The Past 10 Days Have Been CRAZY...

It's been a crazy 10 days and I've fallen short in my responsibilities for keeping this blog current. Fortunately, I have a nearly photographic memory so I will do my best to recap the past 10 days in one blog post:

Thursday, September 13: Mitchell had one of his first major outings and was given an opportunity to see mankind (or womankind) at it's worse...a Vera Bradley close-out sale at Cobb Galleria Center. While Mommy was able to get some real bargains, Daddy and Mitchell watched as thousands of vultures (who had shapeshifted into human females) picked the carcass of Vera Bradley with absolute abandon. Lest you think I'm exaggerating, I assure you, I'm not. I've seen crackheads demonstrate greater restraint than these people. I told Mitchell that this isn't REALLY how the real world behaves and promised him that I would do my best to make sure that he doesn't get dragged into a 50-75% off purse sale again.

After that, the whole family (with the exception of Mitchell since he doesn't have much hair) got haircuts and settled down for the night.

Friday, September 14th: Pretty uneventful day. Daddy worked all morning and then hung out with Mommy and Mitchell for the afternoon. Kamryn got home at 4:30 and we all bummed around that night waiting for Grandma and Paw-Paw to get into town.

I also realized that Mitchell needed a picture of his namesake (Paw-Paw Cain) in his bedroom and went on a mad search through my box of pictures. I hit the MOTHERLODE. Not only did I find a picture of Cain, he was also surrounded by me and John Mitchell. The picture was taken in July, 1990 and, as you can see above, had me with VERY big hair, George Michael styled stubble and a snappy post-80s Ocean Pacific shorts set (Kamryn had no idea who I was). John, in typical South Florida redneck style, was wearing a hot pink ball cap. My grandfather, meanwhile, did his best not to look embarrassed by these two fools while frying some fish...even though his smirk is pretty obvious.

As goofy as the picture is, it contains a Mitchell, a Cain and a Talley and I'm ecstatic that such a picture exists. I'll be taking this to be blown up and framed for Mitchell's room.

Saturday, September 15th: The day started off very early as Grandma and Paw-Paw made it here at 2:15 that morning. Around 4:00, we all retired to our beds. After waking up, Daddy, Kam and Grandma went to some garage sales but did little else for the rest of the day.

Sunday, September 16th: While at church, Daddy's phone rang with a surprise phone call; John, Bill and Bobby Mitchell were on their way home from North Carolina and asked if they could stop by. Their timing was outstanding. We grilled some burgers and, while the big kids were out playing in the back yard, Grandma, Paw-Paw and John had an opportunity to catch up from the past 6+ years. John and his boys left at 4:00 or so and Paw-Paw left at 8:00 for his long drive back to Texas.

Monday, September 17th: Although Kamryn had a vacation week, Daddy, much to his chagrin, had to go back to the office. The pain of this was somewhat remedied by the fact that he got to show-off his baby pictures to many co-workers and speak ad-nauseum about how his son is the greatest baby boy to grace this world in (at least) the last 35 years. Meanwhile, Mitchell went for his two-week check-up, weighed in at a whopping 7 lbs, 2 ozs and was given a clean bill of health. Afterwards, Grandma and Kamryn came home and decorated the yard for the beginning of fall with a heavy emphasis on Halloween.

Tuesday, September 18th: Absolutely nothing happened. In fact, when Daddy got home at 8:30 pm, it appeared that the rest of the Talley crew had not managed to get out of their pajamas all day.

Wednesday, September 19th: Mama, Kam, Mitchell and Grandma went to a play of "Robin Hood"

Thursday, September 20th: Mitchell reached a milestone by losing his umbilical cord and there was great rejoicing (yay.).

Friday, September 21st: While Daddy was at work, the rest of the crew spent the morning pursuing Grandma's favorite hobby; garage sales. Since losing the umbilical cord, Mitchell reached yet another milestone by taking his first shower with Daddy. He LOVED it! Like sister, like brother. He really dug the water and really DIDN'T dig having to get out. Finally, we celebrated the fact that TODAY was the day that he was supposed to grace us with his presence.

