Eli turned 4 months last Wednesday and he had his 4 months check up yesterday. He got his second round of shots and he was so brave!
Ever since I went back to work end of November, things have been different at home. Before I went back to work, I was very nervous about leaving Baby E with my MIL. I was worried that he wouldn't adjust well to this change and wouldn't sleep well. So before I went back to work, my MIL came for a few days to learn how to take care of Eli our way lol. I made Danny stay with her the whole day and show her how we take care of Eli. He made sure she understood his nap schedule and his routine. Then it was time for me to go back to work... I was a bit nervous the first week, but then when I see that both Eli and my MIL are adjusting so well.. I was just so happy to get my life back!
During a normal week day, Danny and I both get up around 5:30 - 6 am... I hop into the shower while Danny takes care of the dogs and warms up the bottle. Eli gets his first morning bottle with Danny at around 6am... then around 6:30 when I am all ready for work, I get to play with Eli for about 30 minutes when Danny gets ready. I then leave the house at around 7am and Danny stays with Baby E until my MIL arrives at 7:30am. I usually get home around 3:30pm.
We keep a detailed log of Eli's sleep, eat, and poop schedule. So when I come home, I can easily see how he has slept and ate the whole day and knows when to put him down for bedtime. Eli takes 3-4 naps during the day nowadays. His bedtime is usually around 6 - 6:30pm depending on when he wakes up from his last nap... some days he sleeps before 6pm and some days he sleeps a little later. Overall, he is such a happy and good baby. He is so easy going and it makes our life so much easier. He has been sleeping through the night since when he was 2.5 months old and it's really a blessing.
His naps are still irregular but one thing for sure is that he has at least one long nap a day. It's usually his first morning nap. We keep him on a schedule so his naps are more predictable. He goes down for his first morning nap at around 7:30am and gets up around 9:30am (sometimes later). He gets his second bottle at 10am... then he goes down for his second nap around 11:30am... after that, he eats at 2pm and has one or two more short afternoon naps. When I get home, he is usually napping. I manage to squeeze in a shower before he gets up at around 4pm and then it's play time for us :) I really enjoy spending the two hours with him each afternoon. At around 5pm each day, he either gets a bath (or we just washes his hands), lotion, in preparation for bedtime. He gets his last bottle at around 5:30pm and is usually out by 6:30pm.
I get my alone time after he goes to bed. Nowadays my MIL even washes the bottles for us so I don't even have to do baby dishes anymore! (Umma is the best hehe) Danny usually comes home around 7:30pm so I spend that hour usually lesson planning for the next day. He comes home, we eat dinner, watches a bit of TV and I'm usually out by 9:30pm (I know I am such a granny... but I get sooo tired these days!)
Every morning I wake up feeling very blessed because I get my sleep! haha. It's such a wonderful feeling knowing that when he goes down at night, he is down for good. I get to have my "me" time and my sleep.
Life is a bit hectic most of the time with Baby E... but I am much happier now that I am a working Mom. I love waking up every morning going to work. I love my job.
On weekends, it's always a bit busy. We have to take care of Baby E and run a bunch of errands. On top of that, I usually have to do plenty of lesson planning for the week. Sundays are always hectic because we have church. We are still adjusting to life with a baby but so far... it's going well. We try to have date nights every other Fridays. My sister has been so nice to babysit for us :) She usually comes around 6:30pm and we are usually back before 9pm to get her home.
People always ask- How's it like being a mom? My answer is usually... It's okay... lol.. I wonder if people expect me to say- "Oh it's wonderful being a new mom!".. or "I've never been happier!". I guess I can say that.. but that would be lying lol. Don't get me wrong- I love Eli and he makes me smile and laugh all the time... But it is SO. MUCH. WORK. being a new parent and there are new challenges every day.
One more week of work and then it's Christmas break! Now that I'm working again, I can look forward to vacation time! :)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
12 Weeks Update
Our little Elijah will be 12 weeks this Sunday! Here are some of his updates:
Elijah is definitely more sociable now. He smiles and squeals all the time now! He laughed a few times before but it's hard to make him laugh haha maybe he just doesn't find me funny enough :( he is also getting much stronger. I try to do tummy time with him every day but he absolutely hates it. Once a while though, he doesn't mind as much and I can see that he can hold himself up much better. He also found his fists and constantly sucks on them. The best thing though, is that every time I go in to get him from his nap or in the morning, he would reward me with this giant toothless smile... sometimes he would get so excited that he may even squeal :) He also demands attention nowadays. When left in his bouncer or rocker for too long... he would get unhappy and demands attention from us. I guess he realize we are much more fun than those hanging toys.
His daytime nap has been getting better. As soon as I notice that he is getting quiet (usually an hour and 15 minutes after he has woken up from his last nap), I would swaddle him, put him in his crib, turn the white noise on and leave the room. Most of the time, he would just fall asleep on his own without any fussing.Yay!
He definitely is developing his first morning nap. I can usually count on an hour and half of morning nap. Some days where he is really sleepy, he would sleep for 3 hours! After his first morning nap though, the rest of the day is unpredictable. On a good day, he will have 2 more naps of an hour each and then it will be his bedtime. On a bad day, he will catnap for the rest of the day (20 min - 40 min) until his bedtime. He has also been fighting his bedtime this week. Eli has always been easy to put down for his nighttime sleep. But this week was different. He would protest for over an hour each night! We usually start our bedtime routine at 6ish and his bedtime would be around 6:30 to 7:15 depending on the day. But this whole week he would protest as soon as we put him down all the way until 8pm when he is exhausted from all that crying and fussing. Except today. Today was different. After reading some more books and getting advices from other mommy friends, I decided to push his bedtime earlier thinking he may be too exhausted to sleep at his regular bedtime. So today, he woke up from his last nap at 4:50pm, I quickly warmed up the room and gave him a bath at 5:20, gave him his bottle at 5:30 and he was all ready to go to bed by 6pm. I put him down and he started to protest yet again. I left the room thinking maybe he will go to sleep soon. But no... he screamed for 10 minutes and he spitted up A LOT. So I rushed in to cleaned him up and unswaddled him. I felt terrible because he spitted up so much from all that crying. He stopped crying as soon as I got to him. I put him in his rocker, put on some music with the light dimmed. Left him to do some dishes. The plan was to feed him again at 7:30pm and put him to bed at 8:00pm since he has been falling asleep at 8:00pm every night of this week after crying/fussing for an hour or more. After the dishes, I came into the room and just sat next to him on the glider and started to read my book (healthy sleeping habits, happy child, thanks Tina!).. he was just calmly sucking his fists and looking around the room. Then suddenly from the corner of my eye I saw him slowly closing his eyes! So immediately I swaddled him, placed him in his crib, turn on the white noise, and left the room. He fell asleep immediately and that was 7:00pm! I guess tomorrow, I'll try the same thing, I'll start bedtime routine early.. and just sit with him until he starts to doze off (hopefully) :)
Also, Elijah has been sleeping through the night (hopefully will continue to)! He dropped his night time feeding all together and woke up this morning at 6:45am :) This past week he has been waking up past 5am to eat and this morning totally broke the record! This morning I woke up because Danny kept checking the monitor and I said to him that he doesn't have to worry because we will hear him fuss if he wakes up. He then said to me "I know... I am checking because it's already 6:30am... I have to get up in half an hour to get ready for work.." I was so shocked Eli lasted all the way till 6:45am and he didn't even wake up crying! He woke up and he was happily cooing :)
I can't believe I am going back to work in 3 weeks! It's a bit stressful to even think about going back to work. Mainly because it's going to be so hard leaving Eli during the day. I am going to worry about his sleep! But it's for the best. Afterall, I love my job and I simply can't stand being a stay at home mom. It will surely drive me crazy. Plus, I think I will miss Eli sooo much that our time together will be so much more enjoyable.
Anyhow, it's Friday night and how are we spending it? Danny is bringing home Chipotle and mini cupcakes from Baked By Melissa! We are going to just watch a movie and enjoy some yummy food tonight ;) Oh life with a newborn....
Elijah is definitely more sociable now. He smiles and squeals all the time now! He laughed a few times before but it's hard to make him laugh haha maybe he just doesn't find me funny enough :( he is also getting much stronger. I try to do tummy time with him every day but he absolutely hates it. Once a while though, he doesn't mind as much and I can see that he can hold himself up much better. He also found his fists and constantly sucks on them. The best thing though, is that every time I go in to get him from his nap or in the morning, he would reward me with this giant toothless smile... sometimes he would get so excited that he may even squeal :) He also demands attention nowadays. When left in his bouncer or rocker for too long... he would get unhappy and demands attention from us. I guess he realize we are much more fun than those hanging toys.
His daytime nap has been getting better. As soon as I notice that he is getting quiet (usually an hour and 15 minutes after he has woken up from his last nap), I would swaddle him, put him in his crib, turn the white noise on and leave the room. Most of the time, he would just fall asleep on his own without any fussing.Yay!
He definitely is developing his first morning nap. I can usually count on an hour and half of morning nap. Some days where he is really sleepy, he would sleep for 3 hours! After his first morning nap though, the rest of the day is unpredictable. On a good day, he will have 2 more naps of an hour each and then it will be his bedtime. On a bad day, he will catnap for the rest of the day (20 min - 40 min) until his bedtime. He has also been fighting his bedtime this week. Eli has always been easy to put down for his nighttime sleep. But this week was different. He would protest for over an hour each night! We usually start our bedtime routine at 6ish and his bedtime would be around 6:30 to 7:15 depending on the day. But this whole week he would protest as soon as we put him down all the way until 8pm when he is exhausted from all that crying and fussing. Except today. Today was different. After reading some more books and getting advices from other mommy friends, I decided to push his bedtime earlier thinking he may be too exhausted to sleep at his regular bedtime. So today, he woke up from his last nap at 4:50pm, I quickly warmed up the room and gave him a bath at 5:20, gave him his bottle at 5:30 and he was all ready to go to bed by 6pm. I put him down and he started to protest yet again. I left the room thinking maybe he will go to sleep soon. But no... he screamed for 10 minutes and he spitted up A LOT. So I rushed in to cleaned him up and unswaddled him. I felt terrible because he spitted up so much from all that crying. He stopped crying as soon as I got to him. I put him in his rocker, put on some music with the light dimmed. Left him to do some dishes. The plan was to feed him again at 7:30pm and put him to bed at 8:00pm since he has been falling asleep at 8:00pm every night of this week after crying/fussing for an hour or more. After the dishes, I came into the room and just sat next to him on the glider and started to read my book (healthy sleeping habits, happy child, thanks Tina!).. he was just calmly sucking his fists and looking around the room. Then suddenly from the corner of my eye I saw him slowly closing his eyes! So immediately I swaddled him, placed him in his crib, turn on the white noise, and left the room. He fell asleep immediately and that was 7:00pm! I guess tomorrow, I'll try the same thing, I'll start bedtime routine early.. and just sit with him until he starts to doze off (hopefully) :)
Also, Elijah has been sleeping through the night (hopefully will continue to)! He dropped his night time feeding all together and woke up this morning at 6:45am :) This past week he has been waking up past 5am to eat and this morning totally broke the record! This morning I woke up because Danny kept checking the monitor and I said to him that he doesn't have to worry because we will hear him fuss if he wakes up. He then said to me "I know... I am checking because it's already 6:30am... I have to get up in half an hour to get ready for work.." I was so shocked Eli lasted all the way till 6:45am and he didn't even wake up crying! He woke up and he was happily cooing :)
I can't believe I am going back to work in 3 weeks! It's a bit stressful to even think about going back to work. Mainly because it's going to be so hard leaving Eli during the day. I am going to worry about his sleep! But it's for the best. Afterall, I love my job and I simply can't stand being a stay at home mom. It will surely drive me crazy. Plus, I think I will miss Eli sooo much that our time together will be so much more enjoyable.
Anyhow, it's Friday night and how are we spending it? Danny is bringing home Chipotle and mini cupcakes from Baked By Melissa! We are going to just watch a movie and enjoy some yummy food tonight ;) Oh life with a newborn....
