3 Weeks Later

You know that feeling you get when you look at your child and you think, Good heavens! My child is [insert number here] old already? I mean, I did that just a few weeks ago when Akiko turned 7 years old. Then I did it again a couple days ago when I looked at Simon and realized how much of his newborn-ness he's already lost. I'm going to do it again in a few weeks to Asher when he turns 2.

So, Simon is three weeks old now. Last week, I took him in for his two week check up. He'd already gained 1.5 lbs. and grown an inch. Our pediatrician was impressed that Simon had gained that much weight on just breast milk. He'll be moving from newborn to size 1 diapers this week. Awww! They just grow so fast, don't they?

That newborn stage is so fleeting. Simon has lost his newborn puffiness and splotchiness. He's sleeping less and staying awake more. His newborn clothes are getting tight on him. He's getting chubbier all around. But most importantly, he's getting cuter and cuter every day.

So, how am I doing? Well, I'll tell you what, those c-sections are a lot harder to recover from than a regular delivery. I mean, Chelsie warned me that it was going to be harder, and told me what I was in store for, but I had no idea what to expect physically.

The first week was the hardest, but I was in the hospital for most of it and had lots of help from the nurses. Basically, you can't use your core muscles (i.e., your abs). In order to get around, you have to figure out how to manipulate all your other muscles to compensate for the lack of use of your abs. They get sore really fast.

Day 10 was when I finally started to feel well enough to get around and do little things around the house. I'd get tired really quickly though. But little by little, I get stronger and less sore every day. Coughing and laughing don't hurt so much anymore, but sneezing is still the pits.

I'm so grateful to my sister and my mom for coming out and helping us for the last three weeks. My completely awesome and amazing visiting teacher also set us up with dinners from the Relief Society. You ladies are the best!! I'm so lucky to have such a great support group around.

There's not a whole lot more to say. We aren't going out on any exciting adventures for now. Besides, Akiko still has three weeks of school left. I mean, who wants to read about how often I feed and burp the baby and change his diapers?

And now, without further ado, here are some more pictures from the last few weeks:

Looks like Simon is doing "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

Hey there cute guy!

Yawn!

I have no clever caption for this one right now.

Asher sandwich!

Asher is crazy about "Bee-bee Dy-men."

No pictures please.

Asher loves to entertain himself with the baby.

Who can resist kissing those little toes?

Seriously, super crazy about his brother.

Look who's sitting! Okay, he's propped in the corner.

See how he's starting to chub up.

Hello Baby Simon!

So far, he's got blue eyes, like Asher. And no eyebrows. Those are just the shadows of his brows.

Akiko always finds opportunities to give the baby some love.

I love that look on her face. Pure love.

I don't want to exclude my older children. Especially this handsome guy. Love. This. Boy.

This is a face Asher gives us sometimes when he sees the camera pointing at him. It's his version of "The Face."

Beautiful girl. In her new sweater that I just finished today.

Monty Python in the OR

I dedicate this post to my father.

So there I was, laying on the operating room table. I couldn't move. There wasn't much to look at except the ceiling and a clock on the wall.

Joseph and the baby had already gone into the recovery room. I was left in the operating room with my doctor (Dr. W.), her comrade (Dr. G.), a nurse, and the anesthesiologist (Dr. A.).

Since there wasn't much for me to do but lay there, my attention drifted towards the conversation that the doctors were having. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but really, there wasn't anything else that was grabbing my attention.

I heard Dr. G., an older gentleman, trying to explain the "Bring out your dead" scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to Dr. W., who had never seen the movie. He told her how the movie takes place in a medieval King Arthur era, where the plague is running rampant, killing many.

A man comes into town with a cart yelling, "Bring out your dead!" Clunk! The living drag the corpses onto the cart to be carried away and disposed of. One man is carrying another older, much frailer man to the cart. The man being carried is not dead, but the other man is insisting that he is, in fact, dead, or very nearly dead.

So Dr. G. gets to the part where the old man starts to protest that he's not dead, but he wasn't actually quoting anything, so, without thinking, in my best Monty Python voice, I blurted out, "I'm not dead yet! I'm getting better!"

Dr. G. pauses his narrative, laughs, and then says, "Wait. Who said that?" He asks the nurse. She told him she'd never seen the movie. He turns to Dr. A., who I could see. She shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head no.

Dr. W. asks, "Yuki, was that you that said that?"

"Yes."

The doctors start laughing. Dr. G. was surprised that I knew the movie, being as young as I am. I simply told him my dad is a huge Monty Python fan and we grew up watching them. A lot of the people I hung out with in high school are fans, too. Monty Python was quoted a lot. We watched Holy Grail in 10th grade history, for some reason.

Anyway, one of the doctors mentioned the irony that I said that quote while I was still open. They told me I had immediately become one of their most memorable patients. They were also impressed that, as nervous as I was about the surgery, I was still able to joke around. It certainly lightened the mood for me.

