I spent the week hoping I would be at a 5 by Friday. We finished a few last minute items (refinanced our house to get a better interest rate and bought a car that would fit our growing family). I had babysitters lined up and my bags packed when I went to my appointment on Friday but was trying not to get my hopes up.
At 12:15 on Friday I went to my appointment and hallelujah! Dr. Hebert told me I was dilated to a 6 and I could head down to Labor & Delivery. I called Matt (who was waiting at work on pins and needles) and told him the good news and then called my parents.
I checked into Labor & Delivery at Intermountain Medical Center around 1 pm and Matt arrived shortly after. My nurse put in an IV with fluids so I could get my epidural and hooked up the baby heart rate and contraction monitors. I was having Braxton Hicks contractions about every 4 minutes but they didn't hurt, I could just feel my stomach tighten.
Around 2 pm the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural. That's right, before I even felt any painful contractions I got an epidural, I feel like I totally cheated and am proud of it! Around 2:30, after the epidural kicked in, my nurse checked me and I was at a 7. I think maybe when my doctor had checked me earlier it got things moving, or maybe I would have had Lila that day either way, I'm not sure. Whatever the reason, I was having contraction every 3-4 minutes and dilating on my own without any Pitocin.
So Matt and I just hung out in the room watching TV and texting family for the next few hours. Around 5 pm Dr. Hebert came in and checked me. She said I was still at a 7 so she was going to break my water. She broke my water and then the contractions started coming closer together. She came back about a half hour later to see how things were going and was surprised that I was still only dilated to a 7. But then after further exam she could tell that Lila was posterior (her head was facing the wrong way) and she said that was probably why she was having a hard time coming down. They got out a huge yoga-ball type thing that they called "the peanut" because it was shaped like a peanut. They rolled me over onto my side and had me put the peanut between my legs. They covered me with a huge blanket (since I was looking pretty awesome) and told me when I felt pressure to let them know. About ten minutes later I could feel a lot of pressure so I called my nurse. She came in and checked me and said the peanut had done it's job and I was at a 10 and ready to push!
Dr. Hebert came back in and told me when I felt the next contraction (I wasn't feeling any pain, just pressure) to push. I felt pressure and pushed while my nurse counted to 10. Dr Hebert told me her head was out so I didn't need to wait for another contraction I could keep pushing. I pushed for 10 seconds about 2 or 3 more times and at 6:02 pm she was out! I heard her little cry and the feeling of happiness was indescribable. The first thing Dr. Hebert said was, "wow she is big!" She had been predicting that Lila would be around 7 pounds like James was.
After she was out they suctioned out her mouth a little bit and quickly rubbed her down and put her on my chest. We did skin-to-skin for about 45 minutes, nursed, and then they weighed her and gave her some eye drops. She was 8 lbs. 9 oz. and 20.5 inches long. Then we headed upstairs to my new room. When we arrived to my room I was happy to see that my parents were there waiting to meet baby Lila! After they left I nursed again and then my CNA came in and got Lila all cleaned up and washed her hair. We were amazed at what a full head of hair she has!
So there you have it, Lila's birth story. We have just been in heaven getting to know our sweet baby girl and soaking in all her cuddles. Here are a few pictures that my amazing friend, Valerie Bateman, took the day after she was born.
