Lessons Learned

***Before you get started be forewarned that this might be a long story. Some people are interested in all the details of your "labor experience" while others just want to see that everyone survived...this post in somewhere in the middle - I won't go into gory detail, but I might go a little longer than some would prefer! :-) *** We are truly adjusting quite well with baby Lillie coming into the family. I haven't really had the experience of being all on my own with all of the children as of yet - the closest I have come to that was Sat. morning when Steven had a morning meeting that pretty much ended up taking all morning...he didn't get home until a bit after lunch and by that time I was about ready to cry along with the baby. But we made it and it really wasn't that bad, just a bit stressful when I was still so sore after the delivery.

The biggest lesson I have learned through this major life transition is that I am not alone! Thank the Lord. It has been so comforting and so affirming to hear of all the people that had been praying for us, especially on Wed. morning when I was induced. I was pretty anxious about the whole process. I mentioned this before, but I totally knew too much about it - I knew what would hurt, what was just plain gross, and how much all of these things just added up to an experience I would rather avoid. I am not a medical person, really pretty much want to stay away from yucky bodily stuff so knowing what was coming was hard for me to put out of my mind.

The morning started out kind of rough - I didn't get a wink of sleep the night before. I did begin contractions that night; they were never that hard, a few were, but they were consistent. So that kept me awake to just stew and go over things in my mind over and over. I of course just tried to relax and pray things through, but for the most part I was just restless. Then I didn't eat any breakfast because my stomach was tied up in knots with anxiety so I walked into the hospital exhausted and they said the baby was "sleepy" because I hadn't had breakfast they determined. The nurse tried to put my IV in and it was a difficult stick (I almost fainted on that one) and I thought "great, this is not the way I had hoped this morning would go" - at about 8:00 that morning they broke my water and I started the pitosin process. (I have no idea how you spell that drug, I just know that it is nasty stuff!)

Well it took about an hour or so but the pain really started to become strong and then stronger...no real breaks from it to rest through - felt like I had to breathe through some of the "down time" as well as the contractions. It took a lot of concentration and focus and I was just too tired. I really didn't want the epidural, and the reason is? Well I didn't need it with Isaiah and the labor was not difficult - I was able to handle it. I didn't get one with Huston (based on the Isaiah experience) and I was in total mind-blowing pain at the end (although it was still fast). Then with Avery all I could think of was the mind-blowing pain and opted for the epidural, well based on my experience this time around, I must have gotten Avery's epidural too late - cause I still felt stuff and I still hurt! So with those past experiences weighed, I laid there and suddenly remembered something my friend Pam said (an experienced mother of 5) - she said she got the epidural simply so she could rest...well that was definitely what I needed so I told the nurse to bring it on.

The nurse checked me after the epidural and I was at a 6. So I laid back and waited. Slowly I felt less and less pain until I didn't even know when a contraction was happening. The nurse eventually comes in and says "It's been almost and hour, let me check you to see how far we have to go..." She checks, then looks at me and says, "let's have this baby" I thought "What! You've got to be kidding me." I felt nothing! So they quickly got the room transformed and the dr was paged and we waited for him. And we waited...the nurse discovers the page had not gone through and paged a second time - he was there in no time, but let me tell you - if I didn't have those drugs that "in no time" would have turned into FOREVER! While we were waiting the scrub nurse asked the labor and delivery nurse if they should go ahead and have me push through a couple of contractions while we were waiting for the dr. to make it. The nurse said no...in hindsight that was God too, cause when the dr came he got ready and sat down to help me through the next contraction and that's all it took. Lillie came out in 1 1/2 pushes. She came out with the cord wrapped around her neck twice! and had shown no signs of distress on the monitors - her heart rate was always good and some of the other signs that babies give that they are in distress never occurred. They were all pretty surprised (God again I am positive). She rated well and was strong and crying the moment she came out. Looking back, I wonder if that is one of the reasons why she looked "a little sleepy" - it still could have been my lack of breakfast.

Since she has arrived we have been checked on and congratulated by so many. We don't have to cook any meals this week due to caring church folks and luckily the church office is closed the Monday after easter to give the ministers a bit of a refresher after the busy church holiday, so my mom came over this morning to lend a hand and cleaned my badly neglected floors and then took a couple of the kids so I could catch a nap this afternoon. It is so comforting to know that I am not alone in this life experience and to realize that I would not be alone in any major life happening that came our way. God is good, he totally showed me that once again through all of this. It just increases my faith that much more for the next thing that might pop around the corner....but let me just tell you that "next thing" - if it's up to me - will not be a baby! :-)