Phillip and Eliza were enjoying their new home, and anticipating the arrival of their first child. Grandmother Chiu came to Gainesville on December 12, in good time for the December 16th due date. During the next 2 weeks Eliza and Pat Chiu enjoyed many outings and projects, but the 16th came and went with no baby. On December 23rd Pat, Phillip and Eliza were enjoying a game of scrable when Eliza started to feel some minor contractions. They were more than 10 minutes apart and not very strong. They decided to go to bed early and hope for a Christmas Eve baby. Christmas Eve dawned with fairly regular contractions. At 3:00am, they paged Selma, who met them at the Birth Center at 8:00am for an examination. She assured the Porters that the baby wasn't coming soon, and sent them home. The rest of the day was spent with regular and strong contractions. Phillip and Pat took turns holding Eliza's hand as she labored in a recliner in their home, lit by Christmas lights. Eliza's back had a lot of pain during the laboring on Christmas Eve. It was later determined that the baby was transverse, and through the long inactive labor, he turned around. Around 8pm the back pain eased, the baby had turned. Eliza's contractions slowly began to get closer together.

We arrived at the Birth Center just past midnight December 25th, 2004. The holiday lights were up and Grandma Chiu took a picture of our arrival. The birth suite was such a peaceful place to be in.

Phillip and Eliza labored around the deserted Birth Center, up stairs and around the beautiful rooms.

After 36 hours of labor, Geoff arrived. Geoffrey was born on December 25th at the Birth Center of Gainesville at 12:01PM. He weighed 9lbs and 0.1oz. and was 20'' long.

A very proud dad made sure to take this picture to send to friends, family and fellow fans.