April 2010

And in April we started the weekly doctor's appointments!  We also started having serious discussions with our doctor about how & when this baby was going to come!  Due to the fact that he was looking like he might end up being a big baby, plus the fact that we live over an hour away from the hospital, my doctor wanted to schedule an induction during the week of April 26 (about a week before my due date).  We were happy about that because it helped ease some of our fears about that manic rush to the hospital in the middle of the night that you always hear about!  However, as we got nearer to my due date, things were still up in the air because this little baby didn't care too much about cooperating with our plan!  At my 4-d ultrasound that we had at the end of March we found out that Mitchell had turned and was now in the breach position.  So I let my doctor know and she ordered another ultrasound at the Medical Center the 2nd week of April and luckily he had turned back into the head down position.  But, in all this moving he was doing (and how he was moving around in there I have NO idea because he was taking up every bit of space inside my huge belly!!), he shifted back up (in March he had dropped down into position to come out).  So until he dropped more, my doctor said she wouldn't induce me because he just wouldn't be ready to come out before then!  Her suggestion was to walk every day and boy let me tell you, I wore out a path going up and down our street in the next week!!  Finally at my appointment on April 20, she said that he had dropped, I was starting to dilate, and we could schedule an induction for the following Tuesday, April 27!!

So bright and EARLY (3 a.m.!) April 27,

Allen and I got up (neither of us actually slept a wink that night!), called into the hospital to make sure they had room for us, and then drove to Columbus and checked in.  Around 6 a.m. after all the prep and paperwork was done, they started my IV of pitocin and told me to settle in and get comfy! 

sun coming up, April 27th

Dr. Aranas came in around 9 a.m. to check my progress and she also broke my water (OUCH!!!).  She also attached two monitors in me, one on the baby's head to monitor his heartbeat and another in my uterus to measure the contractions.  And she gave me the REALLY good news that I had her go-ahead and could have the epidural whenever I wanted it!  I gave it about another hour (I was having pretty strong contractions according to the monitor) and then I started to feel some pressure so I asked my wonderful nurse (Brooke Thompson, I actually went to school with her when we were younger!) if she could go ahead and call the anesthesiologist.  I must say, damn good thing I asked when I did!!  Literally in the 10 minutes it took for the doctor to get to my room from the time I asked for the epidural, I went from "Oh, there's some pressure and I can feel when I'm having a contraction, but no biggee," to "holy crap--WHERE the HELL are those drugs???"  I have to say, I'm kind of glad that I got to feel what "labor" pains feel like, but oh my goodness, I am SO glad I didn't have to feel them for more than a few minutes!!! :)  Once the doctor put in the epidural IV, I was good to go!

a few hours into labor and feeling good!

few more hours...feeling good but sort of tired of this!

luckily I had Allen (plus a bunch of visitors!) to keep me occupied

Things continued to progress slowly throughout the day.  The good news was that every time they checked me, I was making progress.  The bad news (to me!) was that it was SLOW progress!!  Around 5:00 that evening Dr. Aranas called for an ultrasound just to double check that he hadn't turned breach again.  Everything looked fine, so we kept on with the slow progress.  Then around midnight, the nurses FINALLY declared that I was 10 cm dilated and we were ready to push!!  I pushed about three times and then the nurse said "hmm, I'm not sure about this".....NOT exactly what you want to hear when you're in labor!!  Luckily I think I was so exhausted by this point and the drugs were probably making me a little woozy because I normally would've freaked out, but I managed to stay calm while they brought Dr. Aranas in and she checked things out.  She and the nurses agreed that even though we knew he wasn't breach, he still wasn't in the correct birthing position.  They thought that either he had his head laying over to one side on his shoulders or that he might be upside down, meaning that his face was up which wouldn't allow him to slide under the bone and come out the way he's supposed to.  So, after 18 hours of labor (EIGHTEEN HOURS!!!!  I will remind him of this for the rest of his life! :) ) Dr. Aranas looked at me and said, "we're going to have to do a c-section."  Ugh. :(
So, about 15 minutes later I was in surgery and very shortly thereafter I heard the sweetest, most amazing sound in the world, my baby's first cries!  There are just no words to describe that emotion you feel when you hear that cry
Here are some pictures from the delivery (skip over them if you can't handle the sight of blood!!)

