Visit from auntie

"It's so tiny!" was Auntie Janice's first reaction when she saw Baby Summer. Yesterday we had visits from Janice, my Mom, Bill (her boyfriend), and Auntie Huang (a friend who is staying with my mom). Summer was completely comfortable with everyone and didn't cry once. I thought it would be stressful having vistors come over becuase in those TV shows about couples' first day back from the hospital, they always seem so relieved after the wave of visting family members is over. I guess since we've had a few days to get settled in, it wasn't so bad.

Another birthday

Today is Nicky's birthday (the curious cat behind the infant carrier). Yep, that's three b-days we'll be celebrating every May. This picture was actually taken by Shaunyi's mom the day Summer arrived at home. So far the cats have been keeping their distance from Summer; I think they're still trying to get used to her. We make an effort to spend some time with each of them so that they don't associate the decreased attention with the arrival of the baby. We were most worried about Sweetpea, our dog, being jealous of the baby, but she seems fine with Summer so far.

Summer burrito

This is Summer's best swaddle yet (done by Shaunyi, of course) so I had to take pictures. Last night was a lot better than the two nights in the hospital. Not only did we have the comfort of our own home, Summer was a lot less fussy and didn't cry as often.

Shaunyi has been diligently following the instruction of the lactation consultant, so she hasn't been getting much sleep. For those of you who aren't aware (as I wasn't before having a baby) the mother does not start to produce milk right after birth. It will take a good two to three days before the milk comes, and to stimulate the production of milk, Shaunyi must breastfeed every 2-3 hours. Sounds tiring doesn't it? That's on top of the recovering from the pain from giving birth! I've gained a whole new respect for mothers after this experience. Guys, be glad that you will never have to go through what they have to go through.

Another close-up of Summer sleeping. Isn't she a cutie? I can watch her sleep for hours. She's been sleepy most of time so it's hard to catch her with her eyes open. But as soon as a get a good one of her awake, I will post it!

Meet Baby Summer

I realized that I didn't post any close-ups of Summer, so here you go. Thank you to everyone for reading and for the warm welcoming of our baby.

Okay, I've finally got some time and energy now to do another post. I thought I would be able to do another one last night, but I was so drained, both physically and emotionally. You always hear about how witnessing the birth of your child is the most beautiful and memorable moment in your life. Then you watch those videos of the mothers screaming during labor and you wonder how something so scary and painful can produce such a wonderful moment. Well, everything parents say is absolutely true. Everytime I look as Summer I realize that we've been given the most beautiful and truly perfect gift in the world. I feel like the luckiest man in the world right now.

Summer weighed in at 6 lbs 15 oz with a length of 18 3/4 inches. Shaunyi was surprised that the baby was so small because she felt her stomach was big and the active labor stage was long. She had to push for about 2 hours before Summer came out; for the faint at heart, I won't go into the gory details. I will say this though...thank goodness for our nurse, Karine. She was a superstar. Her coaching really helped us get through the labor. I say 'us' because man, even though I wasn't pushing, it was heart-wrenching watching my wife go through all that pain and frustration.

Photos you see above (left to right): Summer being measured, Grandma Moto (my mom), Great Grandma (Shaunyi's Grandmother), Grandma Sufang (Shaunyi's mom) with Shaunyi's brother and his girlfriend, Summer and her mommy, and finally, the new happy family!

Summer is here!

Baby Summer was born at around 2 pm. She hasn't been weighed yet, but she looks to be around 7 lbs. I'm still in shock right now so I can't write much. I must say though, she's the most adorable baby I've every seen.

In the photo from left to right: Shaunyi's mom (who was waiting anxiously in the waiting room), Nurse Karine, Dr. Williams (anesthesiologist), and Dr. Bliss. Okay, I've got to clean up my equipment before we move to the recovery room.

A break from pushing

Shaunyi started pushing at 11:50 am. Right now we're giving her a break while the nurse goes to give Dr. Bliss the heads-up. No crowning of the baby's head yet, but the nurse says we're making good progress.

