Lillian's birth

So, for those of you who want all the details...here you go. Warning! This is a long one...

I had already blogged about my day on Friday and it continued pretty much the same. There were some contractions that seemed productive, but no pattern and no increase in intensity. It was driving me crazy! I was so frustrated and antsy, so I went outside and pulled some weeds. After a while, I told Neal that I had to get out of the house, so we went to Wal-mart and walked all around the store. We let the kids look at every single toy isle, Neal looked at TVs, we looked at baby stuff, and finally picked up a few extra groceries for my parents arrival. Walking was good, and in the store I had a few contractions that made me stop and need to breathe through. However, I still did not notice a pattern. We got home, put stuff away, got the kids to bed and I did my night-time cleaning routine. Then I called Melissa and we talked for awhile just catching up. During that time, I started to notice the contractions coming at regular intervals, but I did not get my hopes up or say anything just in case...After we hung up, Neal and I sat on the couch watching TV on-line and I started keeping track of contractions. This was 10pm, they were coming every 6 minutes. Neal asked if I was in labor, and I just told him "maybe". I am always hesitant to commit because my labors are so long and I worry about getting hopes up. By 11pm, I knew I was definitely in labor, the contractions continued and were getting stronger...finally! I walked around the house for an hour and my parents arrived at midnight. They were very excited to find me in labor and forgave me for being such a terrible hostess. (I did not help them with any of their luggage!) I knew it was going to be a long night, so I encouraged everyone to go on to bed. I tried to relax in bed, but the contractions were too strong, so I took a long shower. After that, I paced around in my bathroom and labored in different positions there trying not to wake anybody up. Around 4am, I guessed I was probably progressed to a 5 or so and I decided to labor a little longer in a warm bath. (My labors are very long, yet follow the same pattern. So, I have been able to become very well aware of when each progression occurs.) The warm bath was a great idea. I was so relaxed and really able to focus during contractions. At this point I was progressing from a 5 to a 6, the contractions were about every 3 minutes. Yet I remember thinking to myself that although they were very intense, I would not categorize them as being painful. I stayed in the tub until 5:15 and decided to time contractions for a bit before waking Neal up. At 5:40, I woke up Neal and told him it was time. He immediately got dressed, woke up my mom, packed the car and got it warm for me, helped me get my shoes on and off we went. This was 6am.

I have learned that if you are going to have a baby in the hospital with an OB and you want a completely drug-free experience, then timing is everything. For me, I want to be at the point where I am in active labor, but able to talk and walk between contractions. That way I am not too terribly uncomfortable with all the stuff they do to you in the hospital when you first get there - check your progression, put in the IV, get your thumb prints, ask 1000 questions you already answered in pre-registration, put on the monitors, etc. I have learned that progressing from a 6 to a 7 is the perfect time for me to deal with the hospital stuff. It is even somewhat of a distraction. However, when I reach a 7, they better be finished and leave me alone!

So, we arrived at the hospital at 6:05 (Norman is great! I love small towns!) We got to the nurse's station and told them I was in labor. Neal made me laugh because he was sure to tell them that this was our 4th baby and I had been in labor since 10pm. I know he said this because so many times you get the, "are you sure you are in labor" question. They immediately took me to a triage room where I was determined to be at a 6. (Just like I thought, perfect timing!) We then walked 2 doors down to a very nice labor/delivery/postpartum suite. I climbed into the bed, which is where I was ready to be, and they started all the hospital stuff. When they finished, they checked me and I was at a 7, again, perfect timing! At this point I told the nurse that with my other labors, the doctor has broken my water at a 7 to 8 allowing the baby to move on down and deliver in about an hour and a half later. She found the doctor and let him know. I did not get my doctor because she was not on-call. Instead, I got a gruff and grumpy old guy who came in, introduced himself, broke my water, and said, "call me when it is time to push". Ugh! Anyway, I had a WONDERFUL labor and delivery nurse who was with me almost the whole time. She was very encouraging and helpful and I am so thankful for her. Well, I knew that the contractions were going to be stronger, but I also knew that we would have a baby in about an hour and a half or so, so I was mentally ready to go through the hard part. This was at 8am. With every contraction I kept waiting for that change when the baby is moving down, but it wasn't coming. My labor and delivery nurse, Tori, was great and kept changing my position every 20 minutes or so trying to get the baby moving. The contractions were really strong at this point and I would definitely say they were painful now. I had to focus on relaxing really hard even between contractions. After 2 and a half hours of this, I was still at a 7! That is when I lost my focus. I told Neal I was done, I didn't want to hurt anymore and I wanted an epidural. The nurse very gently said, "give me 20 more minutes in this position, I think this will do it." I said, "no, I'm done". So, she went out to find an anesthesiologist. The second she left the room, I felt the urge to push. I remember having very mixed feelings. I thought, "great, now I have to do this" and I thought "OK let's do this and be done!" I tried to focus on the more positive of the two feelings. The nurse came back in and said there was a C-section taking place and I would have to wait for the epidural. I answered by saying, "I have to push." Tori was ecstatic. She checked and sure enough I was complete and ready to go.

The next couple of minutes were a blur. I could feel the baby moving down, my body taking over, being told not to push and just breathe, a slew of people entering the room, the bed being broken down, being moved into the annoying "hospital birthing position", and having Mr. Grumpy doctor "prep" me - he was really rough. Once everything was ready, the doctor said, "we have a lot of pushing ahead of us ladies", insinuating that the nurses called him too early and I was not ready. I remember saying, "Oh great." But the nurses were very encouraging and telling me I could do it. So I focused on the task ahead and figured I would just show that doctor that I was ready and went for it. In two contractions the head was out and I pushed the shoulders out with the third. As always, my first thought was, "ah, its out!" and then I heard them say, "It's a girl!" Lillian entered the world at 10:56am. Neal cut the cord and she was laid on my belly.

Lillian was 8 lbs. 2 oz. - my biggest baby yet
20 1/4 inches
9 days "late" and 13 hours of labor.

She is a very sweet baby and is enjoying all the attention from her older siblings. More pictures of her to come!