Birth Story: Part 1

On Tuesday February 22, I had a Dr. appt in the afternoon and had my membranes swept (not sure if this put me into labor or not). I was still only about 1 cm dilated and 40% effaced and I scheduled an induction for that Friday. After the appt. I felt crampy for the rest of the day, but still went to dinner with my friend Kristen and then to Kroger to grab some milk and other necessities. Neil got home from class around 10, and my contractions started shortly after that.

They started off pretty far apart, but over the next few hours got closer and closer. We timed them on a contraction app on my phone, we got in bed at midnight but shortly after that got back up when we realized they weren’t stopping. The contractions hurt! They were about a minute and a half long and mostly in my back. We packed our bags with some last minute items and headed to the hospital around 2:45am. We called our parents to let them know what was going on and that they should probably start making their way to the hospital (a 2-hour drive).

When we got to the hospital I was put in a triage room and put on monitors and I was still only one centimeter! I was so bummed that I was there so early and wished Neil would’ve let me labor longer at home. They admitted me and put us in a delivery room.


Mid-contraction in the triage room!

The rest of the labor is pretty hazy as far as details and times go, but I’ve tried to have my parents and Neil fill in the blanks.

I labored until 6am or so with no problems. My contractions were getting stronger and stronger but still not terrible. My parents arrived and things seemed pretty routine. Then it got crazy.

My regular nurse left the room and said she’d be back shortly. A few minutes later 2 nurses I’d never seen rushed in and started frantically checking things and flipping me from side to side. Soon about 15 people were in the room. No one was telling me what was happening. They threw an oxygen mask on my face and I overheard things like “low fetal heart tones” and “not recovering” and “c-section”. I was absolutely scared out of my mind and was so afraid for Lila. Finally after flipping me almost on to my belly her heart rate recovered after quite a few minutes of her heart rate being well under 100, apparently as low as 50.

After she finally recovered, the doctor came over and explained what happened and that Lila was probably just laying on the umbilical cord or squeezing it, and that she should be okay.

Then it happened again. This time the doctor and nurses rushed in, threw my legs apart and broke my water. Then they put an internal monitor in, that attaches to the baby’s head to get a more accurate heart rate reading. The pain of my contractions was a lot more intense after breaking my water. They got Lila to recover again but it seemed to take longer this time for her to get better. I was still only 2 cm, but the doctor recommended getting my epidural placed just in case they did have to do a c-section. I hadn’t planned to get an epi until 4 or 5 cm so I could move around in early labor, but since they broke my water and with the internal monitor getting out of the bed wasn’t an option anyway.

I got the epidural. It took the anesthesiologist 3 tries to place it, but once it was in everything was fine. I was so nervous about the epidural, I was shaking so bad. But after it was placed it was really pretty easy. The epi took away the pain of the contractions pretty well, but I had to pee really bad and with each contraction my bladder was killing me! After practically begging, they finally gave me a catheter. Never thought I’d be looking forward to that!

At some point later that morning, the midwife came in and checked me and I’d progressed to almost a 5. I was so happy that I was progressing! But, the celebration was short lived when Lila’s heart rate again dropped down. After she finally recovered, the doctor came to my bedside and said that she needed to do a c-section. Neil was not in the room then, apparently he was in the cafeteria eating pancakes...

To be continued!

Lila: 1 Week Update

I can't believe my baby girl is a week old! She has changed so much in a week. She's losing the brand new newborn look and her features are becoming more apparent. She's getting more alert in her awake times and she's just such a good baby!

Lila on day 1:



And on day 7:


I'm biased, obviously, but I just think she's a beauty!

Exciting things this week:

First sponge bath
First doctor visit
Doing great on nursing! Every 2 hours during the day and every 3-4 at night. Mama's tired!
Started doing about a minute of tummy time a day
Visits from lots of friends and family
A lot of lounging with me and Grandma!
Wearing newborn size diapers and clothes
Sleeps for a 4 hour stretch at night
Likes white noise, swaddling and eating
Hates being delayed to eat, cold wipes and crinkling paper/plastic


My updates:

I'm healing well from my c-section. My incision looks great, I have a lot of bruising and I'm still sore, but I've stopped taking my pain meds and I'm moving around much better.

I've lost about 20 lbs since delivery and my belly is definitely shrinking! Pretty sure I still weigh more than Neil, though! Boo.

I'm feeling pretty confident as a mom and I'm definately proud of myself, especially since I successfully was able to nurse again after considering exclusively pumping because of latching issues. I'm happy things are working out on that front! Nursing is hard and time consuming but I'm starting to love it.

Happy 1 week, Lila!

Lila's First Dr. Appointment

Because Lila lost more than 10% of her weight in the hospital and needed to be supplemented, the pediatrician wanted to see her today, at 5 days old. On Saturday, she weighed 7 lb. 2 oz, down from her birth weight of 7 lb. 15 oz. I supplemented her with formula for a couple feedings, but since I'm committed to giving her breast milk for as long as I can, I was able to start pumping with a breast pump and feeding her that way. I'm so happy to report that it is working!!! Our baby girl is back up to 7 lb. 8.5 oz! The pediatrician was very happy and impressed that I am already producing so much milk (about 2.5 oz in 15-20 mins of pumping).

