I have merged this blog with my original one I started when I was pregnant with Tay now that both girls are over one and it's getting difficult to blog twice about events that pertain to both girls from separate views...
If you would like to keep reading updates on Ri, please move over to this blog:
http://srosaryals.blogspot.com
Thank you for reading!
Rosa
Monday, February 6, 2012
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
One Year Old...
So, Ri's one year birthday has come and gone in the blink of an eye, and she's almost 13 months old already. Slacker Mommy has failed to keep a record yet again. ::sigh::
There just aren't enough hours in a day...
Just a quick recap:
Umma arrived in Korea on the 16th, we prepped for the party on the 17th, and then on the morning of the 18th, I found out that there was some major bicycle race along the primary road that leads to Hello Kitty Town! ACK! So there I was contacting everyone who had comfirmed they were coming to let them know to come a bit later, find an alternate route, or take public transportation. All drama aside, the party was fun and interesting and entertaining for all. The traditional set-up was beautiful and worth every penny. Loved having the party at Hello Kitty Town because the kids could just go play and the adults could actually have some conversation and enjoy the food.
At the Dol-jahb-ee, she took her time looking and deciding on what to grab, unlike Tay who grabbed the money right away, and then casually picked up the "writing brush," which is supposed to be indicative of a future scholar on our hands...we'll see about that. :)
Thanks so much to all those who came and joined us in the celebrations!
As for her development and growth, she is now an avid walker as of about two or three weeks ago. She had been crusing for a while and just standing on her own for months now, but never really took more than three or four steps at a time and then preferred to crawl the rest of the way. Now, she prefers to walk EVERYWHERE and gets quite upset when you pick her up to get someplace faster...::sigh:: She also prefers to play on her feet, so even if all the rest of us are sitting down, she'll remain standing, or squat so she can play with whatever is on the floor rather than just sitting down.
She has begun identifying things with words and definitely understands way more than she says. The words she does say and know what they mean now are umma, appa, unna (unni - big sister), ata (tita - "aunt" for Beth), bah (ball), tka (cup...not sure why, but that's what she calls it and that's actually what Tay called it, too, but she put a p at the beginning - ptka), ah-ter (water), boo (book), eh-wo (hello), eh-tuh (thank you) and a handful of other words I can't think of at the moment. She's hilarious because she'll just chatter on in all sorts of nonsense and look at you like you're supposed to understand. And then if you look at her puzzled, she'll just go on about her business muttering to herself as if she's complaining that you're not understanding her.
She is also quite funny when it comes to getting dressed or putting on shoes. Whenever we get ready to go out and we get by the door to put on shoes, I'll set her on the floor and the first thing she'll do is lift up her foot and go "eh?" like she's expecting me to put on her shoes. As for putting on her pants, I'll have her lying down and say "Toes!" and she'll lift up both her feet and shoot them into the pants! It works half the time and the other half she has entirely missed the pant leg and I have to fight her into the pants! This results in an array of giggles and squirminess, but ultimately a dressed one-year-old, so all is well that ends well. :) When putting on the shirt, she will sit up and after getting her head in the shirt, she'll tuck her arm behind her with a little smirk on her face. When I give her the "look," she'll delay for just a bit more and then she'll put her arm through the sleeve I'm holding out for her. Then, she'll do the exact same thing with the other arm...this time with some giggling and a bit more resistence. Such excitement with wee-ones!
In other sweetness, she kisses when she WANTS to now...not only when she's asked. She'll just be playing and happy and suddenly she'll toddle over and plant a sweet one right on your face...even with the sound effect of mmmmmah! She even "tries" puckering, although it's just a cute little smirk that she gets. After she kisses you, she'll usually stand there and clap for herself with an embarrassed look on her face. Silly girl. Her favorite person to kiss is her big sister...go figure. She'll even hug nice and tight, but usually it's combined with a kiss where she'll wrap her little arms around your head and then kiss you as she squeezes...LOVE!
