December 4th was a very long, exhausting but joyful day.
I woke up at 2:30 am having to go to the bathroom and I was also having cramps. After spending quite a while in the bathroom I went downstairs to read my "What to expect when you are expecting" book because I had the feeling something was going on. In my reading, which I had read the part about labor so many times I just kept forgetting parts that I had read because it was so much information. Anyway, it said that the first stage of labor, where you're starting to dilate, that you would have cramp like pains along with diarrhea. Yep - I was definitely in the first stage of pregnancy. I figured I better eat something, since this might be the last time in a while that I'll have the chance. I also couldn't sleep because my pains ["contractions"] were about 20 minutes apart. 5am rolled around and Kyle was getting up soon to go drive students for drivers ed so I decided to wake him and let him know what was going on with me. I also decided that I'd better start getting Lily's and my bag packed for the hospital, since I was pretty sure things were going to happen today. I was very excited and nervous at the same time.
About 5:45am it was time for Kyle to leave to drive his students and my contractions had got a little worse and were now about 7-10 minutes apart. I told him to go ahead and go drive his students but to come home right after - instead of going straight to school. Kyle got home about 7:00 am and I was now 5 minutes in between contractions. I told Kyle that I'd like him to stay home since I was progressing pretty quickly. He had to run to the school though to get set up for a substitute. He went to the Principals office and informed one of the assistant rincipals that I was in labor and that he needed a substitute. The principal told him not to worry about anything that he would take care of his classes and to get home. That was nice of him. When Kyle got home, about 7:30am, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I figured maybe I should go to the hospital. I was just a little worried because I didn't want to be one of the crazy ladies that shows up at the hospital and I'm not even in labor. Also, my doctor told me that I would know I was in labor because I wouldn't be able to breath through my contractions. I could definitely breath through my contractions but I was a little worried because they were only 2-3 minutes apart - I thought - "I've got to be in labor". Kyle agreed we should head for the hospital because the worse that could happen is they send us home. We got to the hospital about 8:00am and got checked in -- after a very slow walk to the delivery check in area. Kyle offered to get me a wheel chair but I didn't want to look like a weakling. First thing they did was check what I was dilated to. I was at a 4 1/2. Not really far in progression but enough that they admitted me and moved me to my delivery room. After about 30 minutes of being in the delivery room someone came in and gave me my epideral. The epideral wasn't bad at all. It took about 10 minutes to put it in, since they give you a shot to numb the area that they are going to put the epideral into and then they put your epideral in. Kyle explained to me later how big the needle was. I'm glad all I felt was a little pinch. It was smooth sailing from there :) Epiderals are heavenly. The only way I knew I was having a contraction at this stage was if I looked at the monitor that I was hooked up to. Now once I got to the point where I was actually pushing I could fill pressure when I was having a contraction. This is probably because they were way more intense, which again I was very glad I had an epideral at that point. When I was dialated to about a 7 I was getting a little worried as to what was going to happen when I got to a 10 - was I going to know when to push, was the pain going to get so bad that I wouldn't be able to bare it. I was a little worried, since of course I had never done this before. One thing that didn't help with my worrying much was Kyle's brother called to see if he needed anything and Kyle asked him if he could bring him a dvd player because I guess Kyle was a little bored just sitting around, while we were waiting for things to progress. Anyway, Clint showed up - he stayed and visited a bit, which was nice of him but at the same time it was a little nerve wrecking :). He was telling stories about Cassie and things that had happened during her pregnancy's and how one of her epiderals ran out - kind of scary. Once he left my stomach was just in knots and I was hurting quite a bit because I was so stressed out and I couldn't relax. I don't blame Clint one bit -- he had no idea his stories would get me so worked up but sometimes things just trigger you imagination. When the nurse came in I asked her several questions about the epideral making sure mine wasn't going to run out and let her know that I wasn't feeling very well. She said lets give you some anti-nausea medicine and we'll give you a power boost through your epideral. Kyle turned on a movie on his portable dvd player and snoozed a little, while I tried to relax. Of course I couldn't relax enough to fall asleep because I didn't know when I was going to need to start pushing or if I'd even know when. The extra boost in my epideral and anti-nausea medicine seemed to have helped because about an hour later I was feeling much better. Around 4pm the nurse came in and checked me again. She said I was fully dialated and that the baby was sitting right near the exit waiting to come out - so we got ready to push. Kyle was positioned on my left and the nurse on my right with each of them holding onto a leg [no stirups] and we got started. I guess the doctor doesn't come in until you can see the baby's head. I was told later by Kyle that once they could see a little bit of the head the nursed asked Kyle if he would like to tell me -- Kyle got a little choked up and turned to me and said "she's got red hair". We knew she was destine to have red hair but I had told him earlier that I knew she was going to be bald because I came out bald. I guess I was wrong. Maybe that's why I had such bad heartburn my entire pregnancy - she was growing so much hair.
