Welcome Sofia Wing Yin Chin

Sofia is two weeks old and I can't believe how quickly time has passed (not to mention I finally have a few minutes to blog!)

Here's a quickie on Sofia's arrival:

My actual contractions started on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 3am. It was all concentrated on my lower back which was a bit odd for me but the contractions were approx. 5 mins apart and about a min. long. We were pretty excited that finally it was going to happen. I wasn't in too much pain so decided to head to White Spot for our last breakfast before the delivery. However, after breakfast, the contractions went away! We were confused and a bit letdown from all the anticipation but went home and just waited. Late afternoon, the contractions came back but were 10 mins apart but much more painful to endure through than the morning ones. Our doula assessed that I could be having back labor due to the baby being posterior as opposed to anterior so the early labor could take awhile. (YIKES!) I labored at home, watched movies to distract myself and took a warm bath to take some of the pain away but it didn't really work. So at midnight, we headed to the hospital.

The doctor assessed me and I was 5 cm dilated and cervix was fully effaced and thinned out so we weren't going home! I spent the next hour in pain and in the tub with the shower head pointed at my lower back. It helped a bit but man the contractions were coming and going like waves. There was a point where I started noticing urges to push which was new. My water broke in the tub during one of my contractions (actually it exploded in the water which was totally not what I expected).

Finally, the doctor checked me again and what do you know...I was ready to go into active labor. For 15 mins, I was told to hold back my urges to push which is so hard and I had to use laughing gas and breathing techniques to keep from pushing the baby out when I wasn't ready. Finally, I was told to 'push' and five mins after, Sofia was born into this world at 4am. Yes it was a pretty quick delivery and she was the quickest baby to be born that night =)

Here are two photos: Sofia at 1 day old and the other is Sofia at 1.5 weeks old

Notice any changes? Rob thinks she looks different everyday.

Two weeks has passed and Rob is back at work today. I was a bit worried that I would be overwhelmed being alone with Sofia for the whole day but so far it's been ok. I have so much more I want to blog about but this is about all the 'my' time for now. Back to servicing our little princess.

Could it be?!?

It's 11:25pm on Oct. 21st and I'm noticing initial signs of early labor! (I think)...

Let me retrace back to this morning...

We met with our doctor today for another cervix check. I'm 2 cm dilated and cervix is soft and ready but not effaced yet (has not thinned out and still long). She did a membrane sweep to help it along which wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought. The doctor noted that the baby is lying head-down but on my right side so there's a chance she could either turn posterior or anterior, which means I have to try to be on my hands and knees more to encourage an anterior lie (I thought we were done with the wrong positioning!)

Since the doctor's visit, I've noticed increased pressure down there and it's making me waddle!! haha I was wondering when that would happen. My mucus plug is coming out too which is a good sign. I won't describe what that is but if you are curious, google it... And finally, I getting some intense BHs combined with what feels like period cramps and man does my lower back ache! That's it for now...stay tuned :)

The war with PUPPPS

Due date is looming and I am definitely ready to meet little Chin (little sick of being asked if it's happened yet or not =P). Most women pray for the day they go into labor to get rid of the pregnancy annoyances such as late night bathroom breaks, waddling, insomnia etc. For me, it's the battle with PUPPPS which has put me at a tilt with this whole final stage of being preggo. My body shows the battle scars on my arms, legs and of course my tummy. My whole body is officially a victim of this terrible condition. I have struggled mentally to resist the urge to scratch and have succumbed to a satisfying but guilty (followed by soreness and more scars) few minutes scratch which on a ST basis feels so good but leaves me feeling terrible that I couldn't control myself yet again. It is the worse feeling and has left me a few nights in tears of anguish that this is not going away until the baby comes. I'm pretty sick of dealing with it and after failing every few nights with a scratch fest followed by anguish, it leaves my spirit feeling drained and despaired. I have gotten to the point where I am constantly itchy somewhere on my body but I can ignore it as long as my hands don't find its way to it. My Acupuncturist suggested to watch my diet in the next while even though much of this condition is caused by hormone changes but what you eat can also be a factor and I think I'll pick up some calamine lotion today and just be a splotchy preggo. I really don't care too much about how I look right now anyways.

On the bright side, the baby is still very active inside and we are getting this time to get some more things organized around the house and enjoy our last moments before parenthood. Rob was hoping the baby would come before his team meeting tonight hehe but looks like baby wants to take her sweet time =) At least October has seen some decent autumn weather lately so it's a lovely time to go on walks. I love autumn; brisk cold, colored leaves, and it reminds me of being a child again going trick-or-treating on halloween. Now it will be even better because the baby is coming soon!