Saturday, September 22nd: Daddy and Grandma got up early to head to the airport. Kamryn had a play date with her "sissy" Anna (the picture above shows Anna, Mitchell and my daughter striking her best Britney Spears pose) and, while she was gone, Daddy, Mama and Mitchell chose NOT to use the time wisely and vegged out for most of the afternoon. The evening was finished off with dinner with Jack and Diane and, while the girls headed upstairs for some kid shows, Mitchell and Daddy had some couch time.

So far, today has been pretty uneventful as well. We blew off church and the day has mostly been spent fixing the computer and watching the race.

More updates as they're warranted.

The Origins of a Name: Cain

My son WAS named after my Paw-Paw Cain. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, I'll let an OLD letter do the talking.

Paw-Paw was diagnosed with liver cancer on Christmas Eve 1996. On the night of Christmas, I sat down and wrote him a letter. I read this letter at his funeral in March, 1997.

December 25th, 1996


Dear Paw-Paw,

When y’all were out here over Thanksgiving, I got to see some of the poetry that Grandma has been writing over the past few months. I never realized that she possessed that talent! The other day, I happened to see the one she wrote about you. Needless to say, it stirred my memory and made me recall a lot of things that I never really forgot about, but simply haven’t thought about in a while. Since then, I’ve searched the old memory banks and, despite everything that’s going on right now, have cracked a lot of smiles and even giggled a few times. Let’s start off with some terms from my childhood. I remember hearing these every time I walked in your door:

“Scob Your Knob” - I believe that this preceded the more famous and more widely-used term “Noogie Attack”, but they are the same thing, aren’t they? You always told me that you were going to do it, but I don’t recall ever receiving a “knob-scobbing” from you. LAURIE was the executrix ofthose. Got her back, though. Both Cain and Leslie have received knob scobbings from me.

“The horse is going to bite the corn”: This one you DID do to me, more times than I can remember! If I was within an arms length of you, you’d reach over, grab hold of my knee and tickle me until I was laughing so hard that I’d almost be crying. I still remember them VIVIDLY. You will be mighty proud to know that this tradition continues. Every once in a while, when Ashleigh is in a pouty mood, I’ll reach over and grab her knew. It’s amazing how quickly that pouty mood goes away.

Fortunately, I was never given a “knuckle sandwich” or taken to "Fist City, buy I learned an important lesson, as I’m sure Hunter can attest: the hand really IS quicker than the eye!

I do have to admit to something. I may not be telling you something you don’t already know. I know where you used to hid the Bubble Yum or Bubblelicious. You used to make us close our eyes and we couldn’t peek while you went to the kitchen to get us some bubble gum. One night I made it my mission…I was going to find the hiding place. So late at night, I snooped around the kitchen and, lo and behold, I found a pack of Bubble Yum in the top of the cabinet to the right of the stove. That night was not without it’s danger, though. As I was standing on my knees on the top of the counter, I heard Jim coming in to make a Peanut Butter and Banana sandwich and nearly fell and landed on my noggin trying to get down before I got caught.

I remember spending the summers with y’all in Pensacola. Along with that, I remember having the occasional Saturday night fish fry. Or coming home from church on Sunday and you would go out to make hamburgers on the grill. I am a firm believer that you should patent your hamburger grilling technique because yours have always been the best.

We definitely hit the amusement park circuit when we were kids. We went to Disney World, Opryland and Six Flags (kinda funny that I live within jogging distance of Six Flags nineteen years later, hunh?). On fact, I dare say that it hasn’t been all that long ago that Grandma finally threw away those little fruit-shaped juice containers we used to get at the park. We carried them hundreds of miles home and drink Coke or tea out of them whenever we were there. And it wasn’t just the amusement parks that were loads of fun. Meredith Kris and I would bug you to death to take us to the park down the street. “We’ve gotta wait until it cools off a bit” you told us. You took us every evening we asked, though.

