SHE IS HERE!!!!!

So we have had quite the eventful week here.  I was scheduled to have our little girl by c-section on Thursday, June 30th.  Well, apparently, she had different plans.

Sunday morning, I woke up to get ready for church and noticed that the baby was not moving around as much as normal.  After eating breakfast and taking a shower, I still didn’t feel anything, so I decided to call the doctor.  The on call doctor told me to come down to get monitored.  Jeremy was at work, so I called my mom to come pick the kids and I up and then drop me off at Jeremy’s work so that we could go down to the hospital together.   I hadn’t packed anything, so I quickly packed a bag for the kids and I  (just in case, which was apparently a good call!). 

Jeremy and I arrived to the hospital and I was hooked up to the fetal heart monitor.  Thankfully, they were immediately able to pick up her heart beat.  However, she still wasn’t moving.  Now if you’ll remember from a previous blog post, this baby did NOT like to be monitored.  She always got very active and moved away from the sensor.  However, this time, it took about 30 minutes before I felt any movement, and even then it was nothing like I was used to.   The OB doctor on call decided that I needed to have an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay.  The ultrasound showed that my amniotic fluid level was low, so the decision was made that I would be monitored overnight and have a c-section the next morning. 

I got to stay at the hospital in a labor high risk room, which I am pretty sure was in the dungeon of the hospital.  It was quite a maze to get there and we had no cell reception.  My parents brought Gavin and Mikayla down to see me.  These are our last family pictures of me with my two children (with my BIG belly in the middle) and our little family of four. 

After waiting for quite some time Monday morning (or at least it seemed – I was anxious!), they finally found a spot for me to have the c-section at 10:45am.

On June 27th, at 11:19 am,

Brooke Eliza Matthews

was born.  She weighed 7 lbs and was 19 1/4 inches long.  She has a normal sized head ( a first for one of my children) and is just a perfectly, petite little girl.

Isn’t she precious?!?!

This is my first up close look at her.  It’s hard to believe that she was JUST inside of my belly.

An OR picture of the three of us, thanks to the anesthesiologist.

When we got to recovery, Brooke was very hungry (I hadn’t eaten in about 12 hours prior to surgery), so they were able to put her up to my chest, skin to skin, and she immediately nursed like a champ.  After she ate, I got to hold her on my chest for quite a while.  I forgot how soft and sweet newborns are!

Daddy and his little princess.

Jeremy and I got some good cuddle time with Brooke prior to being moved to a room.  It took us about 4 hours to get up to a room – the hospital was packed!  Don’t you love the hat that the nurse made for her?  So cute!

 

Gavin and Mikayla waited in the hospital atrium for about two hours prior to us getting to our room.  They were obviously anxious to see their sister, but according to the grandparents, they were very well behaved.

These are the first pictures of Mikayla and Gavin holding their new sister.  We got to spend about 30 minutes together before the rest of our family came into our room.  They both just love her so much!  I knew Mikayla would do wonderful ( and she has ), but we have been pleasantly surprised with Gavin’s reaction.  I thought he would be indifferent with her, but I was so wrong.  He keeps telling me “ I just love Baby Brooke! “  He loves to hold her and is in fact a little possessive of her.  Mikayla is such a natural and loves to help us with her.  She is such a good big sister.

I can still not believe that I am the mother to THREE children.  I feel so incredibly blessed!

Our attempt at a family pic – LOL! 

She is such a sweet girl.  I am so happy that she is here, healthy and happy.  We are loving this time with her and can’t wait to bring her home!