Mika Unveiled

I haven't had time to edit/tweak the photos I took this morning, but I figured you wouldn't mind a less-than-perfect collection of photos of our perfect little girl. You can see everything I shot on our Picasa web gallery or via the slideshow in the right sidebar (click on the photo to see the larger version).

The photos fall into three groups: (1) pictures in the operating room as the c-section was underway (Mika is just a few minutes old); (2) pictures in the nursery when Mika got cleaned up after birth (she was about an hour old); and (3) pictures in the recovery room where Yuki was staying until we moved to our long-term room in the birth center (Mika was about 5 hours old).

More to come (as well as a more carefully edited and tweaked collection of these photos) as I have time. Enjoy!

Finally!

Mika-chan has finally joined our family! After more than 12 hours of labor capped off with a C-Section at sunrise, we welcomed our daughter to the world. She's beautiful.

Yuki was UNBELIEVABLE (in caps, not just lower case). I knew she was tough, but Yuki was a superstar during labor. She never complained, never lost focus, and never gave up. She even said "please" and "thank you" whenever she needed something during labor. It went something like this: "GIVE ME ANOTHER PUKE BOWL, please" or "MORE PRESSURE! I NEED MORE PRESSURE, thank you." She even held back the f-bombs until we were joking around with the nurses in the recovery room. She was first-class the whole way.

I have so much to say about Mika... it's hard to figure out where to begin. She has Yuki's eyes, cheeks, mouth, nose and hair. You're probably thinking: But Pete, what did she get from you? At this point, I appear to have made one small, but significant contribution: eye lashes (they're long like mine). She could do mascara ads for Loreal straight from the womb.

There's nothing not to love... even her crying. It's just so cute. I may have a different opinion about that when she's wailing for the third straight hour, but right now I find it utterly adorable. I feel like nudging the folks out in the hall and saying: "Yup, that's my daughter in there crying. Isn't she the best?"

I've taken a ton of photos, which I'll post soon. But right now, I'll leave you with a little snippet of our new life with Mika. She's wrapped up tight in a little blanket, sleeping in Yuki's arms. It doesn't get any better than that.

No room at the inn

We were in a holding pattern for several hours last night, but we finally got word around 8:30PM that the maternity ward was filled. We're going to give it another shot starting at 7AM.

For those of you who are following along at home, yesterday was similar to sitting on an international flight and watching that little plane icon ever-so-slowly creep across the world map on the back of the seat rest in front of you.

Mika, some day we'll tell you this story as part of an effort to make you feel guilty. You'll probably be a teenager who just declared that we are ruining your life. We'll sit you down and tell you about how long you made us wait for you to be born. We'll probably toss in a snow storm and a broken down car for good measure, but you'll get the picture. Yup, the longer you hold out in the womb, the more ammo you give us. (I have officially turned to guilt and coercion to induce labor... we'll see how that works out).

Happy Delivery Eve!

Twas the night before Delivery Day, and all through the house,
many creatures were stirring, in particular my spouse.

The onesies were folded in the baby's room with care,
in the hopes that Mika-chan would soon be there.

Hachi was tucked all snug in his crate,
unaware his world was changing as of this date.

So we have reservations at the Mt Auburn Hotel and Resort tonight to meet with our "delivery acceleration team." They're a fantastic bunch and have a comprehensive game plan for bringing Mika into the real world.

I haven't done much reading on the inducement process, but I imagine it involves candles, incense, and a giant machine that shakes Yuki like a bottle of salad dressing until the baby pops out. Should be fun.