So strong! ... oh and Halloween

Today I was wearing a blouse like this ...

obviously not me ... but the pic shows the flaps down the side ...
AAANYWAY,.... I was at the counter preparing dinner for Aiden, and he grabbed one of the flaps and was playing inainai ba (peekaboo) with it. Then he started trying to wrap it around himself, playing with it, etc. Then he suddenly grabbed it REAL hard, and ran behind me. He pulled so hard that I almost fell backward! It jolted me, and I barely caught myself before I fell right on top of him! But the jolt and sudden slack made him fall down and he hit is head on the wall next to him, and then fell flat on his face! Poor baby wasn't hurt too bad, but he was so shocked he burst out crying and only wanted mommy (refused to go to Papa). I am so shocked at how strong this little boy is getting!

Yesterday evening I took the kids to a Halloween party (co-hosted by me, ahem). I got one of my friends to come along to help watch the kids (Thanks Smyle!) and thank GOD for her because I was running around pretty much the whole time picking people up, or taking pics (unofficial event photographer).
I am too tired to upload the pics here, so you will have to click this link here ...
CLICK HERE

Hope you had a fun Halloween!

P.S. Happy Birthday to MEEEEEEEE 

LB is here!

My Little Brother is here! 

On the night of the 14th Mommy stayed up all night with those 'owie pains' that she called contractions and the next morning she left with Daddy to go to the hospital! Then I didn't see them for the rest of the day and I missed them so much! But the next morning Daddy came and we went to see Mommy at the hospital! And I met HIM for the first time!!! I was so excited to see Mommy and there was another surprise for me too!! 

This is how LB looked when he first came out ... only MORE purple (Mommy said)!

He was bigger than I was when I came out ... he weighed 2.8 kg! But look at those cheeks!

All extra 300 grams must've gone to those cheeks!

He has long fingers just like I did!

Mommy and LB are home now and are resting. Now that they are Home I get to see them whenever I want and I am always so happy to visit. I can't wait for him to grow up so I can play with him!!!

I will post more pictures of him later.

hrm

Posted this on my blog already but since it sort of had to do with baby I decided it couldn't hurt to post here toooooo .....

I get paid online.

Usually we live on Como-kun's salary and save mine for buying things online, or saving up. Recently most of Como-kun's jobs have been for big malls where they don't get the pay for 2 months so I withdrew a big chunk of my money for our daily spending needs. Thing is it's supposed to take up to 5 days to appear in the bank account. So our little cash bundle kept getting smaller and smaller and then the baby's formula ran out.

But the money hadn't arrived yet.

Of course 2000 yen is not a HUGE deal ... we probably could've borrowed it from mom-in-law or something ... but it was ... kind of a sinking feeling ...

Just that day I had checked my Japanese bank account and found the Japanese government had deposited the baby's birth money in! The full 420,000 yen! Whoo oohoooooo!!!

And we were expecting the big chunk to come from paypal anyday ...

So we were by no means poor or it wasn't our 'last 10 cents' or anything ... but it was ... just a sinking feeling THATS ALL!!!!!

It was more dramatic to me cause duh I'm pregnant and one morning there was no more formula and no more money to buy it and I could've cried!

I can't even feed my own baby anymore WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Well yes ... eventually I remembered that I had stashed away some baby money in some random place and it turned out to be just the amount I needed for the formula ... whew.

So all is well that ends well. Just another OMG! moment in the life of an emotional pregnant woman.

3 months old

So yesterday on the 15th my little man Papoosie turned 3 months old! He's been growing so fast and I just can't keep up with these updates!

He has been so happy this week. Except for one day where he wouldn't stop crying because of the heat, he's been such an angel. It's been so hot everyday here and we haven't had running water for 4 days (everyday grandma and grandpa haul 8L bottles of water up 3 flights of stairs to fill up the huge buckets in our house. It would be so stressful for all of us if baby would cry more but between his rinse offs (he gets at least 2 or 3 a day) he seems to be handling the heat very well. So far no heat rash even under his neck and underarms where he's got the most chub. I am so jealous he gets to cool off in his baby tub every 2-3 hours ... and I WANT A TUB too! Oh well ... I've been learning to take my showers the old bucket way ... and I have learned to wash with just 8L of water ... YAY me! Unless of course I have to wash my hair and then another 8L gets added ... cause my hair is like LOOONNGGG ...