You always did everything for us all those summers. Take us to the park, drive Jim and me to the mall if it was too rainy to walk or fix a bike when it was broken. And it hasn’t stopped since we’ve become adults. You were there to fix the heater hose on my trashy Olds Cutlass when I drove it too hard and put a “Bra” on my Storm when I couldn’t figure the stupid thing out.

Although I’ve dwelled on my memories of my childhood, the most important memory of all is how patient you were with the girls and me (me, in particular) all those summers. You never showed that you lost your patience with me even though I’m CERTAIN that there were occasions when I wore out your last nerve. The example that you always set in your spirituality and love for the Lord helped to mold the faith in Him that I have today. And even though I never showed my affection for the men in my life as I did the women, you never loved me any less. Just know that I never loved you any less either.

I just wanted to take a moment and share these things with you. Know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. I’ll see you in a few weeks.

Your loving grandson,

Billy

Over the years, I've learned more about him and, as it turns out, my letter only scratches the surface. By no means a saint, he was truly a remarkable man.

The Origins of a Name: Mitchell

The name Mitchell has absolutely no significance and the fact that my childhood best friend’s last name is Mitchell had no bearing upon the name of my son whatsoever. I only agreed to it because Mommy liked the name. Completely coincidental.

Daddy first met John Mitchell in 7th grade and thought he was goofy. As it turns out, the feeling was mutual so, on top of being goofy, he was a poor judge of character.

It was the next year, when we were both 13 that I was asked to be his shepherd when he joined our church. After spending a little time with him, I realized that my initial judgment of him was incorrect and he came to the realization that he really was a poor judge of character.

Somehow, the country-music-loving country boy and the heavy-metal-loving, wannabe city kid struck up a friendship that, 24 years later, has not waivered.

He introduced me to hunting, diving, airboats, skiing, knee-boarding, frogging and drifting a bedless truck. He taught me how to drive a bulldozer and tractor. I introduced him to beer.

There may be other things I introduced him to but they escape me right now.

We flipped airboats in the middle of the Everglades. We ran another friend into a strand of mangrove tress the first time he got on a slalom ski. We did driver changes in his truck on dark nights at 40 miles an hour (climb out the passenger window, cross the bed of the truck, climb into the drivers window). We took girls out to the ‘glades for campfires and built the fire on top of a box of live .22 shells. And although there are many more (mis)adventures, I’ll save those for later. Not our finest moments.

We survived high school, early adulthood and Hurricane Andrew together. We stood at each other’s weddings. We cried together and prayed together (see the airboat flipping incident above). We’ve provided therapy for each other by just listening. Most importantly, we’ve laughed together for almost a quarter of a century.

He’s a good guy and would indeed be a good person to be named after. But Mitchell Cain is not named after John Mitchell. Absolutely not. DEFINITELY not. I promise.

Mitchell and Daddy at Work

Not much to update:

Daddy and Mitchell woke up around 6:15 Tuesday morning to start their day. Daddy fired up his laptop and started answering 8 days worth of e-mails and Mitchell went to work eating. After Mitchell finished up with his job, he came down to join Daddy on the couch to provide a little support.

Had another follow-up Dr's appointment. Between Kam and Mitchell, we've now seen the pediatrician 4 times in 10 days. When he entered the exam room, the Doc said "Wow, it's like we're becoming old friends!", to which Daddy responded, "Yeah, but old friends don't charge to see each other!". Fortunately, the Doctor has a sense of humor and took the comment in the spirit in which it was intended.

Mitchell got a clean bill of health and is now back up to 6 lbs, 12 ozs...5 ounces heavier than he was on Friday and only 2 ounces shy of his birth weight. He's a growing boy!

After having a little lunch at Right Wing Tavern, Mitchell and Daddy sacked out on the couch for a brief nap (as evidenced by the picture above) while Mommy checked her work e-mail. This little catnap was short-lived but enjoyed by all.