Another game she loves to play is rolling this giant fluffy soccer ball we have back and forth. Granted, she hasn't quite figured out how to get it further than a foot or so, but when she does, she is just SO excited and proud of herself. She also enjoys climbing. EVERYTHING. I find it quite amusing when she is trying to climb something taller than she can reach, so she takes a dvd case, puts it on the floor, stands on top of it and tries to climb up. Like that whole half an inch is going to give her any sort of boost. At least she's figured out that if she can climb on top of something else to get on top of something higher...that's cognitive development. :)
Whenever she sees Tay writing or drawing on something, Ri must also get in on the action so she will "joosayyo" her way to getting a piece of paper and a crayon and proceed scribbling (and tasting) happily, all the while looking at what her Unni is doing. She wants to do everything her big sister can do...must be a rough life not being able to do everything that the bigger kid does. She's pretty aggressive, though, so give her another year or two and I think she'll be running with the big girls in no time. ::sad::
On the "tantrum" front, Ri has a whole different technique to being "upset" than Tay did at this stage. When she gets mad or doesn't get something her way, she will plop herself down and dive into a belly flop on the floor, but being extra careful so as not to hit her face or head on the floor, and then she'll ever-so-gently set her face on the floor. Then she will proceed with the whining. Looking up from time-to-time to see if I'm looking at her and paying attention. Quite amusing. If she's on a softer surface, though, like a bed or a mat, she'll throw herself down a "little" harder, but then she'll find that amusing so she'll frequently forget what she was getting mad about and start giggling. Silly girl.
It's pretty scary how quickly she is growing up...I LOVE this age, though...so adorable and so fun(ny). I look forward to seeing her learn new things every day. Such a funny funny girl.
Love you, Shinah Riley Ryals.
There just aren't enough hours in a day...
Just a quick recap:
Umma arrived in Korea on the 16th, we prepped for the party on the 17th, and then on the morning of the 18th, I found out that there was some major bicycle race along the primary road that leads to Hello Kitty Town! ACK! So there I was contacting everyone who had comfirmed they were coming to let them know to come a bit later, find an alternate route, or take public transportation. All drama aside, the party was fun and interesting and entertaining for all. The traditional set-up was beautiful and worth every penny. Loved having the party at Hello Kitty Town because the kids could just go play and the adults could actually have some conversation and enjoy the food.
At the Dol-jahb-ee, she took her time looking and deciding on what to grab, unlike Tay who grabbed the money right away, and then casually picked up the "writing brush," which is supposed to be indicative of a future scholar on our hands...we'll see about that. :)
Thanks so much to all those who came and joined us in the celebrations!
As for her development and growth, she is now an avid walker as of about two or three weeks ago. She had been crusing for a while and just standing on her own for months now, but never really took more than three or four steps at a time and then preferred to crawl the rest of the way. Now, she prefers to walk EVERYWHERE and gets quite upset when you pick her up to get someplace faster...::sigh:: She also prefers to play on her feet, so even if all the rest of us are sitting down, she'll remain standing, or squat so she can play with whatever is on the floor rather than just sitting down.
She has begun identifying things with words and definitely understands way more than she says. The words she does say and know what they mean now are umma, appa, unna (unni - big sister), ata (tita - "aunt" for Beth), bah (ball), tka (cup...not sure why, but that's what she calls it and that's actually what Tay called it, too, but she put a p at the beginning - ptka), ah-ter (water), boo (book), eh-wo (hello), eh-tuh (thank you) and a handful of other words I can't think of at the moment. She's hilarious because she'll just chatter on in all sorts of nonsense and look at you like you're supposed to understand. And then if you look at her puzzled, she'll just go on about her business muttering to herself as if she's complaining that you're not understanding her.
She is also quite funny when it comes to getting dressed or putting on shoes. Whenever we get ready to go out and we get by the door to put on shoes, I'll set her on the floor and the first thing she'll do is lift up her foot and go "eh?" like she's expecting me to put on her shoes. As for putting on her pants, I'll have her lying down and say "Toes!" and she'll lift up both her feet and shoot them into the pants! It works half the time and the other half she has entirely missed the pant leg and I have to fight her into the pants! This results in an array of giggles and squirminess, but ultimately a dressed one-year-old, so all is well that ends well. :) When putting on the shirt, she will sit up and after getting her head in the shirt, she'll tuck her arm behind her with a little smirk on her face. When I give her the "look," she'll delay for just a bit more and then she'll put her arm through the sleeve I'm holding out for her. Then, she'll do the exact same thing with the other arm...this time with some giggling and a bit more resistence. Such excitement with wee-ones!
