Hello all!!
Well, as you can see from the pictures and the title, our sweet baby girl has finally arrived. She was born on March 19th at 11:46 a.m. She weighed 6 pounds and 12 ounces and was 21 inches long!! That is one LONG baby coming from such a not long mama!!! I'll give you the labor and delivery story in a nutshell:
After having painful contractions for more than a week, I finally hit the big time on Tuesday night. We went to the hospital and they said that I was in early labor but not progressing fast enough for them to keep me. We got home from the hospital at 4 a.m. on Wednesday morning. I spent all day Wednesday having more and more contractions. Finally around 8 p.m. my mom called to see how I was doing. She heard me have two contractions in one conversation and said "I don't care what they told you, you need to go to the hospital!" and Derek said "I think we should go, love. You look like they do on TV..." So that was that. We grabbed the hospital bag and car seat and headed off. When we got to the hospital it was about 8:30. They checked and said that sure enough, I was in labor. I was dilated to a 4. They helped me get thru some really strong contractions and finally, after a few of my choicest words, I decided to get an epidural and just deal with the consequences of that choice later. They couldn't find the guy who was on call to do the epidural so I ended up waiting an hour and a half to get it. By the time I got it, I had dilated to a 5. I was only halfway dilated and ready to die!!! After the epidural, I was happy as can be. I didn't feel pregnant anymore, if that's possible. My water finally broke around 5 a.m. and I was fully dilated around 6. My doctor showed up and said that I could start pushing around 8 a.m. Well, push I did. And push. And Push. And PUSH. I pushed with all my might for TWO HOURS. Finally my doc came in and said "Either your baby's head is too big or your pelvis is too small. You can push for another hour or we can just do a c-section now." My biggest fear was a c-section. Of course, it is ME and I should have just planned on getting one b/c that's how I am. Nothing ever goes quite as planned with me. So I said "Dude, I couldn't push for another hour if I wanted to. Let's get this baby out of me!" And that's what we did. About an hour after I signed the paperwork to go ahead with it, Liliana was pulled out of me. THAT was one of the strangest experiences of my life!! I couldn't see anything (thank God!!) but Derek saw and I asked him not to tell me anything about it. It was... mentally disturbing. Anyway, they said it was a good thing that we decided to go ahead right then b/c Liliana was absolutely NOT coming out any other way. My pelvis is too small. I knew she wouldn't have a big noggin. She also had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (just like her mama!!) and there was a true knot in it. She was just about to start suffering if we hadn't got her out. I was so thankful for that. She is absolutely wonderful!
The first few days are sort of a blur what with pain meds and so much new information being handed to me every second. I'm getting to know this beautiful little girl that I am so blessed to have in my life. A few things about her do not surprise me.... Like her facial movements. I know they say that its mostly involuntary, but I know a few of them are not. She's gonna be like me in that way, I'm absolutely sure of it. Another thing that doesn't surprise me is that she is wiggly and very alert when she is awake. Huh, seems like I've been dealing with that for the last several months!! The funny thing about that is that I would swear she never slept while in the womb. But I see her sleep now and she will randomly kick her legs or throw out an arm. That sure explains a lot!! I am getting to know what certain crys mean and what she wants, slowly but surely. My mom is here with me this week and I can't tell you what a relief that is and how thankful I am for it. It is going to be a rough week for all of us... Derek is going to have to get back into the swing of things with work and school and still spend time with his baby. Which, by the way, makes my heart swell with so much emotion its hard not to cry. He is so wonderful with her and so loving and caring. He really stepped up and took control while I have been healing from surgery. I can't even begin to express how I feel about that... he's so amazing, its unreal. And to think that I get to share my life with him... I really am the luckiest lady!!
My whole life has changed now. All I can say is that I'm not sure what I was doing with my life before Derek came along, and now it seems like we were just wandering along together until Liliana Elizabeth showed up to give us direction again. I am getting all teary eyed just thinking about it. I am so happy. I am so complete. I know it will be hard at times, but I know that it will be so rewarding at all times. I thank God for this wonderful little blessing He has given us.
Peace out homefrys!!