Monday, October 17, 2011
2 Months Update
2 Months Vaccinations
Eli turned 9 weeks yesterday! He had his 2 months vaccinations on Saturday. He was very brave- only cried for a little bit when the doctor was giving him the shots. He seems to like the grape flavor oral vaccine because right after the doctor gave that to him, he stopped crying. We are so very proud of him! :) He didn't have any negative reaction from the vaccines either. He was extra tired and sleepy for the rest of the day and night so he slept a lot.
Play
Eli loves it when I read to him. He looks at the pictures and he talks back and it's like he knows exactly what I'm talking about! He is a chatterbox that's for sure.
Feeding
Eli has always been a slow eater. As a newborn, it would take him on average 40 minutes to finish his bottle. When he is really hungry, he would finish it within 30 minutes. He also spits up a lot so we don't mind him eating so slowly since it's suppose to help with his spit ups. We used playtex drop-ins because it's supposed to help with spit up. Also, their slow flow is VERY SLOW... so as a newborn, we noticed significant improvement in terms of spit ups when we used Playtex.
This past week though, he has been extremely fussy and unhappy during his feedings. He just seems angry when he eats! Because of his fussiness, it takes him at least 45 minutes (sometimes up to an hr) to finish his bottle because he would drink a little and then he would stop to express his anger lol. After talking to a mommy friend, she said her baby (same age as Eli) takes only 10 minutes per feeding! He is on the medium flow right now. So I decided to give playtex medium flow a try on Saturday morning. Turns out that the medium flow is way too fast for our little Eli. As he was eating, there was milk dripping out of his mouth lol. Frustrated from the hour long feedings, we decided to try using other bottles/nipples because other brand nipples' slow flow (level 1) is still going to be faster than playtex. We already have BornFree level 1 bottles at home so we decided to give that a try. Eli finished his feeding without fussing, at a record breaking speed of 20 minutes! Needless to say- we were over the moon. Now the challenge is... is he going to spit up? Turns out that he didn't have any excessive spit up either. So I did more research and decided on buying Dr. Brown's natural flow bottles. It's suppose to be best for spit ups and their level one nipple is very similar to BornFree so it's a good speed for him. The only down side is that there are many parts to this bottle and it takes a long time to wash. Eli has been using Dr. Brown (sometimes BornFree because Danny likes BornFree better- it's smaller and I think it's much cuter haha) and his feeding time is between 15 - 20 minutes! Thank goodness for that... because he eats 6x a day... I am saving myself and him a lot of time by switching nipples/bottles. Now he finishes eating within 20 minutes or so and the rest of his wake time he gets to play :)
Sleep
We moved Eli's bedtime from 7:30pm to 6:30pm because he seems to be overtired by the time we finish our bath and bedtime bottle. So far the new time is working out. He sleeps from 6:30pm all the way till 1am ish for a bottle and then usually wakes up around 4am for a diaper change and wake up around 6am for his morning bottle. I do sneak in a diaper change around 10pm or so before we head to bed so he is comfy and dry (and so we can snooze a little longer). He is usually dead asleep and won't even notice.
His daytime naps are still inconsistent. Some days he would have long naps (1 - 2hrs)... while other days he would catnap all day (20 - 40 mins). He usually takes 4 naps a day (2 morning naps and 2 afternoon naps). If he doesn't sleep enough during the day, he gets extra cranky toward 5pm and it's really difficult to soothe him. Luckily, I know I get a break after 6:30pm because he almost always sleeps well at night. It's really nice to know, no matter how cranky and irritable he is, I know that I can give him a bath at 5:45pm, a bottle at 6pm, and by 6:30pm or so, he is down for the night and I can breathe.
Sleep Training
I've been reading up on sleep training for weeks now. Eli's daytime naps are just horrible. He gets so grumpy when he doesn't nap well. I've been doing everything I can to set up a nap time routine and put him down when he is sleepy but not overtired. Just as I think there is improvement, he would prove me wrong. It's quite frustrating. We plan on sleep training him at 12 weeks so when I go back to work/school after Thanksgiving (he will be 15 weeks by then), it will be easier for my in-laws to take care of Eli. It sucks to hear him cry and he is just so darn stubborn, but perhaps it's the only thing that will work.
Eli turned 9 weeks yesterday! He had his 2 months vaccinations on Saturday. He was very brave- only cried for a little bit when the doctor was giving him the shots. He seems to like the grape flavor oral vaccine because right after the doctor gave that to him, he stopped crying. We are so very proud of him! :) He didn't have any negative reaction from the vaccines either. He was extra tired and sleepy for the rest of the day and night so he slept a lot.
Play
Eli loves it when I read to him. He looks at the pictures and he talks back and it's like he knows exactly what I'm talking about! He is a chatterbox that's for sure.
Feeding
Eli has always been a slow eater. As a newborn, it would take him on average 40 minutes to finish his bottle. When he is really hungry, he would finish it within 30 minutes. He also spits up a lot so we don't mind him eating so slowly since it's suppose to help with his spit ups. We used playtex drop-ins because it's supposed to help with spit up. Also, their slow flow is VERY SLOW... so as a newborn, we noticed significant improvement in terms of spit ups when we used Playtex.
This past week though, he has been extremely fussy and unhappy during his feedings. He just seems angry when he eats! Because of his fussiness, it takes him at least 45 minutes (sometimes up to an hr) to finish his bottle because he would drink a little and then he would stop to express his anger lol. After talking to a mommy friend, she said her baby (same age as Eli) takes only 10 minutes per feeding! He is on the medium flow right now. So I decided to give playtex medium flow a try on Saturday morning. Turns out that the medium flow is way too fast for our little Eli. As he was eating, there was milk dripping out of his mouth lol. Frustrated from the hour long feedings, we decided to try using other bottles/nipples because other brand nipples' slow flow (level 1) is still going to be faster than playtex. We already have BornFree level 1 bottles at home so we decided to give that a try. Eli finished his feeding without fussing, at a record breaking speed of 20 minutes! Needless to say- we were over the moon. Now the challenge is... is he going to spit up? Turns out that he didn't have any excessive spit up either. So I did more research and decided on buying Dr. Brown's natural flow bottles. It's suppose to be best for spit ups and their level one nipple is very similar to BornFree so it's a good speed for him. The only down side is that there are many parts to this bottle and it takes a long time to wash. Eli has been using Dr. Brown (sometimes BornFree because Danny likes BornFree better- it's smaller and I think it's much cuter haha) and his feeding time is between 15 - 20 minutes! Thank goodness for that... because he eats 6x a day... I am saving myself and him a lot of time by switching nipples/bottles. Now he finishes eating within 20 minutes or so and the rest of his wake time he gets to play :)
Sleep
We moved Eli's bedtime from 7:30pm to 6:30pm because he seems to be overtired by the time we finish our bath and bedtime bottle. So far the new time is working out. He sleeps from 6:30pm all the way till 1am ish for a bottle and then usually wakes up around 4am for a diaper change and wake up around 6am for his morning bottle. I do sneak in a diaper change around 10pm or so before we head to bed so he is comfy and dry (and so we can snooze a little longer). He is usually dead asleep and won't even notice.
His daytime naps are still inconsistent. Some days he would have long naps (1 - 2hrs)... while other days he would catnap all day (20 - 40 mins). He usually takes 4 naps a day (2 morning naps and 2 afternoon naps). If he doesn't sleep enough during the day, he gets extra cranky toward 5pm and it's really difficult to soothe him. Luckily, I know I get a break after 6:30pm because he almost always sleeps well at night. It's really nice to know, no matter how cranky and irritable he is, I know that I can give him a bath at 5:45pm, a bottle at 6pm, and by 6:30pm or so, he is down for the night and I can breathe.
Sleep Training
I've been reading up on sleep training for weeks now. Eli's daytime naps are just horrible. He gets so grumpy when he doesn't nap well. I've been doing everything I can to set up a nap time routine and put him down when he is sleepy but not overtired. Just as I think there is improvement, he would prove me wrong. It's quite frustrating. We plan on sleep training him at 12 weeks so when I go back to work/school after Thanksgiving (he will be 15 weeks by then), it will be easier for my in-laws to take care of Eli. It sucks to hear him cry and he is just so darn stubborn, but perhaps it's the only thing that will work.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Sleeping Through The Night Soon?
Eli lasted 8 hours last night in between feedings! We've been having our bedtime routine at around 6 PM the past week... but we realized it's too early for him b/c he would wake up after 45 minutes thinking it was just a nap. But when we start our routine at around 7PM, he would sleep through fine. So we started our bedtime routine at 7 PM last night with a bath, lotion, bottle (7:30 PM), swaddle, white noise, a song... He fell asleep around 8 PM and started fussing at about 1:45 AM so I quickly changed his diaper... then he woke up crying at 3:15 AM to eat! That's almost 8 hours! We were so surprised and not sure what had happened. Usually he would only last 5 - 5 1/2 hours at night. Now the challenge is to get him to drop this 3 AM feeding. I wish he would either feed before midnight or in the morning.
Should I wake him up before midnight to feed? Or should I just let him naturally adjust himself as he gets older? Either way, we are super happy! We get to eat dinner peacefully and had some alone time together :)
Should I wake him up before midnight to feed? Or should I just let him naturally adjust himself as he gets older? Either way, we are super happy! We get to eat dinner peacefully and had some alone time together :)
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Life with a newborn
Phew! I haven't blogged for so long and it's because Eli is a handful to take care of lol
Doula
Our doula left three weeks ago and it's been a struggle without her. She was setting Eli up for failure by holding him 24/7 and rocking him to sleep. Eli wasn't even sleeping in his crib toward the end of her stay! We knew something has to be done so I asked her to leave early. Boy was it tough without her! We were so happy that she left but yet at the same time... things were so rough without an extra pair of hands around the house.
Night Time Sleep
Eli needed to be held constantly and we were both so sleep deprived and stressed. Slowly but surely though with some patience, he got better each day. Now we have our bed time routine and if we are lucky, he is in bed in his crib around 7 - 8 pm and he would feed every 5 hours at night and his wake time would be around 7 - 8 am.
Daytime Naps
Eli is a wonderful sleeper at night but he is a terrible napper during the day. At first, he would fall asleep in my arms and wake up wailing only a few minutes after I put him down in his crib. It drove me insane! I couldn't even eat during the day. But now, things are much better. I would go through our nap time routine (swaddle, white noise, a song, holding and soothing) and I would put him down in his crib sleepy but still awake... most of the time he would drift off to sleep on his own! It's happening more and more frequently. This is resulting in longer naps because when he wakes up from his nap prematurely, he is able to soothe himself back to sleep (half of the time anyway).
He used to only catnap (15 - 30 minutes) during the day but now... he would wake up 30 - 45 minutes into his nap, fuss at bit, then drift back to sleep on his own. I stare at the monitor like a hawk because I have to mark down his wake time so I know when to soothe him back to sleep for his next nap. Needless to say, taking care of a baby is a full time job. I can't really nap through out the day because as soon as he fusses and makes a sound, I have to see if he is waking up or he is going back to sleep. It's like he has a built in radar.. as soon as I start to fall asleep.. he would fuss and wake me up!
It is so draining to care for a newborn but luckily he is getting better each and every day. He will be 8 weeks old tomorrow and we can't wait till he drops his nighttime bottle. We are hoping that he would stretch it out for 6 hours between feedings this week... we'll see how that goes.
Feedings
Eli needs to feed every 3 hours or so during the day and 5 hours during nighttime. He eats about 5oz each time. He is a very slow eater though... on average it takes him 40 minutes to finish his feeding including all the burps etc. When he is REALLY hungry, he drinks it all in 20 minutes. He loves to fall asleep during feeding. We try to feed him when he first wake up so he is more alert and we've been trying our best to keep him awake since it's a bad habit to have... but it's just so darn hard to keep this baby awake when all he wants is sleep when he eats!
