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GIVING BIRTH TO NATHANIEL I want to capture this before I forget all the details. When I went to the doctor on Thursday and she told me I was 4cm dilated, I sort of had a hunch that the little one might come that night. I even went to bed telling Jake that tonight was likely the night, (tho I must admit I'd said similar things before). Around 3am, I woke up feeling a bit funny. Had to go to the bathroom three times in a row ad had a bit of pain but nothing too strong. I lay down in bed but couldn't fall asleep. Jake had to get up to go to work at 4am so I didn't want to wake him up and decided to get up. As I got up, I felt some water and thought maybe my water broke. A trip to the bathroom showed some fresh blood so I got worried and called the hospital. They told me it could be my water and to come in. So I woke up Jake and told him I thought it was time. We packed up the few things that were left, got some clothes for David, woke him up and piled in the car. Halfway to the hospital, we realized we didn't have any shoes for David and went back home to get them. I still had no pain and was starting to worry that maybe it was all false and Jake was going to miss work on a particularly bad day to miss work. He kept trying to send an email as we drove to let them know he might not come in. We pulled over to do that, too, and then finally got to the hospital. He dropped me off and went to park with David. I got one of the guards to walk me to the labor and delivery area and one of the nurses put me in a room to check if my water had indeed broken. It was 4:20am. As it turned out, it hadn't. While I felt terrible about hauling everyone to the hospital, the nurse said she wanted to keep me there a while longer to see how far apart my contractions were. They were about 5mins apart. This normally would mean going back home but since it was my second labor, she said she wanted to check how dilated I was and that I might have to stay since things might progress pretty fast. As it turned out, I was 5cm so she told me I wasn't going home, it was likely that I'd have the baby in 4-5 hours. At this point it was 4:45am or so. Theoretically, Jake could still go into the city, trade and come back. But we decided that wasn't a very good idea and that he should stay just in case. They moved me to the labor room and another nurse came to get my information. By now it was a little past 5am. As she put in the needles for the blood collection (for cord blood) and for the IV, I called my mom and told her Jake was bringing David over. The nurse couldn't get my blood to come out so she put the IV in and decided to try the other arm. My arm is very black and blue even now. And she still couldn't get the full 3 vials the cord blood registry requested. She sent them 2.5 vials. The nurse asked me if I wanted an epidural and I told her that I thought I could wait a bit longer. The contractions were pretty bad when they came but they were still pretty far apart and didn't seem to last very long. She got a bunch more infromation and asked me a few more times about the epidural in the next 20 mins. I finally told her to go ahead and call the anesthesiologist. As it turned out he was beginning someone else's epidural and would be over in around 20 mins. Around 5:40 or so Jake came back. He had dropped off David and gone back home to get some chargers we forgot. A few minutes after he came, my contractions got pretty bad. After one really really bad one, the nurse decided maybe she should check me right then so she dropped everything and checked. As it turned out I was 9.5cm dilated. Which meant I was in full labor mode and it was too late for epidural or anything else. They put an emergency call to the doctor on call and asked a resident to come over just in case. Two more horrifying contractions later, just knowing I wasn't going to get the epidural was freaking me out. The resident told me that the baby was coming so I just had to push. She popped my water (which still hadn't broken) and told me to push. As I felt I might be splitting in half, I pushed once really hard. Just then the anesthesiologist came and, with one look at me, he reaized it was too late for him and left. I begged the resident to get the baby out and pushed one more time. On the third push, I felt the baby come out and we were done. It was 6:04am.  As I had requested, they gave the baby to me immediately and cleaned him while he was on me. He was really really purple. And it turns out his cord was wrapped around his head so it's a good thing I didn't have to push too long, we might have ended up in a c-section. He turned pink pretty quickly and his 1-min apgar score was 8 and his 5-minute one was a 9.  At this point, the doctor showed up and when she realized the baby was out, she started to collect the cord blood as the little one and I bonded.  And then they finally took him away to weigh and measure him. 6lbs 7oz and 20.5 inches.  After that, we spent some time relaxing in the labor room, calling our parents etc. The nurse left for the morning nurse who turned out to be the mother of one of David's classmates which was HUGELY lucky because she got us a highly-desired private room at the hospital. On the way to our room, we stopped by the nursery for a K-shot and his first bath. And then we finally got to settle into our room and start the recovery process. All in all, an extremely quick labor. It was 1 hour and 44 minutes from the time I arrived at the hospital to the time he was born. Thank God Jake didn't go to work and had he spent an extra few minutes at home, he might have missed the whole labor. I got realy lucky and had no tears, nothing at all really so I had almost nothing to cause recovery issues. Most importantly, the little one turned out to be perfectly healthy and wonderful. Here's to life as a family of four.  DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 29 2009  Another relatively eventless day. We took David to school togehter, came back, had breakfast and both of us took a nap. I then finished some errands like bills, insurance paperwork, thank you letters etc. And then mom came over with some lunch and I took another nap. A little TV and going through the baby kit I'd bought for Nathaniel and we're about to go to sleep for the night. Well, at least until the next nursing break. So far, he's really the sweetest kid. I am so blessed to have two wonderful sons. I don't know what I did to deserve it but I am so so thankful. Here are two shots from school today. David playing and Nathaniel looking around, taking it all in.   DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 28 2009  A little low on the sleep but all in all a great day. I managed to get it all coordinated so Nathaniel nursed on time to fall asleep right as we needed to leave for David's school so he slept the whole way there and back. And then woke to nurse when we got home. Big success. My mom came over for the day and we did some planning etc. until it was time to take Nathaniel to his 3-day check up. He's great and gained a lot of weight back already. Yey. Some luch/dinner and my day was over. It all went really smoothly and I am hoping the same for tonight. Cross your fingers for me. And, of course I'll leave you with a photo:  DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 27 2009  I am trying to pace myself since I know there will be many months of this so I am resting as much as I can and I even managed to take a shower today so I feel much better. Trying to accomplish one small thing each day but not expecting much of myself. Jake's going to go to work tomorrow so I wil be taking David to school with Nathaniel; we'll see how that goes. I am still sore all over which is really the one thing bugging me. I know it's expected but it's really annoying to feel black and blue all over. Oh well. It shall pass. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 26 2009  I am feeling pretty tired but ok overall. I don't have the energy to write about the labor yet but it was all very quick and smooth. So we're all feeling tired but lucky and blessed. Thank you so much for all your kind words. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 25 2009   We're all doing great. A family of four now. Going home tomorrow, will write more then. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 24 2009  Welcome to the world, little boy. We love you. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 23 2009  Then we took a trip to IKEA and came back home to rest a bit. Another trip to Crate and Barrel and the day was over. David was too tired today and threw a huge tantrum when I came to pick him up. I have no patience or strength anymore of course but I tried to be nice to him. I love him so so much. He's such the sweetest boy. Here he is, with his best friend Joseph at school. Happy Thursday. Let's see when the little one decides to show up. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 22 2009  Not much else to write today. Except: Happy Birthday Michelle!! Love you. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 21 2009  A quiet-ish day at home today. Mom and I figured out a bunch more errands, I am washing the last of the baby's clothes and I think we're pretty much set now. I am officially getting nervous about labor too so I guess it's getting close now. It's been really really hot here which doesn't help with the sweating and swelling. But I think it's going to start getting cooler tomorrow so I am looking forward to that. Thankfully. Here's a snapshot of the sunset I caught on the way home from dinner tonight. Magnificent. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 20 2009  But it was a productive and great day despite all that. We dropped David at school, went to run Apple stored errands, and then spent a long time at a little cafe in Palo Alto. We then cooled off at the hotel and went to our afternoon appointment. We then rented my mom a car and I finally came back home. I then found out David has pooped in the toilet! It may sound odd but it's a big deal in our house for a long story I won't get into here. But that's why he is getting to eat a popsicle here. Big big deal. So all in all, a fantastic day. 39 WEEKS  I downloaded Ali's digital elements for the first time. I love these frames. Aren't they pretty?  DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 19 2009  I woke up at 4am again and didn't go back to sleep this time. So I took a nap even. I am officially one week away from this little one's due date. Quite amazing. Long as it was, it all went so quickly. While I took my nap, David played quietly in the living room and here are some of his creations. He is such a wonderful kid and so good at playing with toys. Happy Sunday! CATALYST 58 - EUPHORIA  Here are my words: I was going to pick Family or Love. Honestly, those words are what make me coziest and warmest inside but I wanted to pick something different from last week so I decided to go with Euphoria. I hadn’t heard of that word until college (Just to be fair, English is my second language.) and as soon as I heard it, I felt happy. To me, it is one of those words that suits its meaning so well. So I love that word. BOWLING   So he rolled it down the lane.  