Timothy is One Month Old

Family On A Sunday Afternoon

My Marvelous Man

One of my biggest worries about having a baby was that my Mom wouldn't be here to help me after coming home.  I wouldn't have survived without her after Brian was born and I was so scared to not have her here to rely on.  I still wish she were here and I have definitely missed her, but Mark has certainly stepped it up and filled that hole. 

He is doing more than his fair share of everything.  He's busy at work, he's busy with church, he's busy helping family, he's busy helping neighbors, and he's busy doing so many things for me that he usually doesn't have to do. He entertains Brian, he holds Timmy when he's fussy, he takes care of the yard, he has even done some dishes, he brings home dinner, he constantly asks how I am doing, he makes me smile even when I feel like a complete zombie, etc. etc.  He is the perfect husband and father right now and I dedicate this Father's Day to him.

He has spoiled Brian the last few weeks. He got him this fun backyard toy.

 

Brian loves spending time with Mark and asks all day long when "daddy comes home?"  Mark also got Brian a seat to go on his bike.  Brian is in heaven when they get the chance to go for a ride even if it is a quick one before Mark leaves for work.

These pictures show how much Timmy loves the guy.  Check out the smile on Timothy's face.

I have been just as spoiled as Brian by Mark's attention and willingness to help me.  I think one reason he has been so helpful is because he knows my mom isn't here to help and he's probably worried I might go insane like I almost did after Brian was born.

He has been taking care of dinner for three weeks now.  Ask Brian what he wants for dinner and I garentee he will say "chicken and fries."  Brian LOVES chicken and fries. I am grateful Mark hasn't complained about picking up dinner on his way home from work.  I keep hoping I'll figure out soon how to go grocery shopping and how to cook dinner again so Mark can come home from a long day at work and not have to worry about what he's going to feed his family.

One of the things that has really made me smile the last few weeks is how Mark has improved our yard.  He's replaced all the sprinklers and miraculously grown grass in just a few weeks.  I just love having a lawn and I love watching Mark take care of that lawn especially when he does it like this.

This was Mark's way of giving me a break from Brian and cutting the lawn at the same time.  I unfortunately captured Brian's face in between grins.  The little guy can't get enough of yard work with Daddy.  Brian has always been very sensitive to loud noises.  Our lawn mower isn't that loud, but Brian is much happier to help Daddy mow when he's wearing Mark's ear set. 

Thanks Mark for caring and helping so much the last few weeks.  I would be so much more of a disaster without your help.  Happy Father's Day.

Timothy's Birth

I would like to get this recorded before I forget everything.  Timmy came eight days before his due date.  I knew he would be here sometime at the end of May.  I had a doctor's appointment on a Tuesday and there was really no progression at all so I thought maybe it would be another week or so.  I was wrong.  That night at about 8:00 pm the contractions started and they definitely were not Braxton Hicks.  By 10:00 pm they were what I thought were pretty strong (ask me after what I experienced later and I would say they were nothing) and coming sometimes even every three minutes.  We were pretty sure we'd be heading to the hospital in the middle of the night so we asked Jake and Vivian to listen to Brian all night thinking for sure we'd be leaving in a few hours.

Well, a few hours later the contractions slowed down a little.  No, not enough to get ANY sleep, but they were definitely slower. By 5:00 am they were coming every three minutes again and hurting quite badly so we went to the hospital.  To my dismay there was absolutely NO progression from my doctor's appointment the day before.  All I could think was "so I just experienced a sleepless painful night for NOTHING?"  They sent us home.  We picked up some breakfast for Jake and Vivian on the way home and got home before Brian even woke up.  Mark took Brian to work with him for a few hours so I could enjoy my painful contractions alone.  When 4:00 pm rolled around I couldn't take it anymore.  We left Brian with Jake and Vivian again and went back to the hospital to see if this was going anywhere.

My plan was to have Mark get me to the hospital, and if they were going to keep me there, get an epidural and then send Mark home to put Brian to bed in order to save Vivian the trouble of doing so.  Things did not go as planned and I am so glad Mark stuck around a little longer than we had thought he would.

