UPDATE: To see the complete photo sets: Lillian's Birth, Lillian - Newborn. Also, all of Lily's pictures are in the Lillian Collection.
So far, things are going well. Lily has just been fed, and Stephanie is taking a nap, so I will try to take this opportunity to catch everyone up on things so far.
Stephanie started showing signs of imminent labor Wednesday, so I decided to go ahead and start my vacation Thursday. That afternoon at her OB appointment, her doctor told her that she was already 3 cm dilated. We scheduled an induction for Monday, but her doctor said that he was 80% sure that she would go into labor on her own before then.
Friday morning, I woke up early (about 5:15 am). After breakfast and coffee, I made a quick trip to the store for some last-minute necessities, and another quick stop at the grocery store to have some food available for Steph's sister Angie, who was on her way for a surprise, early visit.
As I was finishing the the dishes in the kitchen before making lunch around 1:00 in the afternoon, Stephanie came out of the bedroom and said, "Are you ready to have this baby?" She then told me that her water had broken! We called her doctor, who told us to go ahead on in to the hospital. We made our last-minute preparations (toiletries, pillow, etc. - most of everything we needed was already packed in the car), made the requisite phone calls to family, and headed - finally! - the the hospital.
Stephanie was checked in and situated in her LDR a little before 3:00 pm. When the nurse checked her, she was 3-4 cm dilated. She progressed through labor throughout the afternoon and evening as various family members arrived at the hospital, until she reached 8 cm and 100% effaced at around 9:00 pm.
Unfortunately, her dilation stopped progressing at this point, and Stephanie began developing a low-grade fever. At 6 cm of dilation, the nurse had told us that the baby was already showing signs of developing a cone head - a sign that she might have problems getting through the birth canal. After a couple hours at 8 cm, the nurse told us that her cervix was beginning to swell - a further sign of potential difficultly with labor. After five hours of no further dilation from 8 cm, and a fever that continued to creep up, at 2:00 am we made the decision to deliver via c-section.
Surgery prep went by quickly, and I almost forgot to grab my camera and baby book(s) from the LDR. After gowning up and waiting for the surgery team to get prepared, I was invited into the OR for the procedure. Before it even seemed to have begun, I heard our doctor announce, "here she comes!" and I looked over the sheet just in time to see our beautiful baby girl out of the womb for the first time!
Her nurses quickly began cleaning her up, and determined her 1- and 5-minute APGAR scores (8 and 9).
Lily's first cleanup and APGAR
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
The doctor began cleaning/stitching up Stephanie's incision, and commented on how fit she looked internally, and how good her tissue was - hopefully a sign that her incision will heal well. In the meantime, the nurse and I took Lily over to the scale for her official first weigh-in. Our little girl tipped the scales at a healthy 8 lbs, 6 oz:
Lillian's official first weigh-in
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Once the doctor was finished taking care of Stephanie, we were moved to the OB recovery room at 3:00 am for two hours of recovery. Since Steph was still recovering, I got to spend a lot of quality time holding our little blessing. Even only hours old, Lily was quite active and attentive. Even though her little eyes couldn't yet focus, it was amazing to see her recognize and respond to the sound of my voice:
Lillian swaddled, spending quality time with daddy
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Nana Bennett, Gee-Gee, and Aunt Angie got to come see Steph and Lily in the OB recovery room:
Lillian with Nana Bennett and Aunt Angie
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Finally, at 5:00 am, Stephanie was taken up to her postpartum room. Lillian went to the nursery for additional check-ups, and Steph and I were able to get about an hour of sleep. At 6:00 am, Lillian was brought in for her first attempt at feeding. To our great pleasure, she latched on at her first try, and has been nursing like a champ ever since!
After nursing, mommy, daddy, and baby all slept for a couple of hours. Lily had another feeding around 9:00, while I went down to the cafeteria to have breakfast with Lily's Nana, Papaw, and Gee-Gee. Afterward, Lily got to spend a few minutes with everyone before they headed back to Indianapolis.
Lillian with Gee-Gee, Nana Bennett, Papaw Bennett, and one of our first family photos
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
The rest of Saturday was spent sleeping and feeding. I had my first of what are sure to be many milestones: I changed my first diaper ever, and I was peed on while changing a diaper for the first time ever. My swaddling skills improved with each diaper change and breast-feeding. Lily seemed to be getting plenty of colostrum, as she continued to nurse well, and kept leaving her daddy plenty of presents in the form of dirty and wet diapers!
After being up for more than 24 hours straight the day before, and not getting much sleep while trying to help Steph as much as possible during the day Saturday, I finally crashed Saturday evening. I slept a couple hours between the 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm feedings, but by 11:00 pm I was out for good, and didn't wake up until 7:00 am Sunday.
After breakfast, Steph finally got the chance to sleep uninterrupted for 2-3 hours, most of which time I spent with Lily sleeping on my chest while I watched tv or just sat enjoying having our little angel sleeping so contentedly against me.
Sunday was Mother's Day, and an obviously special one for us! Stephanie got a little gift from the hospital, and although I was unable to get her the flowers that I wanted to before she went into labor, I was able to find a nice bouquet in the hospital gift shop:
Stephanie's Mother's Day bouquet
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Most of Sunday was spent continuing to develop our routine with Lily: changing diapers, nursing, burping, sleeping, etc. Stephanie also progressed from an ice-only diet first to clear liquids, and then finally to solid foods. She continued her physical recovery, and was able to stand up to use the restroom and was even able to take a shower in the evening.
Sunday evening saw the three of us sharing some quiet time together. After nursing, Lily finally got the chance to snuggle with mommy, since Steph had recovered well enough to hold Lily a bit on her chest. Baby and mommy got to spend some much-needed quality time together:
Lily and mommy having some quality time together
Photo © Chip Bennett, all rights reserved.
Today finds us with more of the same: Lily had an early-morning feeding, and Steph and I had breakfast while Lily had another check-up in the nursery. After another feeding, Steph is getting some more very-much needed sleep. Later today Steph is going to try out the breast pump (she thinks her milk may be coming in), and if she is feeling up to it, we are going to go down to the courtyard early this evening to spend some time outside.
The normal hospital stay for a c-section recovery is four bed-nights, which means that we can be here until Wednesday morning; however, if all continues to go as well as it has been, we are planning to head home tomorrow morning. We are looking forward to getting settled in at home!
I will do my best to keep everyone updated!
