Signed, Sealed, Delivered ... Sophie Ngà Huynh, Born 01/28/2009

Ladies and Gentlemen ... Here she is: Sophie Ngà Huynh. 

Sophie was born on Wednesday, January 28 2009 at 2:29 pm. A healthy baby weighing 7 lbs and 13 oz (3,551 grams) and 20.5 inches long (52.1 cm). Mommy, Daddy and Sophie are doing great!

But here's how the story went...

Our due date was on Tuesday and we were scheduled to be induced on Wednesday at 5:00 am. Wednesday morning around 12:59 am Anh started her contractions which were 20 minutes apart. At 4:00 am her contractions were down to 5 minutes. So when we arrived at the Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, Anh was technically in labor. Being the trooper that Anh was, she went through contractions (as they got heavier and more frequent) till 8:30 am. That's when we decided to take the epidural. At this point, she was was still 6-7 cm dilated. With that in mind, I thought we would still have a long ride ahead of us. However, when the doctor visited us at 1.00 pm we were told that Anh was already 9.5 cm dilated and that we would be able to start pushing at 2:00 pm. And that's what happened. 29 Minutes later Sophie was born! I'll spare you the details. All I can say is that it's amazing to be part of a delivery like this. 

Sophie (emphasizing the second syllable) is a variant from the Greek name Sophia which means wisdom. Her middle name Ngà was named after my mother. 

It's an amazing experience. Except for Anh receiving her epidural I was there all the time. I even coached ... that is, holding her left leg and supporting the back of her head while the doctor took care of the rest. We only needed 7 sets of 3 puffs (of which the last two sets were 4 puffs) to get Sophie out. As a little baby, I broke down when I first saw Sophie crowning. And when her little head popped out, I was just in tears of joy while having the utmost respect for Anh who did such a wonderful job. Once again, this is such an amazing experience.

So ... all in all, we had a pretty good delivery. Anh is doing fine. Obviously, her body has to recover from this amazing labor and delivery marathon. Other than that, no complications whatsoever. All the tests have turned out to be good so far. 

We're currently still staying at the Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. Tomorrow we'll be discharged and ready to take Sophie back home. I don't know what we would have done without the hospitable and helpful staff here at Huntington Memorial. They have been a great support in all of this. And the hospital is wonderful. Man, almost looks like a freakin' hotel. They really make labor and delivery easy and pleasant as much as possible. 

As I'm writing this blog from our room, little Sophie is calling us to get fed. So I better get steppin'. Love it !!! 

Until the next post :-)