March 5, 2011
No one quite like a mom
Sean and I have been overly blessed throughout the past few weeks (especially this last one) to have such great help and support from our friends and family. We have had meals brought and many sweet visitors to love on our son. One of those sweet visitors has been my mom. As I have grown and been through many life changes within the last 5 years, I have learned just how valuable and priceless her love and advice is in my life. She always knows what to say and seems to have an answer for everything. She has been to our house several times over the last few weeks to clean for me, care for our dogs (which is saying a lot for a not-so-dog-friendly person), make meals, and love on Porter. Her tender heart and caring nature have brought a sense of calmness to our house and made our first week of being parents so much easier. We came home from the hospital on Monday to a clean house and candlelight lunch ready for us on the table. We have meals in our freezer to last quite a while. But even more important, my son has a Nonni that adores him and can't wait to make memories with him. I pray that I will be the same loving, caring, and nurturing mom for Porter as he grows up. Mom- I love you and can't express how truly thankful I am for who you are!
March 4, 2011
What an amazing daddy!
Happy Birthday Porter Graham Mitchell!
So it has taken me a while to get some time to write about the big day, but here goes...
We had hoped that Porter would take the initiative to come out a little earlier on his own before having to be induced, but he was obviously nice and comfy in there. We went to the hospital on Friday (February 25th) at 7:00 am and began the induction. It started off slow with some bloodwork, an IV, and a Pitocin drip. Things went slow at first and contractions were very mild for the first 4 or 5 hours. At 2:00 I had progressed from 3 cm to 4/5 cm and the dr. broke my water. Things got a little crazy from there. I started feeling much stronger contractions right away but was able to walk and manage the pain for about 3 hours. At around 5:00 pm I had not progressed past the 4/5 cm and was feeling an intense (understatement!) amount of pain. I opted for the epidural and have no regrets about that. I had so much fear and anxiety about having an epidural because I have a huge fear of needles. However, I had felt so much pain and was so exhausted by that point that I actually fell asleep during the process of getting the epidural. From there, things were instantly calmer and I was able to rest for an hour or so. I had one 'hot spot' the entire time that never got fully numb, but was relatively pain free other than that. From 6:00-11:00 pm things were still pretty calm and it was just basically a waiting game at that point. However, at around 11:00 I started getting a fever that was climbing pretty rapidly. The dr was concerned that I could have started getting an infection from having my water broken. They were going to give me one hour to see how far I progressed and whether my temperature continued to rise. If there was no progression and a higher temperature, then a c-section would be my only option because we couldn't risk Porter getting an infection also. I prayed so hard for that next hour that the Lord would intervene and I would progress and the temperature would lower. There seemed to be an overwhelming sense of peace over the next 45 minutes until the dr came in. He came and checked and my temperature had lowered to a normal range and I had progressed to 9 cm- I was ready to push!! By that time I had been 24 hours with no food and no sleep but somehow knew I had to have enough energy to push. We again prayed that somehow I would get some energy from somewhere to go though this final stage of getting Porter out. I started pushing a little before midnight and let's just say movies don't quite convey the intensity of this process! It's amazingly energizing yet exhausting all at the same time. At first Porter started coming down quickly and it looked like I might only push for a little while. However, he hit a hurdle and got stuck. I tried to push past it, but he just wouldn't come any further. After 3 hours of pushing the dr came in again and said he would try the vacuum to see if he could get Porter past the point he was stuck at. However, he said that since I had pushed so long and Porter had been in the birth canal for 3 hours already we couldn't wait very long to get him out. Again, a c-section was up in the air. God is good and after the vacuum and 2 more pushes we finally got to meet our baby!!! It was 3:06 am on Saturday morning and we experienced the biggest miracle of our lives together. Meet Porter Graham Mitchell...
It's amazing how you instantly fall in love with someone you've never even met. The bond I felt instantly with my baby boy was indescribable. We have prayed for this baby in my belly for 39 weeks and have seen pictures of his little face and prepared our home for him. However, nothing prepared us for the overwhelming emotions we would experience holding this sweet baby for the first time. So many blessings and miracles had happened up to this point and I take none of them for granted. Porter was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 21.5 inches long. He was perfect in every way (ok maybe I'm a little bit of a proud mommy!). He had a touch of jaundice, but not enough to need to treat it. Amazingly, his blood sugar was in a healthy range at 4 different checks which indicated that my gestational diabetes had not affected him. Our family was at the hospital and was able to meet Porter right away. Let's just say this little boy is quite loved! Our lives have changed forever on February 26, 2011 and I could not feel more blessed. This little angel has already brought so much joy and happiness to our lives and our home. Our family of 3 feels perfect and I could not ask for more!
