Strike a Pose!

Benjamin while getting dressed :)
He is a very fun baby- he sleeps from midnight to 3 then 4-7am so its not too bad.
Tonight he'll be sporting a monkey costume from Uncle Sang :)

Bathtime Fun

We gave Benjamin his first full bath tonight. Mom and baby got in the tub together. Im not sure how they can advertise bath soap as relaxing and soothing when the whole bath experience is rather traumatic for a baby. Benjamin peed on me out of his surprize at being naked and cold! This is a picture of daddy and baby after the bath, resting. His hair is so puffy and cute after washing!

Balloon!

Sure enough, we got home and the balloon was on the ground! Its been floating since the memorial day party and we suspected it would fall when the baby came :)

I know, I look good

Here he is in his first outfit! He's been in diaper only during the light treatment but now we can dress him up. Popped collar and hand on chest heehee.

Isn't he cute?

This is momma leah posting from daddy dillons phone. Little benjamin is doing well and is off the light therapy.

I was thinking about things I will miss and not miss about being preggy...

I certainly won't miss:
Daily bloody noses, not being able to hug people belly to belly, trying to come up with creative ways to look cute with a huge belly, swollen feet and only being able to wear sandals, not being able to bend at the waist and missing ski and golf seasons...

But, I will miss:
Eating chocolate chip cookies everyday, looking cute in maternity clothes, having thick hair, people carrying stuff for me and driving me around, feeling a little baby growing inside me...

But its all nothing when your little man looks at you with his big brown eyes! We love you baby benjamin!

Visit

Leah's grandparent's (Benjamin's great grandparents!) visited us today since we haven't been able to go home yet. They gave us a "Hung-Bao", Chinese red envelope with a gift inside, and we took this picture of a sleepy Benjamin

Baby Jaundice

So, we're still at the hospital. Benjamin needed some light treatment for jaundice. Its really common but he's not under their threshold yet so we have to stay yet another night. Its heartbreaking everyday to think you are going home to your own bed and family and then be told otherwise! But, its making our little family close and we want him to be super healthy when we head home. Who knew that when we came in last saturday, we'd be here for a week?!
Otherwise, he is super cute and sleeps well and doesn't fuss. My milk came in and he is gonna grow up big soon cuz he eats like a champ!
Thanks again to everyone for your thoughts and congrats- I hope to touch base with everyone when we get home.

Pictures!

For anyone that interested in more pictures, I've been uploading them all to our flickr page.

Here's a few more good ones so far

Naptime

It might not look like it but they are both asleep. Benjamin doesn't really like sleeping so dar. He likes to looks around. But I think watching the Giants get crushed knocked em both out. Goodnite!

Here he is!

I think Dil put pictures on facebook, but here's one of Benjamin Ryan, only 12 hrs old. He was born at 4:37 am and weighed 8lbs flat. He's also 20 inches long. He is very precious and likes to be held and is super curious. He will watch you forever!
The labor was pretty intense. They decided to induxe me around 1pm on sunday. I took a walk outside and ate a turkey sandwich before going in...based on the doulas recommendation. I think I was extremely helpful to have her. I mostly spoke to her on the phone during the day and then she came to the hospital at jjuuuust the right time at 10pm because I was about ready to give into the epidural. Since they used pitocin to induce me, the contractions were much stronger and hharder than they would have been normally. They came about every 1-3 minutes for 9 hrs and I was so exhausted. She came and massaged me and turned out the lights and helped me breathe and relax through 7 more hrs of labor until he was born! It was very rewarding to work hard for baby and im glad he didn't come out drugged up and I wasn't drugged either.
Phew. It was hard work, but, praise God, it wasn't all that painful. I did sound like a dying cow there at the end though. One last thing I was very grateful for was a word I got while in the first few hours of labor - ephesians chapter 3 - God reminded that he would strengthen me from my innermost being and would give me strength :) yay!

The Last Supper

Going to be induced tomorrow because theres not enough fluid for the baby. Pray for me! Ill try to post later but we have to go sleep at the hospital tonight.
Enjoying a nice thai dinner before the craziness starts...

