Second Week

Two weeks ago I was still with 50 extra pounds and a big Chamu inside my belly. Today Joaquin is lying next to me sleeping like an angel after feeding (and I'm still with 30 extra pounds to convert to milk).

My busy life has been reduced to a very simple life: I either sleep, eat or feed. We have already established that Joaquin is a no non-sense Barracuda eater. He is so aggressive when it comes to feeding time. He lurches his neck like a rattle snake and launches forward with his mouth (which has no teeth but can hurt you like Jaws). Even so, I still savor every moment spent with him even if it is just lying next to him like a cow being milked.

Joaquin is already spoiled with so many people around to hold him and play with him. We are trying to wean him from being held to sleep (mostly because Dadu cannot resist Joaquin's cuteness). I cannot really hold him when he is awake since the minute he smells me, he goes into hunger mode and starts looking for food (even if he has just been fed). I have been really strict with Dadu to make sure Joaquin does not get spoiled (my grandma says two kinds of people can get spoiled easily: new babies or new daughter-in-laws) and we need to set the rules (thanks to Marg who gave us our first Gina Ford book). But last night when he fell asleep next to me after feeding and I held him up to put him back to his basket, I hesitated many times. He looked so calm and peaceful and cute in my arms and how could I not want to hold him?

I guess that's why Dadu always cannot resist holding him and often ends up falling asleep with him together...(Doesn't Joaquin look a bit like Crayon Shin-chan?)

One week Parenthood

So it has been one week since Joaquin was born. Last week at this time, we were struggling to decide whether to continue with labor after 24 hours or to proceed with the C-section.

One week forward, Joaquin is back home. Mamu and Dadu have been quite exhausted from lack of sleep but at the same time overjoyed with Joaquin's arrival. He has been a good baby, feeding on a 4-hour cycle (which is very good for a newborn since most of them feed on a 2-hour cycle). He only cries when he is hungry or needs a diaper change. Mamu's job has been to keep him full and boy, it surely ain't a easy task with Chamu having a Shamu appetite. Dadu's job is to keep him dry and happy (and to keep Mamu happy too).

Our confinement lady/nanny showed up yesterday and it has been a bless since we finally got some shut-eyes after one week.

We never thought parenthood is going to be easy but I certainly didn't expect it to be harder than work. But you know what? Looking at little Joaquin and all the promises ahead of him, we just want to treasure every moment with him even if it means no sleep and no time to eat. On one hand you'd hope that he will grow up fast to enjoy the life ahead of him, on the other hand, you'd wish that every minute you spend with him now can last forever so you have time to enjoy his enormous cuteness. Such is the dilemma of parenthood.

Waiting Game

So we started to feel some contractions Sunday evening but since it was not too painful so we tried to sleep it off. We woke up Monday morning and the contractions were gone.

Monday evening around 6 30 pm, the contractions came back and it became quite regular around 9 pm so we call the doctor and decided to go into the hospital for a check up to make sure Chamu is okay.

At the hospital, I was 1 cm dilated and the nurse advised us to stay. We then officially checked in at 1030pm. I was trying to delay the epidural until I was in the second stage of labor but by 1230am I gave up. I don't know how women do it without any pain relief. I am just not as strong and after epidural was in, I felt I was back in pre-pregnancy heaven. We went to sleep around 130am and now at 830am, Chamu is still not down yet. He has been on heart beat monitor and seems to be doing quite well. We are still trying to have natural but it now depends on Chamu's willingness to come out.

No News Yet!

I stopped blogging for a bit since there is really nothing new to report. This week is the first week that I am staying at home. I am still doing some work via emails and phone calls but really no intensive work. My bosses finally realized that I am serious about taking maternity leave so have been panicly trying to reassign my responsibilities to others. I can't walk, sit or stand for a long time given how big and heavy my belly is so most of time I just lie around. TV programs in HK are really limited and uninspiring so I often just flip channels until I get tired.

I am starting to get bored with life with no work and no baby yet. Mom is here so she is doing most of cooking, shopping and cleaning. Jaime is taking care of buying other stuff we need for the baby. May 14 came and there was no news and no surprise birthday gift for Lisa. May 16 came and there was no news and no surprise birthday gift for Lucas. Now I am counting on tomorrow May 18 being the last chance Chamu can make his way out on his own. Honestly I am getting cold feet with May 20 C-Section and may decide on Monday that I will let Chamu cook a bit longer...

* we tried out our newly acquired tripod and took the picture here... I look like I am actually having twins...

Brief Update

So May 22 is fully booked and so is May 21. This means if Chamu does not make any progress on his own, he will be delivered via C-section on May 20. JoJomami has been looking for a good date and a good hour based on the Chinese calendar for Chamu's C-section time but all the good times have been booked long ago. Now it is up to Chamu to see if he will choose his own arrival time.

Mamu is increasingly becoming short tempered because it is getting extremely uncomfortable so she hopes Chamu can make his way out on May 16 or 18 to shorten the wait...

*We have everything ready now thanks to Dadu who has been spending his last two days doing intensive shopping. Still need to get an air purifier and water purifier but I think we can manage for the meantime...

Yellow-faced Wife

Chinese people call women who have been married for a long time and are no longer taking care of their own looks "Yellow-faced Wives" (黄脸婆）. They are not attractive or even try to be attractive and have buried their youth in between children and household chores. They don't put on any makeup so there is only one color to their complexion: yellow. I have long vowed to not fall into this trap of becoming one of them even after getting married or having children. I always believed that putting on makeup is part of basic courtesy to those around you and given that I am a working professional, it is important to dress in suits with tidy hair, well manicured nails, and neat makeup.

Towards the last 2 months of pregnancy, I found that it is easier to become one yellow-faced wife than to maintain my original standards. In the last two weeks, I realized that in fact I only want to be a yell0w-faced wife. I stopped putting on contact lenses and makeup. I rather roam around in my apartment with Jaime's oversized t-shirt (with no long pants preferred since I am so hot all the time). I barely comb my hair (since it doesn't quite matter with a short haircut) or put on facial masks to maintain my complexion (yellow seems to be the only color anyways). I am just as sloppy as I can be (and I think if I were a man I would be turned off completely). Even when I go outside (which is rare these days other than going to doctor's appointments or massage appointments), I can careless how others look at me. I have at most one more week to go and I really do not care if I offend people with my look (anyways I am offended myself when I see the stretch marks on my tummy). At any rate, with a belly that is bigger than a 10-lb watermelon and boobs that are starting to look like hanging papayas, I don't think any accessories or make up can help enhance my look any more. I look forward to the date when I am out of confinement and I can perhaps try to pickup where I left off and perhaps try to restore some of the charm or youth left in me.

Just don't be shocked if you so happens to run into me and fail to recognize the old JoJo in the next week because I have given up completely.

here is a glimpse of 黄脸婆

Chamu Decides His Fate

Ok so we went to see the doctor again and Chamu is still floating. She said well he can stay for as long as two more weeks but at least the cervix is progressing. Mamu lost some weight (1 lb) but Chamu is still growing.
Chamu was sucking on his thumb when we did the ultrasound (already a hungry boy).
So here is the final decision. Chamu's official due date is May 19, 2008. Mamu will try natural delivery if he decides to arrive before then (even though the doc think Mamu may end up with c-section given Chamu's big head). He has not turned yet so he is facing front (an easier delivery will require him to face backwards).
If Chamu still doesn't show any signs of making his way out, he will be scheduled for a c-section delivery on May 22, 2008 (and he will be a gemini just like his father). I think this is the best way to put a resolution to this debate and struggle. Chamu gets to decide his own fate...