Meg wanted to add her two cents worth-

Meg speaking-I think this thing is STINKY!, But I love him.His hobbies are eat,poop,sleep,and cry.I think(know)he is nocturnal.I got the easy sleep!Check in with you later!

Impressive, she typed those two lines on her own. Not sure where she came up with "nocturnal"!

Day 13

Had to add this picture....I had been in the office playing on the computer, went in to the tv room to find them both asleep!

Don't you just wish you had volume to go with this picture? Hope was giving the little booger a sponge bath (cord hasn't fallen off yet) in an attempt to wear him out a little. We had hoped it would enable him (and us) to sleep for longer than 2 to 2 1/2 hours in a row that night. It didn't work. The little feller does fine during the day, sleeps 3 to 4 hours at a time, but nights are a different story. Hope and I (especially Hope, she has to pump, too) are pretty danged tired, which is why I haven't been posting the past few days.

We did load up and go have lunch with Meg at school today. Her teacher, Mrs. Ginn, even invited us to come a few minutes early so that Meg could introduce her brother to her classmates in the classroom.

Wednesday evening we took Meg to choir practice at church. That gave some of the other moms a chance to play with a baby (and give it back). I spent a lot of the time trying to keep him awake, with little success.

I'm not surprised this kid's been trouble. Knew it going in that we were due, because Meg was an easy baby. By now she was sleeping 6 hours at night. I'm just hoping that this means that when Matt is 8, he'll be a good kid. [ ;) ]

And on the 8th day...

meg teaching matt how to be a couch potato



Friday evening Hope and I went to the 40th birthday party of a friend of ours, Charles McRae. Our first outing without the baby! I was disappointed we had to leave as early as we did - there was a bonfire! Grunt, snort...Daddy like fire. But I digress. When we got home, Bebe the babysitter took Meg to her house for a sleepover, and Hope, Matt, and I roadtripped for a late Friday evening shopping trip to Walmart. Always fun. Matt and I checked out the HD TVs while Hope shopped. He liked the Sony, 46".

Then came Saturday. Hope, Meg, and Matt stayed home, I took the priest to the football game. Didn't do any good. Gonna be a long year. Enough about that. Tailgating was fun, though!

The Vinson's stopped by while I was at the game - in their Georgia gear, no less, and brought some great cherry cobbler. Still no picture, though.

This morning (Sunday), we loaded up the family and went to church. We told ourselves it was to get Matt a special blessing, but I'm pretty sure we were showing off. At least I was. Sorry, God. This afternoon we were visited by our longtime tailgate friends VA Branum and Heather. No, Heather isn't mono-named, like Cher and Madonna, I'm just too old to remember her last name. VA sorta introduced Hope and I, for which I will be forever grateful (he says with a mostly straight face).

And Megan Brown brought some food by. Very nice of her, since she spent her Saturday evening with her daughter Nancy (pictured in an earlier post) at Children's Hospital treating Nancy's broken arm. Broke it in a fishing accident. Interesting tale of "swimming against the current" as they drove to Children's through the post game traffic. For those out of town, Children's is just off-campus, so there were 100,000 people going the other way while they tried to get there.

Speaking of food, I've been remiss in not thanking our neighbors, who have taken turns bringing dinner every other night since we've been home. In every case there has been enough for at least lunch the next day, as well. The Moye's, Williams', Robins' and Ziokowski's (yeah, I looked up how to spell it) have been a huge help.

I found my thumb!

It was a big moment for Matt. Of course, now we have to get him to lose it again (easier to wean him from a pacifier than a thumb).

Quick Commercial Announcement...

If anyone is actually still reading this...blog.

Meg, like every kid in the area, has started selling the school coupon books. Her problem is that both her Mom and her Dad are off work because of the baby, and don't have ready access to potential victims (customers) in the form of our co-workers.

If any of you have discretionary funds available, she would really appreciate the support. The books are $10 each. For a list of the coupons this year, go to www.knoxschools.org. We have the Knoxville books, and can get the East Tennessee books, which have more coupons for businesses in the outlying counties. Email her at hsmitchell@charter.net, or call Hope at 310-2117 cell or 777-4842 home. Thanks!

Oh, and about the baby... Matt had his first doctor's appointment today. Everything is fine. He's gained back most of the weight he lost in the hospital (normal, for those not up on these things). We even took a walk around the block. Gotta get him some shades, though, he doesn't much like the sun in his face!

