The story of Lillie’s birth- June 3, 2010!

So as we got all checked in, I got my epidural and we settled in for the night.  It was about 2 in the morning by the time the nurse cut the lights out.  We were so glad to get some rest, we knew we had an eventful day ahead of us….we just didn’t know how eventful!  So about 5 in the morning my nurse comes in to start my pitocin since my contractions had slowed due to the epidural.  As soon as they gave me the pitocin, Lillie’s heart rate skyrocketed!  I mean it was almost to 200 beats per minute.  The nurse immediately stopped the pitocin.   She called Dr. Cox (my OB) who wanted us to wait an hour before trying again.  So, I went back to sleep for another hour.  At 6 the nurse decided to try again.  This time, Lillie did just fine with the pitocin.  Her heart rate stayed right where it was supposed to be.  Good and strong!  At 7 the nurse shift changed and our new nurse arrived.  At first, we weren’t really sure about the new nurse (she hadn’t her coffee yet and I can totally relate, I’m not a morning person either), but by the end of the day April was basically our new best friend.  She was absolutely amazing!  Anyway, shortly after April arrived Dr. Cox came in and broke my water.  We were in business!  My body began dilating and things were moving smoothly.  Our families arrived around 10 and were so excited!  About 12:00, I began running a fever.  Lillie was still fine, but I wasn’t feeling so hot.  Dr. Cox started my on an antibiotic at this point and oxygen.  It was lovely having that thing up my nose!  So anyway, about 2:00 our friends showed up and we got to say hey to everyone but Art (he got there a little later).  

 After visiting with everyone, my blood pressure was getting a little high and so it was time for a little rest.  Or so I thought. April checked me and I was dilated to 10 cm.  It wasn’t time to rest, it was time to start pushing.  About 3:00 everyone left us and it was Matt, April and I in the room.  I started pushing and boy it was hard!  About 4:15, we hadn’t made much progress and so April decided I need to take a rest.  I literally passed out.  Matt got a breather too!  At about 4:45, Dr. Cox came in and it was time to try again.  I was getting desperate at this point. I really wanted Lillie to be here.  I pushed and pushed.  At 5:15, I realized my body was coming to and I could feel everything…remember, I had gotten my epidural at 2 in the morning and this is at 5 in the afternoon.  Anywho, they called the anesthesiologist and they came in and gave me a boost!  However, we also discovered my epidural pump had broken and so the anesthesiologist just stayed put and gave me a dose every few minutes.  About 5:30, Dr. Cox told me she could see Lillie’s head.  Matt and I were thrilled.  We didn’t think it would be much longer.  Well an hour later, we hadn’t gotten any further and Dr. Cox told us it was time to do a c-section.  My body was exhausted, my blood pressure was really high, my body had a fever and Lillie needed to come out.  So at 6:35, I agreed to the c-section.  Once I said yes, and had a good cry, our room was stormed with nurses and doctors galore!  My good friend April was still hanging with us and even though her shift was over, she was headed to the OR with us.  Matt had been so good about keeping our families updated as best as he could throughout the afternoon, he was given about 2 minutes to run to the waiting room and tell everyone we were headed into surgery.  Matt let everyone know and met us in the OR.  I was really nervous, so they gave me some morphine to help me relax.   I had never had morphine before, and it made me talk non-stop.  It’s a good thing, I don’t remember much.  Anyway, we agreed to the c-section at 6:35 and sweet Lillie was here at 7:02pm.  She weighed 8 lbs, 6.5 ounces and was 20 ¼ inches long.  The only thing I remember from the OR is Dr. Cox telling me to look up and she was holding Lillie over my head.  Matt got to hold Lillie first and he brought her right over to see me.  I was so excited.  They got me put back together and let me hold Lillie on the way to the recovery room.  

Lillie, Matt and Lillie’s nurse, Susan, got me settled in and Matt took Lillie to the waiting room to meet our families.  Little did we know that everyone except our mom’s had gone to celebrate Lillie’s birth.  Anyway, our mom’s got to meet Lillie first! 

Then my mom came to the recovery room with me and Matt’s mom went with him and Lillie to get her settled in the nursery.  After a while, Laurin came to see me too.  I remember her walking in and starting to cry!  We’ve been through a lot in our 25 years together and she said she just lost it seeing her best friend laid up in the bed!  She was also a very proud auntie Lala!  The rest of the night is a blur for me.  Matt said they finally took me to my room about 10:30.  Apparently, our families had all gotten to see Lillie in the nursery and had gone home to get some rest.  So we got to have a little family time, just the 3 of us!  I finally got to hold Lillie and didn’t want to give her up even though I couldn’t stay awake.  Finally Matt took Lillie so I could rest.  It had been a long day, but after 19 hours of labor, 3 hours of pushing and a c-section, our beautiful baby girl was here!

We stayed at the hospital until that Sunday, June 6.  I’ve never been so glad to go home in all of my life!  We had quite the welcome home from sweet Shelby who was so ready to see us and our new addition!