Lily's birth was an amazing experience. With Gavin, I had a pretty rough labor and delivery and recovery, so I was pretty nervous for the whole birth experience. Lily's birth was a beautiful experience that I will never forget.
My due date was November 15th. I decided that I wanted to be induced on November 13th, if she hadn't come by then already. At my 39 week appointment I was already dilated to 4 cm, so my obgyn assured me that it would be an easy induction. I thought I was going to go into labor before the 13th, because I was having lots of contractions and I had my membranes stripped twice. The morning of November 12th, my family flew in from Utah. That night we went out to dinner and we went to bed early, knowing that we had to be at the hospital at 7:30 the next morning. I knew that I wasn't going to sleep very well because of nerves and from being so uncomfortable. I finally nodded off around 3 am after laying in bed tossing and turning for a few hours. I was in the middle of a dream, when I woke up to a huge gush! My water had spontaneously broken while I was sleeping at 3:45 am. I woke Jayden up and was really excited that my body had gone into labor on its own. We got up and got dressed and woke my parents up to tell them we were leaving.
We got to the hospital around 4:45. Labor and Delivery was pretty empty and they got us right in our room and started the paperwork and started my IV. They didn't want to start me on pitocin right away, since my water broke. We waited around for 4 hours after my water broke, but I wasn't contracting on my own. I was a little disappointed, since I didn't really want to have pit unless I had to. They started the pit, and the contractions were very mild. They kept on asking me if I wanted an epidural, but I wasn't really in pain yet, so I told them no. They kept on increasing my pit, and I was kept on waiting and waiting for the contractions to really start. they checked me again, and I was still at a 4. By this time I had been in labor for a about 6 hours and nothing was really happening. All of a sudden the contractions hit. And they hit hard. They were so intense and so close together. I had about a 10 second break in between each contraction. It was the most miserable hour of my life. I couldn't see, everything was dark. I was just trying to breathe and stay focused through each contraction. I finally got my epidural and the relief was immediate. I could see and breathe again. I felt good. The nurse checked me and I was 9 cm dilated. I had gone from a 4 to a 9 in about an hours time. Just a few minutes later, she checked me again and I was complete. The nurse wanted me to try a practice push. I pushed once and nothing really happened. She decided put a catheter in and empty my bladder. Then she asked me to try another push. All of a sudden she told me I needed to stop and that she didn't think the doctor would make it in time. Luckily, she had everything set up and in place. With my next contraction my body pushed out Lily on her own. I didn't push or anything, she kind of just slid out. The nurse was right, the doctor didn't make it in time, the nurse delivered her. It was so surreal that I had just delivered a baby, and I didn't even feel her come out and didn't have to push! The cord was wrapped around Lily's neck, but she got it off really fast and Lily started breathing right away. The doctor got there about a minute after Lily was born, so she delivered the placenta. I didn't have any tearing or bruising, which has made recovery a breeze. I still can't believe how good I felt right after delivery. I was energetic and felt like normal. My epidural started to wear off right away which was really nice to get the feeling back in my legs. They placed Lily on my chest for skin to skin and to start breastfeeding. They let us have a long time with just the three of us to bond.
Lily was born at 12:37 pm weighing in at 7 lbs. 3 oz.
After a few hours, my family brought Gavin to the hospital to meet his new little sister. Jayden brought him in the room so our family of four could be together for the first time. Gavin didn't like that I was holding Lily at first, but when Jayden was holding her, Gavin calmed down and was really sweet with Lily. He wanted to give her hugs and kisses right away. After a few minutes, my family came in to meet Lily. I was walking around just a few hours after delivery and I felt so good! I never imagined that labor and delivery and recovery could be that easy after my delivery with Gavin. It was a beautiful day. I am so grateful for both birth experiences and for my two beautiful children!
