Adalyn Grace Lettsome

Adalyn Grace Lettsome

7-27-2012

11:02 AM

7 lbs. 1 oz.

20.5 in.

As you all probably already know, our beautiful daughter Adalyn was born and she is a month old this week! What an exciting time this has been for us!

My (Abby) mom and sister were here in Kenya, which was a tremendous help! Honestly, I don’t know if I would have survived this long without them. My mom cooked for us every day and it was just so nice to have family around for this special time. My sister was here all summer, but my mom arrived on July 25^th. We laugh about it now because my mom arrived in the country just a day and a half before I went into labor. Adalyn was just waiting on her Bibi (grandma) to get here, then she decided to make her arrival!

My water broke at 12:30 AM on July 27^th. I was so relieved that we were able to drive to the hospital in the middle of the night, because Nairobi traffic can be horrible at all hours of the day! We arrived at the hospital around 2 AM and after checking me in, they immediately gave me an IV and starting giving me Patosin. At this point I was 2 cm dilated and had not even starting contracting yet. At about 9 AM I was 3 cm and about hour later I was 10 cm dilated! Everyone was surprised at how quickly this happened. The doctor had come in and checked me and before she made it back to her office the nurse called her back telling her it was time already! Adalyn was born about an hour later. Even though it didn’t feel like it to me at the time, my entire labor process was very quick and went so smoothly. I couldn’t have even wished it to be any better!

Everything seemed to go wrong the month before I had Adalyn. I was actually kind of stressing over it and worried about the delivery because of how it was all going. We had made all these plans, and back-up plans, and they all seemed to fall through. Just in case I went into labor before we made it to Nairobi, there is a private hospital here with a doctor I saw all through my pregnancy. I had talked to him about delivery, and so he was my back up here at home. When I was 36 weeks, I went to see him for a check-up and he had gone to the UK for a month to visit family! Honestly, I was terrified in that moment, because what was going to happen if I did go into labor? He wasn’t here to deliver my baby! Then I received a call at 37 weeks from my doctor’s secretary in Nairobi telling me that my doctor was going on vacation up until the week I was due! We ended up travelling to Nairobi a few days early because I was having some stomach issues that needed to be checked out. While at the hospital the day we arrived in Nairobi, they told us that the delivery room we were supposed to be delivering in was now under renovation and we would have to go to the other delivery room on the other side of the hospital (not a big deal, but it did feel like it at the time!). All of the things that I had planned out that made me comfortable were falling through! I kept telling myself to not go into labor early because I wanted my doctor to be there, but, of course… I did go early!

When it came down to it, everything went great! My mom had just made it, the nurses took such good care of me, and I had a healthy baby with an easy delivery. Yes I did worry beforehand, but the Lord really worked it all out, not the way I originally wanted…but as I see now those things were not necessary. I know this may sound cliché but I learned through this experience that even though I want to make plans and back-up plans in most areas of my life, things don’t always turn out the way I want, and I can’t expect everything to! But the Lord is good, and he took such good care of me that day. And now we have a beautiful baby girl who has brought so much joy to us over the past month! I am just thrilled to have her, and I am pretty sure I love her more and more every day.

Here are a few pics…enjoy!