Very excited to finally have a chance to announce that our baby girl, Celeste Monreal, arrived on Nov. 16, 2011 at 5:14p. Baby Celeste weighed a healthy 7 lb 11 oz and measured 20 1/2 inches, she definitely got her height from her daddy!

As you can imagine the last two weeks have been filled with so many different emotions. We are completely in awe and in love with our little girl and so thankful to God that she’s healthy. We had such a wonderful experience at Hoag Hospital and the nurses were phenomenal! I even had my obgyn deliver our baby, which I never imagined would happen since everyone kept telling me the chances of going into labor while your obgyn is on call are pretty slim to none. Well not only did she deliver our baby but she was there for the entire pushing process!

The most awesome feeling was when I gave that last push and then they placed her on my belly, how incredibly warm she felt, and then I burst into tears of happiness and looked at my husband and we were both so happy and overwhelmed with emotion. It makes me get teary eyed and all choked up just remebering that moment.

The difficult part these last two weeks has been breastfeeding, I never imagined how difficult and painful that would be. I’ll spare all the details only to say that there have been nights where I broke down in tears from the pain and frustration. I’m just so thankful that my husband has been there with me every step of the way encouraging me and providing comfort on those tough nights. When I put things in perspective I realize how blessed we are because even though feeding hasn’t been an easy experience, we have a healthy and strong baby girl and I couldn’t ask for more. Today was her 2 wk appointment with her pediatrician and anyone would have thought I won the lotto when the nurse weighed Celeste and we found out she gained almost a pound since her visit last week. That means I am doing something right with the feeding!

Well here’s a few pics of our little precious baby as well as my husband and I. I could keep writing but it’s time to wake up this little monkey to feed her and I also need to take a nap. It’s been a busy day and I could use the rest.