The Big 1/12th

Lily turned one month today (i.e. her 1/12th birthday). So, I figured it would be a good time to share some of my reflections from this first month:

1. One of the days that was really fun was the day before Lily got here. We were here relaxing for most of the day. I went to church that day, and it was fun to see everyone and tell them that yes, in fact, Lily would be here on Monday. I got the opportunity to pray with Dave & Donna and with Jim & Barbara Massie. Emily came by in the afternoon, and we ate outside on the back porch, with some "friend-lings" that we got (country friend steak from Texas Roadhouse). Katy named it the Last Supper.
2. We headed to the hospital at 6 am on Monday April 21st. Little did we know that waiting for us would be Dave & Donna Williams (elder from Journey Fellowship). They were there for no other reason than to pray with us before we started our big day. That is exactly why they are the type of people that they are. And that is exactly why Journey Fellowship has become such a special place for us.
3. So, we got to the hospital at 6 am and were in the delivery room by 6:30 am. And that was about all the excitement we had for the day. I'll remember us being in the room, and it was kinda like those times where we go to the beach and we have down time in the room, playing games & watching movies. We watched 13 Going on 30, Legally Blonde, Mansfield Park, Anchorman, Napoleon Dynamite, and a couple of others. If it had continued for much longer, I would have had to send people home to get more movies for us. With the way the day played, thank goodness we had the DVD player in the room. But, as the day went on, nothing was happening with Katy's progress. She entered at 1 cm dilated and was like 2 cm by mid-afternoon. We played some cards during the day. Rachel and Emily and the family just kinda filtered in and out of the room during the day, and it was kinda like a relaxing day. I'd characterize Katy's condition as this time as being in mild discomfort.
4. As things had seemed to stall, Dr. Simpson came by around 6:30 or so to check on things. She gave us two options (and this was funny because Katy and I always have such a hard time making decisions). We could break Katy's water, and she'd probably have the baby in the middle of the night, but Dr. Simpson would be the one delivering her. Or option 2 would be that we'd not break the water until Dr. Simpson came into work the next morning, and then it wouldn't be until Tuesday afternoon when we'd have her. The second option was tempting because Katy hadn't eaten in 12 hours and was tired, but knowing we'd soon have Lily and that Dr. Simpson could definitely be there was equally tempting. We basically had Dr. Simpson make the call for us, and the clincher for me was when she kinda said she wanted to be here for us, and certainly wouldn't mind coming back up in the middle of the night. So, she broke the water and things started to progress.
5. With the way the day had gone, even after the water broke, we weren't exactly sure that it would be any different. So, after they broke the water, we watched "How I Met Your Mother" (another 'Robin Sparkles' video), and I figured that 9 pm would be a good time to leave because Rachel & Emily could come in and watch "The Batchelor" with Katy. So, I left and had my Johnny Carino's dinner and watched some basketball with my dad. I figured it would be as good of a time as any to take that break. I went in to check on how things were going, not thinking I'd be staying. But, the contractions had gotten bad while I was out; of course, after waiting around all day to be there with her when things got bad, it only got bad like that when I had taken off for a bit. So, I pushed Rachel & Emily out of the way, to let the trained coach come in to save the day (just kidding, they were doing a fantastic job with her). But, I couldn't believe how intense they were. They talked in class about their always being a break between contractions and we weren't really seeing that. I guess that potosin was making things worse. I was surprised to see how helpful those breathing exercises really were. It was hard for me to see her like that and no way to make it better on her.
6. Finally, Katy had enough and sent me out to ask for some medicinal assistance to her contractions. I was thinking she was after some temporary relief. I got the nurse to come in, and I was a bit surprised when she asked for the epidural (going all the way on the pain relief). But, she did great with getting the shot; I was a little bit concerned that I wouldn't be able to help her relax (telling someone to relax is easier said than done). But, she got that shot and was instantly feeling better (or better said: not feeling anything), so she was soon convinced that the epidural was one of the greatest inventions ever.
7. Post-epidural, Katy was up to 4-5 cm dilated. The nurse told her to rest so we go to sleep around 11:30 pm or so; In put on "Anne of Green Gables" for her and we tried to sleep. I fell asleep pretty quickly. Then, the blood pressure machine starting beeping fairly regularly so that woke me up. Then, Katy told me she couldn't sleep and asked me to get up (at home, I always tell her that if she cannot sleep, she needs to have me get up, and she never calls me on that, even when she has trouble sleeping; here she had trouble and called me on it, and it was obviously fine, considering the circumstances). So, around 12:30-12:45, we were up and the nurse checked and Katy was up to 9 cm. So, even though we were still wondering if this thing would ever more along, we then realized that this baby would be coming soon.
8. Dr. Simpson was called around 1:50 and showed up around 2:20. They didn't have Katy push at all in the meanwhile because they were worrying about her tearing. I think we were both surprised at how easy it was during the pushing phase. At the end of the delivery, there was probably less than 5 minutes of pushing and Katy did a great job with that stage. From the time Dr. Simpson was called and when she walked out of the room around 3:00, it seemed like a pretty quick delivery of under two hours from her leaving to come to the hospital to when she would have been back home.
