One week later...

It's been a week since we brought little Jake home. The first few days were challenging. It was hard to move around with the pain from the surgery. I needed help to even get dried off after a shower. My feet were still swollen -- apparently the side affect of having c-section. I couldn't sleep in my bed properly and the baby kept us up quite a bit so we were feeling pretty exhausted.

My sister flew out to help us out for a week which was tremendous. I couldn't do much other than breast feed so she helped with changing the diapers, soothing the baby, laundry and even cooking. I was really impressed by how well she handled the baby.

I've heard so many horror stories about breast feeding and I finally realize why. In the beginning breast feeding wasn't so bad but then it got worse when I got home -- probably because I was not unlatching the baby properly. The lactation specialist at the postpartum check-up really helped. Since then breast feeding has gotten better each day.

Paul has been such a great caretaker...not only does he have to take care of Jake, he was attending to my needs as well. We are finally getting the hang of Jake and his crying cues. The last couple of nights we actually got some decent sleep and was able to care for Jake without hysterical cries.

My mom gets here tomorrow -- Yeah! I'm getting tired of eating take outs so I'm looking forward to some home cooked meal.

MW


Jake's favorite sleeping pose...

Birthing Experience

My water broke around 6 a.m. Wednesday morning. I had a really restless night of going to the bathroom every 2 hours. At first I thought maybe I just didn't make it to the bathroom on time. But when I realize that I could not stop the water from flowing that my water broke. We called the hospital since it was after hours and they said to take our time since I haven't really started contraction. At around 4 p.m. the contraction got pretty intense so I requested for epidural. The epidural procedure itself was not as painful as I expected it. In fact, the IV hook up was far more painful. After the Epidural I was not allowed to eat or get out of the bed. As it turns out, I am one of those unlucky folks that the epidural did not fully take into effect. After a few hours, I started to feel the contraction pain again which got pretty intense. I got a stronger dose of the epidural about 4 more times. Each one only lasted for about 3-4 hours. On Thursday at around 5 a.m., I was only 6-7 cm dilated so my Dr. decided that I need to go in for the cesarean. At that point, I just want the baby out safely. I was extremely nervous about the spinal tap anestesia since the epidural didn't really work for me. The operation lasted about 1 hour -- it took about 20 minutes to get Jake out. While I was in there, they were taking out my dermoid cyst on my left ovary as well -- they ended up taking the entire ovary out. I'm kinda bummed about it since that leaves me with only 1 ovary.

I was so relief to see our little boy out safely out. He is so beautiful and tiny!

Well, what's interesting is that in our birthing plan we had stated that we wanted the full birthing experience and that's exactly what we got. I experienced the labor pain, the epidural and cesarean. But when I saw our baby, it's totally worth every pain.

Mina

Welcome Baby Jake Toshiro Whitehead

After 23 hours of labor which ended with a Cesarean, Jake was delivered on Thursday, October 18, 2007. He was 6 pounds, 9 ounce and 19.7 inches. He has a full set of hair and the cutest little nose. It is hard to believe that after 8.5 months of carrying the little guy around, he is finally here.



For more photos go to our photo gallery

Baby wants out!!!

So this morning about 6:15, Michelle tried to wake me up. She called and called my name to rouse me from my deep sleep, but each time I woke all I heard was the pauses between the calls. Of course, I just turned back into my pillow and went back to sleep.

After about the fourth call, I finally decided to hear Michelle and asked what she wanted.

"My water broke."

And I was awake.


7:15 we were admitted into Evergreen Hospital.

4:30 the happy drug was introduced. Michelle had her epidural.

Now, we are still here in the hospital waiting to see what happens.

More later

Week 36

My hands since I started the 3rd trimester and my feet occasionally swells up as well. The other night Paul looked down at my feet and said my ankles are gone...
True enough, my feet and ankles were so swollen, they look like large sausages.
Ah...another fun fact about pregnancy.

Other than swollen feet, I've also experienced false labor known as Braxton Hicks. I didn't realize that's what was happening last Friday night. I was feeling lots of pressure and tightness. I could not get into a comfortable position when I try to go to bed. I finally got some shut eye at 5 a.m. the next day -- good thing it was the weekend. I guess my body is just preping for the impending labor.

Of course, I've also gained 7 more pounds since my last dr's visit. Urgg..I'm having a really hard time controlling my weight gain. The lack of exercise and craving for sweets probably doesn't help much. I'm going to have to try harder in the next few weeks to eat healthier, go for walks up until the baby comes.

Tomorrow is my last day at work so yeah!!!

Baby Shower - September 23, 2007

Posting this kinda late. Our good friends, Kerry & Rob, threw a baby shower for us at their place. It was a lot of fun. There were a few kids there but they were all so well behaved. :) At the shower, we realize that most of our friends have daughters. Jake will be a lucky boy. :)

We are so blessed with good friends. It is nice to know that even though we don't have families in the area, we have good friends who are there for us. Paul always says that friends are families we choose to have.



Photos from the shower:
http://gallery.mac.com/minaray#100087&bgcolor=black