Dec 26 - Dec 31

Sun, Dec 26
Mommy did a quick run to Oakridge mall solo today, while daddy watched the two kiddos. She's not sure why, but she always seems to feel guilty when doing this ... so she didn't stay out for long. The after Christmas sales aren't as exciting as the after Thanksgiving ones. She did get some wrapping paper, containers for ornaments, Christmas lights (for outside), a wreath, and a wreath box ...

We had dim sum for lunch. Tyler loves the sticky rice. He even eats some of the meat that's in it. Not sure he is aware it is meat, so we don't tell him. :)

Mon, Dec 27
We drove up to Tahoe to go tubing at Boreal. There was some very unusual traffic and it too way longer then it should. Tyler and Emily both did really well considering this. Tyler amazingly went tubing all by himself and had a blast giving daddy quite the workout keeping up with him. Mommy and Emily walked around outside for a while, but spend most of the time in the car, lol. They could have gone to the resort however from where we had parked it was a pretty long trek and mommy was afraid of falling down of all things.

It turned out to be a Mc Donald's day ... at least for breakfast and lunch. Dinner was the spam musubi's mommy had made but forgot to bring on the trip.

Hoku was a good sport. She stayed home all day alone and didn't make a mess. She also lasted a good 10 - 12 hours without going to the bathroom. Which was NOT our intention, but in addition to the weird traffic going up, we caught rush hour traffic on our way home as well. Guess we'll have to plan our next trip better.

On a side note, while stuck in the traffic there was a long line to exit the freeway. As nice people, we stood in line and waited out turn. However, there were other cars who thought they were more superior then us and deserved to drive up to the front and try to cut in. Because of this a lot of cars, including us, were driving close to the car in front of us to prevent them from cutting. You can probably guess what happened. Brad accidentally hit the person in front of us. Luckily they had an SUV with a toe hitch on the back, so all of the damage was just to the grill in the front of our car. No big deal. WRONG! The lady of the other car was a biatch about it. So once we finally exited, we pulled over to the side to exchange information. The entire time she was being all hissy, even after Brad had apologized. To top it off, she stole our insurance card and claimed we never gave it to her. Then she kept threatening us with saying that she wanted to call the cops. Whatever lady. You have our information, if you want to make a claim, call the insurance company. Your toe hitch looked fine, but if you really want another one we will get it for you.

Tues, Dec 27
*day passes without mommy writing*

Wed, Dec 28
Emily had her 1 month baby well visit today. Pretty average all around. 9lbs 2 ozs and 21 inches long. She got 3 shots and 1 oral vaccination, what a trooper. It made her grouchy throughout the day, but nothing too bad.

Thurs, Dec 29
*day passes without mommy writing*

Fri, Dec 30
New Year's Eve dinner was at the Murakami's. The parent's did most of the cooking ... yummy Japanese food with tri tip and spring rolls. It was all very delicious. It was a night of eating and drinking, the latter just Shaun and daddy.

Since fireworks are illegal here ... we can only play those weak sauce "pop pop" noise maker types. Nevertheless, the kids had a blast. The daddy's froze outside with them while the mommies stayed inside with the babies.

They were nice enough to make us smores though. :)

Sat, Jan 1
New Year's ozoni soup at the Murakami's along with left overs for lunch. Tyler's schedule is all whacked because of the late sleeping. Hopefully this will be fixed before it's time to go back to school.

Christmas 2010

This is the first year that Tyler finally understands more or less what Christmas is. He went to see Santa to ask for Megatron, we baked cookies for Santa, went to cut down the tree, decorated the tree, and had people over for Christmas Eve.

On the eve, we left a plate of cookies and a glass of milk out for Santa. On Christmas morning, the first thing Tyler asked was, "How come Santa did eat ALL the cookies?" I believe we left a bunch, about 6 or so. And daddy was quick to tell him that he eats cookies at all the different houses and that he probably just wasn't very hungry. Not sure if Tyler understood that reasoning, but he dropped it after that.

Ahh present opening ... now that he can recognize his name, he was able to pick out his gifts from under the tree. Only asking us who they were from. He FINALLY ripped open the gifts really fast and threw the trash on the floor. Not like last year where he was anal and needed to throw trash in the garage as he ripped it, lol. Surprisingly he was okay with opening all the gifts first before stopping to play with them along the way. He was even helpful enough to want to open Emily's gifts for a while. But she got mostly clothes, which quickly bored him.

He opened all of his transformers first and mommy made him set aside his other toys for later. The plan is to open them once the transformers start to get "boring", lol. That way the excitement of the toys will hopefully last longer.

Mommy got the Cricut Imagine from daddy along with diamond stud earrings from Tiffany's (the later was a complete surprise). Daddy got his sound bar for the TV and a gift card to the iFLY (indoor flying simulation). Hoku got treats and a few new plush toys.

We hung around the house for most of the day. Headed to dinner at the Murakami's in the evening for Korean Chicken, left over prime rib and some crispy panned fried noodles. :) Uncle Shaun got some new games, which him and daddy played.

Dec 19 - 24

Sun, Dec 19

Played Santa and delivered presents. Wong's and Phan's. Hung out at the Phan's for a couple of hours. Tyler played with Andrew and Ethan and Emily showed off and was a good girl.

Mon, Dec 20
Damn Babies R Us doesn't open until 9:30! Where are the holiday hours!! Hahaha, ended up at the mall and got to return things from the Disney store that we ended up not needing as gifts and go to Target for some odds and ends.

Tues, Dec 21

Went to Carter's to return stuff. Passed out Xmas cards to T's classmates in the morning with hopes to give to his teachers in the afternoon. However, most of them were gone by the time mommy picked up Tyler @ 5:30pm, so I guess they will get it next year. It was his last day of school for the year and mommy will have both the kids for the next 2 days all by herself.

We had dinner with Murakami's and Yee's at Sonoma Chicken Copp. Just mommy by herself because daddy had to work late. It went fairly well. Luckily Emily did her crying and screaming while driving to get Tyler and then on the way to the restaurant. Mommy then fed her in the car and then she slept through the entire dinner and mommy was able to eat in peace. :)

Wed, Dec 22

Tyler requested to go to Michael's today. Not sure why, he didn't pick out anything. While we were out we also went to Babies R Us to do a return and to pick up more vitamins for Emily.

After nursing Emily and eating McDonalds with Tyler. There was a good 1 hour time frame where mommy had both kids sleeping! WOOHOO!

Thurs, Dec 23

Stayed home and tried to preparing house for Xmas Eve Dinner.
Both kids napped at the same time again! Mommy got in on the action and took a short nap as well. Evan and Owen came by for a short visit. Daddy hoped to come home early, but guess work is busy ... or just plain mean.

Friday, Dec 24

Spent most of the morning finishing up cleaning the house. More so daddy then mommy. Although cleaning might have been the easier of the 2 things to do. It was that or watch both the kids. Pick your poison, hehe.

We hosted the Christmas Eve dinner at our house. The Murakami's (with Cindi's parents) prepared prime rib, baked potatoes, and tofu salad. We had king crab legs, rice, and macaroni/potato salad. Dessert was a very rich and yummy strawberry cheesecake and pecan pie.

Man, time sure flies! Can't believe tomorrow is already Christmas!

Emily's 2 month studio pictures

Emily's first studio pictures. Don't mind the quality, they are scanned images of the originals. To buy the digital images are super expensive!

Emily's Pictures - Week 8 & 9

Dec 12 - 18

Sun, Dec 12
I'm sure we did something on this day, but the only thing I seem to remember at the moment is that we switched Emily to the level 1 nipple for her bottle. :)

Mon, Dec 13
Drawing another blank. :( But going to guess we went to the mall.

Tues, Dec 14
Bit the bullet and went to take Emily to Picture people for her very first studio picture session. Our appointment was at 9:40 and it took us about 2 hours. While I was there, I had to change 3 diapers and feed her a bottle BUT it was well worth it. Mommy was very happy with the pictures, which she will post soon.

Once Emily can hold her head up we plan to take her back again this time with big brother Tyler. Can't wait.

Wed, Dec 15
Today was Tyler's Winter performance/potluck at school. The boys wore white and the girls wore red. It was very cute. They stood in the front of the class and sang a few songs. We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (English and Spanish), some song about the continents of the United States and Rudoplh the Red Nose Reindeer. Tyler did an awesome job! He actually appeared to be singing, despite his jumping around and lifting up his shirt, lol.

Thurs, Dec 16
Don't think we did much on this day. I vaguely remember holding Emily while she napped, lol.

Fri, Dec 17
Mommy had some Kohl's cash so we went this morning and got her a new sweater. YAY! It will be perfect for the rainy/wetness we've been having lately. Emily always looks so warm bundled up in her footsies which has a onesie and socks underneath.

Today was Daddy's company Xmas party, but he opted not to go and instead came home early. It was also Haylie's Xmas party at school, so Aunty Vicky was nice and picked up Tyler.

We had pizza and spaghetti for dinner with the Murakami's.

Sat, Dec 18
We tried to get an early start, but daddy was lagging. Because of this we ended up having to stand in line for Tyler to see Santa. He didn't cry, but refused to smile. Oh well ... mommy bought the picture anyway, since Emily has one. Next year we'll attempt the one with both on them together.

Small fender bender ... some lady hit the back of mommy's Mazda in the parking lot. We weren't there at the time, but she was nice enough to try to leave us a note on the car. We got back just while she was attempting it and instead traded information. Looks like we will need to replace the back bumper. :(

Tyler fell asleep on the way home. Mommy made spam musubis for lunch. When Tyler woke up he was a grouch. Had give him some time before he would eat his long over due lunch and then want to go to the birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Mommy stayed home with Em and daddy took him. He said he had lots of fun and that he LOVES it there.

