We had been expecting Molly Cate to arrive on May 12, or at least that is what the doctors had figured based on their little wheel-thingy. However, I think Molly knew (as did anyone else that ever asked the question "Are you ready?") that I needed another weekend to get the room somewhat ready for her (as of May 24, it is still not fully ready). When she did not arrive the weekend of the 12th, Dr. Carter said that we would be scheduled to induce on May 22nd. Having had enough of the pregnancy, Jay and I thought we would take matters into our own hands on the following Tuesday night when we decided to employ all old wives' tales about self- inducing labor. We took a walk around the block and then wrapped up the evening with some Thai food. The owner of the restaurant was a former nurse in Thailand and was quite thrilled to tell us everything she knew about the whole birthing process.
Molly came the next day, on Wednesday May 16th at around 10:30 pm. It was a long day for Jay and me. We checked into the hospital at around 11:30 am after I called Jay from work and had him pick me up beause I was pretty sure my water broke as I was standing at the printer. We spent most of the day in the birthing room watching the History channel and the baby heartbeat and contraction monitor for entertainment.
When Molly did finally make her appearance, the NICU people whisked her off to clean her up while Jay watched intently. After the cleaning and suctioning was completed, Jay put on her first diaper and then carried her to me then went and notified all of the grandparents waiting in the waiting room. Mimi and Pop Pop and Gran and Papa Jim had all driven in earlier that day and were anxiously awaiting the news from the room.
We were moved into the recovery room later that night and gave her her first feeding before finally making it to sleep at around 3:30 am.
May 17th was our 4th anniversery and we got a jump start on the celebration at 5:30 am when a nurse came in to take my blood (why did this need to happen at 5:30?) From then on, it was a whirlwind of a day with people coming in the get all sorts of information from us and to take her picture, etc. In between these visits we had fun visiting with the grandparents who stopped by periodically throughout the day and the Crockers who stopped by as well.
After what felt like a week in the hospital, Jay and I brought Molly Cate home on Friday to a house full of doting grandparents. She slept a lot and ate a lot and when she was not doing either one of those, she was happy to look contentedly around her taking in all of the surroundings of her new home.
Saturday, Molly was introduced to her aunts Laura and Libby and her cousin Mary-Margaret. Aunt Laura had flown in at the spur of the moment from San Antonio where they had been visiting for the weekend. Aunt Libby brought Gran and Mary Margaret from Ruston and we spent the day getting aquainted with the newest member of the family before everyone had to leave on Sunday.
Jay and I were along with Molly for the first time on Sunday after everyone left, this was the first time she realized that she was born to the most unprepared parents ever. The next day was her first doctor's visit and we barely made it on time as I tried to get her fed, cleaned up and dressed before we had to run out of the door. Once at the office, we were happy to receive the good news that we were not the worst parents inthe world and that Molly was gaining weight at a good rate and in general looked pretty healthy.
On Tuesday, Molly went out for her first stroll around the block. Thank goodness for the new all-terrain stroller because we needed it for these East Dallas sidewalks that have not been repaired since the Truman administration.
On Wednesday, Molly was a week old. We feel like we have known her for years.
Thursday's rainstorm gave us the third power outtage since we have been back (two months). We got out the candles and flashlights and debated whether or not to call friends to see if we could spend the night. Molly had a slight breakdown during dinner, but Jay calmed her down pretty quickly. It turns out that she is as annoyed at TXU as we are.
On Saturday, Molly was introduced to her Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Scott and cousin Jake. Jake was very sweet and cautious, but very curious to see who this Molly-person was that he had heard so much about. He liked reaching out and touching her and giving her lots of love. We took Molly out for her first trip to a restaurant and she slept through the whole trip, making our lunch a La Calle Doce much more peaceful than I thought it might be for the first time out.
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