So much to do, so little time… Time flies by so quickly.. Just yesterday my little baby was inside me, kicking me and hiccuping every night. Now she’s almost 3 weeks old. I’ve been feeling a whole lot better lately. Of course I’m still sleep-deprived, but I’m surviving. I don’t feel as scared around her, especially when she cries. She cries mostly when she is hungry or tired. It’s hard to get any sleep during the day. And the neighbors upstairs are so inconsiderate. They walk like elephants at all times during the day and night. They’re constantly moving things around on the floor and stomping back and forth. It’s so annoying. One time they were doing that until 5 AM. I think I’ll have to go upstairs and complain if they do that again. I’m going to bring Kaitlyn with me to make them feel more guilty. =D

Over the last week, Kaitlyn has sorta had a stuffy nose. One night she was so uncomfortable she would wake up every few minutes cause she couldn’t breathe and she’d snort. So I took a Q-tip and tried to remove the snot. And a BIG LONG booger came out of one nostril. She was so happy after that. She didn’t even cry when I tried to get the other booger out of the other nostril (I was unsuccessful with that one). Last night was a different story. She was crying the whole time but at least I got both boogers out of both nostrils. Here is a picture (hahahaha):

pretty long, huh? =D

Also, the Yau family came to visit us on Monday. Here is a pic of our babies & their daddies together:

Darion may be Kaitlyn’s potential boyfriend. He’s 1 1/2 months older than her.

This is a pic of my dad, Snow (our dog) and Kaitlyn all sleeping:

They were all so tired.

Here you go, everybody! This is our precious girl! She’s so good. This is basically all the crying she did, total of like 30 seconds out of the whole hour & a half after she came out!

As soon as she was all wrapped up, she just couldn’t stop looking around & checking out everything!

(if the streaming videos are too choppy, you can download the whole thing to your computer & play it with QuickTime.
– click on the “Google Video” button on the bottom right
– select “Go to Google Video”
– on the right hand side of the new page, next to the “Download” button, select the “Video iPod/PSP” option
– click “Download”
– after you saved the file, just use QuickTime to play it.)

- walked to the hospital; arrived at ~noon
- got everything done & set up by 1:30 pm

Mel’s happy about getting the big birthing/delivery room.

- contractions became more frequent about an hour later
- some time before 3, we decided to go with the name “Kaitlyn” (sorry, “Emma” & “Keisy”) & 「天慧」
- by 3 pm, the pain was quite bad
- asked for epidural at 4 pm
- finally got epidural at 6:30 pm
- she was about 4 cm dilated by then

Mel’s happy about finally getting the epidural.

- nurses came & broke Mel’s water @ around 7… or was it 8?…

Baby’s heartbeat was a little irregular, so Mel had to lay on her left & was given some oxygen. Oxygen makes her happy.

- Lisa (Dr. Eng, aka Mel’s “cousin”) showed up at around 8:30 pm, I think.
- Mel was like 6-7 cm dilated
- Lisa upped the oxytocin

…then she had to lay on her right. She was feeling more pressure (from the contractions) by then; her legs also started to shake: signs of the baby is ready to come out.

- finally, at about 10:05 pm, Mel was ready (10 cm dilated) so Lisa & Shar (our evening nurse) got ready.
- after about 10-12 hard pushes, plus a little help from a cool-looking suction cup thingy, she was out at 10:26 pm.

here’s a snap of her head of hair right before the nurse put the beanie on

just like the sonograms we had of her, she still likes to touch her face with her hands (like her mommy).

Lisa & Shar are cool. They quickly wipe Kaitlyn down, wrapped her up, gave her a shot, then let Mel have some good quality time with her.

That’s all for now. I’ll put up video later (because it’s 3:15 am already & I’m dying for some sleep). If you have time, I know Mel would love to see you all at the hospital tomorrow anytime (between 10 am & 8 pm). Give us a call if you need directions. She’ll be discharged by Monday morning.

Bye for now.

So it turns out that we won’t be having the baby tomorrow. Instead, it’s going to be this Sunday (It’s a good thing I’m not a football fan, b/c this Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday!)

I guess Lisa (the doctor) didn’t realize that Mel was only like 37- or 38-week pregnant during our last visit. This time, she told us that because the baby’s lungs could still be developing, and that “the American Doctors for Pregnant Women Association (or something with a long name like that) doesn’t recommend induction or C-section under 39 weeks of pregnancy under normal circumstances.”

So that means everybody will just have to wait a little longer to hear the good news & see some pictures. It also means that we’ll have a few extra days to decide on her English & Chinese names.

Aaaaah! Why does it have to be so hard??!!