She also had a general well baby check and everything looks great. She is very healthy and happy! Mom went with me to the appointment because Neil is back at work today, and we were so happy to get Lila there and have everything work out. It gave me a lot more confidence as a mom, because I felt prepared and at ease to get her on time to the appointment. Of course I couldn't have done it with out my mama - she fed and entertained Lila while I got a shower, pumped, ate breakfast and packed the diaper bag. We got out the door and Lila was awesome the whole time. She was perfect in the car! Her first car ride home from the hospital, she was not happy. She did great this time in the car and only cried at the office when the doctor pushed on her belly and when she had to get naked. I couldn't believe how good she was. She also pooped at the office, narrowly missing the doc, which I'm thankful for! Luckily I remembered to pack wipes and a diaper. Success!


In the car on the way there!

So after the successful appointment, mom and I got Chick-fil-A, I fed Lila and pumped again and now mom is running off to get some newborn clothes and some other needed items. So, I'm home alone with the baby for the first time. She's sleeping now, so it's pretty easy, but I think I can do this mom thing after all.

Tonight we may attempt her first sponge bath! We go back to the pedi on March 9, when she'll be two weeks unless she has any problems. I may also go in to see the lactation consultants again if I have any problems with her latching on correctly and feeding. I'm just thankful I was able to rent the pump and produce enough milk to feed her and get her weight back up.

Well, I better go check on Lila. I'm so proud of her for having such a great appointment today!

So little time and so little sleep

I have so many thoughts in my head and no time to write them down. I want to record Lila's birth story. For those who don't know I had an emergency c-section after 3 occurances of fetal distress and low fetal heart tones. Scariest most surreal moments of my life.

I also want to write about my feelings about being a mom, how amazing my husband has been with our daughter and with me as I recover physically and emotionally from such a traumatic (but still beautiful) birth, and lots of other details and anecdotes about the last few crazy days.

But there is no time. I didnt even talk to my own brother until today 4 days after the birth. But even though there have been bumps in the road and I've literally slept like 12 hours in 4 days, things are good.

Neil goes back to work and school this week and I'm sad and terrified. Thank goodness my mom is here. I can't drive or do stairs or bend over or lift anything, so it is impossible without help. Neil has really taken the lead while I've been recovering. He is absolutely amazing. Words just can't describe. He's a great dad and husband just like I knew he'd be.

Lila is doing great. She is a good baby but is sometimes hard to settle and seems to have gas and belly issues. Because she lost more than 10% of her weight in the hospital, we've had to supplement a bit with formula, but now that my milk is coming in I've started pumping and giving her breastmilk in a bottle. She is taking to it well. I just hope she's gained weight at her appt. tomorrow. She was down to 7 lb 2 oz in the hospital. She is just so tiny. Poor thing has no clothes because I didnt buy any newborn stuff for her. Hoping to fix that soon.

Well Lila is sleeping on Neil's chest on the couch. Hopefully she is ready for her long sleep of the day. She usually will do one 5 hr stretch. I should probably sleep too.

I hope to update soon with more photos and hopefully at least part of her birth story.

Wish us luck this week. We have a dr appt, nurse home visit and will hopefully be ready for more visitors! Now that I'm feeling better I think I'm ready for that.

Hope to post more soon!

Lila's first bow

She wore it for approx. 30 secs to get the photo. My pretty girl!

Our baby girl

We had our beautiful baby girl this morning 2/23/11 at 10:13am. She weighed 7lbs 15oz. and she was 20 inches long.

Lila Caroline Miller welcome to the world – finally!

Baby by the Weekend

Looks like there is an actual end in sight and we will have a baby by this weekend! I had an appointment today. My blood pressure is fine, Lila's heartbeat was 135. I'm dilated to 1cm and have effaced and softened more. The doctor swept my membranes (which was pretty darn uncomfortable) which might help send me into labor soon. But if the baby doesn't come by Friday morning, I'll go to an appt. at 9am and will be induced later that day. Depending on where my cervix is that morning I'll either be induced with Cervidil first or go straight to having my water broken and/or Pitocin.

My doctor seemed impressed that I've kept it together so far and was happy that I was able to wait until Friday to schedule the induction. That gets us to almost 42 weeks. So we are looking at a likely birthday of Feb. 25 or 26 or at the latest the 27th. So much later than I thought, but my daughter is already teaching me how unpredictable motherhood can be!

I'm so excited to finally meet our baby girl! I am still holding out hope that I go into labor before Friday, but trying to be optimistic if I do have to go through with the induction. I'm just happy to move on from being pregnant to being mommy. I'm so ready. I am scared and anxious about labor but I'm hopeful that everything will go just fine.

I'm going to spend the rest of the week getting last minute things ready. I want to double check my hospital bags, stock the house with some food for when we come home and do some last minute tidying up and cleaning.

I'm thrilled about meeting Lila. I can't wait to see her face and hold her for the first time. I especially can't wait to see my baby girl with her daddy! I'm so happy get this next stage of our lives started and finally become a family of 3!

I plan on posting one last pregnant photo before I check into the hospital, but otherwise you should be seeing pictures of our baby girl here in a few days!