Today we went for Lila's second checkup. Dr. Miller wrote "Super Healthy" in Lila's records. She weighed in at an impressive 9 pounds, 11 ounces!

We've been having so much fun these past few weeks. Lila is a real trooper -- we've visited G-ma Maria several times (she even babysat for a few hours so Cindy and I could go out to dinner), we've been to the reservoir a bunch, we hit Genova's in Berkeley for some awesome sandwiches. We've had some visitors too -- Grandma Alice, Uncle Brian and Auntie Ally to name a few. Lila has even made a few guest appearances on video chats with friend and family.

Some fun pics from the last week's events:



In other news, we picked up Lila's official birth certificate yesterday, so she's official now.

Hard to believe its been a week since Lila was born. Somehow time has almost come to a stop. This last week feels like its been much much longer. Cindy thinks its because we've been keeping a hourly log of Lila's feeding and pooping schedule.

Could also be that there are some many moments in the past week that have taken our breath away.

Today was a great day. Lila had her first doctor's appointment at Dr. Miller's. She's almost regained her birth weight having gained about an ounce a day since she was discharged. After the appointment, we took her up to the reservoir to enjoy the great weather. And then we were off to G-ma's for her first visit.

Some fun pics of the day..

The girls were finally discharged yesterday. Hospital stays over a few days are rough. We would work like crazy to get Lila to sleep only to have another nurse or doctor come in to take her temperature or weigh her. Also the hospital food was pretty nasty. Luckily there was a Whole Foods a block away, and Grandma Maria brought over home-made soups and lots of goodies. We were also really lucky to have had such a great nursing staff even through the strike period.

If the first night is any indication of things to come, we are in for a real treat. Lila slept though the night except for one feeding which meant Cindy and I got some much needed rest. She is such a happy and mellow baby!



Some fun pics of our first day home.

Cameras have been flashing.. Lots of fun pics for everyone to enjoy!

Click on Lila for collection of pics!

The grannies have been notified, the Vesce half of the west coast gang have visited, Cindy and baby are feeling super good.

So it is with pleasure to introduce Lila Mei Vesce, a beautiful 8lb 13oz, 21" long perfect baby girl. (Ally wins the pot for closest birth day and gender. Ong Lee also scores big for predicting a girl in the face of much opposition.)

Amy, Dave, Rachel and Lizzie are on route for a visit as soon as the girls finish their nap.

Lots of pics coming soon, just need to get to the laptop.

Impossible to describe how we feel at the moment. Overwhelming joy and feeling of being blessed beyond comprehension is about as close as you can get.

Thank you to everyone for all the great positive energy and support. We felt it all night long and it made all the difference!!

At 1:30AM, Cindy gave birth to a beautiful 8 pound 13 ounce baby. Mom and baby are doing great, especially after laboring for too many hours to count.

We can't reveal the sex or name just yet. The grandmas are on a strictly first-to-know arrangement.

We'll post later in the day.

Love and kisses,

Sean

Labor is pregressing well. The baby is "sunnyside up" meaning the back of the head is pressing on cindy's sacrum (tail bone). The baby is basically facing up. As a result cindy was experiencing severe "back labor". Everytime she had a contraction (every 5-10 mins or so), she felt like something was scraping on her spine.

I've never seen someone in so much pain and felt so helpless to do anything about it.

Around 5pm the nurses came in, checked and determined that she had made it to 5cm. They brought the anethesiologist in tow. By 5:20, they had completed an epidural and by 5:40 Cindy was resting comfortably for the first time since about yesterday evening.

She says "hello" to everyone!

Looks like this morning's contractions were the real deal!

Cindy has transitioned into real labor (at 3cm now) and was admitted to the hospital officially.

We got our own room (phew!). Has a nice window so we can see how great a day it is outside.

More news to come!

After all the cooking last night, the smells of garlic must have fired up the baby!

We were up all night with early signs of labor. Contractions, back labor and all the rest.

After a disussion with the doc, it was suggested that we make our way to the hospital to get a quick check. The rains have cleared and the weather is beautiful.

We're at the hospital now. I figured out how to post to the blog thru my bberry. Gotta love technology!

Cindy's at 1cm and having contractions every 15 to 30 mins. She's being monitored so they can make a determination whether we're ok to go home to conitue laboring.

We can hear the baby's heartbeat thru the monitor. Average is around 150 bpm. Sounds like a train coming down the tracks!

Stay tuned for more updates soon!

Cindy awoke this morning at 5am to a contraction. Now that we're close to a week overdue, we took the opportunity yesterday to catch a hike up at the reservoir. We hadn't been up there since Cindy was 5 months pregnant. A bunch of people have mentioned walking as a good way to induce. She did great reaching about a half mile and enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. The walk must have done something, because we found ourselves up at the crack of dawn with our first official contraction.

It had started raining last night and when we woke it was pouring. We sat quietly for an hour listening to the rain and waiting for a follow up. The morning proceeded with a few mild contractions, but by mid-day things had quieted back down.

We decided to spend the day making sure we were good with all the final preparations. Checked and double checked the packed bags. Reviewed all the important documents. Paid all the bills.

It was still raining when we decided to leave the house to go grocery shopping. We ended up at Whole Foods and got inspired to do some pre-delivery cooking. We made a couple of trays of lasagna, a meat sauce, soups and rice crispy treats. At least we know no one will be going hungry!

Tomorrow should be the last official pre-baby day!

Whelp, we're officially overdue.. The baby is doing just fine. Doing the normal somersaults all night long. Its just as well the baby's decided to take a few extra days to cook because Bay Area nurses decided it would be a good time to go on strike!


We were at the hospital today to do a routine pre-natal checkup. The nurses that they have in from out of state were great, so no rel worries if the baby decided to get the party started.

Our doctor has scheduled Cindy to go Sunday night to induce. With some luck the baby will arrive by Monday! Stay tuned!

Not a lot of sleeping going on around these parts (and the baby hasn't even arrived yet!) The little one has been kicking the heck out of Cindy causing weird aches and pains, which in turn keeps her up, which in turn keeps me up. We're getting good practice for the new arrival. So we decided to pass some time tonight and give the blog a face lift. Enjoy!

Went to the doc's this afternoon to see Dr. Nishimini (subbing in for Dr. Levinsky, who is vacationing in Hawaii -- great timing, we know!). The Doc gave Cindy permission to have the baby any time now.. We found out that:

1) Baby moving around like crazy is "good"
2) In-utero hiccups are "good"
3) If her water breaks after 1am, don't call until morning (wtf??)

Six days and counting!