I had progressed to a 4 and my doctor (Dr. Larsen) said I could stay.  He then gave me a choice, he said he could break my water before I got the epidural or he could do it after.  He said if he broke it before the epidural I would experience a few more intense contractions, get the epidural and then the baby would come just a little faster than if I got the epidural before he broke the water.  I thought well, I wouldn't mind having the baby a little sooner so why not break my water first and then get the epidural?  I now know the answer to that question.

The labor had already been so long and the progression so SLOW that what happened next was totally and completely surprising to everyone; me, Mark, nurses and doctor included.  The Dr. broke my water just before 5:00 pm.  He then said he had to go up to the U and he would be back at 7:00 pm.  The nurse took my blood and got the IV ready and left the room to take the blood to the lab in preparation for the epidural.  I guess breaking my water sent everything into turbo mode because starting just after 5:00 pm the contractions were right on top of each other and there is no way for me to describe how intense they were.  All I could do was scream and wonder if I could survive until that epidural came.  It never came.

Before the nurse came back into the room I got that very weird sensation of needing to push. Luckily while I was writhing in pain I accidentally hit the call a nurse button and she came back in.  It was only after she checked me and started to panic that I realized I was not ever going to get my beloved epidural.  She frantically started calling for backup and for someone to set up for delivery and to find her a doctor.

The on call doctor (a Dr. Smith I believe) made it in to see that Timmy's heart rate had plummeted.  He immediately said "We need to get this baby out, I need to cut but she doesn't have any anesthesia."  Luckily he was able to give me a little local anesthesia before performing a 2nd degree epesiotomy.  About 4 or 5 extremely painful pushes later and Timothy arrived at 5:31 pm with the cord around his neck just like Brian.  They never set up the room for delivery.

Those thirty or so minutes since my water was broken were the most intense and painful minutes I have ever experienced and I hope I don't have to do anything like that again.  Next time I will definitely choose to get the epidural BEFORE the doctor breaks my water.  Maybe Timmy just needed to come when he did, and I survived even without the epidural, but at the time I honestly thought I was going to die. Thank you Mark for being there and for letting me squeeze your hand as hard as I could.  In the end I am just so grateful Timmy is here safely and that I am lucky enough to be his mom.

I just love love love my two little boys. 

           

Little Timmy

For obvious reasons I have had a hard time getting anything down about Timmy's birth and the last week of our lives.  I don't want to forget certain things and yet I do want to forget other things if I'm ever going to have another child.  However, I still feel it important to record as much as possible.

At the hospital we gave in to one of those people who offer to take pictures of your child for free and then tries to get you to buy the photos after they are done.  For any of you (mostly for Mom and Dad in San Diego) who wants to see some professional pictures of Timmy you can view them online for one more week. After clicking here click on "view photos" and then type in the password  0526timothyhsiao.


Here are just a few brief updates and pictures from the past week.  I'll leave Timothy's birth story until the end of the post so those of you who don't wish to read the details can easily skip over it.


Brian is still figuring out what in the world has happened to his previous life.  I have a feeling it will take a very long time for him to adjust.  We're taking it day by day.  When he came to visit at the hospital the first thing he said was "Baby came out." He pointed to my stomach and said "all gone."  He was definitely more interested in all the buttons at the hospital than the baby.  He's been acting out a bit more at home, but likes helping me do things and loves having daddy around more.  The real challenge will be having Mark back at work full time.  I pretty much freak out just thinking about it.

I am so grateful for Mark's Mom who stayed with Brian for two days and for my sister-in-law Vivian who put Brian to bed while Timmy was being born and listened to him sleep for two different nights.  Thank you thank you thank you.

Mark has taken Timmy in every morning since Friday to get his bili levels checked.  He has jaundice, but we finally learned today that he is just low enough to not need the bilibed.  A little time in the sun helps too.

Timothy's days and nights are definitely turned around.  He wants to sleep sleep sleep all day long and whatever we do he will not sleep between the hours of 10:00 pm and 3:00 am.  Fun for us.  His cuteness almost makes up for the total exhaustion both Mark and I feel.

I was going to document Timmy's birth at this point, but I am just too tired and I can't justify not sleeping for it.  It will just have to wait until later.