Mitchell’s Birth Story – Our little guy’s journey into the world

On Mother’s Day weekend 2014 we found out we were pregnant again!  Fast forward about 39 weeks and we were anxious to meet our sweet baby boy.

For anyone who has ever been fortunate enough to experience a baby’s arrival into the world, you know exactly the emotions evoked during the experience.  It is so difficult to capture these emotions into words, but I’ll try my best.  Here is Mitchell’s Birth Story…

::  Thursday January 15, 2015, Four-ish AM  ::

It was the morning of our baby boy’s induction.   Aside from the hum of the baby monitor and Denny’s steady breathing next to me, the world was dark and asleep yet I was wide awake trying to wrap my mind around the fact that we might meet our son in a few short hours.  Based on our baby check-up a few days prior, our wonderful OBGYN, Dr. Susan, felt that he was in a great spot to be induced, and we figured we would go for it so that my parents could be in town to watch Makenzie and also meet our baby boy.

::  Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end  ::

I couldn’t sleep so I tried to just savor the last few hours of pregnancy.  Denny and I feel fairly certain our family will be complete with 2 kiddos so I tried to remember every single movement and feeling involved with carrying a baby.  It was a bittersweet morning for me trying to figure out how ten years with Denny went so fast.  It seemed like we spent forever planning our Somedays of a house and babies, and now suddenly, our Somedays were happening in a blink.

::  Six o’ seven AM  ::

 Makenzie must have sensed the excitement of the day because she woke up bright and early!  I was really glad because it gave me a few final minutes to snuggle with my first-born baby.  She was thrilled to be spending the day with Nana and Papa and barely noticed as Denny and I headed off to the hospital.

Arriving at the hospital baby unit! I wish I could have bottled up the excitement I felt as we walked down the corridor.

::  Ten thirty-two AM  ::

We were three and a half hours into being induced and the waiting game was in full force.  I was showing enough progress that the nurses even broke my water.  I was officially able to relax knowing that we would not be sent home to wait any longer.  Our baby was going to be in our arms shortly!

The baby bed was ready and waiting!

 ::  The Name Game and a dinnertime baby  ::

In order to pass the time we went back and forth on two topics – his name and his estimated arrival time.  We brought the baby name book and started asking the nurses their feedback too.  Ironically the wonderful OB resident who was taking care of us told us that her Dad’s name was Mitchell.  That was one of the first signs that we would later decide on Mitchell as a name (more on that later).

As for the estimated arrival time, it was game on.  Everyone had a guess. I was guessing about 8pm (but hoping it would be sooner).  Denny guessed for a dinnertime baby and our nurses thought it was feasible to deliver this baby by 7 pm when their shifts ended.

 ::  Epidural, party of one  ::

By noon, I was uncomfortable enough to go for the epidural.  The contractions were still not consistent and I was not showing tremendous progress, but the nursing team felt an epidural might speed up the process so I went for it.  We were cautiously optimistic thinking this would be the trick to get this little guy moving.

 ::  Five frustrating hours  ::

Shortly after the epidural, the birth journey took a frustrating turn.  We spent five long hours making no progress.  Our little guy seemed to be totally content where he was and I started to get anxious as to what would happen next.  This was merely a foreshadowing of what was to come, but luckily my mom was at the hospital by then and told us all about Makenzie’s morning, which lightened up the mood.

 ::  “He’ll be here in an hour”  ::

By six o’clock, Dr Susan had arrived to check on us.  We finally got past the five-hour standstill and the nurse told Dr. Susan that our little guy could be here within an hour.  We were feeling good again and we were confident that we were close to holding our little guy.

The hour came and went but shortly after, the nurse came in and said it was worthwhile to try pushing.  We tried and we tried yet we failed.  So frustrating.  Our sweet baby boy was sunny side up and there was no way he would be arriving in his current position.

::  New Game Plan  ::

Given Mitchell’s position, the decision was to wait it out a few more hours and see if he flipped over.  We were back to the waiting game.  This was one of the toughest times of the day.  My epidural dwindled away.  I was nauseous, and I was on the brink of tears, BUT we knew that the only important thing was that our little guy was still healthy and we would eventually meet him.

::  Take Two  ::

It was now nine thirty at night.  Despite the obvious signs leading to a C-section, Denny and I were both oblivious to this outcome.  We were fourteen hours into labor and it was time to try pushing yet again.  We were full of hope that this was it, but we were wrong.  After another grueling attempt at getting our little guy to arrive, Dr. Susan came in and delivered the news.

::  This was NOT the plan  ::

Our only option at that point was a C-section.  Mitchell was in a spot that could potentially be harmful to both of us if something didn’t change, so we had to get him out in the next few hours.  I was crushed.  This was NOT the plan.  A million thoughts went through my head… What if something is wrong with the little guy?  What if they don’t hurry?  How did this happen?  Why couldn’t I make this work?  How am I going to take care of Makenzie while dealing with surgery recovery? 

I was way too emotional to get it together and call anyone but Denny quickly switched to Rockstar Husband mode.  He told my families the updates, changed into scrubs and gave a valiant effort at trying to keep his basket case of a wife from having a massive meltdown.

::  It’s a Boy!!  ::

The next hour was a blur.  I remember waiting in tremendous pain for what felt like forever because the epidural wore off yet again.  I remember being wheeled down a long hallway into an operating room.  I remember asking over and over again for Denny because I kept thinking that they forgot to get him.  I remember the reassurance of the medical team that they would take care of us.  And I remember feeling really fuzzy.

Yet despite the confusion, the frustration, the exhaustion of the day and the sheer emotion, I won’t forget hearing the first cries of our son.  He had arrived and he was perfectly healthy!  At 11:06 PM, Mitchell Dennis McGee was welcomed into the world and he was perfectly healthy!

First breath of life. Welcome to the world Mitchell! It is our privilege to be your parents. We love you more than you’ll ever know.

 He was beautiful!   Denny showed him to me quickly and then he was off to be weighed and assessed.  He was 8 pounds, 9 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long.

Ten fingers.  Ten toes.

One sweet, amazing baby!

Handsome!

One of my favorite pictures of the proud daddy introducing his son to baseball!

The next few hours continued to be a blur but it was filled with sweet amazement of what just occurred.  Mitchell’s birth wasn’t the journey we anticipated but we wouldn’t change a thing.  Our baby boy had arrived and our family was complete.

By 2:30 am we were drifting to sleep – completely exhausted, completely thrilled and completely smitten.

::  The First Few Days of Life::

The next few days were just as busy.  By Friday afternoon we decided on a name and then we welcomed some of our favorite people to meet Mitchell.  Little M is a lucky little guy!

Big sis Makenzie meeting her little brother. She is smitten and so are we.

Our little slugger. I hope he someday finds a sport that makes him as happy as Denny when he played baseball.

My little snugly boy

Nana’s little loves!

This little guy is so lucky to have such a wonderful Aunt!

 ::  Three Days later  ::

By Sunday, it was time to head into the world as a family of four!  We’re not pros by any means with handling two kids but I think we’re getting better each day.  It’s pretty cool that our Someday is here.  We can’t wait to see what else comes our way.

Heading home as a family of four!

Thanks for reading through my sappy post.

XOXO

Erin

PS  Mitchell, this post is for you little guy.  Once you get past the “Ew, gross” phase when you think of birth, I hope you see the beauty in the day you joined our family.