We had hoped that Porter would take the initiative to come out a little earlier on his own before having to be induced, but he was obviously nice and comfy in there. We went to the hospital on Friday (February 25th) at 7:00 am and began the induction. It started off slow with some bloodwork, an IV, and a Pitocin drip. Things went slow at first and contractions were very mild for the first 4 or 5 hours. At 2:00 I had progressed from 3 cm to 4/5 cm and the dr. broke my water. Things got a little crazy from there. I started feeling much stronger contractions right away but was able to walk and manage the pain for about 3 hours. At around 5:00 pm I had not progressed past the 4/5 cm and was feeling an intense (understatement!) amount of pain. I opted for the epidural and have no regrets about that. I had so much fear and anxiety about having an epidural because I have a huge fear of needles. However, I had felt so much pain and was so exhausted by that point that I actually fell asleep during the process of getting the epidural. From there, things were instantly calmer and I was able to rest for an hour or so. I had one 'hot spot' the entire time that never got fully numb, but was relatively pain free other than that. From 6:00-11:00 pm things were still pretty calm and it was just basically a waiting game at that point. However, at around 11:00 I started getting a fever that was climbing pretty rapidly. The dr was concerned that I could have started getting an infection from having my water broken. They were going to give me one hour to see how far I progressed and whether my temperature continued to rise. If there was no progression and a higher temperature, then a c-section would be my only option because we couldn't risk Porter getting an infection also. I prayed so hard for that next hour that the Lord would intervene and I would progress and the temperature would lower. There seemed to be an overwhelming sense of peace over the next 45 minutes until the dr came in. He came and checked and my temperature had lowered to a normal range and I had progressed to 9 cm- I was ready to push!! By that time I had been 24 hours with no food and no sleep but somehow knew I had to have enough energy to push. We again prayed that somehow I would get some energy from somewhere to go though this final stage of getting Porter out. I started pushing a little before midnight and let's just say movies don't quite convey the intensity of this process! It's amazingly energizing yet exhausting all at the same time. At first Porter started coming down quickly and it looked like I might only push for a little while. However, he hit a hurdle and got stuck. I tried to push past it, but he just wouldn't come any further. After 3 hours of pushing the dr came in again and said he would try the vacuum to see if he could get Porter past the point he was stuck at. However, he said that since I had pushed so long and Porter had been in the birth canal for 3 hours already we couldn't wait very long to get him out. Again, a c-section was up in the air. God is good and after the vacuum and 2 more pushes we finally got to meet our baby!!! It was 3:06 am on Saturday morning and we experienced the biggest miracle of our lives together. Meet Porter Graham Mitchell...
It's amazing how you instantly fall in love with someone you've never even met. The bond I felt instantly with my baby boy was indescribable. We have prayed for this baby in my belly for 39 weeks and have seen pictures of his little face and prepared our home for him. However, nothing prepared us for the overwhelming emotions we would experience holding this sweet baby for the first time. So many blessings and miracles had happened up to this point and I take none of them for granted. Porter was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 21.5 inches long. He was perfect in every way (ok maybe I'm a little bit of a proud mommy!). He had a touch of jaundice, but not enough to need to treat it. Amazingly, his blood sugar was in a healthy range at 4 different checks which indicated that my gestational diabetes had not affected him. Our family was at the hospital and was able to meet Porter right away. Let's just say this little boy is quite loved! Our lives have changed forever on February 26, 2011 and I could not feel more blessed. This little angel has already brought so much joy and happiness to our lives and our home. Our family of 3 feels perfect and I could not ask for more!
February 24, 2011
The big day is almost here
So as much as I had hoped that our little Porter would come on his own before having to be induced, he seems to have other plans. Tomorrow we will go to the hospital at 7:00 am to begin my induction. I'm feeling quite an array of emotions as I have no idea what to expect having never done any of this before, yet unbelievably excited to finally meet our son! My prayers are that the induction is successful and goes quickly and that Porter gets here safe and sound. I can't quite picture what it will feel like to hold my son in my arms for the first time, but I can't wait to find out! We love this little boy beyond belief already and I can't believe it's only hours (hopefully!) until we will meet him. I've tried to talk Sean into staying up all night to try and walk him out, but he thinks sleep might be a better idea. Stay tuned, our next post will be to introduce our little bundle of joy! Any thoughts and prayers over the next couple days are greatly appreciated!
February 21, 2011
4 more days...maybe :)
The support and prayers from family and friends have definitely been felt at the Mitchell house lately! I am so thankful to be able to share a great report from the dr today. They measured Porter again today with an ultrasound and he isn't quite as large as they have been predicting. His head and abdomen/shoulders all measure around 39 weeks 1 day, which is only a couple days ahead of where he should be. This is such a praise for us because there was such a large discrepancy last time that it was going to cause Porter to need to be born via csection to avoid the risk of him possibly getting stuck. His weight today was estimated at 7 lbs 13 oz, which is much smaller than they had been predicting all along. Apparantely what happened was he had gone through a massive growth spurt right before he was measured last time and has since evened out somewhat. He decided to show us his sweet (and quite chubby!) face today during his ultrasound (pictures to come later, they need to be scanned). I can't wait to see what he looks like in person, but right now he still looks very much like his daddy.
