How we became three

Our story began in 2001 when Matt and I attended the School of Visual Arts.  Matt was the student body president and thanks to his friend saying I was cute Matt hired me to work with him and his friends.  After being friends with Matt for a year I was hooked.

On August 30, 2008 we got hitched!  

Exactly one year and one month later we decided to try and start our family.  To our surprise and delight we got pregnant our first month trying!  

I really enjoyed being pregnant (well except for morning sickness the first trimester) and was very proud of my growing belly.  It was so much fun feeling her move and we loved seeing her on ultrasound days.

We had a big scare at 26 weeks (6 months) when I went into preterm labor and started dilating.  The doctor estimated that our baby only weighed about 2 lbs at the time and we were terrified that she was going to be born too early.  I was put on very strict bed rest and hospitalized several times.  The next three months were very long and boring but we were thankful for everyday that she stayed put and grew bigger and stronger. 

36 weeks eating melon in the park (at this point my bed rest was lifted and

 I was allowed out of the house but couldn't go far)

38 weeks

Lilly's birth story!
this is pretty long but I wanted to write it all down so I can tell Lillian one day


On June 23rd, one day after my due day, I woke up at 8am with very strong contractions that were four minutes apart (we were told to head to the hospital when they were five minutes, yikes!) and my water trickled a tiny bit when I stood up.  The doctor on call told us to get to Labor and Delivery immediately.  We got a car service but had to turn around when we were about ten blocks away because the nervous dad-to-be forgot the hospital bag (but he somehow remembered his own bag with comic books).  The car ride took forever because of rush hour traffic.  My contractions got stronger and were two minutes apart.  I started getting extremely nauseous with every contraction and began moaning and yelling that I was going to puke and that really got our driver speeding through traffic.  I was gripping the door handle and seat so hard and I began to worry that we wouldn't make it to the hospital in time.  Luckily we had a great driver (the poor guy was terrified).  We arrived at the hospital around 9:30am.

Once we were at the hospital we had to take a very crowded elevator to the 12th floor and of course every single button was pushed except 10 and 11.  So there we stood in a crowded elevator with me gripping the railing and screaming while onlookers tried awkwardly not to stare.  The elevator pretty much emptied out by the 9th floor and I let out a sigh of relief that we were home free.  But alas the elevator stopped at the 10th floor for a woman who got on and pressed... you guest it, 11, I wanted to strangle her.

After our long journey we made it to Labor and Delivery triage where many other bulging bellies were waiting to be seen, apparently a lot of other babies wanted the 23rd to be their birthday too!  I explained that my contractions were strong and close together but was told to take a seat with an eye roll.  We filled out all of the paperwork (even though we pre-registered) while I moaned through some rough contractions with a few other soon to be mom's looking at me in horror.

About a half hour went by by the time they brought me in and checked my cervix.  I was 8 cm  dilated and the doctors and nurses were freaking out and calling to get me in a delivery room ASAP.  They were concerned that I was starting to make grunting sounds with the contraction which is a sign that I'm ready to push.   I began vomiting and begged for an epidural... so much for trying to go natural.

Around 10:30am I was in a delivery room getting an epidural and wow that was some amazing stuff.  Once I got the epidural I couldn't feel a thing and it was smooth sailing.  The epidural seemed to slow down my labor.  My mother, Matt's brother David and his partner Nyle came soon after and we just waited.

After several hours of not feeling anything I was fully dilated and the doctor wanted me to try pushing.  They had to break my water which wasn't fully broken and I pushed for about 20 minutes.  They were concerned about the babies heart rate going up and thought the cord might be around her neck so they decided to help get her out with a vacuum while I pushed.

Lillian was born at 4:55pm weighing 8 pounds and measuring 20 1/4 inches.   The cord was wrapped around her foot not her neck and everything looked great.  For some reason they wouldn't let me hold her until I delivered my placenta and stitch up my 2nd degree tear that I got from Lilly coming out with her arm up.  While the doctor was taking care of me Matt went over to Lilly who was five feet away in a warmer.  Matt talked to her to keep her company and she seemed to recognize his voice!  At one point there was a splat sound and the nurse explained that she dropped my placenta.  Matt said it looked like a murder scene.

After 45 very long minutes of admiring Lilly from afar came the moment I had longed for for nine months, I finally held my daughter in my arms and it was amazing.  Matt and I loved her before she was born and meeting her just sealed the deal.