And then did a little dance at his great performance.  And then waited for the ball to come back.  When it did, there was much rejoicing.  And the final score. Considering Jake's score, not bad at all for David's first time. DAVID AND DADDY   This is the longest Jake's beard and hair have ever been since we've been together. So the longest in fifteen years. I love him so:  DAVID AND MOMMY   Since I am 39-weeks pregnant, my face and lips are all swollen and I have the staining which makes me look so tan even though I am not at all. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 18 2009  David then went down for his nap and I did a few upcoming catalysts. Did a bunch of coordinaton and organization for the next few weeks. I am trying to get ready for the baby as much as I can. I know it's all going to be unpredictable and I am ok with that but I'd like to finish off as many loose ends as possible. When David woke up, he and Jake went out to the park and I rested a bit and next thing we know it was time to eat, watch some TV and go to bed. All in all, a truly wonderful day. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 17 2009  The only thing we did today was to take a little walk in the neighborhood and go to subway for another yummy sandwich. Otherwise, it was a TV and rest day. Isn't the little boy so cute? I wonder how similar he and the little baby will be? Is he or she also going to look like Daddy? I will leave you with a flower photo I took outside, aren't you glad it's not a tulip?  DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 16 2009  We then came home and were both wiped so took naps and then woke up and went back out. After finishing off a really important errand, we finally decided to celebrate this very productive day with some ice cream. David ate this relatively gross one and I had some chocolate ice cream with bananas. Yum. Probably due to the doctor's appointment and the hectic day, but I had some crampy contractions today. The kind that signifies labor. So tomorrow's going to be a quiet day at home just to make sure. 52 QUESTIONS AND TECHNIQUES - TAG 15  Ok after two relatively challenging ones, this was easy for me. What makes me me is my capacity to love wholeheartedly. I can love, care and be there with all my being for the people in my life. I stick by them and I am there no matter what. My love is deep, true, and with all my being. So my theme was love. For this tag, I was inspired by this paper from Prima Marketing. I wanted to use fabric but my punch wouldn't punch through so I used the beautiful "que sera sera" papers from K & Company. I put some thin white paint on the background paper just to dim it out a bit and then just stitched over the hearts. And of course added some bling. Can't seem to do without the small sparkle. That's about it.  ---- I am combining Emily Falconbridge's art journal questions with trying a new technique each week. You can see the full list: here DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 15 2009  I guess my "middle of the day" nap got in the way yesterday cause I couldn't sleep properly all night. I woke up at 1am and didn't go back to sleep until 3am. I am not sure if it's the baby, the crazy amount of other stuff happening in my life right now, or just feeling not tired but it makes the next day that much harder. So so on the productivity scale today. But feeling ok despite being a bit tired. I got my tag finished (coming in the next post) which makes me happy. Finished a few more odds and ends and I am off to read some paperwork that needs to be read today. A few more errands this afternoon and I should feel like a good, solid day and then I can do some more art. The art makes me so happy. David and I also played a game today. One he invented. He spent a long time collecting items for it, waited patiently until I was ready to play, and then meticilously wrote instructions for it. Here he is going over the instructions with me:  And then explaining all the pieces of the game:  How can one not love this boy? DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 14 2009  After which maybe I can actually get some art done since I am itching to do my tag and maybe even a few more creative therapy catalysts. Wouldn't that be awesome. Thursday's going to be a full day so I want to make sure to get some good rest tomorrow, too. I can't believe we're already halfway through this week. All this time is passing way too quickly. Happy Tuesday! DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 13 2009   DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 12 2009  The rest of our day went pretty smoothly, too. I finally got my birthplan done and I got the packing list for the hospital, too so I will pack tomorrow. A few tiny things and we're officially ready for this little one. Though, I have another 13 days or so and I'd like the baby to stay put until it's due date ideally so she or he can be fully grown and healthy. Cross fingers. My mom is coming a week from today. I haven't seen her since Thanksgiving and I can't wait. One more week. I will leave you with a shot of David digging through Kathy's house to find all the eggs.  