Our Little Independence Day Baby

I want to write tonight about the story of Maelee Ranae Lilly and her entrance into the world. Sunday, July 3rd brought low pressure and a famous AZ monsoon storm. The kids and I went to church as always but throughout the meetings, I felt continuous cramping feelings and knew the time was drawing near to have our little girl. I came home and began to prepare a simple dinner and discovered that it was getting increasing uncomfortable to stand and do things. I gave my parents a call and asked them to come over for the night. I warned them that it might be nothing. By 7:00pm I was rushing to get the kids in bed because I knew that labor was coming on, but I wanted to be there for them and tuck them in and reassure them that although I would be going to the hospital, I would be fine and we'd probably be having the baby. My dad took me to the hospital where they monitored me for an hour and determined that I was indeed in labor and that it was progressing. Chelsea met me there to be my labor coach. She came prepared with magazines and distractions, love and comforting things to say.  I was so grateful that she was there. I could not have done it alone. I labored and breathed through my contractions for about 3 hours. At that time the pain and pressure was getting increasingly intense.  The contractions were also closer and I felt myself loosing the calm I had started with. I started getting scared. Not from the pain, but scared that I didn't want to have a baby alone. And although I knew I wasn't really alone, I felt the fear of caring for a baby without my husband by my side. I remember crying out, "I don't want to do it alone!" That fear made the pain worse and I decided I wanted an epidural. They gave me one and after about 4 more contractions, I didn't feel anymore pain... or anything below my hips, actually. I was able to relax and went to sleep. I slept for about 2.5 hours. When I awoke, I felt like Maelee was ready to be born. I felt like I needed a tiny bit more time. Nobody was in the room with me, so I went back to a restful state for another half an hour until a nurse and Chels came back in. The nurse told me we were going to do some "practice pushes". I asked her if she had any suggestions since I couldn't feel anything. She encouraged me to visualize pushing. When a contraction came, I visualized pushing and held my legs as instructed. Maelee came close and then slid back a bit after the contraction was over. I asked the nurse how I could improve. She said to just maintain a firmness even after the push was done. She said we were going to do one more practice, so when the next contraction came I tried again. She was suddenly telling me to stop pushing. The other nurse ran and got my doctor who was resting down the hall. I didn't really stop pushing all together, because I figured the nurse could handle it if necessary. The doctor slid in just in time to be the one that delivered Maelee. It was 2:06am on the 4th of July. When she was born I just wanted to see her so bad. It felt like forever to me while they weighed her and did whatever else they were doing. She was 7lbs and 10oz. If I had had the use of my legs I might have jumped off that bed to go look at her. Chelsea kept telling me she was beautiful. And when I finally saw her, I agreed. She had a perfect little round head with no bruising or anything to her face. She was perfect in every sense of the word and I loved her immediately. I also wasn't as scared anymore. The labor was easy on my body and with no stitches to worry about I recovered quickly. Since then, Maelee has been a blessing to our family. She is another beautiful reason that I have to wake up and take care of myself so I can take care of her. She has blessed the kids as they help with her and dote on her adorableness. I love her so much. Our little Independence Day baby.