In the evening, we did gingerbread house decorating at the Murakami's. Had mexican food for dinner and watched Despicable Me, although mommy didn't quite get to see the entire thing. On a side note, we didn't get all of the Transformers from McDonalds. Tyler is sad he doesn't have Megatron, but he is interested in the Bakugan toys they have now.

Dec 6 - 10

Monday, Dec 6th

Today mommy and Emily went to the mall to get Emily's picture taken with Santa. We had a stroke of good luck and Emily was awake, alert and not crying. YAY! The hard part will be Tyler, who was afraid and cried seeing Santa last year. Mommy is hoping after he sees Emily's picture and sees that she didn't cry, he won't either.

Vicky them came by to get the bed we borrowed. Hopefully mommy can get the nursery up and running soon.

Tuesday, Dec 7th
Today is Grandma Jenny / Grandpa Stan's anniversary. Mommy forgot to write down the days activities and drew a blank when coming back to this entry. Hehe ...
On a side note, Haylie them got back from Hawaii today.

Oh and goodbye newborn diapers, hello to size 1!

Wednesday, Dec 8th
It was a pretty wet and rainy day today. Took care of Emily at home and did some random things around the house. Because it was raining, Aunty Vicky picked up Tyler and he cried. She had to call mommy so Tyler could talk to her. Silly guy!

Thursday, Dec 9th

Tyler is the funniest guy. Today mommy goes to pick him up and he cries for Aunty Vicky!

Friday, Dec 10th

Mommy is slowing trying to clean out Emily's nursery. So many things, not enough places to put them. Aunty Vicky went to the book fair sale and mommy ordered some books for Tyler and Emily. Since Aunty Vicky was going to the school anyway, she picked up Tyler again this time with NO tears.

Saturday, Dec 11th

We did Tyler's Choo Choo train gingerbread house today. Mommy did the structure and put icing where Tyler wanted while he placed the candy. It came out nice if I say so myself. We were originally suppose to go over the Aunty Cindi's house to do it with her and Haylie, but Tyler just started coughing so we figured we'd stay away. She said she'd host it next weekend, but Tyler was pumped up to decorate it ... so if we do go next weekend mommy will buy him a gingerbread house.

Emily's Pictures - Week 7

Christmas Tree

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree ... you look so beautiful in our house, LOL. For the first time ever, we went to CUT down our own Christmas Tree this year. I can't tell you much about it since it rained and mommy had to stay in the car with Emily. However, Tyler had a blast and was very proud of the tree he and daddy picked. It's about 9 feet tall and fills the family room nicely. Mommy wishes she could have gotten some action shots taken of daddy actually cutting the tree down, but I guess there is always next year. We have decided to make it a new family tradition.

Prior to the tree cutting we had brunch with the Murakami's. After the tree cutting we had dinner with the Murakami's. Need I also mention we went tree cutting with the Murakami's. :)

Nov 30 - Dec 4

Tues, Nov 30
Today was the real test for mommy. Her very first day fending for herself. Having to get both kids up, ready, and fed in the morning. Not to mention make Tyler's lunch for school. And then of course, dropping Tyler off at school.

It went as well as it could have. Emily woke up rather happy and didn't fight going into her car seat for once. The car ride put her to sleep and she was peacefully sleeping when all of the teacher's at school were googling over her. It was her first appearance and everyone wanted to take a peak.

Tyler was VERY CUTE! He had to help mommy push her stroller and had to push her all the way into his class where he then proceeded to yell here's my baby sister and started opening her car shade for all his friends to see. I had to remind him that she was sleeping so he shouldn't open it and he got quite upset. So we opened it a little and a few of his friends looked in. What a proud BIG brother he was.

Back at home, mommy was in reality and boy was it NOT fun. When what Emily wanted was a clean diaper or to be fed mommy was on it. But when she was all taken care of and crying and crying and crying, there didn't seem to be anything to help calm her down. Mommy tried various ways of carrying her, rocking her, singing to her, sitting her in the vibrating chair, the swing .... man where was grandma when you needed her. This was definitely going to be a long week.

Wed, Dec 1st
Okay so the morning again went well. And I must say back at home was much better then the day before. Emily still had her spurts of crying, but miraculously mommy was able to soothe her today. Hip Hip Hooray!

At school, Tyler still wanted to show off his sister. It is rather cute, but mommy tries her best to keep Emily away from the other kids, lol. Last thing she needs is a colic and sick baby.


Thurs, Dec 2nd
Mommy has decided that Emily is no longer on any type of schedule. Mommy feeds her when she's hungry, makes her sleep when she is tired, and for the most part carries her when she is upset. The doctors seem to swear that infants do not know how to manipulate or get spoiled until the age of 4 months. How they know this, we have NO idea ... but several doctors have said this, so let's hope it's true.

The best thing for a colic baby is to get them comfortable. Emily loves to be cuddled and held. How she wants to be held depends on her mood, so it's trial and error daily. But eventually mommy gets it right and she is a happy camper.

Yum Yum Sushi night! Well not as yummy as it would have been if mommy could have had some fish. However, the crab and the steak were delicious.

Fri, Dec 3
Emily cried a lot today. It was feeding every 2 hours and then holding her while she slept, or she would just cry. :(
Mommy attempted to finally put songs on her iPod touch, but only got as far as getting the app update and the OS update.
Daddy worked late tonight. Mommy didn't wanna go to dinner with the gang with the 2 kids and just her, so it was a Mc Donald's night.

Sat, Dec 4th

Tyler and daddy went to get a long awaited hair cut. Mommy gave Emily a bath for the first time all by herself. Emily seemed to enjoy the water much more now. The part where she screamed her head off was drying off and putting her clothes back on.

Bye bye Grandma Jenny

Mommy has been dreading this day. Her and Emily sadly dropped off Grandma Jenny at the airport this morning. Emily was none the wiser, but mommy knew things would be tough with grandma gone. *tear*

Daddy worked from home today to help mommy transition to life without grandma. He stayed with Emily while mommy dropped off Tyler. Then later in the afternoon they both went to Emily's doctor's appointment. She is growing fast. Already 9 lbs and 2 oz and at the 50% for weight, and 40 and 45 for height and head circumference. She is still colic and is prone to spitting up which is something she recently started doing more often. It's all just a waiting game. Doctor says eventually she will outgrow both symptoms and life will be better. We are anxiously awaiting that day. :)

Emily's Pictures - Week 5 & 6

Happy Due Date Emily

Sunday, Nov 28

Today was Emily's due date. Wow, mommy can't imagine still being pregnant this entire time. She might have been HUGE! Emily is quite big already, what a scary thought. The main thing is that she is happy and healthy.

Tyler has been asking for Matthew to come to his house, but they went to San Fran yesterday as well as today. He's been a great sport so we decided to take him to Bounce A Rama. It's a perfect place because daddy and Tyler can bounce at the bouncy house and mommy, grandma and Emily can go shopping at the Great Mall.

We only shopped for as long as Tyler stayed at the bouncy house which was about 2 hours. Didn't buy much, which is good ... I suppose. Went to dim sum for lunch then back home to await dinner plans with the out of town crew.

Matthew finally made it over for the play date. And then we all had dinner at the Secret Garden. YUMMY!

Nov 21 - 27

Mommy hasn't been doing a great job at this blogging thing. Here's what little she had for this week.

Thursday, Nov 25

Thanksgiving. Matthew, Cheryl, Aunty Annie and Uncle Stephen flew in from Vegas. We all pitched in with cooking a little something and had an early Thanksgiving feast at our place with all of us and the Murakami's. Emily was good. Lots of people willing to carry her. :)

Friday, Nov 26
Grandma Jenny's birthday!

Daddy watched Emily while mommy, gma, Tyler and our out of town guest went shopping at Gilroy. As expected mommy got herself a new Coach purse, lol. And a jacket and sweatshirt ... since most of hers are too small.

We weren't looking for anything in particular and mommy didn't get much more then that. Selfish? Nah, she hasn't shopped for herself in a while. Will probably have to do some before going back to work depending on how the losing the baby fat goes, hehe.

Saturday, Nov 27

Grandma Jenny and the out of town guest went to San Francisco. We stayed home and watched the Hawaii football game with the Murakami's. Shaun made his famous chili and then it was Popeye's for dinner. The baby's were good for the most part. Cry spells here and there, as expected.

Emily's Pictures - Week 3 & 4

WEEK 3


Week 4

Nov 14 - 20

Sunday, Nov 14
Crabby patty Tyler didn't want to attend Neeti's birthday party. A couple of hours later he asks to go and then cries when we tell him it's over, lol.

Monday, Nov 15
Ran some errands. Grandma already sent herself a box of heavy stuff, lol. Hit up the bank, Staples, Ross, and Starbucks.

Tuesday, Nov 16
Stayed home today. Made spaghetti for dinner and took Tyler to swimming lessons. Mommy got lucky and was able to sleep with Tyler.

Wed, Nov 17
One month old
Tyler's parent teacher conference. He likes numbers, cutting and gluing. Does not like coloring or tracing. He is doing well. :)

*Rest of the week passes* Mommy didn't make notes and for the life of her can't remember much of what happened.

The holiday card dilemma ...

As the holiday season draws near, I am in the market for an awesome holiday card to send out this year. I typically get the flat 4x8 holiday day cards, but find that everyone else and their mothers usually uses those. This year I am all about something new. I want something creative. I want to stand out from the crowd. Now wouldn't it be great to have something different for a change?

That is exactly what Shutterfly has to offer. In addition to the flat cards, they also have a folded card option. I am not sure if it is new for this year, but they are new to me. I love the fact that they come in many different designs and layouts and has the option to use a single or multiple picture. I prefer ones where I can upload multiple pictures, so I can have individual pictures of the kids and then one family photo. And since this card is a folded card, another perk is the additional space. On the inside, there is now TONS of space available to write something more then just Happy Holidays Love the Rex's. I intend to write a short yearly recap of 2010. I think our family and friends will enjoy reading about the highlights of our year.