In other sweetness, she kisses when she WANTS to now...not only when she's asked. She'll just be playing and happy and suddenly she'll toddle over and plant a sweet one right on your face...even with the sound effect of mmmmmah! She even "tries" puckering, although it's just a cute little smirk that she gets. After she kisses you, she'll usually stand there and clap for herself with an embarrassed look on her face. Silly girl. Her favorite person to kiss is her big sister...go figure. She'll even hug nice and tight, but usually it's combined with a kiss where she'll wrap her little arms around your head and then kiss you as she squeezes...LOVE!
Another game she loves to play is rolling this giant fluffy soccer ball we have back and forth. Granted, she hasn't quite figured out how to get it further than a foot or so, but when she does, she is just SO excited and proud of herself. She also enjoys climbing. EVERYTHING. I find it quite amusing when she is trying to climb something taller than she can reach, so she takes a dvd case, puts it on the floor, stands on top of it and tries to climb up. Like that whole half an inch is going to give her any sort of boost. At least she's figured out that if she can climb on top of something else to get on top of something higher...that's cognitive development. :)
Whenever she sees Tay writing or drawing on something, Ri must also get in on the action so she will "joosayyo" her way to getting a piece of paper and a crayon and proceed scribbling (and tasting) happily, all the while looking at what her Unni is doing. She wants to do everything her big sister can do...must be a rough life not being able to do everything that the bigger kid does. She's pretty aggressive, though, so give her another year or two and I think she'll be running with the big girls in no time. ::sad::
On the "tantrum" front, Ri has a whole different technique to being "upset" than Tay did at this stage. When she gets mad or doesn't get something her way, she will plop herself down and dive into a belly flop on the floor, but being extra careful so as not to hit her face or head on the floor, and then she'll ever-so-gently set her face on the floor. Then she will proceed with the whining. Looking up from time-to-time to see if I'm looking at her and paying attention. Quite amusing. If she's on a softer surface, though, like a bed or a mat, she'll throw herself down a "little" harder, but then she'll find that amusing so she'll frequently forget what she was getting mad about and start giggling. Silly girl.
It's pretty scary how quickly she is growing up...I LOVE this age, though...so adorable and so fun(ny). I look forward to seeing her learn new things every day. Such a funny funny girl.
Love you, Shinah Riley Ryals.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Learning things!
It seems the little one is rapidly learning things these days. Now that she's getting a little braver about letting go to take some steps on her own, she's getting around fairly well. Most of the time, though, she'll just stand up and stay in place...just looking around and grinning - I imagine 'cause the view is nicer from a standing position or she's just really proud of herself. Sometimes, she'll even clap for herself as she's standing.
Another thing she learned this weekend - how to receive with two hands! She's learning that by putting out two hands palms up with a cute expression on her face will get her things much faster from all parties (to include her big sister) than if she just tries grabbing things. Now that she's learned that, she's all about it! I must get a video and post it because she's just too cute. This morning, Tay was eating an apple sitting on the kitchen floor when Ri came up right beside her, sat down, and reach out both of her hands with palms up with an adorable "pleading" look so she could have a taste. Of course, sweet big sister breaks off a chunk and gives it to her and Ri's just so happy she sits there grinning and sucking on the apple chunk. She's gonna be pretty upset when the "joosayyo" technique doesn't work when she really wants something!
Ri's also been watching how big sister dresses herself every morning and every evening before bed. As I was folding up some clothes this morning, she was playing around in the clothes, and she picked up a pair of big sister's underwear and tried her hardest to get her feet into them. After a few minutes of struggling and toppling over a couple times, she decided that was not the right way to put them on and commenced putting the underwear on her head. Also unsuccessful here (since her arms weren't quite long enough to get the underwear on top of her head), she decided to just wrap the underwear around the back of her neck like a scarf (or neckerchief) and clapped for herself. Silly girl.
