Miracle Baby

Lily Rey Monson 

4-22-2016

7:23 pm

8 lbs 2 oz

21 inches

I was up all evening on April 19th with consistent contractions every 3-8 minutes. With Calvin's delivery process I was sent home from triage FOUR times, and as a result I am incredibly paranoid about raising the alarms for just the early phases of labor. I sent my mom a text suggesting she get on a plane in the next 24 hours, then went downstairs to watch Harry Potter for the billionth time and to try to get some sleep. 

The next few days were such a treat. My Mom had flown into town and was ready to jump into baby delivery action. We walked, shopped, walked, ate, walked, talked, walked, and walked some more. Between her and my two sisters who live nearby we must've walked a marathon in 3 days time. 

One evening we walked my sister Chelsee's neighborhood in Holladay for 2-3 hours. It was pitch black by the time we got back and I realized with horror that my wedding ring was gone. I had taken it off sometime during the walk (finger swelling, duh) and placed it in my pocket. What I neglected to do was keep my phone in a separate pocket. At some point on our who-knows-how-many-mile walk, I pulled my phone out to track my contractions and my ring must've slipped out of my pocket and onto a stretch of pavement. Once I discovered the ring was missing I immediately felt nauseated and announced to the group of family that I had lost my diamond ring sometime in the last 3 hours. I had a distinct impression that it was lost in the manner I just described and that it had to be on the stretch of road where I had my first series of strong contractions. Lucky for me, my mom and sisters are not only REALLY pretty, but they are REALLY smart. We all hopped into Annie's car, I said a tearful prayer, and between the three of their memories we drove to the general area of my first recorded contractions. Annie had the car brights on high (keep in mind that it was nearly 11 pm at this point) and the rest of us walked up the road spread out by several yards and began searching for the needle in the haystack. We walked for maybe 3 minutes and I saw my ring glittering in the middle of the road, a half mile from Chelsee's house. We all cried, thanked God, and drove home with the good tingles. 

In light of that miracle, we collectively  decided that God would grant us one more miracle soon. Sure enough, the next day after going to breakfast and walking City Creek Mall downtown, my contractions got consistent enough for me to go in for a labor check at the IMC triage. It was an incredible circus act of exchanging car seats, leaving kids with husbands, coordinating rides to the hospital, and getting admitted for labor and delivery. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and in this case it took a village of Worsley and Monson family to birth this child. I am forever grateful for everyone's sacrifice and contribution. 

I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes so they decided to break my water and considered putting me on a low dose of Pitocin to induce stronger contractions, but were cautious to not stress my cesarian scar too much. The minute my water broke my contractions began to be unbearable and I immediately requested the good stuff. Even with an excellently placed epidural I was in agony ... keep in mind that I hadn't had a drop of Pitocin! The nurse looked concerned, then checked my dilation and found I had progressed from 3cm to a 5 plus in a matter of 30 minutes. An hour later I was at a 7. Another hour later the room was filling with nurses, gowns, tables, and the ObGyn on call. Baby girl's heart rate kept dropping and recovering with each contraction and they worried about a potential cord problem or an imminent cesarian scar rupture. The scar rupturing is a statistically rare occurrence, but can be lethal to the mom and baby in a matter of moments. Dave gave me a blessing of peace and comfort and we kept moving forward with the hope of a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarian). My squad (Dave, Mom, Chelsee and Annie) was coaching me through breathing, making me laugh in-between contractions, and were constantly advocating baby girl's health by watching her monitors and checking with the nurses and Doctor. 

My nurse, Bri, grabbed Dave and my Mom and told them to help me push. They each held a leg as I went through a handful of rounds of pushing. The ObGyn came in, and after just 15-20 minutes of pushing, baby girl was on my chest. She cried at first, then just laid on my skin with quiet squeals and tiny breaths. She had the cord wrapped around her neck twice and cinched around her abdomen once, which explained the stress during contractions. We are so lucky she made it out okay. 

The next hours and days were a blur of visitors, nursing sessions, hospital food, magical ice diapers, regular vital checks, and a touch of heaven. There is something so divine about being in a small room with a person that was so recently with Jesus. I tell any of my pregnant friends who are afraid of delivery that they should focus on the thinness of the veil between heaven and earth when that baby is born. It truly changed me to experience Calvin and Lily enter this mortal realm. It really did. These new babies bring light and life into my soul. 

Now I'm sitting on my couch with this perfect little Lily curled up on my chest and reflecting on how I would go through it all over again in a heartbeat. Bringing her into this world was worth every sleepless night, episode of intense heartburn and nausea, days of swollen ankles, and countless tears of anxious anticipation. Thanks to all my friends and family who encouraged me through this process and have loved me through my crazy. I am truly blessed. 😘