Happy Mothers Day

It's a wonderful day to celebrate, as a family of four now instead of three!  Allen's posted pics of our newest addition but I'll catch you all up to speed from my last post.  We visited the midwife last Thursday along with having  an US and non-stress test. Everything checked out fine so we were sent on our way. Mom, Allen and I spent the afternoon at the Bellevue Art Museum and walking around to keep busy. I was starting to feel crampy off and on but nothing significant so we kept up our normal activities. Early Friday morning I woke up at 4:30am with mild contractions that remained steady enough for us to wait at home till Esme woke up and we could get her to school when they opened at 7am. After that we headed straight to the hospital and it was a strange feeling to be going there so early and prepared. With Esme we barely made it. This time I was able to walk in, sign my admission paperwork, and get settled in my room. However my body knew when it was time to get down to business because not long after we got there things started intensifying quickly and our little baby was born less than 2 hours later. It was a natural birth again with about the same amount of pushing as with Esme. Both were quick so I can't complain. I couldn't have done it without the help of my midwife Heather, nurse Bennett, Allen and my mom who were at my side the entire time. Allen got to help catch little Chan coming out and announce to the room his gender. I heard him say "it's a boy" but was still pretty exhausted at that point to really take it in. Chan came to my chest immediately after his cord was cut and that's when I first saw him.  It was wonderful!

He has his own look and we're still trying to figure out which side of the family his features are from.  He doesn't look like Esme now or when she was born so it'll be interesting to see if things stay that way.  And despite being only 1 1/2 ounces smaller than Esme he is much thinner than her at birth too.  He's swimming in his newborn clothes!  We had a few boy names picked out but Chan Jay was at the top of the list.  It's a family name that started with my great-grandfather.  It got skipped in my generation so I decided to bring it back.  As for a nickname, who knows at this point.  Esme calls him "baby Chan." 

Based on my due date Chan was 6 days late but now looking back it's most likely that my due date was off by a week or two so Chan was actually right on time.  Unfortunately that meant that Nana got here early and had to leave today.  We had a really nice visit while waiting for Chan to come and we're all just glad that she was here for the birth.  Esme really enjoyed all their special time together and even got used to calling for Nana in the morning instead of me when she wakes up.  That's huge!  And Esme spent her first night away from mom and dad the night that Chan was born.  She came to the hospital that afternoon and then left in the evening with Nana and she did amazingly well.  Luckily we'll be seeing Nana again in Hawaii at the end of next month.   

Mother's Day art from Esme

Esme meets her Baby Chan... and visiting guests!

Esme told everybody at school today that she was having a little brother.  He was coming out of Momma's belly! Lo and behold she was right! Well, here we have her meeting her new sibling for the first time.  She's not sure what to think of him, but she slowly warms up to him.
                     
This one is a bit blurry, but Esme is excited about the new addition                                         Esme stroking Chan's soft gnomy head

 

Here is Esme... Am I still number one?

                    
          Matt and Angie visit while Esme devours a popsicle                                Dave and Marilyn and the newest addition to Cascade Pediatrics

Baby Boy... at last!

Chan Jay Shih was born at 9:48 this morning.  He weighs 7 lbs 0.5 oz and is 20 inches long.  He likes being held and walks on the beach.  He's getting used to this breathing thing and also this sunlight in my eye thing.  But he's doing great.  Without further ado, here are the requisite photos:

Mimi Gets A Haircut

Esme did amazing at her first haircut!  She was actually very serious the whole time and didn't budge at all.  She was concentrating hard on the books and toys they gave her to play with while she sat in the chair.  I just told the stylist to trim the edges and even out her hair but no bangs and the end result was much less drastic than I was expecting.

And apparently Esme's sibling is taking it's time in the womb since it's still not here yet!  We had a visit with the midwife yesterday and there wasn't much progress from previous visits.  If there's no baby by Thursday then we're scheduled for an US to check my amniotic fluid levels and then a non-stress test to see how baby's doing.  We've been keeping busy with daily walks, shopping, museum trips, house projects, sewing projects, etc just to pass the time.  This time around it's so different than when Esme was born.  She came a week early and on my day off when we least expected it and this time we're past-due and still waiting!  

Keeping Busy

Well my official due date is tomorrow and no sign of baby yet.  My mom and I have been keeping busy though with a visit to the tulip festival, 5+ mile walks, a brewery tour, a pedicure, and even a half day nursing conference.  We've also been trying spicy foods, foot massages and anything else that might help baby along.  Baby was moving a ton when we saw the midwife this week and heart rate was nice and high in the 150's.  We have another visit this coming Monday if baby doesn't show up before then. 