My doctor told me today that I may have the baby next week! The baby’s head is down and sitting on my bladder. So she’s gone down already. But I’m not dialated. I will have to be induced unfortunately, due to my Protein-S Deficiency condition. So the doc told me that she’ll check me again next week to see if she’s ready to come out and I’ll pick a day to go to the hospital. It might be next Thursday (Feb 1) since Ether is off from school on Thursdays. So we’ll see! She told me to do lots of squats. We’re a little nervous. It’s so soon! I guess she won’t come out as a piggy.

Hi everyone! You know what I just realized? I just realized that Mel hasn’t told you all about the growth scan that she had. It was after the “baby shower” but before the “birthing videos.”
I’m sure she’d love to tell you all about it, so I’ll just sum it up here & she can fill in the rest w/ “part 2.” Basically, the baby was already 5 lb. 2 oz. two weeks ago. From the measurements that they got, they’re estimating that she would be born on Feb 14th.

UPDATE: Duh! I guess she did mention it earlier. I just didn’t read it. oops!

As the days go on, I keep wondering whether the baby will come early, late or on time. If she’s early or on time, she will still be born in the year of the dog. If she’s late, past Feb 18, then she’ll be a pig. The Chinese people say that pigs are good. However, lugging this watermelon in my belly for another week is going to be difficult!

So I think one of my good buddies has told me some good exciting news, but I’m not sure yet! My baby might have another friend around the end of the year! So we’ll see!

Last night, Ether and I watched a birthing video. It was really scary and disturbing. I don’t know how women can give birth without an epidural. IT’S CRAZY!

My church friends threw me a baby shower on Saturday. It wasn’t exactly a surprise. I had little hints here and there. It was nice though. My grandma came so both my aunts could come too. My mom ordered food and we had a good time. The baby got lots of good gifts. Mostly clothes and diapers. =D (Thanks everyone!)

- Pretty cupcakes made by Mavis.
- Me and my girl Angela.
- Group pic of everyone there.

I’m wearing the hat Angela made me from the ribbons and wrapping paper. (haha Grandma refused to smile and even turned away cuz she didn’t want to take a pic. =D)

So I had my doctor’s appointment at another clinic yesterday to check the growth of the baby. First they put me on a monitor (they wrapped it around my belly) and we listened to the baby’s heartbeat for 10 minutes and they told me to press a button everytime I felt the baby move. Her heart beat around 140 bpm and she moved a lot. =D Then this lady did another sonogram, measuring the head and other body parts. There was a screen in front of me so I could see what she was doing. She didn’t say a word the whole time and then she was done within like 5 minutes, and told me I could get up. She didn’t give me any pictures. I had to wipe all the jelly off my belly with the cloth she put on protecting my pants. She didn’t even give me more napkins and she sat back down in front of the computer. So I sat there for like a minute (after wiping) and then she was like “we’re done, you can go”. This office was a little strange. But whatever.

She did tell me though that the baby weighs 5 lb 2 oz already and she is within normal limits. (YAY!) I wonder how much she will weigh when she’s born. I’ve got a little over 5 weeks left. It’s kinda scary. I’m not sure that I’m ready yet. We still have lots to buy. My co-workers told me that they’re throwing me a shower on Tuesday. They figured they couldn’t surprise me, so they told me. They’re so sweet.. and funny.. =D So I’ll post up pix of that next.

Happy New Year everyone! I can’t believe how fast time has gone. Feels like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant and I had to tell my parents & friends. Now I’ve got 6 weeks left in the pregnancy. It’s so soon that I’m almost freaking out. We have lots to do. Buy a crib, stroller, car seat, diapers and pack my hospital bag.. Who knows when she’s going to come. She might be early, she might be late. I just hope she’s healthy and that she doesn’t get caught in the umbilical cord. That’s what scares me the most. But I know God will bless us. I’m going to get a growth scan this Friday. I think it’s a special sonogram to determine whether she’s growing or not. I was told to do this because I was freaking out that my belly is still so small and I just need some reassurance that she is fine.

Well here are my New Year’s Resolutions:

1) Be a good mommy and wife.
2) Lose the extra weight and fat from the pregnancy. I hope I’ll be able to fit into my old clothes again!

Anyway, the past week was great. It was so relaxing not having to wake up early and go to work, although I still woke up early. I guess I just can’t sleep over 8 hours a day for some reason. I’m going to have to go back to work tomorrow. *sigh* I hope I won’t have too much trouble waking up. Well at least I’ve got 3 more weeks of it. After that, I’m just going to sleep and sleep and sleep (And watch soap operas in between.. hahaha) until the baby comes cuz I know I’m not going to get much after she comes. Last week I got to see my sister, her husband, and Talon, my 4 month old nephew. He is such a cutie pie. I love him to death. He is such a happy baby, except for when he’s hungry or tired. But what baby isn’t? =)