Isabella "Bella" Claire Bobbett

Aunt Patti came into town on Thursday before my scheduled induction on Friday morning.  We stopped at Scott and Meredith’s briefly to see her before taking the kids down to Chris’s parents’ house to stay while we were in the hospital.

Aunt Patti and me.

Saying goodbye to the belly one last time.

"I love you mama!"

Because our induction was scheduled for 6 am, we had to get up at 4:30 in order to get dressed and make it downtown on time.  OY!  That made a long day even longer.  But it was all worth it.

Checking in.

Induction finally started at around 7:45 (love hospital delays) and by 10-ish I was already at a 4 and ready for the epidural.  Praise God for epidurals.  I love them.

Ready for that epidural.

Chris always freezes in l&d because I'm always so hot.

Thankfully I had the company of Chris, Aunt Patti and Meredith to keep me company for most of labor.  By about 2 pm I was really getting close so we kicked everyone out and began the final countdown.  True to form, my epidural started wearing off right as I was going through transition and I got to feel every contraction from 7 to 10 cm.  Not fun, but the anesthesiologist came in and bumped up the pain meds so I didn’t have to feel the delivery.  By 4:06 pm, our BIG baby girl arrived safely, and we were all surprised to find out she weighed 8 lbs. 7 ozs.  Big girl!  So, so beautiful.

So happy to meet my big girl.

Dr. Harris is the best.

I have to just mention that my ob/gyn is the best in Dallas.  He is so present during labor- making at least 6 drop-in visits while we were there that day and so excited to be a part of our delivery.  He is awesome.

Once we had the chance to spend a few minutes with Bella, we had the fam come in for a quick visit.  It is always so much fun for me to see the excitement on everyone’s face as they get to see the baby for the first time.  I love the whole experience of birth, meeting the baby, and having visitors.  And here you can see how excited I am that baby #3 is finally here.  She is most likely our last.

Our first visitors.

So excited!

Aunt Patti and my bff.

First photo shoot.

A little later, Chris’s parents brought our big kids up to the hospital to meet their little sister.  I can’t explain how much fun that was- seeing their little eyes light up when they saw their sister.  They were both so sweet and curious.  We let them both hold her before they went back to the Bobbett’s house for the night.

First time to meet their little sister. Such a special moment. They were both so sweet.

Amai was especially excited!

The rest of that first night was spent getting situated in our hospital room up in postpartum.  I was exhausted, but too excited to sleep really.  What a full day.  I feel so incredibly blessed.