The rest of the day followed its normal routine. Kam came home, played for a while, then dinner, bath and books. After prayers were said, Mama went to bed while Mitchell and Daddy returned to the couch for a little TV (I'm starting to see a trend here). At 11:00, it was lights out for the whole family.

It's CUDDLE TIME Again!!!

Sunday morning started very early in the Talley house.

After Mom, Michell and I were able to settle down for the night at 1:00 am, Leigh's brief nap was interrupted at 3:30 by a hungry child and a 4 year old who needed to go potty. Unable to go back to sleep, Kam ended up in our bed watching cartoons.

At 5:30, we all got up to see Grammie and Bobo off to Texas and let Mitchell have a little chow. After he ate, Kam requested a little cuddle time, which we happily obliged...until Baby Brother tried to feed off his big sister. When Leigh and I were able to pick ourselves off the floor fron laughing so hard, she (Leigh this time) fed the little fellow some more and went back to sleep for a bit. Meanwhile, Kam, Mitchell and I stayed up and watched some TV in the Living Room.

Headed out the door at 9:20 to run to the hospital so that Little Man could have some more blood drawn. While Mitchell handled the blood-letting without ill effect, the same can not be said for his big sister. When she saw the droplets of blood, her face turned white, she complained that her stomach hurt and laid her head down. Poor girl nearly passed out. After a few minutes, a couple gulps of water and some cuddling by Daddy, she regained her color and did just fine.

From there, it was off to church where Mitchell was admired and adored by many...most of whom were surprised that we brought this 6 day old bundle of joy out of the house. We explained that "that's how we roll". Our philosophy is to NOT to keep our kids at home for the first few weeks but to get them out into the world in order to start building up their little systems from day one and exposing them to more than just our house. This worked very well with Kamryn and we have no reason to believe it would be different with Mitchell. If fact, when Mitchell gets a little cranky, we go for a little walk. The boy LOVES being outside.

Kamryn reached a milestone yesterday as well. After the Children's Sermon was over, Kamryn looked at us and said, "I don't need you to take me to my class" and proceeded to walk to Children's Church without any parental interference. Mommy and Daddy had some serious mixed emotions; we are SO proud of how she's growing up but, at the same time, lament the fact that she's doing it so quickly. Ever since Baby Brother made his entrance, Kam has really exerted her independence.

At the tail end of the sermon, Daddy's phone rang with some outstanding news...NO MORE BILLI BED! Mitchell's billirubin levels, which were at 16+ on Friday and 15.2 on Saturday, had dropped to 12.9 Sunday morning. We were told to schedule a follow-up appointment for Tuesday and, until then, keep him in well-lit rooms. We were all ecstastic. As much as Mitchell hated being on the bed, his parents hated it more. It was tough to resist the urge to grab him whenever he got upset. It was certainly proof-positive that babies aren't the only one's prone to separation anxiety.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. After LONG naps, Kam and I went to Blockbuster and bought "E.T." (which she really enjoyed) and ordered in some Chinese. Last night also marked the end phase one of Paternity leave. Starting this morning, Kam went back to the sitter and Dad goes back to work, albeit from home this week. Real life comes a-knockin'

Not Digging The Scanner

Yesterday afternoon, we received Mitchell's phototherapy bed. It looks remarkably similar to a computer scanner that you lay him on and strap him down. With the exception of diaper changes and meal time, he is to remain on the bed at all times.

We thought this would be a good thing because he took to it so well yesterday afternoon. Night time, however, is a different story.

Mitchell thought that being outside the warm embrace of his Mommy and Daddy's arms was a load of crap and he made his position known to us for the majority of the night. Although Mama is feeling relatively rested, Daddy is feeling that 4 hours sleep a night is not nearly enough. Fortunately, I'll be working from the house next week and my hours will be a little more staggered so maybe I can catch up.

I certainly hope that's the case. Daddy's lack of sleep is resulting in some irritability and a total lack of patience for the monumentally stupid. For example, we took Mitchell to the hospital today to have his blood work done. Unfortunately, the order was lost and, after Daddy's concern was met with a certain non-chalance, all efforts to contain my discontent were lost. Somewhere out there, there's a none-too-helpful answering service operator who thinks I'm the world's biggest jerk.

