On May 25, 2006 at 15:42 PDT, in an incredible feat of physical exertion, Tam brought Xander Yun-Zhong Shih into the world. All 9 pounds and 1 ounce of him, at a length of 21.5 inches (we now pause to wince in agony). Despite his 14cm head, 13.5cm chest, and the odds on the Vegas betting board, she was able to deliver him vaginally (we now pause to writhe uncontrollably in agony). It was absolutely amazing to witness. I’m on my way back to the hospital in a few minutes, but to appease the masses, here are some photos!

Not to worry though, mom and baby are doing just fine and we should be able to come home tomorrow after the manditory 2 day stay. More to come this weekend!

Tam’s water broke about 40 minutes ago and we’re off to the races! See everyone on the other side!

This just in: Tam’s cervix just hocked a lugi. That’s right, the mucous plug has been ejected. So there’s yet another sign that her body is getting ready for labor. So if it wasn’t painfully obvious already, we’ll be having a baby within the next two weeks.

Tam went in for a checkup to see how things are progressing now that we’re 3 days overdue. Time to get strapped in!

The kid is still riding fairly high up so it doesn’t seem like he’s popping out any time soon. There are already discussions about how far along our doc will let this go before he induces labor. If he makes it into June, he’s going to invoke the manual flush to get the boy out.

We got some hilarious information regarding the baby’s projected weight from some computer too. Apparently the computer’s algorithm, given the kid’s dimensions, estimates the birth weight to be 10lbs 3oz (holy hell, why am I envisioning ramming a Thanksgiving turkey through a tailpipe?)! 8lbs sounded brutal enough last week so everyone was glad the nurses were cracking up saying that the computer is wrong.

Regardless, here are some photos of the little one’s face:

May 20th has come and gone. It doesn’t seem like the baby is riding any lower than last week so we’re probably in for something of a wait.

Yet another arrow in my quiver of being a magnet for general disaster! I find out AFTER finishing off an entire bottle of Bausch & Lomb ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution that it’s been recalled due to some cases of fungal infection that could lead to blindness. And as any good corporation would, apparently there was some cover up to boot.

In the product’s defense, the lens solution felt really good on my dry-ish eyes…maybe the fungus was the secret ingredient for MoistureLoc! Pardon me as I go have some Slurm.

Our doctor and our doula are predicting that he’s going to arrive later than the May 20th due date. Tam threw out an interesting tidbit: apparently 5% of babies are born on their due date. All indications are that we won’t be helping that number. The baby is still riding relatively high, but you never know.

Oh, and happy Mother’s Day! I had the joy of celebrating with not one, but two this year!

And as an added bonus this week, check out what’s left of her poor belly button…