My due date was October 8th, but I had been hoping I would go into labor a few days early & have it be a surprise! On October 3rd, we had a birthday dinner for Kade at Brooke's house with everyone. Then we got home, Nate's car had a flat tire, so we went back to Brooke's to use their pump & fill up his spare tire. We stayed & visited with Brooke awhile & I asked her about her labor stories with her boys. Then we headed home, Nate had put the spare tire on his car & was going to take it in for a new tire in the morning. Then we went to bed.

At 2 am exactly, I woke up & was lying in bed awake when all of the sudden, I felt something warm going through my body. I realized it was probably my water breaking, so I leaped up & ran to the toilet, where it started to leak out more. It's funny because just that night, we had put a shower curtain under the sheet in case my water broke because a friend at work had told me to do that. It just barely leaked on the sheet though, but was just random that we had put it on that night. I told Nate, "I'm pretty sure my water is breaking" & he sat up so fast & was so surprised. It reminded me of when I told him I was pregnant at 4am 9 months before! My water kept coming out, so I told him this was definitely happening. Nate called the doctor's office & talked to the on call person. They said our doctor should call us within half an hour & that we should get ready for the hospital.

I wasn't really feeling any contractions yet so I tool a nice hot shower, got dressed, put on a little makeup, & had some guavas for breakfast. Nate, on the other hand, was completely panicked & frantically running around. He had to switch the carseat to my car since his car just had a spare tire on it, & then he was getting my car packed with our bags. I, surprisingly, felt very calm. We got in the car & had no problem with traffic driving to Scottsdale since it was now 3am. I started feeling nervous in the car, knowing that I would be going through labor soon, but was also so excited to meet our little baby.

We got to the hospital & went up the elevator to the labor & delivery floor. While Nate told the lady at the front desk we were checking in to have a baby, I had to run to the bathroom across the room because my water felt like it was coming out again. I made it there just in time, good timing! They checked me in to a room where they checked to make sure my water had really broken & to see how much I was dilated. I wasn't dilated very much (only at a 3), so they had us walk around the hospital floor for an hour & then come back to check it again. Since my water had broken, we knew that we wouldn't be sent home & that I'd be having our baby sometime soon! It felt surreal walking around the hospital & knowing I'd be having our baby so soon. It was so early in the morning, we could see the sunrise through the windows. I remember seeing a tiny baby diaper on a table outside one of the rooms. It seemed so tiny, I couldn't believe I'd be changing diapers that soon!

After an hour of walking around, it didn't do much, but a labor & delivery room was open, so the nurse gave me an IV (one of the things I was actually most nervous about)& then took us to our room. The room was really nice & big & they hooked me up to monitors so I could see when I was having contractions. (I had had a few on the drive to the hospital but they weren't very strong.) It was interesting being able to see the length of the contractions on the screen. Then they started me on Pitocin & very quickly the contractions got a lot stronger & a lot closer together. I wanted to get an epidural to help with the pain but the nurse made me feel like it was too soon & said that it could make the labor way longer, so I didn't get one yet.

The contractions started out a few minutes apart but after a few hours they were just a minute apart & were lasting longer & longer. Nate was really great & kept getting me ice water & rubbing my neck, calves, & feet. For some reason having my feet & calves rubbed felt really good & helped with the pain. The contractions started to get really painful & really close together. After about 4 hours of hard contractions, I decided I was definitely ready for an epidural. We told the nurse & the anesthesiologist came in a few minutes later. I was so nervous for this part, but the anesthesiologist was great & it wasn't really bad. I'm glad I couldn't see anything. I almost immediately felt it work. It was amazing & all of the sudden I had no pain! I could still feel my legs & feet a little but had no pain at all. I had Nate turn on Jack Johnson on shuffle on my phone& it was so nice to just relax. The nurse gave me a peanut ball to put between my legs while I was lying on my side. Then Nate went to the cafeteria to get some food, he got Shrimp Carbonara, haha!



I felt so relaxed that I took a nap! I'm not sure how long I slept, but when I woke up I felt some pressure & told the nurse. She checked & said, "We need to call your doctor, your baby is coming!" Then everything happened so fast! It felt like our doctor, Dr. Carter, got to our room so quick. Nate held one of my feet & a nurse held my other foot. The nurse would tell me when to push & count to 3, I would take a deep breath, hold it & then push for 3. I did this for 3 or 4 contractions & then she'd have me take a little break. I pushed for 40 minutes total. I was so surprised because I hadn't researched anything about labor at all because I didn't want to get panicked, so I thought you only push a few times like in the movies, haha! Towards the end, Dr. Carter asked if I wanted to feel our baby's hair & that was the craziest thing. Then a few minutes later he said I could feel her head but I was a little too freaked out to!

