Corinne Leona Adkins

She finally arrived! After threatened preterm labor at 33 weeks and days of false labor that would come and go little Corinne finally decided to make her appearance. She arrived at 6:23 pm on January 21, 2012. She is a perfect bundle weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces and 20 inches long. She couldn't be more perfect. Bryan and I are very proud and blessed parents.

After all the hassle of the last few months she made a quick entry into the world. I woke up on Saturday morning with some cramps - which was not out of the ordinary. My Mom, sister and I had a lunch date planned so we enjoyed a nice lunch out even though I was having some significant contractions the entire time. We have had weeks of ups and downs wondering if the contractions I was experiencing were the real deal or not so I wasn't too concerned with these ones. I got home from lunch and Bryan and I started timing the contractions to see if they were regular or not. Even though they were only coming seven minutes apart, they were getting stronger so we decided to head into the hospital. Once we got to the hospital and checking in they were coming about three minutes apart. So they took us into the triage area and it looked like this was still going to take a while. I was only 3-4 centimeters dilated and I guess I didn't look like I was in enough pain so they made the suggestion that we walk around for a couple of hours. Bryan kind of laughed and assured the nurse that this was going to happen sooner than she thought. So the nurse left and got caught up with the many other laboring women that sounded like they were in more pain than I was. This was a good thing because by the time they returned 15 minutes later to check on me I was making the appropriate pain sounds and I was already 6 centimeters. They quickly got me to a labor and delivery room and the rest proceeded just as quickly. We arrived at the hospital at just after 4pm and this sweet little girl was born just two hours after. I guess that makes up for the months of false labor that lead up to the actual delivery.

Corrine Leona Adkins was born with all her perfect fingers and toes and as healthy as can be. She has been a complete delight as we learn how to be parents and adjust to the around the clock schedule that a newborn demands. As we are learning these new skills we are also preparing to pack and travel back to the other side of the world on February 19th. Our first stop will be Kenya to see family and friends before we reach our final destination of Zambia. As much as Bryan and I try to be prepared for the future, life always seems to throw us curve balls. Just as we thought we were heading back to Kenya to work with the company Bryan worked for in the summer, an opportunity was presented that we couldn't ignore. So to make a long story short our plans have changed slightly as Bryan has accepted a position with a different conservation company as their Director of Development. We are so excited about the opportunity and are looking forward to discovering a new country together as a family of three.

So the next few weeks are going to be full of introductions and farewells as we prepare for this next adventure. We are as ready as we will ever be knowing full well that we just have to be prepared to be flexible and ready to learn all new life lessons that are yet to come our way.