I pushed for about 1 hour and 40 minutes and then the doctor came in and I did my last few pushes [about 20 minutes] and Lily came out into the world :) I was so, so very happy and couldn't believe that I had a little girl that was mine all mine -- well, and Kyle's too. Kyle was so happy I had to remind him to get the camera and start taking pictures of Lily. I was so glad that Kyle was there with me. He is the best loving husband ever. He told me earlier that he was going to stay focused on my face the whole time and wasn't going to look down yonder at all. Things changed when the big moment came. He was very interested when the head was crowning and when Lily came out - and of course he cut the cord too. He also gave me a play by play of what was going on because I didn't want a mirror. He was also very helpful on telling me when contractions were coming, even though I could feel the pressure, and when it was time to push. My delivery nurse was also very sweet, helpful and very informative. I wish I could remember her name but I am having no luck.
When Lily first came out she wasn't crying much - she was more like wimpering. I asked the doctor if that was normal and if she was ok. He just told me she was fine. Once they got Lily wiped off and had sucked some liquid out of her lungs with a long suction tube I got to hold her for a minute. She was so precious and little. I couldn't believe I had grown and carried this precious little angel inside my belly. They then had to rush her off to do some tests on her because I guess her heart rate drop a bit right before she came out and she was whiter then they would like to see. Kyle went off with Lily and the nurses to watch them do the tests and to see her get her first bath.
Once the doctor stiched me all up they brought me in some dinner - I was starving and so exhausted. Kyle's parents and Natalie and Gary came in as well to say hi and then they were off to see the baby. The nurse helped me get cleaned up and then my parents showed up and they came up with me to my recovery room where I'd be spending my next couple of days recovering and trying to get some sleep [ya right]. My parents just stayed a bit and then they went to go see Lily and left for the night. Kyle came back to the recovery room about an hour and a half later. Shortly after the nurse brought in Lily so I could see her and try feeding her for the first time. It was about 1:00am by the time Kyle took Lily back to the nursery by which time I was finally able to get ready for bed. I was so exhausted that I could not keep my eyes open while I was talking. It sure was a long, long day but one very special, memorable day. Although, I wasn't going to be able to get much restful sleep, since I had to wake up every 3 hours to feed little Lily, but I was ok with this because who wouldn't want to see that little baby girl as often as possible. I actually asked if she could spend the night in my room on Saturday night because I wanted her close to me and I wanted to get use to her being there. They did have to come in every two hours though to check her vitals but that was ok - it's good to know she's still breathing.
I actually liked the stay in the hospital because it was nice to have someone bring you breakfast, lunch and dinner and to also bring you snacks whenever you'd like them. I was also eager to get home to my own comfortable bed and shower and I know Kyle was sick of sleeping on the hard fold out couch. We packed up everything and left for home on Sunday around 7pm.
It was snowing when we came outside [the first storm of the season] and I was a little nervous driving home. We stopped at Holly's first to get her breast pump that she was loaning to me so we took Lily in and let the family see her. We got home around 9:30pm and Kyle's parents stopped by to bring us some dinner [that was nice of them]. We ate and then we all got ready for bed. We put Lily in our room because we were a little nervous about putting her in her own room and not being able to keep a close eye on her.
We feel so complete now that we have Lily. We are over joyed and feel so blessed that we have been able to have the opportunity to be parents and share our love with such a beautiful little girl. We thank our Heavenly Father every day for this wonderful gift. We Love you Lily!!
