If I'd have known...

That she was just waiting for me to create her blog before she made her appearance, I'd have done it much sooner! ;)

As many of you know, our beautiful princess came into this world on August 4th at 3:38 pm. I'm still in awe of how incredible her birth was so I'm going to share the story. (Don't worry, I'm leaving out any gory details although there aren't really many to report anyway. But there are pictures of her posted below it so you can skip right to the good stuff if you'd like.)

I had an amazing labor, delivery, and recovery--it was truly, truly the best day of my life. I woke up Monday morning around 5:00 with some mild contractions and a lot of back pain. Because I had been having contractions since the previous Wednesday, I went into work anyway thinking they would stop. An hour into work, I found I was way too uncomfortable to concentrate. I called my doctor and asked if I could be checked that day to see if anything was going on. I went in around quarter to 10 and she told me I was dilated to 3 and almost completely effaced. She said if I wanted I could go to the hospital and she would break my water for me and we could have a baby! I had wanted labor to progress all on its own but I was sooo uncomfortable, it seemed like the contractions were right on top of each other. So I agreed to meet her at the hospital in a couple of hours.

I got to the hospital, got all checked in, and the nurse checked to see if we had made any progress. Low-and-behold I was at a 5! I got hooked up to the monitors and saw the contractions were in fact coming very close together and getting stronger by the minute. I was very blessed to have my best friend Marci and Jason by my side to keep me distracted (and breathing) during the worst of them. They even made a fun game of competing against the ladies in the other labor and delivery rooms (their contractions were displayed on the same monitor so the nurses can keep an eye on everyone). Just for the record, we won. ;)

Before long, I was ready for the epidural. As we got prepared to get it started, my water broke all on its own! The good news was that it broke on its own, the bad news was that there was meconium (Lilie had poo'd) in the fluid. When the doctor got there, she explained that we would have to take special precautions to suction the baby before she took her first breath so there wouldn't be complications. The doctor and nurses were so good about explaining it so I wouldn't freak out.

The anesthesiologist arrived to give me the epidural. I think I heard angels sing when she entered the room. That was short-lived, though...it wasn't a pleasant experience--trying to stay completely still during those horrible contractions that were then coming 1-2 minutes apart was not easy and the epidural kept sending shocking pains down my left leg. I'm not sure what happened during all of that, that part is a blur of pain and yuckiness in my memory but thank goodness Jason was there, he was a huge help! He helped keep me calm and focused through the pain. I really couldn't have done it without him. I feel so blessed that he was there by my side the entire time.

The epidural was finally in place and I got some relief...however, it only took on my left side. I was still feeling contractions on the right side and they were strong and constant. It took a few phone calls and some adjusting but they finally got that figured out and I was comfortable and calm. Even with those complications, it was soooo lovely to have relief from the pain and be able to focus on what was going on with the baby. We had to wait for the pediatrician to get there so she'd be able to take care of the suctioning right away and make sure Lilie didn't get any of the meconium in her lungs. Once she arrived, I pushed just a few times and Liliana Grayce made her grand entrance. Although I couldn't feel my legs because of the drugs, boy could I feel my heart as soon as they put her on my stomach. I think it swelled 300 times its normal size when I saw her for the first time.

She scored 8 & 9 on her Apgars and had no ill effects from the meconium complication. She had to go get checked out thoroughly in the nursery before I could hold her for very long but fortunately, her daddy was able to go with her. He got to stay with her while they confirmed that she is, in fact, perfect. He also got to witness her first bath and verify that those little lungs are very efficient. ;)

She got to meet her Gowow (Grandma N.), her Aunt Mar-Mar, and Daddy's good friend Don who were all sweet enough to come to the hospital to welcome her into the world.

Daddy, Liliana, and I stayed at the hospital until Wednesday. It was wonderful to have that time to get to know our little princess and adore every little noise and face she made without having to worry about life on the outside, if only for a couple of days. I was surprised to find that I felt so good during "recovery". I put that in quotes because other than being tired and just slightly achy at times, I physically didn't feel like was recovering from having a baby. I expected to be in a lot of pain and I kept waiting for it to come but it never did. The hospital staff was fabulous during our stay, too.

We really couldn't have asked for a better experience. I can't believe how lucky we are. It is nothing short of a miracle and I am truly amazed by God's work. She is the sweetest little thing, nursing like a pro, and so easy-going. I never knew I could fall so completely in love so hard and so quickly! She is my heart.

So that is the beginning of our story, seems more like a fairy tale to me still. I just really can't get over how wonderful that day was and I feel like I want to tell the story over and over again. I want to share it with friends, family, coworkers, telemarketers, people at the grocery store... perhaps I'm still on Cloud 9 or a little delirious from lack of sleep. If you made it this far (and without a potty break), thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the pictures below. ;) There will be many more to come!