Play
Eli is definitely getting more and more fun when he is awake. He loves to smile, coo, and even attempts to talk back to you. It's really a lot of fun when he is awake. He loves his play matt and spends a lot of time on it playing by himself. He also likes his mobile a lot... when he wakes up in the morning I would catch him laughing at the mobile by himself haha
It's so hard caring for a newborn but we are slowly getting the hang of things and hoping all of us will adjust well eventually :)
Doula
Our doula left three weeks ago and it's been a struggle without her. She was setting Eli up for failure by holding him 24/7 and rocking him to sleep. Eli wasn't even sleeping in his crib toward the end of her stay! We knew something has to be done so I asked her to leave early. Boy was it tough without her! We were so happy that she left but yet at the same time... things were so rough without an extra pair of hands around the house.
Night Time Sleep
Eli needed to be held constantly and we were both so sleep deprived and stressed. Slowly but surely though with some patience, he got better each day. Now we have our bed time routine and if we are lucky, he is in bed in his crib around 7 - 8 pm and he would feed every 5 hours at night and his wake time would be around 7 - 8 am.
Daytime Naps
Eli is a wonderful sleeper at night but he is a terrible napper during the day. At first, he would fall asleep in my arms and wake up wailing only a few minutes after I put him down in his crib. It drove me insane! I couldn't even eat during the day. But now, things are much better. I would go through our nap time routine (swaddle, white noise, a song, holding and soothing) and I would put him down in his crib sleepy but still awake... most of the time he would drift off to sleep on his own! It's happening more and more frequently. This is resulting in longer naps because when he wakes up from his nap prematurely, he is able to soothe himself back to sleep (half of the time anyway).
He used to only catnap (15 - 30 minutes) during the day but now... he would wake up 30 - 45 minutes into his nap, fuss at bit, then drift back to sleep on his own. I stare at the monitor like a hawk because I have to mark down his wake time so I know when to soothe him back to sleep for his next nap. Needless to say, taking care of a baby is a full time job. I can't really nap through out the day because as soon as he fusses and makes a sound, I have to see if he is waking up or he is going back to sleep. It's like he has a built in radar.. as soon as I start to fall asleep.. he would fuss and wake me up!
It is so draining to care for a newborn but luckily he is getting better each and every day. He will be 8 weeks old tomorrow and we can't wait till he drops his nighttime bottle. We are hoping that he would stretch it out for 6 hours between feedings this week... we'll see how that goes.
Feedings
Eli needs to feed every 3 hours or so during the day and 5 hours during nighttime. He eats about 5oz each time. He is a very slow eater though... on average it takes him 40 minutes to finish his feeding including all the burps etc. When he is REALLY hungry, he drinks it all in 20 minutes. He loves to fall asleep during feeding. We try to feed him when he first wake up so he is more alert and we've been trying our best to keep him awake since it's a bad habit to have... but it's just so darn hard to keep this baby awake when all he wants is sleep when he eats!
Play
Eli is definitely getting more and more fun when he is awake. He loves to smile, coo, and even attempts to talk back to you. It's really a lot of fun when he is awake. He loves his play matt and spends a lot of time on it playing by himself. He also likes his mobile a lot... when he wakes up in the morning I would catch him laughing at the mobile by himself haha
It's so hard caring for a newborn but we are slowly getting the hang of things and hoping all of us will adjust well eventually :)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
My First Love
Ewok was my first love. He was my baby before little Eli. Things have been different since we came back from the hospital. We have to crate them whenever Eli is awake to make sure the pups don't get into his room and/or near him. When I take naps, I have to take them in the room with me and crate them. When they play with each other, we have to make sure they don't bark and/or growl too loud. I don't pet them as much anymore because I am afraid to get germs on Eli. When guests come over, they are not allowed to be out like they used to be. The only time they are really free is when Danny comes home from work. They seem to be doing alright but I feel really guilty.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Week 2
Elijah Cole experienced his first hurricane yesterday and he is 2 weeks old today! :)
We went for our 2nd doctor's visit yesterday. Eli weights about 8lbs and 4oz now. He had slight jaundice last week but it's going away nicely... so we don't need to put him in the sun anymore. His belly button came off! Our doula asked if we want to keep it... it's still sitting on the changing table haha... we are not sure if we want to keep it still lol. He spits up a lot and seems to be very uncomfortable during feedings so Dr thinks he may have acid reflux (poor baby!) and suggested that we put 2 tsp of rice cereal in every 4 oz of milk when we feed him. This will thicken the milk and helps the milk stay in his tummy. We tried it yesterday and I think it's working. He doesn't arch his back anymore when we feed him and the doula said he spits up less. Eli also developed a diaper rash over the past few days :( doula blames it on my breast milk because breast fed babies poop a lot more than formula fed babies. So we are now taking a break from breast milk (I've just been freezing them) and giving him formula. It's been about 2 days he's only been on formula and I think we are going to give him breast milk today. His rash is getting better and hopefully it won't come back.
Breastfeeding- pretty much I'm a breastfeeding failure. He wouldn't latch on at all now. We think it's because he is used to bottle feeding. He has no patience to latch on and work for his food. He probably has nipple confusion too... sighs... Every time I try to breastfeed him he would cry hysterically and simply refuses... we are not sure what to do anymore...
Pumping- the good news is that I've been pumping and my milk supply has been increasing every day. A week ago, I was only pumping 11oz per day... getting about 1oz per session (2oz during my morning session). Now, I am pumping about 24 oz and getting about 2 - 4 oz per session depending on the time of the day and how much liquid I drank. I pump every 2 - 3 hours and I definitely notice a decrease in my supply when I stretch it longer than 3 hours. It's A LOT of work to pump 9 times a day. There are so many pumping parts to wash and pumping itself is so time consuming! I try to pump for 20 minutes each session and including getting the parts ready and cleaning up it takes about 30 minutes each session. With the doula here, she cleans and boils the parts but I can't imagine doing it all myself after she leaves. That's why I've been trying to get Eli to breastfeed but it's a total disaster.
Recovery- I still have a belly! lol I ordered belly bandit and it should arrive on Monday... I'm hoping it'll work hehe. My fingers are still swollen.. can you believe it? Good news is that my bleeding pretty much stopped this week. I'm recovery well and I feel normal. I am more tired than usual... perhaps it's all the middle of the night pumping sessions. I try to nap in between my pumping sessions during the day but it's hard since it's so time consuming. Everyone is telling me that I need to lie down during the day but it's really hard since I pump 9 times a day and I still have to get up when the doula needs help with the baby (i.e. when she is cooking).
Countdown- even though the doula is great for middle of the night feedings, we can't wait for her to leave! We can't wait to be able to do things the way we want and don't have to listen to her nag (Danny doesn't have to listen to her because she only speaks Chinese but he does have to deal with my bad mood afterwards lol) On our mac, we have this countdown app showing how many days till she leaves and as of today- 17 days :)
Community- I love Community! Danny downloaded all the episodes and we have been watching it during our down time :) My favorite character is Abed.
We went for our 2nd doctor's visit yesterday. Eli weights about 8lbs and 4oz now. He had slight jaundice last week but it's going away nicely... so we don't need to put him in the sun anymore. His belly button came off! Our doula asked if we want to keep it... it's still sitting on the changing table haha... we are not sure if we want to keep it still lol. He spits up a lot and seems to be very uncomfortable during feedings so Dr thinks he may have acid reflux (poor baby!) and suggested that we put 2 tsp of rice cereal in every 4 oz of milk when we feed him. This will thicken the milk and helps the milk stay in his tummy. We tried it yesterday and I think it's working. He doesn't arch his back anymore when we feed him and the doula said he spits up less. Eli also developed a diaper rash over the past few days :( doula blames it on my breast milk because breast fed babies poop a lot more than formula fed babies. So we are now taking a break from breast milk (I've just been freezing them) and giving him formula. It's been about 2 days he's only been on formula and I think we are going to give him breast milk today. His rash is getting better and hopefully it won't come back.
Breastfeeding- pretty much I'm a breastfeeding failure. He wouldn't latch on at all now. We think it's because he is used to bottle feeding. He has no patience to latch on and work for his food. He probably has nipple confusion too... sighs... Every time I try to breastfeed him he would cry hysterically and simply refuses... we are not sure what to do anymore...
Pumping- the good news is that I've been pumping and my milk supply has been increasing every day. A week ago, I was only pumping 11oz per day... getting about 1oz per session (2oz during my morning session). Now, I am pumping about 24 oz and getting about 2 - 4 oz per session depending on the time of the day and how much liquid I drank. I pump every 2 - 3 hours and I definitely notice a decrease in my supply when I stretch it longer than 3 hours. It's A LOT of work to pump 9 times a day. There are so many pumping parts to wash and pumping itself is so time consuming! I try to pump for 20 minutes each session and including getting the parts ready and cleaning up it takes about 30 minutes each session. With the doula here, she cleans and boils the parts but I can't imagine doing it all myself after she leaves. That's why I've been trying to get Eli to breastfeed but it's a total disaster.
Recovery- I still have a belly! lol I ordered belly bandit and it should arrive on Monday... I'm hoping it'll work hehe. My fingers are still swollen.. can you believe it? Good news is that my bleeding pretty much stopped this week. I'm recovery well and I feel normal. I am more tired than usual... perhaps it's all the middle of the night pumping sessions. I try to nap in between my pumping sessions during the day but it's hard since it's so time consuming. Everyone is telling me that I need to lie down during the day but it's really hard since I pump 9 times a day and I still have to get up when the doula needs help with the baby (i.e. when she is cooking).
Countdown- even though the doula is great for middle of the night feedings, we can't wait for her to leave! We can't wait to be able to do things the way we want and don't have to listen to her nag (Danny doesn't have to listen to her because she only speaks Chinese but he does have to deal with my bad mood afterwards lol) On our mac, we have this countdown app showing how many days till she leaves and as of today- 17 days :)
Community- I love Community! Danny downloaded all the episodes and we have been watching it during our down time :) My favorite character is Abed.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
First Week At Home
Elijah is a week old today! :) Time sure flies when you have a newborn. All the days seem to be combined together as one long day. Even though we have a doula, I still feel so overwhelmed.
Hospital Stay- When we were at the hospital, the nurses were very overbearing. They came into our room every 2-3 hours to wake us up to breastfeed Eli. We were both exhausted and Eli was not interested in feeding at all during the first day. The nurses were also very pushy about breastfeeding. They said we should not bottle feed Eli until breastfeeding has been established. Meaning he should be exclusively breastfeeding for a few weeks before being introduced to a bottle. I understand the importance of breastfeeding and would love for Eli to breastfeed exclusively but Eli has a vigorous appetite and my milk didn't come yet. After being seen by the pediatrician at the hospital, she said we have to feed him formula. The nurses and lactation consultants (three of them) made us feel guilty about feeding Eli formula but we felt it was the right thing to do. During the second day, Eli was already drinking 2 ounces! There was no way my breastmilk alone would satisfy his appetite since I only had colostrum at that time.
I also had a lot of trouble sleeping at the hospital. We had Eli with us in the room during the day and we opted to send him to the nursery at night time (11PM - 7AM). The nurses of course made us feel guilty about sending him to the nursery at night but I was so drained physically and Danny went home during the nights to take care of things. Even with Eli at the nursery I couldn't fall asleep. I asked the nurse for Benadryl at night so I can sleep better.
Semi-private vs. Private- Our insurance only covers semi-private rooms but we were set on getting a private room. One of the nurses at Mary's office told us that we should ask for a semi-private anyway because if they run out of semi-private rooms then they will have to give us a private room for free. So when the nurse asked us if we wanted a semi-private or private, I asked her if there are any semi-private rooms available. She said yes there are semi-private rooms available. In my head I was like... darn it! hehe I was hoping for a free private room! She left for a little bit to check for us and when she came back, she said she got us a really nice room. We went up to our room and it was a private room! Just to make sure, I had to ask her again... this is a semi-private room? Turns out that there were so many empty rooms in the hospital that night, she hooked us up with a private room (sharing a bathroom with the room next door) for free!
