Introducing Adeline Afton Flamm

Adeline was born Monday, March 26th at 5:16 p.m. CST weighing in at 7 lbs. 7 oz. and measuring 20 1/2 inches long.

She is a little swollen in these pictures, so she is actually not this chubby now.

I thought this warming table was interesting. Right after the nurses cleaned her up, they placed her on this table. The little heart on her tummy senses her temperature and keeps the air around her at a certain temperature.

Birth Story

Monday morning I started to feel some contractions that were a little more regular and stronger than usual, but I was not sure if they were just braxton hicks or the real thing. I called Scott and let him know that he should probably come home just in case. Since Rigby's birth was a little fast (I started feeling contractions a mere 2.5 hours before he was born), I was a little paranoid about making it to the hospital. As he was heading home, I decided that my water had officially broken and I was not just sweating a lot or wetting my pants. My water has broken with all 3 kids, but every time has been so different that I am never sure: 1) with Peter I never clued into the slow leaking of fluid over a few days; so by the time contractions began, Peter had very little fluid left--not good; 2) with Rigby I think it broke while I was sleeping and gushed out during the quick shower I took before we took off for the hospital; 3) with Adeline it was little gushes of liquid every few minutes.

Anyway, I called my friend from the ward, and she came to pick up the boys. A few minutes later, Scott arrived home and when we reached the hospital I was mostly effaced and dilated to a 4. Unfortunately, it took another 1.5 hours to dilate to a 6, so no super fast delivery this time. I opted for an epidural, but started to freak out when the anesthesiologist was ready to stick me. I associated epidurals with Peter's delivery which was very traumatic and hard for me, and I associated a natural delivery with Rigby's birth which was extremely painful, but also amazing and easy (if you can call labor easy;). After 10 minutes of thinking it over, I pulled myself together and got the epidural. During the next hour pain was at a minimal and life was good; I was glad I had gotten the epidural. However, within less than one minute I went from feeling great to feeling very nauseated, dizzy, and almost ready to loose consciousness. Several nurses came into the room and started to give me medication and help me get on my hands and knees to boost my blood pressure and Addy's heart rate. Scott said my BP got down to 60/30 and Addy's HR got down to 70 bpm. The medication quickly fixed the problem, but I am now permanently terrified to get an epidural ever again. Although I know it is not my fault, I still cried and felt so horrible about my desire to not feel pain at the expense of my baby's health. On the other hand, I am terrified to feel the pain of natural labor again! About two hours after that drama (7 hours of labor), I pushed for 5 minutes and our sweet little girl was born!

My Mom was planning to come one week after my due date, but since Addy decided to come 10 days early, she bought a last minute ticket for the next day. Scott and the boys picked her up at the airport and began heading to the hospital when one of our tires decided to fall apart on the freeway.

They spent one hour along the small left shoulder of the freeway. Every time a large vehicle passed by the car would shake, so they were unable to safely put on the spare. Thankfully, they were safe until the tow truck came and dropped them off at a gas station where Scott could put on the spare tire.

Scott and my mom were frazzled by the time they reached the hospital, but the boys were still extremely excited and wound up about riding in the big truck. A 4 and 2 year old in a hospital room is a little stressful, so they only stayed for 30 minutes before heading home.

Sorry there are no more pictures at the hospital. Things were so crazy that we did not have the time or presence of mind to remember. In the end, I am just thankful that the tire incident did not cause an accident and that everybody arrived home safely. We have decided it was also a blessing that my mom was there to help out rather than it being Scott or I alone with the kids.

I am also so thankful that our baby girl made it here safely as well. We all love her so much already, and I am excited to see her with her Daddy and brothers. We love you "Sweet Adeline!"