Flashback Friday: Lily Kate's Birth

*** Warning .... extremely long post - read at your own risk of boredom! ***
Ok - so ...... since I was such a bad mom and didn't start a blog until Lily Kate was 20 months, I decided to do "Flashback Fridays." On most Fridays I am going to go back to either an important event in Lily Kate's life or maybe a picture of her wearing one of my favorite outfits so something and blog about it. This is going to be my attempt to remember some special times in her life. So, I thought the best one to start with would be the story of Lily Kate's birth. First of all, I promise not to be too graphic- ha! Second- this will probably bore the majority of my 5 readers out there but this is more for me than you! :) So .... here we go.

Well, first of all I would like to tell the story of how I found out I was pregnant so I don't have to do a separate post. It was Monday, May 19, 2008. Me & Stephen were getting ready to fly to Alabama the next day for his sister's high school graduation. I thought it was a slight possibility I might be pregnant and thought that if I was then it would be nice to tell his parents in person since we would be down there. So, I went out and bought a test and took it. Oh, did I mention that I hadn't told Stephen any of what I was doing! :)

I got home from Walmart & took the test and it was positive. I remember I had a Coke in my hand when I found out and I went straight to the trash and threw it away because I didn't think I was supposed to be drinking caffiene. Then, I went and looked at my dog, Sadie, and then looked at myself in the mirror and said, "I'm pregnant?!?!" I guess I just needed to hear it out loud. Haha! When Stephen got home for lunch, I met him at the door and told him to come to the bathroom with me. I walked him to the bathroom and showed him the pregnancy test. He picked it up, looked at it, put it down and then looked at me and said "Did you pee on the that?" Haha!!!! I hope I never, ever forget him saying that or the look on his face-it was priceless! I told him I didn't pee on the end he touched and then he asked me "So, does that mean you are pregnant?" I still remember telling him, "I guess so." And then he asked me if it was an offbrand pregnancy test - of course it was! Well, he didn't think that it was for real until I got a digital one!

So, I went back to the store, got a digital one, took it and then went to the church to show him. He was just in shock! We took a picture with the digital one and I put on the picture "We're having a baby." That's how we told our parents -by giving them the picture. We told my parents that night because we were flying out the next morning for Alabama and there was no way I could keep it from them for that long. They were beyond shocked. We told my Papa & Gran the next morning before we left and then told all of Stephen's family that Wednesday morning before breakfast. It was such an exciting time for us! Lily Kate is the first grandchild on both sides and the first great-grandchild on my side, so everyone was so happy for us.

We told a few close friends our good news but waited to announce it to everyone until I was about 10 weeks. I felt like I was just finding out all over when I got to tell everyone I was pregnant. I had a very normal pregnancy. I wanted to eat ALL the time ... and basically I did! :) I was sick (not throwing up sick, thank the Lord) from 7 weeks to 17 weeks. I still remember laying flat on my back in my bed with a mirror above my face trying to put on my makeup for church because I felt so bad. We found we were having a girl at 17 weeks. We already had decided on a name too. I had known for a long time that if I had a girl I wanted her name to be Lily Kate. I also knew that I really wanted a girl first. I had settled in my heart that the Lord knew best and whatever child He decided to give me I would be so thankful for .... but I was really wanting a girl! (And now, I don't want anymore girls - just boys! :) )

My due date was January 28. I measured right on my weekly mark every time so I had no reason to think that Lily Kate would come early - my mom often reminded me that I was 10 days late! So, the weekend of January 16, my Mom, Gran, and a cleaning lady my mom had hired came to our house to help me get my house in perfect condition-ready for our little girl's arrival whenever she decided to come. We cleaned and organized like crazy that Friday and part of Saturday. I still remember the Saturday night, Stephen & I went out to Outback. We talked about how we wouldn't get many more dates like that, just the two of us. We had a normal Sunday ... I still remember wearing my red high heels to church-yes, I wore high heels up until the day I went into labor, and I'm proud of it! :)