Check out their Chrismas photo card selection.

I find the best way to choose a card is to upload your pictures and do trial and error by putting the pictures into the cards to see which one looks best. You'll find that your pictures look nice in a certain configuration or against certain colors.


I looked through them all and here are the cards that I like the best. My dilemma as I mentioned earlier is to now choose which one I will end up ordering. I am leaning towards Merry Mod because of it's bright colorful colors... but only time will tell.

Seasonal Chic 2010


Bright Splendor


Merry Mod



So take a look ... I would definitely consider getting these cards this year. And here is the kicker! If you have a blog and want 50 FREE holiday cards from Shutterfly ... yes you did read correctly, I did say FREE. Click here to go to Shutterfly for information on how you can do just that.

In addition, if you are looking for a creative Christmas present idea ... check out Shutterfly's selection of personalized calendars.

And don’t forget their personalized Christmas thank you cards. These would make a great way to thank everyone for the wonderful gifts you receive.

Nov 8 - 13

Going to keep this sort of journal like. So don't mind ...

Monday, Nov 8

Emily was a good girl today. We went out for a bit to Carter's and Ross. Got another girly blanket for her ... so she doesn't have to sport Tyler's ones when we go out. Hehe, at home it's cool. :)

Tuesday, Nov 9

Emily is definitely NOT on her 3 hour schedule like how she was at the hospital. Something doesn't really seem right. She wants to eat more often, which shouldn't be a bad thing. However, she seems a bit fussier then normal. Ended up staying home today.

Wednesday, Nov 10

Too our chances and went out today. Checked out Michael's and got some stuff for Tyler to do art with. Also went grocery shopping at Lucky's.

To continue on about Emily being different ... she is now doing this weird random screaming thing. She'll be sleeping (usually) and will just cry out and sorta yell for a few seconds and then stop. It's almost as if she is having nightmares, although I am not sure they can get those at this age.

She is still fussier then her normal self and isn't drinking/nursing as well as she use to. This meaning, she seems to rather eat less and more often now. Instead of drinking 3 ozs and lasting for 3 hours, she's drinking 1 oz an lasting 1 hour before wanting to be fed again.

Mmm, home made Loco Moco's for dinner.

On the way to get Tyler from school I stopped to get a dishwasher bottle rack. Our counter is cluttered with drying sterilized bottles, so I figured I'd keep the small inner parts (from the dr brown bottles) in this rack in the dishwasher for safe keeping. Especially since Hoku hair is everywhere!

Thursday, Nov 11

Tyler stayed home with us today because his school has Veteran's Day off. He was a good boy for the most part. The hardest part of the day is during nap time where he always says he is not tired and then insists that I lay down and sleep with him.

Emily still isn't the same so mommy decided to take her to the Pediatrician. And the verdict is ... Colic! BOO, BOO and double BOOOO! This makes Emily fussy and gassy and pretty much unpredictable. Nothing can make it go away completely, the Dr says she has to out grow it. And that can last till she is 6 months old. Until then, we have Mylicon to help with the gas and will be doing a lot of consoling and rocking to help her feel better. A swing and even car rides will help too. Luckily we can do both.

Took Tyler to Toys r us to get a birthday present for one of his classmates. He also had a gift card for his birthday and choose to buy himself a new train. Talking Gordon, oh boy!

Friday, Nov 12

Now that we know what's up with Emily it's easier to plan our day. Packed up the medicine and some milk and went for a quick trip to Gilroy. Mommy got a new jacket and G-ma Jenny got shirts and shoes.

Mental note... remember to bring HOT water. Mommy forgot this and Emily would not drink the milk cold, lol. To improvise, mommy nursed her in the car. Which worked, but every time some one walked passed it was as if they were staring right at her, even if they weren't looking our way.

Clay and the Murakami's came over to visit and brought Chinese food. Mommy had to nurse Emily twice while they were over. Surprisingly she did pretty good while they were there. Tyler graciously shared his Toy Story 3 DVD and we all watched it after dinner. Camden was very interested in the TV, lol. As most babies are since they like the colors and movement.

Saturday, Nov 13

The maid came this morning so we took Emily and Tyler out. We went to McDonald's for breakfast. Another mental note, the one inside of Walmart sucks for breakfast.
They don't serve anything with eggs. :(

We browsed around Walmart for a while. Ended up getting just a few things. Tyler needed another Thermos water bottle, since he keeps dropping and breaking his at school. This time around he choose the How to train a dragon one ... instead of the more familiar ... Cars, Toy Story or Spiderman.

We went to Toys r us again to kill a little more time. Just so happen there was a Thomas the train sale, buy one and get one for 50% off. So we did just that. Tyler just got a train a few days ago, but since he really has been a good sport about the whole big brother thing and getting less attention and what not ... why not. He's been playing with the trains and keeping himself busy, so this is good for mommy. Especially once Gma has to go home. Mommy needs all the help from his toys that she can get. :P

Too lazy to cook today so got Popeye's chicken. Way better then KFC. :)

thanks june 2010

Thanks Much Sky Thank You 5x7 folded card

Unique party invitations and greeting cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

11/7 - Emily's Baby Shower

Daddy stayed home with both Tyler and Emily this morning while Gma Jenny and mommy went to Kohl's. Gma got some shirts for herself and Tyler.

Emily's baby shower was at 11:30am @ Aunty Vicky's house. As usual, most people were on Hawaiian time and people did start showing up till after 12. There was a good amount of people and lots of food. Everyone was a bit sad that we didn't bring Emily to the shower. She stayed home with Gma Jenny, who if you might remember, did the exact same thing back in 2007 for Tyler's shower. :)


Emily got a bunch of different things. Diapers and mostly clothes. All things she could definitely use. For the most part everyone just hung out and talked. The kids almost out numbered us, it was a miracle we didn't have much fighting. Toy Story 3 was playing in the TV and kept their attention for a while. The little ones played with the TON of toys that Haylie has. It was interesting to see them all play together.


Gma Jenny and Emily had a good day. Emily was a good girl, thank goodness. :)

For dinner, we were too tired to cook so it was a Pizza Hut night. Ahhh, comfort food.

11/6 - Some light shopping

We didn't have much planned for the weekend, except for Emily's baby shower which isn't until tomorrow.

Daddy stayed home with Emily in the morning and we took Tyler shopping. We didn't get to all the places we intended, but did go to Carter's to exchange a few of Emily's clothes, Trader Joe's for Gma Jenny to get some goodies, and Sear's to get the filter for the refrigerator. Tyler was a good sport. He kept himself entertained and for once didn't complain much.

He watched Backyardigans in the car for a bit as we waited in the LONG ass line for our In n out, lol. We like the burgers there, but don't go that often because they don't offer chicken and Tyler still doesn't eat burgers. French fries he likes ... so he had that and at home made him his own chicken nuggets.

*Time passes*

Uh, didn't really do much after that ... so I think I'll just end this one here ... hehe

11/5 - Tyler and Emily

Since Tyler was sent home from school yesterday, he also stayed home today. Mommy ended up taking him to her 2 week postpartum appointment with Dr Teagle. He was very interested in the office and amazingly didn't get too bored since he had brought a couple of his trains. In fact he dominated the conversation

When at home, for the most part he actually plays by himself really well. He role plays with his cars ... making them talk to each other sometimes even reciting exact lines from the movie. His memory is amazing. Much better then both mommy and daddy's. He is into knowing the names of all of his toys/cars and does an awesome job remembering them. A lot of the times, we have to ask him what it was because we have forgotten.

Emily is doing well. She has started taking more milk, almost 3 ounces at every feeding which is still about every 3 hours. Mommy is already getting worried that she won't have enough milk for Emily's demands. As it is already, once in a while we already have to supplement with formula. *sigh*

Daddy took his first trip alone with Emily. A short trek to Erik's for sandwiches.

11/4

After Emily's 9:30am feeding we took her on her first non doctor outing to Target in Morgan Hill. She looked so little in the car seat, I'll have to dig up pictures of Tyler to compare. He was more than a pound lighter.

She pretty much slept the entire time occasionally making a few sounds here and there. But for the most part, I think she enjoyed the car ride and being pushed in the stroller. If we learned anything with Tyler, babies (or maybe just him) love motion. I am hoping Emily will be the same.

On our way home, Tyler's school called because he had thrown up and wasn't feeling well. Mommy had to go and get him and hope that what ever he had would not be passed on to anyone else in the house. Haylie was also sent home the other week because of the 24 hour stomach flu bug. That doesn't sound pleasant, but anything for 24 hours seems better then being sick for a week.

Tyler didn't have a temperature, but did take a pretty long nap. We'll have to see how he does tomorrow since he can't go back to school without a doctor's note or being home for more then 24 hours. Since it's already the weekend ... may as well keep him home.

11/3

Hip Hip Hooray! Tyler's drop off couldn't have gone any better. He helped put his lunch in the cubby, his water in the classroom, and after a quick hug and kiss goodbye he happily went to say good morning to his teacher. YAY! I think the main challenge for mommy once she goes back to work is going to be timing. IF she has to take both kids to school/daycare it could be a nightmare. Hopefully at the least, daddy can drop off Emily. But we'll see ... we still have to sign her up somewhere.

Grandma Jenny and mommy have already gotten into the swing of things. After nursing, Grandma Jenny offers the bottle ... mommy gets to pump. We watched the Giants parade on TV, took pictures of Emily when she was awake.

Grandma Jenny made beef stew in the crock pot for dinner. MMMmm MMmm good.

