I would like to take this joyous opportunity to announce the arrival of the newest member of the human race. My daughter Cara Brooke:

She was born on the 12th of Nov 2000. At 2:24 Pm. After a short and "sweet" Labor of about 6 hours.

She was a healthy 8 pounds 9.1 oz and 21 1/2 in long.

Our day started off innocent enough. After an arduous walk down Waikiki beach the day before. Dede woke with some symptoms of labor. We were supposed to go to the Arizona memorial and of course, anything that is going to happen will happen on the day that you plan an activity, other than labor.

We showed up at Tripler Army Medical Center at 7:30 AM. They placed a fetal monitor on her and listened for 20 min. The doctor did a cervix check and she was at 4 cm. So, they told us to walk around for 2 hours and then come back. Being that We live a mere 2 miles from the hospital we decided to go home to get some breakfast and make some Phone calls. About 1 hour after We got home Dede had her first major Back pain. Oh oh! "lets make this fast and get back to the hospital." As I timed them on the way back she was 5 min apart but in a lot of back pain. The first thought in my mind was " I think we are in for a long haul" DAMN. We entered Labor and delivery at 1015 am and the contractions were 2 to 2 1/2 min apart. The doctor once again put her on the monitor which showed absolutely no contractions. After the cervix check she was 7 cm. SURPRISE SURPRISE.

They whisked us away to the labor and delivery room where she would do everything. Then came the really bad back pains. They did another Cervix check and Guess what,,, 9 cm. No time for an Epidural so they gave her a spinal block. A fast acting, 1 to 2 min, short lasting, about 1 1/2 hours, pain cure. Dede was happy.

Okay so we sit there like knots on a log and wait for something to happen. We wait what seems like an eternity, for all of 45 min. Then the nurse checks her and tells her it is time to push. We go thru about 5 sets of 3 pushes, that is 15, ten second pushes, with around 1 min between them. then the head starts to crown. But there is a problem NO DOCTOR! The nurse tells Dede don't push try to breath thru it. Yea Right. Finally Our doctor arrives puts on a set of gloves, sits down Dede pushes twice and the baby comes out, all the way out. Whew! 15 min of Hard labor an unfortunate amount of Tearing (no time for an episiotomy) and we have a daughter.

Please visit the Photos page for pictures of The baby. Expect many more in the future.

Also my many thanks to My Dear sisters. Kat for the Scanner and Erin for the Fire wire cable. Without your generosity I would not be able to share my joy and excitement.