Introducing: Mitchell Henry Swisher

Well, our highly anticipated day finally came... Mitchell Henry Swisher was born May 9th at 7:59pm.  Let me start his birthing story with the day before:

On May 8th, I went to my normal, weekly doctor's checkup early that afternoon hoping to hear my doctor say we will induce you TODAY (I know, wishful thinking).  I was just feeling soooo huge and despite my best efforts not to, I was waddling everywhere I went.  The week before this appointment I had an ultrasound which confirmed what Chris and I had already suspected, we were having a big baby.  The doctor at the ultrasound estimated Mitchell to already weigh 9 lbs. 4 oz. (give or take about half a pound, was the margin of error... I was hoping the error was half a pound lower:)) and his overall measurements were showing what a baby would measure at 41 weeks, not the 37 weeks I was currently at for that week.  So, my baby was measuring ONE WHOLE MONTH ahead of schedule!!  I was super scared that if he got much bigger I would end up having to have a C-section.  So, back to my appointment on May 8th (which was a week after my ultrasound, so I was then 38 weeks along), my doctor checked me and I was 3 1/2 centimeters dilated and he said he could break my water if he wanted to (he didn't), meaning I was ready to go at any moment.  But, out of concern to stop me from having a scheduled C-section because the baby's head and/or shoulders got too big, he decided to schedule an induction date on May 16th unless the baby came sooner on his own (yes please!!).  So, I left that appointment excited to have an induction date, but a little disappointed I had to wait another week... or did I?  

  

That same night, May 8th, at 11pm I was lying in bed talking to Chris and all of a sudden I felt a small amount of liquid come out of me.  I jumped up out of bed as quickly as I could and ran to the bathroom, thinking I had just gone to the bathroom on myself (which, if I had, give me a break folks, I was 9 months pregnant).  It was a weird feeling though, because small amounts of liquid kept leaking out of me periodically, but I had no sensation of having to go to the bathroom; so, I yelled out to Chris, "I think my water just broke."  Chris jumps out of bed in a panic yelling, "Are you serious?!?!!"  Of course, I wasn't completely sure because it wasn't a big gush of liquid like they show in the movies, and I was having zero contractions.  So, Chris does what he does, and started looking up information online to see if my water had broke or if it was something else.  In the meantime, in case it was my water that broke and I was about to have to spend a few days at the hospital, I decided to shave my legs.  Haha, so here I am "leaking," sitting in the bathtub, shaving my legs, while Chris is on his tablet trying to see if my water broke or not.  Then I noticed how my apartment needed to be cleaned, and I thought about all the family that would soon be coming to stay with us, so I decided to clean a little bit; I didn't get far though because Chris decided that everything on the internet suggested my water had just broke and was desperately trying to get me to head straight to the hospital.  So, I called my mom to discuss the situation with her and she confirmed that my water had broke (she had the same situation one time when hers broke), so I finally agreed to put down the clorox wipes and head to the hospital.  

We got to the hospital around midnight and the nurses confirmed that my water had broke and I was dilated about 4 centimeters.  Well, my wish had come true: my baby was coming sooner than my induction date and I would no longer have to feel like a giant, waddling human being.  But uh-oh... now reality (and panic) has set in that my wish had come true and I was about to become a parent.  My life was about to change forever and I was not feeling ready!!  (At this point God is probably fed-up, asking me to make up my mind; did I want this baby sooner or later?!)

The nurses started hooking me up to all of the monitoring equipment, and put the I-V in my hand (one of the worst parts of the whole experience) and then they were getting me ready to get my epidural (eef!!  Now, I'm definitely panicking!!).  I started to second guess getting the epidural because I was so scared of that giant needle, and up to this point, I still had not felt one contraction (which had me falsely thinking, "labor's not so bad, maybe I could do this thing naturally.").  But, I decided it might get a bit worse (haha) and decided to go ahead with the epidural.  The sad part was when I was getting myself mentally ready for them to start the process, I felt the first sharp prick on my back, and I assumed that was them putting in the pre-numbing stuff before the actual epidural; and although I didn't like that sharp prick, I thought I had successfully passed the first part of the epidural process.  But No.  Come to find out, that was just the pen mark they marked on my back for where they were going to put in the epidural... Oh boy, I was really in for it with this process if them marking my back with a pen scared me.  But, to be honest, the epidural was probably the easiest part of the whole process.  It really didn't hurt that bad.  So, I got to have the lower half of my body go numb without feeling one contraction, yeah!