Up until now, I am not sure if it was obvious ... but our motorcycle was parked at the hospital. In the morning, Brad would drive Tyler to school in the Mazda, then swing by the hospital to see mommy, and switch to ride the bike to the city. This was mainly because gas and parking is cheaper with the bike and on the bike daddy can use the carpool lane. With having to drop off and pick up Tyler, every moment counts.

Anyway, we finally went to get the car/bike tonight. Tyler stayed home with Grandma while we went. He won't do it with the Yee's whom we have to see more than several times a week. So this was AWESOME!

11/2 - Hi Grandma Jenny

Today was Grandma Jenny's first full day here. She brought lots of goodies to eat. Tyler will be very happy. Emily doesn't know what she is missing just yet, but she will also be very happy that Grandma Jenny is here.

She was put right to "work" and fed Emily her morning bottle while mommy washed the bottles. Emily still doesn't nurse efficiently and we've been offering the bottle after wards. However, we only have 4 bottles right now and have to wash them often. Emily's baby shower is this weekend and we are hoping someone may have gotten some for us. If not, it's something mommy will go out and buy on Sunday.

Surprisingly, Tyler was not shy with Grandma. He talked and talked and showed her all his toys. Even if we are miles away, it is great to see him interact with her that way.

This is just the beginning ... she'll be here for a month. :)

On a side note, today was Daddy's last day of dropping Tyler off at school. Mommy is back in that role ... so we will see how it goes. Last time she did it, Tyler wasn't have great drop offs ... but for the past couple of weeks with daddy it has been good. *crossing fingers*

11/1 - First day alone with mommy

Today was Emily and mommy's first day together alone. Not sure if Emily noticed, but mommy was a bit nervous. Sure she had done the same with Tyler, but that was a while ago ... and Emily is an entirely different baby. In fact, for the time being ... she is a bit easier to feed because she nurses relatively well and doesn't have the reflux thing that Tyler had.

The morning went by fast and everything went well. She ate like a champ and slept soundly giving mommy some time to do random things around the house. Yes yes, she should have been sleeping when Emily was sleeping. It makes sense, but is not as easy as it sounds. Since mommy hasn't been at home for a while, there are so many things she wants/needs to do. As long as she can get in one nap a day, I think it will be okay ... at least for now.

In the afternoon, Emily's schedule was kind of off. I am not sure how the NICU kept her on the 3 hour schedule. Every time we visited, she ate at the same time and was content. Today, she either wanted to eat early or sleep more. So mommy let her do which ever one she wanted and she was happy.

Aunty Cindy and baby Camden came to visit in the later afternoon. It's the first time we saw Camden since our visit to the hospital the day after he was born. He's already pretty big for a 2 and a half month old.

Before we knew it ... daddy was home with Tyler. The Yee's came over to drop off the bed for Grandma Jenny to borrow and then we were picking up Grandma Jenny from the airport.

Ahhh, our first day as mother and daughter went well.

Emily's pictures - Week 1 & 2

I have finally uploaded and semi organized pictures of Emily ...

WEEK 1


WEEK 2

10/31 - Happy Halloween

Today I tried to do the last of the cleaning before my mom flies in. It seems never ending, so after today I am ready to call it quits.

Tyler wanted to do things with me today, so we painted on his easel. He did a picture all by himself first, then with my help we did a Halloween family picture of pumpkins. He told me where to paint on the paper, what colors to use and what shape eyes, nose, etc to draw. Then he had me write our names next to them. He was so proud, lol.

Emily is still on her 3 hour schedule more or less. I think depending on how much she drinks ... she'll get up early or sleep past between 15 to 30 minutes. Her awake time is still at night and I am hoping that will change soon. I've been trying to take pictures of her with her eyes open rather then her sleeping. It's proved to be more of a challenge then I thought it would. Either she moves and the picture is blurry or the flash goes off and makes her blink.

Brad and Tyler went to Fremont for Halloween with Andrew and family. I stayed home with Emily and played dress up. I put her in all the halloween outfits that we had that could remotely fit her. Including Tyler's Tigger costume. I wish I could say Emily enjoyed this as much as mommy did ... but when you see the pictures you can tell that she didn't. Take a look.



Oh and we are going to be trying something new with Emily. Brad will be doing the 12:30am feeding with just a bottle for some daddy bonding time. I wish I could say I could sleep, but I still have to pump.

10/30

This morning was a bit new for me, since it's the first time I was home when our cleaning lady came over to clean. I stayed where ever they were not. So down stairs first. We have the play pen set up, so it wasn't hard at all.

I have to say that things have been better then anticipated. I don't want to jinx it, but Emily has been a great baby so far. She's on the 3 hour scheduled she was on in the NICU and pretty much sticks to it. I have noticed that she does start to stir 15 - 30 minutes before, but no crazy crying thus far.

I was a bit worried about Tyler being too loud and waking her throughout the day, but she usually doesn't seem to notice. With all the noise in the NICU, I'm guessing she is actually use to having background noise. Peace and quiet might be what throws her off, lol.

Tyler is slowly including me in more of his daily activities. He's asked me to play with him and to watch WordWorld with him. It is so nice being wanted. We even did a few "art projects". We did stamping and dot art.

We made Halloween cupcakes with Tyler this afternoon. He is very interesting in the measuring and mixing ... oddly not so much in the eating. He of course asked for a cupcake when they were done. Was sure to ask for frosting and even decorated them with the Halloween sprinkles that came with the frosting ... but I would say only ate like 25% of it before saying he was all done. For a kid, he isn't in to sweets as much as I would think. I take that back ... he isn't into cakes, muffins and that sort of thing. Cookies is more to his liking. That and ice cream.

Okay so I wouldn't really call it cooking ... but I made spam musubi today. :) I'm sure I'll start cooking soon, well actually maybe not ... since my mom is gonna be here soon. What's better then someone else's home cooking?

Brad finally had some time to carve Tyler's pumpkin tonight. We had Tyler help take out the seeds. Surprisingly he actually did it. Then Brad did all the hard work to make Iron Man, as requested by Tyler. Tyler and I had an easier job of decorating the smaller pumpkins for him and Emily. I drew faces on them and Tyler put stickers all over them. He had fun.

Tyler asked me the funniest thing today. I was nursing Emily and he comes up to me and innocently asks "Mommy, can I pet Emily?" I literally did laugh before I told him and Emily is not like a dog, but yes he could "touch" her as long as he was gentle.

We do have one thing to work on. Getting Tyler to sleep by himself all over again. He was doing this fine previous to my hospital stay. While I was at the hospital, he got sick and Brad felt bad for him ... being sick and with the change of me not being there, that he let Tyler sleep in our bed for a while. Kicking him out didn't really work. Tyler would fall asleep in his room and then come to sleep in our room in the middle of the night. A lot of times, Brad didn't even know he was there till the morning.

Not that this is any better. Actually it's probably worse. Now, for what ever reason, he won't even sleep in his bed at all by himself. Brad has to lay down with him. And if Tyler wakes up at any time in the night he cries for Brad to come back. So pretty much ... Brad now sleeps in Tyler's room and Emily and I are in our room. Emily in the bassinet and me all alone in our king size bed, lol.

10/29 - First day home

Throughout the night I been managing to nurse and offer the bottle after ward. By the time I am done pumping, about 1.5 hours have passed so basically about 1.5 hours until I need to feed her again ... ahhh the life. :)

Emily had her first pediatrician appointment @ 10:15, so I just bottle fed breast milk for the 9:30 feeding. Everyone at the doctor's office loved her. Of course she cried for most of the appointment ... the weighing, measuring and prodding. She is already 6 lbs and 4 ozs with her height still at 18.5 inches. Dr O said that she's actually on the the regular (not the preemie) chart for height, weight and head circumference ... so he is going to go a head and just use that curve for her despite the fact that she was born premature.

Her vaccines are all up to date and although we were expecting to continue the synergis one ... it's unfortunate that one shot cost about $1,000.00 and is not covered by most insurance unless your baby falls into a certain risk category. At the hospital Emily fell into this category, but oddly now at the pediatrician she doesn't. Weird huh?

We had to make a pit stop for some baby supplies and ended up at Babies R Us. I quickly ran in while Brad stayed in the car with Emily. We aren't really taking her places just yet ... lol. After Tyler and his getting sick like every month as an infant, we are just a bit paranoid.

I don't know if it is just me, but it seems my milk is less now that Emily is feeding more. Isn't it suppose to be the exact opposite?

Well overall I'd say that this was a very successful first day home. It helped that Tyler was at school ... so we could get into a groove with just Emily and her needs. The next test will be the weekend, when we will now have Tyler to entertain.

10/28 - Bye Bye NICU

Today was finally the day! Emily was discharged from the hospital at 2pm this afternoon.

We were there for both the 9:30 and 12:30 feedings. Technically she could have been discharged this morning, but the NICU was a zoo. They had 38 babies and more on it's way. I sadly didn't get to say good bye to my nurse friends at Ante because we had to be escorted out of the hospital. I guess I'll have to come back later to say hello. :)

At home, Hoku didn't even seem to notice Emily. I'm sure once the crying begins, she'll be more curious, hehe. For the most part, our make shift set up is working out pretty well. I've been doing everything in the bedroom, from diaper changes, to nursing/bottle feeding and pumping.

Not sure what triggered it, but Tyler finally let me read him books tonight! Yay, I may finally be making my way back into the routine of things. For both myself and with the ohana. The one thing I have yet to do is ... COOK. LOL!

I still have my alarms set for 12:30am, 3:30am, and 6:30am ... so I can be sure to feed Emily before she gets upset. Her cord fell off sometime this past night, noticed it in her shirt at the 3:30 am feeding.

Let's see how her very first full day at home goes.

10/27

I stayed for 9:30 and 12:30 feeding by myself while Brad went to get flu and TDAP shot. The doctor's highly recommend him to get both since Emily will be high susceptible to getting sick this winter. Our main concern would be Tyler since he is the one going to school ... but he is actually always the one with the most up to date vaccines. We just need to make sure he is careful around his sister once she comes home.