As for her solid food intake, she is pretty much game for tasting anything as long as she can put it in her mouth herself. She enjoys taking her own spoon, dipping it into the bowl, and then eating whatever is stuck to the spoon. She's getting surprisingly better at actually "feeding" herself! Mind you, it is not the neatest event, but she sure enjoys herself. She definitely enjoys fruit more than vegetables, which is different from what Tay enjoyed at this stage. Tay didn't care for sweets other than banana and her favorite was probably broccoli, but Ri really enjoys a variety of fruits. She also loves all kinds of meat, but Tay did not care for meat until she was at least 18 months old. It's funny how different the taste preferences are. Thankfully, both are eating well for the time being. Ri's favorite fruit seems to be peaches right now, but it may be because peaches are in season right now and they are just so delicious. The Korean white peaches are amazingly sweet and juicy and when just ripe, so incredibly soft! The whole family enjoys them!
This weekend was a little rough because the girls of the household were all sick, but it looks like Tay's on the full recovery path, Ri and Mommy are still down for the count, but functioning, somewhat, and Daddy's still going strong. Let's hope we can all be well before next weekend! Ri, even though she was sick, still managed to pull off some adorable pics at her one-year photo session at AIMIN photo studio. Getting antsy for her first birthday party!
Another thing she learned this weekend - how to receive with two hands! She's learning that by putting out two hands palms up with a cute expression on her face will get her things much faster from all parties (to include her big sister) than if she just tries grabbing things. Now that she's learned that, she's all about it! I must get a video and post it because she's just too cute. This morning, Tay was eating an apple sitting on the kitchen floor when Ri came up right beside her, sat down, and reach out both of her hands with palms up with an adorable "pleading" look so she could have a taste. Of course, sweet big sister breaks off a chunk and gives it to her and Ri's just so happy she sits there grinning and sucking on the apple chunk. She's gonna be pretty upset when the "joosayyo" technique doesn't work when she really wants something!
Ri's also been watching how big sister dresses herself every morning and every evening before bed. As I was folding up some clothes this morning, she was playing around in the clothes, and she picked up a pair of big sister's underwear and tried her hardest to get her feet into them. After a few minutes of struggling and toppling over a couple times, she decided that was not the right way to put them on and commenced putting the underwear on her head. Also unsuccessful here (since her arms weren't quite long enough to get the underwear on top of her head), she decided to just wrap the underwear around the back of her neck like a scarf (or neckerchief) and clapped for herself. Silly girl.
As for her solid food intake, she is pretty much game for tasting anything as long as she can put it in her mouth herself. She enjoys taking her own spoon, dipping it into the bowl, and then eating whatever is stuck to the spoon. She's getting surprisingly better at actually "feeding" herself! Mind you, it is not the neatest event, but she sure enjoys herself. She definitely enjoys fruit more than vegetables, which is different from what Tay enjoyed at this stage. Tay didn't care for sweets other than banana and her favorite was probably broccoli, but Ri really enjoys a variety of fruits. She also loves all kinds of meat, but Tay did not care for meat until she was at least 18 months old. It's funny how different the taste preferences are. Thankfully, both are eating well for the time being. Ri's favorite fruit seems to be peaches right now, but it may be because peaches are in season right now and they are just so delicious. The Korean white peaches are amazingly sweet and juicy and when just ripe, so incredibly soft! The whole family enjoys them!
This weekend was a little rough because the girls of the household were all sick, but it looks like Tay's on the full recovery path, Ri and Mommy are still down for the count, but functioning, somewhat, and Daddy's still going strong. Let's hope we can all be well before next weekend! Ri, even though she was sick, still managed to pull off some adorable pics at her one-year photo session at AIMIN photo studio. Getting antsy for her first birthday party!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Eight Months Old...
I am a complete blogging slacker now. I can't help it. I'm just too busy at work and too tired when I get home, so there is just no time to write about my crazy beautiful children. What can I do? I am trying to at least keep up and write at LEAST once a month, but if I wait that long, then I end up missing a bunch of interesting stories because too much time has lapsed...
::sigh::
Okay, now that I am done sulking, let's get on with the entry.
The past month has been a "growing" one for Riley...not necessarily in the physical growth, but definitely in cognitive growth and experiential growth. Since the last post, we made our trip to Cebu, and it was fantastic, albeit EXHAUSTING. We spent a week at Plantation Bay, and we had a blast. Ri LOVED being in the water and would splash and splash while I carried her around. She didn't care too much for the float (or maybe I didn't care too much for the float because she would just suck the water off the part near her mouth) so I did most of the "floating" for her. Although we didn't get a good video or picture, we also used the "infant lifejacket" and she was actually floating there on her back in the lagoon by herself and when we said kick-kick-kick, she'd kick and Jeff made the flapping motion with his arms and said "move your arms, too!" she did! It was so adorable...I only wish we had our waterproof camera CHARGED. arg.
