Two weeks!

Hey there Boy Boy!

We survived another week! Even though you kept us awake all through the night (Daddy says you are on SG time -- wide awake in the middle of the night, and sleeping throughout the day), we are still so happy to have you. Your many facial expressions have provided great entertainment for us. And both Mommy and Daddy have been trying to capture them on film. Hopefully you won't mistaken the cameras for us next time.

You umbilical cord fell off right at the two-week mark. We brought you back to the PD to check you jaundice levels yesterday. When the nurse told us it increased to 14, Mommy's heart just sank, worried that you will have to go through another bout of tests. Fortunately, Dr J thinks it is not a problem, since you are pooping, peeing and eating fine. She is happy with your weight gain too (7 pounds 2 oz now!). And she is awfully patient with explaining and reassuring Daddy and Mommy. Seems like the blood type mismatch between us (Mine's O+, yours is B+) means that it will take some time for the jaundice to resolve. So we will have to get through this with lots of patience... and sunlight.

广昊's first week

Everyone is joking that Boy Boy is Mommy's Mother's Day present... Mommy definitely did not think that she will be celebrating her first Mother's Day this year! Forty-eight hours after you were born, we finally got to bring you back home. We almost couldn't do so because your bilirubin levels were high from the light test. Fortunately, the blood test came back with a lower reading, so we didn't have to stay another night!

However, the next few days were quite traumatic for poor Boy Boy. You bilirubin levels continued to climb, and you had to have blood drawn from your heel daily. But you were such a brave boy, practically sleeping through the whole procedure. We had to rent a bilirubin blanket for you to sleep on, in the hopes of bringing the bilirubin levels down.

Unfortunately, you had to be admitted to the hospital on Saturday, coz the levels hit 20. The worst thing was, they had to do extra blood tests for you, so the heel stick was no longer enough -- they had to draw from a vein in the hand. The PD nurse had to poke you twice because she did not draw enough blood the first time. Both Mommy and Daddy were heartbroken to see you wailing away in pain. Later on in the night, you had to have blood drawn again. This time, they couldn't find any more limbs to poke, so they had to take it from a vein in the head... Poor Boy Boy... We wish we were the ones being poked instead...

It was a tough night for all of us in the hospital. You were only allowed to have diapers on, and had to be under constant light therapy. It didn't help that the hospital room was so cold, and there were times we could see you shivering. Daddy had to ask the nurses for a way to keep you warm, and we were given rubber gloves filled with warm water to put by your side.

Fortunately, the PD who came by to see you the next day was an easy-going one. He said we could bring you home that day, and follow up at the community clinic on Tuesday. So far, your bilirubin levels have been dropping, but we will still have to bring you back next week to make sure you are in the clear. It seems like we have almost all the risk factors for jaundice (Asian, blood type mismatch, breastfeeding, etc). In addition, the doctor said that because you are slightly preterm, your liver may need a bit more time to mature. We will just have to be patient for now...

Countdown to Guang Hao's (广昊) birth

May 6th (Thursday):

Mommy's exams are finally over! Mommy is really glad to finally have a breather. Since your expected arrival date is not for another three weeks or so, Mommy and Daddy thought we will still have plenty of time to get things ready for you.

May 7th (Friday):

Our weekly appointment with Dr H... We did our usual ultrasound, which was ordered a couple of weeks back because Mommy's amniotic fluid was on the low side. Fortunately, today it was back to normal! I guess all the drinking of water helped. Your expected weight is 5 pounds 8 ounces, which is low by US standards, but just the way Mommy wants it to be. (Yup, Mommy is hoping a smaller Boy Boy will mean an easier delivery!)

We also did our weekly BPP (biophysical profile), to make sure you are doing fine despite the low amniotic fluid levels. Mommy was hooked onto a fetal heart monitor and a button to press whenever you move. You were super active! And we managed to catch you during one of your hiccuping fits too. Dr H gave you a 10/10 for acing all the tests! This was a relief for Mommy, because anything below 6/10, and we may have to consider inducing labor. Not fun.

May 8th (Saturday):

Mommy finished up her last session of piano lessons with the kiddos today. No more commitments from now on! Mommy was really looking forward to a couple of weeks of sleeping, knitting, reading etc, before you are born. But it seems like you had other plans...

That night, Mommy started having some cramps for the first time. But Mommy didn't worry too much about them, since they didn't hurt that much, and Mommy was sure they were false contractions. I mean, whoever has heard of going straight into labor without feeling any false contractions? Mommy went to sleep hoping that the cramps will go away the next morning...

May 9th (Sunday):

... but they didn't. Daddy, Mommy and your Po-po went about our usual activities anyway. We had breakfast at McDs, and went grocery shopping at Payless. We talked about what were the things we had to prepare for a BBQ-cum-baby-shower we were going to have with Daddy's classmates that night. We even called up Uncle W and Auntie XJ to see if they want to meet up for lunch. Auntie XJ has a scheduled C-section on Monday, so we wanted to catch them before they became busy with parenthood.

So it was quite ironic when Mommy's water broke at about 1pm that day, and we had to call them back to cancel our lunch date. Daddy also hurriedly transferred all the marinated BBQ stuff to his classmates, so that the BBQ can proceed as planned. And of course we called Dr H, who was kind enough to let Mommy have her lunch before being admitted to the hospital.

2pm:

We reached the hospital without much drama. The suite was nice and cozy, but the pain was getting quite unbearable. Mommy's dilation measured 6 cm, which surprised the nurse a bit, coz she didn't expect us to be so far along...

4pm:

Mommy was given the option having the epidural now, or wait until an hour later, because the anesthesiologist had to go into the OR to perform a C-section, and will not be available till later. So Mommy said yes, and had the epidural put in place. That went smoothly and painlessly. Unfortunately, the epidural was not much of an epidural. Mommy could still feel all the contractions, and the dose could not be increased because the anesthesiologist was uncontactable in the OR. So it was pain pain pain for the next few hours.

6pm:

Apparently, a lot of babies chose to be born on the same day as you , Boy Boy (nine, as we later found out), so the hospital was short of manpower that day. Dr H came in and called it 10cm and (finally) gave Mommy the permission to push. While Mommy was pushing, Dr H had to set up the surgical table, and go out of the room to look for help (which was kind of funny in retrospect). Help slowly trickled in. When the surgical technician came in, the team was finally complete, but Mommy was still pushing, and getting really exhausted. After what seemed like forever, Boy Boy was born at 6.57pm!

Your Daddy got to cut your umbilical cord. He did pretty well considering that he cannot stand the sight of blood. You came out eyes wide opened, and wailing quite loudly too! You measured 20 1/4 inches, and weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces, a lot more than what we anticipated from the ultrasound!