And then there were 3...

She is here! Our world is forever changed. Brooke Nadine was born 2 weeks ago, and I haven't slept since haha We love this little munchkin more than words could even express. I am in awe that such a perfect little baby is now part of our family. It couldn't feel more complete to have her here; such a perfect miracle.

For those interested, I'll give a quick recap of "the story:"

Brooke decided to come 4 days early, which I was totally fine with! I knew I was dilated but didn't know what would actually get me to the hospital because so far I hadn't felt any contractions. Well, luckily my water broke at 1 in the morning and that was a sure sign it was time to go! I feel like we were fairly calm as we grabbed our bags, Matt dropped me off at the door to check in, and they sent me up to labor and delivery. It was all pretty surreal until the contractions started coming :) Once I was admitted and got to my room, the contractions were hitting hard...I was dilated to a 7 and was pretty confident that it was epidural time. I was relieved to see the doctor and anesthesiologist come to my room, however it wasn't to provide relief. They just stopped in to tell me that they were on their way to do a c-section on another patient, but would come back after that to give me an epidural. Oh boy, it may have been the longest hour of my life as I sat on the edge of the bed trying to breathe through the pain and stay distracted while I waited. By the time they came back I was dilated to a 10 and was more than ready for some relief. Since I was fully dilated, the epidural took a while to set in, but once it did, life became much more pleasant :) A couple hours after the epidural, the nurse came in and said it was time to push. I felt pretty confident that it wouldn't take too long and I gave it my all tryin to get that baby out! However, after 3.5 hours of pushing, my confidence was starting to wane... and I was getting a little tired. The doctor came in and suggested using forceps to help guide her out... apparently she was stuck on the pelvic bone. Maybe we could have tried that like 3 hours ago? haha because with one more contraction she was out and I was holding my little girl. Talk about an overwhelming feeling! She weighed in at 8.1 pounds and was 20 inches long. We were shocked at the head full of black hair... not at all what we expected! But now we couldn't imagine anything different; we think she is the most beautiful thing. She literally takes my breath away every time I look at her. So. In. Love.

I won't lie... the last 2 weeks have probably been the hardest adjustment I've ever experienced, but we are getting the hang of things, and it is all oh so worth it. We love being parents and I'm so grateful to have such a loving, patient husband. Brooke is a lucky girl to have such an awesome dad.

 Here are a few fun pictures of our sweetheart:

  So blessed.