We checked in at 5 pm. - with a belly that looks absolutely enormous, especially in the hospital gown!
They hooked up IVs and broke my water and started pitocin around 6:20. By 7ish I was having strong, regular (and painful!) contractions. We got the epidural 'ordered' and I had it by around 8:30pm or so. By 9 I was literally 'feeling no pain' and was able to rest and talk with family as I progressed and contracted unbeknownst to me! At midnight I was at 8 cm. Family went home to rest as Michael and I tried to sleep through the excitement. At 2am we started pushing. Mom and Michael encouraged me along with our wonderful nurse for 2 hours.
At just before 4 am, Dr. Thurston came in to assess the progress, of which there had been some, but not enough. Lillian was trying to come out "OP" - or looking at my left thigh. Later they'd tell us she was trying to 'lead' with her nose and mouth, which is less desirable than face down (where the softest part of the head leads). They gave me the option to push longer, but statistically only 10 - 20% of women in my situation with an epidural deliver successfully. So, I pushed for 30 more minutes (we tried pushing on my side and in the 'cat' position) and with little progress, we made the decision to go forward with the c-section. I was tired, crying and pretty shaky by the time the c-section began and it felt like it took forever for them to prep me. During the prep Michael and my mom couldn't come back to the OR. They changed into scrubs and finally joined me before the surgery began.
As soon as they pulled her from my belly we heard the cries that didn't stop until we dropped her at the nursery at just after 6am. 
She was born at 4:53am, almost exactly 12 hours after we'd checked in, weighed 8lbs 7oz and was 20.25 inches long. A perfectly healthy, lovely little girl. Michael shot up out of his seat at the sound of those first cries and looked down at me and said "She looks just like your baby pictures!" The first thing I said was "Whose nose is that?" Ha! Her little face was smashed from the way she was trying to 'exit'. She was beautiful with a furrowed brow and a big open mouth full of relentless cries that first night and Michael and I were both exhausted from a long night. My mom, Michael's parents Charlie and Cathy and Michael's brother David were all at the hospital to welcome Lillian (still-no-middle-name-at-that-time) Anderson.
Saturday night, about 12 hours after she was born, we both still felt like we were living in a dream and that her birth had been on another date and time. But, with some good time in the hospital (that's what a c-section will get you) we were mostly well-rested by the time we got home... which is a very fortunate thing with the 'first-night' we had (more on that later!)!We're more adjusted now as I write this and we're just enjoying these moments with what is now our family of 3. And enjoying sharing this precious little one with our family and friends who have been so wonderfully helpful as we adjust to our new sleepy lives!
