I woke up from a quick nap nearby Grace to this beautiful, calm scene. I had to snap a shot.
Month: August 2005
Expired Visitor’s Tag
This tag may not look much. But it’s an effective visitor’s tag with a latent expiration mechanism built right in. I got this tag when Grace was still being induced to go into labor. This allowed me to go in and out of the hospital without having to sign in again and again within the same day. But the cool thing was, after I went home for a few hours of quick nap, I found this tag with “Expired” watermark that weren’t there before. Cool stuff.
The writing says “L+D” –> “Labor & Delivery”
First Moments of Life
Life is a series of events stringed together peppered with coincidences and endless decisions. Birth is one of those times when the choice was not yours, and you have nowhere to go but to simply exist. As parents, we can hope Bryan’s existence is going to be a happy and fulfilled one.
Here’s an account of the first momentss of Bryan’s life immediately after birth… In the absence of a better digital camera, my pathetic Canon S230 would have to make due.
Only seconds after birth, Bryan was brought to a examination station to check on his vitals — heart rate, skin color, respiratory system… etc. A OK on all.
What’s going on around me? Why is everything so bright all of a sudden?
Alien adoption must have felt like this… bright light above the head; strange people surrounding you, taking notes, talking in gibberish….
“Jesus Christ! Why is everybody laying her hands on me?”
Bath. Shots. More measurements. Note the computer chip on his ankle. It’s to prevent theft. It triggers hospital’s alarm when the baby is removed from the premises without authorized personnel.
Hello World
Hello World, this is Bryan!
Hello Bryan, this is the world! Welcome.
My Stats
Bryan Chu (Chinese name to be determined)
Born August 1st, 2005 @ 23:24PST
6LBs 11oz
18 inches long
To those who didn’t even know I existed, I offer no apology.
My daddy and mommy have been busy.
But for those who have already seen me in my mommy’s tummy,
Hello to you finally.
More pictures (and video clips) of me will be available soon.
Damn you, Murdza. Your boy wins on length and weight (and even time of birth).
And the Needle Is In
While I was taking mom to get some grocery, the doctor decided that Grace was having too much of a good time (not dilating) and increased the doses of picocin in her IV drip. Did that work or what…
A couple of hours later, the water ruptured. Pitocin worked. Four nurse- and three doctor-shifts later, it was about time.
Grace dilated to 4cm (10cm is the magic number; that’s when all the pushing and screaming starts). It may have been that I didn’t get enough sleep last night in addition to lack of food, I thought my knees were going soft on me when I saw the amniotic fluid draining down her legs. But all was good.
The nurse was happy that Grace was now finally making progress. But Grace was grumpy that she would now be feeling the pain at all times from this point on. In fact, the pain became so unbearable that she had to request for epidural. By now, she’s all hooked up with a bunch of high-tech machines, each monitoring a different vital status crucial to both the mother and the fetus.
More IV drips than a man can take.
More machines than a man can take.
