Well, it's been a while since the last post for one reason: Olivia Kathryn Mooney was born at 7:59 a.m., Saturday, July 23, 2011, and the last three weeks have been full of whirlwind activity, sleep deprivation, and very slowly getting accustomed to the fact that our lives have changed forever for the better with the new addition to our little family unit! She's beautiful and healthy, and we are having a blast (minus the sleep deprivation of course)! So, this should be a long post as there's a lot to catch up on.
Let's start with kind of where we last left off in the blog (prior to baby bump photos). There were a whole lot of unknowns still in early July, but all signs were pointing to a Cesarean section for the baby, since she was on track to be larger than would be safe for a normal vaginal delivery. At one of the doctor's appointments in mid to late July, Dr. Morgan finally made the decision to go with a C-section and asked us to come up with a delivery date. We initially chose July 21 (07-21, what could be luckier?), then Dr. Morgan said he preferred July 20 (for availability of other surgical team members). This then changed to Monday, July 25 (at around 11:00 a.m.) for similar reasons, and finally changed again to first thing the morning of Tuesday, July 26. By the time we got to this point, we were starting to feel a bit aggravated and jerked around.
Fast forward now to Saturday, July 16: we went to what will likely be our last theatrical viewing of a movie for a while, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, on opening weekend. Amazingly, Tamara made it the entire way through the movie without being tremendously uncomfortable or having to run to the restroom, which was great. The down side: Olivia hadn't moved much at all that morning, which was very unlike her. This continued until the next day, and we got a little worried. As a result, we went in for observation at the hospital on July 17 and not only did the staff reassure us that all of Olivia's vitals looked great, they indicated the reason she had slowed her movements was likely because Tamara was dehydrated. We went home relieved and with a new regimen of water consumption for Tamara. The only other concern that we still had was that Tamara's blood pressure was a bit elevated.
So, at the next doctor's appointment mid-week, Dr. Morgan asked that we come in again for observation on the morning of Friday, July 22, and that he would basically look for an excuse to go ahead and do the C-section that day. He was concerned about the blood pressure elevation and thought Tamara looked extremely uncomfortable. Grandma and Grandpa Mooney went ahead and came into town Thursday night, with the expectation that the C-section would happen sometime on Friday. We went to the observation, blood pressure looked good, Dr. Morgan came in, and basically said "looks great - see you Tuesday". As Tamara put it, she had never been so disappointed in being healthy. We went home, ran some errands, spent time with family, and basically started the waiting game. Around 6:30 p.m. the night of July 22, the hospital labor and delivery unit called to tell us the C-section had been moved to 9:00 a.m., Saturday, July 23, and we were to show up at the hospital by 6:00 a.m. Perplexed by yet another date/time change, we asked why and the nurse said she had no idea what had caused the schedule shift. We double checked that our bag was properly packed and waited anxiously for morning to come.
We went to bed around 10:00 or so Friday night but were startled awake when Tamara's water broke at 11:10 p.m. - it looked like Olivia was ready to come a bit early after all! During the observation that morning we had been told amongst a whole list of possible reasons to definitely come back to the hospital if water breakage occurred. So, we threw our things in the car and rushed down the road, calling Grandma and Grandpa Mooney on the way, since they were still in a local hotel, and also calling Grandma and Grandpa Hart so they'd know things were in motion...
When we got to the hospital, we were ushered into the observation unit for the third time that week, where vitals were taken and Tamara's early contractions monitored. Despite the nurses trying to whisper, we managed to overhear that Dr. Morgan could not be reached and they were trying his assistant. After some anxious waiting, we were ushered into a room, where we thought maybe they would get the doctor to come to the hospital and perform the procedure that night. Instead, we ended up going through labor all night (which we thought we would avoid with a scheduled C-section), with the nurses trying to prevent dilation advancing beyond the 1 centimeter stage. Exhausted, and with just a minor amount of sleep (we each got maybe 2 hours by the time the night was over), I went down for breakfast and coffee in the morning with Grandma and Grandpa Mooney, heading back to the room around 7:00 a.m., where I was immediately grabbed by the nurse who said she'd been frantically looking for me - apparently the C-section had once again been moved, this time to 7:30 a.m.! Dr. Morgan sauntered in a bit later, made an off-hand comment about how "lucky" we were to have gotten to experience labor after all, and with some exhausted sighs and a few snide comments, we were off to the surgical suite.