She didn't care too much for the sunscreen, but it had to be done with her sensitive and fair skin; luckily, neither girls got any sunburn the entire trip! She did pretty well with keep her hat on her head. We were able to get some really cute pictures. She didn't like being thrown in the air as much as Tay did when she was her age. She prefered the splash down and I think she enjoyed the slides (since I couldn't really see her face coming down).
---
Development. Riley has grown leaps and bounds in the cognitive development. She has mastered the "mama" and "dada" and has recently even started saying "ata" for Tita! If you say, "bye-bye" and wave, she'll raise her hand and say "ba-ba-ba." She knows if she bangs on something, it's going to make a sound, and she LOVES to do that. She's a complete copycat, too! If you stick your tongue out, she'll do it right back. If you blow a rasberry, she'll do it over and over! If you squint your eyes, she'll squint her eyes (and make a funny face), and if you go to kiss her, she'll open her mouth and try to eat you. :)
In the physical development, she has finally figured out the forward crawl so she is quite mobile. She combines the forward crawl with the roll and backward scoot to get exactly where she wants. Babyproofing the house has begun. I am finding it is MUCH HARDER to babyproof with a toddler in the house! Her fine motor skills are developing nicely as well. She can now pick up a Cheerio-sized piece of food with her pincer grab and get it into her mouth (most of the time). She has also almost gotten down the "flying kiss"...but she usually gets distracted once the hand is at the mouth and starts biting or blowing rasberries on her hand instead of letting the "kiss" fly.
I know this post is a bit rushed, but at least it's somewhat written, no? Man, I really need to put in more time to write...I miss it.
::sigh::
Okay, now that I am done sulking, let's get on with the entry.
The past month has been a "growing" one for Riley...not necessarily in the physical growth, but definitely in cognitive growth and experiential growth. Since the last post, we made our trip to Cebu, and it was fantastic, albeit EXHAUSTING. We spent a week at Plantation Bay, and we had a blast. Ri LOVED being in the water and would splash and splash while I carried her around. She didn't care too much for the float (or maybe I didn't care too much for the float because she would just suck the water off the part near her mouth) so I did most of the "floating" for her. Although we didn't get a good video or picture, we also used the "infant lifejacket" and she was actually floating there on her back in the lagoon by herself and when we said kick-kick-kick, she'd kick and Jeff made the flapping motion with his arms and said "move your arms, too!" she did! It was so adorable...I only wish we had our waterproof camera CHARGED. arg.
She didn't care too much for the sunscreen, but it had to be done with her sensitive and fair skin; luckily, neither girls got any sunburn the entire trip! She did pretty well with keep her hat on her head. We were able to get some really cute pictures. She didn't like being thrown in the air as much as Tay did when she was her age. She prefered the splash down and I think she enjoyed the slides (since I couldn't really see her face coming down).
---
Development. Riley has grown leaps and bounds in the cognitive development. She has mastered the "mama" and "dada" and has recently even started saying "ata" for Tita! If you say, "bye-bye" and wave, she'll raise her hand and say "ba-ba-ba." She knows if she bangs on something, it's going to make a sound, and she LOVES to do that. She's a complete copycat, too! If you stick your tongue out, she'll do it right back. If you blow a rasberry, she'll do it over and over! If you squint your eyes, she'll squint her eyes (and make a funny face), and if you go to kiss her, she'll open her mouth and try to eat you. :)
In the physical development, she has finally figured out the forward crawl so she is quite mobile. She combines the forward crawl with the roll and backward scoot to get exactly where she wants. Babyproofing the house has begun. I am finding it is MUCH HARDER to babyproof with a toddler in the house! Her fine motor skills are developing nicely as well. She can now pick up a Cheerio-sized piece of food with her pincer grab and get it into her mouth (most of the time). She has also almost gotten down the "flying kiss"...but she usually gets distracted once the hand is at the mouth and starts biting or blowing rasberries on her hand instead of letting the "kiss" fly.