Recovery- Because of the stress from the hospital stay and being extremely sleep deprived, I was physically and emotionally drained. For the first few days home I was extremely weepy and pretty much could cry on cue. I also had trouble falling asleep. I never had trouble sleeping before, not even when I was extremely pregnant with Eli at the end. It would take me a good half an hour to an hour to fall asleep and I would wake up after only a few hours later. I think I was just very tense and still very overwhelmed with the idea of having a newborn with us. Slowly but surely I was able to fall asleep easier. By Friday, I was pretty much back to normal. Danny said that night I fell asleep right away and started to snore haha.
In terms of pain... during my hospital stay, I was taking Motrin every 6 hours to management the discomfort from labor. After 24 hours, I felt aches everywhere and I realized it was from all that pushing lol. My entire body ached as if I snowboarded for days. I also developed a headache on Day 2 and the doctors think it could be from the Epi. Since it wasn't intolerable, I opted not to receive any treatment. I just drank a lot of fluid and lied down a lot. The headache went away after a few days on its own. After I got home, I stopped the Motrin because I didn't need it anymore. I feel pretty normal... just a bit tired from time to time.
Cultural Differences- My family gave me additional stress during this period. As soon as I got home, the house was full of people- my mom, my sister, grandparents, and doula. They were having a blast making food and checking the baby out. I just wanted to rest. They bombarded me with all their advices. I was not allowed to drink or touch anything cold (I understand the logic behind it so I was OK with this). I was not allowed to drink any water except for ginger tea. I had to cover up my whole body from head to toe... it's 80 degrees outside! They wouldn't let me turn on the AC (finally they let me later but the temperature has to be above 78). I have to be on bed rest the whole time. Every time I moved out of my bed they would yell at me. I wasn't even allow to sit up. The worst is that I am not allowed to shower... !@#$%^&* (Don't worry, I sneaked in a shower today when my doula was sleeping haha... It was the best feeling ever... phew!)
My parents hired us a doula to cook for us and take care of the baby. I've never met the doula before because my mom had booked her before even asking me. She is a 65 yr old Chinese lady that doesn't speak a word of English. She is a bit slow and resistant to our wishes. We want her to use the playtex bottles for Eli because he tends to spit up a lot. She has never seen that before so she was resistant to use it. She complained that he eats too slow using this bottle (we use the slow flow nipple) and the bottle is annoying to use (because you have to squeeze the air out before each feeding and every time he stops to burp, you have to squeeze the air out again). I had to repeat myself a number of times to make sure she follows what we wanted. She also complained about how often Eli poops lol as if newborn is not supposed to poop! To sum it up, she is very stubborn to her own ways and it's a challenge to get her to do things the way we want to. But we are getting the hang of it and now she is being more and more cooperative.
The food that I am allowed to eat are very limited. I've been on a very strict diet. Danny tries to sneak in some foods for me here and there. Last night I had a quiznos sandwich while the doula was sleeping haha and tonight I am going to ask him to get me some Italian food
Breastfeeding- I pretty much pump exclusively. Elijah only latches onto my right boob and he is a very impatient eater so after feeding on my breast for a few minutes he would cry for more. My milk came in 3 days after birth. At first I was only getting half an ounce and I was pumping every 3 hours. Every day, my milk production will increase a bit. Now, I'm getting 1 - 2 ounces each pumping session and I pump every 1.5 to 2 hours during the day. I skip my middle of the night pumping session because I'm too sleepy. We tried doing the middle of the night pumping at first but we decided it's just too hard and not worth that ounces of milk. Eli eats a total of 28 ounces of milk each day (3 - 4 ounces each feeding) and he gets breast milk 2 - 3 times a day. I really hope my milk volume will increase so he can get most of his milk intake from me. I only plan on pumping until I go back to work (after thanksgiving)... we'll see how that works out.
Hospital Stay- When we were at the hospital, the nurses were very overbearing. They came into our room every 2-3 hours to wake us up to breastfeed Eli. We were both exhausted and Eli was not interested in feeding at all during the first day. The nurses were also very pushy about breastfeeding. They said we should not bottle feed Eli until breastfeeding has been established. Meaning he should be exclusively breastfeeding for a few weeks before being introduced to a bottle. I understand the importance of breastfeeding and would love for Eli to breastfeed exclusively but Eli has a vigorous appetite and my milk didn't come yet. After being seen by the pediatrician at the hospital, she said we have to feed him formula. The nurses and lactation consultants (three of them) made us feel guilty about feeding Eli formula but we felt it was the right thing to do. During the second day, Eli was already drinking 2 ounces! There was no way my breastmilk alone would satisfy his appetite since I only had colostrum at that time.
I also had a lot of trouble sleeping at the hospital. We had Eli with us in the room during the day and we opted to send him to the nursery at night time (11PM - 7AM). The nurses of course made us feel guilty about sending him to the nursery at night but I was so drained physically and Danny went home during the nights to take care of things. Even with Eli at the nursery I couldn't fall asleep. I asked the nurse for Benadryl at night so I can sleep better.
Semi-private vs. Private- Our insurance only covers semi-private rooms but we were set on getting a private room. One of the nurses at Mary's office told us that we should ask for a semi-private anyway because if they run out of semi-private rooms then they will have to give us a private room for free. So when the nurse asked us if we wanted a semi-private or private, I asked her if there are any semi-private rooms available. She said yes there are semi-private rooms available. In my head I was like... darn it! hehe I was hoping for a free private room! She left for a little bit to check for us and when she came back, she said she got us a really nice room. We went up to our room and it was a private room! Just to make sure, I had to ask her again... this is a semi-private room? Turns out that there were so many empty rooms in the hospital that night, she hooked us up with a private room (sharing a bathroom with the room next door) for free!
Recovery- Because of the stress from the hospital stay and being extremely sleep deprived, I was physically and emotionally drained. For the first few days home I was extremely weepy and pretty much could cry on cue. I also had trouble falling asleep. I never had trouble sleeping before, not even when I was extremely pregnant with Eli at the end. It would take me a good half an hour to an hour to fall asleep and I would wake up after only a few hours later. I think I was just very tense and still very overwhelmed with the idea of having a newborn with us. Slowly but surely I was able to fall asleep easier. By Friday, I was pretty much back to normal. Danny said that night I fell asleep right away and started to snore haha.
In terms of pain... during my hospital stay, I was taking Motrin every 6 hours to management the discomfort from labor. After 24 hours, I felt aches everywhere and I realized it was from all that pushing lol. My entire body ached as if I snowboarded for days. I also developed a headache on Day 2 and the doctors think it could be from the Epi. Since it wasn't intolerable, I opted not to receive any treatment. I just drank a lot of fluid and lied down a lot. The headache went away after a few days on its own. After I got home, I stopped the Motrin because I didn't need it anymore. I feel pretty normal... just a bit tired from time to time.
Cultural Differences- My family gave me additional stress during this period. As soon as I got home, the house was full of people- my mom, my sister, grandparents, and doula. They were having a blast making food and checking the baby out. I just wanted to rest. They bombarded me with all their advices. I was not allowed to drink or touch anything cold (I understand the logic behind it so I was OK with this). I was not allowed to drink any water except for ginger tea. I had to cover up my whole body from head to toe... it's 80 degrees outside! They wouldn't let me turn on the AC (finally they let me later but the temperature has to be above 78). I have to be on bed rest the whole time. Every time I moved out of my bed they would yell at me. I wasn't even allow to sit up. The worst is that I am not allowed to shower... !@#$%^&* (Don't worry, I sneaked in a shower today when my doula was sleeping haha... It was the best feeling ever... phew!)
My parents hired us a doula to cook for us and take care of the baby. I've never met the doula before because my mom had booked her before even asking me. She is a 65 yr old Chinese lady that doesn't speak a word of English. She is a bit slow and resistant to our wishes. We want her to use the playtex bottles for Eli because he tends to spit up a lot. She has never seen that before so she was resistant to use it. She complained that he eats too slow using this bottle (we use the slow flow nipple) and the bottle is annoying to use (because you have to squeeze the air out before each feeding and every time he stops to burp, you have to squeeze the air out again). I had to repeat myself a number of times to make sure she follows what we wanted. She also complained about how often Eli poops lol as if newborn is not supposed to poop! To sum it up, she is very stubborn to her own ways and it's a challenge to get her to do things the way we want to. But we are getting the hang of it and now she is being more and more cooperative.
The food that I am allowed to eat are very limited. I've been on a very strict diet. Danny tries to sneak in some foods for me here and there. Last night I had a quiznos sandwich while the doula was sleeping haha and tonight I am going to ask him to get me some Italian food
Breastfeeding- I pretty much pump exclusively. Elijah only latches onto my right boob and he is a very impatient eater so after feeding on my breast for a few minutes he would cry for more. My milk came in 3 days after birth. At first I was only getting half an ounce and I was pumping every 3 hours. Every day, my milk production will increase a bit. Now, I'm getting 1 - 2 ounces each pumping session and I pump every 1.5 to 2 hours during the day. I skip my middle of the night pumping session because I'm too sleepy. We tried doing the middle of the night pumping at first but we decided it's just too hard and not worth that ounces of milk. Eli eats a total of 28 ounces of milk each day (3 - 4 ounces each feeding) and he gets breast milk 2 - 3 times a day. I really hope my milk volume will increase so he can get most of his milk intake from me. I only plan on pumping until I go back to work (after thanksgiving)... we'll see how that works out.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Danny's Labor Story
1. what happened – Saturday (13th) was supposed to be a normal Saturday. Normal as in the doctors appointment, a shake shack lunch and then we go home and just relax and wait for the baby to come.
Instead, it was a Saturday where I get a phone call from Reg heading back to the car (i wait in the car cuz dr. mary doesn’t let me in for any intrusive examinations which is something I will talk about later). Reg says we have to go to the hospital. I said what? And she repeats what she says. And I just say nooo you’re joking.
Turns out that we were a bit more lax than we should have been. Reg had a leak in her water and so she had to be induced to reduce any chance of infection spreading to the fetus.
2. hospital or doctors office - I quickly decide we should go back home first and grab our bags and head back out again. Reg wasn’t sure what to do because dr. mary seemed concerned. While driving back home, I called my dad and asked him if he could drive us to the hospital. He replied it’s Saturday you know I’m busy on Saturday. So I just said okay got it, hung up and went back to focus on driving. I got a call back a few minutes later from my dad saying okay I’ll drive you to the hospital, when should I come? I just said I’ll call you when I get home.
So when we got home (20 minutes from Chinatown to our house!), I called my parents to come and quickly asked jeff to take care of the dogs. When my parents came, my mom rushed in and asked are you guys having the baby? I said YES WHY ON EARTH WOULD I CALL YOU TO DRIVE US TO THE HOSPITALLL!! She yells back at me you should have said that you were going to have the baby, we thought you were talking about the doctors office! DUH! I guess Korean word for that is interchangeable.
3. familiarizing yourself – for those that know me, many find me jaded. Not much really surprises me. I’ve pretty much seen it all – either in real life or on tv. I have seen the miracle of life in high school and all those annoying TLC tv shows that reg watches. However, I do think dr. mary should really consider men being included into the doctor visits (unless otherwise requested by the preggo mom). I was a bit shy to peak in when his head was in the birth canal but part of it had to do with dr. mary’s not allowing me to go into the doctor’s appointment. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed or even suppose to take a peak even when she asked me to.
The only thing I couldn’t handle was the episiotomy. I had to cringe and look away. The other thing that I remember was the pain in reg’s face when dr. mary pulled the placenta out. -__-
I have to say I have a new respect for reg. she’s a damn trooper. I cannot believe what I saw. I swear all I need to do is go to war and I’ve seen it all.
4. holding back – so when we got back home on Tuesday, I admitted to reg that I had to hold back laughing during her pushing. For a while, I was quiet due to the slight uneasiness being in a new situation but I was getting the hang of it. I realized that reg’s cue that she was going to have a contraction was “ marryyyy…. Oh mary I have to poop”. And she kept saying it EVERY time and every time she pushed she made great progress. At one point, I just couldn’t hold it in and I had to hold back a small laugh. Lol
5. penis! – yea it’s a boy. But like many have asked and know, I never cared what it was.