ANYHOO...we eventually got Mitchell's blood work done and, as expected, it looks like we're in for a couple more days of the scanner. Hopefully, my boy will get a little more accustomed to this sleeping arrangement.

Otherwise, all else is well. Despite having a little anxiety about the loss of her "Only Child" status, Kamryn is proving to be a GREAT big sister. Earlier this morning when Mitchell was expressing his displeasure at the scanner, Kam was able to calm her brother down by singing to him and rubbing his head and chest. It was almost enough to bring a tear to your eye. I am SO proud of my little girl.

Leigh is doing very well too. She's still moving pretty slow and, even though she's not feeling her best, she's staying very active and looks beautiful. As I said in an earlier post, God made the right decision in having women bear children. If it were me that had to do the job, I wouldn't get out of bed for a month.

With a full belly, Mitchell is resting comfortably on his bed, so we're going to take this opportunity to catch a few zzzz.

My Daughter Is Emulating My Wife A Little TOO Much...

Four Days Old And Already In A Tanning Bed

His Aunt Meredith will be so proud...



















Little Man went in for his first check up today. Overall, he is very healthy. He's still hanging around 6 lbs, 7 ozs, is eating very well and is progressing just like he's supposed to. Unfortunately, however, he continues to be a little jaundiced.

We got some lab work back earlier and, because his billirubin numbers are still a little elevated, he's gotta have some phototherapy. His time in the sunlight and our frequent walks around the neighborhood didn't quite cut it.

A medical supply company is on their way over with, essentially, a baby tanning bed that he will be sleeping in all night tonight. Tomorrow we will take him back to the hospital to have new blood work done and may then have an idea of how long he will have to continue his "tanning".

Leave it to my kids...both of them brought home some issues...Kamryn with her twice-daily antibiotic injections and Mitchell with photo therapy. No complaints, though. If this minor inconvenience is the worst we have to deal with, we are truly blessed.

Aside from his slight yellow tinge, he's doing great. When he's not sleeping, he eats like a madman. He's got two parents and a sister who are doing their best to give him a major case of lap colic as it seems like he's being held constantly. His Grammie and Bobo, who got here on Wednesday, are assisting in that endeavor. Grammie is going to need a couple days rest after this trip as Kamryn has been running her ragged. Mitchell and his Bobo should be well rested, however, as they're both asleep on the couch as I type. It's a position they both seem to enjoy...frequently.

Last night we had a little "Welcome Home, Birthday Boy" dinner and Kamryn and I baked a cake for the event. Kam did a FABULOUS job helping me crack eggs, mix the batter, ice the cake and apply a generous amount of sprinkles. We're going to turn her into a chef yet.

I've kept copious notes of Mitchell's first couple days but, as I'm still on a temporary internet connection, I'm a little hesitant to start telling the story. Once I'm officially back online, I'll bore everyone with ALL of the details.

Phototherapy light has just arrived. More updates as they happen...and as I have internet access.

A Beautiful Baby Boy and the World's Worst Bureaucracy...

Unfortunately, as the result of having my internet service through the world's worst telecommunications company, the Talley family has all but been cut off from the outside world. While we have had our cellular service re-established, we're still dead in the water from and online standpoint. We do have a temporary connection which can go at any time, but we have no e-mail address for, possibly, 48 hours. My apologies for the lack of updates. I'll do better once we're back up and running.

Wanted to get out a couple more recent pictures of the kids. Aren't they gorgeous???

Mitchell is doing great...and by doing great, I mean he eats, sleeps and poops in great quantities but little else. We're on our way out the door to take him to his follow-up Dr's appointment.

Off we go. More updates to come!

An Interesting Conversaion

An E-mail dialogue between Mom and Dad 8/31/2007:

Date: Friday, August 31, 2007, 08:27 AM
From: Leigh
To: Bill
Subject: Thank you!

