Happy Birthday, Adalynn!

"Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.'

(John 1:16)

It is February 28, 2013 and we welcomed Adalynn Rose Nomachee Hall to the world today.  She was born at 3:53am, weighed 9 pounds, 5 ounces, and was 19 inches long! 

I wanted to take a few minutes to write down the details of her birth before I forget them.

It began Sunday when I was having regular contractions and thought it might be "the time!"  I called my mom, she came over that evening to stay with Zeke and we waited.  I was not progressing, so we went to bed.  On Wednesday, February 27th, the same thing happened.  I had regular (slightly more intense contractions), so I called my mom.  By the time she got to our house, they had almost completely stopped.  We all decided to go to bed, and see what would happen the next day.

Well, I didn't make it that far.  At about 11:45pm, I woke up with very intense contractions.  I knew it was different.  They were close together and strong.  I woke Gregg up about 45 minutes later and we knew we needed to get to the hospital.  When we arrived at Kennestone Hospital, I was dilated 5 cm and 90% effaced. 

It had been my desire all along to have a medication free labor, so I continued to breath through the contractions with Gregg's amazing support.  We were moved to our room and I got in the bathtub to help ease the pain.  Gregg told me he would not think any less of me if I got the epidural (later he told me he was desperate for me to get it...he couldn't stand seeing me in pain).  Our nurse, Rachelle, was a great support too.  She talked me through the contractions and encouraged me.  She said I could get there if I wanted to go without the epidural.  She had a patient that had just done it.  She also said that I shouldn't feel like a failure if I changed my mind.  While in the bathtub, I realized that if I was at 5 cm, I could technically have 5 more hours (they average a cm/hour).  I just couldn't imagine it.  I had hit my breaking point.

We told her I wanted the epidural and they got me ready.  The anesthesiologist put it in, and as I was laying there waiting for it to take effect, I felt the strong desire to push.  I think I actually felt that desire while in the bathtub.  Anyway, Rachelle called the midwife, Julie Porter, and she came to check me.  I was fully dilated and ready.  She had me do one push, and my water broke!  I still felt a lot of pressure, but the intense pain was gone.  They set me up to push and I did 2 more...Adalynn's head and shoulders were out.  I was able to pull her the rest of the way out to my chest.  We waited until her cord stopped pulsating, and I cut the cord (Gregg is not a fan of that!).  She was perfect and we were so thankful to have had such a smooth labor process. 

Our prayers were answered in God's perfect way, as always.  I had prayed for specifics, knowing I wanted God's will not mine in the end.  We planned to have my friends, Dena and Audrey there.  Audrey was going to be my doula.  Dena ended up being sick and I didn't have a chance to call Audrey before Adalynn was here.  I know they both prayed regularly throughout my pregnancy, and I am forever grateful.  I am thankful for all of you who I know prayed us through this as well. 

So far, Adalynn is a very content baby.  I can't wait to see how she grows and changes as the years go by.

Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot...one of the most special moments was after she was born.  Gregg and I were alone with her in the delivery room.  We anointed her with frankincense and myrrh and prayed over her.  Most importantly, we prayed she comes to know the Lord at an early age.  We thanked Him for bringing her to us safely and asked for continued protection.

Zeke came to meet her today too, but I'll save that for the next post.  It has been a long day, and we are ready to get some rest!