I know this post is a bit rushed, but at least it's somewhat written, no? Man, I really need to put in more time to write...I miss it.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Almost seven months!
Let's see...Riley's now almost seven months old and next week, she'll be making her first flight to Cebu, Philippines. She's a little behind her sister in that Tay flew back to the US when she was 2.5 months old, Thailand at 6 months old, and Philippines at 9 months old. For some reason, we travelled a LOT that first year of Tay's life. I guess it's true that with two kids, it's harder to travel (and a lot more expensive, too!). Not to worry, Riley, because you'll get plenty of sky miles in your first year, too, because we're also heading back to the US this summer!
Anyhow, just wanted to write a quick blurb about what she's up to lately. She got sick sick for the first time last week where she was running a low-grade fever for about four or five days, but we didn't need to medicate because it never went above 101 degrees and she would cool down fairly quickly with a wet wash cloth and some down dressing. It all started with a little cough on Friday. Coughed a few more times on Saturday, but Saturday night, she couldn't keep any food down so she threw up about five or six times in the middle of the night. Yes, this made for two clothing and sheet changes, but after that I learned my lesson and finally just got a giant bowl and had it next to me as I held her so I could hang her over it. Survived the rest of the night catching the contents of her tiny tummy. I would have been more concerned if she was lethargic or wasn't wetting her diaper, but she continued to want to eat, her nursing was strong, and whenever she did get a bit of sleep, she would wake up happy and energetic. Long story short, Sunday, she started her low-grade fever with her continued cough, but again, no change in attitude or energy level from the little one and still nursing strong. Monday, she was able to keep down some solid food and more nursing, so it looked like she was on the up-swing, but she just wasn't shaking the fever. She ended up having a huge diarrhea diaper, and then her fever went down for a bit, and she seemed back to normal and then she got the snots. Yuck.
Anyhow, long story short, she's almost better; the fever is gone now and she's got the lingering cough and a snotty nose. But...now I think Daddy and big sister are getting sick. Arg...I hate when we share bugs.
On a happier note, Riley now calls me UMMA! Mostly when she's whiny. Like if she wants me to pick her up and I'm not moving fast enough, she goes "Ummmmma" in her sad little sick voice. She has also mastered the "bye-bye" wave...but she'll rarely pick up her arm to do it. She'll just open and shut her right hand. If you lift it for her, she'll wave perfectly and on cue. She also has figured out how to look really sad without actually crying so she'll squint her eyes and pout her lips and make a sound like "hmmhmmhmm" and then she'll open her eyes to check to make sure you're looking at her. If you're not looking at her or making an effort to "help" her, she will then shut her eyes again, open her mouth and let out a yell. Then, she'll open her eyes again and look at you once more to see if you're moving. This will go on for a bit before she actually gets mad and cries, but it's so darn cute when she does it, I can't help but just watch her to see her doing it again and again! Bad mama...
Riley also has figured out almost how to get from a tummy position into the sitting position, but she has not yet figured out how to get on all fours...it's weird how that works. I suspect she'll be crawling in the next couple weeks because she's quite the scooter and most of the time it's backwards, but every so often she'll scoot forward.
She now has two teeth, too! Both on the bottom. I can't believe this child has two teeth already! Tay didn't have her first tooth until she was seven months!
Anyhow, luckily, even through sickness, I have a very happy child, so I look forward to next week's vacation with the family. Work has been so TIME CONSUMING. Ugh.
Happy weekend!
Anyhow, just wanted to write a quick blurb about what she's up to lately. She got sick sick for the first time last week where she was running a low-grade fever for about four or five days, but we didn't need to medicate because it never went above 101 degrees and she would cool down fairly quickly with a wet wash cloth and some down dressing. It all started with a little cough on Friday. Coughed a few more times on Saturday, but Saturday night, she couldn't keep any food down so she threw up about five or six times in the middle of the night. Yes, this made for two clothing and sheet changes, but after that I learned my lesson and finally just got a giant bowl and had it next to me as I held her so I could hang her over it. Survived the rest of the night catching the contents of her tiny tummy. I would have been more concerned if she was lethargic or wasn't wetting her diaper, but she continued to want to eat, her nursing was strong, and whenever she did get a bit of sleep, she would wake up happy and energetic. Long story short, Sunday, she started her low-grade fever with her continued cough, but again, no change in attitude or energy level from the little one and still nursing strong. Monday, she was able to keep down some solid food and more nursing, so it looked like she was on the up-swing, but she just wasn't shaking the fever. She ended up having a huge diarrhea diaper, and then her fever went down for a bit, and she seemed back to normal and then she got the snots. Yuck.
