Birth Story

Hi All:
I know what you want is more pictures but right now posting from laptop in my bed with baby on chest is what I can manage....so more pictures will come later when I can figure out a time to get downstairs to the desktop to download pictures!
So instead you get my account of the birth story before I forget all the details...

I woke up on Thursday morning at around 1 am with contractions. The contractions were quite irregular and this was an experience that I had been having for more than 4 weeks, so I really didn't think much about it (Btw I was 9 days past due date). I dozed and watched TV until about 4 am (Agnish was sleeping downstairs in the guestroom since I've been very tossy and turny in bed in the last few weeks). By about 4 am, I started to wonder if I was actually in labor as the contractions started to take on a more regular pattern. At 5 am, the contractions were 5 minutes apart but not super painful. So I called Labor & Delivery and consulted the nurse who said I should stay home for 1-2 hours since I could still talk through the contractions. I finished packing our hospital bag and hopped in the shower at about 5:30 am. By this time, the contractions were painful enough that I was doubling over in the shower. So, after the shower, I decided I should wake Agnish up. I also called over to my mom to ask her to come over and watch Luca. At 5:45, Agnish and I had a very calm, sane conversation where we decided that my mom would take me to the hospital and get me checked in, and that he would stay home to be there when Luca awoke (usually around 7 or 7:30 am) and then come in and meet me at the hospital after Joanne arrived.

In no less than 5 minutes after that conversation, things got much worse, very quickly. My contractions began to get very strong, accompanied by the worrying need to push, and were very close together. I also began to get very anxious and said to Agnish that he should drive me to the hospital instead of my mom (mostly because I was afraid that my mom would freak out and drive off a bridge since she doesn't exactly deal well with seeing me in pain). My mom showed up at around 6 and we were off to the hospital. The drive to the hospital was a blur as I was in a lot of pain, but I do remember feeling like I was on a bobsled (obviously affected by watching Winter Olympics). We arrived at the hospital at exactly 6:38 am. (A funny detail is that I called from the car to Labor and Delivery to tell them we were on our way, and asked if I could order an epidural over the phone to have it waiting for me).

The rest of the story is like a scene from the movies: As I walked into the hospital, i was already asking for the drugs. The nurse was walking me to our room, and told me that there was a really nice room at the end of the hall, but there was also a crappy room open a few steps away. I think she was testing to see if I was really serious but I "passed" her test and said we needed to get into the close room. There was a frustrating period of time where I continued to ask for drugs and the admitting nurses would not tell me whether I could have them or not, and I was screaming at everyone in pain (again, just like the movies). The doctor was called in quickly and it seemed that I was already 8-9 cm dialated...within a moment, I was screaming even louder, and finally one brave nurse grabbed me and said to me "You are going to have this baby very soon, and it is too late--YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANY DRUGS!" This, oddly, had a calming effect on me, and Agnish gave me a very serious pep talk where he told me he knew I could do it. So, I only pushed two times and baby Nico flew right out and was crying on my chest before I knew it! The post delivery was much more difficult than with Luca (where I had an epidural) as I didn't have any medication as they delivered the placenta and stitched up my tears (ouch!).

So, I had very opposite birth experiences from baby 1 (60 hours of labor, but relatively painless) to baby 2 (I'd say perhaps 2 hours of 'serious' labor but very painful)---but ultimately I'm happy that we all survived it okay!

Baby Nico is Here!

Well, if you haven't heard, Baby Nico made his arrival last Thursday morning. After a slightly hectic scramble to get to this hospital, Nico was born at 7:06am, weighing 8lbs 2oz, and was 20 inches long - about the same measurements as his brother Luca.

The past week has been a blur and could have been a bit smoother, though not really due to Baby Nico. Sadly, just 72 hours after giving birth and with little sleep since then, Mom had to deal with a nasty combination of a GI bug and a case of mastitis from breastfeeding just to add to the usual post-delivery pleasures...I'm sure her war story will come soon, once she has a little bit of sleep and free time to get back to blogging. Poor big brother Luca came down with the same GI bug and has spent most of this week dealing with vomitting, diarrhea, and feeling tired/listless.

So, not the best possible beginning to Nico's life at home, but fortunately things are getting better and we are just so happy to have two healthy boys at home with us!

So, on to the pictures:

Baby Nico feeling tired just after entering the world:

Getting to know Po-Po and Gong-Gong

Sitting with Chloe Je-Je

Getting ready to come home...

Snuggling with Mommy

Home at last....

Fighting the swaddle...Nico so far does not seem to enjoy swaddling very much. He really likes to have his hands free and sleeps much better that way. Sleeping and eating has been a positive so far. He enjoys eating frequently and eating a lot (this is the cause of Mom's pains from breastfeeding) and likes to take pretty long naps after meals. I'm sure this will end now that I've written it down, but we'll enjoy it as long as it continues.