Good night...for me!

Last night Hope "went to bed" around 9:30. I stayed up with Bubba and fed him around 11, then put him in the bassinet next to Hope. I snuck off to the guest bedroom and didn't wake up until 6. By then Hope had pumped twice, fed Matthew a scheduled meal and an "on demand" snack, and even fed the dog. Captain is used to breakfast at 3 am when I normally get up to go to work. In my defense, I had expected to feed Matt myself, and am normally a light enough sleeper to hear him stir, even from a room away.

Hope is back in bed, Meg is off to school, and another day begins. First doctors appointment comes up this morning.


Going thru the blog, noticed I hadn't posted a picture of Hope's mom, Betsy (aka Bebe) with the baby. This was Saturday night, probably before Hope got out of recovery.

No pictures of several folks that I know came by. Pattersons and Vinsons, we need to see you!

no more caps, im typing one handed, guess whos in the other??

came across video footage meg shot of the chikfila buffet saturday nite. id forgotten the camera could do that, and meg was probably hitting random buttons!

First Night!

Hope-
Let's just say I miss the hospital and the nurses! Believe it or not, the food was good and the service was great! I had become quickly spoiled with my nursing staff (I call them that because on most nights I was 1 of only 2 moms on the floor) taking Matt at night to help with my pumping and sleeping schedule. They would take him to the nurses station and care for him from about 10pm to 6am (right before the dayshift arrived).

Last night we were rocking and rolling until about 3am and then things went off course until about 8am. We will try to do better to keep him alert during his feedings, rather than letting him doze through that 3 am one. Hopefully tonight will be better!

Scott-
Yeah, it was a rough night for me, and I got a couple more hours sleep that Momma! We survived, though, with only minor complaints from Meg. I seem to remember a "can't you make him stop?" coming from her room around 4 am! We got her off on the school bus at 6:45, got Matt a bit more on schedule, a nap for us, and even a quick trip to Babies 'R Us for Mom, Dad, and baby before Meg got home at 3. Dad and Baby stayed in the car at the store.

Mark came through with pics, a sampling follows...


If we are the "Knoxville Mitchells", than this is the Maryville Mitchells. My brother Ed, his wife Kim, and their youngest son Jordan. Kim is up on her infant care-they have a fairly new grandson, Mason, thanks to older son Josh and his wife Tracy.

More elusive than most anything you can think of, a photo that has my brother Mark in it. He and his girlfriend Karen left Charlotte at the call that we were headed to the hospital, getting in around 11pm Saturday night. They were a big help in getting Grandma Mitchell to the hospital Sunday morning.

Mark's girlfriend, Karen Duganier

Grandma Mitchell. After 4 granddaughters, her first grandson. I included a second picture, below, because there is a near identical picture of her with Meg. Tried to find a copy to post, but haven't found it yet.

I include this picture from Sunday morning simply because Mark was so fascinated that I was wearing Hope's wedding ring on my pinky (you might have to click on the picture to see). She wasn't able to wear it for surgery, and her hand was still a bit swollen at this point even the next day. The wheelchair was for Grandma. We were waiting in the hospital atrium for a few minutes while Hope finished pumping.

We're home!!

Matthew is very excited to be home. Can't you tell? They let Mom and Matt go about 12:30 Tuesday afternoon. Captain (the dog) is somewhat anxious, probably having flashbacks to when we brought Meg home. Poor dog hasn't been the same since. Momma wanted me to mention that we look forward to company, but to please give us a call first. Don't want too big a crowd! Thanks for your comments here on the blog, for the emails, and your calls. It all means so much to us. I'll continue to post here, especially as Bubba (yes, I've referred to him by 3 different names in this post) experiences "firsts". Who thinks he might be up for the Florida game?!

Still in the hospital...

but Hope and Bubba should come home Tuesday. Insurance will run out by then.

An oldie but a goodie...Hope's Mom Betsy, Megan and Nancy Brown, and Martha Terrell in the waiting room Saturday evening. Megan and Nancy set up a little Chik-fil-a buffet for us, which kept Meg and me from completely starving to death. Brian and Stacey Patterson joined the group with their Drew and Will in tow a bit later. I think just Betsy got to see Hope that night (Hope took a little longer than normal to kick the spinal, so Matt made it to the hospital room before his mother). The rest got their baby fix and ran, but all came back Sunday to check on the mother.

