August 21st, 10:35am.

Finally HOME.

Finally home. Here are some pics from the last few days...
First, the Labor and Delivery "SUITE".

Time to go HOME!!

It's now Friday nite. We've been in this room for the past 4 days...Reiko hasn't seen sunlight since Monday morning. Scott gets out about 1hr a day, to go home to shower and wash up, as long as someone is in the room with Reiko.
We were actually 'discharged' by our OB/GYN to go home today, but we had the option to stay one more day. Reiko opted for the extra day, to take advantage of the support, guidance and expertise of the nursing staff here at Huntington. Scott can't wait to bring Mikala home, the bed he's been sleeping on for the past 3 nites SUCKS.
Once we get home tomorrow, we'll finally get a chance to upload all 3 zillion pics that we have...Stay tuned for the picture updates.

One of the first (of many...) family pics...

and BTW, Mika has an email address (we needed it to create this blog...). It's babymikala@gmail.com

the beginning...

So here's how it happened...We (Reiko and Scott) had a scheduled induction (inducement?) at Huntington Memorial on Monday (Aug 20th) morning. We arrived at about 915 and were checked into our 'Birthing Suite'. Reiko began the IV of pitocin around 1030, and the contractions and 'early labor' began. We had a lot of visitors all day...our parents, brothers (and girlfriends), aunties, uncles and friends...at one point, we probably had close to 15 people in the room! The contractions began...up and down...on and off. The contractions were definitely noticable..Reiko's OB broke her water at about 3pm, at which time the contractions were much more painful...She got the epidural at about 4pm. Made her feel MUCH better.
We did have one scare, while Reiko was napping (around 6pm), the monitors lost track of the baby's heartbeat, and numerous nurses and MD's were in the room, trying to diagnose the situation. They ended up having to insert a catheter to directly monitor the heartbeat, with a probe connected to the baby's head. Turned out the monitors were picking up Reikos vitals, not the baby's. Both parties were fine.
We continued throughout the nite, with Reiko having numerous contractions. By 7pm she was dilated to 4-5cm. At midnite she was STILL dilated to 4-5cm...the attending nurse told us to be somewhat 'openminded' about the possibility of a C-section...told us that normally with the medication Reiko was on, she should have been dilating on average 1cm/hr. They uped the dose of Pitocin, and by 3am she was up to 7cm. She dilated to 8cm by 515am.
Finally at 925am (24hrs after being admitted to the hospital!!!) our nurse decided it was time to push (9.5cm).
Reiko pushed. And pushed. And pushed...after one hour of pushing, they noticed the baby was not getting any farther down the birthing canal. She made the decision to get Reiko into an OR for a C-section.
From the time the Dr made the decision (925am) for a C-section, it was a mere 10 minutes til the birth of our daughter...
Mikala Umeno Ige Toshima. She was born at 10:35am, 7lbs 1oz, 21.5 inches.
Mikala was chosen by Reiko and Scott, Umeno is Reiko's Gma's (Ige side) name. The Ige is going to be part of the middle name...

Throughout the 24hr ordeal, Reiko was great. She stayed strong and positive...we'd like to thank our Mom's, who stayed with us the WHOLE nite, sleeping (when they could) in the worst chairs, in the most uncomfortable of positions. We'd also like to thank all who were able to 'hang out' with us while we waited, and thank everyone for their love and support afterwards. We've recieved soo many balloons, flowers, gifts and cards, we have more than we know what to do with...This is gonna be a journey for the both of us...bookmark this page for (hopefully) frequent updates, and let us know what you think!

ill post the pics from the hospital as soon as we get them downloaded...stay tuned.