Bonus: Ava comes with a dimple

Well, the cute factor went way up when this dimple was captured on film (or digital card).  She certainly didn't get the cute factor from me, so my wife must have some powerful influence!

As our 3-day, 2-night stay at the hospital comes to a close, Spencer will finally get to meet Ava Friday night and he's excited.  We'll see how he handles it but knowing Spencer, he'll over-analyze the situation.  Should be fun!

Like when Spencer was born, Ava has a strong grip and makes all types of faces (her lips are so cute when they pucker up).  Unlike Spencer, she likes to keep her eyes closed.  However, when I was holding her late tonight in the dark (we keep a low light on), she was wide awake and staring and following my every move.  If I move my head, she moves her eyes to follow me.  Really cool stuff.  But otherwise, her eyes are closed or half open.

Aftermath

Just over 8 hours after she was born, Ava is just as happy as then.  And so are we.  We appreciate all the notes and text messages.  Some pictures from the day incude myself being hands-on...

... though that cord was tough to cut.  Here are the happy mother and father...

...and why Spencer can't come to visit :-(

Here she is

Ava Linh Tamashiro beats her big brother by 2.6 ounces and 0.4 inches.  And just 5 minutes to get pushed out.

Waterworld

You know, kinda like the movie, this idea of the "water breaking" being this epic moment is a big flop (during our 1st or 2nd kid).  No puddle on the floor, no cry for help.  Just "hey, sometime in the last hour your water broke".  I guess I can't complain since so far, everything is going smoothly.  So smoothly that the doctor is on her way now (although she was optimistic to deliver by 12:30 to get back to the office :-)).  It's almost 12:30 now so unless there really is a zero hour labor (

For some reason, the hospital had the number of hours my wife was in labor as "0" for Spencer

), she won't make it.  But she's on her way.

Painless and tired

The pain has gone and we're both very tired.  Problem is, the labor hasn't started yet.  Linh's gotten her feel-good op and we both had very little sleep last night (or this past week, really).  Hard to believe we've been at the hospital almost 4 hours.  Things are progressing quickly... we were hoping to rest and maybe get an hour or sleep here and there waiting for the process to start, but the dilation has already happened so as the nurse told us, it should be soon (and she said she didn't jinx us by saying that).  So maybe after lunch? 

Baby # 2 did seem like she knew what was coming.  All week, just normal movements. Last night/early morning, she began moving A LOT, seemingly anticipating we were going to induce her in a few hours and she was getting prepared. 

I hope I remember what to do when the labor starts.

The waiting game

Hard to believe Baby # 2 (I still left the field blank on the form but I think most of you know what it is going to be -- but gotta see if she looks like the name) is almost here.  For various reasons, our doctor has recommended going the full induction route so this could take a while.  Good news is the hospital has full internet access, which means that I can use my Slingbox (already tested) to watch my DVR if the labor really takes a while to get started.  Thought I had a new ep of Glee, but it's just a repeat.  Bad news is that due to the flu season, it is very unlikely Spencer will get to see Baby # 2 until we get discharged, which is a bummer.  So while last time we basked in the great service and got to stay at the hospital almost five days (I think), now we will be hoping to go home quicker after birth.

I miss having the hospital to ourselves (when Spencer was born, he was the only baby in the maternity ward) but it is quiet.  Then again, it is just 7 am right now.  I do hear a baby crying now and then which makes this more and more real that we will soon be parents of 2 kids.  Two.  And yes, this will be the last.  Kids are too expensive.  I think we had to mortgage Spencer's education to have this one :-)