Lily Elizabeth Fairall

After nine months of waiting, she's finally here!  Introducing Lily Elizabeth Fairall.

Her Story

Lily's due date was Saturday, August 4th.  That day came and went with no exciting news.  I was expecting that because my doctor told me to expect to be a week overdue.  That wasn't ideal, but I was ready to be patient and wait for her.  I decided I'd go ahead and work an extra week, I called my mom so she could change her flight plans and we just settled in to wait for the big arrival.

I had been having contractions a lot during my last trimester, but real contractions started Sunday morning, the day after the due date.  They started waking me up during the night and were a bit uncomfortable, not quite terrible.  So I figured I was ok to go to church.  I made it through all the meetings just fine, the contractions pretty much went away during the day.  They came back during the night and wouldn't let me sleep.  I had an appointment with my doctor on Monday morning.  But as morning rolled around we were debating whether we should go to the doctor or just go straight to the hospital.  I was getting excited, the contractions were strong and pretty close together but I was dealing with them so we decided to go to the doctor and see what she thought.  I didn't want to go to the hospital  too early and get sent home.

I thought I was making good progress though.  And I'm thinking, "Alright! We won't have to wait an extra week after all!" I was certain she'd take one look at me and send me straight to the hospital to have this baby!  Unfortunately that was not the case.  I hadn't dilated much more than before, and when they did some fetal monitoring, the contractions pretty much went away!  I was so bothered.  I had an ultrasound as well and they said that the baby was looking good so we'd just keep waiting. My doctor told me to set up an appointment and come back in two days.  She said I'd probably go into labor on my own before then but to set up the appointment anyway.

Like I said before, I was planning to go to work after my appointment, but that was before the contractions.  I decided I'd rather not suffer through those at work. So we went home to do some more waiting.  Thank goodness for the Olympics, we watched all day long!  Once again the contractions came like nobody's business during the night.  I suffered through contractions Tuesday and Wednesday, with intense ones during the night time.  I got about 2 hours of sleep each night and just paced around our house the rest of the time.  Looking back, I probably should have just gone to the hospital, but this was all new to me.  I was waiting for the contractions to become really regular and they just never did.

So my Wednesday appointment rolled around and there I was, still pregnant.  I went to the doctors office praying for good news.  The good news came in the form of my doctor informing me that she would induce me on Thursday if I wanted to.  I wanted to.  Getting induced early was never an option, but since I was now going on 5 days overdue, with 4 of those days being filled with painful contractions, I was relieved to have this option.  They said call in at 6am and we'll try to get you in by 8am.  I was not thrilled to go through another night, but I could see that the end was in sight!

I called at 6, they said they got really busy with walk-ins so I should call back at 8. Ugg! I called at 8, they were still busy, "Call back at 10."  Double Ugg!!  I called back at 10, they were still busy, "Call back at 11". I think I may have mentioned punching someone in the face...

I called at 11 and the lady on the phone was like, "Oh didn't you get my message?"  (I assure you I was watching my phone, I double checked, there was no message)  "We can get you in if you can get here by 11:30"  Good thing we only live 5 minutes from the hospital.  We got everything together and headed over to the hospital, I was so excited!

The next hour or so included checking in, donning the ever-lovely gown, getting the fetal monitors hooked up, placing an IV, breaking my water, starting pitocin, and getting the epidural. The next several hours included: sleeping. :) You see, I hadn't been able to sleep for the last several days, I was so exhausted that as soon as I got the epidural I fell asleep!  That epidural was such a blessing! I really needed some rest before bringing this little girl into the world.

Ice!...Yum!

David was waiting patiently all the while.  I'm not sure how he passed the time, probably lots of Olympics.  I think he took a nap too because he had been up with me since 6am.

Waiting for Lily

We had a great nurse, Elizabeth (good name!).  She was so great at making sure I was comfortable and made sure that Lily was doing well.  I felt extremely well cared for.  It was so nice.

I made it to 10cm and the nurse said we'd wait a bit longer.  Since Lily and I were both doing well, we could just let the contractions do their job and let her get lower before we started pushing.  By this time, we had a new nurse, she was really great too.  She told me around 9:30 that it would be time to push soon.  She told me that first time moms can push for 2-3 hours! Yikes! She had me do a few 'practice pushes' so I could get the hang of it, and then I pushed for a few minutes. At which point she said, "Ok, no more pushing until the doctor gets here!"  Apparently I'm a pretty efficient pusher! :)  The doctor got there about 15 minutes later.  We had a few more pushes and little, beautiful, perfect Lily was here!

7 lbs. 13 oz, 21 inches, Born at 10:38pm, August 9, 2012

This cute little girl took a few days to find her voice.  She barely made a peep when she was born including not crying when they gave her 2 shots!  She was very healthy, just not much of a cryer and we can't complain about that! She has since learned to cry, but it's not often...she is such a sweet content girl!

Proud Dad!  David LOVES his little girl!  It has been so fun to watch him be a dad!  He loves to hold her, and showers her with kisses!  It's a good thing I like her too or else I might be jealous!

I suppose I haven't mentioned it yet, but you may have noticed that she was born with a full head of dark hair like her mom.

First smile? Goodness she is so cute!

And here she is, wide awake!

What else can I say?!  We love her!

We are so excited to have this beautiful little girl in our family.  She has been a wonderful baby and we already love her so much.