Here she is... born on 1/9/08 at 8:37 pm weighing in at 5lbs. 1.2 oz, and 18 1/4 inches long. Jaycee McKenna Mitchell was born 3 1/2 weeks early due to low amniotic fluid levels. Even though she was early, she was very healthy with full lung development and we were able to bring her home from the Hospital when I was discharged. I was admitted to the Hospital at 8 pm on 1/8//08 and the nurse started my IV and put the cervadel on my cervix. The next morning I awoke at 6 am and took a shower to get ready for the big day. At 7 am the nurse started the pitocin in my IV to get things moving. It was slow going from 7 - noon. At noon, Dr. Ramsey broke my water and about an hour later the contractions increased in intensity. At this point I was dilated between 2-3 centimeters. By 3:00 pm I was to a full 3 and stayed that way all the way until 5:30 pm. At that point the contractions were so intense that I decided to have an epidural. The Anesthesiologist came in around 6 and had the epidural in place by a quarter till 7. This helped ease some of the pain, but we had a problem. The epidural only took on my left side, so I could still feel everything on my right side. They had me lay on my right side so that hopefully the medicine would gravitate towards my right side. Unfortunately this did not work the way they thought it would. At 7:30 pm Dr. Ramsey came in to check on me. I told her I was doing ok, but with every contraction I could feel pressure. She said that a good sign. She said she would have the nurse come in around 8:30 pm to check my progress. I couldn't wait that long, at 8, I called the nurses station and told them I really had to go to the bathroom and asked them to come down and insert a catheter to drain my bladder. She did and it seemed like it drained for 10 min. She then checked me again and said I was at a 6 now. I was thrilled, this meant I was definitely making progress and I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would have her before midnight. The nurse then told me to roll back over on my right side and as soon as I did, I knew something had changed. I could immediately feel the baby's head drop and new that it was time. I grabbed the nurses arm before she left my bed and told her that something was wrong, and she must of seen the look of panic on my face, so she checked me and sure enought the baby had dropped and I was now dilated to a 10. She told me to continue to lay on my right side and she ran out of the room to get the doctor and all of the other nurses to assist with the delivery. Within 5 min. every one was in the room and they told me that I could start pushing. I did exactly as instructed and within 2-3 contractions she was born. It was amazing. I could feel everything, but as soon as she was born, it was the biggest relief that she was finally here and healthy. She came out with the cord wrapped around her neck, and I think it must of happened while I was pushing. She was a little blue, but as soon as the cord was cut, they took her over to get cleaned up and I heard her let out her first cry. I knew that she was ok. Ryan and my sister Stacy immediately started snapping photos, and then once the nurses had her cleaned up, they brought her over to me and I just lost it. I was crying so hard, and then that of course made Ryan and Stacy cry. Right after they handed her to me, Ryan went out in the hall and grabbed our son Broderick. He held onto Broderick and cried in the hall. When Broderick asked why he was crying, he responded that he was so happy. Broderick came in the room after that and got to meet his new sister. He was so excited! My mother and father in law were also at the Hospital when I delivered, and after Broderick met her, they came in to meet their new granddaughter. It was an amazing and blessed day! One I will never forget.