We are probably as ready as we will be for Emily's home coming. Everything isn't ideal, but it will have to work. My mom will be flying in from Hawaii on November 1, 2010 ... so Emily's nursery/office will also have to be a temporary guest room as well.

The initial plan is to have her in our room in the bassinet anyway. So this should be okay. We'll just push the crib and what not aside in the nursery and are planning to borrow a bed from the Yee's for my mom to sleep on. The room will be tight and cozy, but will have to do.

We've been bringing home hospital baby blankets for Hoku to smell since Emily's birth. She immediately sniffs for quite sometime and then loses interest. Hoku did very well with Tyler and I have no doubt she will do the same with Emily.

Well, tomorrow is still the planned day ... wish us luck!

10/26

For the first time in a long time, I actually went to drop T off at school. Since I've been out of the hospital, I've been just sitting in the car. But today was Tyler's very first field trip for school and Brad had to bring his car seat, so he needed a bit of help. They got several parents to volunteer to drive the kids to a near by pumpkin patch. Tyler was semi excited. He liked the fact about going to the pumpkin patch, but didn't like the fact of riding in someone Else's car without mommy or daddy with him.

We were a bit early this morning so we stopped off at Pete's coffee on the way to the hospital. I tried ordering a Mocha (hot) via ... which I assume they have (I usually go to Starbucks). But I some how ended up with the equivalent of a Mocha Frappachino blended. Not quiet what I was expecting for such a brisk morning, but it was tasty. I guess I should have gone in with B to see the menu, lol. My bad for being lazy?

I guess I was wrong about the milk. They ran out of breast milk during the night and had to supplement Emily with formula. Man, doesn't seem that papaya soup is working. LOL

At the 9:30 feeding, it was the same deal. I did nursing first and then followed up with the bottle for fortified breast milk (22 calorie enfamil for infants/preemies). I had a bit of a scare when Emily had 2 non recordable dips in her heart rate during nursing. This usually happens during bottle feeding when she sucks too fast and forgets to breathe ... not exactly sure how it happens with nursing since I've been told it takes more energy and what not to get the milk from the breast. Maybe I had too much milk? No, can't be ... I ran out right? *sigh* Thank goodness it was short and she self recovered quickly. At the sound of the alarm I immediately pulled her off, put her up right and started patting her back. I so hope it doesn't happen when we are at home. I don't have the monitor to help me identify it.

Back at home even more laundry and cleaning. All of the things we had in storage had a musky smell and I feel like I've been doing loads and loads of laundry. Brad went up to the attic to get more things ... Excersaucer, bathtub, vibrating rocker chair, just to name a few.

I actually managed to get a nap in this afternoon. I think it is something I will do at a minimum once a day. Especially since I'll probably be doing most of the night feedings on my own once Brad goes back to work.

At the 3:30 feeding I carefully watched Emily as she nursed and made sure she didn't suck too many times without swallowing or breathing. No dips for me ... but one for Brad when he followed up with the bottle. I hope this isn't a trend that will keep her in the hospital longer. But at the same time, I feel more comfortable that it happens while at the NICU where there are nurses everywhere to help us when it does happen.

Aftering picking up Tyler we stopped off at Target to get a few more things. As much as I make shopping lists of things to buy, there are always things we realize we need after the fact.

We went for Chinese food for dinner. Hot and sour soup, which was too spicy hot for me ... house fried rice and kung pao scallops. All of it was quite tasty. :)

Tonight was also Tyler's swimming lessons. He has improved a LOT since I last got to watch him. He appears much more comfortable in the water and will put his face/head in for longer then before. He still can't quite float on his own, but with assistance practices his kicking and big arms.

OMG what a break through. Yay, I finally got to read Tyler books. :)

10/25

They are still trying for a Tuesday discharge, after the recordable dip/spell, it's an additional 5 days automatically so that would put us at Tuesday depending on how she does till then. So we are keeping our fingers crossed.

With Tyler at school today, it was actually easier for us not having to worry about keeping him occupied while we go back and forth to the hospital.

We took a bit of advantage, being that she is in good hands at the NICU and went for the 9:30 feeding but skipped the 12:30 feeding. I had lots of milk from the night and we were still getting things ready for Emily's arrival home.

Went to Angelo's for lunch. Back at home, I added Emily to my insurance for this year and next. And managed to clean house even more, if you can believe that. My incision site is still bothering me. I wouldn't say it's "sore" because I don't need to take the pain medicine anymore, but it is definitely not back to normal yet. It's hard to explain, but it feels tight and I still have trouble getting into and out of the cars and getting up from chairs and my bed. Can't wait till I am fully recovered ... but California law gives me 8 weeks of short term disability after my C-Section so I am guessing it could take that long, lol.

What I have been wanting to do for the longest time is sleep comfortably on my side. I could sort of do it while at the hospital, but needed to strategically place pillows everywhere just to make it work. I've tried the same thing at home, but to no avail nothing feels right. So I just gotta wait.

We went back for the 3:30 feeding and sadly called it a day. After picking up Tyler from school, the night passes quickly and since I still can't drive myself, it's hard for me to get back to visit Emily.

At least the pumping is going well ... I am still getting what seems to be enough milk for the time being. :)

10/24 - NICU Week 2

This is turning out to be more of a journal at this point. Sorry if it is a boring read.

This is the start of Emily's second week in the NICU. It would also have been 35 weeks, lol. Emily had one feeding of formula last night because they ran out of breast milk! Darn, that means I am still not getting enough to feed her. During the night feedings (bottle only) she has been taking between 40 - 60 ccs.

I went to the 9:30 feeding while Tyler and daddy ran errands. Tyler shows interest going to see his baby sister, but the feedings take over an hour that he gets bored too fast. It is more of a hassle having to keep him quiet and entertained while we are there.

We still have lots of things to do around the house and errands to run, so we skipped the 12:30 vitamin feeding again.

Went to the mall. Belt and Disney store

Took a nap

3:30 feeding ran a bit late. The new order from the doctor was that Emily's discharge day could be Tuesday, assuming she doesn't have anymore of those "dips" in her heart rate while feeding. Of course, once the nurse tells me this ... like 10 minutes later it happens again. :( And this time during nursing! The nurse said she would go back and see if it was recordable ... if it is, the doctor's might change their mind on the discharge date if it was serious enough for her to need more monitoring.

Tyler and daddy had gone to the hobby store. Brad seemed really irritated when they came to get me. I couldn't tell if it was because Tyler hadn't behaved or something else, but just the tension alone made me cry. Without any words being said, the tears just started on its own. Man, seriously when they say it's uncontrollable it really is.

On the way home we picked up papaya soup from Vicky. Rumor has it, it is suppose to help me with my milk production. I tried it last time with Tyler and can't say it worked ... but hey I always try to be optimistic.

We barely spent time at home. Mostly went back because of Hoku. I ate the payaya soup with rice and then we were back off for the 6:30 feeding. I sent Brad and Tyler to dinner (they went to Pho) and stayed by myself. Emily nursed for only 7 minutes and took 32 ounces milk.

Back at home, Tyler and daddy did their night time routine. Sadly, I am still not included in any of it. I was even rejected from reading him is night time stories. No mommy, daddy reads to me. *sigh* I had to hold in tears, lol. I told him he made me sad. He seem to take it to heart and told me that I could read to him next time. We will see ...

@ 9:30 I pumped and played games on the Ipod touch. I am still going through the nursery and pulling out things to wash.

Stayed up for the 12:30 pumping.

Set alarm for 3:30 and 6:30

10/23

I went for 9:30 am feeding while Tyler and daddy got a hair cut. On my way in I stopped off at Antepartum, to visit the nurses there. A few of them didn't even recognize me, lol. We chatted and talked about how Emily was doing. There was a new lady in "my" room. Ironically, Michelle had her and made a joke about how weird it would be going into the room and not seeing me in there. It's nice to know I will be missed. :)

Darn, Emily had a dip in her heart rate during one of her bottle feedings last night. It was a recordable event and the neonatal pediatrician (I think that is what it is called), wants to keep her a few more days for observation. It isn't uncommon for this to happen since she was born 6 weeks early. It has to do with being able to breathe, suck and swallow ... which is something babies usually learn around week 34/35 in mommy's tummy. Since Emily is already out, she is learning this at real time, while feeding.

Emily is always snoozing pretty happily when I go to see her. I feel sort of bad having to wake her up when she looks so peaceful sleeping. After the temperature and diaper change, she seemed awake at first, but ended up sleeping eating at the left side for about 15 minutes. Then she took 25 ccs of breast milk from the bottle.

We decided to skip the 12:30 vitamin feeding and come back for the 3:30 one.

I am happy to report that my milk supply seems to be more these days. I hope it isn't a fluke.

For lunch I finally got to eat dim sum! I've been wanting it for a while, but it's not usually something people do take out for. Ahhh, it was VERY delicious. My eyes are still bigger then my appetite. hehe.

While Tyler napped we ran some errands. We went to carter's to get Emily a few newborn sized outfits, target for nursing bra's, and REI for Brad's diaper bag.

Made it back to the hospital just in time for the 3:30 feeding. Emily did 15 minutes each side and 22 ounces of milk. We hurried home where I pumped again and started cleaning up nursery.

Before I knew it, it was time for the 6:30 feeding. Emily did 10 minutes each side and 35 ounces of milk. This was our last feeding of the day.

Went to korean food dinner, another thing I was craving while at the hospital. YUMMY!

Back at home pumped @ 9:30, cleaned up MY room, talked to Tammy, ordered an ornament, talked to my mom, and played some games.

Stayed up for the 12:30 pumping and then set my alarm for the rest of the night.

