Lily's Birth Story (G-rated)

After talking with my ob/gyn and lots of prayer, David and I decided that we wanted to induce Lily on December 5th.  We'd never wanted to induce our pregnancies, but we felt good about it.  The night before, we went to Olive Garden to celebrate our last night together with just us two.  Afterwards, we came home and packed our bags for the hospital (for the next morning).  We went to bed early that night, but we were so excited it was hard to sleep.  We set our alarm and planned to check in at the hospital at 6 am.

At 2:30 am, I woke up with a couple of bad contractions.  I'd been having them for weeks, so this didn't really surprise me.  I got up to go to the bathroom, and my water broke.  I was really excited because my water breaking meant that Lily was coming that day; I wouldn't have to be induced.

After my water broke, I did my hair and make-up.  Maybe that's lame, but we had plenty of time before Lily came, so I wanted to look my best to greet her:) By 3:30, we were off to the hospital.  We checked in, and I was dilated to a 3.  I was a 3 the day before at my doctor's appointment, so there wasn't much progress there. 

Then my contractions started to get much much worse.  So bad that I told David to stop talking to me or touching me.  It sounds terrible, but I'd never been in that much pain.  And yes, I was screaming every 2-3 minutes with the contractions.  The nurse checked me again, and I was dilated to a 4-5.  Time for the epidural; finally.  I could have gotten the epidural sooner, but the nurses wanted to see a change in my dilation. Once I was a 4-5, the epidural was ordered, but the anesthesiologist was busy :( At this point, I was screaming louder and louder.  I feel bad for everyone who was in that room with me.  45 minutes later, the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural.  When he was finished, I was dilated to an 8.  The epidural finally set in, and I was SO happy.  I apologized to David and the nurses for being so grumpy.  I was in such a good mood.  A few minutes later, I was dilated to a 10, and Lily was ready to come.  Except that my doctor wasn't there yet...

David and I took a nap for about an hour, and the nurse started helping me push.  30 minutes later the doctor arrived.  The pushing was completely painless because of the epidural.  I ended up pushing for 2 1/2 hours, but I didn't mind because it didn't hurt at all.  After all that, Lily arrived, and she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.  Right after she was born, the doctor threw her up on my chest (even though she was pretty goopy and bloody, she was so beautiful).  Then the nurse took Lily to the other side of the room, and David helped get her all cleaned up.  

As each day passes, I forget more and more how painful labor was.  It doesn't seem that bad at all now, even though it was the most pain I've ever felt.  I still can't believe that I had a baby.  And that I survived.  And that I'm not terrified to have more children one day.  Lily is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and she's MY daughter.  I love that, and I love her so much.  She is completely worth all the pain I felt in pregnancy and labor.  My baby angel :)

My goopy girl :)

Love :)

David spending time with Lily for the first time :)