it's been a long time coming...

it's been awhile since i started to entertain the idea of blogging. sort of as a source to keep friends & family in touch with what was going on in our lives, but mostly as a keepsake for maddy, since i realized i was no good at keeping the baby book updated. so i started writing little notes to myself. sometimes on paper, a post it note, or typed up in a word document. all with the intention of putting it into a blog one day.

to get everyone up to speed, here's the cliff notes version of our life the last 2.5-ish years, starting with maddy's birth story:

10/4/07: went to work in the downtown area... walked ALL DAY

10/5/07: i woke up, and noticed some discomfort (aka - contractions!), but went to work anyways (bc i'm THAT dedicated!). pulled up to my first account, and realized i was having contractions, and went home. spent the rest of the day with contractions about every 15-20 minutes.

10/6/07: no contractions all day... feeling great... finishing up (actually, i guess i was watching jessica, janice, & kim finish up) the nursery.

10/7/07:
545am: i woke up to a very strong contraction... went to pee... my water broke... took a shower and shaved my legs...

625am: i called the dr's office... they told me to come in... i wake thach up, say "we need to go to the hospital." he asks why, and i tell him, "bc my water broke!". it was not at all the panicked scene you often see in the movies or on tv. we were very calm and matter-of-fact. thach even asked if he had time to poop first. =)

715am: we arrive at the hospital, and i get checked in

745am: 4cm dilated

815am: i get my epidural - the contractions were bearable, but i was starting to have a lot of back pain. i decided better to get it now, then ask for it later, when the pain was worse, and have to wait bc the dr. was busy

915am: 7-8cm dilated

1030am: still 7-8 cm dilated

1145am: fully dilated

1pm: started pushing

130pm: Happy Birthday, Madelyn Ngoc Lien Hoang!
our little baby debuts, weighing in at 6lbs, 4ozs & 19 inches tall!

the first words out of both of our mouths were "she looks like candace!"

10/9/07: on our 3rd wedding anniversary, we got to bring maddy home. she looked so teeny tiny in her carseat!