Lily's Birth Story

I had a feeling that Lily would come early. Eve arrived at 38 weeks 6 days, so I figured that Lily would be here by about the same time. At my 37 week appointment I was already 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. I knew that sometimes people sit at that point for weeks but I was hopeful that this wouldn't be the case with me. Although I was hoping that she would make it to 38 weeks at least. At my 38 week appointment, I hadn't progressed any more. I had expected this though because I hadn't noticed any contractions during the week. I really wanted her to come soon, not because I was sick of being pregnant, but because John was starting a new job in a couple of weeks and he had one week off between jobs. It would be perfect if he could help me with the kids during that time so to ensure that this would happen, I scheduled an induction for the next Sunday. I really didn't want to be induced, though. It wasn't the way I had pictured this birth and I was nervous that it wouldn't go well and that I'd end up having to have a C-section. The week before my induction I walked as much as I could. We walked to the park, to and from stores, through Walmart and Target, and around malls. Another issue was that my doctor wouldn't be available on Thursday or Saturday, so I was really hoping that Lily would come on Wednesday or Friday. Wednesday and Thursday came and went and then it was Friday. I was pretty disappointed to reach that point as I was 39 weeks on Friday, which is farther than I made it with Eve. John didn't have work, so we took a little outing to Station Park in Farmington. We shopped and walked around for a couple of hours but nothing changed. No contractions and it still seemed like the baby still hadn't dropped. At this point I was pretty discouraged. My options weren't what I was hoping for. If the baby came on Saturday, I wouldn't have my own doctor for my delivery but if she didn't come on Saturday then I would be induced the next day. On Friday night John and I made plans to go out on a lunch date the next day and I planned on doing some last minute house organizing too. I was pretty convinced that I was going to be induced.

At about 8:00 on Saturday morning, I was lying in bed and realized that my clothes felt a little wet. I called out to John and told him that I thought that my water had broken. He came rushing in to the bedroom and said, "Really?" I wasn't completely sure so I stood up, changed, and walked around a little to see if there was any more liquid. There didn't seem to be any. I knew that if the baby had dropped then there would only be a little trickle but it didn't seem like I even had that. I had just used the bathroom so I doubted that I had had an accident. I started to have a few contractions that were about 6 minutes apart. John was rushing to get the last minute things in the hospital bag but I wasn't really sure whether it was the real thing yet. Even if it was, I didn't feel like we were in much of a rush so I started curling my hair while John showered. Within 10 minutes I realized that this was a bad idea. I kept having to stop for my contractions which were about 4-5 minutes apart already. By the time John had finished showering they were already very painful and were 3-4 minutes apart. John worked on getting everything into the car while I tried to finish getting myself ready. I was really struggling with this so I gave up on makeup and just tried to get dressed. My contractions were very intense and I was still in pain between them. Eve was pretty concerned about me. During one contraction, I was kneeling on the floor and she came over and gave me a hug. It was the cutest thing. Eventually I worked my way to the car. When we got in I started to panic. I was seriously concerned that we weren't going to make it to the hospital which was about 30 minutes away. We had planned on dropping Eve off at John's parents' place but John called his mom and asked her to meet us in a parking lot that was just off the freeway. I'm so glad that he did. We dropped Eve off and continued to the hospital. At this point my contractions were less than two minutes apart and I was really struggling with the pain. I had planned on having an epidural like I had with Eve. I had managed to get through contractions during that labor (before the epidural) with deep breaths. I had never really learned any other techniques for dealing with the pain. So I was pretty unprepared for this labor. Poor John, his hand must have felt pretty mangled after that car ride. I kept saying that we weren't going to make it and that I couldn't do it. I just couldn't handle the pain. My contractions felt like they were coming two at a time with only a very brief break before the next two. It became pretty clear that my water had in fact broken because it was really gushing now. When we finally arrived at the hospital (which fortunately took less than half an hour due to some "slight" speeding) it was pretty apparent that I wouldn't be able to walk inside myself so John stopped right in front of the entrance and ran in to get me a wheelchair. He wheeled me in and they checked me in. John was dying to take me to a room but the front desk workers didn't seem to realize how close I was to having the baby. We finally got into a room and managed to change me out of my very wet clothes and into a gown. I got into bed and the nurse came in to check on me. She seemed pretty unconcerned even though I was in a lot of distress and making a lot of load groaning noises during contractions. The nurse checked me and suddenly she didn't seem so calm. She immediately started calling people in, telling them that I was dilated to an 8 or 9. I asked for an epidural and they called for the anesthesiologist. My room suddenly filled with people and I heard one of them say that there might not be time for an epidural. That was the very last thing I wanted to hear during one of my contractions. Luckily the anesthesiologist wasn't busy and was able to come immediately. He worked on getting my epidural placed which was pretty difficult considering how frequently my contractions were coming and how long they were lasting. He did it and after a couple of contractions they told me it was time to push. I had only been in the hospital for about 15 minutes at this point. I was still feeling my contractions but luckily with the first one with which I was going to push, the pain went away. I heard the doctor tell John to pay attention because he might be the one delivering the baby next time. After about three pushes, Lily was here! I couldn't believe it! I pushed for about 45 minutes with Eve and with Lily I pushed for less than 5 minutes! I was so grateful that my epidural had actually worked. I am amazed by women who have natural births. I came pretty close to it but I couldn't take one more minute of the pain. I was so in shock once it was over. My labor had started at 8:00 am and Lily was born at 10:10 am.  John was in shock too. He just slumped in the chair next to my bed feeling very nauseated. Everyone kept telling me that I was lucky that my labor was so fast, but that's definitely not how I felt about it. It was terrifying and intense and I felt completely unprepared for it. I think if I had been planning on a natural birth, it would have been a much better experience. Next time around, that's what I'm going to do. Also, because everything happened so quickly, we didn't get any pictures or video of the birth. I'm pretty sad about that.

Even though my labor wasn't what I had expected, I sure got a beautiful, healthy little girl out of it! Eve had been 6lb 5oz when she was born but Lily was 7lb 10oz! During my last appointment my doctor had told me that my baby might be a little bigger than Eve, probably closer to 7lb. I was definitely surprised when I heard her actual weight!


















  
At first I didn't think that she and Eve looked very similar but now I think that they do! Lily is chubbier and has her dad's lips, and her dad's hair. She is such a sweet baby. She was a natural with breastfeeding and she has been sleeping well at night too. With Eve I had to get up every hour or two to feed her in the night but Lily has been sleeping in 2-3 hour stretches and then goes right back to sleep after nursing. It's been wonderful. Eve seems to be adjusting well to being a big sister. Whenever Lily starts to make noise or cry, Eve goes over to her side and asks, "What's wrong, Lily?" Then she'll hold Lily's hand until I come over to feed her or until I finish changing Lily's diaper. She also loves to kiss Lily's head and to tell Lily that she loves her. She also tries to give Lily her pacifier when she's upset but this is a little more problematic because she is still learning how to be soft. Eve has only held Lily a couple of times. Now when we ask her if she wants to, she tells us that she doesn't because Lily is "too heavy" for her. I guess that's a pretty reasonable response. I'm so excited to see their relationship develop. 




Comments

  1. Welcome to the world little Lily! My nephew was born Tuesday, on St. Patrick's Day weighing the exact same as Lily. Many blessings and well wishes to your newest addition to your family! (:

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    1. Thank you! Congrats on the birth of your nephew! That's such a fun birthday!

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  2. She's so precious! Crazy how fast your labor went! It's amazing what our bodies can do. Congrats mama!

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    1. Thanks, Melissa! It definitely is amazing!

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