CATALYST 57 - FAMILY  My text: Family is the one thing that makes me laugh more than anything else in my life. One of the original reasons I picked my husband was his great sense of humor and ability to make me laugh. I am not that easily amused and don’t tend to have a good sense of humor so any man who can make me laugh is a keeper in my book. Not to mention the little boy who is so funny, so sweet and cute that the wonderful man and I managed to bring to this world… Technique highlight: This is inspired by an old art journal page by Ali Edwards. It uses two chipboard pieces that I put down before I painted the whole page and then the white and silver sections are created by melting wax. Of course it doesn’t do justice to the original but it was fun to play with and it did make me smile. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 11 2009  Some days are just like that. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 10 2009  We wanted to take some flower shots in the neighborhood since things are finally blooming for spring. We spent the rest of the day mostly resting and not getting too much done.  DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 9 2009   As part of getting ready for the baby, my sister and I put together the pack'n'play I had bought for David. This is exactly where David spent his first six weeks and, if all goes well, little baby will spend his or her first weeks here, too. The boppy was a present but the other two pillows are the best new mother thing I ever got. They are called "My Breast Friend" and they are by far the very best nursing pillow I've ever owned. When new mom-to-bes ask me what they should get, I ask them if they plan on nursing. If they do, I tell them they must, have to, get this pillow. It's worth its weight in gold. I have two because I used to keep one at home and one in the car at all times. One of the things I was very nervous about the first time around was nursing. I wanted to make sure I could nurse and felt scared and insecure. But I was also determined. I am happy to say I got to do it for a long long time, so it's one less worry this time around. I know that, assuming all goes well, I will be able nurse this little one, too. 52 QUESTIONS AND TECHNIQUES - TAG 14  Ordinarily, I'm a voracious reader and read two books, or so, a week. However, I haven't been doing much reading (or anything really) lately and even the ones I've read haven't been that great. The last great book I've read that really sucked me in and pulled me into another world was Twilight. I resisted reading it for a long long time since I don't care for vampires in any way. But this book managed to make me realize that any topic can be made into a great story, so I decided to pick it as my book. I am not crazy about this tag, either but this week's technique was using glimmer mist. I put some thickers on the tag and then inked the whole thing. I then sprayed glimmer mist and put some pearl ink. I wanted to create the effect of "night." Afterwards, I pulled out the thickers and with some glue, put some glitter on the letters. The glimmermist made the tag all soft and wrinkly so that's why it ended up a bit odd and it's really hard to take a good photo but you get the gist. This, too, is not one of my favorites.  ---- I am combining Emily Falconbridge's art journal questions with trying a new technique each week. You can see the full list: here DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 8 2009  A rather odd day today. I feel calmer than I have in a while but I am in quite a bit of pain on and off. I wonder if the baby is getting ready to come a bit sooner than planned. I guess we'll see. At least we're 99% ready, except for my hospital bag and some names. Specifically boy names. Oh well, I'm sure we'll figure something out. Happy Wednesday! 52 QUESTIONS AND TECHNIQUES - TAG 13  This one didn't really speak to me immediately. In fifth grade, I decided to grow my hair and didn't cut it until after college. Once I managed to cut it, I had a strong sense of freedom and proceeded to try several hairstyles. I went blonde, black, red and then back to my original brown. During this period, I spent a few months in Japan. While I was there, I had this one haircut which was the shortest my hair has ever been. It was auburn and really short. To this day, it's the boldest haircut I've had, so I decided to commemorate it. I am not sure I like this tag all that much but the technique I used this week was "printing on canvas." I took this photo of me from then and printed it on canvas and glued it to the tag and then just embellished around it and put some fabric behind the tag. Not one of my favorites to be sure.  ---- I am combining Emily Falconbridge's art journal questions with trying a new technique each week. You can see the full list: here DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 7 2009  Today is declared a day of rest. I plan to do nothing but lie on the couch and watch TV. Some little stuff might get done but no pressure. That's the plan. