She's here!

She's finally here! And she's utterly perfect! Our daughter, Gwendoline Celeste, arrived as scheduled at 9:43 am on Sunday, August 26, 2012. She weighed in at a respectable 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. After a rather eventful and somewhat complicated pregnancy, the birth was smooth and absolutely textbook. Praise God!

We are so in love with our little girl. The magnitude of it seemed to hit Jeph like a ton of bricks as soon as he saw her in the operating room. He'll tell you he cried because he stubbed his toe, but that man was absolutely captivated. Before the procedure started, I had made Jeph promise to go with Gwendoline to the warmer for tests and cleaning once they got her out. As soon as she emerged, he was off like a shot! I didn't get to see either of them for several minutes, but I could hear them. Those strong cries and first comfort coos from daddy are the most precious things my ears have ever heard. During this time, I heard them announce that Gwendoline had two arms, two legs, ten fingers, ten toes, and scored a 9.9 (out of 10) on the Apgar. After what seemed like an eternity, Jeph came to give me a report. His first words, through tears, were "She's perfect." And so she is! She's also the most beautiful baby I've ever seen, if I do say so myself.

After four days in the hospital, we are now at home and trying to settle into life with a newborn. My mother has been staying with us to help and our house has never been so clean! She's making excellent food every day, too. We're not getting much sleep, of course, since Gwendoline feeds every three hours around the clock, but we're loving every minute and are fully enjoying her preciousness. Though it has taken me four days of typing a few sentences at a time to finish this post. Ah, the life of a new mom!

Please enjoy these pictures of our beautiful girl.

First family portrait

Alert baby girl

Hanging out with daddy

Spending time on the big bed