Parker Leigh Sopp is here!!!!

The wait is over! Parker Leigh Sopp is here! She arrived August 25, just 3 loooong days late! We have been home just over a week and Parker, Matt and I are adjusting pretty well. She weighed in at 7lbs 7oz, 20 inches long at 1:43 pm.
So I guess I'll fill everyone in on the "birth story". Don't worry, I'll leave out the ugly details, haha. I started having mild contractions early Sunday morning and since Matt and I weren't too sure what that meant, we went ahead and went into the hospital to get checked. Well, they decided that I was probably in early,early,early labor so they asked if I wanted to stay or go home and wait. We chose to go home! Matt's parents were already up staying with us and my parents were on their way from the lake house. So, Matt and I went home and rested and kept waiting to see if anything would progress. So Monday rolls around (now I'm 2 days late) and Matt goes to work and Al heads back to GA to check on their dogs. Bonnie, Mom, Gammage and I go out for lunch and walk around downtown. My contractions from Sunday were gone, so I was pretty bummed out. Well, after lots of walking, and I mean lots of walking, I started to have some contractions again. Well around 3am Tuesday I really started feeling the real thing. We started timing them around 4am and they were between 7-9 minutes and were painful enough to stop me in my tracks. So off to the hospital we go. I checked in at 6:30am and the nurse checked me and said that I was in labor and it was time to have a baby! yay!!
The funny thing is that there were 6 other women there having babies! 1 was a c-section and the other 5 were scheduled inductions. Parker was the only one that decided one come on her own! I'm really glad we didn't go with and induction because she was the 1st one born that day!Well. the c-section baby actually came first, but that was scheduled for a certain time so I didn't count that one :)
I chose to get an epidural and am so thankful I did! There was an hour where I was in serious pain and I don't know how I would have made it through with out pain relief! They don't call it labor for nothing!
Parker arrived at 1:43pm with a head full of hair and a great set of lungs! Hearing her cry and seeing her for the first time was so amazing and overwhelming at the same time. It was a lot to take in and no words can describe that moment.
We have been home a little over a week and have been on our own for 5 days. Al and Bonnie left the day after we came home from the hospital and my mom stayed for the weekend. Matt has been off work for 10 days. We are adjusting fairly well. Parker seems to be a very content baby. At night, she fusses when she is hungry, but doesn't really cry, it's more like little grunts and she gets real fidgety . I try and feed her when she starts acting like that to prevent the all out crying. Most of the time I catch it, but she has gotten to exercise her lungs when momma doesn't get out of bed in time. There have been times she is wide awake after I feed her at night and I feel so bad putting her back in her pack-n-play awake, but at the same time, it's the middle of the night and I'm exhausted! So, I just wrap her back up and lay her down and she just lays there and doesn't make a peep. She's very content and that makes it a little easier to go back to sleep.
During the day when she is wide awake, we lay on the bed and watch TV and have "pillow talk". She is so cute when we play like that. She looks around and makes good eye contact and makes noises and it's such a rewarding time for me. I know that her smiles are not toward me (they are nick named "gas smiles" hehe) , but when she does smile at me it melts my heart. I can't wait for a true reactions smile.
Becoming a mother has been one of the best things to ever happen to me. It is such an incredible feeling and I could not be happier. Yes, I do get frustrated and am completely sleep deprived, but those downsides can't take away from the joys of being a new mom. Seeing Matt with her is also one of the best things to see. He is so amazing with her and having his child has made me fall more and more in love with him. Watching him being a new dad is something I'll never forget. I asked him in the hospital right after she was born what he was thinking, and he said that no words could describe it, and that is so true. No words can describe the first moments with our baby. I love our little family and am trying to soak up every minute of it. We are so blessed to have a healthy, happy and adorable baby.