Thanks, Papa!

Pictures of Simon

Sorry it's taken so long to post pictures of the new baby. I really have no excuse for the delay. So, here they are:

Proud big sister.

Akiko had brought a few books from home so she could start reading to Simon right away.

Moses couldn't get enough of Simon.

Asher mostly just played with the extra pillows when he was at the hospital to visit.

Sleepy baby.

The pictures are a bit mixed up, but this one was while I was in the OR getting stitched up while Joseph and the kids got to meet Simon. He hadn't even had his bath yet.

Brotherly love.

Daddy and his newest, littlest man.

Akiko came by the hospital every day after school just to spend time with us.

Wakey wakey!

One of my favorites so far.

Moses and Asher goofing off.

Dressed up and ready to go home. Akiko and Moses got to pick out his outfit. I made the hat and blanket.

Just to illustrate how small Simon is in his newborn-sized clothes.

Just a silly-faced picture that Akiko snapped.

Fitting the straps in the car seat. He's so tiny!!

Mommy and baby so ready to go home after four nights at the hospital.

Home in his own bed at last.

Asher wanted nothing to do with me the day we came home from the hospital, but every day since, he insists on falling asleep in my lap. This was the first day.

Akiko loves reading to her little brothers.

I can't get over how big Asher seems all of a sudden.

Welcome home, Simon!!

Unexpected Twists: The Tale of a Tumbling Tot

Expect the unexpected. That's what they say, whoever "they" are. But that's certainly what I learned to do this pregnancy.

In the beginning, Simon's pregnancy had been the easiest one since my first. I had learned how to manage the nausea of the first trimester with small frequent snacks and ginger capsules. I became aware of the erratic mood swings and tearfully and frequently apologized to my poor family for them. I was getting in a daily walk as we picked up Akiko from school, so I felt much more fit. Things were looking great and I was so hopeful and excited that this pregnancy would be a breeze.

My pregnancies had all been so different. I had experienced every discomfort, apart from major issues, in different ones. While I had mild insomnia, mild sciatica, and mild restless legs while pregnant with Simon, his was the most comfortable I'd ever been.

Then I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. My first major issue during a pregnancy. One that could affect both myself and my baby for the rest of our lives.

I'm not going to lie. It was hard. Everything I put into my mouth was going to affect the baby somehow. I had to carefully consider every crumb that I was about to ingest and ask myself, Is it worth it?

In the end, as we all know by now, I was able to manage the diabetes with diet and no insulin injections. My baby was not going to be gargantuan and he is very low risk for being overweight or developing diabetes as a youth. Those were my biggest worries and the things I stressed most about.

Then, two weeks before due date, we find that little Simon, who had been heads down for weeks, had decided to flip over. Over the course of the next week, he would flip twice more: once back to heads down and once again back to breech.

We were supposed to go into the hospital to have the external version and be induced on Saturday, but it being a holiday (Cinco de Mayo) and a super moon, everyone else decided to have their babies that day as well. They couldn't fit us in. My doctor told me she ended up doing five c-sections that day in addition to delivering quite a few more. That's a lot of babies in one day.

They asked us to come in early the next day, so we did. While I was getting prepped and signing all sorts of documents and waiting for the doctors, our church was starting. I sent Joseph over there for a few minutes so he could take the sacrament, since our building is only a couple blocks from the hospital. When the staff found out, they all thought it was so neat.

Anyway, long story short (too late) the external version worked. It was done very quickly. I was having Braxton-Hicks (unproductive) contractions, so they gave me a shot to stop those so they could do the procedure. It was uncomfortable, but since it was done so fast, overall it wasn't so bad, like ripping a bandage off or drinking nasty medicine.

They put a belly binder around me, which was supposed to keep the baby in place, and started the induction. After about five hours, the doctor came to check on me and break my water. My contractions were about 4 minutes apart, but weren't much stronger than the BHs I'd had. I wasn't looking forward to getting my water broken. I'd experienced that with Moses' induction and it was extremely... well, painful is the only way to describe it, because my cervix wasn't open at all yet.

Of course, the doctor needed to check the baby first. He'd flipped, again. This time he was totally heads up, rather than sideways or diagonal like we'd seen him before. At that point, we had a decision to make. No one wanted us to go home and wait for labor to start on its own, so that wasn't an option and was deemed too dangerous with a topsy-turvy baby.

These were our options:

A) Stop induction. Wait for contractions to die down. Try version again. Get induced again. Hope baby doesn't flip again. If he does, go in for emergency c-section.

B) Have an elective c-section, since that was probably going to be the most likely scenario anyway.

I know I've said before that a c-sec was the very last thing I ever wanted to do. I wanted Simon to come out the way babies are supposed to come out of their mamas, just like his siblings had. Simon obviously had other plans.

Joseph and I deliberated and prayed. I called my sis-in-law, Chelsie, to ask her how her experience was with her c-sec with her twins and what to expect. We had made our decision. Not the decision we were hoping to face, but the best decision for the circumstances at hand. I cried, but I knew it was the right choice.

