She's Here!!!

"Every good and perfect gift comes from above"

Well today is my actual due date, so I thought it would be a good time to get down all the excitement of last week...especially because I'm already forgetting some of it!!

I was due to be induced on Wednesday the 4th. My doctor really felt that this was necessary due to how fast Charlie was born (4 hours), so we went ahead and agreed to that. Tuesday night Wade and I took the kids over to my sister's house. No sooner were we out of her driveway did I start to have contractions. They were mild and far apart, but I think my body just knew it was go time. Wade and I were able to stop in at the Spaghetti Factory and have a great "last dinner." We headed home and got to bed, and were asleep by 9pm. However, I woke up a few times as I felt the contractions getting a bit stronger, but they stayed 10-15 minutes apart. We got up at 6:30 and called the hospital and they told us to come on in. However the normal 45 minute drive took us 2 hours due to construction and traffic..ugh. So we got to the hospital at 9:00. She checked me and I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced, so things were moving right along. She hooked me up to Pitocin at 10am..and then of course the contractions started getting a lot closer and stronger. Not unbearable, but after a few hours of them, I was ready for my epidural. I got it around 1:00ish and it felt awesome right away. I still had a little pain, but a LOT less! After the epidural was in place I was checked again and was 5cm dilated. They then broke my water and told me things would probably progress pretty quickly from then on. And boy did it ever. About a half hour after they broke my water I sent Wade out to tell my family what was going on. He was gone for 10-15 minutes when all of a sudden I felt a LOT of pain and a LOT of pressure in THAT area. I wanted to push BAD! So I looked around for the call button to page the nurse...and of course it was on the table behind me, and with my legs being numb I couldn't reach it. So then I started to panic as I realized I was alone in the room about to have a baby! So I used my arms to push myself up on the bed and somehow I grabbed the call button. The nurse came in and I told her that something was definitely going on. She checked me and, yep, baby was ready to come out. So then there was a lot of chaos as they located the doctor, and located Wade, and got everything ready. In the meantime I was in a lot of pain trying NOT to push while the doctor got set up. It was a relief when she was ready and I could start pushing. Now, my epidural had not fully set in, so I felt a lot of what was going on. I could feel her head coming out, and the "ring of fire" oh man, it was bad, but I knew if I just pushed her out it would be over. It felt a lot better when her head was out, but then her shoulder got stuck. Ugh..so there was a lot more pain, and so I pushed again, and there she was!!! Another four hour labor!!

Adalyn Mae Gentemann

was born at 2:20pm weighing in at exactly 8 pounds. She was 21 inches long and the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen (well since I gave birth to Gracie). She grabbed onto my finger as soon as they layed her on my stomach. Wade got a little teary eyed, but I just stared at her in disbelief, I couldn't believe she was here, and perfect in every way.

Brand new! We've fallen in love again!

Daddy's got another girl!