Adeline Rocina Puffer, baby Addi (or Addy or Adi or whatever), was born on June 17, 2012. It was an interesting birth in that nothing happened the way I expected it. The Lord always knows how to show you who's really in charge.
First of all, Ben and I (mostly Ben) decided that since this was our 5th and we had 2 of each gender we should not find out what this baby was going to be. The only reason I went along with this was because in the beginning of my pregnancy I was pretty sure that it was a boy. When I got the ultrasound I told them that I didn't want to find out what it was so the ultrasound technician told us she wouldn't give us any "revealing" pictures. When I got home I posted a picture on Facebook. There were quite a few people who said they thought it was a boy and when I looked closely it appeared that way as well. Of course, what do I know? I can never make heads or tails of those pictures and the people telling me that they were for sure that it was a boy only had girls.
Second of all, as I got towards the end of this pregnancy I was sure that it was going to come early. I even had my mom book her plane tickets so that she would be here a few days early (almost a week). And we waited. . . and we waited. . . and we waited. It certainly felt that way! The first Sunday she was here I didn't even want to go to church because I was so sure that I should have had the baby by then. Then the 2nd Sunday came and I really didn't want to go because then I was over my due date by 4 days. It wouldn't have been such a problem, but I had been telling people that I was certain that I'd be early and I knew when I went to church everybody would be asking my about not having the baby. (my fault)
So the week before I had Adeline I had been having contractions off and on. They would start, stay a little, and then stop. In fact, I was getting really frustrated. I asked Ben, the day before my due date (Tuesday) if he would give me a blessing. In the blessing he blessed me that the baby would come when it was ready and then when it was born that it would bond with me. (I thought that was really an interesting thing for him to say, but I will tell you that it was 100% true. She doesn't like anybody, but me. Sometimes Ben and sometimes Alexis, but if somebody comes and takes her from me she freaks out!) Anyhow, the Friday after my due date I started having contractions and had them for about 5 or 6 hours, but then they stopped. They started again at about 3 in the morning so I got up, but then they stopped a few hours later.
Sunday morning came and we went to church. I was talking to some people at church and was telling them how frustrated I was that I had been wrong about the baby coming early. I joked with them that it must be a girl then because my girls didn't want to come on time, but my boys were early. That night around 9pm I had resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be having the baby that day (I really wanted to because my doctor, Dr. Alverson, was on call that day and afterward was going on vacation for a week). Anyway, I had a contraction at about 9:30 and I thought that I was going to do the start/stop thing again. I wasn't really concerned about it. I had 2 more by about 10pm. At about this time I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. While in the bathroom I had a couple contractions. I came out to the livingroom and then I had a major contraction. After that contraction, I had 5 more right on top of another (this was about 10:05pm).
After about 10 more minutes of intense contractions Ben asked me if I wanted to call the babysitter. I told him I wasn't sure if I was in real labor (so typical of me in labor). After about 10 more minutes I was pretty sure this was the real deal because I was having no breaks in between contractions. I was actually on the livingroom floor and I couldn't move. I told my Mom that she'd better start boiling some things because I didn't think I could make it to the car. Ben totally started to panic and was saying, "Amanda, just get in the car. Get in the car!" but I couldn't move. Just then I had a 20 second break and went to the car as soon as I could.
We called the hospital on our way there to let them know that the doctor needed to be there quick. When we got there Ben got a wheelchair and took me up to the maternity ward. Prior to my birth I had called the hospital up about some of their policies, on of which is that they separate the husband from the wife when they check in. I called ahead of time to tell them that I didn't want this to happen and asked what I needed to do to ensure he could stay with me. The nurse just told me they did it for abuse purposes and that if I didn't have any secrets from my husband (ie - a child that didn't belong to him) that I should just tell the nurses when I checked in that I had called ahead and I didn't have any secrets. So, we got up to the maternity ward and they told my husband he had to wait. I stopped them and said (as forcefully as I could in transition), "NO, I called ahead and they told me he could stay with my. I don't have any secrets from him!" They just wheeled me away and said, 'Sorry sweetie, it's hospital policy.' Then as they're wheeling me in the nurse is asking me about my birthday, full name, social security # - all things my husband could have answered for them. In fact, the nurse had asked me my SS# and I exhaled and said it as fast as I could (because I was having contractions!) and she just said patronizingly, "I can't write that fast, can you please slow down." WHAT?!? If I were a swearing woman I would have had a few choice words for her. Luckily for her I was incapacitated from being in transition.
About 5-10 minutes after I was in the room, they brought Ben in. He was a huge help because he applied counter pressure to my back which was a huge relief. By this time I really felt like pushing and I didn't know if I could wait much longer. Luckily the doctor walked in. When he walked in I got in the upright position I wanted and started pushing. After a minute or two Adeline was born. (In between the doctor walking in and my having the baby, Ben told the nurse to get my mom. She made it just as the doctor was delivering). Immediately after the doctor had her I turned and asked what it was (positive that it was a boy and just looking for confirmation). He said, "Well, you've got a girl." I was in shock! So much for knowing everything! She was 8lbs 14ozs and 20.5" long . . . and PERFECT. It was a great birth experience, minus the hospital.
