We are so happy to welcome Hana Mutsuko Johnson. Yes, she finally has a name. Her first and middle names come from my Auntie and Mom. Hana is pronounced "haw-nah". As one of my friends says it's like Benihana, the restaurant. Hana also means flower in Japanese. She was born Monday, October 20, 2008 at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. She weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces and is 21 inches long.
Hana's birth story:
My due date was Oct. 18th. Grandpa Mits and Grandma Akemi flew in from Los
Angeles on Sunday the 19th. We spent the day enjoying the fall colors in southeastern Minnesota and hoping something would happen soon. Shortly before midnight, I went into labor. We went to the hospital around 3:30 a.m. I got an epidural later that morning at and it looked like we were progressing nicely, but everything stalled a few hours later. By 6:45 p.m., my doctor said it looked like for some reason the baby couldn't get in the right position to come out even though I was completely dilated, so we went ahead with another c-section. Mieko was delivered by c-section because she was breech, so at least we knew what to expect. So, after 19 hours of labor and about 20 minutes of surgery Hana came out crying.
You can see she was pretty alert and entertaining us with her expressions even in the first few minutes. Later in the evening, she had a few difficulties. She dropped her temperature and was under a warmer. Then, she started dropping her oxygen level and they had to give her some blow by oxygen. Her lungs and heart sound fine. They did some blood work to see if she has an infection, but so far everything looks good. She spent the night and next day in the special care nursery, but no longer needed oxygen. The pediatrician here thinks her lungs were adjusting and may have had extra fluid.
We're so thankful for all the friends and family who've sent their well wishes. We feel so lucky to have our new little girl, though we so wished Mieko could be here with us. We are looking forward to telling Hana all about her big sister and how she touched so many people. This is all such a different experience and we'll be sharing our journey here.
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