Dinner

I walked for my dinner tonight! Went to the local Whole Foods, which is about a mile away. Not bad. There were sidewalks :) if this doesn't get baby bussert moving, I don't know what will!
Just one more big client meeting downtown tomorrow, then I'll start working from home next week.
And in case you were wondering, there's only about two pieces of that cake left. You can blame that on me waking up at 3am and watching 4 episodes of Fresh Prince last night :)

Holiday wear

While strolling around the mall, I picked up this cute Thanksgiving bib. They had 'my first halloween' outfits too, but...how big will he be? I think I'll wait on those. Baby is gonna looove great-grandma's chinese chicken and gravy though. Can't wait!!

Doula

We just hired a birthing doula (www.dona.org) and her name is Liz. Doulas help you before and during labor to relax and make things progress. They aren't doctors or widwives- they mostly provide emotional and physical support, along with giving the daddy useful things to do. She will be helping me by teaching me to use the birthing ball, water therapy (they have a jaccuzi at the hospital), massage and breathing. Dillon and I would like to have a natural birth without medicine, and she will be able to encourage and help us do that. The statistics for births with a doula are amazing:

• 50% reduction in the cesarean rate
• 25% shorter labor
• 60% reduction in epidural requests
• 40% reduction in oxytocin use
• 30% reduction in analgesia use
• 40% reduction in forceps delivery

Our doctor will still be present and doing all the doctor things, but Liz will be able to help us not get pressured to take too many medicinal measures and to trust mommy and baby's bodies. It's helping both of us be more at ease since we know absolutely nothing about what we are getting ourselves into!

Exactly two weeks from today is my due date!!

Another Cake for Baby

I've been doing work at home today and dad came by to fix a few things on the house. He also helped me bake a cake :) I figured since baby bussert's arrival is imminent, maybe he needs a birthday cake as an incentive to come out.

I'll be walking it off, don't worry :)

Upset tummy or labor?

Its 3am.. Just lying in bed awake. I went to bed last night feeling a little terrible- swollen feet and backache and just crummy feeling. Now I have some quite painful contractions but I'm tired and don't feel like timing them. I'm going to try to go back to sleep now...

UPDATE: Its 8am now...somehow after a few episodes of Fresh Prince of Belair at 3am, the contractions went away. I was almost certain it was time for baby, but I guess not!

Hayride

We've been trying to get out and enjoy our last two weeks as DINKS (dual-income no kids). We went to our church's hayride yesterday and enjoyed some fresh air out on a farm down 66. It was quite adventurous, as the tire came off the wheel of the hayride halfway through the trip! Nothing happened to anyone though, we just hopped off and rode back in a normal car :)
We've also been enjoying our last few rides in the corvette together, and sleeping in until 9! Its hard for me to comprehend the changes that are coming, but we are excited. The only bad thing about sleeping 10 hours is that I wake up starving!!

Weekend Events

Yay for weddings! We went to Alberto's wedding on Friday and it was so quaint and beautiful. It was at his parents house in Stafford. Even though it took 2 hours to get there, it was worth it and we are really excited for him and Susi.
I had a check up today and the doctor said my fluid level was "somewhat low" and that I need to drink water. He said that they might have to induce around my due date if the fluid is still that low. Something about compressing the umb cord and baby in distress. Baby seems fine to me though, he kicks and squirms a lot.
The doctor also said keep walking! Walk an hour until I get some contractions, then sit down and rest and then walk more. Walk 3-4 hours a day. Too bad I can't get paid to walk. I'd be rich.


We are really excited about the baby coming. It could be anytime now! Less than 20 days :) Maybe I'll dream up a name this week sometime....

Last sonogram

We had one last sonogram this morning to check the fluid and make sure he was in the right position. All is good! The above image is a profile picture. He is laying on his back and you can see his head on the right side and a little bump for a nose on top. Theres not much room in there so its hard to get a good picture! Tomorrow ill be visiting the doctor to see if im dilated.
They said that he weighs about 7 lbs and his head was about 9cm. I hope he doesn't get much bigger so he'll come out easily!