SHE'S here!

Courtney Bryant was born December 3 @ 4:50 AM. She came before I was to call the hospital @ 6:00 AM to go get induced (hopefully, unless lots of mom's were there in labor). It was such a surprise to go into labor on my own (the first time!), it was super quick, and it was a girl. I was in definite shock.

My water had a slow leak @ 1:00 AM. . .so slow I wasn't sure if it was lack of bladder control since it was a small drop or 2. Then nothing happened until I started having contractions @ 2:00 AM and man they hurt! Every 5 minutes for the first 20-30 min then every 3 min so I called my mom. She came over and we got to the hospital around 3:15 AM.

After waiting for another mom to check in (who didn't even appear to be in any distress/pain. . .I couldn't even sit down on the bench because my contractions were even more painful and frequent and they brought me to tears). I got to my room by about 3:35 AM. Once the nurse checked me she was super surprised I was as far along as I was. I was 8+ dilated and fully effaced, my water had "broken" but only a small leak, thus a bulging bag with the head right there. She called for another nurse to help out since things were obviously progressing quickly. I even had time for an epidural (thankfully) which made the last 30+ min of labor/delivery more enjoyable. Then my Dr. came in and the rest is history!

Brock was the one who got to announce the sex, and man I was super excited and surprised. She weighed 8 lbs (right in the middle of Brady and Lauren's weight) and was 20 inches long. She came out screaming and is doing great other then the little mix up between days and nights and she sure is a little spitty.

Courtney is the best sleeping newborn during the day, but loves to cry usually hourly all night long (did I mention she is spitty/refluxing), and eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hrs at night! She is even awake for a stretch of time each night. I guess we have only been home for 2 nights now, so here's hoping the nights get better. . .soon??? I guess I forgot how it is to have a newborn again. I have been trying to get her to eat more often during the day, but she is a sound sleeper (like her dad) and really hard to wake up.

Because of the flu concerns this season, the kids couldn't come up to the hospital. Thanks to my mom and Brock's mom for watching them. Brock took a small video of their first meeting. I was so fun to see their reactions. They were both chomping at the bit to hold her. . .and that's still the case.

We all love Courtney to pieces and are so excited she made a safe arrival to our family.