6. Elijah – another reason to smile more.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
My Labor Story
Here it goes...
On Wednesday night (August 10th), I was having pretty consistent contractions but they were not painful. They felt like menstrual cramps and I was able to fall asleep fine so I didn't think much of it. Thursday morning comes and I noticed I had very watery discharge. I have been having very mucusy discharge all week long and suddenly it changed to a bit watery so I thought it may be that my water broke. I waited and see if it would soak my pad but I only had to change my liner once a day so I didn't think I was leaking water. Then on Saturday morning, we went in for our doctor's appointment. As soon as Dr. Wong checked me, she said that I am leaking water and my water had broke. She used the sonogram to see how Baby Lee was doing in there and she said I am low on water but Baby seems to be doing just fine. Then she told me that we are going to have the baby today!
She had to repeat that sentence a few times because I was so shocked. She told me that we need to head to the hospital and she will meet us there once I get hooked up. She seemed a bit concerned about the fact that my water may have broken on Thursday morning and it was already Saturday morning. But she reassured me that Baby seems to be doing fine, we just have to quickly get him out of me.
I left the office and I nervously called Danny (he was waiting at the car since parking was an issue that morning) and told him what Mary said to me. He thought I was joking at first lol and once I got into the car he realized that we are going to have Baby Lee that day and I think he got pretty nervous as well. We had packed our hospital bags but we did not bring it with us to the appointment (I know... we should of been more prepared) so we had to drive home first to get the bags. When we got home, I finished packing the bags while Danny prepared the dog foods for the next day so Jeff can feed the pups while we were gone (Thanks Jeff!). Appa, Umma, and Lydia arrived a few minutes later and they drove us to the hospital. On the way to the hospital I was quite nervous since Baby Lee could get an infection! I prayed to God that He would keep Baby Lee safe.
We arrived at the hospital at 11AM (speedy considering we left the doctor's office at 10) and the floor seems to be very quite. We gave all the paper work to be admitted and we had to wait for about 20 minutes for them to bring us in to a labor and delivery room. Since Mary had already called them so they were expecting me and they didn't have to check me or anything. Everything went very slowly... the nurses were working at a very slow pace I think because there were only the 3 of us on the labor and delivery floor. The nurses took their time asking me a long list of questions about my pregnancy and my preferences. They hooked me up on the IV (It was not bad at all, just like if I were to get my blood drawn), gave me antibiotics through the IV because my water had broke on Thursday and I am GBS positive, and started me on pitocin to induce labor. All that was done by about 2:30PM. The nurses and doctors would ask me if I have any questions and I really only had one question - when can I get my epidural ( lol I know I know, I am such a wimp). So even though I was not in pain they started me off on the epidural right away. Danny was not allowed to be in the room so he left the room at around 2:45PM and I was done by 3:15PM. I thought the epidural would of been really painful but it was not bad at all. It really just felt like a pinch on my back and that was it. I had to sit very still the whole time but it wasn't an issue because I wasn't feeling any contractions. After the epidural was administered they hooked me up on a catheter so my urine can be drained. I can still feel the touching down there but it wasn't painful (perhaps the epidural had kicked in already). Just as I was asking the nurse how does the catheter work, I saw the bag filling up with my urine @.@ It was quite embarrassing.
I felt numb pretty much right away and the anesthesiologist was surprised at how sensitive I am to the drug, so she lowered the maintenance level to about 12. From that point on, we were just waiting for labor to progress. Mary came shortly after and she broke the rest of my water. It didn't hurt and it soaked up a lot of wee wee pads. Apparently I had a high pinch leak so Baby Lee must of pinched a hole up top of the uterus so it started to leak but there were still a bubble of water. At that point I was about 2cm dilated. After getting all hooked up, I asked Danny to pray for us. We both cried a bit.
We were instructed to sleep and wait for labor to progress. At about 6:30PM or so, I started to feel my contractions. Mary came in right around that time to check me and she said I was about 3cm dilated. I mentioned to her that I am feeling some cramps and she asked to make sure I am not feeling pressure since epidural does not get rid of the pressure feeling. I explained to her that these feel like menstrual cramps so she had the anesthesiologist come in to check on me. The original person went home already and a more senior anesthesiologist came in to check on me. He said that I was "shallow" and asked me if I would want my epidural to be re-done. I quickly said yes because I do not want to feel any pain! The contractions were just like bad menstrual cramps but I cannot imagine how it would be like once I am in active labor (>4cm). There was a part of me that was really afraid that I am one of those few people that the epidural won't work on me but I was hoping for the best at this point. Danny had to leave the room again so this time he went out and got a bite. The room is fulled of people now- a nurse, Mary, two anesthesiologists. I didn't feel much of anything when they put the needle in this time. But the strange thing was, I didn't feel the numbing sensation right away this time whereas the first time I felt numb right away. So I waited 15 minutes and finally it started to kick in. My legs were getting heavy but only a tiny bit. I definitely don't feel my contractions anymore. I was praying to God that this would work because I know I am going to be in active labor soon.
By around 9PM I was barely 4cm dilated, I started to feel some pain/pressure only on my right side. I was like... great... the epidural didn't work again!?! I told the nurse and the anesthesiologist came in to check on me. She told me that I should be laying on my right side so the epidural can drip to the right side as well. After half an hour of that, we know that the epidural is definitely wearing off so she gave me another dose and thankfully that worked till midnight.
By midnight I was about 6 - 7 cm dilated and I was feeling a lot of pressure from every contraction. I didn't want to get another dose of epidural because it slows down labor since it relaxes the uterus. At the point I just wanted to get it over with. So I sucked it up and tried to just wait it out. Then by 1, the pressure was pretty severe and I called Mary to check me again. Finally, I was fully dilated. I could not believe how fast that progressed. Now it's time to push!
I started pushing at 1: 20AM. It was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. I was feeling every contraction. There was just a lot of pressure. I didn't feel the pain though because I still have the epidural and Mary did not need to turn it down. The best way to describe the feeling is that I really really have to poop and I am very constipated. lol Mary was coaching me how to push and at one point I wasn't pushing correctly so we stopped and she made sure I was using my abdominal muscles. Every time I felt a contraction coming up, I would say "I have to poop... Mary! I have to poop.." lol now it's really funny but it was not at that moment. I was also sweating a lot from all the pushing and Danny was very sweet the whole time wiping my sweat away and giving me gentle encouragements. After about 30 minutes of pushing, I asked Mary if she can just take him out. Mary said: "Oh no, you are going to delivery this baby vaginally, that's why I let you drink water already" Then I asked her if she can just vacuum the baby out. She said no but she can cut a small incision to make things happen faster. I asked her what she thinks was better- to let it naturally tear or to perform the incision and she said the incision will help the baby come out faster. Danny also agreed and he thinks the incision will be a controlled tear. I quickly agreed because I did not want to push anymore. So she made the incision and she said to me that Baby Lee will come out after the next contraction and I was so happy and couldn't wait for the next contraction. So the next contraction came and I pushed but still no baby. We waited for the next contraction and finally Baby Lee's head came out and I pushed one more time, his whole body came out. At that point, I couldn't care less what was born as long as it got out of me. After 46 minutes of pushing, Baby Boy Lee was born!
They placed Baby Lee on top of my tummy and I could not believe he is my son! He was in me the whole time but he looks nothing like me haha. I started to cry a little and I helped wipe him clean. The nurse then quickly took Baby Lee to the warmer next to us and started to clean him. Mary then delivered my placenta which took her just a few seconds. I felt a tug but really no pain. Mary also reminded Danny that now it's time to take pictures so he quickly went over to the warmer and start taking pictures of Baby Lee. The nurse asked us what are we naming Baby Boy Lee and we finally announced his name- Elijah Cole :)
So that was the birth story our little baby Eli. I cannot believe how much I love him already. I feel so blessed and I cannot thank God enough for entrusting us with Eli. Immediately after birth I already forgot all that pain and I think it's all worth it to go through 9 months of pregnancy and 12 hours of labor and delivery for our little baby.
Every nurse we spoke with told us how lucky we are to have came in on Saturday because Thursday and Friday were super busy for them. There were a dozen women going into labor at the same time and they had to wait for a labor room for hours and hours. I could not have hoped for a better labor and delivery process. Throughout pregnancy, I've always said to Danny that the perfect labor and birth scenario would be that we would go in for our doctor's visit and Mary would announce that we are ready to head over to the hospital.. and indeed that happened! Also, my biggest worries were that the hospital would be so busy that I won't get my epidural on time (or my epi won't work). If we were to go into labor on Thursday when my water broke, I think I would of have had a lot of trouble getting my epidural on time and would of suffered a lot. Thankfully everything worked out and we have Baby Eli in our lives now and we feel so complete :)
On Wednesday night (August 10th), I was having pretty consistent contractions but they were not painful. They felt like menstrual cramps and I was able to fall asleep fine so I didn't think much of it. Thursday morning comes and I noticed I had very watery discharge. I have been having very mucusy discharge all week long and suddenly it changed to a bit watery so I thought it may be that my water broke. I waited and see if it would soak my pad but I only had to change my liner once a day so I didn't think I was leaking water. Then on Saturday morning, we went in for our doctor's appointment. As soon as Dr. Wong checked me, she said that I am leaking water and my water had broke. She used the sonogram to see how Baby Lee was doing in there and she said I am low on water but Baby seems to be doing just fine. Then she told me that we are going to have the baby today!
She had to repeat that sentence a few times because I was so shocked. She told me that we need to head to the hospital and she will meet us there once I get hooked up. She seemed a bit concerned about the fact that my water may have broken on Thursday morning and it was already Saturday morning. But she reassured me that Baby seems to be doing fine, we just have to quickly get him out of me.
I left the office and I nervously called Danny (he was waiting at the car since parking was an issue that morning) and told him what Mary said to me. He thought I was joking at first lol and once I got into the car he realized that we are going to have Baby Lee that day and I think he got pretty nervous as well. We had packed our hospital bags but we did not bring it with us to the appointment (I know... we should of been more prepared) so we had to drive home first to get the bags. When we got home, I finished packing the bags while Danny prepared the dog foods for the next day so Jeff can feed the pups while we were gone (Thanks Jeff!). Appa, Umma, and Lydia arrived a few minutes later and they drove us to the hospital. On the way to the hospital I was quite nervous since Baby Lee could get an infection! I prayed to God that He would keep Baby Lee safe.
We arrived at the hospital at 11AM (speedy considering we left the doctor's office at 10) and the floor seems to be very quite. We gave all the paper work to be admitted and we had to wait for about 20 minutes for them to bring us in to a labor and delivery room. Since Mary had already called them so they were expecting me and they didn't have to check me or anything. Everything went very slowly... the nurses were working at a very slow pace I think because there were only the 3 of us on the labor and delivery floor. The nurses took their time asking me a long list of questions about my pregnancy and my preferences. They hooked me up on the IV (It was not bad at all, just like if I were to get my blood drawn), gave me antibiotics through the IV because my water had broke on Thursday and I am GBS positive, and started me on pitocin to induce labor. All that was done by about 2:30PM. The nurses and doctors would ask me if I have any questions and I really only had one question - when can I get my epidural ( lol I know I know, I am such a wimp). So even though I was not in pain they started me off on the epidural right away. Danny was not allowed to be in the room so he left the room at around 2:45PM and I was done by 3:15PM. I thought the epidural would of been really painful but it was not bad at all. It really just felt like a pinch on my back and that was it. I had to sit very still the whole time but it wasn't an issue because I wasn't feeling any contractions. After the epidural was administered they hooked me up on a catheter so my urine can be drained. I can still feel the touching down there but it wasn't painful (perhaps the epidural had kicked in already). Just as I was asking the nurse how does the catheter work, I saw the bag filling up with my urine @.@ It was quite embarrassing.