Thank you so much for letting me come in early this morning...I have gotten so much done and am still working!!! Mitchell is on a small sugar high...a student brought in the BEST homemade cake that had caramel in the center and chocolate icing...YUM!!!!!!! And some Dr. pepper to go with it...breakfast of a puker...

How is KT?
Love you -

Leigh
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Friday, August 31, 2007, 08:36 AM
From: Bill
To: Leigh
Subject: Re: Thank you!

You're welcome. Glad you got a lot accomplished! Let's not get Mitchell too high, please. A hyper baby at 37 weeks is probably not the best thing in the world.

KT is fine. She was ready to go see her friends so I took her just a few minutes ago. Walked out without the shot record, thought. Ashley said "no biggie".

Hope you have a great day. 3 DAY WEEKEND!!! (and hopefully not a 50 day weekend just yet...)

I love you!

Bill

Funny how that worked out, innit??

Mitchell has arrived!

Mondy morning at 3:34 am, Leigh, Kamryn and I were blessed with 6 lbs, 14 ozs and 18 inches of twisted steel and chick appeal or, as I call him, my son, Mitchell Cain Talley.

My wife was absolutely amazing and delivered this little bundle of joy after 11 hours of labor in a manner which made me glad that God chose the braver sex to bring children into this world. It’s truly remarkable how she managed delivering this newest angel into the world!

Leigh and Mitchell are doing great, albeit a little worn out. Kamryn has embraced her new role as big sister and will do an amazing job. I’m so proud of all of them.

More details of the story to come. In the meantime, I’m including a few pictures of our beautiful new addition and heading back to the hospital for some more bonding time.

Mitchell's First Day!

Posted March 29, 2008, liveblogged September 3, 2007.

After spending some bonding time with this little man, Daddy took Mitchell back to the warmer to give him his first bath. Mitchell was not impressed. After spending 9 months in a tight warm place, being stripped down in a 65 degree room was a little infuriating for the little feller. Daddy kept talking to him, which calmed him a little, while cleaning out his creases and crevices…which were many.

Mitchell stayed under the heater for a while because his temperature was a little low (97.3 degrees) and Jane and Bill started packing bags. At 5:00 am…less than an hour and a half after Mitchell was born, we made the move to room 437.

We all got settled in and Leigh tried to feed Mitchell. He was not interested. In fact, other than sleeping, Mitchell wasn’t interested in anything. It had been quite a day for him.

Because his temp was still a little low, he got stripped down to his diaper and laid on Mommy’s bare chest and got covered in a blanket. THAT he was impressed by. He snuggled in and took a little nap. Mommy gazed at him and Daddy caught a few winks on the couch. Not very comfortable, but, frankly, I didn’t care.

Multiple attempts to feed Mitchell were unsuccessful…which caused Mommy and Daddy a little concern. Consistent with how the rest of his life will probably be, Mitchell will be resting comfortably while Mommy and Daddy worry themselves to death.

At 7:45, Daddy called Kamryn to wake her up and tell her the good news. She was very excited to hear about Mitchell’s arrival. She said “Now Baby Bella has a boyfriend!” and also went on to announce to Mary Beth that she was no longer a “Big Sister in Training” but a real big sister. On Sunday night, after we’d all parted ways, Mary Beth passed along a present from Mommy and Daddy of two shirts…one that said “Big Sister” and another with Kamryn and Mitchell’s names on it.

Around 9:30, Mitchell finally decided that eating would be a good thing and, starting then, he began to make up for lost time.

Mary Beth and Kamryn made it to the hospital at 10:00 with McDonalds in hand. Never before has has an Egg McMuffin tasted so good. Kashi Bars were no longer cutting it.

Kamryn couldn’t wait to hold her baby brother and took to it like a champ. We DID have to remind her that she has to ask someone to take him when she’s done playing because she started to get up without passing Mitchell off. No problem. Amatuer error. She’ll get the hang of it. When Mitchell was passed over to Mary Beth, Kam sat next to her mommy on the hospital bed to watch some cartoons.

