This might be the first time ever that I'm actually lost for words to describe an experience, as we welcomed our sweet little baby boy Gabriel Bastos into our lives almost 2 weeks ago. I guess it basically comes down to this: everything they say about becoming a parent - how you're overcome with a whole new kind of love that instantly makes everything in the world feel less important, and how it sooo compensates for the struggles you went through during your pregnancy - are true. It's just one big cliché! :) And although we thought we had a pretty good sense of what to expect (we found out the gender in advance, went on a relaxing babymoon, had the hospital delivery bag ready & packed, and tried to generally prepare ourselves for parenthood as well as we could), both Marcio & I were totally overwhelmed by the experience of bringing our first baby into the world. I just keep saying: "I can't believe he's ours", because it's just so surreal. :) 

As you know, we were both pretty nervous about the delivery, since it's our first baby and well, because it's a scary thing to think about, right? I had a check-up at my gynaecologist's on Monday, and she told me that it could be any day now, giving me a new appointment for Friday, but telling me she wouldn't be surprised if I didn't make it. Let's just say that things started to get real. :) And sure enough, on Tuesday night I woke up with a soaking wet nightdress. But since I didn't feel that different from other nights (I had been having uncomfortable cramps for a little while) I wasn't sure if this was actually it. A bit later, my contractions started to get more intense, and we decided to drive to the hospital - just in case. When I arrived I told the staff: "I think I'm in labour", which I know sounded ridiculous, but guess what: I actually was! Looking back, I'm so happy we decided to better be safe than sorry, because I really wouldn't have want to experience everything that followed in a car! So yes, the contractions that kept coming for the next 4 hours or so were pretty horrible. The pain was so overwhelming that I couldn't focus on the nurses' instructions or anything that Marcio told me, so I decided to go with an epidural before it was too late. After that, everything went so smoothly! I still felt the contractions, but in a bearable way, and though the epidural made me super nauseous (I threw up pretty much the entire final part of labour), I was very happy I did it, because it made the whole experience so much more tolerable and just something I can look back at with a feeling of joy rather than anxiety. Our boy arrived on May 31 at exactly 9am, and the first thing I thought when seeing him is that he looked incredibly smooth and beautiful. :) (is that something every parent thinks??) My friend joked that he came out as a fashion baby, haha!

My parents came to visit that same day, and we got to take him home (after a couple of 100% sleepless nights :)) on Saturday. And though those first days with a family of 4 felt a bit disorienting, I'm actually surprised with how quickly we found a pace and routine that seem to work pretty well (more on this soon!), and how sweet and non-jealous Bobke is with the baby. :) Of course, we think Gabriel is the most beautiful & deliciously smelling baby in the entire world. He's just the sweetest and has only been crying when something's up (a wet diaper, hungry,...), which is more than I could've asked for. I honestly can't wait to share more with you all, and mostly, to fit our boy into our full lives and share all our adventures with him.

Thanks so much for all your sweet wishes, they mean so much to us! All my love xx

I'm wearing: WHITE DRESS ISABELLE QUINN / SUNHAT FILU HATS / NAILS FABY SUGARFUL

Gabriel's wearing: SAILOR ROMPER BENEDITA / NAVY BOTTOMS & BONNET HAT MY LITTLE COZMO