Introducing...

Juliet Mary Dykema 

Our wonderful Christmas Blessing. :)

It's taken me almost 2 weeks to post this. I cannot believe my little peanut is almost 2 weeks old. It's amazing how much she grows and changes every day. I want to soak it all in. Before I know it, she'll be crawling and running all around. So, here's Juliet's story:

Here I was at 40 weeks. Very ready for our little one to make his/her arrival. Little did we know, it would only be a couple of more days. :)

On Tuesday, December 20, I headed to the hospital for a routine ultrasound and non-stress test. They make you have these done twice a week once you're overdue. At my ultrasound, they said my amniotic fluid was low. 0-5 is too low and 5-10 is borderline low. Mine was at 5.2, so once they saw that I was starting to have contractions on my non-stress test, the doctors decided they wanted to induce me to get my contractions stronger and get baby going. So, I headed home to eat, get Joel and get our bags together before heading back to the hospital at 6:30 that evening. 

The doctor started my induction around 10 p.m. I was able to rest for a while and the doctor came in to break my water at about 2:30 in the morning. This really got things going and I was ready for an epidural by 4 a.m. Seriously the best invention ever! Joel and I were able to sleep for a few hours before the real thing started going. 

Even with the epidural, I really started to feel the contractions around 11 a.m. on December 21. 

My doctor showed up around noon. I ended up pushing for about a half an hour and took a break for 45 minutes. Another hour and a half after that, Juliet was born at 3:02 p.m.

I cannot believe she's here!

I LOVE this picture of Joel. So emotional.

...and here come the tears. 

 I love this shot. :)

 My beautiful baby girl.

 Our wonderful doctor. She looks so happy!

 One proud daddy. She's going to have him wrapped around her finger. :)

 One of my favorites. This one's getting framed for sure!

Sweet pea.

 Making daddy proud!

 Snuggling with mommy.

 Our first family picture. :)

 Family picture on Christmas morning.

 Snuggle time with mommy after all those tiring Christmas parties. 

 Love this!

Torturing her with a photo shoot. :)

Hope you loved Juliet's story. It's only just beginning. I can't wait to experience so many things with her. I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds for our little family. Feeling beyond blessed right now. Happy New Year to you all. Wishing you the best in 2012!