the shelton family.: Addie's birth... our little Christmas baby

What a sweet girl to listen to her mamma! Addie’s due date was December 26, but I had been trying to convince her to come on Christmas day instead. After all... if you are going to have a birthday in the days immediately surrounding Christmas, it might as well actually be on Christmas! Just as expected, little Adeline listened perfectly and made her arrival at 3:50 am on Christmas morning. I was sure that this would be the start of many times she will listen and obey her mommy and daddy, but that didn't last long!

I'm writing out the full extended version of the story so that we can be sure to remember all the details of the special day. If you’re not interested in the full story, just know that it was an intense, yet wonderful experience ending with the most incredible Christmas present that God could have sent... a beautiful, healthy baby girl.

Addie was born at the Austin Area Birthing Center and it was quite a whirlwind for Mom and Dad! I started having contractions on Christmas Eve around lunchtime. They were very mild, but consistent. We finally called the birthing center around 5:00 to let them know what was going on. Our family was starting to arrive in Austin around that time so that we could all celebrate Christmas together. We were so excited to have both of our families coming to Austin since we couldn’t leave town. We were really hoping Adeline would be born while everyone was in town so we could share the special moment with them! Since the contractions were so mild, we got dressed for church and headed off to the Christmas Eve service with Robert’s mom (Linda), his brother (Lindsay), my sister and brother in law (Natalie & Mike) and our five nieces and nephews (Elijah, Noah, Abigail, Becca, and JoJo). We talked to the birthing center on the way and the midwife suggested that I go home to lay on my side to try to get the contractions to last longer. So... we turned around and headed home while the rest of the family went to church. Everyone came back to our house after the service. By this time my mom, dad, and cousin Sarah had arrived in Austin as well. Since contractions were progressing and we were pretty sure we wouldn’t be around for Christmas morning, Robert and I decided to let everyone open our Christmas gifts a bit early. We had so much fun celebrating together with both of our families... contractions and all! So, with nerf arrows flying all around and wrapping paper and bows covering the floor, we continued to time contractions!

Everyone was gone by around 9:30 and that is when the contractions started to pick up a bit. The midwife asked us to come in around 10:00 to be checked. I was only 2 cm dilated. Pretty disappointing considering I was 1.5 cm dilated at my last appointment a week prior! So we went home... no baby.

Around 11:00 things really stared to pick up! I would say this is when the contractions first started feeling painful. Robert was doing his best to help ease the pain. Rice sock, back massage, etc... all the while timing contractions and calling in to the birthing center to report the progress. By 1:00 the contractions were really strong. The midwife kept telling Robert that we didn’t need to come in until the contractions were 60 seconds long because that is when they would see the most progress. Well... my body didn’t agree. My contractions were never 60 seconds long. If we had waited for that then we would have had an unplanned home birth! At 2:00 Robert told the midwife that we really wanted to come in so she said she would meet us there in 45 minutes.

I was dying on the way there and I seriously considered telling Robert to take me to the hospital for an epidural instead! Somehow through the pain I was able to remind myself that I really wanted to do this naturally and that the natural path was what was best for me and my baby. When we got to the birthing center (around 2:45 am), I immediately threw up on the midwife... welcome! She checked me and was amazed to see that I was 6 cm dilated already. She brought me into the room where we would give birth and broke the remaining part of my water bag, which she warned would make things ‘much more intense’. That was a frightening thing to hear! I immediately got in the tub to try to relax through the rest of labor. As soon as i got in, she checked me again and I was already 9 cm. She was amazed that things were moving so quickly. It felt a lot better being in the tub so I wasn’t about to get out... I had just gotten in! We didn’t plan on a water birth, but after about 15 or 20 minutes of pushing, Addie was born... right there in the tub. The official time was 3:50am.

Since Addie came so quickly, everything was quite a whirlwind. Robert had to fill in as the midwife’s assistant since there was no time to call in the real midwife assistant. He was taking orders and helping out a lot! But through all the hustle and bustle, Addie never cried. She was so peaceful and alert... just taking it all in.

Once we had her all wrapped up, Robert and I just laid in bed and stared at her with amazement. After some time we realized we should probably call our family to let them know Addie was here! Since Natalie, Mike and the kids had been sick, they couldn't’t come up to see her, but everyone else came up to the birthing center to visit. Robert was the proud papa bringing Addie out to the waiting room to meet the family as I took a shower.

For the next few hours we just laid in bed with Addie, rested, and visited with family. Robert was exhausted and slept for a few hours. By 10:30 or so we were allowed to bring little Adeline home. It was so surreal to have her in our house on Christmas morning when just hours before we were opening Christmas presents and anticipating her arrival.

What an amazing day!

Addie's first picture