Our Lucky Day

Well, the big day finally came, and as we suspected, it was on Lily's time. We woke up Saturday morning with Emily in labor, the first look at the clock telling us that she cared little about our lifestyle of recent weeks (it was 5:17).
Apparently it was her decision to give the army of Elvis's in Gatlinburg a run for their money on who would capture the luck of the day, 07/07/07. And that she did, Lily was born at 3:25 in the afternoon, weighing in at 7 lbs, 14 ozs, and measuring 21 inches long. She came out with a full head of dark hair, and two big, beautiful blue eyes, which if you are lucky she will glance in your direction.

The day itself went very smoothly. We arrived at the hospital around 7 am. Upon arrival, our labor and delivery nurse for the day (Lisa, who was incredible!), informed us that "by hook or by crook" we'd be having a baby today! Shortly thereafter, Emily had her epidural. From then until about 3:00, she seemed to be resting comfortably with the aid of modern medicine. As she was waking up after a little nap, she said, "I think Lily has moved a little lower." Lisa stopped by and took a look, then proceeded to instruct Emily that the time had come! 12 pushes and 25 minutes later, Lily was here!

Incidentally, for all the doubters, Daddy stayed in the room for the IV, epidural, labor, delivery (watched Lily come into the world) and even cut the cord, all the while staying vertical. As impressive as that may seem, the true glory of the day belonged to Mom and Lily, who as Lisa accurately stated later in the weekend, "made it look easy."
Fortunately, friends and family were close by (and if they weren't, they got here quick!) Grandma Olmstead, Grandma and Grandpa Campbell, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Carrie, Cousin Beth, Aunts Anna and Donnie, Bill and Edwina, and big brothers Thatcher and Gator were all on hand to extend some very welcome love and support.


As you can see from these last pictures, we got to come home today....and thank goodness, I don't know if we could've handled the hospital food much longer!