Author: James

We apologize for keeping Odelia all to ourselves right now. Besides having to deal with all the challenges of adjusting to a schedule of 2 hours of sleep a day, apparently Odelia has inherited her dad’s gene for the love for food. Even during her time in the womb, she was secretly pigging out, and it didn’t seem to have changed after entering this world, feeding mostly around 1 hour and 30 mins at night. Needless to say, it takes a taxing toll on her parents. Had we opened for guests, it would be “Thanks for coming. See you later!” We’re waiting for the moment when she can be seen more than 5 mins at a time.

By the way, as you know I love worship and have done that all my life, the name Odelia means “Praise God” in Hebrew. She will carry on the tradition of music and shall surpass her father. We can already tell she will be a great singer by her cry and her dedication. When you have 10 crying babies in the room, you will undeniably recognize her by the one giving it her all. We know… we hear it everyday!

Now before you think we’ve created a monster, I need to say that it may have been partially my fault. As a loving father, I, of course, do not wish any pain or harm to come in the way of my daughter. So when it comes to putting her in a straight jacket (swaddling), well, it was obviously a little tough to do when she’s balling. However, I’ve repented of my ways and now I will pull the blanket with all my might, and she seemed to like it. Hopefully that will carry over, instead of her strong personality taking over.

With all the new parenthood stuff out of the way, Odelia truly is adorable though, possessing really flush cherry lips. No idea which side of the family those came from, but absolutely gorgeous.

Instead of keeping all of you in the dark about what Odelia looks like, here’s a few pictures!

Odelia sleeping.

Odelia and Karen

Odelia and James

The new Lee family!

On April 2nd, 2:53 am, at 7 lb 15 oz, Odelia Kyra Lee took her first breath in this world. Both the mother and the child are doing fine. We dodged the April Fools bullet by about three hours.

The contractions started at 8am yesterday, were regular but would reset from time to time. Perhaps the Lord was answering our prayer about not having April Fools baby by resetting the contraction clock. At 7-8pm, difficult contractions began. By the time we arrived at Overlake, contractions were 2-3 mins apart and Karen was already 6 cm dialated at 100% effacement. Dr. Graham was impressed by how far along we got all by ourselves.

When Karen was pushing and finally I saw the hair of the baby, I nearly broke down. After all, we never had an ultrasound, so we had no idea what the baby looked like, if it was a he, or a she. Of course, having bought a basketball hoop and got the baseball bats ready, I was completely caught off guard when Dr. Graham said, “It’s a girl!” I think we had 30 boy names and 3 girl names, but then girl names were far easier to pick. The first thing that crossed my mind was, “I guess we don’t have to worry about circumcision.”

On the other side, Karen did an absolutely amazing job handling the pain. However, without epidoral and opting for a natural birth, Karen has been forever traumatized by this experience of giving birth to an super-sized baby. And to think that just last week, we were snickering at the other doctor for guessing that our baby was 7 1/2 lbs. “Yeah, for a caucasian baby, maybe.” Instead, we witnessed David giving birth to Goliath. Maybe this will fade from her memory in two years before her next one. Fingers crossed.

Visitations are currently on hold until the mother and the baby recover their energy. More details on this will be made available privately.

Karen started having some contractions this morning, timed at around 12 minutes apart, 25s duration. By the time we got to the OB, it was 10 mins apart, 35s duration. Eventually it got to 8 mins, then 6 mins, 50s. Of course, during this time we’re still praying that it would hold off until midnight, as we’re racing against the clock.

Then all of a sudden it became irregular, went back to 10 mins, 50 s, and went to 16 mins, 52s, then 20 mins, 6 mins! Then it returned to 10 mins 45 s. What’s going on? Is it the Lord’s way of holding off the baby in answer to our prayer, or are we just experiencing Braxton Hicks? False labors are supposed to be felt higher and irregular, but earlier today we got it at a consistent regularity. Not sure what it all means yet.

In any case, here is your last chance to make a guess on whether our baby is a boy or girl! Here’s a few pictures to help you decide:

So which is it? Boy or Girl?

April 11th, 2008. The tentative date of the beginning. Or the end. Everyone familiar with this journey seem to offer the same condolences, that the days of the life as we know it is numbered. Date nights, TV marathons, and video games can be kissed goodbye. Sleeplessness, frustrating moments, and ceaseless work will rule the days. And nights. The luxury of quality eight hour sleep would be supplanted by short, interrupted naps. The eyes shall transform from the monochrome black and white into a crimson red traditionally associated with vampires.  Some call this Doomsday, but others describe this as the beginning of the most wonderful journey one can take. In the end, they say, it will be all worth it.

I hope so.