The suspense is killing me

Shaunyi is completely dialated and ready to have the baby. However, she did some test pushes and found that it was difficult because everything down there is a bit too numb. Now we have to wait for the epidural to wear off a little so that she can feel some of the pressure of the baby coming out. Hopefully, the next time I write, Summer will be born!

9 and half cm

As I was posting my previous blog, I had to help Shaunyi through some pain. As you can see, we're really close. Shaunyi says that the contractions are really painful again so they're upping the dose of the epidural. Our doctor (Dr. Bliss) is doing a c-section right now, but as soon as she's done, we're next!

On the home stretch

Shaunyi's about 8 cm dialated...we're getting really close. They say we'll be delivering by noon. The nurse pictured on the left is Hillary. She won't be around during the delivery because her shift ended at 7 am. She was really nice and pleasant, and coincidentally, it's her birthday today!

I've got my video camera set up on a tripod, so I'm all ready to go. Shaunyi's already feeling some pressure from the baby pushing down...

So far so good

As you can see by the photo, Shaunyi got her epidural, so she's happy. Just over an hour ago she was pretty miserable with intense contractions. When we got here at around 9 pm she wasn't dialated much, but they didn't send us home because her blood pressure was high.

The doctor advised that we wait until midnight and if the contractions do not get any closer together, they will induce. Midnight rolls around and still not much change so the nurse gives Shaunyi some pitocin. This made her contractions unbearable so she asked for the epidural. After she got it, she was all smiles again. She said that the poking into the spine was not nearly as bad as she thought it would be. And even if it was, it would have been totally worth it.

Now Shaunyi can get some rest, maybe take a nap, before the big push later. I need to get some sleep to. The sitting area next to the window is actually pretty comfortable. Oh, and did I mention how great this hospital is? Every room is extremely spacious, has a nice view, is equipped with a plasma TV, and, of course has free WiFi access. Good thing too, because I couldn't imagine typing this much from my phone.

Here we go!

For the last hour, Shaunyi's been having contractions every 3-7 minutes. We just called the hospital and the nurse said we should go in. Man, the nerves are really starting to kick in.

So my next post will probably be from the St. John's. Stay tuned...

Today might be the day!

Today I was woken up by abdominal pain which I'm now sure were contractions. I've been having contractions on and off all day as well as backaches. At first I wasn't sure because some weren't that painful, just uncomfortable. Now a few are getting pretty strong and painful, and then they go away, so I'm sure it's going to be soon. We'll keep you posted.

Happy Birthday Nermie!

Today was not Summer's birthday, but it was Nermie's. Nermie turned 11 today! Happy Birthday Nermie!

Today Shaunyi woke up with back pain, which is unusual because she hasn't had any back pain for the last 2 months or so. She also felt a lot of abdominal pain throughout the day, but she's not sure they are contractions. She's still having intermittent back pains, so I'm going to look for my tennis balls and see if they really work well for massages.

No baby yet!

Since many of you are anxious to know whether or not our baby has arrived, I decided to create a little blog to keep everyone posted. Shaunyi and I are very excited and cannot wait to meet our baby Summer. She's actually been pretty calm (not much kicking) throughout the pregnancy so hopefully that means she'll be a nice, peaceful baby :)

Shaunyi's doing well despite the fact that today was supposed to be her due date. As of yesterday she was about 1-2 inches dialated, but still no contractions, water breaking, or other unmentionable signs of labor (mothers, you know what I'm talking about). We've got our bags packed, infant car seat strapped in, camera batteries charged, hospital number on speed dial...we're ready to have a baby!

Incidentally, I've figured out how to post blogs with my phone so I'll be able to keep you all in the loop of the details straight from the hospital (that is, when I'm not tending to my wife's every wishes). And for those of you who have been calling to ask about the baby, thank you so much for your warm wishes and support...but remember, this blog is especially for you, so be sure to check back here soon!