Baby Turns Five

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Baby Turns Five

Adrienne Christine Arnold turned five years old today, which means she has begun her sixth year here with us. I guess in some places (like Japan?), they would say she turned six today, which in some ways makes more sense. Hard to believe it was five years ago that we began this journey together! Like the hoary cliche goes, it feels like it was only yesterday that we were rushing off to the hospital.

It was a little after 1am when Gabrielle said she felt we probably ought to go to the hospital now. Rhiannon was already at Grammie's, so we were ready to just head out. We grabbed our bags and jumped in the car. Luckily, traffic is pretty light at that time of the morning, so the trip south into Boston was a breeze. We pulled up to the front door of Brigham and Women's Hospital and turned the car over for valet parking. Gabrielle will never let me forget how I originally turned down the offer for a wheelchair. She had been very quiet on the ride in, as the contractions were coming very quickly, so I mistook the silence for complacency, not urgency.

Well, we got a wheelchair and began the process of registration and getting checked in. The hospital staff shared my complacency, and moved along at a sluggish pace. However, Gabrielle understood the time pressures and kept insisting we'd better move along. Of course, I'm sure the staff has heard it all before, so I'm not sure the pace quickened at all.

Finally we were in our room and a doctor came over to take a look. Gabrielle was wondering about the epidural, as the process with Rhiannon was long (nearly 24 hours) and painful. She had decided to not try to tough it out this time, and was ready for all the help modern medicine could throw her way.

The doctor glanced down and finally the things began to happen. She told Gabrielle to not worry about the epidural, as the baby's head was already on its way! A couple of pushes later and I was cutting the umbilical cord for a very healthy little baby girl. We were checked in at 1:50 and Adrienne popped out at 2:09. And she hasn't stopped flying around since!

And so she turns five today. I took a few quickie pictures and actually updated Adrienne's photo album, which can be found here.