Daddy left at 11:00 to go home, Mommy got a shower and Kam commandeered the hospital bed. By the time Leigh got back to the bed, Kamryn had figured out how all the buttons worked. After Mommy was settled in, Kam and Mary Beth left to pick up Jane and Bella for a trip to the Build-A-Bear Factory. Kam made and adopted a pink kitty she named “Daffany”.

Daddy got back to the hospital at 2:30 and found that the first of many guests for the day had arrived. Sid Gunter, our pastor, was talking to Leigh and chomping at the bit for his first grab at Mitchell. Being the grandfather of 4 with two more coming in the next couple months, Mr. Sid was VERY anxious to get a little practice with a newborn.

Within the next few hours, there was a revolving door on the hospital room. Mitchell was greeted by several friends (and got a few gifts to boot):

Ashley Cantwell, Taylor Thompson and Julianne Cantwell;
Mandy Collins;
Elizabeth Gabbard;
Janet Lynch;
Laura Gunter

Mary Beth and Kamryn made it back to the hospital at 8:00 after dinner at Chili’s. They brought some food with them as well as some smaller clothes for Mitchell (it never occurred to us that Mitchell could be less than 8.5 lbs at birth so we didn’t pack any small clothes). They also brought a beautiful bouquet of flowers for the new Mama.

Mitchell was weighed again and had only lost 2 ozs for the day. All the eating was starting to pay off!

Daddy and Kam left at 9:00 and Mary Beth stayed with Mommy for the night. While Daddy and Kamryn passed out in Daddy’s bed, Mommy and Mary Beth were not quite as lucky; our sleepy boy suddenly became bright-eyed and bushy-tailed once night fell.

No Turning Back Now!

Posted March 29, 2008, liveblogged September 2-3, 2007

After arriving at the hospital, Leigh was immediately admitted…no assessments or anything. We were taken to room 301 at Kennestone Hospital just prior to shift change for the nurses (7:00). At 7:00, we met our new nurse, Christy, as well as the midwife, Michelle, who would be handling the delivery. They checked her out and she was dilated to a two and her cervix was still a little thick. Even though Leigh’s water was broken, it looked like we’d be in for a rather long night. We tried to keep 25+ hour labor flashbacks to a minimum.

The Pitocin drip was started around 7:30 and contractions started pretty quickly. Leigh spoke with Jeff, her school team leader, to let him know that she would definitely need a sub for the next 7 weeks.

One major regret about the experience so far is the lack of ESPN at the hospital. The Nextel Cup race is in Fontana California this week and was supposed to start at 7:30 or so. Considering we were watching the Pocono race when Leigh was in labor with Kamryn (birthing babies on Sunday is apparently the trendin the Talley house), it’s a little disappointing that we’re unable to watch a race that’s on. Later, we found out that Jimmie Johnson was the winner…which made our inability to watch the race a little more platable (“Big whiner!”, as Kamryn says).

Mimi Jane made it to the hospital at 8:45…shortly after Christy increased the Pitocin drip for Leigh.

At 9:30, Leigh asked for her epidural and handled it like a trooper. At 9:55, Christy checked Leigh’s progress and, unfortunately, she hadn’t dilated any more. Time to increase the Pitocin drip. Now that Leigh is numb, her response was “Bring it on!”

Around 10:00, Laura Gunter came by the hospital to see Leigh. Around 10:30, Christy came back in and advised Leigh to get some sleep. With mouthpiece on hand, Leigh closed her eyes and rested…occasionally joining in the conversation with Bill, Jane and Laura.

11:30: Jane and I go to the cafeteria and, to our chagrin, find that the food is the same food they served for lunch, heated up for dinner and finally served up again at midnight. I come back and eat a couple Kashi bars. Laura goes home, leaving Leigh, Bill and Jane on their own.

12:00 Leigh is checked. No progression. Increase the Pitocin. Leigh naps in her hospital bed, Bill and Jane share the couch, head-to-head, opposite directions. Snoring commences.

2: 30: Epidural starts to wear off.

