Lily's Birth

Wow.....how do you tell this story!

I think I will begin with how it was supposed to be.

We all made such plans. Dave, me, Ellen (Dave's Mom) and Kim Lawson were supposed to be in the room for the delivery. We all had made plans. Kim did not take appointments for pics for the first half of February, Kim, Courtney and I had made plans on how to keep the kids entertained while they were with the men in the waiting room. Dave brought their Wii and I brought our smallest flat screen, Kim was getting movies from Red Box, Pops iced down koolaid in an ice chest and I packed a blanket in case the waiting room was cold.....I even stuck the blow up mattress in the trunk in case we were there too late for the kids! We all had cameras. We were all ready and excited!

OH, the best laid plans of men

Here is how it really went....

you can read the post from the actual person in labor over at Courtney's blog http://www.longsatleggloft.blogspot.com/ and also see Kim's post about the baby at www.lawsonpartyoffive.blogspot.com

Courtney called me about 8 am and told me she thought this would be the day. She said her pains were light but consistent and she thought they would get harder as the day went on but that it would take all day. I packed the car, called John and told him if I was gone when he got home from work to just load up and come on to the hospital but I thought he could go ahead and work. He gets home around 12 or 1. John Brady had Grandparent's Day and I went on to it thinking that I would go on to Birmingham from there....I thought her pains would be getting harder and closer by then. Well, when I got back in the car after eating lunch with JB3 and called Courtney...guess what...the pains had not gotten any worse. She told me she had called the nurse at her Dr's office and she told her that it didn't sound like she would have the baby today and it might be 3 days to 2 weeks. I could tell that Courtney was disappointed and I suggested that she walk around the block. She thought that was a good idea. So, I headed back to Berry.....plenty of time to go back to Berry and get John so we could go together.....if she even went!!!

I called Courtney after I got back to Berry and she along with Law and Dave were walking around the block. She said her pains had slowed down and just maybe it wasn't going to be today. Josh was already on the road....he decided to come on. John showered and I went to the post office. As I pulled back up to the house my iPhone dinged. Dave said they were leaving for the hospital. I was excited...not worried...after all, her pains had almost quit just 2 hours before. but we were anxious to get there. You know we have to go through a lot of places where cell phones do not work....still wasn't worried...until I got a text from Kim asking where we were. Then I got a text from Dave (they were all coming through at once since we had been where we didn't have service). Read the texts in the pictures above and notice the time line. We had just got onto Corridor X and I was pushing John to go faster the whole time thinking....no way...no way can that baby be going to be born that quick and as we hit I-20 my stomach started getting that tight feeling that says we are not in control. I prayed a silent prayer for the safety of my baby girl and her baby girl and resigned myself to not being there. Then the text came....she was here. I really couldn't believe it...I cried...happy tears and told John to HURRY. As we pulled into the parking deck we were about the fifth car in line to go in so I jumped out and RAN. Some of you may know that I had surgery on my hip and leg about a year ago and I am still bothered with a limp.....Pops said when I jumped out and ran that he didn't see a limp anywhere!

I made it to the 3rd floor and began running down the hall...nobody said anything...I think there had been so much running going on because of her fast delivery that nobody noticed. I knocked and then ran into the room. I saw Courtney on the bed and it seemed tense......a nurse said to come to the bed that they could use my help. As I ran to the bed I glanced at the baby and I remember saying...oh, she has hair! They were having a hard time getting the placenta delivered and Courtney was in PAIN! I got at her head and started giving her ice chips. the first thing the nurse next to me said was that nobody could ever say that (at this point she asked her name) Courtney wasn't tough. She told me that she had the baby totally natural...there wasn't time for anything...not even a gown. Another nurse told me that she was in the room computer as Jane Doe and another nurse told me that when she checked her for dilation that she starting yelling for help! Courtney finally delivered the placenta, they put in an IV and gave her some pain medicine so they could stitch up a few tears inside. Then all the nurses started telling tales. One nurse said she say Lawson standing in the hall and knew that something wild was going on! Courtney told me that she asked Dave to take Lawson out...luckily Dave's Mom and Dad walked up almost immediately and Dave was able to be in the room for the delivery. No cameras were out.....no time for any of the things you think about during a delivery...but she was here safe and sound and we all made it soon after.

Kim showing Lawson his baby sister.

MeMe and Lily

And finally.....here is the rest of the story.....they weighed Lily in at 6 pounds and 12 ounces. The next morning the pediatrician came by and said that the scales must have been wrong when they weighed her. Of course, there was not any machines in the room when she started having the baby. Anyway, they had weighed her several times the next morning and she weighed 7 pounds and 2 ounces and the Dr. said that babies don't gain weight immediately.....they lose weight. So, Miss Lily weighed somewhere in the bottom of seven pounds but the official weight will remain 6-12. She weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces when she left the hospital.

Thank you God for the safe delivery of Lily and the health of my daughter!