Mary Darlene Dodds

Just a quick post, then when I'm not so tired I'll write a more thorough post. Mary Darlene Dodds was born at 8:40 AM today. She is 21 inches long and weighed 8 lbs 1 oz, but I think she's pooped away at least half a pound by now. (Update: I was trying to make a joke, but the pediatrician just told me that Mary really has lost 8 ounces, so I was right on! Apparently this is normal, but I don't remember this much poop from my first 2 girls. I probably blocked it from my memory.)

Stacey's labor was going along well but it slowed down so the doctor was going to break her water. When she went to do that she felt the umbilical cord between Mary's head and the birth canal, so she said she had to do a Cesarean section. It is extremely rare for the doctor to be able to notice the umbilical cord in the way, so we were very blessed. If the doctor hadn't noticed then we would have gone along with the delivery and pinched off the umbilical cord. Then the baby's heart rate would have dropped and they would have had to do an emergency C section, and we could have lost our precious little Mary.

Here are a few pictures. More later. In case you didn't know, you can click on these pictures to make them larger.