Lily's Birthday!

12 days ago, our daughter, Lily was born. Thursday, June 24th, Darin and I went to our doctors appointment to see if my body was ready to have this baby. I was already 5 days past my due date, so we were really hoping they would tell us we could go to the hospital that day. I had been having contractions all morning that were more regular than they had been in the past. They kept coming every 10 min or so, but they were really light and not painful at all. I wanted to believe I would go into labor that day, but thought if I said it, then it wouldn't happen.

We went to have an ultrasound and they told us that the amniotic fluid level was very low. Our midwife came in and said, "How would you like to have this baby today?!" YES! Darin and I were so excited and relieved. I think we would have gone nuts if we had to wait another day for this baby!

Before we went to the hospital, we went out to get a bite to eat. Once I started labor, it would be ice chips only, so it was important to grab a bite before we went to the hospital. We went to subway for something light that I wouldn't throw up later. It was nice having our last meal together before our baby was born, even if it was at a subway. The contractions kept coming and were getting a little stronger, but still didn't hurt. We ate quickly and went over to the hospital (good thing we had our bags packed in the car!!)

After we were admitted to the hospital, they gave me Misoprostol to try to induce labor, although, I think my body was starting to go that way anyway. After seeing how I was progressing, they decided not to induce any more because my contractions started to get more and more frequent so there was no need to induce any more. The nurse hooked me up to a million monitors. I had 2 fetal monitors, a heart rate monitor on my finger, and after a while, they hooked me up to an IV, and an oxygen mask. The IV and mask were put on because the baby's heart rate was kind of irregular, so having these two things was going to help that. Healthy mom, healthy baby.

I kind of expected the IV because I've read that they usually will do that if you want to have an epidural later. It was a pain trying to get up and go to the bathroom, not because it was painful or anything, just because I had to unhook myself from ALL the monitors and wheel my IV stand in there too. I got really good at it after a while since I still had to pee every 30 min.

My contractions started to hurt at this point, really bad. Darin helped push on my back and held my hand, it seemed to be the only thing that helped. We were admitted at about 5:30 or 6pm, and I think I remember looking at the clock around 11:30 when the physician that was on call came in to talk to us. I had expected to deliver with a midwife, but at this point it didn't matter, its a good thing we did not have a birth plan! We met the physician that night, she was so nice, I liked her right away. She said that the baby's heart rate kept dipping a little, so she was going to break my water and put a monitor on the baby's head to get a closer reading on her heart rate. She tried to break my water, but there was so little fluid in there, it may have already broken. They got the new monitor on, and I could hear the baby's heart rate beeping on the machine next to me.

My contractions hurt SO bad at this point, it was so hard to talk during them. It felt like bad cramps, so bad they made my legs numb. I told Darin it felt like someone was blowing a balloon up in my pelvis, so much pressure. I was only dilated to 2.5 inches, so it was too early for an epidural, and they told me I couldn't have any drugs because her heart rate was so fragile. The physician asked me if I could bare the pain just a little longer, I said yes, what else could I say?

The next few bits become a little fuzzy, but here is what I remember. I had a really bad contraction and heard the little beep on the monitor slow down. Then tons of nurses rushed in and I saw one of them hand Darin some scrubs. I figured I was having a c-section. Then I was rushed to the OR. The room was bright and there were a bunch of people in there, and I heard of them say they were going to knock me out. I wanted them to hurry up and knock me out, because I was in so much pain! I was laying flat on my back and having contractions, ugh! Finally I was knocked out and next thing I knew, I woke up and saw Darin sitting by my side, holding our daughter.

Darin said that they handed him scrubs and told him to change and they would have him come into the OR. He changed, and then they said he couldn't go in because I had to go completely under, since it was an emergency c-section which is very rare. So, Darin had to wait by himself. He called our family members to tell them what was going on, and then a doctor came out to let him know that the baby and I were fine! He said it was only about 15 min and they were done with the surgery. He had to wait longer to see us, he didn't even know if we had a girl for sure, just that we were okay. Then they brought out Lily and wheeled me in later.

Our daughter was born at 12:48am on June 25th, 2010. She weighed 5lbs, 12oz and was 20inches long. Our parents and sisters came to visit us around 3:30am. I was so drugged, so I remember very little, but I remember seeing Lily get her first bath, which we have on video hehe :)

The next four days were spent in the hospital. A few ups and downs concerning her health, but nothing serious. She was able to stay in our room for the most of the time. It was so nice to spend time together as a family, but the best was when we got to go home. Our moms were at our house and helped us settle in, I even got to drink my first glass of wine since being pregnant!

So there it is! I thought we would have a midwife, epidural, and lots of pushing but I didn't have any of that! I still can't believe we have a baby and that we are parents. It is so awesome being able to spend all day with Lily. I'm so grateful that she is finally here, happy, and healthy. <3