GroshLink

For all you wondering minds...

Lily Joy's due date was Friday, June 6. That day came and went without fanfare in the labor department. Eden, however, was sick with a high fever and cold, so in retrospect it was fortunate that Lily wasn't born that weekend. How could I keep my sick 3 year old away from her newborn sister??? The following Tuesday we went for an ultrasound to check amniotic fluid level and saw the doctor. I was .5cm further along than 4 days ago. We discussed a contingency plan. I was scheduled for a c-section at 1pm Friday, June 13 in case I didn't go into labor before that. All this time I was having sporadic contractions, but nothing regular.

We went in again on Thursday morning, June 12 for another ultrasound and doctor visit. Still only at about 3.5cm. But my contractions had picked up the night before and were coming at about 20min. apart all day long. Some were approaching painful. After much discussion we decided we would go ahead with the c-section the next day if I didn't go into labor before that. This decision was influenced by the fact that it was a weekend and they don't schedule c-sections on the weekend. The soonest they could reschedule us for was midway through next week and neither we nor the doctor felt comfortable waiting that long. So we went home to hope for the best.

All afternoon my contractions hovered around 15 min. apart. In the evening they began to get more painful and I was getting sick of this! At 8pm I was putting Eden to bed and got a whopper while I was reading to her. I was trying to breathe through it and she was telling me to keep reading! About then I started to time the contractions and realized they were 5-7 min. apart. At 8:30 Eden was in bed and the contractions had jumped to 3 min. apart. I was excited, but didn't want to get my hopes up in case they stopped. I paced the floor, timing contractions. The doctor said to call when the contractions were 5 min. apart for 1 hour -- what about 3 min. apart for 1/2 hour?? I waited 45 min. just to be sure and then I called. They were getting really strong. The doctor said to come on in which we did, arriving at the hospital about 9:45pm. Riding in a car during labor -- not fun. But we made it.

I got the last available triage room. When they checked me out I was 5.5-6cm. After taking blood and inserting an IV I moved to the delivery room. Tom's sister Amanda joined us for the event. I discussed an epidural with the doctor but said I wanted to wait. I think I was around 7cm by now. It wasn't long before I changed my mind. I remembered from Eden's labor how I felt after the epidural and that was looking mighty attractive to me at this moment. So I said I wanted it. At the same time the anesthesiologist was walking by my room and noticed the epidural cart that the nurse had just moved into my room and asked if someone in here wanted an epidural. No waiting! Post-epidural I think I was about 8cm. After a little while the doctor broke my water and I felt a lot of pressure, but not the ready to push kind. My doctor had no other patients delivering that night so she just hung out in my room with us. Not long after she checked my again and I was 9.5cm. This was about 12am because I joked that the baby needed to be born within 1/2 hour to be consistent with my other 4 hour labors. We didn't quite meet that goal, but by 12:30am I started to push. This time I had a mirror to watch which was an interesting perspective. In the end the doctor was in my way and I couldn't get good view, but it's hard to push and keep your eyes open anyway! At 12:58 Lily Joy emerged, all 8 pounds 11ounces of her. I held her right away so we didn't know how much she weighed for a while yet. We even made some phone calls before knowing her weight. Oh the relief of not being pregnant anymore! Lily nursed right away and had no trouble figuring it out.

Since Lily was born in the middle of the night it was 3:30am until I was settled into my post-partum room. Thomas stayed overnight on the chair that converts to a "bed". We had non-stop visitors until about 1pm. It was so fun to see our older girls meet Lily for the first time. They all wanted to hold her (and ride on my bed). My stay at Lancaster General Women's and Babies Hospital was pleasant. The food was really good and I liked being able to order whatever I wanted from the menu. Tom and I enjoyed a meal together b/c the dad gets a meal too. They brought our meals on a table with a tablecloth and made it look very elegant (for a hospital). I took advantage of the Jacuzzi my first night there. Note: make sure the jets are completely covered with water before turning them on! I also tried to bank my sleep at night be sending Lily to the nursery except when it was time to feed her. The morning that I left I received a massage (sounds nicer than it was). The discharge process was very fast. And I returned home well rested and ready to take on the world! Or at least take care of 4 kids with lots of help from dad. And grandmas. And grandpas. And friends. And extended family.