So, we have a newborn baby. Same old story, but not really. This time around we have a little lady to add to the family. Avery Rose Garcia was born on June 2, 2011. We were hoping that she would be here sooner, but she really didn’t want to come out. So since Avery was way too comfy in Mommy’s tummy, Tey was scheduled for for a 9am Caesarian in Newport Beach. It was a surreal day.
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December 8, 2007. 9:22 AM. 6 pounds 13 ounces and 18 inches long.
The nurses called him Baby Garcia for about 7 hours. We were caught off guard a bit and did not finalize his name until we met him and asked him if he liked his new name. He gave us the OK. Nathan Miles Garcia is our second baby boy and it was quite the adventure getting this little cutie to come out and play.
Our little boy, Nathan.
It all started an Friday night where we just returned home from dinner with our friends Huey and Mezzi. Lucas was in bed and Tey & I were just relaxing on the couch at around 11pm. Tey mentioned that she’d been having these small “practice” contractions and that they were pretty frequent. I didn’t think too much of them until about 30 mins later, when tey said nonchalantly. “I think were going to the hospital today.” My first reaction was “No Way!” Baby was still 12 days away and I hadn’t even washed his first load of tiny baby clothes!
Well, we arrived at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach at 3:30am, checked in and about 2 hours later, Tey was ready to push! That’s fast compared to the 16 hours it took for Lucas! A few rounds of pushing went by and the nurse had a concerned look on her face. The baby’s heart-rate was spiking downward with each push and it was pretty scary for a while. The nurse did a great job in getting the baby back to normal but with each additional push, the same thing would happen. Not good. So, the doctor came in and with one examination, she said “We need to get to an OR (operating room).” My heart sank.
From then on, it was a complete blur. My mom, who stepped out for only 5 minutes, returned only to find our room empty. We were being rushed to a C-Section operating room and Tey was getting prepped for the surgery. Meanwhile, I was in a daze as I was trying to listen to the nurse give me instructions on how to put a jumpsuit over my clothes so I can go join Tey. I was pretty much ignoring everything the nurse was saying to me. All I could do was look at Tey about 20 feet away from me in the operating table with 7 people standing over her prepping for what they called a “routine” surgery. A pretty haunting sight.
If you know Tey, then you know that she is the trooper of all troopers. She’s gone hiking with me in freezing temperatures in the middle of no where. She’s done so many crazy things that I’ve asked, all without a complaint. She is one tough cookie. Even though I’m sure she felt pretty helpless at this moment, I could see that brave soul in her eyes trying to fight through the whole ordeal. I, on the otherhand, could not watch…I was almost frozen as my eyes were fixed at Tey. Calm, but frozen.
About 5 minutes later, I heard a loud cry. The baby was out and he was brought over to the pediatrician, who was set to give him his initial checkup. He looked great! Watching and listening to a baby screaming his first breathes of air is such a surreal moment. I turned back toward Tey and saw the tears in her eyes flowing down the side of her face as she saw our baby being cared for. I went over and told her that he looked perfect and that the pediatrician gave him a 9 out of 10 rating. I was ecstatic and pretty overwhelmed at that point…I just sat by Tey’s head holding her hand as the doctor’s finished up the operation.
First photo, ever!
Tey was great during the recovery period which eased my nerves a bit. After a few minutes of fighting nausea and the chills, she was doing OK. It ended up that the cord was wrapped aound the baby’s shoulders and that prevented him from descending fast enough. The nurses and doctors at Hoag were so great at answering our concerns and reassuring us that all was well. I’m so thankful for these great people who have the ability to save lives and make families complete.
Thanks for reading The Story of Nathan. So far, the ending of this first chapter is a great one. Now, I’m back at home typing this out, getting some stuff for the baby and Tey, feeding our dog (Koda) and taking a quick shower. In a few minutes, I’m back on the road to see a mom and her baby.
Sleeping Nathan.
Two tired peeps.
Good night, baby. See you soon.
Lucas Edward Garcia. Our new baby boy was born on July 3, 2005 at 8:42 pm in Hoag Hospital, Newport Beach, CA. He weighed in at a slim and trim 6 lbs. 10 oz. and measured 19.5 inches.
It was a very long Sunday. At first we weren’t sure that it was actual labor since we read about many different types of contractions. There were Braxton Hicks or practice contractions, there were false labor contractions and there are actual pre-labor contractions. We called the hospital to make sure that we were doing the right thing. They said “if the contractions are so-and-so apart and were so-and-so long, come on in.” (more…)