2:45: Epidural “recharged”, Leigh is checked and has progressed to 5 cm and 100% effaced.

3:00: Pitocin kicked in like a MAD MAN! In 15 minutes she’s progressed from a 5 to a 9. Shouldn’t be much longer now!

3:15: Leigh asks me to get Christy…she feels like she needs to push! Christy confirms that she’s reached 10 cm and calls Michelle. It’s time to push!

After 4 good pushes/contractions, Christy calls Michelle as young Mitchell has already started crowning. Christy literally had to hold Mitchell in while Michelle was putting on her gloves and smock. A couple light pushes later, Mitchell came into this world at 3:34 AM. When Mitchell was halfway out, Leigh reached down, pulled him the rest of the way out and put him up on her chest where he let out a healthy cry.

Daddy went to the warmer with Mitchell while Mommy was being tended to by Michelle. Mitchell handled the whole assessment in stride…despite all the pokes, prods, stretches, etc.

6 lbs, 14 ozs, 18 inches, APGAR score of 8/9 A little sandy blond hair and big kissable lips (which have since returned to a more normal size, less "Mick-Jagger-with-collagen-injections!"). He’s a beautiful boy with all of his parts in the appropriate spots. After being given a clean bill of health, Mitchell was handed to Daddy. Mommy and Daddy spent the next few minutes taking in this little angel. Both of us were awe struck and in love with this little man.

September 2: Mitchell Announces his Impending Arrival!

*Administrative note 3/29/08: I actually “liveblogged” the birth but never managed to post it to the blog. Everything added here is as it was typed on that glorious day almost 7 months ago.

Looks like the day is finally here! 3 weeks early but, for the past few days, it’s seemed like it would never come.

The morning started off in a somewhat unusual fashion…I slept until 9:00 which, for me, is unheard of. Kamryn and Leigh got up shortly thereafter and it was decided that we would go to church.

After church, it was off to Taco Mac to grab a little lunch and BJ’s to do a little shopping. We got home at around 3:00 and all three of us went up for a nap.

Kam couldn’t sleep past 4:15. Leigh got up at around 4:30, asked her to go downstairs and went to the bathroom. I was just waking up, watching a little golf and heard a nervous titter coming from the bathroom.

“Honey?”, she calls out.

“Yes?”

“I think my water just broke.”

I got up and went to the bathroom to confirm what I’d just heard. Indeed, her water had broken. Our boy is on his way!

I went in to the nursery to grab a “Finding Nemo” diaper for Leigh to put on and told Kamryn to come upstairs. Needless to say, she was very excited…and a little confused about why Mommy was wearing one of Baby Brother’s diapers.

Mary Beth and Jane were the first to be called and, after we got the arrangements squared away with them, we called our parents. Everyone was so excited, although they were a little taken aback by the getting this news so early on (we were all expecting another couple weeks).

Mary Beth got to the house at a little after 5:30 to pick up Kam. Kamryn was almost as excited about going to spend the night at Mary Beth’s house as she was about her brother coming. After saying our goodbyes (tearful goodbyes by the Mama), we went off on our separate ways; Kamryn & Mary Beth to Canton and Mommy & Daddy to Kennesaw.

A Couple Administrative Notes

Did a little work on the blog and thought I'd let you in on some minor changes...

1. Changed the "Comments" preferences so that anyone can add comments without registering. Thought I did that in the first place but Krissy brought it to my attention that I was wrong.

2. Added some pictures of the family on the left hand column. These were pictures taken a few weeks ago. The problem with them, however, is that they stretched horizontally when I added them, making us look much fatter than we actually are. I figure, however, that I'll leave them. This way, next time you see us, we'll look much thinner than we do in the pictures and you can compliment us on how great we all look.

For those who added comments, thanks a lot! For those who didn't, you've got a temporary reprieve. My plan, once this blog gets some more meat to it, is to print it, bind it and put it in the family library (and no, I don't mean the master bathroom) for future reference. Make sure you're in it!!!

More updates later. Off to church we go!