Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Introducing Lily Michaella

Our baby girl, Lily Michaella was born at 12:23am on September 7, 2013 and yes that was her due date! She was 6lbs 7oz and 19in long. She came in a hurry or at least it felt that way at the hospital. So here is how it all went down...

 I had my 39 week appt. on Thursday and got the low down on what happened if I went past my due date, which is the way it was looking. I had cytotec scheduled for Monday and if that didn't work I would be induced on Sept. 13th. My doctor did a procedure in office as well to see if he could get things started without extra medication. The end was in sight and I was so grateful for that.

The next morning I started to feel some cramping and was just overall unhappy and uncomfortable. Against my husband's advisement I went to work knowing that it was going to be a really light day and walked the three blocks there for good measure. Since Mike and I work at the same college I thought being on campus was better than at home alone. My department was in a meeting and wasn't expecting me so I hung out in the Athletic Training room on a yoga ball playing Candy Crush while listening to music on my phone. I was determined to get this baby out by her due date! After the meeting I brought the yoga ball upstairs to my desk and sat on it while counting out tickets for an event. Like I said a super light day for me, especially since I had told them I wasn't coming in. Then Mike and I went to lunch at the school cafeteria and again, I was determined to get this baby out and the abnormal, irregular contractions that had been plaguing me on and off for weeks were still abnormal and irregular. So I ate some jalapenos and I hate jalapenos. Medium salsa is as spicy as I get but the other times I ate those spicy things my contractions did become more regular so I ate nachos with cheese sauce and jalapenos and a chicken sandwich with jalapenos. With 15 minutes left for our lunch break I started having stronger contractions... hallelujah! Mike and I decided he would come home with me and see where things went.

We took many walks around our block and I ate 6 ice pops...yum! By 5:30pm I was ready to call the doctor and go to the hospital, or so I thought. I called and my doctor thought I sounded too calm to be in labor and asked if I just wanted something for the pain. I could come in if I wanted but I didn't get the impression she thought it was the real deal. I hung up the phone, defeated, and ready to lie down to wait for the contractions to die out like they normally did. My wonderful husband wasn't going to let that happen so he let me rest for a little but then we took another walk and he made me some pb&j sandwiches. All this time my contractions were stronger than ever before but still not the 2-3 minute mark the hospital had told me to call at and I still felt as calm as I did before. Finally around 7:30pm I called my doctor again and was going to the hospital.

We got there, got me all hooked up to the machines and waited for the nurse to check me. I had been 2cm dilated for the past 2 weeks so as long as I was at 4cm I was happy. At home when I was discouraged Mike had made my contractions into a game of sorts and told me I was working towards getting 10 points and 10 pts. equaled a baby :) Yea we are weird, so what. The nurse was checking me and said "Oh Sweetie." Our first thought was great, I am still at 2cm but then she said "You are 7cm dilated." I lifted my fists to the sky and said "Mike, 7 points!" and smiled probably the biggest smile ever. I was so proud of myself for getting that dilated by myself at home and it was finally happening. The nurse walked out to the hallway and told the rest of the nurses I was at 7cm and they started rushing everything into the room for delivery. Apparently I really was too calm to be in labor because they were all shocked. The nurses kept telling me that I was doing a great job and I am sure they tell everyone that but apparently while in labor you are supposed to sweat and not be able to talk normally because you are well... in labor. The nurses would laugh because I would have a contraction and then be able to talk like it was a regular conversation immediately after. My mom pointed out to me later that I am a very goal oriented person so I just wanted to know the next step in getting my goal (the baby being born) accomplished and I was good to go. I was admitted at 8:16pm and by 12:23am we had our baby! Even though my doctor tried to talk me out of it, I received my epidural just in time to be dispersed enough to help with the pain and then pushed for an hour and a half. I will say that having Mike and I be the only two people in the room, besides the medical personnel, was perfect for us and he was amazing for me.
Here are some pictures after being moved to the maternity ward. 
We chose the name Lily because Mike wanted something more classic and I wanted something trendy so Lily was a great fit. It is special to me because Lily of the Valley was my Grammy's favorite flower and I miss her very much. Michaella is a name I have always loved and it was a nice "trendy" way to have Mike's name as a part of our first born's name too.

 As you can see our baby girl is just like her name, purity and perfection. She is strong and very active. She was trying to pick her head up at the hospital, being one day old that is pretty impressive. We told her pediatrician that and he just smiled. We could tell he didn't believe us, but then he tested it out himself and he was amazed that with little extra support she could hold her head up. Lily sleeps very well and often. She also already turns side to side in her sleep.


This is my favorite picture from Lily's first week home. At only 4 days old, we traveled with Lily to her first collegiate soccer game. She slept the entire time and looked adorable as we took pictures with her. Welcome to your life as a daughter to two soccer coaches! Since then Lily has been to two more soccer games in her first week home.


The last 9 months were definitely crazy but we are so happy to have Lily Michaella in our lives.

We are so blessed and have been given so much over this time. The gifts, hours of time given and food brought over to us has been more than we ever expected. We are so grateful for everything and can't say thank you enough to everyone for all you have done. Lily is so loved!

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