Welcome, Mary Brooke!

Our sweet daughter made her grand entrance into the world early Saturday morning, November 16. I went to bed around 11 pm and woke up just after 12:15 am when my water broke. We quickly packed bags and got Olivia ready to drop off at a friends house on our way to the hospital. It was so surreal! We made it to the hospital a little after 1 am and things moved pretty quickly from there. Mary Brooke was born at 2:34 am via c-section, weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long. She's a pretty good size baby for being born at 36w2d. She has done amazingly well and we are so grateful!

Two big things about her birth I want to share. Both point to the goodness of God and the fact that He is in control of all things. I had prayed from very early on in this pregnancy that my water would break in the weeks leading up to my scheduled c-section. Reid and I both talked often about how we would love to have that experience and it be exciting, not terrifying like last time. In the grand scheme of pregnancy that was really a small detail, but God can do anything. It was just one more way He has used Mary Brooke's arrival to bring beauty from ashes. The second thing is that when the doctor delivered Mary Brooke the cord was wrapped around her neck three times, basically forming a noose. He told us today how dangerous that could have been. I really was surprised she came as early as she did. But, now thinking about it, clearly God knew what we didn't, was in control once again, and allowed her early delivery to keep us from what could have been a very devastating situation. Today I am in awe of the many ways God has shown His character to us through Mary Brooke. She is such a treasure, our precious gift, and we love her dearly!