Allen cutting the cord!

putting a cap on his little ET head! 

 he was pretty beaten up and mis-shapen from being in the birth canal for so long--Allen actually said when he first saw him "he looks like something from Star Trek!"  I know this because my doctor thought it was hilarious and has repeated it several times since then!  I don't think she'll ever forget my husband!

And here he is, several hours later.  Luckily his head started to shape up very quickly!

Sweet baby! Can you see the bruises on his poor little face? :(

he can always manage to wiggle at least one arm out!

Our first family portrait!

Here are some of Mitchell's first visitors:

Grandmother

Grandmama

Nana & the Colonel

"Aunt" Nancy

Aunt Anna

Brandon & Morgan

Cousin Cam

April 29, 2010

Grandmother

April 30, 2010

Amanda Baker

April 30, 2010

getting dressed to go home!  this was the outfit that Allen wore home from the hospital when he was born!

Proud daddy

Mom is READY to get out of here!!

Here we are at home!

Sweet Grandmother was waiting for us with lunch!

My wonderful friend & neighbor Margaret put up this adorable wreath and a bow on our mailbox!

Allen's talented cousin Dede made these personalized cookies for us! 

They are as delicious as they are cute!!

March 2010

March was all about preparing for baby's arrival!  I had a shower in Auburn that my two sweet step-sisters and my best friends from college threw for me.  My mom was able to come down from Richmond for a few days which was great!  And I got to see the rest of the "fab five" (AND their mini-me's!) for the weekend!  What a great time!

The party hostesses:  Lindsay Draney (& Caroline!), Jenny Marlowe, April Jones, Amy Piedmont (& Ellie), me, Tricia Peterson, April Shafer, & Nancy Bendinger

THE cutest outfit!  a gift from my Mimi

Such a cute bib & burp cloth, from my fellow beach bum Grandmother Jaynie :)

Mitchell's Grandmother Jaynie & Grandmama Celeste

sweet Dalton Bendinger

YUMMY petit fors (I think I ate about 10!!)

beautiful table and great pic of one of the diaper cakes that my mom made for me!  she is so creative!

I also had a great shower in Manchester that my wonderful friends that I've made here (Margaret, Sissy, Tiffany, Morgan, Tyre, Whitney, & Suze) threw for me.  Unfortunately, I had reached the point where I was not just getting miserably uncomfortable, but also REALLY forgetful!  So...I have no pictures from that    shower! :(

I DO have these gorgeous maternity pictures to share though!  These were taken by our super talented friend Kim Foster, who is an amazing photographer.  We took these pictures at the Parham farm in Durand.  This beautiful land and farmhouse has been in Allen's family for well over a century!

my absolute favorite picture!  I think it looks like a magazine shot!

while Kim was taking my picture, Allen walked over to where a bunch of wild daffodils were growing by the road and picked a bouquet for me!  how sweet is my hubby?

We also attended several baby preparation classes at The Medical Center (the hospital where we would be delivering).  We went to Infant Safety where we got some great safety advice as well as learned infant CPR (although as Allen says, I'm hoping we don't ever have to test our knowledge on that!!), we also went to a Carseat Safety class where they taught us how to install our carseat and checked it to make sure we were good, and last but not least we attended a 2 session class on breastfeeding.  And yes, I said "we"!  Allen went with me to the classes and I have to say he was a really good sport about it!  Luckily he wasn't the only husband there or else I think he probably would've abandoned me there!

So after the showers and baby classes, we were feeling pretty prepared (well, as much as you can be for your first child!) which was good, because that leads us into the exciting month of APRIL!!