A close up...we think he is starting to look more like Luca did when Luca was around this age. We'll have to take some more pictures in the same outfits Luca wore and show them side-by-side. Nico also has lots of hair, though it is a bit more spiky than Luca's was. Nico has been a bit rash-y and his skin has been peeling a bit (all normal for this age) but it is starting to clear up.

Getting ready to go out.

Tummy time in the gymini...not a fan of tummy time so far.

A few more tidbits from Nico's first week:

• He loves sleeping on Mom and Dad's chest - he likes to fall asleep there and is actually pretty easy to move onto the bed for a nap.

• He seems to sleep anywhere and can sleep through most noises. This is one of those second kid vs first kid cliches, but it is really true in our case. With Luca, we would dim the lights throughout the house and make it as quiet as a museum in preparation for a nap...blankets and bassinets would be warmed with a heating pad, Luca would be rocked and jiggled for 3o minutes, and then he would be delicately placed into the bassinet while his parents laid stiff as mummies in the bed, daring only to breath quietly once every few minutes. He would be immediately snatched up at even the hint of a cry, with the entire process starting again. Nico, on the other hand, is haphazardly wrapped in the nearest piece of cloth (could be a blanket, towel, semi-dry dishrag, Dad's shirt that he had yet to put into the hamper) and then simply dropped onto the nearest horizontal surface (bed, couch, bassinet, kitchen counter-top). Then, he gets to contend with his parents quickly cleaning up the house around him, his brother driving a remote controlled car in his vicinity, and everyone eating meals/showering etc with little regard for how much noise they are making.

• The Luca-Nico relationship is still developing, but it is definitely getting better. We initially thought that Luca was more freaked-out than he really was, and only after the vomiting spell did we realize that his sad mood and clinginess was in large part due to his illness. As his health has improved he has started to actually show a little interest in Nico and at least doesn't seem too upset about having to share his mommy with his brother. Still, he is definitely more clingy with Daddy and we are picking our moments for getting them to interact. He does give his little brother a kiss each morning and night...he "helped" Daddy burp his brother by patting him on his back, which was fun, and has yet to show any aggressive tendencies, though that will probably not last. Unfortunately, our best Luca-Nico pictures are on Po-Po's camera, and may not see the light of the internet for some time. We'll take some more this weekend and try to get Uncle Kevin to free the pictures from the digital camera prison.

• We also just want to say thanks to all the family and friends that have made this first week much happier and easier than it could have been. Christina's parents and Chloe were very sweet and helpful, spending an entire month helping us to get ready and then helping with the transition from hospital to home. Our friends have been incredible - thanks to all of the wonderful people who sent notes of congratulations, food and treats. Our PEPS parents group is amazing - they created a food delivery schedule for us and are bringing dinner every night for the next 2 weeks as a welcome home present for Nico. We feel so lucky to have had the chance to meet them and become friends over the past two years and Nico is lucky to have a big set of big brothers/sisters to play with as he gets older. And we are so luck to have Ayi, who is both helping with Nico and also making sure Luca feels extra-loved this week.

• The first week home with a new baby and two boys was definitely tiring but Christina and I feel so incredibly blessed. A friend of ours just endured the worst week that a parent could ever imagine - they lost their 4 year old son last week in a terrible accident and seeing what they have gone through has been heart-breaking. We are so appreciative of what we've been given and can only hope for continued good fortune for ourselves and our family and friends.

So, that's it for now, we'll try to keep up better with posting in the coming weeks.

Random Things, Volume 4

Luca Sayings:

• "more go through the Daddy tunnel", "Luca tunnel"
• "beeg rehd baal", "tiny ball", "nice ball"
• "more chasing with Daddy/Mommy"
• "Have you seen my Daddy?"
• "I can't see it!"

Stories:

• Three Little Birds Story (inspired by Bob Marley)

more random things

adding to Agnish's list....

- (at the end of reading every book) "The End...gooshi jang wan le, hau bu hau ting? [In Chinese- 'the end, was it a good story?] Now put it back to the shelf!"
- (whenever he doesn't want something): "Luca might be too young for that....let's keep looking"
- (When he is leaving school): "Bye Friends!"
- (When Daddy is leaving for work): "Bye bye...see you later....drive safely"
- (When Daddy comes back from work, or when I pick him up from school): "When I came back, you were gone!" -OR- "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you"
- "Brrr runs" (when daddy grabs him and runs from the car to a destination because it is cold outside)


- Another one of his favorite stories is the "Straw Story"--the true story of how Luca and Mommy went to the grocery store and bought a bag of straws. Luca wanted to open the straws in the shopping cart but was a good boy ("...and he didn't cry and he didn't fuss and he didn't whine") so when we got home he got to open the straws and play with them.