He sleeps very well at night now, with just one feeding. He can go 5-6 hours without waking during the night now! Last night for the first time he rolled over in his sleep. I mentioned in my 12 week post how I have been doing rolling exercises with him ... and somehow last night he rolled onto his back! I went to check on him because I heard him whining a little ... and he was WIDE awake on his back! The next morning I asked Ardit and M-I-L if they had turned him in the middle of the night but it turns out he had done it all on his own! I'm so proud of my boy and how fast he's growing! It's still a mystery to me though, because during the day during tummy time he will show NO signs of even wanting or trying to turn over. He will cry and get bored after awhile, but he doesn't try to turn over. So I'm wondering how it happened so out of the blue. Oh well.

We took him for his 3 month checkup (no vaccines this time cause it's just too hot. If there are a few days in a row where the weather is cool he'll get his vaccines done then) and here are his measurements:

Weight: 5.4 kg.

Length: 57 cm

Head circumference: 38 cm.

He's grown 10 cm since birth, 5 cm in head circumference, and gained 2.9 kg. So it's not just me saying it ... it's really TRUE! He's got SUCH long arms and legs ... like THIS ...

Here are some photos I took of him on his special day.

Woke up so happy, cause he's a big boy now!

Not too sure about my singing ...

'Mom ... do you HAVE to sing happy birthday to me in THREE languages?'

Cheesy grin ... he's got the same lines under his eyes as Daddy ...

'It's time to party y'all!!!'

hmmmmmmm .... nope ... dunno what was happening here ...

In the afternoon we took him out to meet godfather and godmother and got a present! (Which we'll show in another post).

All in all it was a full day and I'm just so happy he's growing up so well.

Mama loves you, my little boy!

xoxo

June 20th

I wrote on his 10 week update how he's been practicing his grabbing a lot.
Here's a picture from that week of him 'holding' his pacifier. He's a pro now at grabbing his pacifier either by the handle, like in this picture, or by the pacifier string and pulling it out of his mouth. It's adorable but then he gets upset cause he wants it back and starts crying ... tsk tsk ...
In this picture he actually got two fingers into the holder ... and he was waving it around like a flag and poking the side of his face with it ... and he would turn his head to try to find it, but then with a jerk of his arms it was gone again ... it was soooo cute!

7th First outing

On the 7th I had my very first outing! I ventured to the far and distant land of the lake! Godmother and godfather came to show their support and we had a grand time! 

Here is godmother. She just can't get over how cute I am!

Awwwww, such a good lookin' family! :P

The next photos are full of mushy gushy lovey dovey feelings! She really couldn't get over me! I really am gonna be a chick magnet! (shhhh ... don't get mad ... Papa tells me that all the time, so it must be true!)

xoxo

~~~~~ So happy to be alive  ~~~~

 ~~~lalallalala~~~

 Oh so tender!

 The happiness continues .... 

... until she found a piece of dust on my face and was horrified

If you haven't been paying attention AT ALL ... this one here is my mama. Just cause there aren't so many pictures of her compared to godmother ... pay attention next time! 

Enter ... the godfather!

Pimpin' it!

Chillin'! (psssst ... take a look at my face! I'm a pro yo!)

They just wish I was theirs ... 

Godfather teaching me some strong posing!

Papa time!

When I grow up, I'm gonna be just like dad!

But for now, I just want to sleep!

Mama wanted to show off my stroller. Because she's my mama and I love her, I'm letting her.

So that's what happened on my first day out. It was perfect weather, and papa got sunburnt! I had a great adventure at a beautiful place with my favorite people (Mama and Papa), and got to know my godparents some more! I think I could get used to this place they call 'outside'.

Maybe I will try it again!

23rd, Story time with Daddy!

I have the best dad in the whole world. Now I can't wait to grow up fast!

