Katie And More

If you're "following" my blog (I say "follow" loosely since I don't post often! ha!), I'm assuming you already know the great news.  Molly Kay Garcia joined our family on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 4:38 PM.  She weighed in at 7lbs even, and 20 inches long.  

Here's the story behind her birth:

The day before, Thursday the 14th, I felt absolutely miserable.  I woke up feeling fine and took a shower as usual.  After I got out of the shower, I was spent.  I had no energy and was exhausted.  But off to work I went.  I kept thinking throughout the day how bad I felt and that I was ready for Molly to arrive.  At the same time, however, I knew that there was no way I'd have the energy that day to go through labor and delivery.  My Thursday's always end up being longer days than planned, and of course, this Thursday was nothing out of the ordinary.  I couldn't wait to get home and hit the couch for the evening.  I survived Thursday but kept hoping the rest of my pregnancy wouldn't be that miserable.  I knew at the time how relatively easy my pregnancy had been so far, and I didn't want to complain seeing as how some women have it really bad.  BUT it must have been my body telling me she was ready!

So I woke up on Friday, the 15th, ready to go to work.  While I was getting ready for work that morning, I thought maybe my water had broken.  I say "thought" because it wasn't an insane amount of fluid, but at the same time I had no clue because...I'VE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE!  I had no clue if I was being paranoid...or hopeful at this point!  I kept note of it, but also kept going on with my day as scheduled.  I was at work and thought there was more "trickling".  So I hopped on the computer to my go to website: whattoexpect.com to see what my water breaking might be like.  Well, I had some of the signs, and it suggested to call my doctor to let them know.  I almost didn't call, but something inside of me said to call even if I was wrong.  I really didn't want to be one of those women who had 'false alarms' though.  I called my doctor's office and ended up speaking with my doctor's nurse.  My doctor was already at a hospital for the day doing surgeries.  BUT it wasn't the hospital we were hoping to deliver at.  My doctor ended up telling his nurse to have us go to the hospital to get checked.  Apparently he didn't believe I was in labor, or definitely thought I wouldn't be delivering anytime soon, because he let us go to our hospital of choice.  I received that call at 10:30am.  I called Jason and told him to meet me at home and to finish packing our bags.  Jason was concerned about me driving home (what a good hubby) but I assured him I had NO pain and wasn't even sure if I was in labor, let alone if it really was my water breaking.  We met at home and headed to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at noon.  We went to the labor and delivery floor and got checked in.  By the time we got registered, got a room and had the nurse come to check the basics, it was probably at least 1:00 or 1:30 by the time I actually got checked by a doctor to see if my water had broken.  Good news..it had.  It hadn't broken all the way though, and they would need to do that.  More good news: I was already 4-5 cm dialated (still wasn't feeling contractions as this point) and we were off to an official delivery room.  To be honest, it all went so fast and with my bad memory, my timing may be off a little with the following events:  I started feeling contractions while waiting to have my membranes completely ruptured.  Go figure the first major one I had, that sent me into hot sweats, was when Jason stepped out to get something to eat.  He was refusing to leave until my parents go to the hospital, but I reassured him it was best to go sooner than later.  I was not about to have him pass out during delivery because he didn't eat.  By the time Jason got back,  I was really uncomfortable.  I was going to try to deliver without an epidural, but at this point, the contractions were strong and I wasn't sure how far along I was.  I hadn't been checked in a while and I was leary.  If I wasn't much further thatn 4-5 cm, then there was NO WAY I could deal with the pain of getting to 10 cm, BUT if I was already like 8 or 9, I knew I could do it.  I didn't want to wait to long, and I'm horrible with making quick decisions, but I didn't want to wait too long.  I told the nurse to go ahead with the epidural.  I had my water broken completely shortly after that and the doctor said I was 7 cm.  This was probably around 3pm.  At this point, my doctor wasn't to our hospital yet, but I didn't care.  I was going to have this baby whether he was there or not!

Shortly after my membranes were completely ruptured, the anesthesiologist arrived to give me an epidural.  This was probably around 3:30 and he ended up having to give me 3 doses of the medicine because I wasn't numb yet. My doctor finally arrived at 4pm and was going to check me.  Jason and I could tell that he didn't think I was far along.  WRONG! I was 10 cm at 4pm and ready to push.  I started pushing and the fastest 38 minutes later...MOLLY KAY GARCIA was born.  My doctor was wonderful.  He really kept an eye on my blood pressure and pulse during delivery due to my condition so I wouldn't pass out.  The hospital delivery nurse was amazing as well. We also had some nice surprises during delivery.  For my very last push, my doctor told me to put my hands 'down'.  Not having time to think about it, I did.  Next thing I know, I was helping delivery Molly.  She went right on my chest and it was amazing.  Jason was wonderful throughout and he was such a great support system.  So encouraging yet strong for me.  He cut the umbilical cord...something I know he wasn't sure if he wanted to do or not.  Jason had been told our whole pregnancy that when the time came, he would really be into the delivery and not be grossed out.  They were right.  There isn't a thing about the delivery I have a regret about...and I'm sure he can say the same.

Here are some pictures to summarize Molly's first week of life.   I'm bias, but she's sooo darn cute.  There are too many photos I want to post, so I'll have to break the next few posts up by weeks of her life.

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and THANK YOU to all our great FAMILY and friends for your support during the past 9 months! 

Molly's first week of life:

Jason waiting with me in triage

Waiting to find out if we were staying to have a baby or not

Molly's first picture.  Weighing in at 7 lbs even.  This was the FIRST time Jason used the camera and it was on the wrong setting, hence the funny colors and blurry image.

The Garcia 3!

Molly's first bath (in the hospital)

Snug as a bug after her bath...whew, that's tiring!

Daddy and his little girl

Mommy and Molly

Molly's ready to go home!

Molly's first doctor's appointment.  Had to get her bilirubin checked because she was a little jaundice.  Had blood drawn (she was a champ!) and results came back normal.

Getting ready to leave the doctor's appointment.  We call this her "homey" look.  Haha

She's awake!!

Yes, she's holding her pacifier!