Introducing Vivian Elise Bruns!

The 17-month pregnancy is over! We are so very proud to announce the arrival of Miss Vivian Elise Bruns.  Before I write about it, let's ooh and ahh over her:

Vivian Elise
Born: August 23, 2016 at 12:55 p.m.
Weight: 7 lbs 10 oz
Height: 20"
I think I've been ready for Vivian's arrival since the moment we found out we were pregnant. In the last few weeks, I was convinced she was going to surprise us like Oscar did (recall, we were scheduled for induction with Oscar on a Monday, and the Sunday prior he said, "I'm ready!").  Both the boys were 6 and 7 days early, so I could only assume she would follow suit.  My doctor went ahead and scheduled the induction for the day after the first day of school and we just crossed our fingers.  Vivian did exactly what she was supposed to do. From waiting until today to make her arrival, to giving me my smoothest delivery to date.

The last pic of me pregnant. Least flattering position for someone who's 9 months pregnant but we were just so excited to meet Baby Viv!


Viv was my first induction. I was a touch worried about it only because I had heard the drug they give you to start contractions can make contractions pretty brutal.  Now having gone through an induction, I might pick this route every time (no, there will be no more times!).  We showed up to the hospital at 7:30 a.m. I was hooked up and in a hospital bed by 8:00 a.m. with Pitocin running my veins. The contractions started right away, but I had been having some contractions on and off for days prior.  These weren't any worse than those, but they were more consistent -- about every 3 minutes or so.

At 9:00 a.m. my doctor came in to break my water. That was easily the grossest part of the whole delivery. It was the first time my water had been broken prior to me getting the epidural.  Ew.  From this point, we just sat around as my contractions got stronger and stronger. They continued to come every 2 minutes like clock work.  Having endured contractions with Oscar until I was 8 cm, I was waiting for the contractions to be a little more intolerable before I got the epidural. I wasn't trying to be a hero, but I didn't want to slow our progress down.  Finally around 10:30 a.m., my nurse asked (again) if I wanted the epidural. I voiced my concern about slowing down the progress. She smiled and said, "We can crank up the Pitocin once you have the epidural." Well, what the hell are we waiting for??!

As soon as I got the epidural, the contractions came stronger. It was the world's best epidural. I could feel the contractions at the top of my belly -- just a tightening feeling -- and I could still move my legs and wiggle my goes. The nurse flip flopped me from side to side and around 12:30 p.m. I felt a contraction followed by the distinct feeling of Vivian's head dropping. I got the tell-tale sensation of having to go the bathroom.  My nurse grinned and called the doctor who was there in 10 minutes.  We started pushing at 12:40 p.m. and after pushing through 4 contractions, we saw our baby girl for the first time!

Our first girl time! She was so not happy for the first hour or so. 

Cleaned up and swaddled up
The proudest daddy on the planet. He patiently waited for Vivian and I to enjoy some bonding and an attempt at feeding before he held her for the first time. I think he's in love!

Papa Chuck holding his latest granddaughter for the first time.

Papa Ronni loving on her granddaughter

Nana gets her turn to snuggle her granddaughter

Oscar wasn't quite sure what to think about Baby Viv and asked why she wasn't in my tummy anymore.

Walt couldn't wait to get his hands on her. The love and curiosity in this pic just makes my heart melt.

Some skin-to-skin on our first night together.  

Viv hated her first bath, but LOVED getting her hair washed. Now THAT is my girl!

Ready to go home in our adorable outfit!


At home, everyone is excited about Vivian.  Walt asks to hold her the minute he gets home from school and Bentley is never far behind.

We think that Chris might have been demoted from Bentley's Favorite Person.  He is always close by Vivian and whines when she cries.
We are beyond happy to have our little family of five all together.  It's definitely not easy as the boys are incredibly active, but everyone (including Vivian) has made the transition as seamless as possible.  As soon as we walked in the door when we got home, everything felt complete and right with the world.  Thanks for completing us, Vivian! Can't wait to watch you grow!