The Birth Story (Warning: Long and boring, written for those who asked)

I had always said throughout the pregnancy that I thought the baby would come early ... but I had no idea he would come THIS early!

On April 13th, I started leaking amniotic fluid. Ardit had to work that day so I was all alone in the house. I was thinking how 'yabai' it was ... but then again I wasn't 100% sure that it was my water bag so I decided to wait the day out and see what happened. I chatted with my mom and told her what was happening and how I wasn't sure if it was my water or not, but she wanted me to go to the doctor to be sure, so I promised her that I would go the next day if it didn't stop.

Well I took my afternoon nap as usual, but when I woke up and got out of bed ... BAM ... this time I WAS sure that it was my water.

Since I couldn't tell Mami what was wrong I called Ardit up so he could tell her, and of course then there was no choice BUT to go to the doctor. I really didn't want to go cause I knew they would just send me to the hospital and I REALLY didn't want to go.

At the clinic the doctor checked, and yep ... it was my water. So of course I got sent on to the hospital. The doctor gave us 48 hours for the labor to start (I was having ZERO contractions).

We went home, and packed some stuff for me and for the baby, and off we went. It was such a weird feeling driving to the hospital feeling totally fine, yet knowing that when I came back, it would be with our little boy! I was excited, but feeling more worried that things wouldn't go well.

By the time I got checked in to the hospital and sent to my room, it was night. There was another pregnant lady in the room with me, who was already having contractions. Anyway, that night was spent trying to rest between the lady's contractions and the nurses coming in to check on us and our babies. Early the next morning the lady moved to the delivery ward and I was left all alone with Ardit. And all that day was spent having light contractions that I could barely feel, sleeping, walking around the corridors, and trying not to get too bored. The doctor and nurses came to check quite often, and the doctor told us that tomorrow morning they would start the induction. 'Tomorrow no matter what your baby will be born!' I was still stuck between being scared (I've always hated hospitals), happy (that the baby was coming!), unhappy (I wanted a Taurus!!!), and scared again.

I was so glad that they let Ardit stay with me even during the nights ... I would have freaked out if I had to stay there all by myself.

So, the morning of the 15th I was taken down to the delivery ward, and because my contractions hadn't gotten strong enough, I was hooked up to an IV, and given a serum to induce the contractions. Before I had time to worry that it would hurt, BAM I started getting heavier contractions. They weren't TOO strong, just strong enough, and around 10 min apart, and they had me hooked up to monitors for me and the baby, so I had to stay on my back and that was uncomfortable. Around noon I was sent to the doctor for a check, and he found out that my labor hadn't progressed at all (my cervix hadn't effaced, and I was was still only 2 cm dilated).

So he gave us our options:

1: Continue with the serum, with a maximum of 8 hours, and if I STILL hadn't progressed enough, be sent to surgery for a cesarean.

2: To just go straight into surgery to have a cesarean without waiting any longer.

He told us that in his experience, most women who chose to wait anyway ended up not progressed enough to have a natural delivery and ended up having surgery anyway. If we waited and it didn't work out the natural way, I would be tired from working all day with the induced contractions, and also at the end of the 8 hours our doctor (who had followed me through the pregnancy and was the chief obstetrician of the hospital) would be off duty so the surgery would be performed by a different doctor. And both of us wanted THIS doctor for my delivery.

So it was just such a shock to me, because all of the things we wanted so much to avoid were happening one by one. First the water breaking early and having to come to the hospital for 2 days, then the induction, and now the possible surgery. All I wanted was to have a natural delivery, with the least amount of medication, and shortest stay at the hospital as possible. So when given these two options it was like the last straw for me, and I just broke down. It's a little embarrassing now to write about it, but at that time I felt perfectly justified. It wasn't only the stress of the whole 3 days and being taken from one bad scenario to the next. I was also FREAKED out.

Ardit was wonderful through it all. He didn't get mad at me for crying, but just comforted me, and reassured me that it would all be ok, and that it was what was best for the baby. I was also worried that the recovery would take longer, so I wouldn't be able to take proper care of the baby, but he was so brave and reassured me he would take care of me and the baby till I got well enough. I honestly would have died probably if he wasn't there.

