Sophia Marie Browne, born Feb. 24, 2011.

Now that the end of March is here and I can now consider myself a “veteran parent” of a month, it seems a good time to start updating this site again. I was all set and ready to write a post in late February about nesting. Not that Sarah was nesting as normal pregnant women do, but in her own, very special way. That is, making a list of things to do and handing it to me… Well, that intent came and went REAL quick on February 21. That’s the night our lives went from “preparing for two more weeks until our daughter arrives” to “well, guess our little lady is tired of waiting to come out and say hello!”

Let me fill you in on the details. Sarah had her regularly scheduled weekly doctors appointment that night. They called her back and started on the usual sequence of tests. Check her weight, test her urine for protein and check her blood pressure. Well, that was when we knew something wasn’t right. For the first time in her pregnancy, Sarah’s blood pressure had spiked. After checking it a few more times after letting her rest, the doctors decided it was best to send us to the hospital for monitoring. After doing a non-stress test and monitoring the baby, we were sent home and Sarah was ordered on bed rest. After a day of bed rest, the hospital had us come back in for more monitoring Wednesday morning. After no change in Sarah’s BP, we were told they would be inducing her later that night. Little did we know that inducing childbirth was as long a process as it was. I’ll spare of the details and say this, they broke Sarah’s water first thing Thursday morning. Here I thought that would’ve happened Wednesday night.

As all the meds started to kick in and the pain got worse and worse for Sarah, I figured it was only a matter of time before little Sophia was on her way. Well, of course I was only half right. With the contractions getting closer and closer and Sarah not progressing past 1cm dilated, the doctors told us they’d be doing a c-section. I’m not talking like they came in and said we’ll do a c-section in a couple hours. No, they walked in at 12:15 and said we are doing a c-section at 12:40! Well, after getting Sarah prepped and scrubbing up myself, they wheeled her into the operating room and after what only seemed like minutes to me, but probably an eternity to Sarah, we heard the sound every expecting parent longs for. That first wailing cry of a newborn baby!

It’s funny, you never know how you’re going to react or feel to your baby being born until it happens. I can honestly say it was the most amazing feeling I’ve ever experienced in my life. Standing there, staring at my daughter for the first time just isn’t something that is easily explained. It’s something you have to experience yourself to know.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a month since Sophia joined our family, but we couldn’t be happier. Every day she shows us something new, with of course the lack of sleep we thought we were ready for! I have plenty of stories and anecdotes to share from the first month, which I’ll be adding over the coming days. Oh, and of course many more pictures of the girl who has stolen my heart.