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 6 2009  Today was a day of errands. I got the baby's car seat installed, I confirmed we're set for the hospital and for maternity pay, I paid my bills, and just tied all the loose ends, so I can relax now. David's school is on vacation starting Wednesday night so I have two more days just to myself and I plan to make the most of them. Here's David in one of the boxes that used to hold baby clothes, wathcing Batman. Cutie pie! DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 5 2009  CATALYST 56 - BELIEVE  My journaling is: Since I am the kind of person to harp on little things for hours, days, sometimes months, I try to think hard before I make decisions to minimize the possibility of making a mistake. I am happy to say I have relatively few regrets in my life. One of the very few happened a couple of years ago. I quit my job on Wall Street to join Teach For America which is a nonprofit program where you teach at under-resourced schools. I taught fifth grade at a school in the South Bronx in New York. My regret is not quitting my job but it's quitting Teach For America before fulfilling my two-year commitment. When I quit my job, I firmly believed that TFA was my path in life. I wanted to do it for two years and then move on to starting my own nonprofit and making the world a better place. So much so that at some point, I even felt the importance of improving education in the United States so strongly that I was surprised more people weren't prioritizing their life accordingly. After several months of struggling, failing, crying, trying more and failing more, I finally gave up and quit. To this day, it's something I regret. I know that it was the right decision on many levels but it's still something I regret and consider a mistake. Technique Highlight Since reading Kelly Rae Roberts' book Taking Flight, I've been meaning to try my hand at polymer clay. I took this week's catalyst as the opportunity to do so. I created a door to represent the new stage of my life TFA was at the time and wrote the words "believe" on the bottom since that was the strongest emotion I felt at the time: a solid sense of belief that this was the right next step for me in life. I then painted the clay and put it in the oven to bake. As it turned out, I overestimated the amount of time it needed to cook, so I burned it and a part of it got distorted. Right before I was going to throw it out, I decided it was an even better fit for my catalyst. As I started teaching, my belief and faith in this opportunity and what it represented got all bent out of shape and distorted so I decided this burned clay only reinforced my theme. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 4 2009  DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 3 2009  MOMMY WHEN WILL I BE - AMM APRIL  Journaling Reads: "Mommy, when will I be ten?" "In six years, my sunshine." "I want to be ten!" "You will be, soon, my love." We play this game on the way from and to school each day. You want to know when you will be older and you list all the things you will do when you're at that age. And then, a few days ago you asked, "Mommy, when will I be twenty?" "In sixteen years, my boy." "I want to be twenty!!" "Not soon, sweetie, I don't want you to be twenty, yet." "Why not?" "Well when you're twenty, you won't be living with Mommy and Daddy anymore. You'll be going to school and sleeping at school and I will miss you." You thought about this for a while, asked a few followup questions and then said, "I don't want to be twenty, yet. I want to be six!" I smiled knowing this wouldn't last long and that the prospect of living with Mommy and Daddy would soon be less than exciting but I will take what I can get and I will make sure to cherish these days when you still pick us over the alternative. PLAYING CHESST - AMM APRIL  Journaling Reads: "Mommy, I want to play chest," you said the other day. I had no idea what you were talking about until you pointed at the chess/checkers set we had sitting on the shelf. "Do you mean chess?" I asked. "Yes," you said, "chesst." After I chuckled to myself, I told you that Daddy was the person who would teach you how to play chess. Just that week, your Daddy had been telling me that he wanted to sit with you and teach you how to play chess. I secretly thought it was too soon and that you wouldn't really pay attention properly, but I didn't say anything. And, boy, was I wrong. You learned all the piece's names and how they move within a few minutes and played with Daddy for almost an hour before your mind wandered. I was wrong to underestimate you, little boy, a little more practice and you can learn chess after all. STOMP ROCKETS - AMM APRIL  Journaling Reads: My good friends Jess and Chris got you stomp rockets for your fourth birthday and they have become your most favorite presents out of all the ones you got. Since we have to play them outside, any possible occasion when the weather is sunny and Daddy's home has been "stomp rocket time." While I am not the biggest fan of the rockets, I love watching your joy each time one of them goes up really high. I love watching you experiment with the ways you can make the rockets go off. I love how happy you get as you send them up in the air. Pure, unadulterated joy. No wonder I can't say no when you ask to play with this toy that brings so much delight into your life. DADDY AND YOU - AMM APRIL  Journaling Reads: Watching you and Daddy bond is always something special for me, but on this particular day, he had just come back from his 4-day trip to New York City and you just couldn't get enough of him. You wanted to sit next to him, you wanted to hug him and kiss him every few minutes. It was such a delight to watch and experience. My boy, I hope you and Daddy are this close forever. DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 2 2009  DAILY PHOTOS - APRIL 1 2009  Daily Photos - March 31 2009  This is from school, a typical face David likes to make that makes me smile. |
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