A New Addition

Written by Aaron S. Russell


5:19am

I am awoken by my beautiful wife who informs me we may have a child today. In my usual morning elegance, I respond with something like, "Huh? What? "Where am I?" I'm further informed that we were expressly told not to go to the hospital until the contractions are 3-4 minutes apart for at least an hour. Since the contractions just started, we had time.


5:45am

So the contractions are maintaining their requisite intervals, so we're pretty sure we need to get motivated. Plus, Tallie was paralyzed with pain every few minutes. That's hard to sleep through, particularly for me. We call Mark and Halee to make arrangements for Sterling. Tallie, being a girl, wants to freshen up with a shower and make up before we leave. I headed down stairs to gather up a travel bag for Sterling and one for Tallie, eat breakfast, and watch SportsCenter.


6:20am

I get a call from Tallie's cell informing me she is giving birth now. Intrigued, I headed upstairs to find out that Tallie's water broke. She insisted I call an ambulance, but I told her I could get her to the hospital just as fast. (It's a guy thing). I helped her down the stairs in her somewhat compromising condition (fluffy robe, underwear around her knees, towel that I fear with now never come clean tucked between her legs). I went back and woke up Sterling, gathered the luggage and cameras, and off we went!


6:35am

Tallie is screaming in the car, and Sterling is concerned. "Uh-oh" and "Owie!" he says. I'm speeding at 100 mph, and I'm impressed at how well the car handles at that speed. If it wasn't monday morning traffic on the freeway, I could have really opened it up! More screaming. It seems to be happening every minute or two. Again, very hard to sleep.


6:45am

We arrive at the hospital, and I find no attendant, but there is a wheelchair. I drag it to the car and help her in. Someone comes to help and wheels her off.


6:55am

I arrive at Hallee's and drop Sterling off. I'm feeling better that Tallie is in the hospital.


7:05am

As I'm pulling into the hospital, I get a call. Tallie informs me we've had a little girl!!! I missed the whole thing!!! The nurses said they got her at 6:50am and our girl was born at 7:02am. She beat me and the doctor to the punch. Apparently the nurses did the delivery.



Both mother and daughter are doing very well. As you may have guessed, we don't have a name yet, but we're considering Avalon, Arriana, or Haven. Or something else, who knows? So what's-her-name is a very good eater. We're very excited about that since Sterling STILL doesn't eat well after 2 years. She is 5 lbs, 10 oz, and 19 inches long. She looks like she may be blonde. Check out the pictures below...