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At 1:30 p.m. Ashley and I met with Dr. Miller. He did another ultrasound that focused solely on Parker's heart.
He was able to tell us that her heart looks great as does the vessels he could see with the ultrasound machine.
The only concern to him was Parker's pulmonary arteries seemed a bit small which meant her lungs are a bit
small and not developing the way they had hoped. He did say that Parker was in such an odd position that it
could just be he wasn't getting a good view.
On April 27th, I heard from Dr. Shelton regarding our appointment with Duke Medical Center. We were to
meet with our Neonatal Doctors and Pediatric Surgeons on May 18th at 10:00 a.m. which most of you know by
now did not happen. Parker had other plans!
On May 3rd I woke up having mild contractions and Ashley immediately called Dr. Lewis who told us to come
into her office right away! We got dressed in record time and headed over to see exactly what was going on
with Parker and I. I was hooked up to a fetal monitor and it was discovered that I was having contractions
about every 1-2 minutes and they were intensifying by the minute. Dr. Lewis said I bought myself a free ticket
to the hospital because they wanted to monitor Parker and I just a little longer. So off we went! We arrived at
Cape Fear Medical Center in Fayetteville and were taken to the Labor and Delivery floor. I was hooked up to
Magnesium Sulfate, given my first set of steroid shots and was monitored some more. The on call doctor, Dr.
Barefoot, came by to check my cervix and discovered I was dilated to only a one. After about an hour, Dr.
Barefoot decided that moving me to Duke Medical Center was the best scenario for both Parker and I as the
contractions were not slowing down but getting worse. An ambulance came for Parker and I and we were off to
get the best treatment for Parker's condition. I arrived at Duke Medical Center at 5:00 p.m. and was
immediately hooked up to just about everything possible. I was still contracting every 1-2 minutes and they
were getting worse! The doctors were concerned that the Magnesium wasn't slowing them down so they
decided to test my Magnesium level. It was found that I had that of a normal person and so they made the
decision to increase my Magnesium level from 3 mg every hour to 4 mg every hour. My body rejected that
much Magnesium and I went into Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). It was decided that I would
stay on the Magnesium until Friday to see if it would help eliminate the contractions. I received my second
round of steroids on Thursday and started meeting with all the doctors and surgeons that would be involved in
Parker's care. I cannot even begin to tell you how overwhelming it was for both Ashley and I but also
comforting at the same time. We received another ultrasound and saw Parker playing as usual. We were told
that her weight was only 3 and ½ pounds and it was a concern of the doctors.
| Parker's Story |