WiredAtom

This morning was a happy morning. It was the morning when Grace and Bryan were coming home. But it took a hospital a few hours to process paperwork, to book Bryan’s next pediatric appointment and just to make sure everything else was done.

Bryan almost had to stay for additional observation because of his increasing level of jaundice. Damn Asian babies with their yellow skins… The doc said Asian babies typically have higher levels of jaundice, but it’s nothing to worry about (yet). He also suggested to expose him to some sunlight to help reduce the level of jaundice. Another thing was to feed him plenty of milk, which in turn will help reduce the level of jaundice as well.

Tomorrow is Bryan’s first pediatric appointment… We’ll see.

Tonight will be my first physical endurance test with Bryan at home. It won’t be long until I get the Panda eyes myself.

A side note: Grace is finally starting to produce some foremilk. It contains highly saturated nutrients and antibodies for the baby. The exact composition of the foremilk is not perfectly understood yet. But virtually everyone agrees that it’s crucial stuff for the baby’s health and immune system, even as s/he grows beyond infancy.

Bryan pooped and peepeed a few times. Good signs that his body is working the way it ought to be. But let me tell ya, his poops are weird! They are black like a black bean paste… Yuck!

He still has baby acne all over his tiny little nose. It’s supposed to get worse before it gets better. The cause is still unknown, but some “experts” believe that it’s the mother’s hormones reacting with the baby’s. The acne goes away in a couple of weeks though.

Both Grace and Bryan and doing very well. Bryan’s still trying to learn to latch on to Grace’s nipples for feeding. It’s really a learning process for both of them. But it’s really amazing to see little new borns with this sucking instinct without anyone teaching them. It may take a few days for Grace’s breast to be able to produce enough milk for Bryan. But in the meantime, both parties have to keep trying. It’s the baby’s sucking motion that helps the mother’s breast to produce milk.

While Grace’s body is still trying to adjust its postpartum hormone levels, we are tricking Bryan with formula milk the hospital provided when he does his sucking motion. He will learn that’s how he gets his food….

They will be out of the hospital tomorrow if both of their vitals are ok. We look forward to having them back at home finally.

I am sure many of you are wondering how Grace’s doing. Here it is….

After almost 3 hours tough labor, our nurse was getting concerned about the baby’s vitals. Grace’s body temperature was creeping up while the baby’s heart rate was a little unsteady at times. At first they decreased the amount of epidural so that she could actually feel the pain to help her with the push. But that didn’t work too well.

While the position of the baby’s head was improving with every push, it just wasn’t enough. So a doctor came in and explained to us a couple of options Grace had to help her with the delivery: vacuum or scoop. Grace decided on the vacuum since it had a less change of tearing on you-know-where.

Once that decision was made, a whole fricking team of people came in with special equipments which required modification of the birthing bed. WTF. They didn’t say the setup was going to be so elaborate. It’s almost intimidating.

The whole room, at this point, was filled with female nurses, doctors and specialists. Barring Bryan, I was the only male in the delivery room. That was an odd experience.

After the vacuum was setup, it took three really big pushes to get the head out, and another gentle push to get the rest of Bryan out of Grace. After this intense maneuver, Grace still suffered a third degree laceration. OUCH!

Grace took everything like a champ though. No tears. No complaints. Just really deep breathes and big pushes.

A few stitches later, Grace was all smiling with the baby in her arms. Obviously the industrial-strength pain-killer was doing its job. I have a feeling she won’t be so smiley when she goes back to consumer-strength pain-killers when she gets home…

Grace has been in recovery room since last night. She will be there for a couple of days with the Bryan.

Hanging out with granny…

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, 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).

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.