I felt numb pretty much right away and the anesthesiologist was surprised at how sensitive I am to the drug, so she lowered the maintenance level to about 12. From that point on, we were just waiting for labor to progress. Mary came shortly after and she broke the rest of my water. It didn't hurt and it soaked up a lot of wee wee pads. Apparently I had a high pinch leak so Baby Lee must of pinched a hole up top of the uterus so it started to leak but there were still a bubble of water. At that point I was about 2cm dilated. After getting all hooked up, I asked Danny to pray for us. We both cried a bit.
We were instructed to sleep and wait for labor to progress. At about 6:30PM or so, I started to feel my contractions. Mary came in right around that time to check me and she said I was about 3cm dilated. I mentioned to her that I am feeling some cramps and she asked to make sure I am not feeling pressure since epidural does not get rid of the pressure feeling. I explained to her that these feel like menstrual cramps so she had the anesthesiologist come in to check on me. The original person went home already and a more senior anesthesiologist came in to check on me. He said that I was "shallow" and asked me if I would want my epidural to be re-done. I quickly said yes because I do not want to feel any pain! The contractions were just like bad menstrual cramps but I cannot imagine how it would be like once I am in active labor (>4cm). There was a part of me that was really afraid that I am one of those few people that the epidural won't work on me but I was hoping for the best at this point. Danny had to leave the room again so this time he went out and got a bite. The room is fulled of people now- a nurse, Mary, two anesthesiologists. I didn't feel much of anything when they put the needle in this time. But the strange thing was, I didn't feel the numbing sensation right away this time whereas the first time I felt numb right away. So I waited 15 minutes and finally it started to kick in. My legs were getting heavy but only a tiny bit. I definitely don't feel my contractions anymore. I was praying to God that this would work because I know I am going to be in active labor soon.
By around 9PM I was barely 4cm dilated, I started to feel some pain/pressure only on my right side. I was like... great... the epidural didn't work again!?! I told the nurse and the anesthesiologist came in to check on me. She told me that I should be laying on my right side so the epidural can drip to the right side as well. After half an hour of that, we know that the epidural is definitely wearing off so she gave me another dose and thankfully that worked till midnight.
By midnight I was about 6 - 7 cm dilated and I was feeling a lot of pressure from every contraction. I didn't want to get another dose of epidural because it slows down labor since it relaxes the uterus. At the point I just wanted to get it over with. So I sucked it up and tried to just wait it out. Then by 1, the pressure was pretty severe and I called Mary to check me again. Finally, I was fully dilated. I could not believe how fast that progressed. Now it's time to push!
I started pushing at 1: 20AM. It was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. I was feeling every contraction. There was just a lot of pressure. I didn't feel the pain though because I still have the epidural and Mary did not need to turn it down. The best way to describe the feeling is that I really really have to poop and I am very constipated. lol Mary was coaching me how to push and at one point I wasn't pushing correctly so we stopped and she made sure I was using my abdominal muscles. Every time I felt a contraction coming up, I would say "I have to poop... Mary! I have to poop.." lol now it's really funny but it was not at that moment. I was also sweating a lot from all the pushing and Danny was very sweet the whole time wiping my sweat away and giving me gentle encouragements. After about 30 minutes of pushing, I asked Mary if she can just take him out. Mary said: "Oh no, you are going to delivery this baby vaginally, that's why I let you drink water already" Then I asked her if she can just vacuum the baby out. She said no but she can cut a small incision to make things happen faster. I asked her what she thinks was better- to let it naturally tear or to perform the incision and she said the incision will help the baby come out faster. Danny also agreed and he thinks the incision will be a controlled tear. I quickly agreed because I did not want to push anymore. So she made the incision and she said to me that Baby Lee will come out after the next contraction and I was so happy and couldn't wait for the next contraction. So the next contraction came and I pushed but still no baby. We waited for the next contraction and finally Baby Lee's head came out and I pushed one more time, his whole body came out. At that point, I couldn't care less what was born as long as it got out of me. After 46 minutes of pushing, Baby Boy Lee was born!
They placed Baby Lee on top of my tummy and I could not believe he is my son! He was in me the whole time but he looks nothing like me haha. I started to cry a little and I helped wipe him clean. The nurse then quickly took Baby Lee to the warmer next to us and started to clean him. Mary then delivered my placenta which took her just a few seconds. I felt a tug but really no pain. Mary also reminded Danny that now it's time to take pictures so he quickly went over to the warmer and start taking pictures of Baby Lee. The nurse asked us what are we naming Baby Boy Lee and we finally announced his name- Elijah Cole :)
So that was the birth story our little baby Eli. I cannot believe how much I love him already. I feel so blessed and I cannot thank God enough for entrusting us with Eli. Immediately after birth I already forgot all that pain and I think it's all worth it to go through 9 months of pregnancy and 12 hours of labor and delivery for our little baby.
Every nurse we spoke with told us how lucky we are to have came in on Saturday because Thursday and Friday were super busy for them. There were a dozen women going into labor at the same time and they had to wait for a labor room for hours and hours. I could not have hoped for a better labor and delivery process. Throughout pregnancy, I've always said to Danny that the perfect labor and birth scenario would be that we would go in for our doctor's visit and Mary would announce that we are ready to head over to the hospital.. and indeed that happened! Also, my biggest worries were that the hospital would be so busy that I won't get my epidural on time (or my epi won't work). If we were to go into labor on Thursday when my water broke, I think I would of have had a lot of trouble getting my epidural on time and would of suffered a lot. Thankfully everything worked out and we have Baby Eli in our lives now and we feel so complete :)
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
T-14 Days
We are at week 38! It's such a strange feeling to be this far along into our pregnancy. Finally when people ask when we are due, we are able to say- this month! It's getting extremely uncomfortable to carry Baby Lee around nowadays. My tummy is so low that I feel it resting on my thighs when I sit. I've had such an easy pregnancy (no morning sickness, no aches, no complications) and finally I feel like a pregnant woman... let me tell ya- it ain't pleasant! I've experienced lots of Braxton Hicks contractions this week and on Saturday night, I thought it was the real thing! I was having contractions every 2 minutes for about 30 seconds each. But then I decided to see if I can sleep through it and I did... so... false labor!
We had our doctor's appointment this past Friday and I was 1cm dilated. Baby is low per usual. Baby's head was measuring at 39 weeks though so still a big headed baby but not too big :) Baby didn't gain any weight but Dr. Wong didn't seem to be concerned. It's all an estimate. So Baby is still under 7lb!
We decided on our baby's first name. It's going to be a biblical first name for sure. We can't seem to agree on a middle name so we will see how we feel after Baby Lee arrives.
I hope Baby Lee comes soon! Can't wait to meet you <3
We had our doctor's appointment this past Friday and I was 1cm dilated. Baby is low per usual. Baby's head was measuring at 39 weeks though so still a big headed baby but not too big :) Baby didn't gain any weight but Dr. Wong didn't seem to be concerned. It's all an estimate. So Baby is still under 7lb!
We decided on our baby's first name. It's going to be a biblical first name for sure. We can't seem to agree on a middle name so we will see how we feel after Baby Lee arrives.
I hope Baby Lee comes soon! Can't wait to meet you <3
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Braxton-Hicks
So I've been experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions all day. I haven't had any contractions through out pregnancy so I'm hopeful. It feels like menstrual cramps. I haven't been timing them but I think they last about a minute or so and are coming through out the day. Maybe Baby Lee is getting ready? I have an appointment with Dr. Wong this Friday so I'll find out this Friday... maybe I'll be somewhat dilated by then :)
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Our last registry item arrived today! It's our stroller haha, now we are all ready! I have a few last minute items that I should purchase for myself... maybe I'll do that tomorrow :)
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As for Baby Lee's name... we are actually going back and forth and it's really hard to find a name that has a good meaning and sounds nice. Originally, we decided on a unisex name that both of us really like. The name is an English name and it doesn't have any significant meaning. We decided on a meaningful biblical middle name for both sexes. But the more we think about it the more we want to name our child a biblical first name. I really like Daniel's meaning- God is my judge. Danny hates his name so we are never going to name our child Daniel haha. But isn't it so nice? Only God can judge him. In a way, that is exactly how Danny is. He doesn't care to please other people and I love that about him. So last night we were trying really hard to come up with biblical names. We have a girl name that we both love so I think we are set on that... but for a boy, all the names we like are already taken! We like the meaning of Matthew (gift of God) and Joshua (God is salvation) but we already know a few Matthews and quite a few Joshuas...
I think for now, we are set with that unisex name that we both love. Even though it doesn't have a significant meaning, we will make it up by a unique and biblical middle name :) I guess we won't know for sure what we will name our first child until we see Baby Lee!
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Our last registry item arrived today! It's our stroller haha, now we are all ready! I have a few last minute items that I should purchase for myself... maybe I'll do that tomorrow :)
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As for Baby Lee's name... we are actually going back and forth and it's really hard to find a name that has a good meaning and sounds nice. Originally, we decided on a unisex name that both of us really like. The name is an English name and it doesn't have any significant meaning. We decided on a meaningful biblical middle name for both sexes. But the more we think about it the more we want to name our child a biblical first name. I really like Daniel's meaning- God is my judge. Danny hates his name so we are never going to name our child Daniel haha. But isn't it so nice? Only God can judge him. In a way, that is exactly how Danny is. He doesn't care to please other people and I love that about him. So last night we were trying really hard to come up with biblical names. We have a girl name that we both love so I think we are set on that... but for a boy, all the names we like are already taken! We like the meaning of Matthew (gift of God) and Joshua (God is salvation) but we already know a few Matthews and quite a few Joshuas...
I think for now, we are set with that unisex name that we both love. Even though it doesn't have a significant meaning, we will make it up by a unique and biblical middle name :) I guess we won't know for sure what we will name our first child until we see Baby Lee!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Full Term
Yay! We made it to full term today :) Throughout the pregnancy, I've always had this worry of giving birth to a premature baby. I have no reason to have that fear but for some odd reason it's just always been in the back of my mind and it's nice to know that Baby Lee can come any time now and it's going to be okay! =)
We had our doctor's appointment on Saturday and Baby Lee weighs approximately 6lb and 14oz. Dr. Wong thinks it's at least 6.5lb because sometimes the machine over-estimates. She also performed a pelvic exam and she said she can feel Baby Lee's head @.@ but I am not dilated at all. I was told to climb lots of stairs to help out a little haha
It's definitely getting uncomfortable to carry the baby around nowadays. It is so heavy! I definitely act like a pregnant lady now with my slow movement... but I guess it is about time. In terms of sleep, it takes me a few minutes to get comfortable because I have this urge to stretch my legs before bed time. Once I settle in though, I usually sleep just fine. Nowadays I have to get up a couple of times throughout the night to use the bathroom but it doesn't bother me much- I just get right back to sleep.
Danny and I usually settle in for bed around midnight... and I usually sleep well past 10AM haha so it is no wonder that I don't feel tired. It's been such a blessing that it's summer time and I don't have work. School ended when we were at week 32 and I still felt great back then so I didn't care for it, but now that we are in our week 37 I am just so thankful I am not working. I can't imagine being on my feet and teaching all day with my giant tummy. Not that we are planning for our next child, but I would say to Danny that for our next child (if we are going to have one), we should time it for an end of July due date so I can get my last month off as well haha
So now we are just waiting for Baby Lee's arrival. Both sets of grandparents think that Baby will arrive past the due date (nooo!). I think Baby will come a bit earlier (or I hope). Danny has been back and forth with his guesses haha. What do you think? Take a guess using our Baby Pool!
We had our doctor's appointment on Saturday and Baby Lee weighs approximately 6lb and 14oz. Dr. Wong thinks it's at least 6.5lb because sometimes the machine over-estimates. She also performed a pelvic exam and she said she can feel Baby Lee's head @.@ but I am not dilated at all. I was told to climb lots of stairs to help out a little haha
It's definitely getting uncomfortable to carry the baby around nowadays. It is so heavy! I definitely act like a pregnant lady now with my slow movement... but I guess it is about time. In terms of sleep, it takes me a few minutes to get comfortable because I have this urge to stretch my legs before bed time. Once I settle in though, I usually sleep just fine. Nowadays I have to get up a couple of times throughout the night to use the bathroom but it doesn't bother me much- I just get right back to sleep.