So in the end we decided to have the surgery, and that it would be best for me and the baby if we didn't prolong it but just got it done and over with. All of this time that I was breaking down and we were discussing what to do I was still receiving the serum that was giving me contractions so it was all a huge disastrous mess going on.

But within the hour the doctor had arranged for the surgery, and I was taken into the surgery room. As I left Ardit in the room and walked (limped is more like it) to the surgery room I started panicking again, and on the table being prepped I just started hyperventilating and shaking. I was SOOOOOOOOO scared I thought I would start crying again! They gave me a shot in the back and it hurt WAY less than I was scared of (THANK GOD!). I found out later that they just gave me the shot instead of the epidural anesthetic which would have been SUPER painful and was the one that I was scared of. Anyway, I was still shaking like crazy but they strapped my whole body down I guess so I couldn't move. The doctor was AMAZING for me at this time. He talked to me, told me it was ok to be scared but it would be over so so so soon and I would get my baby, etc etc. He REALLY calmed me down and even got me to smile for him. Anyway, I don't know if it's normal but I got super tired and the whole procedure became really hazy. I remember him telling me they were gonna cut now, but then after that I don't remember anything until they brought the baby to me. They put him on me, and cause my hands were strapped down the nurse had to hold him ... and his head rested against my forehead, and I just remember being so thankful that he was here. I kept saying 'you're finally here'. Then I must've fell asleep again cause when when I woke up I was back in the room and Ardit was there and the baby was next to me! Apparently the whole thing was very fast and I was back in the room within an hour. I was in and out of sleep for the next 6 hours or so, but between sleeps I couldn't stop staring at my baby. MY BABY! Gosh I just couldn't believe it he was finally here!

By evening I regained feeling in my legs, was able to walk (with lots of help) to the bathroom, and gave baby his first nurse!

The next few days were worse than the delivery (duhh ... I was asleep for most of that ... hehe) ... I got shots practically EVERYWHERE multiple times, and my boobs got their crash course in nursing. By the second day I was begging the doctor to let me go home. My obstetrician doctor said I could, but that it would be up to the pediatrician. The pediatrician wanted to keep baby for another day because he was a preemie and they wanted to monitor him for jaundice. So I begged and got the doctor to agree that I wouldn't get any more shots.

Ardit was such a hero the 3 nights we spent with the baby in the hospital. He cried a lot during the night, and because I couldn't move without help he did EVERYTHING. He rolled up my bed so I could sit up and nurse the baby, he stayed up with the baby when he cried, he fed me, he walked me to the bathroom ... he was SUCH a hero! And he had never taken care of a baby before! He did so good and I was so thankful to have him there and so proud of him!

So we were finally allowed to go home on Monday! I was so so so so so so happy to finally come home after almost a week at the hospital! Thanks Elda and Sawyer for driving us back!

So that's the story of how we got our baby almost a month early! A couple of random thoughts:

1) It was nice how they let us keep the baby with use the whole time we were in the hospital. Except for a few times when they came to give the baby a bath, whenever they wanted to give him a shot, or take a blood test they brought the stuff to the room and did their stuff there. So it was nice always having the little one near me.

2) I remember the first time I was pregnant and I was visiting Japan, Mandy gave me some advice about how I should try to stay open for anything happening at the delivery. She told me about how she had had to have a cesarean with her boy, and how it really made a difference that she was accepting and not super stuck on having the baby a certain way. I wish I had remembered this at the time I was going through all of the above stuff instead of now as I am writing this. I know I will remember it next time.

In closing, here are the very first pictures of the pooch that we took. See how Japanese he looks! The doctors and the nurses came out of the surgery room to congratulate daddy and this is what they said: "Congratulations, you have a beautiful baby, but we are so sorry, he doesn't look like you at all!"

I was so surprised at how much hair he had when he came out! I had been wanting him to be blond so much that I was just as surprised that he had dark hair!

He looks so much like me when I was just born! I have a picture that I think he looks identical to! (Or it could just be my warped memory)