I'm a grandma!!!

Or a Gramcy - I think that is what Kari is thinking to have Ava Kate call me... here are the details with some pictures below -

Bo and I were all packed to take a little vacation starting this past Monday before the birth of our granddaughter around the 18th...

WRONG!

Before we left on Monday, I took Kari to the dr for a check up (she was going at one-week intervals at that point - and Garrett had been taking her, but since he would have had to take time off from work to take her, and they were saving that for after she was born, I took her gladly :), and for the first time her blood pressure was up... so after taking it 4 different times, the dr sent her upstairs to Labor & Delivery to be put on a fetal monitor and start a 24 hour urine test (to check proteins...) - her BP was fine as long as she was laying down...baby's heartrate was great - anyway - 5 hours later, we finally got home, ~Kari had to collect all her urine for 24 hours and return it on Tuesday afternoon. Bo and I decided that going to the B&B at Kerrville was probably a bad idea ;)

Tuesday I took her back with her specimen and her BP was checked again - still high. Dr had already scheduled her for next Tuesday to be induced, but decided to book her in for Thursday (7-3-08) instead because she was concerned she was prehypertensive.

Soooo, Kari and Garrett got to the hospital around 6, they got her hooked up to the fetal monitor, started a Pitocin drip and we started waiting. The dr came in and broke her water around 9 and things really sped up... about 2 hours after that, she asked for her epidural. Almost immediately after that, the baby's heart rate started dropping out... the nurse came in and cleared us out, got the dr, and they decided to do an emergency C-section. Dr said it was a good thing - Ava Kate - just like her Aunt KK (after whom she is partially named) was still hanging out around mom's ribs - never dropped down into the birth canal, so it would have been a LONG LONG LONG labor had this not happened this way.

Long story short (too late, I know), by God's grace, Ava Kate Robles was officially born at 12:11 p.m. (that's afternoon for the time-challenged among us) on July 3, 2008, weighing in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces, and 18 3/4 inches long. Kari and Ava Kate are both doing fine. The dr is a little concerned about Kari's liver function, and Kari has quite a bit of itching, which together could indicate Cholestasis of pregnancy... which *should* subside within a couple of days of pregnancy, or it could be other things, but at any rate is something to keep in prayer.

Also, the house they were renting from my in-laws has sold - closing date was her DUE DATE... we are buying property together in the area where I work (out in the country :) - that deal closes at the end of July - add that up and they would be homeless for a couple of weeks.... so guess where they will living for the next few weeks? Yep - here with us!
At least that makes it really easy for me to spoil that baby rotten!

Thanks for reading this far - now you can just call me.... 'Grancy' (I think that's what Kari has decided, lol - my nieces and nephews have called me Auntsy off and on because my oldest nephew started calling me that - Aunt Nancy - but he lost that syllable of it...shortening it to Auntsy)

We had a wild day - emergency C-section, a lot of prayer, but all worked out, thank God!

Garrett's Scrubs

Garrett showing us Ava Kate as Grandpa Bo (my honey) looks on

Katie (Aunt KK) and Kari in Recovery Room - Katie didn't think Kari should have to be alone :)

Ava Kate in Nursery after her bath

Kari holding Ava for the first time - counting fingers and toes

OK - Enough pictures for now - I have a baby to go hold and a daughter to entertain :)