Lily's Story

Well I can say that the last nine months and 4 days were definitely worth it. Lily is finally here and part of our family forever! I have never been so anxious to have a baby before. Partly because those last few weeks get pretty squished and I had foolishly assumed that because the last 3 babies came early (6 days, 10 days, 14 days) that she would too. My Mom came for 10 days and I really wanted to have the baby while she was here to help, but it was not to be. I sadly dropped my Mom at the airport just a day before it all started. I must say her visit was still very comforting for me and I don't know how I would have gotten through those days without her.

Sunday morning, November 15th I woke up and started packing a few more boxes and getting kids ready for church. I was glad that at least I would get to go see the primary program that the kids had worked so hard to prepare for. I was feeling a lot of pressure from the baby's head that day and even said to my sister on the phone that I wouldn't be surprised if this was the night, even though I wasn't contracting regularly. I figured I would be wrong though since I had been so many times lately. By now I had had so many false labor episodes, and they were more painful each time, so I had no idea how I would know when I was really in labor.

That evening around 5:30 I started having contractions about every 5 minutes. I didn't know if it was labor, but they did hurt quite a bit so I started ordering Peter around to get ready. He and I spent about an hour picking up the house, making sure beds were made and that everything was in place. We have done this many times the last few weeks. We were both doubtful, but figured it had to be real one of these times.

We put the kids to bed and told them that the baby might be coming tonight. They were excited. My visiting teacher came over the house and off we went. I continued contracting but said many times on the half hour drive that I regretted going because it doesn't seem different than the other false labors. We parked and went into the hospital at 8:30pm ready to be turned away. Once in triage the nurse hooked me up to the monitors and checked me. I was dilated to a 2 a few days earlier so I was really doubting. But this time I was at a "good" 4. I was a little relieved because that usually means you will be admitted. I assumed that my contractions would taper off any minute still though and they weren't even that close together. The nurse picked up on my doubts, and after talking to the doctor suggested I walk for an hour and come back to see if there was any change. I was happy to do that because I did not want to be admitted and then have to be induced or have a long labor in the hospital. When you are a woman with a purpose, it is amazing how easily you can power walk when you are in pain. When walking the contractions were 2 minutes apart and I was still feeling a lot of pressure from the baby coming down.

After that hour the nurse checked me again and I was a 5 1/2 already! I should have been confident by then and we would for sure stay, but I still couldn't let myself believe it. Once resting again the contractions slowed back down to 5-6 minutes apart so I was still waiting for things to taper off. I could still relax through the contractions so I also didn't think it was painful enough yet. When I got up to got to the labor and delivery room, WOW, it became extremely painful. I used the giant exercise ball a little and that felt good. After a few more minutes, I decided I was ready for an epidural. Silly me though, I was now convinced that once I got that done the contractions would stop still (that happened with Carter).

The anesthesiologist was really good. The hospital wasn't busy either so he came really fast and had it all done in less than 5 minutes. He was really nice and funny. Within 10 minutes I was pretty comfortable, but he did have to add a little more medicine for one side to take. Once that was all done, the nurse checked me and I was dilated to an 8! I know I have never gone that far without the epidural before. I was very surprised yet again. We called a lady in our ward who we had arranged to come with the kids. She went and picked up Dallin and Eden and they got there around 1:00am. At this point, my monitor was not picking up my contractions and I couldn't feel them too much. I thought for sure that this was it, my labor had finally stopped. I know, was I paranoid or what? I don't think they ever really got closer than 5 minutes, except when we were walking but I progressed pretty quickly so it made the labor a lot less intense. That was great but still caused me to doubt. Dallin and Eden were wide awake and really cute and excited about everything when they arrived. Peter asked Eden if she wanted to cut the cord this time since Dallin cut Carter's before. She said no, so Dallin was totally up for the task.

A little after 2:00 I started feeling lots of pressure and there were lots of decelerations in the baby's heartbeat, which means she was coming down. I had one small place in my belly that wasn't numb so I could really feel the contractions now. I told the nurse and she came in to check me. I was 9.75 centimeters so she called the doctor. The nurse told me that as soon as the doctor would break my water "this baby was going to come flying out". Okay, so I finally believed that this was really happening.

The doctor came in and broke my water and then quickly got everything into place. Peter had told the doctor that he wanted to be as involved as possible, so she gave him a gown told him he could do the delivery! She would just instruct him like she would a medical student. We have never done that before so it was pretty exciting. Eden stayed back and was more comfortable watching from a distance and Dallin kept trying to get a better view as the delivery began. The kids were very prepared for what they would see so I wasn't worried about them at all. It only took about a minute to push the baby out. Peter did great and the kids loved watching their baby sister arrive. Lily is our first baby that actually came out face down instead of up. I think that made it even easier. Once she was out, they put her on my belly and Dallin confidently cut the cord with no help. The nurses said that he did better than most dads do at it.

Over the next hour, I held the baby skin to skin and everyone enjoyed looking at our new little girl. I had the feeling that she was going to be a big baby so I wasn't too surprised that she was a healthy 9 lbs. When they took her footprint, they inket one on the kids arms as well so they felt pretty important.

Having so much of our family there for the delivery was quite an event and I was so glad that we got to share such a special moment. Lori flew in later that morning and has been able to take care of things at home for us. That was a huge relief for us. Now my 2 day "vacation" is over and we will be heading home today. Lily could not be a more perfect baby. She eats well, sleeps a lot and time just seems to stop when I look at her beautiful little face. She is my first baby that will open her eyes and we will just look at each other for an hour or more. Maybe its because she was late, but she is very aware for a newborn and has even smiled a few times. Maybe involuntarily, but still, she definitely smiled.

This was definitely my best labor and delivery and easiest recovery. There is not much I would change about any of it. I am a little tired, but so happy. Every time I say the name Lily, I feel so happy that she is finally here and that she is real. What a sweet little addition to our family. A family of 7 to be exact! We are so grateful to Heavenly Father for sending her to us, what a blessing. There is nothing that makes you feel so close to heaven than to hold a brand new baby that just came from there.