Labor and Delivery

As I write this the big girls are at Mimi and Granddaddy's church for VBS, JD is at work, and the baby is napping in her cradle. All is quiet. Everyone is settling in well. We took Lilah to church with us this past Sunday and she did GREAT! The girls are being very helpful and loving on the baby all the time. The biggest challenge thus far has been nursing. It is a learning process for both mom and babe but well worth it. Lilah is sleeping quite well. She's going to bed late and waking up once throughout the night. She's a really good (and precious!) baby.



So, now that I have a free moment I'll give you our labor and delivery experience:



The girls were at the beach with GG, Aunt Jaime, and Ella so Jonathan and I had went out on our last date before the baby came. We went out to eat, to pick up the pack and play that we had ordered (thank goodness!), and to Barnes & Noble. We weren't at B&N too terribly long before I declared I was pooped and we needed to head home. I commented to Jonathan that I didn't know how in the world I was going to survive this weekend at work (luckily I didn't have to!).
Around 3am I woke up with cramping in my belly (not terribly unusual as I had been having this feeling off and on for a few weeks...but this was stronger) and went to the bathroom to find another sign that labor and delivery were close at hand. I immediately fired up the computer and read up on what was going on and what it all meant in terms of how close I was to L&D. During this time I continued to have contractions. Around 3:30am I woke Jonathan up to tell him I thought I was in labor and what he thought we should do. I think he said something like, "Are you serious?" As if I would wake him up at 3:30am to joke about such things:)
We timed the contractions for about an hour and then decided to get up, get showers, get things together and then head to the hospital if things continued on. They did so I called into work and we headed to the hospital around 6:30am. They hooked me up to all the monitors and did a check showing that I was 1.5cm dilated. I had been to the MD on Thursday (two days before) and hadn't dilated at all so I knew that meant some progress. Two hours later after another check which showed no change, they told me that my contractions had become irregular and that I was safe for discharge home ("come back in two hours if you have consistent contractions"). This was a major disappointment and of course got me thinking that we were headed for adoption day and birth day colliding! Plus, we were so excited that this was the day we would meet this little one. And to hear 'probably not' was a big let down (to put it mildly).
About the time we got home I doubled over with another (much stronger) contraction. We went upstairs to bed and I (for two hours) timed contractions that were 2-5 minutes apart. It was all becoming quite unbearable but when I called L&D to tell them that I felt like I should come back, the nurse assured me that she had done this for 3 weeks with her first child and that "you should look for a change...stronger/closer contractions (had I not just said they were?), unbearable pain (check), water breaking (none yet)." I called my mom, consulted with Jonathan, and though I felt like a moron for turning around and going back to the hospital I knew that this was real labor and that no human alive could have felt this for three weeks. Back to L&D. A different nurse this time (the one who ultimately was with us throughout our delivery) and guess what...when she checked me I was dilated to 5cm. I cried when she told me that news. I was so relieved that pain relief and my baby would be here soon!
To L&D room 2 we went where a whirlwind of events took place. IV started (I'd never had one), a minuscule amount of pain meds to tide me over for the epidural (again something I had never had...it was interesting having a med in my system that I give to patients nearly every time I work...it gave me crazy thoughts when I closed my eyes, like dreams but I was awake...weird...but it did help with the contractions). Finally the anesthesiologist came in to make my world a much, much happier place. After the epidural was in place (which really was about 45 minutes after our second arrival to hospital) things were Easy-Peasy. We waited and chatted and visited with family. The MD broke my water when I was dilated to 9cm and told me we would be pushing in 45 minutes.
Around this time my mom, sister, and the girls arrived at the hospital. The girls inspected me THOROUGHLY and wanted to know what all the wires and contraptions were. I couldn't wait for them to see their new sister and hold her in their arms!!!
Soon after everyone was shooed out and the delivery part happened. It was easy for me and my photographer husband stood by my side flashing pictures every so often. I was very proud of how brave he was during Lilah's delivery:)
She came out a little past 6pm screaming to the world, announcing her arrival. Only a week later I look at those first pictures of her and have already grown nostalgic for the first time I saw her face.



There has never been a moment like that. Never. All of a sudden nothing else mattered. Me, my man, and my three little girls. Let the world fall away...this is what matters.

CLICK HERE FOR L&D PHOTOS