Lily - 1 Month!

Lily Noelle!  We've loved your name for so long.  In fact, your big brother, Silas, would have had your name if he'd been a girl, so when we found out we were pregnant, we immediately knew what our "girl" name was.  Though you are our fourth precious child, this was the first time we chose to wait until you were born to find out whether you were a boy or a girl.

Unlike your brothers and sister, you didn't show any signs of coming out of my tummy.  We waited and waited.  I tried everything I could think of to try and encourage you to come out--family dance parties, up to 200 jumping jacks per day, walking, running and still nothing.  Dr. Cawley decided we were going to induce and so I went in Monday, March 9 to start the process.  The plan, was to come in at 5:15 the next morning, but given how quickly Evie and Silas came, Dr. Cawley wanted me to come in sooner if my contractions were 5 minutes apart.

My labor started around 2 a.m., and my contractions progressed fairly quickly to 5 minutes apart, so your daddy and I came into the hospital around 3 a.m.  The nurses were able to get 2 bags of Beta strep antibiotic in, which was a blessing, and they first checked me at 4:20, at which time I was 4cm dilated.  Dr. Cawley was hoping I'd be dilated 2 cm in the morning, so we were excited about the progress.  I stayed at a 4, though, until after Dr. Cawley broke my water at 7:23 a.m. at which point he saw that there was meconium.  He started Pitocin at 7:40 a.m.  (Contractions prior to Pitocin were every 2-5 minutes, and he wanted them to be every 2-3 minutes).  My contractions started getting really rapid and intense at 7:50, and I had 7 really bad contractions in 14 minutes.  During that time, I was checked by Amanda and was a 6 and then an 8.  She called Dr. Cawley for delivery but couldn’t get him, called the anesthesiologist (when we were considering an epidural in case I was still at a 4 after those 14 min of contractions) and had been paging the nurses station.  No one was coming, so she said she would deliver the baby and it was ok and to just let the baby come.  She asked Daddy to poke his head out in the hall to see if he saw anyone to come help.  He saw a nurse and the doctor for meconium talking at the nurse’s station and told them we were about to deliver.  I started pushing, and according to what Dr. Cawley had been told, within 15 min, I had gone from a 4 to delivery.  Perhaps because Amanda was essentially delivering you alone, no one said, “It’s a…” when you came out, so your daddy leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Girl.”  Oh, Lily!  I think that's been the sweetest single word I've ever heard and still nearly brings me to tears when I think about it.  We finally had our Lily Noelle!!  You were 7lbs. 15oz., 20.5" long, and at 8:22 a.m., we finally got to meet you. You came out crying (which removed most of the concerns about meconium and respiratory problems) and your APGAR scores were both 9s.  They also said because you came out so fast that most of the meconium would have been squeezed out in the delivery process.  You were beautiful and perfect!  In looks, your daddy and I thought you most resembled Caleb.  You had dark blonde hair (though not much of it) and big grayish-blue eyes.

Caleb, Evie and Silas are all smitten with you and constantly want to see and hold you.  Evie was especially excited about you because she'd been hoping you would be a girl so she would finally get to have a sister.  Evie at this point tends to be a bit loud, so when she would come up to you and (loudly) say, "Hi, Lily!  It's your big sister!", it would sometimes make you cry.  We've now at least partly trained her not to be so loud around you so she doesn't scare you.  

For the first week or so after you were born, Evie couldn’t remember your name.  She kept having to ask what your name was, and if we asked her what she thought it was, she would guess “Aurelia”, which is the name of a baby girl at church who was born 2 months before you were.

We stayed in the hospital one night and during our first night at home, you only got up twice to eat!  Then, the next night, when you were 2.5 days old, you only got up (I had to wake you up at 4:15) once to eat.  From that night on, you never got up more than once at night to eat.  At your 2 week checkup, you weighed 9 lb 1 oz!  No wonder you were able to start going 8 hours between feedings at just 3 weeks old!!  Like your brothers and sister, you typically nap on your tummy and sleep swaddled on your back at night.

When you were 4 days old, I first noticed the dimple on your right cheek.  Oh, that sweet dimple melts my heart!!  You gave me your first beautiful smile on your 1 month birthday, which I loved, and you went to church for the first time when you were 5 days old--you did so well during the service.

You don't have much hair and so when I didn't see any hair in certain areas on your head, I just assumed you hadn't grown any there.  It took me a little bit to notice (with the right lighting) that there was in fact hair in those areas, but I couldn't see it because it was bleach blonde.  It will be fun to see what your hair color is like as you get older.
 

You LOVE when I give you kisses on your mouth.  You’ll just give me open mouth kisses back.  It’s sometimes a good way to get you to stop fussing if I can’t feed you right away or can’t get you to let out a painful burp.

The ladies at our church were so kind to throw you a sip-n-see this month.  You were showered with many precious outfits, diapers and wipes!  You also got to meet both your Grandma and Gamgy this month.

Lily Noelle, you are AMAZING!!  I marvel as I reflect on the prayers I prayed for you throughout my pregnancy--that you would be healthy, a good eater, a good sleeper and most importantly, that you would cherish the Lord soon.  May the Lord answer the latter request soon!!

(Click here to see more pictures of Lily.)