I kept waiting to feel different and be miserable and ready to go into labor but I didn't. I felt really good, had energy, and wasn't having contractions. I was dilated to a 1-2 and really effaced for a couple weeks. I figured my baby wouldn't be coming anytime soon. Then on Wednesday evening I felt different. I can't really explain what the different was exactly. Then by Thursday I was having some pre-labor symptoms (I won't go into those) but that still meant it could be a few days away. I just had a feeling it was soon. When Spencer came home from work that day I made us take a nap just in case. Then at 8:30pm that night, while I was doing dishes, I had a contraction that kind of hurt then I had another one. I figured I would time them just for fun. Ten minutes apart. Then an hour later they were 5 minutes apart then by 10:30pm they were still consistently 5 minutes apart and becoming more painful. I knew this was it. They say you just know and I just knew. We finished packing our hospital bags and were at Labor and Delivery by 11pm.
Once I checked in they put me in a room just to monitor me before they would actually admit me. I was only dilated to a 3 but every nurse that came in was shocked at how low the baby's head was. She was ready to come! Then came the worst and hardest part of the whole process which was waiting to be admitted and get my epidural. My OB said since it was my first they would wait until I was more dilated just in case it stopped laboring. He said if this wasn't my first I would have been immediately admitted and given an epidural. So we waited in the monitoring room for a couple really long hours. The contractions were getting worse and worse and closer together. I threw up from the pain. Finally, when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, the nurse said I could finally be admitted. I got to my delivery room and was feeling like I may die with each contraction. I hadn't felt pain that severe before. I almost broke Spencer's hand from squeezing it so tightly. I didn't know what else to do. Nothing helped ease the pain. Thankfully the anesthesiologist came shortly after to give me the epidural. The hardest part was trying to hold still while they put it in and I started having another contraction. But let me tell you, the instant they have me that epidural I had instant relief. I think those are the best things in the world!! I couldn't feel any pain just a little pressure. I could relax, rest, make jokes, etc. I felt wonderful!
A couple hours later, I was completely dilated and ready to start pushing. I was still feeling wonderful at this point. Again, epidurals are a dream! I started pushing through a few contractions and then the nurses told me to stop because they baby was coming out and they had to get the doctor. The doctor came in and I pushed through a few more contractions and out she came. My first words were "That can't be my baby". The doctor said he had not heard anyone say that before and that it was in fact my baby haha.
It was so emotional meeting her. When I looked at her, she wasn't familiar to me and was like a stranger but at the same time I had never loved something like that before. They placed her on my chest and she stopped crying and just stared at me with these mature eyes that seemed like they knew exactly who I was. She was so pretty and very alert.
We named her Lillie Elizabeth. Lillie after Spencer's great grandma. He has known he was going to have a daughter named Lillie for the last 20 years. Elizabeth is my sister Annie's middle name. She passed away when I was eleven.
The rest of the hospital stay was a blur. I got about two hours of sleep a night and had lots of visitors. My body felt completely exhausted and quite sore. Spencer was wonderful the whole time. He was calm and supportive and made sure I was always doing okay. He quickly and naturally adjusted to being a dad. He had the same instant love that I did. The nurses joked that when he was pushing Lillie's cart to the nursery he was going so slowly and carefully. He stayed by her the whole time making sure she was okay. Hospitals are weird because they just hand you this baby and you're just supposed to care for it. We had no clue what we were doing but we enjoyed learning together. Our stay was really nice especially the room service we got for every meal. That was Spencer's favorite part. But we were ready to go home and be in our own place again. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the first couple days in the hospital:
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