10/22

Brad had to go into the office this morning and Tyler to school ... so it was just me at the hospital for most of the day. I was equipped with my Ipad, Kindle, cell phone, and my Ipod touch. :)

I arrived just in time for the 9:30 feeding. I had a new nurse today who was very very helpful. Emily was wide awake after having her temperature taken and diaper changed that I was fortunate to have a great nursing session with her. We still offered the bottle of milk after ward since I don't consistently get the same amount of milk, so it's hard to know how much she gets from nursing. Don't want her to still be hungry.

There isn't much to do at the hospital ... so I basically hung out in the parent's lounge near the NICU. It's a room for the NICU parent's to wait and relax. There's a room for pumping, a room for sleeping, a bathroom that has shower, some rocking chairs, a table with chairs, refrigerator, and a small kitchenette area.

The refrigerator is stocked with things to drink and some food. There were apples, string cheese, sandwiches, milk and juice. Fresh coffee, oatmeal, granola bars, fruit cups, cup o noodle, mac and cheese, etc ...

I took advantage and had some breakfast. Then I logged on to IM and ended up chatting with a few friends for most of the morning.

For the 12:30 feeding we had to include vitamin drops. Rather then just give the drops to Emily (most babies don't like the taste and will spit most of it out), the nurse suggested we mix it in a bit of milk. So we used 20 ounces of milk to start with via bottle. This vitamin drop has a strong smell and I'm sure a strong taste. It made her milk look dark green maybe even close to black, lol. Eeww, even I wouldn't want to drink it.

Emily is smart. After the first sip/suck, she made a face and then wouldn't open her mouth for me. As much as I tried, she kept her lips tightly together in protest of having to drink her tainted milk. It was actually really funny. We ended up having to "trick" her and eventually got her to drink the rest of it. Nursing after ward went relatively well.

Went back to the parent's room to hang out again until Brad came back for 3:30 feeding. When he is with me, I nurse first and then he gets to offer Emily the bottle. She looks so little when Brad is holding her.

The rest of the night evening went by quickly. We picked up Tyler from school, then went home to let Hoku out and fee her dinner. We didn't make it back to the hospital in time for the 6:30 feeding, so instead I pumped.

We met Cindy and Shaun for dinner and had some good food and conversation.
Then it was back to the hospital to drop off milk and for the 9:30 feeding. Tyler came into visit Emily, but got bored really quick. He and Brad ended up in the parent's lounge for most of this visit, lol.

Back at home, there were lots of things I wanted to do, but I was rather tired. I set my alarm to pump twice in the night and called it a night.

10/21 - Good bye room 293

Today is my LAST day here at the hospital. It's been exactly 6 weeks of me being here. It should be a joyous occasion, yet as I sit here and type this I am sad. Having to leave Emily behind makes me want to cry. Honestly, if insurance would cover it ... I would stay if I could. Ironic isn't it?

There are many things I am going to miss along with others that I won't. Let's start with the what I will miss. First and foremost, the people. All of the nurses here have been just wonderful. They love their jobs and are such caring individuals, my time here was THAT much better because of them. The "room service" ... when I say room service I am speaking of the being waited on hand and foot, lol. The ability to make a phone call and order food, water, towels, or whatever else I needed at the time. The cleanliness of my room. House keeping came to clean my room every day ... sheets were changed every 3rd day ... definitely not going to be the case when I get home. The "movable" bed. Not the mattress or the comfort factor of the bed, but it's ability to move up and down and tilt in every which way I wanted. The hanging portable TV. Although NOT big at all, it was very handy to be able to maneuver it to what ever position I wanted it to be in. And lastly, the automatic paper towel dispenser and the bench in the shower. At home I am going to have to stand! Wah!

On to what I will NOT miss. The food. At first I thought ... hmmm the food here isn't really that bad. I probably would have stuck with that assessment had I been here just for the delivery, so say max 5 days. But since I was here for so long, I am changing my mind on that. The monitoring, the bed rest and being stuck in my room, and the limited TV channels and lack of things to do.

So they day went by pretty darn fast. I woke up rather early just because I had to pump at 6:30am and then couldn't really fall back asleep. My nurse was in before 8am with my pain medicine and a brief game plan on how the day would go. Few papers to go over and sign, continue pumping and walking around the hospital, and that was pretty much it. We could get discharged anytime we wanted to and had the room till 7pm.

Shortly after that Dr. Teagle stopped by and removed my staples. To my surprise, it didn't really hurt. She put on these mini bandages that should last about two weeks. She also came with my medicine prescriptions ... The good stuff and the motrin. Both with one refill each. We talked about my stay at the hospital and how everything went as well as it could for my situation. I don't know what it was but before I knew it I was crying like a baby. Was this the beginning of postpartum? Let's hope not. She said for people who went through what I went through ... The extended hospital stay, the stress and worrying, and now the premature baby in the NICU ... It is actually more common to have a little postpartum when finally returning back to reality.

Brad came around 9am and started packing up the last of my stuff. We went to the 9:30 feeding together. Emily is doing great. With no IV and an open crib, she is on her way out of the hospital much sooner then anticipated. She still has a borderline billi level and will be monitored and tested daily. If needed they I'll put her under the lights. Nursing has been going really well and I have very high hopes, fingers crossed.

Back at the room my nurse went over all of my discharge papers and I signed a bunch of things. Pretty much we were all set. We went out for lunch. I am not sure if I was allowed to leave since I wasn't officially discharged yet, but shhhh!

It felt weird being outside. There wasn't sun, but there was a slight breeze. Oddly the car ride is what got to me. Not sure why, but I got car sick. Luckily we didn't go far for our Erik's sandwiches and I was back before anyone noticed I was gone.

@ 3:30 feeding all was still the same with Emily's status. Still watching her billi levels and hoping she can come home on Sunday.

Finally, the time had arrived and I checked out of the hospital at 4 something. I had to be pushed out in the wheel chair, lol. Even if I could walk. Most of the nurses were MIA at the time, so I didn't really get to say good bye. Patti one of the volunteers dropped me off right at our car. *sigh* Sad yet happy, we left the hospital.

We went to pick up Tyler, then we went to target and babies r us to get a few things in the event Emily came home tomorrow. Then it was off to HOME HOME.

OMG, I got a wonderful greeting from Hoku! She was SO excited to see me. Panting, wagging her tail, trying to engage me with her new Halloween bat toy. I had to keep her from hitting my scar with her muzzle because she kept trying to smell me. Ahhh, how nice to be missed.

It was nice to be home. But I immediately didn't like the STAIRS. hahaha, I'm sure it will be much better a few days from now ... but now it sucks. And my bed ... ahhhhh, the first thing I got to do in it was pump. :( How sad is that. Everything is set up for pumping every 3 hours and it looks like it will work out nicely.

We went to eat Japanese food for dinner and the rest of the night was pretty much how I expected it for the most part. Took a shower ... pumped, did some things in the nursery, got Tyler to sleep ... sorta with Brad having to lay with him.

Had a bit of the blues ... still hoping it's the damn hormones. But its a suddenly back to reality check, who could blame me. Good night!

10/20

Happy happy joy joy! I am so excited that my milk supply seems to finally be coming in. I am also happy that I have only one more day here at the hospital. It's kind of like a double edge sword because although I can leave, I can't take Emily with me. *sigh* Why does there always have to be something?

Pumped @ 8:00am
Only got about 1/2 an ounce for both sides

Both Meds @ 9am

Ate a really quick breakfast of cereal and milk.

9:30 feeding with Brad. Nursed left side again and offered bottle after wards.

Cleaned out closet and Brad left with 4 - 5 bags of stuff. He had to run some errands, so I watched TV , pumped about half an ounce of milk, and talked to the nurses. Michelle took me to the NICU through their fancy short cut nurse way and I dropped off the milk and she saw Emily for the first time. It's weird, ALL of the nurses think Emily totally looks like me. But I still don't see it.

NICU @ 12:30 just mommy - nursed 10 minutes on right off and on and nursed 10 minutes on right pretty much continuously. She is doing REALLY well. Just need milk! She actually still took another 20MLs of formula from the bottle too. So she is definitely eating more and I am hoping she will not need the IV soon. But a down fall is that they checked her billi levels and they have gone up enough for the first time since birth to be on the radar. Not an alarming rate, but enough to need it to be monitored. They told me she "may" need to go under the UV lights sometime today.

Surprise call and visit from a few of my co workers. Since I haven't really formally announced Emily's birth, my office up until now still thought I was on bed rest here at the hospital. We had a pretty long talk about how it's been here for me a slight gossip update how things have been at work, etc ... it was a nice time.

NICU @ 3:30 just mommy

I guess the day was bound to come. Up until now, the nurses have been prepping Emily before her feedings. Today is the first day I got to do it. I took her temperature 98.2 and changed an ooey gooey poopy diaper. The IV and all the cords makes it a challenge. I am happy to report that I totally remember how to do it all. LOL!

She has lost a bit of weight since being born (which is totally normal). She was 5 lbs and 9 ozs. Nothing to be concerned about. Her billi level was 10 and they are still going to monitor it. She hasn't been put under the lights yet. They are going to start decreasing her IV amount 1ccc at each feeding, so by the end of the night she should no longer have the IV. The minimum for each feeding should now be 40ccs. Both breast milk and formula if needed. The hard part will be estimating how much breast milk she is getting.

I had scheduled a consultation with lactation nurse for this feeding. She said Emily is doing GREAT at nursing. She's able to latch on her own and stay on for a while all by herself. I hadn't pumped before going because I had the visitors. I just learned that although I had more milk to provide, it makes it harder for Emily to get at it. So with the help of the nurse, Emily pretty much emptied the left and did maaybe half of the right. Then I was able to pump a good ounce or so from the right. Well, I should say I didn't do it. The nurse did it for me. She held it and everything ... pushing on certain areas to help express the milk. Just by feeling it she could tell where the milk was. The only way I could tell was because it hurt, lol. I am so happy. Now I have high hopes for being able to nurse Emily. We didn't have to offer the bottle ... she was satisfied and snoozing when I left. Oh and I went back to my room to pump and still had more milk. YAY!

