Adalyn Mae Falls
Arrived May 22, 2010 at 11:27 a.m.
8 lbs. 5 oz.
20 1/4 in.
Since our last post in April, we have been anticipating the arrival of our third precious girl - Adalyn. Anticipating it so much so that we even had a few false alarms before her actual arrival.
On Monday, May 3rd, I was having contractions and was just convinced that I was going into labor. I called our midwives around 10 p.m. and they suggested that I take a hot bath and go to bed. I did and the contractions went away for about an hour. Around midnight, they took off again and I was really convinced this was it. I called the midwives and they got on the road from Midland. We blew up the birth pool and got ready for what we thought was Adalyn's arrival into the world. At 3 a.m. I looked at Neno and said, "I think they have stopped." Sure enough, they had just gone away. I was too embarrassed to call the midwife so I sent her a text and told her they stopped. She immediately called me laughing and told me to get it together that this was my third kid. They came on to the house and made sure all was okay and then went on back to Midland.
A week later, I had a prenatal visit and Shauna told me that I was dilated to 2 cm and 60% effaced and when Adalyn decided to join us, it would be fast. I called my parents and they decided that since they had missed the other two births that they would go ahead and come up the next day and wait it out. That is exactly what they did. For almost 10 days they waited!!! In the midst of it, I did have one more false alarm that caused Neno's mom to drive up and the midwives to make another trip to Lubbock.
So at this point, I was at my due date with no baby. That is so foreign to me since Ava Grace and Annabelle both arrived at 38 weeks. My parents decided at this point that they needed to go home because they had a busy weekend ahead which left Neno and I on our own.
I got through Friday without much to talk about - just a few contractions here and there, but nothing to get excited about. I did think I was having some more intense ones that night, but again, they went away.
Saturday is when the excitement started. I woke up about 6:30 with really intense contractions. They were falling about 10-12 minutes apart until I got out of bed around 7:45. At that point, they went to about 8 minutes. When I sat down to eat breakfast, I decided that this was it!! I called the midwives around 8:45 and they said they would get on the road. We also called our good friends, David and Joli, to come get the girls. I parked myself on the couch and just kept timing. Once the girls were gone, Neno sat down on the couch with me and started timing the contractions and how long they were lasting. I guess by laying down, they had slowed a bit. They were consistently falling at 8 minutes until I decided to go to the bathroom around 11 or so. All of sudden, I had a contraction hit at 3 minutes after the previous one. I walked myself to the girls playroom and knelt down on the floor to take some pressure off of my back. In the mean time, Neno had blown up the birth pool and started filling it with water. All I wanted was to get in, but I didn't know when I was supposed to do that and in filling it, we ran out of hot water and had to let it recharge.
Anyway, I am kneeling on the floor and trying to breathe through contractions that have now hit at 3 minutes, 2.5 minutes and then 6 minutes (strange, but I was glad for a small break). After I made it through that one another hit 2 minutes later. My instinct for some relief was to sit back on my heals on the floor. Bad idea... As soon as I did, my water broke!!!
I told Neno it broke and to find out where the midwife - Kelli- was. He started searching for my phone and when he got her, I heard him say, "Tell me you are close!" She was at least 30 minutes away, still. She told him to get me on the daybed in the playroom and lay me on my left side and tell me to breathe. They hung up after she told him to call back if things progressed quickly. That is exactly what they did. Within about 2 minutes, he had her back on the phone. I wanted in the pool so he asked if I could get in and while he was asking all I could feel was that I needed to push and so I screamed that I needed to push and Kelli heard me over the phone. Here is how that conversation went...
Neno: Can she get in the pool?
Kelli: Why is she yelling?
Neno: I don't know. I guess it hurts.
Kelli: No, I think you are having a baby.
Neno: Don't tell me that I am about to deliver a baby.
Kelli: Yes, you are! I need you to get the bulb suringe - that is all you will need right now. I also need you to check for the baby's head.
Neno: Do I need a glove?
She told him at that point to get me on my back and when he did, her head was right there ready to get out. I had to push!!
Kelli also told Neno to try to get his finger past her head and check for the cord, making sure it wasn't around her neck. Adalyn was coming out and his finger wasn't going in. She told him just DO IT! At that point, she popped right out and with another little push, our baby girl was in the world.
Neno checked to make sure her cord wasn't around anything and he placed her on my belly. She was purple, but absolutely calm and PERFECT. We wrapped her in a towel and started gently rubbing all over her body and she turned perfectly pink. Kelli was still on the phone telling Neno to check Adalyn's pulse and the pulse on the cord. Everything was exactly how it should be.
Neno hung up with Kelli and he and were in absolute shock. WE DID IT! We delivered our baby girl. Neno had never watched when the other two were delivered. He stayed as close to my head and shoulders as he could. This time, he did it all! He was amazing!
Kelli arrived about 20 minutes later and did everthing else that was need to make sure all was okay. Of course it was! God is so Good!
Since Saturday, we have had so many laughs about the whole thing - Neno shaking, telling me to flub my lips (it works by the way), relaying messages from Kelli to me
Kelli: Tell her she is doing good
Neno: Kelli says you are doing good
Kelli: Tell her to breathe
Neno: Kelli says to breathe.
We find this funny because I think she wanted the encouragement to come from him, but in the moment, he just couldn't use his own words.
From the beginning of this pregnancy when we decided to use a midwife, our fear was having to deliver on our own, but now that all is said and done, it was absolutely worth it!!! I wouldn't have it any other way.
Adalyn got to meet her big sisters Saturday afternoon and they adore her as much as Neno and I do. We are so blessed with our 3 precious angels.
