An Update on the Mitchell 4

This past week has been a whirlwind! Parker was born on the 11th and we were home the next afternoon.

Then Wednesday I was hit with a horrible migraine. It got so bad Jonathan had to take me to the ER. They gave me meds through an IV and we were home by 8:30 pm.

Thursday morning my migraine was back but not quite as intense. Later that afternoon I got sick and my head was still killing me. I took the medicine the ER sent me home with and after an hour of no relief, we called the on-call doctor and he told me to take two Hydros on top of the other two pills I had already taken! I was hesitant to take that much medication but was hopeful some relief would be coming. It didn't come and Jonathan took me back to the ER. They submitted me and I stayed in the hospital until Saturday evening.

They finally diagnosed me with postpartum preeclampsia after they figured out my high blood pressure wasn't affected by my migraine. Postpartum preeclampsia is the combination of high blood pressure, migraine and vision problems. When I asked how long to expect it to last they said I hadn't been normal up to this point so they couldn't say for sure. They're estimate was anywhere from 3-6 weeks. Yippee!

I had a bit of a breakdown Sunday morning when I found out my mom planned on returning back to Palestine. :) She graciously stayed to help us out! By Monday afternoon/evening my head started to get really bad. In the midst of all my craziness, Jonathan became sick with a stomach bug! It was quite pathetic with both of us laid up in bed!

Jonathan called my doctor Tuesday to see if they could work me in any sooner than my appointment on Thursday and we got in that afternoon! I was very comforted by my doctor who took time to take my blood pressure repeatedly, ask the right questions and answer any additional questions we had. He ended up doubling my blood pressure medicine because I was on the lowest dose possible.

That seems to be working for my migraines and mostly for my blood pressure too. Every now and then I'll get a high reading but most times I'm manageable! Jonathan is now feeling better and is back to work. His coworkers have also been gracious covering for him while I was in the hospital and when he got sick. We are so blessed for all the help we've received!

I am now getting to adjust to our family of 4 and being home alone with the boys during the day. Today was actually my first full day with the boys and the only casualty was my iphone that Luke dropped in a glass of water. :/ It's actually still working but showing lots of errors. :)

Stay tuned for pictures!

Parker Landon is here!

Our baby boy is finally here! We got to the hospital Friday morning around 5:30 AM and got checked in to our labor and delivery room. They started the pitocin around 7 AM and my doctor was in shortly after that to check me. I was dilated to 4 cm and he broke my water.

The contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and were moderate. I decided to see how long I could go without an epidural and when they started to get intense I asked the nurse to check me and see how much longer it would be. When she told me I was a 6 and it would probably be another hour at least, I decided it was time! That was probably a mistake to wait that long now that I look back... It was hard to stay still for the epidural and bend over through my contractions. Once I had that baby I was good! I did have the shakes pretty bad, which made my mom and Jonathan nervous, but I wasn't in any pain.

Since I got my epidural later, I couldn't feel the contractions or really any pressure. My nurse checked me and I was at a 10 and had no idea! I pushed on a few contractions and my nurse decided to call my doctor. Parker was here about 20 minutes later.

Friday, February 11th at 1:29 PM, 9 lbs even and 20 1/4 inches long!

We were able to go home the next afternoon! It was so nice being able to take a hot shower in my own shower! Recovery has gone a lot better this time than I remember with Luke.

Luke doesn't know what to think of his baby brother just yet. We have had to bribe him to take pictures and show any affection toward his brother! :)

Both the boys happened to be in red pajamas this morning so we decided to take "Valentine's Day" pictures. The first two pictures were without a bribe and last one he was promised a toy!