Danny and I usually settle in for bed around midnight... and I usually sleep well past 10AM haha so it is no wonder that I don't feel tired. It's been such a blessing that it's summer time and I don't have work. School ended when we were at week 32 and I still felt great back then so I didn't care for it, but now that we are in our week 37 I am just so thankful I am not working. I can't imagine being on my feet and teaching all day with my giant tummy. Not that we are planning for our next child, but I would say to Danny that for our next child (if we are going to have one), we should time it for an end of July due date so I can get my last month off as well haha
So now we are just waiting for Baby Lee's arrival. Both sets of grandparents think that Baby will arrive past the due date (nooo!). I think Baby will come a bit earlier (or I hope). Danny has been back and forth with his guesses haha. What do you think? Take a guess using our Baby Pool!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
New Pregnancy Symptoms
Here are some of the more recent pregnancy symptoms I am experiencing in the last few weeks or so:
1. Stretch marks- dun dun dun! I've been dreading this since the beginning and they showed up just as I thought I've escaped this horror. I have stretch marks underneath my belly button despite the fact that I rub lotion/cream on it day and night... sighs.... at first I was pretty sad about it but I think I am getting over it now. What can I say- it's the price of having a baby.
2. Swollen fingers- surprisingly, my feet are not swollen but my fingers are! They don't look swollen but I feel it every morning when I wake up and I can't make a fist :( they are really sore every morning but they get better within an hour or two after I wake up. Along with that, my wedding rings are really snug on me now so I decided to play it safe and not wear them anymore. It was sad to part with my rings.
3. Hip pain- this is actually a brand new symptom that just appeared in the past few days. A few times, I would get this sharp hip pain usually on my right side when I am standing. Not sure why this is happening but I am assuming that the Baby's weight is causing it.
4. Snoring- so this is a really embarrassing symptom... I can't believe I snore now... but the good thing is I sleep like a champ still haha. I do feel an uncomfortable tug every time i switch from side to side because of my giant belly, but other than that, sleep has been great still.
5. Nasal Congestion- this is actually not a new symptom. I've had stuffy nose since mid pregnancy. It is a bit annoying but not too uncomfortable. Since I can't take any medication for it, I use nasal strip to help me sleep at night and it works like a charm.
6. Minor back aches- last week or so for a few days my back was bothering me. I think it was because I was at home most of the day and didn't do any physical activities. It was during the really hot days and I was just not willing to go out and walk. I've been much more active ever since and my back ache has disappeared. It's definitely good to be walking around. Unfortunately, it looks like it'll be approaching 100 degrees this week again... I'll try my best to stay active in this summer heat.
Overall, it's been an easy pregnancy for me so far and I am hoping it'll be like this for the rest of my pregnancy :) Oh, and I've gained 25 lbs since the beginning of our pregnancy and I am hoping not to exceed a 30 lb weight gain overall. Dr Wong's goal for me was actually a total of 22 - 25 lbs which of course I failed lol
1. Stretch marks- dun dun dun! I've been dreading this since the beginning and they showed up just as I thought I've escaped this horror. I have stretch marks underneath my belly button despite the fact that I rub lotion/cream on it day and night... sighs.... at first I was pretty sad about it but I think I am getting over it now. What can I say- it's the price of having a baby.
2. Swollen fingers- surprisingly, my feet are not swollen but my fingers are! They don't look swollen but I feel it every morning when I wake up and I can't make a fist :( they are really sore every morning but they get better within an hour or two after I wake up. Along with that, my wedding rings are really snug on me now so I decided to play it safe and not wear them anymore. It was sad to part with my rings.
3. Hip pain- this is actually a brand new symptom that just appeared in the past few days. A few times, I would get this sharp hip pain usually on my right side when I am standing. Not sure why this is happening but I am assuming that the Baby's weight is causing it.
4. Snoring- so this is a really embarrassing symptom... I can't believe I snore now... but the good thing is I sleep like a champ still haha. I do feel an uncomfortable tug every time i switch from side to side because of my giant belly, but other than that, sleep has been great still.
5. Nasal Congestion- this is actually not a new symptom. I've had stuffy nose since mid pregnancy. It is a bit annoying but not too uncomfortable. Since I can't take any medication for it, I use nasal strip to help me sleep at night and it works like a charm.
6. Minor back aches- last week or so for a few days my back was bothering me. I think it was because I was at home most of the day and didn't do any physical activities. It was during the really hot days and I was just not willing to go out and walk. I've been much more active ever since and my back ache has disappeared. It's definitely good to be walking around. Unfortunately, it looks like it'll be approaching 100 degrees this week again... I'll try my best to stay active in this summer heat.
Overall, it's been an easy pregnancy for me so far and I am hoping it'll be like this for the rest of my pregnancy :) Oh, and I've gained 25 lbs since the beginning of our pregnancy and I am hoping not to exceed a 30 lb weight gain overall. Dr Wong's goal for me was actually a total of 22 - 25 lbs which of course I failed lol
Week 34/35 Update
We had our doctor's appointment this past Saturday with Dr. Wong. Baby Lee is approximately 5lbs and 10 oz and is doing well inside. It's head is measuring at 38 weeks and tummy at 36 weeks... but its leg bone is measuring at 34 weeks. I was so shocked at how big he is but Dr. Wong said it's common for babies to have growth spurts with different body parts and it would stop growing at the end of the pregnancy (let's hope). Normally the visits are quick and we are usually in and out of the exam room within minutes. But this time, I went in with a list of questions to ask haha. I admit, I am getting a bit nervous about labor and delivery. It's getting really close to our due date and I feel a bit unprepared! Dr. Wong was super nice about all my questions (when to call, epidural, tearing, pitocin, induced labor, etc) and she made me feel much better. She also reassured me that she will go over everything in depth when the time comes (at my 37 week visit)... for now, I should have nothing to worry about. She also gave us her personal pager number so we can just page her when it happens. Normally she would never give a patient her personal number but since we are family, I get the special treatment... =D When we left the office, we realized we had spend 30 minutes in there with her... good thing it wasn't very busy at the office that day.
Per usual, we went to have yummy shake shack afterwards... the line was super short that day! Probably because we got there at 11:30AM. After lunch, we went to Beth Israel for our hospital tour. The tour was very informative. I think every parent-to-be should go visit their hospital and join a tour before the due date. We now know which entrance to come in on the day of, where is the triage area, the labor room, and finally the recovery room. All the rooms look pretty standard and I was pretty happy about it. We found out that Beth Israel is very big on breastfeeding and they encourage the baby to room with you 24/7 for that reason. Seems like there are a lot of supportive staffs and nurses to help you with breastfeeding during your stay- which I am very happy about.
The nursery is pretty much all done now. Danny mounted the baby monitor on the wall over the weekend. We also washed all the baby clothes and its bedding. There aren't that many things left over to do. I just have to pack the hospital bag and I think we are pretty much done with the preparation!
I am really afraid of going into labor. I have very little pain tolerance and I am really afraid I won't be able to take the labor pain. I know for sure I will get an epidural but I am scared of the pain BEFORE I get one. Also, I've been reading other people's labor stories and I am freaked out about the possibility of an epidural not working and/or the hospital is so busy that I won't be getting my epidural until much much later... :( All I can do is pray and hope for the best.... ahh!!!
5 more weeks till Baby Lee arrives :) and our world will be turned upside down!
Per usual, we went to have yummy shake shack afterwards... the line was super short that day! Probably because we got there at 11:30AM. After lunch, we went to Beth Israel for our hospital tour. The tour was very informative. I think every parent-to-be should go visit their hospital and join a tour before the due date. We now know which entrance to come in on the day of, where is the triage area, the labor room, and finally the recovery room. All the rooms look pretty standard and I was pretty happy about it. We found out that Beth Israel is very big on breastfeeding and they encourage the baby to room with you 24/7 for that reason. Seems like there are a lot of supportive staffs and nurses to help you with breastfeeding during your stay- which I am very happy about.
The nursery is pretty much all done now. Danny mounted the baby monitor on the wall over the weekend. We also washed all the baby clothes and its bedding. There aren't that many things left over to do. I just have to pack the hospital bag and I think we are pretty much done with the preparation!
I am really afraid of going into labor. I have very little pain tolerance and I am really afraid I won't be able to take the labor pain. I know for sure I will get an epidural but I am scared of the pain BEFORE I get one. Also, I've been reading other people's labor stories and I am freaked out about the possibility of an epidural not working and/or the hospital is so busy that I won't be getting my epidural until much much later... :( All I can do is pray and hope for the best.... ahh!!!
5 more weeks till Baby Lee arrives :) and our world will be turned upside down!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Quality of Life
My Uncle Keith has an old crib, a dresser, and a tiny bookcase that they no longer need since my cousin is now school age. Even though we already furnished Baby Lee's nursery, we gladly accepted the hand-me-downs from them. This second crib would be very useful for when the baby is at my in-laws. Now we just need to purchase a crib mattress for the second crib. This morning, we drove to his house in Manhasset to pick these items up. We got to chat a little bit and the topic of work/life balance came up. Uncle Keith is an attorney with his own practice in Flushing and because of that his work hours are very long. He only takes off on Saturdays and long vacations are out of the question because there is no one at the practice to take over when he is away. My parents work 364 days a year, so to them, Uncle Keith's schedule is very nice already. And here we are, our generation is used to getting the weekends off with 3 weeks of vacation days every year. When my parents were our age, they were already millionaires. To them, money is their focus in life. Growing up, we never went on family vacations. Their work hours were really long. They would leave the house in the morning with us when we went to school and coming back home past 8PM every night. Once they are home, they would scramble to prepare us dinner. Their version of relaxing is really that one hour of TV time every night. Nowadays, since my mom is not tied up to a retail store anymore, she has more time to take care of my siblings and run errands during the day so dinner is ready when my dad comes home and it's much more relaxing for everyone at home. My dad still works 12 hour days though. They live in a big house and drive nice cars but their focus is still making more and more money.
I don't exactly know where I am going with this, but it really got me thinking. Danny and I live comfortably now. We have our own home, no, it's not as big as my parents', but it's more than we need. No, we don't drive nice cars like my parents, but frankly... I don't care about nice cars haha. We don't go on luxury vacations every year, but we are young, we have our whole life to go on vacations. What do I really want in life? What is it that I strive for? I used to work long hours in the city and that caused me headaches, shoulder aches, and back aches. Being infront of the computer every day working on Excel models really gave me all kinds of physical issues- I needed massages every other week. Yes, I was making a lot more money back then compare to my teacher salary now- but I am happy now. No, it's not because of my nice vacation days (though it surely helps) but shorter work days are definitely a bonus though. I've found my calling... for now at least. I enjoy what I do and I am good at what I do. On top of that, I can have a life outside of work. I have time to relax a little. I have time to prepare meals for us, to run errands, to tidy up the house, and most importantly- to spend time with my family.
We are going to welcome Baby Lee's arrival in just a few weeks and I can't imagine raising a child the way my parents raised us. Don't get me wrong, my parents were wonderful parents and still are wonderful parents. They do their best to provide for us and I am just so lucky to have them. But for myself... I want something different. I want time with my family. Though my parents may think differently, but I don't need a huge house nor do I need to drive nice cars. I don't need expensive bags and shoes (I admit, I have my share of purchases).
Danny would always say... we have a roof over our head, we are well fed, what more can we ask for? When it comes down to it, we need so little in life... and yet we want everything. I feel so blessed. I have everything we need and much much more. I can't be happier with where we are right now. We have a lot to work on for our future I'm sure. But for now, I am perfectly content and there is no better feeling in this world than to be content.
