Up until the day that I delivered Lilah Grace, the births of my children had been rather uneventful. I mean they were eventful, of course, but they were pretty textbook, and to be honest, almost easy. Lilah’s delivery was a little more dramatic though.
As many of you know, I went past my due date (May 3rd) this time around, and as much as I was savoring every moment of this pregnancy, I was ready to be done. After sitting at a few centimeters dilated and 75% effaced for weeks, I had had enough. I was ready to meet our girl and have her on the outside. After having my membranes stripped on my due date, and having been told that my bag of water was “bulging”, I went home that Thursday with high hopes that labor would start over the weekend on its own. Despite my many efforts, unfortunately, it did not, so after discussing it with my OB, we decided that I would be induced. Looking back now, I actually wonder if my water would have ever broken on its own.
I arrived at the hospital early on the morning of Tuesday May 8th, feeling anxious, but excited. After my OB checked my progress, we found that I was 5 centimeters dilated and about 80% effaced. She decided that we would just break my water and “see what happened” without administering pitocin right away. Thankfully that was all it took to do the trick. Once my water was broken things progressed really smoothly and without intervention. I decided that it was time for my epidural, as things were moving along and contractions were getting more and more intense. Somewhere around 3:00 PM, we got to the point where it was time to push.
My OB started getting prepped, as did the nurse and a resident, and besides that, my husband was by my side to coach me along like he had three times before this. After my first good push, the doctor made the comment that these were the types of deliveries she loved, where the mom knew just what to do, and she was just there to help me along. I felt like a pro… like somehow I had been blessed and lucky enough to make it through four births with ease… then somewhere around my 3rd or 4th push, things took a turn. I heard my OB say something along the lines of “we’ve got a sticky shoulder”. Before I knew it, there seemed to be fifteen people in the room. Alarms were going off and there was loud beeping. I vaguely remember seeing my husband get shoved to the side as several nurses basically pounced on me, screaming “you’ve gotta push HARD!”. I swear my legs were pulled up past my ears, and there were nurses and doctors pushing and pulling on me from every direction. I felt like I was pushing as hard as I could, and that I couldn’t give anymore than I was. I’m pretty sure at some point I said “I can’t, I can’t push anymore!”. Someone, I think a nurse, told me that I had no choice, and that I had to if I wanted to get my baby out. Even though I know that all of this chaos only lasted for a few minutes, it felt like it went on for hours. Finally, with everything I had left to give, I gave another solid push and Lilah was out. I didn’t hear her cry right away like I had with all of my other kids, and they didn’t immediately place her on my chest. Naturally, panic set in.
While the nurses worked on her and looked her over, I laid there shivering and crying, totally hopped up on adrenaline, just wanting to see and hold my baby. Finally I heard the amazing sound of her crying and the nurses held her up so that I could see her. She was perfect. Another baby girl with a head full of thick dark hair. I then heard the nurse say that she looked good, and that she was moving her arm just fine… I guess this was a concern because of the way her shoulder got stuck.
It was literally the best feeling ever when she was finally placed in my arms. She latched on and started nursing right away, and didn’t stop for a long time, like she needed to be comforted after her traumatic entrance into the world. Mike and I both were still reeling from how scary everything had been, when he asked the doctor what would have happened if I hadn’t been able to push her out? The doctor responded and said that she had been close to calling for an emergency c-section. I’m so glad that that wasn’t necessary, and that by some sort of miracle we got her out.
It goes without saying that after all of that, I was in a little more pain after delivering Lilah than I remembered in the past. My body felt sore in places that I thought had nothing to do with giving birth for days after that. Miraculously though, I had zero tearing, and other than being achy, I have been healing fairly quickly.
Today Lilah is two weeks old. That doesn’t even seem possible to me. She is literally a dream baby. Right now we’re in that sweet spot where all she does is sleep and nurse, and sleep some more, and all I want to do is snuggle her. She only wakes up 2-3 times a night at the moment… perhaps this is the reward after dealing with Theo’s terrible sleeping habits for the last two years, but I don’t want to speak too soon. We are so completely in love with her that she makes me want to have more… this doesn’t mean that I will, but she reminds me of how much I like having babies, and how their sweetness instantly makes you forget about those last miserable weeks of pregnancy, and even a scary labor experience.
Lilah Grace, you may have taken your time getting here, but you were 100% worth the wait!
She is perfect! What a whirlwind! Congratulations!!
Thank you Mary!