Finally, after a few more pushes, she was out! The doctor placed her right on my chest & I just felt so happy & so much love for her. It was like all of the pain & sadness from the years of infertility was just washed away. She didn't really cry, she just lay on me so sweetly & was looking up with her bright little eyes. Nate & I were looking at her & looking at each other & both tearing up. It was such a sweet moment that I never want to forget.



After awhile, they took her across the room to weigh her & measure her & Nate went with her. She held his finger in her tiny hand as they did that & it was so sweet. She did let out a few cries but they were soft ones. Then I got to hold her for about another hour & then they took us to the postpartum room. Mom, Dad, Brooke, & Britt met us there & got to see & hold Lily. Then the next day Nate's parents drove down to see & hold her (& then back to San Diego because Christina called saying she was going to the hospital & thought she was having her baby! She ended up getting sent home but had her baby, Jocelyn, 2 days later)!

We stayed in the hospital 2 days & it was the best getting to be together with Lily, cuddling her the whole time. The food was actually good at the hospital & they had these chocolate chip cookies that were amazing (I probably ate like 4) & a Thai salad that was really good, it almost felt like being at a hotel, ordering good food & getting to relax & hold our sweet little baby all day! It was conference weekend, so we listened to some of It was really nice to just be able to focus on our little baby & not have to worry about anything else. There were a few talks that talked about being parents that really made Nate & I tear up. I couldn't help but think of how many times during conference weekends I had prayed for comfort or to know why we couldn't have kids yet. Nate & I both just feel so thankful that we were able to have Lily.

At 2am on the night, the nurse came in & gave Lily her first bath. She was screaming & did not like it! The nurse said the sink wasn't working well, so the water was cold, so that's probably why! It was the only time she really cried hard at the hospital! The second day, the hospital had someone that came in to take newborn pictures of us with Lily & she made us a little video we could keep for free, it was really sweet. One thing that was a little stressful was that the last day we had to wait for someone to do a hearing test on Lily before leaving. They came to do it but said she failed in one ear so they would have to redo it to see if she would pass. Even though it was a small thing, I was so worried that she would have a hearing problem. Not that it would matter to me but I just was so emotional with all the hormones & was thinking I wouldn't want her to have anything that was hard for her or that she would get teased about. Luckily, when they did the test the 2nd time she passed & they said she must not have passed the first time because she was squirming around a lot. We were so relived!

Then it was time to take Lily home! It was the craziest thing to buckle her in her carseat & drive home with her in our car! Nate said it was the scariest part for him. I always pictured being wheeled out holding Lily in the wheelchair, but the nurse asked if I was ok walking because there wasn't an extra nurse to push the wheelchair, so I just walked out, haha!

Nate drop home so slowly & carefully! It was great to be home with Lily & now we can't picture life without her here!! She is so sweet & mellow! She is very cuddly, loves to be held, & a great eater & sleeper. She actually eats really quick in about 5 minutes, which makes it really easy to nurse her! We are so thankful for our sweet, little baby & the joy she brings to us!!! She was definitely worth the wait!!!

A few funny things about Nate, he did a great job but after we got to the postpartum room, I had order chicken tenders & french fries & was so starving. Nate kept eating some of them & I didn't say anything but was super annoyed since I hadn't eaten anything in 12 hours!! Also, he was very worried about not getting any sleep & told me he might need to go sleep in the car because people kept coming in & out of the room. I quickly reminded him that there would not be much sleep for awhile & he needed to help with our baby, haha!!! Overall he did such a great job though & changed all of Lily's diapers in the hospital (amazing since he had said many times he would not change a diaper) & was so sweet holding her & talking to her. He is such a great dad to our little girl!

I feel so thankful & blessed that I had such an amazing labor & delivery & it really couldn't have gone better. We are so thankful for our sweet Lily Darlene Duchein & so grateful that she is finally here! After all of the stress of infertility, it was so amazing to really be able to enjoy pregnancy & labor so much. It was all such a special & sacred experience to me & Lily was so worth the wait!


Lily Darlene Duchein
born October 4th, 2018 at 2pm
7 pounds 2 ounces
20 inches