Esme definitely knows that something is up and she's been acting different at times.  Whenever we pick her up at daycare she gets on her hands and knees and crawls to us as soon as she hears we've arrived.  Or she's also started some baby talk in place of her normal words.  We've been trying to keep her schedule as consistent as possible so staying in daycare has helped. 

Tomorrow Esme's gonna get her first big girl haircut since she's gonna be a big sister soon!  We've never had her hair cut, not even for a little trim, so hopefully it goes well.  Pics to follow...     

No Baby Yet

I made it through my last week of work without going into labor!  It was a busy week but luckily we were able to get through everything.  I'm 39+ weeks now and just counting down the days.  And best of all, baby decided to wait for Nana to arrive.  So now it's back to exercising and all other activities to hopefully stimulate something ;)  Next appointment with my midwife is on Tuesday so we'll see!

Esme also had a busy weekend with playdates and birthday parties as you can see below.  The ball pit was by far her favorite part!

 

 

A couple of fun videos from today

We finally got some good weather today and we got to play in the backyard. Esme enjoyed running around and bouncing on balls. 

Esme and daddy bouncing in balls

Esme and the birds

Not Enough Mangoes

Esme loves the book Too Many Mangoes and can't go to sleep without reading it.  Well we were lucky enough to get some real tasty mangoes at the store this weekend and she devoured them.  It had been awhile since she'd last had them and wasn't so interested before but things have definitely changed.  Overall she's a great eater and usually tries anything at some point or another.  She still loves her grapes and berries, rice and noodles, cheerios or oatmeal, and yogurt.  Those are pretty much her staples.  Everything else just depends on her mood and the day but for the most part she loves to eat whatever we're eating.

We've hit 38 weeks now and I've actually had a few false labor pains.  I was a little worried when the first one happened at work last week but luckily subsided.  I've been trying to rest a little more and resolved to stop my normal exercise routine in hopes of not stimulating labor.  I'll try to keep up my pre-natal yoga at home that I felt really helped get me through my delivery with Esme last time.  Allen's been great at picking up the slack when I need to take a break and Esme and him are spending some real quality time together ;) 

38 weeks!

  

Lots of Books

This past weekend marked 37 weeks for this pregnancy so technically baby could come at anytime now and be considered full term.  We're hoping it at least waits till the end of the month when Nana arrives to help us out.  All in all, this pregnancy has been very mild and similar to when I was pregnant with Esme.  The biggest difference was the number of colds that I got this time around.  I just got over my 6th one and when I was pregnant last time I didn't get sick once.  Baby feels bigger than Esme though and doesn't move around as much as I remember her moving around, though my weight gain is right on target with last time also.  I finally had a dream about the gender of baby the other night and was surprised cause I thought I might not have any at this point.  I had many dreams with Esme and they were all wrong so that's not saying much :)  I haven't had any Braxton Hicks contractions yet but have been told for weeks that they could be coming anytime. 

I had my weekly appointment today and all went well again.  Baby's heart rate was in the 130's, head was down and it's back was faced outwards, and my belly measured 36 1/2 cm.  We got the cars seats down and so now we're really ready to go.  I have another appointment with the midwife next week to make sure we're still on target.

Esme is at a really fun age right now and I'm trying to enjoy as much of our one-on-one time as possible before baby is born.  She's really into repeating phrases that we say or she makes up.  The most recent ones are "hold on" and "I told you...." and "look at me."  She constantly amazes us with what she learns at school each day too. When she says something unfamiliar then we figure that's where she picked it up from.  She still loves her books too. The current favorites are Go Dog Go, Olivia, Too Many Mangoes, and Tikki Tikki Tembo.  Bedtime always includes these books and then some.

Getting Ready For Baby

Esme's getting used to all the baby stuff that we've got all around the house now.  She's still undecided if it's a boy or a girl and she calls it by either names that we have picked out.  We had our 36 week appointment today and my belly grew the expected 2cm from my last visit, heart rate was in the 130's (it was probably taking a nap the midwife said :) and head was still down.  We discussed our birth plan and what we needed to prepare for once labor starts.  It's a good thing I packed my bags for the hospital today!   

Taking a walk down memory lane - bathing in the sink like when she was a newborn.