Truong Cong Dao

Truong Cong Dao aka Duke was born on Saturday, April 25th at 1:46 am. He’s 7lbs 1oz and 20″. Both Dana and Duke are doing great.

The laboring was quite an experience and I am so thankful to witness the joy and the pain of birth. Dana started contraction right after I picked her up from work, which was around 5:30pm. We drove home anyway because the contractions were minor. As I finished vacuum my car and got everything ready, Dana’s contractions increased. We called the doctor and he told us to come to the hospital right away.

Dana was already in tremendous pain by the time we checked in, which was around 8:00pm. I felt horrible that she had to bear all these pains and she was only 6cm dilated. The doctor recommended epidural to ease the pain. Dana looked at me and I couldn’t tell her what she should do. I felt her pain, but I was not the one in pain. So the only thing I could do was giving her my support. She agreed to it. After epidural, we waited for four more hours. Thankfully, Dana’s mother, sister and brother-in-law arrived around 9:30 to keep us companied. Around midnight, Dana was 9cm dilated. The doctor started to deliver, but his head hadn’t dropped yet. We waited for another forty-five minutes and if his head still not dropped, the doctor had to go with c-section. Fortunately, his head started to drop. It took a number of times, but Dana had done a great job of pushing him out.

The image of him coming out of her and those first loud cries were the moments that I will never forget. It’s like a personal video that plays over and over again in my head.