And then the world shifted...

Well, Greer Allan Peeples decided it was time to meet her mom and dad on November 1! She is here and doing so well. I always thought this post would be hard to write... And I was right, because SO much has happened in the last week. I cannot begin to describe how much love I have felt - not only FOR Greer and Will but FROM so many wonderful family and friends. So, how did we get here? Let's start with last Wednesday...

Wednesday was my last day at work. It ended up being a pretty busy work day (not really just a day wandering the halls saying goodbye) and the only thing I can really say is that I felt weird. I had some painful (but still irregular) contractions and just felt sort of odd all day. I attributed all of that to the majorness of my last day (and the brownie dessert I shamelessly ate at lunch). BUT I did tell a group of coworkers before I left that I'd probably have her tomorrow because my body will somehow know that now I'm finished at the office. My water broke about eight hours later.

I woke up at 12:30 a.m. for one of my midnight bathroom breaks. As soon as I laid back down in the bed my water broke. Will was watching TV after taking a practice test for a standardized test he had (and still took because he's a rockstar) on Saturday. Poor guy never went to bed. I walked into the living room and told him I was pretty sure my water had broken. We called the doc, Will threw together a bag and we headed to the hospital. I was pretty confident that my water had broken and this was it but I think a mixture of denial and being gun shy kept us from calling most family until we were at the hospital. I knew that as soon as we sounded the alarms everyone would on the interstate pretty quickly. In the middle of the night. So we wanted to be sure. By the time we were checking into the hospital reality set it and we called everyone. They were all on the road within the hour. They are AMAZING!!

So, after checking in, confirming I was in labor and a move up to the labor and delivery floor we were officially in business. I'm not going to go into every detail of the night here so here are the highlights:

- Epidurals are awesome. I was nervous to get one, it did hurt to get it but not nearly as much as I expected, I had a hiccup with mine and they had to switch the actual medicine I got, but I was very affirmed that it was the right decision for me. As scary as labor was... That part was superb. ;-)

- IV's are not awesome. My veins rolled twice. Third attempt was a charm. And that charm left me with a bruise covering the entire back of my left hand that STILL has not gone away.

- Once you've had a baby no "private" part of your body will feel "private" ever again. It took an hour at the hospital before I forgot that it should be embarrassing to show 15 different people your nether-region. Just saying.

- My husband is my favorite adult on this planet (and I love this baby but it's still a tie for favorite person overall). He brought just the right amount of sweetness, support, humor and faithfulness to the entire experience. AND he did bring half of Greer's DNA to the table so I will be eternally grateful for that fact alone.

- I went from less than half-way there to pushing in an hour and a half. Greer was not messing around. It. Was. Time. 35 minutes later, she was here. I am so thankful for a healthy girl but I am also thankful for a quick and relatively painless labor. It's not lost on me how fortunate I was there. And I'm grateful.

- The early morning of November 1 affirmed my faith in our Almighty God like no other experience in my life. Over and over I saw how perfect His timing is and I felt so cared for by Him. We have a happy, healthy baby. I have been a happy, healthy mamma. Watching Will be a daddy has made me fall in love with him all over again. I just can't say enough how the Lord has had his hands all over us this past week. I will praise and worship Him forever for this precious girl's life.

So, at 10:37 on November 1 Greer cried her first cry, announcing the arrival of a special, beautiful woman. She has her daddy's dark hair and her mommy's hands and feet. Other than that you'll have to ask the grandmothers who she looks like. ;-) As far as I'm concerned she looks like Greer and my heart really did grow when I looked into her eyes. She has been such an angel and I can't begin to tell you how fortunate we are. I'll update more with how things are going but I will say that we are doing great! Our first pediatrician appointment is tomorrow so we'll also know more then!

Until I post again, much love from the very Happy Peeples!