What’s the saying…”Better late than never!” I’ve been meaning to post Adalyn’s birth story to my blog for well, 6 months now haha, I’ve had it all written out but with the chaos of keeping up with a toddler and an infant I haven’t had a lot of time to sit down and type it all up but since our sweet little Adalyn is 6 months old today, I figured what better time than to finally get it done! I want her to be able to read it here one day, just like how Stella can.

On Wednesday, October 27th, I was watching TV relaxing on the couch and started getting small contractions. I told Shane about it and told him it was probably just Braxton hicks and I didn’t think too much about it. After a little while, I got what felt like period cramps. I went to the bathroom and had some bleeding. When I came out of the bathroom, I told Shane right away and then called my OB office.

I talked to the doctor on call (which happened to be the same doctor who was on call when I had Stella and delivered her). She told me to go into the hospital to get checked out but she sent me to a different hospital than usual hospital since their NICU was full. She said if I did end up needing to deliver, I wouldn’t be able to there and since I was 35 weeks that obviously wasn’t the best option. Her saying this already made me extremely nervous!

Right when I got off the phone with her, I told Shane and started crying. I was so scared and nervous since it was so early at 35 weeks and I wasn’t sure what was going on! I called my mom right away since we needed someone to come watch Stella. My mom was over an hour away so Shane had to stay home while I drove to the hospital by myself. On the way, I called my friend, Bridget, since I needed to calm down and try not to over think what was happening. She helped calm me down a little while I drove to the hospital.

When I finally arrived at the hospital, I went to the birth center floor and they got me checked in and started to check on me to see what was going on. They monitored me and checked if I was dilated and I was at a 1 and still having contractions. The babies heart rate had a little spike but nothing they were too concerned about. They gave me a shot to boost the babies lungs incase I needed to deliver her that night. After awhile, Shane got to the hospital and about that same time they moved me into another room. They monitored me and said we’d see what happened and hope for the bleeding to stop. If it did, then we’d get to go home but if not then they would deliver the baby.

After a few hours, the nurse came in and was about to give me a shot to stop labor but my water broke just before she came into the room, which meant that I for sure needed to deliver. The nurse called my on call doctor and in about a half hour she was in the room telling us I was going to get prepped for my C-section.

I was always going to have a C-section since my pelvis was too small when I tried to deliver Stella but we had it scheduled for November 24th so it was 4 weeks early, and 5 weeks early from my due date. Shane and I were both very nervous since we didn’t know what to expect. The hospital sent in a NICU specialist to explain to us what to expect with a 35 week old premature baby but she was in the room less than 5 mins before the doctor came in and said they needed to prep me for surgery, so we still had no idea what to expect. They took me back to the room and got me prepped for the C-section and then Shane got to come and join me.

Baby girl was born Thursday, October 28th at 3:33am, 4lbs 15oz, 18in long. As they took baby girl out, she started screaming. I started crying since I knew her lungs were good with how loud of screaming she had. They got her all cleaned up, Shane was able to cut the cord and then he brought her over to meet me. He told me that she was doing really well, enough so, that the NICU nurse that was there, just incase, left since baby was doing so well! That was such a relief to hear! Once they got me all closed up, they wheeled us into a temporary area to make sure we both did OK, they then wheeled us up to our room.

Shane, baby girl, and I stayed in the hospital until that Sunday. Shane and I didn’t officially have a name for her since we thought we had more time to decide. We had a few first names we’d been thinking about but after a lot of discussion and just about an hour before being discharged from the hospital, we finally decided on Adalyn Ann Dooley (Ann, after my mom’s middle name). They discharged us and we drove home and spent the day with just the three of us since Stella was still with my mom at her house.

The next day, my mom brought Stella home and she got to meet her baby sissy (as she calls her). Stella was so sweet and gentle with Adalyn and was so excited to meet her!! She got to hold her and had the biggest smile, she was so proud to be a big sister! We had Stella pick a gift for the baby when we were expecting so Stella gave the gift to Adalyn, a wind up music kitty, and we also bought a baby doll which was from Adalyn to Stella, she was excited for that too.

It also happened to be Halloween and Stella was so excited to be a ghost so Shane and I brought her trick or treating around the neighborhood for a little bit while my mom stayed back at home with Adalyn.

The next few days, my mom spent at our house helping us with meals, cleaning, helping with Stella and taking care of us. Since Adalyn was so little and came so early we weren’t prepared for her arrival as far as preemie clothes, diapers, and miscellaneous things so my mom helped us get clothes and supplies. We we’re so grateful for her and all she did (and continues to do) for our family! We couldn’t have done it without her!

Thankfully Adalyn didn’t have any complications or time in the NICU which was such a blessing especially at 35 weeks! We’re so grateful she’s a strong, healthy, growing perfect little girl who just decided she wanted to join our family early and we all love her so much!