Adalee is Here!!
After over 24 hours of labor, Adalee Ann Jorgenson is finally here! As of 7:55am Monday morning (Valentine’s Day nonetheless), Adalee arrived and weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 21 inches long. I didn’t end up announcing her birth on the blog first, but heck, we all knew that wasn’t really going to happen anyhow. I’ve been too busy soaking up the thrills of being a daddy to worry about a blog post.
I know I’ve already given away the punch line, but I’ll share some fun details about the labor journey. After almost 12 hours of on and off painful contractions, Amy and I ventured down to the hospital to make sure everything was alright. After two 45 minute walking sessions, the doctor decided that we should stay at the hospital and have the baby…even if that meant inducing labor.
We waited around for hours as Amy’s painful contractions got worse, but her labor progress was not moving along much at all. In an effort to speed things up, we went for another walk with many stops as Amy and I “slow danced” during her extremely painful contractions. We finally got the ok for an epidural, and Amy couldn’t have said “yes” any quicker.
I have to be honest, I totally underestimated the power of the epidural. Contractions that had Amy wincing in surreal pain before were now passing by almost unnoticed as she sat there in utopia. If the epidural hadn’t made Amy immobile, I’m convinced she could have ran a marathon, stopped by McDonalds for some fries, and then came home to deliver Adalee on a bed of burning coals – insane.
About eight hours after Amy received the epidural, and without having to induce labor at all, Amy’s water broke naturally and it was game time. Now I’ve heard some stories from my parents’ generation that dad’s used to have to wash themselves until their skin fell off, wear a mask and gown, and stand in the back of the room in order to be a part of their child’s birth. That’s definitely not the case today! I practically woke up from my bed, walked two feet to Amy’s bedside, and stood there in my mismatching pajamas like a tired-looking hobo. Oh how times have changed.
What happened next could never be justified with words or digested by the mind of someone who has not lived the experience theirself. However, words are all I have so I’ll tell the story with them anyhow. I stood there holding Amy’s leg and encouraging her to push. A mere 3 or 4 pushes in, the nurse pointed out Adalee’s head beginning to crown – I cannot remember a feeling of greater excitement or anticipation. Only minutes later I watched Adalee come into the world, and I was in love at first sight.
Adalee was whisked from here to there as the doctor and nurses quickly prepped her for life outside the womb, and I hovered over her every step of the way, refusing to leave her side. My new daughter had completely captivated my heart with her first breath, and as it is with any true love, I knew my life would never be the same.
An amazing miracle. A testament of God’s beauty. A new, insatiable love. And so the story begins…