The doctors got everything scheduled and started their preparations. We made phone calls to our parents and Joseph went home to pick up Kristen and the boys. Akiko had been hanging out at the hospital for a few hours and insisted on staying till the baby was born (no matter what or when).

Then, after a long, long day at the hospital, little Simon Jack was welcomed into the world via very capable hands in the operating room. The cord was wrapped around his neck at least three times- from all the flipping (in fact, he was heads down again when they pulled him out). I mostly stared at Joseph during the procedure, who was with me behind the sheet hanging between me and my belly, and didn't feel much (that came later). And, for the fourth time, hearing the first cries of our newborn baby brought us to tears.

Because I had done so well managing my diabetes, I gained the least amount of weight this time and Simon ended up being my smallest baby. I still can't get over how small he is. His "going home" outfit is going to drown him. However, since he weighed less than 8 lbs. his chances of complications from my diabetes is very slim. His blood sugar levels were perfect and I was given the green light to go back on a regular diet right away after they'd checked my sugar levels.

Now, here I sit in the hospital, sore from my surgery, having to rely completely on everyone around me because I'm pretty much confined to a bed, and missing my family like crazy. It is nice to get a break from the chaos, but I miss it at the same time.

I'm glad we made the decision we did, even though it was hard to face. It was the best one under the circumstances. Simon is a model newborn and I'm slowly getting stronger and less sore. Best case scenario is that I can go home tomorrow, but we'll be home Thursday for sure.

What a wild ride this has been.

We start our gamers young in this family.

PS: The kids are crazy in love with baby Simon. As are the rest of us.

Introducing...

Simon Jack

May 6, 2012

6 lbs. 5 oz.

19.5"

More and better pictures coming soon!

Seriously?!?!

So, since we were sent home from the hospital last Wednesday, I had to go in for the standard check-up this afternoon. I was kind of hoping that I wouldn't have to. I was hoping that those contractions I was having at regular intervals last night would turn into something significant. They didn't. They just made me uncomfortable every few minutes for about five hours and then quit on me.

Anyway, the doctor wanted to do a stress test on me, something I've never done before. It's just where they hook you up to the monitors and listen to the heartbeat and check for contractions for about 20-30 minutes. They also had me push a button every time the baby moved, in order to monitor his "kick count." Of course, during the test, the baby decided it was nap time and hardly moved at all. However, once Joseph got me laughing really hard (which was funny because my laughing registered as really jumpy contractions), it woke the baby up enough that we finally got the results the doctor wanted to see.

My doctor also wanted to check the baby with the ultrasound machine again to make sure he's positioned where he's supposed to be.

He breech. Again!

This time his head is on my left side. Last week his head was on my right side.

Ugh!

This time the news isn't stressing me out like it did last week. I'm not sure why. Well, actually I'm sure it has to do with the assurance I've gotten from my personal prayers and the blessings Joseph has given me.

So, tomorrow we're going into the hospital again. If he hasn't flipped heads down on his own, we'll do the external cephalic version (not an aversion, like I thought it was called before). After that, we're definitely going to induce.

I just want to mention how grateful I am for all the thoughts and prayers that have been said on our behalf. I feel extremely blessed to have such wonderful and faithful family and friends who are hoping for the best for us.

For now, I ask you to pray that I don't go into labor tonight and that this baby will turn back to where he's supposed to be.

Next post will definitely be the one that introduces our new little baby. I can't believe what a little stinker he's being right now though.

Last Baby Update... Hopefully

Well, I guess we'll start with the good news again.

I was scheduled to go into the hospital this afternoon to check on the baby. When I had spoken with my doctor on Monday, she said that I should probably plan on staying there and having the baby. Because of all the possible scenarios, it was more likely that I would either need to be induced or have a c-section.

I was stressed. I was hoping my sister would be here to help with the kids by the time the baby came, but she wasn't flying in till the next morning. My friends totally stepped up, though, and we made plans so that the kids would be taken care of while I was at the hospital.

We received the best news ever though: the baby had flipped back to heads down and that last ultrasound I had turned out to be a huge error and the baby is weighing in at a bit over 7 lbs. We got to go home and now we just get to wait till the baby makes his appearance on his own. It was not the news I was expecting, but it was the best news we could have received. I'm so relieved. I've been super stressed since Friday.

So, the bad news is that I'm still pregnant and the kids, who were expecting a new brother by now, have to wait for a while longer before they can meet him.

When we picked the kids up from our friend's house, Akiko got in the car, saw me, smiled, saw the empty car seat, and her face fell. She asked where the baby was. I told her. She started bawling. Not the reaction I was expecting.

I found out later that she had had kind of a bad day. We did explain to her that it's better if the baby comes on his own than if they were to induce me or cut me open. I think she felt better about that.

So, now we wait. Next time you hear from me, we'll have a baby to introduce to you. Till then...