This may be a snoozer to some, but it's for my own documentation and family history. I have been wanting to document Lili's birth. So here we go. I woke up on 9/11 to another gorgeous day in Colorado. I asked Jamie if I could go get a pedicure that morning before it got crazy with moving the boys room downstairs and finishing trim work. So off I went. I sat in the message chair and noticed I was having contractions regularly, but they weren't very hard. I went home helped with the moving of some items downstairs. Aunt Roni came over with Sheridan and helped get stuff moved. I noticed that I needed to stop for contractions because they were getting hard. Roni told me the story of one of her births that went so quickly, she didn't have time for an epidural. By 5 pm I got nervous and thought that I really wanted that epidural so I wasn't going to take any chances. Jamie drove as fast as he could (he was so excited about this) to the Parker Hospital. We got there around 5:30 and I was dialated to a 4. Not much, but i knew that if I transitioned quickly like I did with Izzy, the baby wasn't too far off. The nurse had to check with the doctor before I got admitted, but said if he said 'yes', I could get my epidural right away. Well, the anesthesiologist came and started my epidural around 6:30. It took him until 8 pm, to get it in right because the first time he put it in, it didn't work and he kept asking me if I could feel my contractions, which I totally could. During this time, the on call Doctor comes to break my water. Thinking I have my epidural all set, he procedes to break my water-very unpleasant experience. When he's done he asks me if I was sure that my water didn't break at home. I tell him no. So, he tries one more time and says, "strange, I'm pretty sure I broke your water, but nothing has come out." I don't think much of this and continue with the Anesthesiologist. The Anesthesiologist thinks there must be a kink in the tube going into my spine, so he pulls it out a bit. Well, that doesn't work either, so he pulls out the whole thing and does it again. The second time around didn't hurt as bad going in, so I knew it would work. It did and I was one happy pregnant lady. Well, all that moving around and stress must have slowed my labor, so I got pitocin started at a 1. I called Elisa, told her I was on my way, and she decided to stop by with Hallie and Summer to visit. I asked for a foot rub, which feels totally funky when you are numb from the waist down. By 10:00 pm I begin to feel like I'm going to pass out, so Elisa leaves knowing that I'm getting close. I tell the nurse and she checks me to find I'm only 5 centimeters dialated. She tells me to switch sides, that may help. I do, but it doesn't, so about 15 min later I tell her I still don't feel good, so she checks me again and low and behold, I'm almost 9 centimeters, so she runs out to call the Doctor. So, we wait for the doctor who shows up around 10:00ish. I push a bunch of times and Liliana is born at 10:38. As she is being born, the doctor says "wow, I haven't seen this much meconium in a LONG time." I don't know what to think of this, all I know is that this means my baby is going to be swept away right away in order to make sure she doesn't asperate the meconium. This is the reason why no amniotic fluid. Poor Lili was COVERED in her own poop. I remember looking at her as she is being taken to her crib and thinking "wow, she is covered in black/green poop". All doctors and nurses were saying how chubby she was. Everyone in the room was taking bets on her weight-none under 8 pounds, I thought for sure she would be at least 8 if not 9 pounds. Nope, she came in at 7 lbs 1.8 oz and 19 inches long. She was just so swollen!
Lili was born at 10:38 pm. By 6:00 a.m she was in the NICU. I got to hold her and have her in my room for a little over 7 hours before she turned blue. I remember that first night with Lili she was fussy. I couldn't get her to calm down enough to sleep. I had fed her 3 times in 7 hours and by 5:00 a.m. I was exhausted so I called a nurse and asked her to take Lili for a couple hours so I could get some sleep. That was heavenly intervention and a tender mercy I will never forget. I will say that the Parker Hospital has a room in policy where they don't have a nursery, only a NICU. They expect all moms to have the babies in their rooms over night. My nurse was so kind to take Lili and sit with her in the NICU. She was holding Lili when she turned so blue, she later told me she was almost "black". The nurse holding her was talking to another nurse who pointed out how blue Lili had turned. They were already in the NICU so she was rushed to a bed and placed on a warmer, given oxygen and hooked up to a machine to check her vitals. The sweet nurse came to tell me at around 5:40 a.m. and that is the moment my whole world changed.
I don't like to think about what would have happened had I not asked for Lili to be taken or if the Nurse had not taken her. I would have put her back to sleep for the fourth time that night and woken up to a completely different scenario. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for my sweet precious baby. We all have a purpose here on earth and I know Lili has much yet to accomplish. I just hope as Parents, Jamie and I will be able to give her what she needs spiritually and physically.
Her first couple hours in the NICU. She was such a good NICU baby! I loved her from the first moment. It's amazing how you can feel such a connection to such a little person you just met for the first time on this earth. I love her!
Christian LOVES to hold Lili. Look how big they both look here. How fun this baby is! We all love her.
Lili has been such a huge blessing in our lives. It has made me stop and think of the most important things in this life. I still struggle with her little eye, but I know she chose to come to our family under these conditions and she still picked our family and came to us. I love her for this and hope that we can give her all she will need in this life. Lili has coloboma and micropthalmia in her right eye, which means her eye didn't develop correctly, so doctors have told us she will not see out of that eye. We are blessed because so far her left eye looks normal and well. How greatful we are for this. Her condition is a red flag for other other health issues and so she has been undergoing test after test to make sure everything else developed correctly. So far, the doctors have found nothing other than a slight trachial malasia (this may be what caused her to turn blue that first night and also what may have caused her inability to eat for the first 3 to 4 days). Doctors believe she will outgrow this. We pray she does and also keep praying that she will continue to grow healthy and strong. I can't help but think that had she been born during pioneer times, she probably would not have lived. How blessed we are that she is with us!
Doesn't she look like a little person already!! She is so beautiful!!! These pictures were taken only at a few days old.
Notice something different about me??? no more Oxygen!!
