Fort Sanders Regional Celebrates First Delivery of 2021

The Christmas presents had all been opened and the cards had all been received, but Teal and Ethan Abbott knew they had one more special gift coming in 2020. Their first baby was set to be born on Dec. 31 at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center.

“Everyone was so excited to find out we were having a baby!” Teal recalls.   

Bringing new life into the world to finish a challenging pandemic year would be a perfect blessing for the couple. However, babies arrive whey they are ready, and this baby didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry or willing to follow the plan.

“We were induced and expected her to be born on New Year’s Eve,” Teal says. “The birth did not go as we hoped it would, and I ended up needing a C-section after a long labor. However, the doctors and nurses did all they could to accommodate our wishes and they answered all of our questions along the way.”

The clock ticked the minutes away as Teal waited for her baby to arrive. “After midnight passed, the nurse told us she would most likely be the first New Year’s baby,” Teal says.

It was exciting news, and something to celebrate during the difficult process of birthing the baby.

Sure enough, Adel Lee Abbott made her grand entrance into the world at 1:51 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2021. She was delivered by OB/GYN George Walton Smith, MD.

Every baby is special, but this one was timed just right to make it especially memorable. After all, there can only be one first baby at a hospital on New Year’s Day. This year, Baby Adel won the honor.

The hospital congratulated the new family with a special gift basket—a baby bathtub filled with supplies, including a blanket, a baby monitor, pacifier, diaper cream, bottle brush and bath supplies.

The celebration wasn’t finished. The good news spread more quickly when a local TV station broadcast Adel’s arrival to all of East Tennessee. Little Adel was a TV star before she was even a day old.

“Having her birth announced on the news was fun, and it was so exciting for our friends and family to hear our big news in that way,” Teal says.

At birth, Adel weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces.  She was 21 inches long and mom says baby had lots of pretty brown hair.

Now that all the fanfare is over, the Abbott family is settling in at home with all the joys and challenges that face new parents everywhere.

“It has been such a joy to get to know our baby,” Teal says. “She is our first, and we have already learned so much.  We are also more exhausted than we ever imagined!”

Teal confesses that coming home was a little scary, but her parents pitched in and helped with the family’s transition. Like many new moms, Teal found nursing the baby to be a bit of a challenge, but one that gets a little easier every day.

“I am especially grateful for the lactation consultants and the time they spent working with us every day we were in the hospital,” Teal says. “We loved everyone we worked with during our stay at Fort Sanders Regional.”  

The year 2020 may have missed a big finish for the Abbott family, but Teal and Ethan are perfectly happy with getting such a blessing to kick off 2021. “I love holding and taking care of Adel,” Teal says. “She makes all of our exhaustion worth it, and I am so excited to watch her grow and experience the world around her.”

Fort Sanders Regional is home to a highly equipped neonatal unit, top-trained nurses, plus specialized educators and lactation consultants for compassionate help at the bedside after delivery. To learn more about women’s services at Fort Sanders Regional, visit FSRegional.com/Womens-Services or call (865) 673-FORT.

Award-Winning Women’s Care

BEST for Tennessee Babies Hospital (2019)

Fort Sanders was named a BEST for Tennessee Babies Hospital by the Tennessee Center for Patient Safety for achieving success in three areas critical to newborn health: breastfeeding, early elective delivery elimination, and safe sleep. The hospital met specific criteria required by the Tennessee Department of Health to receive the designation.