9. Obviously, Katy is the one that did all the hard work and endured through a difficult medical procedure. But, I was surprised at how easy it was to observe the delivery. After getting a bit quesy during the birthing video, I didn't know what to expect. I kind of had this idea that I would stand next to Katy's head and then look towards her face or away and not have to see too much. Well, given that I was right next to her hip, it was hard not to see too much. But, it was obviously a lot easier to see it when it is your daughter than some random person in a video.
10. My first reaction to seeing part of Lily was that wow this is really happening. Before she was out, I could actually see a little hair sticking out, which was fun because we fully expected to have a bald baby (a dark hair at that). Then, I thought it was so fun and she was already looking so cute when she came out and it was just her head that was showing. She looked so cute, even with all that goo on her. Then, she came out and I was obviously so happy to see her but honestly, my first reaction was a huge sense of pride in Katy. I could not believe how great she had done with this delivery. She pushed her out just so easily and was so strong throughout the whole time that I couldn't help but love her even more. We both instantly were in love with Lily (amazing how natural that is to feel that way). But, I was just starting to understand already what people say that a child can sometimes bring a couple even closer together.
11. After Lily was born, I of course took starting clicking some pictures right away. I wanted to go out and share with the family to let them know she was here. There was a small waiting area just inside the Labor & Delivery area, probably about 50 feet from our room. So, I left the room getting ready to head down there, but then I quickly realized that everyone was right outside our room. We shared some hugs & excitement, and I showed them the pictures to give them an advance sneak at what they’d be seeing shortly
12. Then, it was fun to have the family come in see Lily. It was fun to see their first reactions and to pass Lily around. It was especially fun to see Emily’s reaction. We were so glad she was there with us. She has let Katy be there with her family during some of their family outings, so it was only appropriate that Emily was here with the family for this special occasion. She certainly enjoyed getting to see Lily in her first few minutes of life.13. After the family left, they took Lily to the nursery. This was a special time for me, even more so as I look back on it a few weeks later. With work being so crazy, I feel like I’ve missed a lot of times with Lily at home. So, being able to be there with Lily and just her and me (and Katy having to hear of that time from me) is a special memory that we have. And it was fun to be there for her first bath. She really didn’t like it at all, seemed to think of it as the worst possible treatment that we could have possibly done to her. But, I guess it wasn’t that bad, given that she passed out asleep shortly thereafter.
14. The other thing I’ll remember is being so alert there in the middle of the night. I can pretty safely say that there will never be another time in my life where I am as alert between 1 and 5 am, as we were that morning.
15. We were so happy to have our family there with us. But, it was still fun (despite being so tired) to take some time and share the news with everyone who wasn’t there. Katy sent out a text message to her friends and most of our church friends. I got out the blackberry and sent an email to all my work friends. 16. We did get some rest, falling asleep around 6:30 am. They brought Lily back to us at 7:45 or so. We were still tired but we wanted to have our baby back. It really hit us that she was ours when she came back to us. She looked just as perfect as when we first saw her last night.17. Then, it was fun to have the family & others come and see us the next morning. Our family was back in before lunch (with donuts). We were so grateful for all the people who came to see us in Lily’s first few weeks and especially those who came to the hospital. Duane & Nancy Whtfield (another elder at JF) came by in the morning. Later that day, Sylvia, Jeff (Robi would have been there in a heartbeat but was out of town), Todd & Candes, Steve & Emily Dye. Jenny came by the following morning. Everyone was great during the whole pregnancy, and after Lily came, it was no different. Knowing that our little princess would be so loved by so many people makes raising her feel not so overwhelming as it would be otherwise.
18. Later on Tuesday, Lily and I watched the original Star Wars (Episode IV) together. Even though she couldn’t probably hear me, I explained to her some of the intricate details of the movie. She seemed to enjoy this experience. 19. The first full night with her was hard. We kept her in the room with us, and it wasn’t until we were sleeping that we realized all the different whimpering & grunts that babies make and how disruptive those noises can be to first-time parents. We got ok sleep, but there was no way we were going to be letting them take her away to the nursery for the whole night.20. Wednesday afternoon, we took her home. I am a fairly cautious driver to begin with, but nothing compared to how I was on that drive home with Lily. I was so nervous and my palms were so sweaty. We even ran into a little bit of road rage between two drivers ahead of us, so we slowed down and stayed out of the way of them. But, we made it home fine.
20. Little did we know that waiting for us at home was the family. They had rented a giant wooden cut-out stork (or chicken as as Tucker Shewmaker would later call it) in the driveway, announcing the baby girl to the neighbors. The family was here and had decorated the house and brought over cake & snacks (champagne, sparking grape juice) to welcome Lily home. It was nice to know that even though we were leaving all the kind help that they gave us at the hospital we would not be going through this alone.

(We'll finish this up tomorrow)