Hello Mia!

At 8:15 Monday morning JST, May 31st, Mia Kawabata was born.
She weighed 6.7 pounds and was born about 2 weeks early.
Labor was about 5 hours long.



Tonbo's Mama-san and Papa-san drove us to the clinic early in the morning. Thank you so much. Soon after they left Yuko's mother and older sister arrived and left agin. Yuko and I waited in her room at the clinic until the contractions got to a certain point. Then she was taken into the delivery room for the labor. It took about 5 hours. During that time I was not able to see Yuko, but I was able to hear her cries. It was very hard for me. Yuko's mother and older sister returned sometime after Yuko was put into the delivery room. During the labor we sat outside waiting for any news.



Afraid that their alarms were going off and that the dogs and nothing to eat, Yuko's mom and sister returned home. Soon after they left, the doctor came out and said that the final stages of the birth were happening and that everything was ok but going a bit long.


Soon, after minutes of pacing back and forth and putting my ear to the door of the delivery room, I heard a beautiful little cry. I knew at that instant that it was my daughter. Soon after that a nurse came out and told me the baby's weight and that it was a girl. A little later, Yuko's mom and sister arrived.

After a few more minutes we were allowed into the delivery room to see the baby, Yuko, and take photos. More to be posted soon.


It was then that we decided on the name Mia. Mia's name has two kanji, Chinese characters in it 美 beautiful, a kanji her grandmother has, and 亜 which is the abbreviation for "Asia".
 
As I write this, I have just returned to our apartment for a shower and a quick nap, if possible. Baby and mother are happy and healthy at the clinic.