Welcome to the World, Sonali

It was a typical Wednesday morning -- well, as typical as 4am can be at almost 39 weeks pregnant. Manish woke up with Minal tossing and turning in bed. This time, though, the discomfort didn't go away, and we realized that we might be meeting our baby soon.  

We labored at home for many hours, making slow and steady progress. At around 2pm, things accelerated sharply, producing the nice hockey stick curve investors like to see. As the fast-paced action continued, we realized it would be wise to make our way hospital (though with a slightly different tone at the time - through contractions every other minute, Minal clearly ordered Manish to get into the car immediately). So, the mad dash to the hospital commenced, in hopes that we'd avoid delivering a baby in the car (despite how much fun that seems in sitcoms). Thankfully, we made it in time, and mere minutes after we got into the delivery room, Minal's water broke. The hospital room could best be described as organized chaos and about half an hour later, we met our bundle of joy for the first time.

The box score:

Name: Sonali Mili Sambhu
Time: 4:39pm PDT on October 24th, 2012 (just in time for game 1, Tigers v. Giants)
Weight: 7 lbs, 1 oz
Length: 18 inches

According to the Hindu calendar, Sonali was born on Dusshera - the day that Ram defeated Ravana and also the day that the Goddess Durga defeated the demon king, Mahisasura. It is the day that celebrates the victory of good over evil all over the country. Clearly, we have low expectations of her ;)

It's been a memorable first week for us.  Here's a glimpse of it...

A few more pictures here -- https://picasaweb.google.com/minalandmanish/WelcomeSonali