July 9th...Lily's birthday!
5:30 am: Arrive at the hospital. Of course, I couldn't fall asleep the night before because I was too excited. I finally dozed off after midnight, but then had a coughing fit at 3:30 and wasn't able to fall back asleep.
Last belly picture!
5:30-8:30ish: The nurses got me all checked in, filled out a ridiculous amount to questionnaires and paperwork and got my iv started. As usual, the nurse busted the first vein that she tried and had to move to my other arm. Unfortunately, the litacain that I had requested to ease the pain of the iv needle didn't quite work. I also learned that my favorite loopy drug that I like to get before an epidural wasn't available either. Hmmm, should have known what was to come later in the day!!
9:00: My doctor finally arrives to break my water and get labor going! We had decided not to use pitocin unless absolutely necessary, so I had been laying in bed waiting for her for 3.5 hours without even being in labor. I was ready to get the show on the road!! My mom and Joe also arrived around this time too and the party began! I was allowed to get up and walk the halls to get things moving faster. I would walk for 30 minutes and then get back in bed to be monitored for 15 minutes. We continued this pattern all morning.
10:30: Contractions started really picking up, but they were bearable.
11:00 ish the girls arrived with JoJo and Papa and they opened their gifts from baby Lily. They were so excited about her arrival!
Everyone hung out for a bit in the room and then people started to get hungry for lunch (I was starving the whole day, but couldn't eat until after she was born, it was torture!!). The doctor was supposed to come back around noon to check on me and see how I was progressing. I was anticipating this because I was for sure that I had made some serious headway and I was also getting ready to ask for my epidural. I wanted to be at least 6 cm before getting it because I didn't want labor to slow down after it was administered. My biggest fear was stalling out and having to use pitocin, end up with a ridiculously long labor, or end up having a c-section.
1:15: The doctor finally comes to check on me. Unfortunately, I was only at 4 cm! Major disappointment!! We talked for several minutes and I was asking her advice and telling her about my concerns. She advised me to continue my walking routine and wait a little longer before getting my epidural so that I could make some more progress. I agreed (although I was really bummed). She left the room and I made my way out of the bed after being monitored for another 15 minutes. I stood up and decided to stay in the room to walk because I was pretty uncomfortable. I made it over to the sink area and had a really hard contraction followed by another one just a minute later. I couldn't even formulate a sentence and could hardly breathe!! I told Micah to go get a nurse. I didn't care what centimeter I was at now, I just wanted my epidural!!
1:44: Our nurse had gone to get some lunch, so Micah comes back with another nurse. I made it to the bed and started asking for something in my iv to help with the pain until the epidural came. I also informed her that I had a lot of pressure and I thought something was happening! The nurse checked me and says, "well, you are complete and that's the baby's head, don't push!" What?? I asked again about my epidural and she said there wasn't time. I immediately looked at Micah as his eyes were filling with tears and then I went into "the zone." I closed my eyes and didn't open them for 11 minutes! That hospital room came alive! Nurses started rushing in, carts were being drug out, the bed was being transformed.
1:49: My doctor arrives, throws on some gloves and begins coaching me. All I could hear was her voice. She was so calm and precise with her instructions and I just hung on her every word to make it through. I kept asking how long until Lily would be born, I wanted to know how long I had to endure. I also kept asking for a shot! I didn't know exactly what kind, but I was sure they had something that could help! :)
1:55: Lily was born! Wow, that was glorious. As soon as she was born I felt like a million bucks!! It was such a relief. I absolutely couldn't believe what I had just done! Never in my life would I have planned to not have an epidural, but I was so happy to have had that experience. I know it sounds crazy, but it really wasn't that bad!! I think the worst part of labor are the contractions and not knowing how long you will have to go through that. The actual birth part was nothing compared.
After several minutes it dawned on me that our families had no idea what had just happened!! I sent Micah out to break the news. I wish I could have seen the looks on their faces! He came back in for a little while longer as they put the room back together and I nursed Lily, then he went to get the big sisters! They were so excited! Lily made a noise and Annalee was convinced that she had just said "Annalee." It was adorable. Both girls just loved and loved on her.
After we had some family time, the grandparents came in and got some lovin' too. It was a fantastic day! We are so thankful that God protected us and gave us such a wonderful blessing!!