On a side note, the site of her IV site appears to be red and semi irritated. The NICU nurse checked it out and it flushed well, so it wasn't blocked in anyway. But it seemed to be bothering Emily. So they are trying to control her movement of that arm (left) by restricting it in the blanket. Poor baby. While they were fiddling with it she was screaming bloody murder. I felt so horrible.

NICU @ 6:30 just mommy - I nursed both the right/left side for 10 minutes each and then offered bottle. Then got kicked out early because of shift change.

Wendy came to visit around 7:30. We ate Vietnamese sandwiches and talked for a good hour or so. After she left I finished my sandwich ... to busy talking earlier to eat it all. LOL Then I quickly pumped for 15 minutes, only got a little milk and then was off to the NICU for the 9:30 feeding.

This particular feeding we just did formula because wanted to have an accurate amount of milk she took in. The IV is now out, so it's important to make sure she is getting enough fluids. She took exactly 40ccs, which is the minimum she should take. Then she slept in my arms for a good half an hour. She is so cute. They started putting her in clothes. I will have to bring some back tomorrow. :)

Meds @ 10:45pm

Pumped @ 11:00pm

Pumped @ 2:45am

I had meant to go to the 12:30am feeding but failed to wake up. Oh well, that just means I needed the rest. At least I was able to pump a good 1.5 ozs of milk.

Percoset @ 3:00am

Pumped @ 6am

10/19

Sorry if the posts turn into a time line of my day. It's how I document throughout the day ... but I will try to add the "meat" when I have some time. :)

Since I've been in pain and have been getting tired pumping and going to the NICU, Brad decided to take off from work earlier then we originally anticipated. Initially he wasn't going to take off until I was discharged ... but I am glad he decided to do it earlier. It's been much easier to have him here with me.

9:30 - Brad and I went to the NICU for Em's feeding. She barely latched to left breast and instead took 20ML of formula from daddy. This was his first time to hold and feed her. :) I picture documented all of it.

We went to the hospital store and got a bra thing that helps makes my pumping life easier. It has looks like a tube top and has two holes where I put the pump flanges and holds them in place for me. Whoever invented them totally rock. I can now pump and do something else at the same time, lol.

I also briefly talked to a lactation nurse. She explained how to massage and hand express for milk. She said it helps out a lot in the beginning to get my milk supply started. Here's hoping for the best!

With the new knowledge ... I was able to hand expressed about .5 ML of colostrum @ 12pm and I followed up with pumping for 10 minutes.

12:30 NICU visit - I attempted right side with no luck and ended up bottle feeding 20 MLs of formula. Daddy took more pictures. We still have to get a picture of the 3 of us.

Pumped @ 1:15pm
Teeny tiny bit of colostrum

Brad went to run some errands during lunch and I rested as much as I could. Had lunch and watched TV. Cindi came to visit and we talked for a while about both Emily and Camden. We don't get to see each other as often these days, so there was a lot to talk about.

NICU @ 3:30 nursed for 15 minutes on left side and 10 MLs of formula via bottle.

Pumped @ 5:00
Teeny tiny bit of colostrum

Sally, Vicky and Haylie stop by around 5:45. Haylie seemed confused that Emily wasn't with me in my room. She wanted to see her, but children that are not siblings are not allowed into the NICU. We were only able to talk for a short while because Sally had to get back to Kevin and Haylie was getting hungry and wanted to eat dinner. I enjoyed the Panera Bread Vicky brought. Thanks Vics!

NICU @6:30 nursed 15 minutes on right side and bottle fed about an ounce of formula. Couldn't cuddle as much as I normally do because I had to leave at 7 because of the shift change.

@ 7:15 I took my first post surgery bath. It was painful and nice at the same time. I was finally able to get that yellow/orange tinge off of me. It was some iodine thing they had put on me during the surgery.

Pumped @ 7:30. I suppose the amount of colostrum is increasing, but still not really worth putting into a syringe.

NICU @ 9:30 - NICU nursed left side for about 15 minutes and as usually offered bottle after wards. After chit chatting with the NICU nurse. I decided not to come in for the 12:30 feeding and instead would get more rest, but still pump at least once during the night.

@ 10:45 i pumped and got some milk for the first time ever. It actually dripped into the bottle unlike the colostrum which collected only in the flange part of the pump. I was very excited to send this on to the nursery. I hope Emily liked it.

@ 3:00 am - I woke up for pain medicine and used this time for my night time pumping. Low and behold ... I got even more milk! Woohoo, this time it was over an ounce both sides combined.

I tried sending it to the NICU for Emily's 3:30 feeding, but turns out it was a bit bubbly then normal and the nurses thought maybe it had soap in it. I never did wash my breast pump parts with soap and only one other nurse assistant had washed it out for me the day before. Honestly I didn't think anything of the bubbles. They were there in the bottle as I pumped. But to be on the safe side, they ended up dumping it just to be safe. I got new breast pump parts and will just have to hope my next pumping session is just as successful.

I ended up blogging for some time before I got sleepy again and then slept like a baby until about 8am.

10/18

Oh man, that first night was awful. The pain was unbearable and made me cry. I took the Morphine when I could, but even that seemed not to work. The little pain ball attached to my scar also didn't seem to be doing anything. I just laid there trying to sleep. I may have dozed off a few times, but I didn't get any useful rest.

Finally at like 4 something (I think) I was able to have Percoset. After a little bit, aaah some relief. I was able to sleep a wee bit before they were back in at 6 am to remove my catheter. I was so sad anticipating the pain I would be in when now having to go to the bathroom on my own, lol.

The best stretch of sleep was between 6 - 8 am. I was pretty comfortable and quite cozy in my bed until I had to go to the bathroom. I felt like a little child. The nurse had to help me with everything from walking to the bathroom with my IV in tow, pulling down my hospital grade underpants and changing my "diaper pad". Sigh, it's a little weird when you haven't had someone help you do those things in such a long time.

She helped me wash my hands and stood there cautiously as I attempted to brush my teeth. I was back in bed after a good half an hour. Man, this was going to be a tough day.

For breakfast it was still the crappy clear liquid diet. I tried pumping again at 8:30 and finally made it to the NICU between 11:30 - 12:45. Em was doing well. She had her IV site changed from left hand to left food.

Pumped @ 3:00pm

Nicu @ 3:30pm
With the help of the nurse, Emily actually latched on and off for about 15 minutes to left. She bit me a bit, but overall did really well. It's a very strange feeling. :)

Pumped @ 7:30pm

Diet changed back to normal. Had some turkey and mashed potatoes and a croissant.

Brad and Tyler came to visit and we went to the NICU from 7:45 pm - 8:10 pm for Tyler's very first visit with his baby sister. He was actually very very excited. After wheeling me over in a wheel chair, we signed in, Tyler took his temperature and were on our way to room #7.

At the sight of the first baby in the NICU he was asking, "Is that Emily?" :) When he saw her in the incubator, he wasn't scared. He stood there at first and just looked at her from a far. We encouraged him to sit in the chair and actually LOOK at her. With some coaching, he said Hi and I love you to her. It made both of us smile.

She had to change her IV site again and now it's in her head. Looked pretty sore. I am glad Tyler didn't ask about it. The one thing he did ask was "Where is her feet?" I had to laugh. She was swaddled in a blanket, so he mainly saw her head. I am actually surprised he didn't ask about her hands.

He could only stay for 15 minutes. And then he asked to go back to my room. He wanted to push the wheel chair some more. Quite a sigh of relief. I didn't know how he would react ... but I am happy to say he did really well. Hopefully once she gets out of the incubator he can come back to visit again and see her in the big girl crib.

Nicu @ 9:30pm
I tried my luck with breast feeding on the right side but Em was pretty sleepy and did not latch at all.

Nicu @ 12:30am
She nursed on the left on and off from about 15 minutes and after wards she took 15 cc of similac infant formula. I got her to burp in the sitting up position. It also seems like she took formula for the first time after I left her 9:30pm feeding. The NICU doctor's orders were to try the bottle after to times of nursing attempts.

Pump @ 1:55am
Teeny tiny amount

Emily's antibiotics at 1:15am. Her blood tests look good so far but the final will be back in the morning.

Pump @ 3:30am
Teeny tiny amount

Pump @ 7:30am
Teeny tiny amount

10/17 - Happy Birthday Emily!

Today was the big day I have been awaiting for the past 5 weeks.

My day started early ... 6am I had to get the 2nd dose of the antibiotics. Luckily I could still sleep a bit after that. Around 7:30 they came to do my vitals and at 8:00 a Labor and Delivery nurse came by. She set me up on the monitor just to hear baby girl's heart beat. I was already in the lovely hospital gown from the night before when my IV was started. So pretty much I was good to go.

Brad came around 8:30. Tyler was at home with the Yee's. I was definitely anxious and guessing Brad was also although we didn't speak of it. They had me wear socks and those leg things that pumped on my calves, which I thought was weird. I also had to drink this gross tasting anti acid medicine. I was very thirsty since I was cut off from both food and liquids since midnight the night before, but man I could have done withOUT that crap.

A little before 9:30 we were off to the Operating Room. The room wasn't that big and had white/silver walls. It was quite cold. Brad had to stay outside until I was fully prepped. In the meantime, he put on scrubs and sat in a wheelchair, lol.

