Well, we did it.

We got from here . . . . . . . . . . to here.And from here . . . . . . . . . . to here.Meet Emmett Steele, our newest little Baer.He's already brought our family so much joy, all 8 lbs. 10 oz of him. 🙂He was born the day before his due date, just like his big brothers. I’ve never made it to forty weeks. With each baby I’ve inched a little closer . . . Alec was born the day before his due date, but just barely. I went into labor two days before his due date, and he ended up being born an hour and twenty-two minutes into the day before his due date. Sebastian was born the day before his due date, solidly. I went into labor the morning of the day before his due date, and he was born a little under six hours later, just before 9am. Emmett was born the day before his due date, but he certainly took long enough getting here . . . he only had seven hours and seventeen minutes more to go before he would’ve hit forty weeks.

Alec, Sebastian, and Emmett. (I love their names together, and I love their names apart.)

Three little boys. Three little Baers. All born the day before their due date. All born at home. All healthy and beautiful. All ours.

Thank You, Lord. Thank You isn't even enough.I honestly didn’t know it was possible to be this happy and this peaceful and this normal postpartum. I knew people said it was. I knew other people enjoyed their newborns. I knew there was a possibility, and I prayed and prayed for that possibility to be true for me.

And this time around, it is. I can’t explain how incredible it feels. For the first time, I am truly enjoying my tiny baby at the stage he’s in. I can’t stop looking at him and kissing him and saying how sweet he is. I loved my other babies, of course I did. But postpartum was so, so hard.

This time it’s been beautiful, and that feels like almost as big of a gift as the baby himself. I prayed for this with tears, and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting it to happen. It feels too good to be true.

After Sebastian was born, I almost didn’t want to have another baby because I didn’t think I could have a better birth experience. Now that Emmett was born, I almost don’t want to have another baby because I don’t think I could have a better postpartum experience.

A wonderful birth followed by a challenging postpartum period. A challenging birth followed by a wonderful postpartum period.

You just never know with life, and you especially never know with birth.

Whatever the case, we are so glad our little Emmett is finally here. We are all enamored with him. Eric and I about can’t look at him without saying, “He is so sweet.” I’ve always looked forward to the next stage with my other babies . . . this time I about can’t stand that even in just a few weeks he’ll be so much different and so much bigger and so much older.Stay tiny, Baby Emmett, just for a while. We are enjoying you so, so much.