That Sunday night before we went to bed I told Stephen that I felt different. Well, about 3 am I woke up feeling some pains. I didn't wake Stephen up until about 5 am. They weren't consistent, but just something I hadn't felt before. I called my parents around 7 am just to let them know what was going on. My Mom was coming to my house that day to help me finish my decorating my china cabinet and I asked her if I still didn't feel right if she would go to the doctor with me. In the meantime, we turned the morning news on to find out that we were about to get a big snow. That got me thinking ... I live about 45 minutes from the doctor I was going to and the hospital where I had decided to deliever so, I really didn't want to get stuck at home in a snow storm. So, I called my doctor's office around 8:30 and told them what was going on. They told me to come in at 10:45. Stephen said he would go with me and so we got ready and packed our bags-just in case. (We didn't even get the car seat. Luckily, my mom was able to grab it before she left our house.)

On the way to the doctor I remember telling Stephen that if I wasn't in labor then I wasn't looking forward to it because I was really starting to feel some pain. By the time I was in the doctor's waiting room I was in some serious pain. But, this was my first pregnancy and I didn't really know what was going on and what labor was supposed to be like - I laugh when I think back to how dumb I was! When I got to the examining room my doctor came in and checked me. I still remember how big her eyes got and she said "You are 3 cm dilated -we've got to get you to the hospital!!" They had already hooked me up and were tracking my contractions and Lily Kate's heartbeat at the doctor's office. We headed straight to the car, kind of stunned and in awe, and called our family. The hospital was right across the road so we didn't have to go far. I remember I was mad because I hadn't really eaten breakfast and I was hungry but knew I wasn't supposed to eat.

We went to the hospital and checked in and my Dad got up there first to sit with us. They hooked me up to all these machines to track my contractions & Lily Kate's heartbeat again because they had noticed her heart rate dropping while we were at the doctor's office. After we were there about 30 mintues, they gave me Patocin (not sure if that's how it is spelled). Next thing I knew I was having some serious contractions with no pain meds - it was rough. Before things got much farther my doctor came and talked to us and said that Lily Kate's heart rate was dropping during the contractions and that I needed to go in for an emergency c-section. She told me I would be in the operating room in less than 20 minutes. My Mom hadn't even made it to the hospital yet! I was so shocked and didn't know at all what to expect. I had skipped over all the chapters about c-sections in the baby books because I just knew that I wouldn't have to have one!

Next thing I knew I was being wheeled back into the operating room, and getting an epidural in the middle of serious contractions. That was rough. Then, Stephen came back to the room looking like he was the one doing surgery on me! Haha! By the time Stephen got back there, they were already cutting me open and trying to get Lily Kate out. Basically, she was trying to come out but got stuck and they had to use some pretty serious force to get her out. It was scary. But, at 2:38 pm on January 19, 2009, Lily Kate Kimbrell came into the world. I still get emotional thinking about hearing that first cry. There is nothing in the world like that sound. She weighed a big-ole total of 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 17 1/2 inches long.

It was such an emotional time. This child I had carried around for 9 months was finally in the world. Stephen was able to go back into the room with her. By then my Mom, brother, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and cousins were there. They all got to spend some time with Lily Kate while I was getting put back together. :)

When I finally was able to hold her, I remember thinking how perfect she was. I could already see how she would take after Dad - dark skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. She had such long eyelashes and the most adorable nose and full lips.

It snowed the next day. It was so beautiful to look at out the window. Stephen's parents got there the next morning and spent the rest of the week with us. We went home from the hospital on Thursday. It took a while for me to heal and feel back to normal. But, those first few days with Lily Kate were so, so special. There is nothing like a newborn!!

Well - if you read this whole post, you get a prize! :) It feels so good to have all of these memories written out. I'm sure there are things I left out that I can go back and change.