Now I am truly nervous!

Week 38! My last day at work was yesterday. I'm glad the baby held off from any emergency early labor at work, just too much drama for a work setting =P I'm sure our VP Operations was nervous that an impending birth could be possible at the office considering I only have two weeks left! Last week, my co-workers threw a surprise baby shower for baby Chin complete with musical BINGO and yummy cake made completely out of little cupcakes. I received my first ever diaper cake. It was so cute!

When I wrote my last post about being anxious, I never thought that I would be hit with even more nervousness weeks later. It is probably a combination of a few things; doctor observing the baby dropping, increased pressure in the pubic bone area and increased frequency to pee, meeting with our Doula to discuss labor and delivery and finishing up at work.

There are still a few more things that need to be done but overall, we are ready if the baby should decide to come right NOW but it's more the mental nervousness that is bugging me. Up until now, I have avoided thinking of the laboring part (ignorance is bliss?!?) I have not overwhelmed myself with reading others' birth stories for the reason that I know each person has an unique story to tell and it would only make me more anxious wondering what mine would be. After meeting with our Doula today and going over some labor logistics, I felt so overwhelmed with the thought that my pregnancy 'condition' will soon be changing. In fact, our lives will forever be changed (many have made that comment and it doesn't make it any more comforting). Rob was right when he said it was good for me to work right up to now, 2 weeks before the due date so I wouldn't have so much time to think and get anxious about the impending birth. Now we just wait... There are things I can do in the meantime to 'prepare' the cervix for the most optimal birth and I guess I can focus on these things so I have less time to wonder when it will actually come.

In the past week, my ugly stretch marks have taken on an even uglier side, they began to itch. The full medical term for it is Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy, or PUPPP and is inmensely irritating. I try not to stratch but there's such a large area under my navel that it's so hard to control and once I start, I can't stop and then it spreads!! Cold cream and anything cold from the freezer helps with the itch but it seems to be very bad at nights. So right now, as I type, i'm trying hard to focus on blogging and not itching my tummy =(

Other than that, Rob and I went to listen to Dr. Harvey Karp share about how to calm a baby and minimize tandrums in toddlers on Monday night at the VPL Main Branch. He did his magic with the babies in the room and had the parents try his techniques right there right then. It was an eye-opener and he was a good speaker. We saw this funny commercial about a toddler throwing a tandrum at a grocery store: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_0bhT98g9Y

Dr. Harvey Karp wrote The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block. Visit his website for more information.

Stay tuned for more updates on the baby's arrival.

Ticking Baby Bomb

The anxiety is starting to infiltrate my brain.

Crazy thoughts include:

Awoke Saturday morning to another horrible leg cramp in my right calf muscle. This time, Rob tried to massage, assist and calm me down. It worked but took awhile and I was quibbling like a little girl in pain. Again I wonder, could anything be worse (ie. contractions) than the leg cramp pain?

Spent Sunday afternoon out baby shopping on a beautiful warm day by myself and realized, what would happen if I went into labor right NOW? What would I do? I guess someone from the baby boutiques would know to send me to SPH and Rob would meet me there but my bag isn’t packed!

The baby received tons of clothes from the weekend baby shower. So much one baby can receive; so many new clothes to grow out of in a few months time and I just have to accept the reality that I too will have outfits that have never been worn with tags on them. I have enough trouble figuring out what to wear for myself and soon will have the job of figuring out little cute outfits for my baby to wear. And then I’ll want to buy more clothes so her cute top will have a matching bottom…and before I know it, I would have accumulated LOTS of baby clothes.

And then the ultimate anxiety: being a parent. I expect my life to change. I expect my relationship with Rob to change. I know this is a road of no turning back; once a parent, forever a parent. I also know that it will be a life stage far more challenging and rewarding than even in commitment in marriage. Don’t get me wrong, marriage isn’t a joyful walk in the park but when you add other human beings to the mix of family, it gets complicated especially when the parents (inlaws) decide to intervene.

I’ve realized I don’t really know what Braxton Hicks (BH)or real contractions feel like. I have had tightening in my tummy which I thought was BH but it seems to last for a long time. Then yesterday, we were at Walmart picking up some more baby stuff when I felt this pressure in my pubic bone area that came and went, fairly quickly for a minute or so which I’ve never experienced. It freaked me out and I freaked Rob out but it went away so was that BH or just baby head-butting and moving? No clue…

No wonder the soon-to-be parents get more and more anxious as the day approaches for the baby bomb to go off. The fun is no one really knows when it will detonate.

Hang in there Tres! Take this time and enjoy the fact you have the freedom and two free hands. Before you know it, one or both hands will be doing something baby-related.