Welcome to parenthood!

Let's see.....I am new to blogging, so we'll see how this goes! I guess I'll start with Harper's birth story. Matt and I have been married for 8 years. We got married at the ripe old age of 24. We had many adventures and were not ready for a baby until we heard our clocks ticking at the age of 30. We tried to conceive and were finally blessed after a year and half of trying. Yet another blessing was how easy this pregnancy was on me. I felt great nearly the entire pregnancy. The last month or so, I was beginning to feel very tired and I had some aches and pains. I also really wanted to see my baby girl!

At around midnight the night of the 13th of September (10 days before my due date), my water broke and I was beginning to have very mild contractions all night. Don't worry, I won't go into any details :) Matt and I went to the hospital around 7 AM that morning and they admitted me. I was going to have our baby that day!!!!! So many thoughts and emotions swirled around our heads. I think excitement was the biggest emotion. I was so excited to see our baby girl's face!

I labored most of the day, with the last few hours before my epidural being the absolute hardest. Thank God that Matt, Auntie Brigid, Uncle Eddy, Grandma Loni and Grandpa Chris were there. I really needed all their support, thanks so much for being there! At about 6 PM I received the epidural, and I felt like I was on cloud 9! It was wonderous. I really wanted to do a natural childbirth with no meds, but my body was screaming otherwise. It was a difficult decision to make, but ultimately it was the right one for me.

At around 8:30 PM, the nurse said I was ready to start pushing. I think that's when it really hit Matt and I that parenthood was literally minutes away! I was so emotional at that point; I couldn't wait to hold Harper! At around 8:45 I began pushing. I was so happy to be sharing that moment with not only Matt, but also Loni and Brigid. I only wish my Mom and sister could be there. Everyone was such a great help, encouraging me and counting with my pushes. Truly an amazing experience.

Finally, after only 25 minutes of pushing (yet another blessing!), Harper Marlee Schuppert came into this world. She was born at 9:09 PM weighing in at 6lb. 12 oz., and 19 inches long. It was such a beautiful moment to see her and hear her for the first time! She's just absolutely perfect!

For those of you wondering where we got her name from, Harper comes from one of our favorite authors, Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird. Marlee is a cross between some of our favorite people: Bob Marley and Grandma and Grandpa Schuppert. Both Chris and Loni's middle names are Lee, so we changed the spelling of Marley to Marlee.

Here are some pics of her first day on earth. I will try and update often, so keep checking our blog! Love to all!