On July 29th, 2014, we welcomed baby Lilli into our family! She weighed 7 lbs, 3 oz and was 19 3/4" tall. She has dark blue eyes and blonde/light brown hair. The week before her arrival was a challenging week for our family. In a matter of two weeks, we found out that my mom had some lesions on her lungs and would be having surgery. During surgery, we were told that it was lung cancer but that the doctor felt confident that it was all removed. Mom was released from the hospital after removing her lower right lobe after one night in the hospital. Mom, dad, and Kelli came to our house for 5 days to make sure mom's recovery was progressing smoothly. On Monday morning, mom had a doctor appointment to remove her last drain and was released to go to their home. On Tuesday morning between 2:30-3:00 a.m. the contractions began. I waited until after 5:00 a.m. to let Brandon know that today was the day! Baby Lilli would soon be here! Slightly frustrated that I had not found a doula, Brandon stepped it up and became the best doula around. In a matter of minutes, he had typed out my birth plan, packed bags, called for help with Carson, installed the carseat, and was ready to go. Did I mention that he also cut his hair? I did not want to get to the hospital too soon so we waited it out until about 11:00 when a good friend of ours who is a doctor told us we needed to get to the hospital. He refused to deliver the baby at our house! When we arrived at the hospital, Brandon valet parked the car. I wish everyone could have seen the expression of the valet helper's face when he realized that I was in labor. He was insistent that I needed a wheelchair, but I refused. I wanted this labor to progress as quickly as possible and knew that walking was one of the best methods to keep it going! When we arrived at the counter on the second floor at labor and delivery, the staff on duty also seemed to question if I was in labor! By that point, you would have thought it was pretty evident! My doula, Brandon, (I just like saying that) did his job and requested the nurse who felt most comfortable with helping me through a natural delivery. God immediately answered my prayers and a nurse by the name of Nancy had just come on shift. She had had four natural deliveries herself and was better than any possible doula that I could have hired. I did not know it at that time but that afternoon 20 babies would be delivered but guess who ended up with a private nurse because I had chosen a natural delivery? You guessed it! At 5:00 p.m that afternoon, Lilli arrived into our world as precious as could be. Continued answered prayers flooded the room as we welcomed a strong and healthy baby into this world! Since then, I have had several people ask me why in the world did you do this naturally when resources are available to ease the pain. My response is the following: 1) I felt that I needed to put myself in a situation that undoubtedly I could not rely on myself but had to call upon God. 2) I wanted Lilli to know from the moment that she entered the world that she had the power to do whatever she set her mind to and what better way to start that than by the example of her mom. 3) Last, I did not want to have the same birth experience as the first time. So, the past several weeks have had a theme in our lives...God is in control and not me/us. Our family could not do anything about cancer, but God could. I could not have endured the pain of childbirth, but God could. Why does it take big events to remind me that God is in control and that prayer is our avenue to release that control to Him? Did I mention that mom's pathology reports finally arrived, and the cancer had not spread? Not me, all God!
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| One amazing big brother seeing his sister for the first time! |
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| Granna and Lilli |
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| Grandy and Lilli |
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| Mimi, Lilli, and Pop |
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| Uncle Colton and Lilli |
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| Aunt Marta and Lilli |
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| Bubba holding "Little" for the first time. |
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| "I'm headed home!" |
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| Aunt Ashley, Uncle J, Granna, Mimi, Caleb, Lilli, and Pop. Let the pictures begin! |
