Baby Iauco: Mary Grace Iauco

Mary Grace was born at 12:28 am on Monday, November 12th, 2007. She was 7 pounds, 9 ounces and 19 inches long at birth.

Molly was such a trooper during the delivery, she never complained or shouted curse words in my direction.

The entire experience was unbelievable; I cannot attempt to put into words how wonderful the whole thing truly was. You would never believe that you could instantly love something so much, it is almost scary. She is such a happy and good-natured little bugger with the most beautiful eyes and lips. She already has me wrapped around her finger; I am going to spoil her rotten.

Here is a play-by-play of how the big day unfolded…

7:30am – Molly elbows me in bed to tell me that she thinks her water has broken.
7:31am – I jump out of bed and start running in circles not knowing what to do.
7:45am – We speed to the hospital with our pre-packed bags.
8:00am – We arrive at the hospital and I realize that I packed nothing for myself.
8:15am – We get checked into the delivery room and prepare for the baby to pop out.
9:00am – We wait.
9:15am – We call our families to tell them we are in the hospital.
10:30am – I tell Molly that I have to go to the bathroom and sneak downstairs to get some food without letting her know (she is not allowed to eat or drink).
11:00am – We wait some more.
1:00pm – We watch the Redskins lose.
2:00pm – I tell Molly that I have to go to the bathroom again and sneak downstairs to get some food without letting her know.
4:00pm – We wait some more.
4:30pm – Molly is in pain, but decides to hold off on getting an epidural until the pain gets worse.
5:00pm – We call our families to see when they will be arriving in Washington DC.
5:15pm – Molly decides it is time for the epidural, but discovers that 5 other women have requested epidurals and that she will have to wait.
5:20pm – Pain gets worse and Molly isn’t talking much.
5:21pm – I am scared of Molly.
5:30pm – I eat snacks out of the nurses' refrigerator.
6:00pm – We wait some more.
6:30pm – Finally the anesthesiologist comes and gives Molly her epidural.
6:31pm – I am no longer scared of Molly.
9:00pm – We watch Family Guy.
11:00pm – Finally it is time for Molly to begin pushing.
11:10pm – Molly begins pushing and I can see Mary Grace’s head.
11:45pm – I am amazed at Molly’s toughness. I am also glad that I am a man.
12:28am – God gives us Mary Grace!

As most of you already know, Mary Grace was born without fingers on her left hand. This made for an extremely emotional delivery with many questions and concerns. First and foremost, we wanted to be sure that Mary Grace was 100% healthy. Once we received assurance, we wanted to find out what we could do to help her. Molly and I are already scheduled to meet with some absolutely wonderful pediatricians and geneticists to go over our options and give Mary Grace the best care available. Luckily, Washington DC and Baltimore have some of the world's best doctors in this area of medicine, so she is in good hands. We are not sure that we want to do anything at all, but we want to know about every available option before making our decision.

Molly and I are being totally open about her hand, so please do not feel awkward talking with us. The more people with whom we have spoken about it, the more encouraging information we have received. In the end, we know she is going to be just fine. If I were a betting man, I would say she will end up better off because of her situation. She has her mother’s temper, so she isn’t going to put up with anyone’s crap. That alone will serve her well, not to mention the bucket loads of other things she has going for her.

I will close by saying that fatherhood is the most astonishing thing that I have ever experienced. I never thought I could love something so much. It is indescribable.

Molly and I want to thank all of you for the emails, cards, flowers, gifts and kind words that we have received over the past week. It is wonderful to know that we have so many caring and generous friends and family members. We are truly blessed, and we thank God every day.

Mary Grace is excited about meeting each and every one of you.