

We had been batting middle names around for months. None of them seemed to fit her. Parker means 'park keeper'. We liked Madison but the cliché of Madison Park seemed cheesy. We like Nevaeh, which is heaven spelled backwards but seemed like a curse. Babies named Nevaeh, Hope, Faith, Destiny and other spiritual names always seem to have lives that end in unexpected tragedy. We felt it best to avoid the stereotype. ~ I have called Jarod "Pooh Bear" since he was born. The name stuck and several people call him that. Of course, the name has been shortened to "Pooh". Several names beginning with "O" came up. I pointed out that we could not give her a middle name begining w/ "O" because her initals would be "POO". Chad laughed and said "So, that's what you call Jarod!" ~

Chad came up with Ellen. It was close to his middle name of Allen yet also like Jarod’s middle name of Ethan. Both of children would share E as their middle initial. Ellen was clearly a girl’s name and I would never have to worry about someone seeing her full name and still mistaking her for a boy. It was sweet but also sophisticated. It was settled and she would be Parker Ellen Oleyar.

I decided to go back to the private ultrasound clinic in Columbus to put some of my fears to rest w/out bothering my doctor. On Sunday, September 14th, I braved the Hurricane Ike wind storm to go. Parker looked great and wasn’t bothered by the hematoma which appeared to be the size of a dime. She was so perfect. I cherished the brief moments that I got to peak inside her world. She sucked her thumb and posed for us during the ultrasound.







I continued to read everything I could find about the hematoma and it continued to bleed. Several times I became frustrated with the fact that I couldn’t make it stop w/ a pill. I just wanted to enjoy my pregnancy w/out having to deal with complications. I convinced myself that I was paranoid and everything was going to be fine. I bought a Fetal Heart Monitoring Doppler Machine and I used it everyday at least once as I crawled into bed. It was a huge piece of mind.



I was feeling her flutter and always looked forward to the next movement I would feel. I was so excited for the movements that Chad and Jarod would be able to feel. Bobbie wanted to take pictures of my belly and I couldn’t wait to see what she had in mind.

Chad and I put the finishing touches on Parker’s room a week later.



We hung border, curtains, and pictures and arranged the room. My mom and I made things to customize the “tropical punch” theme.





Chad and I had assembled the crib weeks earlier and it was so patiently waiting for Parker.








I proudly took pictures. Parker’s room was perfect, her shopping was nearly done and she had the best of everything. I planned to spend the next 20-22 weeks of my pregnancy with the holiday excitement, reading the rest of my books, washing baby clothes, sanitizing the house and enjoying my pregnancy. I couldn’t wait until she could come home and see her room. I hoped that she loved it as much I we hoped she would. As soon as I finished snapping the pictures of the room, I became short of breath.