I don't exactly know where I am going with this, but it really got me thinking. Danny and I live comfortably now. We have our own home, no, it's not as big as my parents', but it's more than we need. No, we don't drive nice cars like my parents, but frankly... I don't care about nice cars haha. We don't go on luxury vacations every year, but we are young, we have our whole life to go on vacations. What do I really want in life? What is it that I strive for? I used to work long hours in the city and that caused me headaches, shoulder aches, and back aches. Being infront of the computer every day working on Excel models really gave me all kinds of physical issues- I needed massages every other week. Yes, I was making a lot more money back then compare to my teacher salary now- but I am happy now. No, it's not because of my nice vacation days (though it surely helps) but shorter work days are definitely a bonus though. I've found my calling... for now at least. I enjoy what I do and I am good at what I do. On top of that, I can have a life outside of work. I have time to relax a little. I have time to prepare meals for us, to run errands, to tidy up the house, and most importantly- to spend time with my family.
We are going to welcome Baby Lee's arrival in just a few weeks and I can't imagine raising a child the way my parents raised us. Don't get me wrong, my parents were wonderful parents and still are wonderful parents. They do their best to provide for us and I am just so lucky to have them. But for myself... I want something different. I want time with my family. Though my parents may think differently, but I don't need a huge house nor do I need to drive nice cars. I don't need expensive bags and shoes (I admit, I have my share of purchases).
Danny would always say... we have a roof over our head, we are well fed, what more can we ask for? When it comes down to it, we need so little in life... and yet we want everything. I feel so blessed. I have everything we need and much much more. I can't be happier with where we are right now. We have a lot to work on for our future I'm sure. But for now, I am perfectly content and there is no better feeling in this world than to be content.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Week 32/33 Update
School ended on Tuesday (yay!), which means I am officially done with my first year of teaching :) Reflecting back, it's been such a wonderful year and I'm just so happy that God had this plan for me.
We had our baby shower last Saturday and we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. Dorry made all the food for my baby shower from scratch! My sister and sister-in-law helped with the rest of the preparation and it was just the perfect shower :)
After my baby shower luncheon, Danny had his afternoon baby shower/BBQ in the backyard. We had plenty of guests through out the day and it was a lot of fun. I think everyone should have a co-ed shower. It's nice to get the father-to-be involved too... afterall, it is his baby too :)
Our friends and family showered us with love and lots of presents so there aren't that many items left on our registry... mainly just the stroller and the mattress... we plan on purchasing these remaining items this week using all the gift cards we received.
Session 1 of my summer classes ended yesterday so I have a mini break until the next session begins on next Thursday. This session was by far the easiest semester for me since toward the end of the school year, I wasn't lesson planning anymore (mainly just doing Regents prep with my Algebra students)... so it wasn't bad at all sitting in class 3 times a week in the evening. Session 2 will meet Monday through Thursday mornings (9 - 11:30AM)... I kind of like the schedule because it wakes me up in the morning and gives me the rest of the day to be productive. My summer classes will end two weeks prior to our due date so it'll keep me busy through out the summer :) I can't wait till I finish my masters degree next summer! Time sure flies though.
I have been taking public transportation this week since school is over... it makes more sense for Danny to have the car than I do. So far it has been pretty good. I just take my time with everything nowadays since I am in no rush of getting anywhere really haha, what a relaxing pace! I also enjoy all the walking I get, it keeps me active and makes me feel better about all my weight gain. Also, I still feel great physically... so I don't want to just sit around all day. People always offer me seats on the bus, but since it's mostly women and children that offer to me, I usually politely decline their offer because I feel bad taking it. Also, I really don't need a seat... afterall, the bus trips are usually short and I feel fine standing.
I went to my OBGYN appointment today via public transportation and it's the first time ever that Danny didn't go with me. I purposely scheduled this one on a Friday knowing that I will be on vacation already and have tons of time. Dr. Wong was stuck at the hospital delivering babies so Dr. Chou subbed in for her today. Baby Lee is weighing in at 4 lbs and 12 oz! (compare to 3lbs and 12oz just two weeks ago) It makes me happy that baby is gaining weight haha. Also, we got to see the baby's hair today! It has a lot of hair already just like me. Well both Danny and I have plenty of hair so I guess I can't take all the credit. It's head is still measuring big, but not too big- at 34 weeks.
Here are a few things that I plan on completing in the next week or two:
1. Read all the baby books
2. Read about breastfeeding
3. Get a library card so I can borrow books through out the summer- there are so many books I want to read! No, they are not baby related... shocking I know
4. Wash baby related items
5. Have Danny install the car seat and assemble the stroller
6. Hospital tour (in 2 weeks at Beth Israel)
7. Pack hospital bag
I am getting really excited for Baby Lee's arrival haha.... it's almost here!
We had our baby shower last Saturday and we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. Dorry made all the food for my baby shower from scratch! My sister and sister-in-law helped with the rest of the preparation and it was just the perfect shower :)
After my baby shower luncheon, Danny had his afternoon baby shower/BBQ in the backyard. We had plenty of guests through out the day and it was a lot of fun. I think everyone should have a co-ed shower. It's nice to get the father-to-be involved too... afterall, it is his baby too :)
Our friends and family showered us with love and lots of presents so there aren't that many items left on our registry... mainly just the stroller and the mattress... we plan on purchasing these remaining items this week using all the gift cards we received.
Session 1 of my summer classes ended yesterday so I have a mini break until the next session begins on next Thursday. This session was by far the easiest semester for me since toward the end of the school year, I wasn't lesson planning anymore (mainly just doing Regents prep with my Algebra students)... so it wasn't bad at all sitting in class 3 times a week in the evening. Session 2 will meet Monday through Thursday mornings (9 - 11:30AM)... I kind of like the schedule because it wakes me up in the morning and gives me the rest of the day to be productive. My summer classes will end two weeks prior to our due date so it'll keep me busy through out the summer :) I can't wait till I finish my masters degree next summer! Time sure flies though.
I have been taking public transportation this week since school is over... it makes more sense for Danny to have the car than I do. So far it has been pretty good. I just take my time with everything nowadays since I am in no rush of getting anywhere really haha, what a relaxing pace! I also enjoy all the walking I get, it keeps me active and makes me feel better about all my weight gain. Also, I still feel great physically... so I don't want to just sit around all day. People always offer me seats on the bus, but since it's mostly women and children that offer to me, I usually politely decline their offer because I feel bad taking it. Also, I really don't need a seat... afterall, the bus trips are usually short and I feel fine standing.
I went to my OBGYN appointment today via public transportation and it's the first time ever that Danny didn't go with me. I purposely scheduled this one on a Friday knowing that I will be on vacation already and have tons of time. Dr. Wong was stuck at the hospital delivering babies so Dr. Chou subbed in for her today. Baby Lee is weighing in at 4 lbs and 12 oz! (compare to 3lbs and 12oz just two weeks ago) It makes me happy that baby is gaining weight haha. Also, we got to see the baby's hair today! It has a lot of hair already just like me. Well both Danny and I have plenty of hair so I guess I can't take all the credit. It's head is still measuring big, but not too big- at 34 weeks.
Here are a few things that I plan on completing in the next week or two:
1. Read all the baby books
2. Read about breastfeeding
3. Get a library card so I can borrow books through out the summer- there are so many books I want to read! No, they are not baby related... shocking I know
4. Wash baby related items
5. Have Danny install the car seat and assemble the stroller
6. Hospital tour (in 2 weeks at Beth Israel)
7. Pack hospital bag
I am getting really excited for Baby Lee's arrival haha.... it's almost here!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Week 30 and Totally Unprepared
Can you believe we are only 10 weeks away from our due date? Time sure flies! I am super duper nervous for Baby Lee's arrival ahh! I don't feel ready at all... I don't want him/her to come out yet!
Danny thinks 10 weeks is a long time... I totally disagree! I feel like we have nothing prepared... I didn't even finish reading my baby sleep training books lol... I have been waiting until school/work is over so I can just relax and prep for the baby in July but it seems too last minute!?! (I know I sound crazy...) Perhaps it's because I'm done with teaching (almost), tomorrow is the last day of instruction and Regents week begins... so pretty much I stopped lesson planning since end of May, this month of June I've just been preparing my 8th graders for the Regents and my seniors are just working on a project. Maybe it's because I have nothing to do at home nowadays that I start to think too much....
Our baby shower is in 2 weeks and we will start some major preping after that. We plan on purchasing everything else that's left over on the registry and Danny will start putting things together... i.e. stroller, car seat, swing, bouncer, etc. I will also wash all the baby clothing then. Also, I plan on finish reading all those baby books I bought in the month of July.
I just feel like I need to be doing something! I think I'll feel better once everything is all set up and there is nothing left to do...
Besides my nervousness, things are going pretty well still. The heat wave has passed and it's just the perfect weather/temperature to sleep in! I slept so much this weekend haha. Must sleep as much as I can before Baby Lee's arrival ;)
Danny thinks 10 weeks is a long time... I totally disagree! I feel like we have nothing prepared... I didn't even finish reading my baby sleep training books lol... I have been waiting until school/work is over so I can just relax and prep for the baby in July but it seems too last minute!?! (I know I sound crazy...) Perhaps it's because I'm done with teaching (almost), tomorrow is the last day of instruction and Regents week begins... so pretty much I stopped lesson planning since end of May, this month of June I've just been preparing my 8th graders for the Regents and my seniors are just working on a project. Maybe it's because I have nothing to do at home nowadays that I start to think too much....
Our baby shower is in 2 weeks and we will start some major preping after that. We plan on purchasing everything else that's left over on the registry and Danny will start putting things together... i.e. stroller, car seat, swing, bouncer, etc. I will also wash all the baby clothing then. Also, I plan on finish reading all those baby books I bought in the month of July.
I just feel like I need to be doing something! I think I'll feel better once everything is all set up and there is nothing left to do...
Besides my nervousness, things are going pretty well still. The heat wave has passed and it's just the perfect weather/temperature to sleep in! I slept so much this weekend haha. Must sleep as much as I can before Baby Lee's arrival ;)
Friday, June 10, 2011
Baby Registry
So I think we are finally done with our baby registry! We registered at amazon and buybuybaby. We went back and forth on a few items but we finalized it and we are pretty happy with our selection haha.
Since we don't plan on using the bassinet that much, we decided on the britax instead of the uppababy vista:
Also, we were back and forth (well, I was) on the different pack n play models that graco offers... but finally I am set on this one because it just looks... so nice! It's a bit pricier than their basic models but this one has a changing table (reviews say it is very useful), a soothing vibrating for the bassinet, and some nature sounds/music.. but the truth is.. I just like the way it looks haha:
Of course, like every other expecting parent/parent, we had to have the bumbo baby sitter:
Oh and this award winning black and white mobile for when the baby is young and can't see color yet! Danny thinks it's silly to spend money on a mobile that we will only be using for the first few months but I think it's worth it :)
And of course, a car seat is a necessity (thanks dorry!), I love the hathaway pattern:
Here are the other fun stuff that we already got:
Alright, these are just some of the highlights hehe, I'm super excited... can't you tell!?! =P Oh and oh, I've been sooo good at not buying baby clothing at all! My family has been getting us a ton of baby clothing tho even though we told them not to, so we do have plenty to start with already, we'll just wait and see when baby lee arrives to get more :)
Since we don't plan on using the bassinet that much, we decided on the britax instead of the uppababy vista:
Also, we were back and forth (well, I was) on the different pack n play models that graco offers... but finally I am set on this one because it just looks... so nice! It's a bit pricier than their basic models but this one has a changing table (reviews say it is very useful), a soothing vibrating for the bassinet, and some nature sounds/music.. but the truth is.. I just like the way it looks haha:
Of course, like every other expecting parent/parent, we had to have the bumbo baby sitter:
Oh and this award winning black and white mobile for when the baby is young and can't see color yet! Danny thinks it's silly to spend money on a mobile that we will only be using for the first few months but I think it's worth it :)
And of course, a car seat is a necessity (thanks dorry!), I love the hathaway pattern:
Here are the other fun stuff that we already got:
 |
| Jane got us this nice swing hehe |
 |
| Q and Eva got us this wonder music gym! |
Alright, these are just some of the highlights hehe, I'm super excited... can't you tell!?! =P Oh and oh, I've been sooo good at not buying baby clothing at all! My family has been getting us a ton of baby clothing tho even though we told them not to, so we do have plenty to start with already, we'll just wait and see when baby lee arrives to get more :)
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