They didn't waste any time once I got there. The next thing I knew I was up on the operating table getting my spinal tap thing. (forgot the technical term for it and i don't believe it is epidural). They did a local first, which actually hurt. And then the real stuff. That real stuff worked really quick. In a few minutes my legs were tingly, they were putting in a catheter, giving my a shave, and a curtain up so I could no longer see.

Before I knew it, I was numb pretty much from waist down, not including my arms which I could still feel and move. Then for no reason what so ever, I ended up throwing up. Brad was soon by my side and we were off.

I couldn't feel any pain, but could feel tugging, pulling and pressing. I could also smell this burning smell, which Brad tells me after the fact that he thinks it was them burning my flesh to keep it from bleeding. EEWW! Anyway .... after what seemed like forever she was born!

The first thing that I came to my mind was ... "Breathe". I wanted to make sure she could breathe on her own. When I head that little cry it was one of the best feelings in the world.

Emily Misaki Rex
October 17, 2010 @ 09:58am
5 lbs and 13 ozs and 18.5 inches

Apgar scores 9 9

Immediately after she was taken out, they quickly wrapped her up to show her to me for not more then a few seconds and then whisked her away to the NICU. Brad had gone with Emily and now it was just me for the remainder of the surgery. I heard them counting out loud (apparently counting to make sure they hadn't lost any of the surgical tools). I smelled more burning and heard them talk out load as they pieced me back together. After what seemed like forever and a day ... I finally heard the staples and at around 10:30am it was all over. The the sheet came down, I was moved onto a roll away bed and taken to the recovery room.

In the recovery room, I was freezing. Shivering from head to toe. They put on tons of blankets even this one that blew hot air out, but honestly nothing seemed to help. I was there with the nurses at first and eventually Brad came back with updates on Emily. She was doing really well. Breathing outside air on her own and pretty much crying throughout the 15 minute long assessment.

They attached this ball thingee to a lead into my scar that is suppose to have a local to help keep the area numb. (I hope it works) After my temperature was a little back to semi normal I was able to go to the NICU in my bed where we were just in time to watch her first official bath. She was pink and crying and it made me smile. My baby girl. We did it. 5 and a half weeks at the hospital and she was practically the size of most full term babies. I was so unbelievable happy.

I must have gotten back in room around noon. I still couldn't really feel my legs and or feet and upon touch it felt super swollen even though it didn't look it. I finally got some ice chips and water. I called my mom and Tammy, both didn't answer the phone. I ended up waking up Kristy, who wasn't even at home. Dang, where was everyone when I had BIG news! LOL

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, I rested and called my family and closest friends to let them know the BIG news. I was on a strict clear liquid diet until further notice, so ended up have chicken soup, popsicles and jello for lunch.

I was in a bit of pain and was taking the Morphine through my IV about every hour or so. I wasn't able to get oral medication until a certain time because along with the spinal tap I was given something that needed to wear out. As I waited, I decided to pump to try and get my milk flow started. They recommend 15 minutes every 3 hours. My first attempt was at 3:30pm.

The one thing I wanted to do most was get back to the NICU. In order to do that, I needed to be able to stand on my own. The idea of it sounded easy, but boy was it hard! It hurt like mad, but I sucked it up ... moving very slowly I eased my way out of bed. Thank goodness for the adjustable bed. I was able to get a head start from a semi sitting position. Trying to use any muscle but my abs ... I did it. I stood for a few seconds before trying to take a step. I was off balance and almost fell. My nurse caught me and helped me get into a wheel chair.

She wheeled me NICU and I was able to hold Emily for a good hour or some (5:00 - 6:15pm). She was beautiful. The NICU nurse helped me take pictures and we just sat there and cuddled. I tried to figure out who she looked more like ... but at this point I can't really tell. Doesn't matter anyway ... she was PERFECT.

Sadly I had to let her get some rest and I returned to my room. Dinner was the lovely clear liquid diet again. I pumped 2 more times that night. 7:30pm and 10:30pm.

10/16

Omg omg omg!

It's has definitely been a LONG wait ... And finally the day is literally right around the corner. Less then 12 hours and counting.

I finished the blanket as a 4 x 5 one. I've also started gathering my things together so Brad could start taking them home.

I tried to rest for the most of the day just laying down and watching the boob tube. A lot of nurses came in to wish me good luck.

My prep actually started today/tonight. We went over the pre-opertation procedures and they seem simple enough. But they sound quite scary when I read it off the paper. Not sure why, lol.

In the late evening, they started my IV ... I needed two different antibiotics. Both starting at midnight for one dose and only one of them for a second dose at 6am. I can't remember the names of the medication though. I think azytromicen is one of them, but ... who knows.

Aiight, I should get some rest ... wish me luck!

10/15

Today my nurse had a student nurse again. I learned that the nurses program is only 3 years ... and these students are about half way through. They rotate between departments and hospitals for their clinical times.

Noah's bagels ....

Been really lazy the past few days. Trying to get some rest so been taking afternoon naps.

Still rather nervous. Not so much for myself but for baby girl. One more full day to go!

10/14

Yay, I have Michelle as my nurse again! I don't know what it is about her, but she is just so cheerful that it always puts me in a good mood. :) Plus she chats with me more then most other nurses, lol.

I really tried finishing my blanket today, but didn't get too far. I won't make the 5 x 5 size I was hoping for ... but it's okay. I am about ready to hang up my knitting and crocheting needles. :P

I ended up watching 2 movies, Tooth Fairy and Catch and Release. They both were okay, but probably not ones I would watch again though. hehe

I also started looking into birth announcements ... I know it's early, but hey I have the time now right? I just need to make one or find out which is the cheapest site to order from. Then I can work on getting some cute pictures once baby girl gets to go home and can wear clothes.

Vicky rocks! She brought me food again. And not just food, SUSHI!! Okay, so there are only a few choices of sushi that I can eat right now ... but still it is better then nothing. Dragon roll was YUMMY! In addition, I had Noah's bagel for breakfast and leftover Chinese food for lunch. I call this a wonderful day ... no CAFE food for me!

Oh man, so sad. CSI was pretty scary. That man in the black suit ... yikes!

10/13

Today my nurse was mentoring a student nurse from San Jose State. It's interesting to listen to them explain my situation, lol. I might be one of the more interesting patients here. :P

As the big day comes near, I have been having all sorts of emotions. I'm excited, happy, nervous, scared ... just to name a few. It's much harder this time then last ... just because I have a date to await for and think about things, rather then the hours I had last time.

Vicky and Haylie came to visit after work/school and brought me some Chinese food. YUM-O! I was smart and ordered 3 things, so I could have leftovers for tomorrow.

10/12

What a treat! I had Noah's bagels for breakfast this morning! The little things that make me happy. I am so over the menu here it is NOT funny. The things I will miss the least about being here, is not the bed rest ... it's the food and the 2 hour monitoring, lol.

I finally made myself work on the blanket. It's not coming out as expected, but for my first one, isn't too bad. I was aiming at making it 5 x 5, but looks like I'm going to end up with 4 x 5. If anything, she can use it later for her dolls. :)

Brad worked from home today because Tyler his 3 year old check up and flu shot this afternoon. He's still in the 15 - 20th percentile for both height and weight. He was 36 inches tall and 29 pounds. He took an eye test for the first time and passed with flying colors. Even the vaccination was a first. He got lucky and was able to do the nasal spray, so there were no tears.

They came by to hang out with me until swimming lessons in the evening. I needed a fix of grease, so I requested good ole McDonalds. :) It was one of their longest visits ... luckily Sponge Bob was on TV, so Tyler didn't get too bored.

I am beginning to worry about how he will react once baby girl is born. There are times he seems excited about being a big brother and their are times when he says he doesn't like his baby sister. I guess the only thing we can do is wait and see and hope for the best.

10/11

Ahhh! This will be my last full week here at the hospital. I know I've done a lot of complaining, but looking back on my stay here it hasn't been too bad. I know it's easier to say now that the end is approaching, but I also know that it could have been worse. I have made a lot of new nurse friends and will miss them when I get discharged next week.

After delivery, I should be moved to the mother and baby ward of the hospital. However, since baby girl has a good chance go needing to be in the NICU ... it looks like I am being given the choice of whether or not I want to move, since chances are I won't have a in room baby. From what I know, mother and baby is a slightly bigger room but a smaller bathroom ... but no additional perks. I am leaning towards staying in my current room, since I am already settled in here and I know the staff. I'd only get kicked out if they needed the room for another patient.

10/10 - 33 Weeks

Yikes! I woke up today and shamefully had leaked amniotic fluid on my bed. I must have been very tired because I didn't wake up to pee at 4am like I usually do. I did pee at like 6 something and then slept until 8:30. I could have slept longer, but they come in to do vitals. :(

I also had a cramping feeling in my lower abdomen, kind of like menstrual cramps. It didn't last long and went away if I changed positions. So I didn't think much of it.

Dr Teagle came in saying that I've had increased activity, which I oddly didn't notice. Apparently my morning monitoring showed 8 contractions an hour. And with the pink fluid and the cramping ... I was to be watched carefully throughout the day. Nothing alarming at this point ... but all could potentially be signs that my body is preparing to go into labor. Of course I got the normal answer ... we just have to wait and see, LOL.

It is a popular day today because of the date. I heard that L&D was pretty darn crowded ... :)

On another note, I have made 33 weeks today! This is the magical week that Tyler was born, so i am quite relived because of how well things went with Tyler. Of course they do tell me that all babies are different, so we still have to wait and see how baby girl does ... I have a very good feeling it will be positive results.

Today has been a very lazy day. I spent most of the morning watching cartoons and Myth Busters. Took a short nap ... and had Jack In the Box for dinner.

Tyler says he wants me to come home already. *sigh* Still got a little over a week till that will happen. I hope it doesn't confuse him too much. At least it will be just me at first, so we can hopefully prep him for Emily's trip home.


Week 33

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.