Anna Calhoun on Sunday

Good Sam's (Church of the Good Samaritan) Assistant Rector Taylor Dinsmore visited Monday

Matt posing with his great-grandmother Margaret Leach and his great aunt Barbara Leach. He's not sucking that thumb, but he likes keeping a close eye on it.

Amy (getting the baby practice in before her little girl comes along) and Kathleen from Hope's office checked in Monday. Hope is moving around quite a bit, but is still pretty sore.

Does he look any different? They've been putting ointment on his cut. He's beginning to eat more, and has been sleeping 4 hours or so at a time. I hope he keeps that up, but I'm not counting on it.

It was strange at the hospital today. The parking lot was a lot more crowded (4 cars in the lot Saturday evening, had to park on the back row this morning), but we had a lot fewer visitors. What, do you guys have jobs or something?

Day TWO

The little tyke isn't even 24 hours old yet, but he's gotten to meet a whole bunch of folks today. We are so grateful to all of you that have stopped by, thankful to all of you that haven't (it's been busy), and understanding of those who are unable to.

Matthew hasn't learned any new tricks today, so I'm a little disappointed on that front. He has done great being passed around, and going from the straight jacket-like cocoon of the swaddling the nurses do, to the let the onesy hang out that the rest of us like so we can check out those little toes and hands!

It's been pointed out that we have had the "comments" turned off, which I think I have fixed. I'm hoping Kathryn Vinson will double check me on that. Anyway, if you have left a comment, it's been lost in cyberspace. If you want to let us know how perfect and beautiful our little Bubba is, try again!

Father Cal dropped by looking a little more official than he did Saturday.

Mom and Dad (that's Mom up there, and me down there), both fairly well pleased with themselves.

There are approximately 1418 more pictures that were taken today, but they are all in Uncle Mark's camera. I'll post any good ones he sends me later!

It's A Boy!

Ok, maybe I should have uploaded these pictures backwards, so that they would be chronological. It's 10pm, it's been a long day, so this is what you get! Matthew Scott Mitchell was born at 6:32 pm Saturday evening at Baptist West Hospital. He is 7 lbs 12 oz, 19 3/4 inches long, Mom and baby are doing fine. To hear the tale in chronological order, skip down to the begining of this post and come back up!

Meg holds her baby brother for the first time. She cried "happy tears". So did I.

Little cut on the cheek. I accused the doc of cutting too deep. Probably a self inflicted fingernail cut, though.

And there he is, pretty dang unhappy. I've edited the pictures to keep them G rated!

Me in my finest, in a photo taken by the Doctor who would minutes later deliver my child. No, not the shirt I wore to the game!

Dr. Steve McLees watches the Georgia-South Carolina game instead of taking care of my wife. Ok, so he might have been waiting for the spinal to kick in.

Cal, Hope, and Anna

Father Cal preparing to say a prayer for Hope and Matt

Hope, Meg, and I went to the Tennessee-UAB football game this afternoon. For those of you going "what was she doing going to a football game in her condition", the doctor had seen her Friday, said no problem. Hope was delivered to the stadium area, had an elevator pass, and left at halftime. Which, it turns out, was a good thing. She had been home (her Mom Betsy came and got Hope and Meg) for just a little while when her water broke. Luckily I had left the game earlier than I usually do, and was within a mile of home when she called me. We had some house cleaning to do, and we both took showers (man, it was hot at the game!). Meanwhile Hope's Mom came to help with Meg, and Father Cal Calhoun and his wife Anna came to the house at our request to say a quick prayer. Then off to the hospital. Had been scheduled for UT Hospital next Tuesday, but the doctor that Hope loves was on call at Baptist West, and that's closer to the house, anyway, so there we went!

FIVE more days...

This is the shirt we got to give to Meg to let her know she had a sibling on the way. She was pretty excited until we told her it was a boy! It's better now, we've convinced her she can still play dress up for a year or two without Bubba getting upset.

Hope and I created this site in preparation for the birth of our 2nd child, Matthew Scott Mitchell. Or Matthew Harmon Mitchell. Or something else. We based most of what you see on the blog of Miss Ella Kate Vinson, and her parents, Kathryn and Chris. Kathryn (seen below) was instrumental in getting us up and running. Neither Hope nor I are all that comfortable with the technology and computer skills neccesary to make this look good, but please have patience as we try to learn. We have 15 days.

And a Blog is Born!

Hope and Kathryn creating the Mitchell's Blog!