To say life has been chaotic since Adaira has been born is an understatement. We were not prepared to go from a family of four to five. I apologize for the long delay but I was planning to have a stock of blog posts all ready to go before she was born. However, it seems she had other plans and wanted to meet us a week early. So here begins her birth story.
I started having contractions on Monday the 13th but I thought they were more false contractions. I mean there was no way she would come early, right?! My mother-in-law wasn’t arriving into town till the 18th and my husband and I were planning a weekend away just the two of us before we would welcome her somewhere after the 21st (her due date). Well, that goes to show what happens when I make plans! My friend had been spending the night here in case we went into labor before my mother-in-law came and I am so thankful she insisted on it (thank you Lindsey!). I tried to sleep that night but was in so much pain, my husband did not think I was in labor and was counting contractions. I finally convinced him to call the midwife and she insisted we come in and informed my husband what I had been telling him for hours, that the third baby doesn’t follow a strict script of contractions every few minutes apart.
We packed a bag quickly and we were off. Luckily, at 2 a.m. the highway is clear and we made excellent time to the hospital which is a good thing because I was in very intense pain. I could barely stand or walk. I was admitted straight to a room without even being checked because of the pain and I had a struggle even putting on the hospital gown because the contractions were coming so close together! After that I was checked and I was already 6 centimeters. The doctor came and brought me my epidural. At that point I was shaking so bad due to the pain and definitely needed something.
Like her siblings, Adaira didn’t seem to want to be born by my midwife and was instead delivered by the midwife on call. It was disappointing because I had a plan, but God often disrupts our best laid plans. Luckily, two hours later Adaira was born after a couple minutes of pushing. It was my easiest and fastest delivery by far. She was also the tiniest baby we’ve ever had weighing in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. I guess that is what happens when they come a week early. She was beautiful and had a full head of hair.
We were able to change my mother-in-law’s ticket so she would arrive that night and my amazing friend (seriously so grateful for her help) was able to take my kids to her house to spend the day with her kids. Adaira proved to be our most difficult baby from the beginning with having a few choking incidences due to her speedy delivery while pushing.
It was not the birth story I had planned but it is completely and uniquely Adaira’s and I would not have it any other way. We are blessed to have her in our lives. I have been tested in ways I didn’t know I could be while learning to care for her but she is teaching me a different way of life.
In a later post I will be detailing some of the issues we have been dealing with in transitioning to a family of five and how to care for the silent reflux that Adaira has. I hope you will forgive the sporadic posts that will be occurring until I have this mother of three thing down and we are past the many appointments trying to get Adaira and us better equipped to deal with her silent reflux.
I hope you are all enjoying your summer. Keep checking out my instagram for pictures of our family enjoying summer and stay tuned for some good and exciting news I have to share!