Emily Elizabeth-My Chen, you were born on October 30, 2011 at 8:25PM at Saddleback Memorial Hospital in Laguna Hills, CA. You weighed 6 pounds and 9 ounces and was 20.5" in length.
A lot happened the day you were born. We went to the hospital thinking we would be sent home, but little did we know at 9AM that in less than 12 hours, you would be here. Your arrival was certainly a life changing event for me. To see mommy hooked up to different monitors, IVs, and epidural, was quite a sight. She courageously pushed for almost 3 hours for you to come. We had a great team of nurses and our delivery doctor [Dr. Han] was also great. Although at one point while waiting for another contraction to come so mommy can push, Dr. Han and the delivery nurses were talking about the new pumpkin spice coffee at Starbucks and discussing whether or not it was too sweet or not sweet enough. Maybe not the best time to bring it up, but certainly a memorable moment.
Your families were there, all of mommy and daddy's siblings and their wives/husband and children, to your grandmothers. It was a special time for them, especially your grandma's. They patiently waited all afternoon until you came out.
Dr. Han, after delivering you, said she was going to cut the cord and they would bring you directly to the baby warmer station. This was the scariest part of the delivery for me. You finally came out and was limp and didn't seem to be breathing. Mommy and I waited what seemed like 10-15 minutes, but if I were to guess, was probably more like 15-20 seconds. The neonatal team was summoned and more nurses rushed through the door. But then I saw your leg kick and a few seconds later, I heard the wonderful sound of your cry. The nurse asked me to go to her as she was under the warmer. I was able to trim the umbilical cord and watched as they gave you the vitamin K shot, the anti-bacterial cream over your eyes, and a blood sample from your foot. Once the team felt you were doing well, we were able to get your footprints in your baby book and the paperwork from the hospital.
After everyone was done with you, you nursed with mommy for about 20 minutes. After that, we invited your extended families to come in and finally meet you. We took a lot of pictures and we got to just spend some time with you before we went down to the 1st floor to post labor recovery.
When you're old enough to read this, you really should thank you mommy for all that she did while she was carrying you, going into labor, and pushing for nearly 3 hours to have you come to this world. And to thank God for protecting your health and your overall little self while we waited over 9 months to meet you.
The first night was difficult for us. Mommy was extremely tired after going through so much and we just had no idea how to take care of you. We were not sure if mommy's milk was coming in and if you were getting enough to eat. But the nurses there were really helpful and they helped us by putting you in the nursery so we could get a few hours of rest.
While mommy recovered, everyone came to visit again. We also had a couple of mommy's close friends [Aunty Kristy and Aunty Sandra] come all the way from LA to see you!
You got balloons, more clothes, and mommy got flowers!
You lost 9 ounces since birth and even though it's normal for newborns to lose weight, we were worried, so that week, we supplemented mommy's milk with some formula. We wanted to make sure you were gaining the weight you needed! Many, many diaper changes, our families brought us a lot of food to keep us going as we took care of you. You slept in our room and you were nursing every 2 hours. Mommy did everything! I changed the diapers and I tried to burp you, sometimes you were generous with your burps, and sometimes you were kind of stingy. We took a lot of pictures of you in different awake and sleeping poses. You were not a cryer. You only cried when you were really hungry and you weren't that fussy. Oh how that will change in the coming weeks!
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