First of all, thanks so much everyone for the cards, e-mails and gifts. We very much appreciate all of you, needless to say.

Well, almost 20 days have passed since beautiful Grace was born. She is such a great baby, and Craig and I are so happy. Even when she is sleeping, we just can not take our eyes off from her, you know what I mean. Even her crying makes me happy because I can know she is alive. It is strange but I feel like I am still in a dream once in a while. Giving baby a birth is surely an experience which is very hard, with lot of pain but with a joy never be to compare to anything. Holding still wet Grace in my arms and feeling her warmth gave me a feeling that I had never imagined I would. I will never forget that feeling, Grace's warmth and Craig's face looking at us with teary eyes.

Grace Yuki has been growing up just fine and basically seeing every single change on her is what I do.

Craig is a great Dad already. He helps me a lot with changing diaper (he is a Master), putting Grace into a sleep in the middle of the night with a wicked songs (he is a Professional), and holding Grace in his arms when she is not in a good mood (he is an Expert).

Anyways, Grace's existence has changed everything and we are just happy with this reality. I can't wait to see her growing up and bringing us great joy one and another. I am still a new mom and know there are lots to learn from now on but I know at the same time that I have Craig and Grace Yuki to learn together. New Team Mercer has just launched.

Kana and Grace came home from the hospital today.

We have been just overwhelmed by all of your emails to both regular and cell phone addresses, as well as all of your encouragement on the friends page. In addition we have really cherished being able to visit with some of you via Skype and MSN Messenger. Thank You Very Much.

I posted a few of the photos from the past few days to the Photo Gallery (retired 2012 as the photos are on Facebook)…so enjoy.

Tonight is our first night all at home, and I am sure with less sleep then any of us is used to. Pray for us! 😉

Kana was informed by one of the nurses at Kaizuka Hospital that she got the wrong discharge date. Her and Grace will be coming home on Tuesday, December 27th around 12:00 noon instead of Monday as we originally thought.

Kana is a little impatient about coming home, but I told her that it was quite nice to have all these nurses available to her so she can rest up and be ready for when the real work begins…when the girls get home.

I am just finishing off a video of young Grace Yuki Mercer…and in the video I use the song “Grace” by U2 from the “All That You Can't Leave Behind” album. I thought I might post the lyrics here as I think, I am sure you will agree, are quite awesome.

Grace

by U2

Grace, she takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace makes beauty out of ugly things

Hello Everyone. I am back from the hospital with some more pictures and some more information on how today unfolded. God is good.

Well you should have known all of this by now but my email list failed me.

Grace Yuki Mercer was born this morning at 10:17AM JST. She weighs 2.9KG or 2900 grams.

Kana started having contractions around 3:30AM, when I got up she was like “Hmm Honey…the baby is coming.” So Chie, Mom, Kana and I piled into Chie’s car and headed to Kaizuka Hospital (about a 15 minute drive away). There she was whisked into the delivery room where I joined her soon after. The Nurses and Doctors said that Kana’s delivery was awesome because it was so short and there were no complications. In fact Kana gave a 100% natural child birth…no drugs or nothing…YOU GO MAMA!

Kana will stay in the hospital until Monday the 26th (so we are postponing Christmas until our BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER can make it home from the hospital). It was tough leaving her there tonight, but she is in good hands as is Grace.

So yeah, apparently my mailing list failed this morning so no one got the emails as it happened. YIKES! I have included a copy of the emails I sent from my cell phone:

7:23AM
Okay everyone, Kana has gone into labour and we are heading to the hospital as we speak. I will be emailing updates from my cell phone to this list as things progress. We appreciate your prayers at this crucial time for the Baby Mercer!

8:07AM JST
We just arrived at Kaizuka Hospital. Kana’s contractions are 5 minutes apart! More to follow…

11:11AM JST
Hey! Grace Yuki Mercer was born at 10:17AM JST weighing in at 2.9KG! Mom and Grace are doing GREAT!

5:42PM JST
Grace hanging out! BY THE WAY you can reply to these emails from my cell phone just keep em short! (this email had the Baby Room [see below] picture attached originally)

Okay well there ya go! I think everyone is up to speed now. If you want to email some wishes to Kana you can to her cell phone (she has it at the hospital)! Below are some pictures for your enjoyment! Click them for larger images.

Grace Yuki Mercer joined the family this morning at 10:17AM JST (Japan Standard Time). She weighs 2.9KG and is just great.

We are just heading back up to Kaizuka Hospital now to see Kana and Grace. I will post some more pictures and video when we get back.

I visited the hospital for a regular check-up on November 2nd and we finally got to know the baby is a girl. YET, we still have to have that “There is always a chance of 0.1% happens” in our mind as what happened to us when we got pregnant and my friend Tomo got a baby boy when she had been told she was going to have a girl….

Anyway, the little girl has been growing in my tummy just fine and she weighs 1,932 grams now. I did the ultra sound check at the check-up and a doctor measured the size of the baby's head and waist, the length of the legs and the arms and everything was just perfect as if she was the one on a textbook! When the doctor tried to take a picture of her face, she was facing to a different way, however she turned herself so that we could see her face responding the doctor's request! My Mom and I found she looks like Craig in that picture.

I have been staying in a good health, which is good. Since I had been told I gained too much weight, in Japan women are taught to keep her weight not to gain more than 2kg in a month. By the way, I started to eat lots of beans instead of rice and I think it has been working very good.

Craig and I will have a “Parents Class” on the 19th of November as a preparation for us to do a big thing together on the special day. So we will tell you all about it later. It is going to be fun.

Hey, in Japanese custom we take a new born baby to a shrine to celebrate his/her birth and to wish his/her happiness, and Craig and I have decided we are not going to do it. Now I would like to ask you people who have read this article what do you do when you have a baby in your family in Canada? Is there any custom things? Should we prepare anything? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

Last Sunday, Kana and I got together with her best friends for a burger. There was Tomo, her husband Koichi and their baby Yusuke. Rie was there, a bit tired from work being so busy. Junya and Ai were also there which was great because they became engaged to be married on August 24th (Ai's birthday) and it was our first chance to celebrate with them…WAY TO GO GUYS!

We went to a restaurant at Namba Parks (a big shopping centre in Osaka) called Kua 'Aina (http://www.kua-aina.com/) which is a franchise of the really famous burger joint on the far side of Oahu, Hawaii.

The burgers were huge. Kana and I opted for the Bacon, Lettuce Tomato Sandwiches and they were awesome. Everyone else went for one of the burgers that came with a whole avocado on them. YIKES!

We had a great time eating and shopping in Namba Parks. If you ever get a chance to go to Namba Parks you will not be dissapointed. It is very open and airy with lots of plants and of course excellent stores.

Kua Aina at Namba Parks

KaToRiShiA at Kua Aina