Molly Joan Rampley
The Stats
We are SUPER STOKED to announce that our beautiful daughter, Molly Joan Rampley, was born on February 1, 2015 at 9:38 PM. She weighed in at 3.300 kg (= 7 lb 4 oz), and she was 52 cm (= 20.47 in) long. Her head was 33 cm (= 13 in), and her chest was 32 cm (= 12.6 in). After 1 minute, her Apgar score was a 9, and after 5 and 10 minutes, her Apgar score was a 10. My original due date was February 2, and at my doctor's appointment on January 31, we were told that I would be induced that following morning! I was planning on squeezing in one more week of work before baby, but that didn't happen! We were in the hospital by 6 AM that following day, and after some fetal monitoring, I was induced by 8 AM. Contractions started around 1 PM, and Molly Joan was welcomed into the world just before 10 PM. I will spare you the details of in between! We were discharged from the hospital 2 days later.
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| The stats |
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| Right after delivery |
Love
At 9:38 PM on Sunday, February 1, 2015, I learned just how much I could truly love another person when I held my baby girl for the first time. That day was, by far, the best day of mine and James' life. We could not have been happier at that moment, and we are still glowing with love for Molly Joan.
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| Going home! |
A Special Moment
Shortly after delivery, while the nurses were cleaning off Molly Joan, she was crying ever so loudly. James went over and started talking to her, and she immediately stopped crying and looked in his direction. We both could not believe it, but we think she recognized his voice! And for anyone that knows James, he is quite the talker, so this is highly possible ;) It was such a special moment for all of us.
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| Already giving Dad looks! |
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| <3 |
Names
As for her name, Molly is a name that James and I have always really liked (maybe me more so than James!). And Joan is a name in honor of both of my grandmothers (Joan Theresa Stapleton and Joan Catherine Yerkes) as both of their first names are Joan, and we absolutely love that name.
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| Relaxing :) |
Maternity Leave
I am currently on maternity leave for a total of 10 weeks. One of my good friends, Amy, had her baby just 8 days after Molly Joan, so we are on maternity leave together, which is awesome! I will go back to work mid-April for about 2 months, and then, we will be back in the States for the summer starting on June 19. Aside from the fact that I get to spend all day with Molly, there is another really cool thing that my school does when one of their teachers has a baby. They have a meal sign-up for the family where other teachers sign up to bring them food. So, every 2-3 days for the next 10 weeks of my maternity leave, one of the teachers at our school will bring us a meal. How cool is that? James and I are definitely stoked about this, and the meals so far have been absolutely delicious!
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| Baby Buddha ;) |
Passport Photos
We took Molly Joan to get her passport photos on February 21 at 20 days old! I couldn't believe it. James had to hold her up, and she had to look straight at the camera and keep her hands out of her face - not an easy feat with a newborn ;) Mission accomplished! And we had her appointment at the U.S. embassy this week to report her birth abroad and apply for her passport. She will be a world traveler at under 1 year old!
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| Molly Joan's actual passport photo :) |
Photo Shoot
Our friend, Taylor, who also happens to be an excellent photographer, came over this weekend to take some pictures of our family. I just can't stop looking at the photos she took. We are so grateful that she was able to capture these beautiful moments for us. I am so in love! Here are some of my favorites.
St. Patty's Day
My other new mommy friend, Amy, and I have planned our first night out. Dads are watching the babies while we head over to the U.S. Embassy with some friends for the St. Patty's Day celebration. This is one of my favorite holidays, so I am stoked that I am able to go out for it!
Travel Plans
We have Spring Break at the end of March and a couple of long weekends before our summer vacation begins. We don't have any definite travel plans for before summer yet. We are thinking about heading back over to Bahrain for a 4-day weekend we have in April, so we will see about that! It will all depend upon when we get Molly Joan's passport. I also posted last time that we have our summer travel plans squared away. We will be in Michigan from June 19-July 1, and from there we will head on down to Philly. We rented a house in Sea Isle City from July 4-25, and we plan on being in the Philly/Jersey Shore area until August 8 when we head back to Saudi Arabia.
This month has been one wild ride with the birth of Molly Joan, and we are stoked for what the upcoming months will bring.
Stay stoked.
