Welcome to the world!

Dear Maya,

You were born at 2:42pm on December 30, 2010, two weeks ago today.  You were 13 days past your due date and it took 28 hours of inducing for mommy to dilate even halfway.  When the contractions really started in earnest, there were times when your heart rate dropped, eventually leading us to the operating room.  Thank goodness for the C-section option, because you had the umbilical cord wrapped around your neck three times!  (Not to mention that mommy wasn't handling the pain well at all...)

Your daddy was in the operating room with us and got to hold you first.  He was immediately curious about whether or not you had a Mongolian spot (a bluish mark just above the tush that many Asians are born with) and found yours with the nurse.  Then he brought you over to mommy so I could look at and kiss you.  When the nurse took you out to be weighed and checked, daddy stayed with mommy as I was still being operated on and was I shaking uncontrollably from the anesthesia. 

Grandma, Stan, Uncle Matt, Aunt Kelsie and Aunt Bobbie were at the hospital when you were born.  Grandma was amazing, staying calm and collected while watching mommy go through so much pain and a plethora of emotions.  Because you didn't cry much when they first brought you out of the operating room, your Uncle Matt was worried that your vocal chords were affected by the umbilical cord around your neck.  That was just your way, though, and you're still not all that much of a crier now.

Over the next few days we all got used to each other in the hospital while mommy recovered and learned to breastfeed.  Mommy's grandparents, aunts and uncle came to visit and everyone oohed and aahed over how alert, cute and beautiful you are.  You woke mommy and daddy up on New Year's Eve in time to watch the ball drop on TV.  On New Year's Day mommy's dad drove up from North Carolina to see you and spent the next several days staying with Uncle Matt and Aunt Rhi and visiting to get in lots of Maya snuggles.

During your first five days home, you slept quite a bit.  Your first day you braved a trip to the obstetrician's office, where mommy's incision was checked for infection.  At your first pediatrician's appointment the next day you got a clean bill of health.  The only concern was that you had not gained any weight back, having been born at 8 pounds, 9 ounces and discharged from the hospital at 8 pounds, .3 ounces.  On the other hand, you were in the 97th percentile for length/height at 22.5 inches!

One week later we made another trip to the pediatrician to find that you had gained 12 ounces!  The norm is one ounce per day, so you more than made up for last week--not that mommy was all that surprised considering how often you wanted to be breastfed.  After the appointment we went to mommy's grandparents' house to visit, then took a trip to a frenzied pre-snowstorm supermarket where you slept the entire time.  Though the doctor said it wouldn't happen soon, that very night your cord stump fell off.   
 

 Aside from doctor's appointments coupled with quick grocery shopping trips, we haven't left the house at all since coming home from the hospital.  That's not to say that you didn't have visitors, from family to our landlady Hazue (you actually waved goodbye to her when she was leaving) to mommy's friends Charlotte, Steve, Felicia and baby Wyatt to daddy's bosses Roberta and Tom.  You have almost always been in a good mood for everyone and have gotten so many compliments on how adorable and sweet you are.

You really are a good baby so far.  You only wake up once at night for the most part and it's usually pretty easy to tell what you want when you are fussing.  Some cute habits you have are waving your arms and your long, long fingers around like you are conducting an orchestra, and making your mouth really really small like a fish.  You like it when daddy holds you and taps out a rhythm on your back and when mommy massages lotion on your feet and in between your toes after a bath.  Our kitty Clio has even started to like you I think.

Mommy's going to try to write this blog for you and all of the people who love you.  Sometimes it might have more pictures than words and sometimes it may be a while between posts, but we want to share you with everyone who knows you or knows of you.  But now mommy's got to sign off because you're hungry again. 

Love you!