 |
| Tamara in labor the night of July 22 |
I was told to wait in the observation unit, and after another 10 minutes or more passed with Tamara in the operating room getting her spinal tap, and just when I thought I had been forgotten completely (Tamara said the nurses in the operating room were even getting nervous, saying things like "um...shouldn't we go get the dad now?"), they brought me back there, sat me on a stool, and probably 3 or 4 minutes later, at 7:59 a.m., we heard Olivia cry for the first time - after all the back and forth confusion and strangeness of the week before, everything washed away with that first cry. The surgeon thrust Olivia's wiggling screaming form over the top of the sheet separating Tamara from the surgical field (and managed to splatter her face with amniotic fluid - the anesthesiologist profusely apologized while he patted her face dry) and we both smiled and laughed through tear-filled eyes. She weighed 9 lbs., 2 oz., and measured 21 inches long. She came out as well with a full head of spiky hair the color of her dad's, and that's been the most talked about feature of hers the last few weeks...
 |
| Our first moments together as a complete family in the operating room |
In the operating room, the nurses called me over to the warming table where Olivia had to have some meconium suctioned out of her to help her breathe a little better, then I carried her to Tamara, who got to touch her briefly with a couple of fingers before I was ushered off to the nursery with the baby and Tamara was ushered off to recovery. Tamara rested while I watched Olivia have her medical tests done, get a couple of vaccinations, and have her first bath, most of which we have recorded in high definition! Family and friends showed up at the hospital to greet the new arrival, and the first few days in the hospital were a whirlwind of exhaustion and joy as we started to learn about caring for our new addition.
 |
| Olivia in the nursery, just minutes old |
 |
| Another nursery shot - this is pre-bath time, you can still see her damp hair from the delivery |
 |
| On the warming table in the nursery; the goop in her eyes is an antibiotic applied just moments before |
 |
| Another image of Olivia on the nursery warming table |
 |
| Post-bath time Olivia, with a little bow in her hair, still in the nursery on the warming table |
 |
| Another view of the same moments in the picture above; every loves the bow! |
 |
| Olivia's new Dad holding her up proudly in the nursery! |
 |
| Afternoon nap on her first day in the wide world |
 |
| Mom and baby sleeping in the morning of Sunday, July 24 |
 |
| Grandma Hart holding Olivia in the hospital |
|
 |
| Grandma Mooney holding Olivia in the hospital |
 |
| Grandpa Hart holding Olivia in the hospital |
 |
| Mom and Olivia in the hospital on her birthday |
 |
| Olivia's new snail hat, tried for the first time in the hospital! |
We all got to go home on Monday, July 25, around mid-day. The Mooney grandparents headed back to San Antonio, and Grandma Hart stayed on for the next week and a half to help out at home with chores, cooking, errands, and just getting used to the new routines. Olivia's been sleeping in our room since she came home, and we're going to start transitioning her into her own crib next week. Also, next week will mark the beginning of milk pumping in earnest in preparation for Tamara's return to work in another 3 or 4 weeks. So, now, today, we've hit the three-week-old mark, and can look back at how rapidly the last few weeks have passed and ahead with a mixture of excitement and trepidation to what's coming. We're now more seasoned diaper changers, think we have baby bath time down pretty good now, have ventured out to shop and visit workplaces a number of times, and have enjoyed the ups and downs that come with intermittent sleep and trying to figure out exactly how to interpret that one particular baby cry when we've tried everything else already at 3:00 in the morning...and so far, we can definitely say it's all worth it: this is the most amazing thing that either of us has ever experienced, and it's only just beginning! Welcome to the world, Olivia, we're very glad you're finally here!
Now, without any further ado, here's some more baby photos from the last few weeks:
 |
| Pink polka dots on a chocolate background - how fashionable! |
 |
| ...and that swaddle blanket is to die for! |
 |
| The now famous caterpillar photo...this really has become a phenomenon on Facebook (at least amongst people we know) |
 |
| Nap time! |
We have many, many, many more photos, and we'll keep posting them (we'll try harder week to week). We've also got lots of video, and will be sending links to streaming video to those of you who haven't seen them (or don't already have the links). Finally, since it's been requested, we'll figure out a way to get some pictures up in a Kodak or similar gallery for your purchasing pleasure (grandmas, I'm talking to you!) with lots of print size and picture frame options.
So, until next time, this is JOT signing out!
