Mia Kikumi Cheng
Born: Sunday, 20 March 2005 (Year of the Rooster), 1:29 AM
Weight: 6 lb 5 oz (2863 g)
Length: 17.5 inches (44.5 cm)
Hair: Black
Eyes: Black
Apgar: 8 (1 min), 9 (5 min)
Mia was supposed to be delivered via C-section on Monday, March 21, and we had a bad feeling that Nancy wasn't going to hold out that long, which would have really sucked, because schedule-wise, that was the perfect date. I was able to take a whole month off and by the time I had to go back, Nancy's Aunt Kathy would be able to stay with us. As expected, she didn't hold out that long, but as luck would have it, my parents had decided to come on Saturday, March 19 to stay with us for a week. That night, Nancy's water broke at about 10:30 PM and we had to make a mad dash to the hospital, leaving the freaking-out Amy (woken up by the commotion) with her grandparents.
They say that labor moves along a lot faster the second time around, and boy, they're not kidding! Nancy had what she thought were just Braxton-Hicks contractions earlier in the night, but after the water broke, they set upon her one right after another. It had taken longer to get her epidural last time, but this time she progressed further along, so the contractions were a lot more intense.
She was still delivered by C-section, but I was a lot calmer this time (although the nurses apparently thought I was rather nervous). Labor and delivery were totally routine and Mia came out just fine.
As of this writing (4/2/05), Mia seems to take after Nancy a bit more. Her face is roundish, like Nancy's. She is also amazingly different from her sister. Amy was mostly a quiet baby, even when she cried; Mia is a screamer. Mia can be calmed by a binky (pacifier), whereas Amy never really cared for them that much. There's also a big difference in our reactions towards them. Since Amy was our first, we were a lot more nervous about everything, which hasn't happened yet with Mia.
Mia isn't named after anybody in particular (I just liked the name), but her Japanese name comes from her great-grandmother, Kikuyo Nakatani. Her Chinese name follows the Cheng "name rule" and means "has joy."
Here is the announcement we mailed out if you didn't get one, or if you've forgotten what it looks like.