I was making slow but steady progress with my dilation, dilating about an extra centimeter every two to three hours.  But, Mitchell was slow to drop down into the right position and my contractions were not getting regular; I would have a contraction every four minutes, then every six minutes, then every two minutes, etc., there was just no consistency.  So, at about 8:30am the doctor gave the order for me to be put on pitocin to help my contractions get stronger, more frequent, and regular.  I continued to dilate a centimeter every two to three hours and the pitocin was helping my contractions get stronger and more frequent (I didn't feel them but I did see them on the monitor), but Mitchell was still being stubborn and not dropping down into the right position.  I guess I had made it too cozy in my stomach for him because he did not seem in any hurry to leave.  I was getting really nervous because there was slight talk of possibly needing a C-section if he wouldn't drop, which I really really really did not want to have a C-section.  Finally, after some pleading prayers and 18 and a 1/2 half hours of labor, at 5:40pm he dropped in the right position and it was time to start pushing.  I didn't know what to expect at this point, but most of my friends and family said they pushed for only 15 minutes and had a baby... I was not so lucky.  I pushed and pushed and pushed, and was told I was making slight progress every time, but man I was getting super tired and stressed.  His head was just so big (97th percentile) that it was just "right there" but not quite making it all the way out.  The doctor kept telling me that he was almost there and I just had to push a little more, and I kept thinking, "Are you kidding me?!?  You've been saying that the last hour!!"  At this point I was really feeling some strong pressure and I questioned whether my epidural was still working; I was quickly reassured by the doctor that it was for sure working otherwise I would definitely notice a big difference and I wouldn't be so quiet during the pushing process.  Ok doctor, point taken:)  Mitchell did not seem to mind the pushing process, even with as long as it was taking... his heart rate stayed strong and steady the whole time.  FINALLY, after nearly two and a half hours of pushing and 21 hours of total labor, Mitchell made his way into the world at 7:59pm on May 9th.  He did not weigh as much as the ultrasound had predicted (thank goodness... I cannot imagine if I had made it to his due date, May 21st), but his length and head circumference (15.5 inches) were big for his size.  Believe it or not, Chris cut the umbilical cord.  Throughout the whole pregnancy he adamantly refused to consider cutting the umbilical cord, but then when I was in labor the nurse asked him if he wanted to and he said, "I don't know yet.  I'm thinking about it."  Say what?!!  That was complete news to me.  But he braved it up and did it, and he is really glad he did and got to share that moment in Mitchell's birth.

Chris and I are overjoyed with our little man (extremely tired all the time, but overjoyed).  He is a very content baby, only crying when he is hungry, needing his diaper changed (which he cries through this whole process because he hates being naked), or wanting to be held.  His only crime is wanting to be held all the time, so it hard to put him down at night because he will not settle well in his bassinet.  But, he is cute enough that we let him get away with it:)

Mitchell Henry Swisher
Born May 9th, 2013 at 7:59pm
8 lbs. 10 oz. and 21.5 inches

Poor baby... was quiet as could be when he came out, but being poked,
weighed, and measured took their toll on the poor guy.

He grabbed Daddy's hand right away and he has a killer grip!

Proud Daddy

Meemaw and Grandma were there to celebrate.  Also present in the delivery room
was Mitchell's Great Aunt Vonnie.  Great Grandpa and Grandma Koch, and his
Papa Swisher were in the waiting room, waiting patiently.

Look at all that hair!

Yawn... just chillaxing:)