Liliana Mae is here!

Our sweet girl Liliana Mae was born on Monday, June 10th at 3:09 p.m.  She weighs 7 pounds, 8 ounces, is 20.25 inches long, and looks a lot like Frankie did as a newborn, except she has a full head of dark brown hair!  She is absolutely perfect, and we were able to come home from the hospital yesterday. 

Here is her the story of her birthday...

I had a contraction Monday morning that was different from the contractions I had been feeling for weeks because it really did not feel like tightening at all, but was a bit like a painful period cramp.  I told my Mom and Frank that "this contraction hurt a little bit," and something in my voice alerted my Mom that this was probably the real deal, so she noted the time (9:19 a.m.) and told us to get moving.  I took a shower, got ready, and packed my bag, while the contractions kept coming approximately every 6 minutes a part until 10:30 a.m.  We left for the hospital soon after that, arriving around 11:00 a.m.  All of the rooms were occupied or dirty, so we had to wait in the waiting area for about 45 minutes before getting a room.  This wait was torturous!  My contractions were getting more intense and coming closer together, approximately every 3-4 minutes.  We finally got into a room and the nurse checked me at about 12:00 p.m.  I was 6 cm dilated by this point, and she told us we were definitely not leaving.  She started moving in high gear and got me hooked up to an IV, called my doctor, and called the anesthesiologist.  I was in a lot of pain at this point, more so than I ever had with Frankie.  The anesthesiologist was doing a c-section, so it took him awhile to make it to my room.  In the meantime, Dr. Gray examined me around 1:30 and I was 8 cm dilated, and the baby's head was very low.  I was in a ton of pain at this point, and I really needed Frank to watch the monitors and help me get through the contractions.  The anesthesiologist finally got there and placed my epidural shortly before 2:00, and Dr. Gray broke my water.  Soon after I realized that the epidural did not work at all on my right side, and it did not work fully on my left side either.  The contractions were manageable, but I was still having to breath through them, which did not seem right.  They came back in to try to fix the problem, but for whatever reason, it still did not work.  Around 2:15 the nurse told me she would be back in 5-10 minutes to check on me, and 2:30 rolled around and I started to have some intense pain and pressure with the contractions.  By 2:40 I could not take it, and I called her in because I was in such pain.  She came back in at 2:45, checked me, and said I was 10 cm and ready to push.  My doctor was in another c-section, but she called her and she arrived shortly after that.  I am not sure how long I pushed, but it was around 5-10 minutes, and at 3:09 p.m. Liliana Mae was born!  I was in so much pain, but it was also empowering to be able to experience the pain of child birth.  I felt so proud and relieved when she popped out so quickly! 

Liliana's temperament when she came out was so different than Frankie's.  She cried briefly at first, and then she just looked around, completely alert, but content and not crying, for about 30 minutes!  She just chilled in my arms, which was really cool.  I remember Frankie screaming and screaming for those same first 30 minutes.  I was so happy that she came on her own terms and that I got to experience an unplanned labor and delivery.  My recovery has been great so far, and I feel much better at this point than I remember from last time.  We were able to come home from the hospital after just 24 hours because we both are perfectly healthy and have no complications.  We are so in love with our baby girl already!

Big Brother Frankie has been so excited about his little sister.  Nana and Auntie Allison brought him up to the hospital Monday night to meet Lily, and he was so excited to see her, kiss her, and "pet" her.  He cracked me up.  He talked to her a lot like he talks to Katy (our dog), telling her "good girl" and saying to me "Mommy, tell baby Lily to stop crying."  When we got home on Tuesday, he ran to the front door with a HUGE smile on his face.  He was very upset the first time he heard Lily really cry, and his big tears made Mommy cry too.  It is going to be a tough transition for all of us, I am sure, but he seems to have a really protective and loving attitude toward Lily already, so that is great.  We are very excited to start our journey as a family of four!

Here are some pictures from our time in the hospital and homecoming: