Chunky Hunky Mitchell Perry Enters the World!

Things were getting pretty tense at the Atkinson household the last week of August.  Mom, Honey, and Jennifer came into town for the express purpose of helping with Mitchell's delivery, and it seemed the days before their departure were flying by without any sign of active labor.  I had plenty of contractions off and on - even a few nights with as many as 15-20 contractions - but nothing regular, and as soon as I would lie down at the end of the night, the contractions would stop.  It was the same story it had been with Samara: the doctor says to prepare for an early delivery, and then the baby waits until AFTER the original due date.  We were all beginning to worry Mitchell would not arrive until after Honey and Jennifer left Houston.  Their flight was scheduled for Monday, August 2nd, and my temporary OB (since my regular doctor was out of town) had tentatively scheduled me for induction on Monday as well.  I was sick of waddling, sick of the uncomfortable nights of sleep, and just ready for the baby to be OUT!

As luck would have it, Mitchell decided to make his way out on his originally-scheduled due date of July 31st - meaning we were able to leave Samara with Honey and Jennifer at home, and Mom was able to accompany Garrett and me to the hospital to help coach.  I started having contractions around 3:00am on Saturday morning.  I woke up to what felt like strong cramps, and soon realized they were coming and going in waves about every 10 minutes.  I pulled out my iPhone to use my little contraction timer (yep, there's an app for that), and Garrett woke up to the light.  After timing a few more contractions, we both decided it was time to get ready.  I called my mom on her cell phone (she was sleeping upstairs), and Garrett hopped into the shower, knowing he'd probably be without one for a day or two.  Mom and I groggily put on our make-up - our pre-hospital tradition (hey, a girl's gotta look good in her labor pictures!), and by the time we were finished, I realized my contractions were strengthening and coming about every 3-4 minutes.

Garrett started loading everything into the car, and my nervousness grew as I realized things were moving MUCH more quickly than they had with Samara.  I looked at my timer again and I was already contracting every 2 minutes!  We jumped in the car and rushed to the hospital, arriving around 5:45 or 6:00am.  I was checked into Labor and Delivery quickly, and an hour later, I was ready to push.  I think we were all in shock over how fast things moved this time around.

Mitchell Perry Atkinson was born on July 31st, 2010 at 7:17am at Memorial Hermann Memorial City hospital.  He was 9lbs. 1oz. and 20 inches long.  Garrett cut the umbilical cord.  Mitchell had an easy time breathing and is completely healthy.  He has navy blue eyes, a full head of dark brown hair, and even has little tufts of hair on his ears - we think he's going to be tall, dark, and handsome.  :)  If the three of us had not seen Mitchell come out of me, we might not have believed he was ours; it was hard to believe he could look so different from Samara!  We have all agreed he looks a lot like his Uncle Brian, his Beane-Beane, and his great-granddaddy Colmore.  He might have also gotten some of his great-Uncle Polk's looks.  Either way, he's got some good genes!  We think we'll keep him.

Honey and Jennifer visited the hospital in the afternoon on the 31st and Samara met Mitchell for the first time. From that moment, she has been completely obsessed with him; she thinks he is the coolest.  All she wants to do is pet his hair, pat his belly, and kiss his feet.  Granted, her attempts to be nice are a little more rough than we would prefer, but at least she likes him!  Below is a slideshow and video of the first moments between Big Sis' and Lil Bro'.  It's pretty adorable.



We are still getting to know Mitchell as a little human being, but some things we know thus far are these:

1. Mitchell is a chatty sleeper.  He makes all kinds of little cooing and grunting noises in his sleep.  It is so cute.
2. Unfortunately, unlike his sister, he does most of his sleeping during the day.  He is up much of the night and has been a little bear to get on any kind of schedule.
3. Mitchell gets hungry every 15 minutes.  Well, maybe it's every hour and 15 minutes, but it's certainly not the 3 hours it's supposed to be in between feedings!  He's got a "warning cry" that sounds like a little piglet squeal, warning us that he's about to get loud - and we hear this pretty often.  We're definitely running on sleep fumes these days!
4. Also unlike his big sister, Mitchell is a little cuddle bug.  He loves snuggling with Garrett or I, and could sleep in our bed all night.

We may be exhausted, but we are loving our life with our new son and sweet daughter.  Our little family is now complete!  Enjoy some pictures from Mitchell's first few days below.  More to come!

Here's a little snippet of Mitchell's chatty snoozing.

Mitchell's best impression of his Uncle Brian.

Chillin' with Daddy.

Lovey, Honey, and Aunt Jennifer with the new baby.

Samara is excited to meet her little brother!

Back at home, snuggling with Honey.

He has Beane Beane's curly toes.

Posing with the stork put in our yard by the neighborhood Mom's group.

Hurry!  Let's get the picture before the mosquitoes attack us!

Mitchell's display of hunger every hour.


Lots of sleeping pictures.

Bath Time