Sweet Baby Girl

Liliane Joy (pronounced Lily Anne) made an early arrival arriving at 35 weeks weighing 4 pounds 3 oz and 15 inches long on November 30th at 7:38 a.m.   We heard the news a few hours later as we were starting our long drive to Utah. 

 The labor for me though started the Sunday before while at church when this anxious feeling came over me.  It had been a week and a half since talking to our caseworker and I just felt that something wasn't right.  Monday morning though the caseworker let me know everything was fine and things were moving forward.

I'm sure there are a lot of techniques to help women handle contractions better.  My sister has read books about it as she keeps delivering her babies naturally.  For me, I handle "laboring" by cleaning.  The anxious feeling was back by Tuesday and so I cleaned the house.  I cleaned some more on Wednesday waiting for the caseworker to call about our birthmom's doctor's appointment.  Finally late in the afternoon the call came saying the baby hadn't grown in the last week and the doctor was worried.  He felt like baby girl would do better out of the womb and he scheduled the c-section a day later.  The caseworker also let us know that baby girl was weighing 4 pounds and that she felt it was wise to not leave until the baby was born so that we had a better idea of what health issue we were looking at.

I don't know much about pregnancy and delivering a baby.  I hear things like "stop growing," "4 pounds," "NICU" and I start panicking.  Luckily I had some great friends who talked me through what everything meant and lots of prayers being sent our way. One friend reminded me that I knew God had watched over and protected my miraculous boys and I would see the hand of God again in watching over Liliane.  She of course is right.

I also handle "labor" by having the inability to function.  When we got the call about Gavin, Zane did most of the packing and I did most of the crying. I was too overwhelmed and stressed to function.  I handled Liliane's labor better and did get a lot of the packing done Thursday night, but I didn't cancel preschool that morning so that I could put off the stress of getting ready and thinking about all my worries (health concerns, being in Utah for a month or more etc).  I had a fieldtrip planned and needed the distraction and something to keep my kids busy.

Zane worked late Thursday night trying to tie up loose ends, so we weren't able to get as much done and leave as early on Friday.  A wonderful friend took my kids Friday morning and Zane and I finished packing like crazy (we packed so fast that we forgot some key items).  We were on our way by 11a.m. trying to get 12 hours in that day.

Three things I'm really grateful for: smart phones so that we could get updates and give updates about the birthmom and baby, DVD players in cars, and swivel chairs.

 Driving with two boys for 24 hours isn't fun.  I couldn't convince them that the car ride went faster when they took naps in the car.  We heard a lot of, "Is it day 2 yet?" or  "Are we almost there?".  We survived though and late Saturday evening we drove in.

We met with the caseworker on Sunday and signed paperwork, paid money etc.  Then we were taken to see our birthmom and our baby girl.  Meeting with a birthmom is always emotional.  It is hard to know what to say to express our gratitude and happiness while she is mourning the baby she just relinquished rights to.  Liliane is named after both her birthmom and me.  We both have Anne in our names so we wanted a name with Anne in it so that Liliane knew she was part of both of us.

We then met this beautiful, tiny little baby and I almost fainted.  Zane and I along with our extended family were fasting for Liliane that day.  I think the lack of food, seeing how tiny she is, the IV in her (I'm not good with needles), and the hospital smell was too much for me right then.  We have had some very stressful days without a lot of sleep, and it hit me right then as I looked at my baby girl.  I had to sit down and put my head between my legs then grab a juice box to get some sugar in me.  How awful would that have been to faint while everyone was fussing over Liliane getting her bundled up and away from the heating lamp so that we could hold her.  I'm glad I know what it feels like to faint and could get off my feet quickly!

Because of the whole almost fainting thing, Zane held Liliane first.

 Starting tomorrow, we can come and go from the hospital as much as we want.  Hopefully Zane and I can take turns being there for the feedings.  Liliane needs to gain weight, eat well, and control her temperature before she can leave.  Her doctor is saying she will be in NICU for a week if everything goes well.  After Liliane is discharged, then we wait for the state to give us permission to leave which could take 7 to 10 days.

The boys are excited to meet Liliane.  When we got back from the hospital, Dallin asked if we left Liliane in the car.  Meanwhile, they are loving the attention from their cousins and playing with their awesome toys!