The Carter's: Lillian Kay

She is here!

Lillian Kay Carter

born

3-22-11

4:14pm

weight 7 lb. 14 oz

20.5 in. long

After a little convincing, I finally got Dr. Murphy to agree to induce me. He made me wait longer than with the boys, but it was well worth the wait.

This was a strange delivery to me. Not having Grandma Carter here made things super complicated. I am so grateful for such wonderful friends that helped make this day as easy as possible.

My great friend Bonnie showed up at my hotel at 5:50 on Tuesday morning to take me to Sutter to get things started. With the three boys, it didn't seem worth it to have Steve wake everyone up and take them somewhere at that horrible hour. So Bonnie not only took me to the hospital, but stayed with me until around 9:30 just chatting and making sure I wasn't alone.

Grey didn't sleep much that night, so Steve let him sleep in and then took them to Jen's house and she watched them all day until Steve came to get them after Lily was born.

I started the labor with gusto. I progressed quickly from a 1 to a 3, but after that, it was slow going. The cord was wrapped around Lillian's neck and each time my contractions got too hard, her heart rate dropped. I had an amazing nurse that didn't panic and made sure I knew everything would be ok. I didn't progress much until around 1:30 and then everything went super fast from there. They had to turn off the pitocin because she wasn't handling it, but my body was doing fine on its own and less than 3 hours later, and 3 pushes later, she was here.

Steve was so sweet and got her the most beautiful necklace and bracelet. Tiffany's, of course. He says he wanted it to be something she could have her whole life. He wrote her an amazing letter and explained the lock and key and what they meant to him and to their relationship. It was amazing! He is so great with his words and he always thinks of things that will hold meaning forever.

We were in and out of the hospital in less than 24 hours after her birth. I was ready to get home and share her with the boys. Things were so crazy the day she was born, Steve didn't even get a chance to hold her until 9'oclock that night. I hated feeling like he wasn't getting the chance to be with her and so I pushed them to let me go as soon as I could.

She has been an amazing blessing and the boys all love her so much. I was really worried about Grey since he seems to have jealous bones, but he has been so sweet with her.

Landon, of course, wants to hold her the most. Cohen loves her and holds her often, but his world doesn't light up the way it does for Landon when he holds her. He could sit for hours with her. Grey holds her about 20 seconds and always says, "Lily no cry, no???", while shaking his head. He is mostly asking like he wants to make sure she is ok. It is super sweet.

She is sleeping all day long and awake occasionally for 10 minute stretches. She is an amazing eater and of course a great pooper! She hasn't been spitting up like all the boys did, which is SOOOO nice! It is still amazing every time I change her diaper and see that there are girl parts instead of boy parts. Cracks me up. The first few nights were a bit rough with more wakeful time and holding, but the last 3 nights she is doing better about waking to eat and for a quick diaper change and then settling back into a good sleep. She loves her room, which I am hoping to take pictures of as soon as I finish the stenciling I started. She slept in the pack n' play in my room the first few nights, but she likes her room better. Go figure!

We all love to dress her and see all the pink things everywhere. This has been an amazing last week and I am so grateful that everything has gone so smoothly.