Birth Story

The day before Lillian was born

Lillian Michael Bookie was born at 8:16am on Monday, July 27th. I, her tired and slacker mother am just getting around to posting about it. I can't blame my lack of posts to the new baby, because I haven't posted since July 7th...I am just a slacker. The end.

Let me start by saying that this birth story is leaps and bounds different from Avery. Here's the brief version of Avery's story: I was 4 days overdue, went into labor at 1am (before I fell asleep), labored for 19 hours at the hospital, then begged for a C-section. Avery was born at 9:36pm at 6lbs 6oz, and was very anemic. All in all, it was an exhausting and emotional event. I was dramatic, tired, and overwhelmed. It was wonderful in it's own right, but it was pretty intense.

Lily on the other hand, was a totally different story. Chris was painting the basement until 10pm on Sunday night, and we left for the hospital at 5am on Monday morning...to say we were busy was a huge understatement. It was so different to KNOW exactly when we were having the baby. We hardly slept at all, and when I woke up at 4:15 to shower and pack, Avery woke up too...she stayed awake until we left then met us as the hospital at 6:45am with my mom. It was so surreal. The house was quiet, and we knew that we were leaving in order to have a baby...so odd.

Not my best look

We got to the hospital at 5:30am, where they were waiting for us. I spent about an hour filling out paperwork, and getting prepared. Brandie and my family started getting there around 6:45am, and we sat around waiting for my turn in the OR.

Everyone waiting (not so patiently), and Avery boinging her curls.

Finally, at about 7:45, I was escorted down to the OR, where I walked in to find 5 people getting everything ready. It was pretty indimidating to see all of the sharp instruments sitting on the table and to know that they were going to be cutting me open shortly. I was so awake and aware of everything, whereas with Avery, I was drugged, tired and blissfully unaware of what was going on. I walked in, sat on the table, and they started the spinal block. I was completely aware of how naked I was, and how many people were in the room with my bare butt exposed. I was laid down on the table, and Chris came into the room. I didn't feel anything. I made Chris talk to me so I wouldn't hear any weird noises, or wouldn't hear what the doctors were saying. The next thing I knew...there was a baby cry! It just happened...they said it was a girl, and I became aware of how sure I was that I was going to have a boy...I mean, I was SHOCKED to have another girl...very happy, but SHOCKED! She looked exactly like Avery, and I swore that I must have given birth to twins, just 3 years apart. She cried immediately, which was a great sound (Avery didn't cry..just sat and stared for a while), and I was able to hold her right away. Simply amazing!

Can you tell who is who?

After everything was said and done, we went to recovery, where we waited for about an hour until I was taken to my room. I got to feed Lillian for the first time (or try), and held her forever. It was such a surreal, and perfect experience.

We were taken up to our room, and everyone was finally able to meet her. We held everone off for a minute, and had Avery come in first. We wanted her to be the first one to hold Lillian. Avery brought in a bunny that she made for Lily at build a bear, and Lillian "gave" Avery her gifts (a baby doll and a book). Avery was as sweet as could be and didn't want to let go of her "new baby". There were lots of kisses shared and Avery thoroughly inspected all of Lily's fingers and toes.

She's the best big sister!

We had 10 more people pile into the room with us, so it was a little "much", and I got sick (for the first time). But, it all passed, and we were able to sit and relax a little with the new baby.
The rest of the hospital time was good. There were some ups and downs (which I'll blog about later), but all in all it was nice to "relax" a little before we came home. I sent Lily to the nursery for a few hours every night, so we got a little sleep. The nurses came in every hour or so, so it wasn't the most restful sleep, but it was sleep. Speaking of the nurses...they were great! I can't say enough about the nurses that helped us out. (Here's the shout out to Jessica, Kim, Sue #1 and #2, Barb, Bridgette...and the others that I am forgetting.) They were all wonderful and so attentive.

So...Lily is here. She is wonderful, and sleeps well, and is now eating well (I am pumping, so she is eating from the bottle...and eating a lot!). She lost 9.6% of her weight while in the hospital, so they almost didn't let us leave. She was also a little jaundiced, so we really needed to pack her full of food. I'm proud to say that she came home at 5lbs 9oz, and was 6lbs 1oz 4 days later. She weighed in at a whopping 6lbs 13oz at her 2 week appointment...so she is packing on the pounds, and growing like a weed!

Here's our Lily-bug.