Welcome to the world Parker Sophia!

The OSU/Wisconsin game was so nerve wracking that it actually put me into labor :) Around 8pm on Saturday evening, October 16th, I started feeling contractions and knew it was the real thing. We didn't end up leaving for the hospital until 5:00am since I wanted to labor at home for as long as possible and it's good that we left when we did since she was born not long after that! When Parker arrived it was love at first sight. The emotions we felt when we finally got to meet her were so unbelievably amazing.

Parker arrived on October 17, 2010 at 6:45am weighing 7lbs 12 oz and measuring 21 inches long.




I was very happy about two things at this point--(1) that Parker was here and perfect, and (2) that my natural, med free labor was over! It was more difficult than I could have ever imagined but was all worth it in the end. Check out those pouty lips and huge eyes just taking everything in!



We were lucky and ended up with the most wonderful labor and delivery nurse. She had her third child naturally just nine weeks before so she could really relate to what I was going through. Not only was she great support but she also made sure to get some family pictures of us :)



Seriously, I can't get enough of those cute lips!



Getting checked out by the nurse isn't too bad...



...wait, I take that back!



Our happy family :)



Getting her first bath. I don't think that she enjoyed it!



All cleaned up and ready to be cuddled!











And here we are finally ready to go home! Parker did not enjoy being put in the car seat at all and she let the whole hospital know it on the way out. And she let us know it the whole way home :) Thankfully the hospital is only ten minutes away from our house so we were able to get her home and settled in quickly!
































































It's so nice having Parker home with us. While we've only been parents for a short time, it feels so natural and I can't imagine how we lived our lives up to this point without her. Parker is doing really well--she is very sweet and loves being held all the time. She also loves getting her best sleep in during the day and saving her energy for the night :) I'm sure that will change and until then, Kris and I will take naps when she does in order to keep up with her!