Another measure of whether or not I would be able to deliver him or he would need to be a csection was whether my labor started and progressed on its own. Another praise- today I was 3 cm dialated and 80% effaced, which is quite a bit of progress since Friday's check. The dr said she predicted that he was well on his way and would probably come on his own before needing to be induced on Friday, but that's just a guess. Either way, he'll be here by Friday at the latest! What a blessing this day has been- now to anxiously await the arrival of our sweet baby boy!
Another measure of whether or not I would be able to deliver him or he would need to be a csection was whether my labor started and progressed on its own. Another praise- today I was 3 cm dialated and 80% effaced, which is quite a bit of progress since Friday's check. The dr said she predicted that he was well on his way and would probably come on his own before needing to be induced on Friday, but that's just a guess. Either way, he'll be here by Friday at the latest! What a blessing this day has been- now to anxiously await the arrival of our sweet baby boy!
February 18, 2011
Porter's Latest Update...
Today was my 38 week appt. and I was hoping for some different news but trusting that the Lord has a plan for bringing our baby boy into the world in His timing. The dr. said still 1 cm but 50% effaced and Porter's head has dropped down. She was a bit concerned that his size is still continuing to be a little too disproportionate possibly due to my gestational diabetes. His head at last measure (36 weeks) was in the 72% while his abdomen was in the 92%. Her concern with me delivering him is that his head would be able to come out and then his shoulders/abdomen could get stuck, which would be a bad situation for both of us. The plan right now is to measure him again (via ultrasound) on Monday (2-21) and see how he is measuring overall at that point. She will make a decision then whether to induce labor on Friday (2-25) or schedule a C-Section sometime next week probably earlier than Friday to make sure I don't go into labor before then.
While I am very apprehensive about having/recovering from a C-Section, I definitely want what will be best for Porter and myself. My prayer right now is that Porter would continue to grow and be healthy, no matter how he decides to come out :) and that the Lord will give the dr. wisdom to know what the best decision is. Either way, in no more than 7 days we'll be meeting our little bundle of joy and I could not be more excited!
While I am very apprehensive about having/recovering from a C-Section, I definitely want what will be best for Porter and myself. My prayer right now is that Porter would continue to grow and be healthy, no matter how he decides to come out :) and that the Lord will give the dr. wisdom to know what the best decision is. Either way, in no more than 7 days we'll be meeting our little bundle of joy and I could not be more excited!
February 5, 2011
20 days...really?!?
Today is 36 weeks 1 day and we will be meeting our little Porter in 20 days, unless he decides to come before then. I cannot believe we are this close. I have dreamed for months about what it will be like to hold our son in my arms and now to know that we are days away is shocking even to me! Don't get me wrong, I still have plenty of fears and anxiety about what labor and delivery will be like but I have full faith that the same powerful and mighty God that blessed us with this baby boy will get me through it. I am doing everything possible to enjoy these last few days of being pregnant and doing the last minute preparations to get ready to bring Porter home. I know we will look back and laugh at what things we (ok I) thought we needed to make us feel 'prepared'. Whoever thinks nesting is just a myth must not have been pregnant! I know we still have so much to learn about raising a little boy, but I can't wait!
The dr. has been measuring and watching Porter closely due to my gestational diabetes, but so far everything is going great- praise the Lord! Porter is growing a little ahead of the curve, but not large enough that they are feeling I won't be able to deliver him. At 35.5 weeks, he was estimated to weigh 7 lbs. 3 oz. However, the dr. is still concerned that he could have complications if he goes past 39 weeks so they are going to induce at 39 weeks (on Feb. 25th) unless he decides to come before. My gut feeling is that he won't wait that long, but he seems to have a mind of his own! Either way, we are so thankful for a healthy baby boy and just can't wait to see his sweet little face. We love you Porter :) (These pics are 36 weeks 1 day)
The dr. has been measuring and watching Porter closely due to my gestational diabetes, but so far everything is going great- praise the Lord! Porter is growing a little ahead of the curve, but not large enough that they are feeling I won't be able to deliver him. At 35.5 weeks, he was estimated to weigh 7 lbs. 3 oz. However, the dr. is still concerned that he could have complications if he goes past 39 weeks so they are going to induce at 39 weeks (on Feb. 25th) unless he decides to come before. My gut feeling is that he won't wait that long, but he seems to have a mind of his own! Either way, we are so thankful for a healthy baby boy and just can't wait to see his sweet little face. We love you Porter :) (These pics are 36 weeks 1 day)
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