Welcome Ellie Maria Haberkern!

Ellie Maria Haberkern arrived into the world at 4:48pm on Wednesday, June 17, 2009. She weighed in at a sizable 7 lbs. 8 oz. and was 19 ½ inches long. We can’t believe she’s actually here and bringing us so much joy already. We are in love.

I went into labor early on a rainy Wednesday morning, about 3:45 a.m. I woke up with contractions, coming at regular intervals during those early morning hours. By around 6 a.m., Phil and I decided to start timing them and they were about 10 minutes apart. It seemed that this might be the real thing! By 8 a.m. we had called both Connie in Massachusetts and Hank and Ann in NJ and said, “It’s time!” One funny side note: when I called my parents, I woke my Dad up around 7 a.m. (In his sleepy stupor, when I told him I was in labor, his first response was, “I have to go to the police station to tell them that we’re going to be away for a week.” ?!?! Hilariousness if you know Hank…)

At 8 a.m. we were at the hospital and by 9, we were in our labor and delivery room. I labored for a few hours and decided that at noon, I needed a little more help with the pain. I had an epidural and was able to sleep for a few hours. Things kept progressing and by 3 p.m., I was ready to push. At 4:48 p.m., Ellie Maria Haberkern was born and placed immediately on my chest. She was perfect in every way! Phil was (as always) the best ever during this whole experience.

The hours after Ellie arrived were so special as we got to meet our daughter and the three of us got to spend some time alone together. Here are a few of the pictures from our first hours together.

Hank and Ann arrived around 8:30 p.m. after driving (in the pouring rain) from NJ. Gung (Cantonese for maternal grandfather) and Nannie (what all of our family called my Mom’s mom) were also fell in love at first sight with Ellie.

Around 10:30 p.m., Ellie had one more VIP to meet. Ellie’s Godfather and uncle, Steve, also drove back early from his vacation to see family in New York to meet his goddaughter. We were so happy to see him and lucky to have such a loving godfather who would travel many hours back to Charlottesville for her.

June 17^th was one of the most beautiful days of our life.