Random things to remember

Just random stuff that only parents (and maybe a couple of others) would understand...just saving for the future:

• "more daddy laugh herfy" to request that daddy say "her her her fy"
• "her-be-der" (Luca says both "herfy" and "herbeder" when he is cold)
• "what was under the hose?"..."Regular blue bunny"... laughing ensues (this is a crucial line from the 'grass story' described below)
• "put it onto the mat" : where Luca is allowed to play with his messier toys
• "gran cru" and " Bapi chalo" from Baltimore: One is a Bengali phrase, the other the name of a restaurant in Baltimore
• "more watch the man dance and the lady dance": Luca's request to see a clip from Pulp Fiction
• Daddy: "What's this Luca?"; Luca: "Hmm" (Luca says hmmm to cheat when he doesn't know the name of something)
• "There it is!" which is really pronounced "There dis" and occasionally "chair chiz"
• Pointing in an ambiguous direction and saying "There it is" dismissively
• "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,6,7,8,9,10,12"
• "Just tang" (which means 'just soup' in Chinese)
• "No jook" (which means no chunks in his soup)
• "No cold one" or "Too big" which means he doesn't like the bite of food we've given him.
• "Its hot"...makes blowing sound
• "More orange balls", "More chicken crunchies", "more touch the orange circle and the blue circle, and the green circle" (based on his obsession with Blue C Sushi. He also sings a song in happiness when we pull up to Blue C: "We're going to eat sushi, we're going to eat sushi, we feel so happy! We just want to sing!"
• "That's not for babies"
• "More mommy throw up", "More daddy throw up", "More daddy throw up in the shower", "More daddy blow his nose"
• "It fell down, onto the GWOUND"
• "More SEE that"
• "No bun"
• "Bunny...mmm..mmm"

Home-made Bedtime Stories for Luca, in order of current preference:

• Bunny story (3 bunnies in search of carrots)
• Blue bunny story (about regular blue bunny, pink bunny and soft blue bunny)
• Baby horsey story (about a young horse's search for his father)
• Horsey story (about a horse snow globe)
• Red light story, Green light story, Yellow light story (about driving)
• Blue light story, white light story, orange light story (about other various lights in his life)
• Shark story (about a mean shark who scares other animals in the ocean)
• Grass story (about daddy planting grass seed in the lawn)
• Yellow bunny, Red bunny, and Green bunny story (stories about imaginary bunnies)

I hope I still remember all of this in a few years...I'l have to keep writing it all down...

Random Things about Luca

Luca calls his thumbs "fingerthumbs"

***
In the last month or two, Luca has gotten really good at counting. He understands the concept of pointing at groups of objects and saying numbers until there are no more things to point at. It's pretty cute!

**Reasons why we believe that Luca will be a frat boy***
- He loves to wear sweatpants
- His favorite foods are chips & cheetos
- he loves beer and beer bottles
- he loves watching sports while eating said chips and cheetos
- his favorite songs are power ballads by Journey
- He cracks up EVERY TIME he hears a burp, fart, or sneeze

****
His first nightmare (we think)--this happened in about August when he was about 1.5 years old. he woke up crying in the middle of the night. When I went in and picked him up, he clutched onto me and said: "Mommy and daddy are stuck. People sing songs."

***Movie Buff****
One thing that Agnish likes to teach Luca is random movie quotes. Some of our favorite Luca movie quotes are:
- "I had a pony!" (Not from a movie but from a Seinfeld Episode)
- "It puts the lotion in the basket" (SOTL)
- "Luca I'm your Daddy" (which is obviously adapted from 'Luke I'm your father' which Luca says every time he sees a cup or tube)
***
The other day, I was reading to Luca and he said "Mommy is not doing a good job" and brought the book to Daddy to read.

Guh-Guh's Room

Now that Luca is going to be a big brother ("Guh Guh" in Chinese), we didn't want him to feel left out of all the exciting changes happening to the rooms...so his room has gotten a little spruce up as well.

That means more fish on the walls (those who are Mario Puzo/Coppola fans will know why we chose this theme for Luca's room)

AND, a fancy new wall gallery of photos taken and inspired by the fantabulous Judith Fernstrom (Sorry Judith, my novice photography skills and the fact that these were taken with my iPhone means that your pictures of your wall galleries are much nicer than these! Sorry that I"m not giving your gorgeous photos their proper showing off!)

Didi's Room

We're putting the finishing touches on the new nursery for Didi (Chinese for little brother).

Since this baby is WAY more active in the womb than Luca ever was, we think of him as our little monkey, and so his nursery is appropriately themed....

Luca starts School!

One of the (many) big changes happening in our little corner of the world is that Luca has just started preschool/day care at a little school very close to our house. So far, the transition is going great--he seems to like it there, and the teachers and his new friends are very loving and sweet.

Here are a few glimpses of Luca's new daytime activities---

Eating lunch with his new friends. Agnish and I are hoping that one positive side effect will be better eating due to peer pressure. A mama can only hope...

Story time with teacher Val

Luca was happy to see that they have balls at school as well. This was a big selling point for him.

Story time with Teacher Martin (this was his first visit and you can see that he was a bit more apprehensive, the picture with Teacher Val was after a few days and he was more willing to be part of the group)---don't get confused by his doppelganger Cooper, who everyone thinks looks just like Luca!

Big welcomes for Luca during the transition time!

Happy Birthday Tai Po!