Lily's Birth Story

Thanks for being patient, friends!! Lily had her best night yet and Bobby is at MDO today, so I finally have some time on my hands to tell y'all about Lily's birth!!

With my first Ultrasound around 6 weeks, my estimated due date was Oct. 5. Then when I had the big 20 week U/S, I was told she may be due on Oct. 11. But we went ahead and planned for Oct. 5, since the first U/S is more accurate. Well...Oct. 5...6...7...8...came and went. I was feeling frustrated, because I wasn't very dilated and I was anxious to get the show on the road!! I walked, 'worked out' at G7 (squats and the rowing machine), ate pineapple and spicy foods, drank some 'pregnancy' tea, pumped... you name it. Finally, Lily decided to come on Sat., Oct. 9!!

On the early morning of Oct. 9, when I woke to go to the bathroom around 1ish and 3ish, I thought I felt some contractions, but then I fell back asleep. When I woke around 5:30ish, I felt some more. They felt different then the braxton hicks, and I vaguely thought they felt similar to how Bobby's labor was. So I decided to make myself stay awake to monitor the contractions. They were coming pretty steady, about 15 minutes apart. I let Rob sleep, but around 6ish, I texted Casey to tell her I thought I might be in labor. Around 7 am, I woke Rob up and I called my midwife, Sally. She said it sounded like labor, and to call her in an hour. I did, and Sally told me that she and the other 3 midwives were getting their things together and would be on their way soon. (They were coming from San Antonio, 2-2.5 hours away)

Meanwhile, I took a shower, dried my hair, and started straightening up the room we would labor in. (Don't worry, it was clean and ready to go, I just was picking up the clutter! :) ) I am so thankful for my in-laws, as they were able to be with Bobby. I think Bobby knew something was up, because he was being so sweet to me, saying 'Hi Mama', and giving me big hugs. :)

All the while I was still having contractions, and they were getting closer together and more intense. The midwives were finally on their way around 9:30ish. We had a birthing tub in the room that needed to be filled with water, so Rob was busy trying to figure out the hose attachment that we had bought....long story short, it didn't work with our faucet, so he had to fill the tub using his muscles and a bucket!!

Again, I am so thankful for my inlaws! My mother-in-law, Aida, helped Rob fill the last half of the tub up. So, I'm watching this, putting water on the stove to boil in case we ran out of hot water, making sure Bobby was ok, checking my Facebook, texting with Casey and chatting with friends on G-chat. Crazy...I know! But I had to do something to take my mind off of the labor part!!

Finally, I knew we were getting close, because while the tub was still being filled up, the contractions were getting more and more intense, ranging from 4-6 minutes apart, and I thought I felt the urge to push. My biggest fear was that the midwives would come, and I would only be 4 cm dilated or something. So when I felt like pushing, I was actually relieved...it was almost over! I called Sally, who said they were 5-10 minutes away. Phew!

Once the tub was full, it was just me and Rob in the room. Now, about the tub...I had no intentions of doing a water birth what-so-ever. Never wanted to. It made me nervous, the baby being born in water. But I agreed to have the tub b/c I remembered how much the water relaxed me with Bobby. So, I climbed in had maybe one contraction, then the midwives came. As they were setting up, I said " I think she is coming soon". They agreed, and continued to set up. I had one or 2 more tough contractions, which were now coming as back labor. Sally checked me, and said I was fully dilated. My water still hadn't broken yet. Because of my back labor, it helped to have some pressure on my lower back during a contraction, which was difficult to accomplish while I was sitting down in a tub. To make it easier, I sort of knelt down on my knees to allow easier access to my back. I told them I felt like I needed to push. I was told to push if I felt like I needed to. I am foggy on the time, but Rob said I pushed for maybe 15-20 minutes. During one push, my water finally broke, and even though I was in water, it was still a weird feeling! I think it was one or 2 more pushes after that and out Lilliana came!! It was the craziest thing. She came rushing out, and they said "Grab her!".

Holding his daughter for the first time!

I grabbed my daughter, and brought her out of the water and held her close. She was purple, and not crying. I remembered I kept saying "she's not crying!", but hey assured me that water babies are calm right after birth, and not even 20 seconds later, she started crying. Sigh...it was over! I was so relieved! The midwives hadn't even been at the house for an hour, that's how fast she came!!

Weighing little Lily...8lbs even!

Over all, I think the home birth was a great experience. I was able to be relaxed at home and not worry about rushing to the hospital. Rob liked it 100% better than last time. The labor part wasn't as long or intense as it was with Bobby, but for some reason, the pushing part was harder for me. I didn't remember any of my breathing until the very end, so I think that may have been why.

Well, that's the story! While Rob and I were on the bed enjoying our new bundle, the midwives cleaned everything up, did some laundry, and chatted with us. Then they weighed and measured Lily, and we got her dressed. She was doing perfectly, and I wasn't doing so bad either!

Lily is doing great. She is 5 days old now, eating nonstop, and spends her days sleeping and being cute! Bobby is doing good too. He loves his new baby! The first words he said to his sister were (in the sweetest voice ever): "Hi, Baby..." So adorable.

I am so bummed that we don't have a family picture to share. We did get a lot, but they are on our new camera, which is not compatible with iphoto right now. We will be able to eventually get them off the camera, but we need to wait for an Apple update...ugh! I'm so sad about this!! :(

Ok, ok...thanks for reading this extremely LONG post!! I hope it wasn't too long, but I wanted to get in all the details, even though I know I left a lot off!!

Little feet!

P.S. I forgot to mention: NO HIVES!! Thank you God!!