Lily Claire

I mentioned Lily's birth yesterday, but I thought I'd tell her story, and how God was seen ever present in her delivery.

We found out that we would be having a girl back in July, and to be perfectly honest I had a hard time believing that I was really going to be a mother to a daughter! In fact, if anyone would ask me, I would say "They say it's going to be a girl." I don't think I was all that convinced or ready to have a daughter. I was in BOY world, ya know.

So, the first of November came along. Lily had her scheduled eviction date of the 13th, but then things changed. A week before she was due I went in for my routine visit and my FABULOUS doctor, Dr. B., asked if we could reschedule her delivery for the 12th. Now to be perfectly honest, we already had so much going on on the 12th and I really didn't want her to be delivered that day. However I knew that I needed to be flexible with my doctor who has always been more than flexible with me--even at 2:00 am--so I agreed. A 7:30 c-section was then scheduled for Thursday morning.

We (Lily and I) were up late the Wednesday night before trying to get as much accomplished around the house, so I was quite tired the next morning. I loved on each boy before we left and out the door we went at 5:00 am. We were pleasantly surprised to find our wonderful pastor waiting for us when we got to the hospital. I checked in, Pastor prayed with us for a healthy, safe delivery and then off to the room to prep for surgery we went.

Funny story--while going through all of the "paperwork" for the surgery, the nurse looked at Jason and then turned her back to him, walked closer to me, and then in a very hushed tone she asked me if "I felt safe in my own home." Jason and I have laughed several times since then about that question--like I would've been able to answer "no" to the question even if I didn't feel safe with Jason sitting right there next to us. Oh, I still get tickled over that question. LOL!!!!

Anyway, they took us back to the OR and (saving you many boring details) before long, I was numb and they had the curtain up so I was also "blind" of what was going on around me. By the time they really got going into the surgery the "make me numb and feel good" Dr. was starting to get concerned over the fact that I was scowling and crying. I couldn't answer as to why I was acting that way because I really couldn't feeling anything, all I knew is that something had me worried. Little did I know.

When delivery time came, my OB got Jason's attention and let him know that he could watch and to get the camera ready. As Jason moved to the other side the the curtain, they began pulling Lily out only then did they find the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around Lily's neck--twice. Dr. B quickly removed that and finished delivering Lily and handed her over to the pediatric staff. By this point in time, Lily had only let out a tiny cry, so the pediatric staff really began working on her. With her first APGAR score only a 2 they knew that something needed to be done, so they called in more help and began doing chest compressions on her. Within only a few minutes--by what felt like forever--she coughed up what was blocking her airway. By the time they did her 5 minute APGAR, she had bounced back considerably and was doing well. They weighed her, cleaned her up and then brought her over to me. With just a quick look and a peck on the check from me and a quick hold for Jason, they whisked her off to the Special Care Nursery for more evaluations.

Before long, Dr. B had me put back together and I was back in my room recovering. Jason made frequent trips to the nursery to check on Lily and then we made the necessary phone calls to family and friends. I had gotten sick by this point, and so they began drugging me up to combat the sickness and the reaction to the medication in my spinal. Lily had a few more test run, but was improving quickly and before long she was doing better than I was.

By a little bit after noon, Lily had be brought to the room and we were able to finally enjoy her. Let the fun begin!!!! She was and still is the sweetest little thing I've held in a long time! She from the get go, loved being cuddled with and loved being held! And I have melted.

Going from not knowing if I'd ever want a little girl to having one and loving every second of it has been quite the metamorphosis! My prayer now is that as she grows that she will know exactly how much she is loved by her parents, but more importantly by God. I also pray that as I rear her that I will be the example that she needs of what a Godly daughter, wife, mother and friend are. And that one day, when and if the Lord allows, she will have the relationship that I've been blessed with with my mother. Although I've made my mistakes, my mother still loved and prayed for me, and today she is more than just my mother--she is one of my dearest friends, one that I turn to many days for advice and prayer. And I love her more than words can tell!

So that's pretty much the beginning for Lily. She's growing quickly and tomorrow she'll be 8 weeks old. Where does the time go?, I ask you! The boys love her and love to love on her! Praise the Lord to children who love one another. I pray that that sibling love will continue to grow as they do!

Well I'm off to clean the kitchen with hopes that it stays relatively clean so I can make the attempt to attend church tonight--we'll see!