Anyhow, long story short, she's almost better; the fever is gone now and she's got the lingering cough and a snotty nose. But...now I think Daddy and big sister are getting sick. Arg...I hate when we share bugs.
On a happier note, Riley now calls me UMMA! Mostly when she's whiny. Like if she wants me to pick her up and I'm not moving fast enough, she goes "Ummmmma" in her sad little sick voice. She has also mastered the "bye-bye" wave...but she'll rarely pick up her arm to do it. She'll just open and shut her right hand. If you lift it for her, she'll wave perfectly and on cue. She also has figured out how to look really sad without actually crying so she'll squint her eyes and pout her lips and make a sound like "hmmhmmhmm" and then she'll open her eyes to check to make sure you're looking at her. If you're not looking at her or making an effort to "help" her, she will then shut her eyes again, open her mouth and let out a yell. Then, she'll open her eyes again and look at you once more to see if you're moving. This will go on for a bit before she actually gets mad and cries, but it's so darn cute when she does it, I can't help but just watch her to see her doing it again and again! Bad mama...
Riley also has figured out almost how to get from a tummy position into the sitting position, but she has not yet figured out how to get on all fours...it's weird how that works. I suspect she'll be crawling in the next couple weeks because she's quite the scooter and most of the time it's backwards, but every so often she'll scoot forward.
She now has two teeth, too! Both on the bottom. I can't believe this child has two teeth already! Tay didn't have her first tooth until she was seven months!
Anyhow, luckily, even through sickness, I have a very happy child, so I look forward to next week's vacation with the family. Work has been so TIME CONSUMING. Ugh.
Happy weekend!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The First Tooth! ...and sitting up.
Poor little Riley has been drooling and biting on things non-stop for the past week or so and now we know why: Riley has cut her very first tooth. It seems a little early for me since Tay didn't cut her first tooth until she turned seven months, but what can you do...
Tay's came with a low-grade fever and a bit of crankiness, but none of the drool and incessant biting(!). Riley had no fever, but she made it very obvious that her gums were itching by chewing and biting on everything to include (but not limited to) her spoon during feeding, her bottles during nursing, ME, and her fingers! Oh, and the drool! Her little mouth had a never-ending leak. :)...
Another milestone she has almost mastered is sitting up by herself (not from a lying down position, although she has been working ever-so-hard on those flutter kicks). She's very good at the "tri-pod" and now prefers that to any other placement (not her back, not her tummy). I still try and avoid sitting her up after she has eaten or nursed because she still doesn't sit up quite straight, so some of it comes right up when squished properly...ugh. Her back strength is getting very good, I think because she LOVED tummy time for a while, so she always wanted to be on her belly. I got a few really cute video clips of her sitting up and toppling over, but I want to merge them together because watching them in series is just that much funnier...if I can figure out how to do it.
Yay for developing! She's already starting to scoot around on her belly (with every bit of strength she has in that little body) and grunts all the while, but she doesn't get far...yet. She hasn't figured out that if her face is down on the mat, it's gonna hurt if she scoots too far. I'm hoping her "inch worm" maneuver transitions into a more of a face-up low crawl soon.
OH! I also forgot to mention that she CLEARLY knows who "Umma" is...if you ask, "Where's Umma?" she'll turn her head and look around for me and when our eyes meet, she gets this HUGE goofy grin on her face...then she tucks her little chin down to her chest and squints her eyes with a smile like she's being bashful or something...hehehehe...adorable. Riley's just starting to grow out of that immobile newborn phase and about to move into the uber-cute melt-your-heart charmer phase...Tay went through that transition and can still melt your heart in the blink of an eye...now we're gonna have TWO of them in the house! How am I going to get anything done?!?
Well, we've got another fun-filled weekend ahead of us, so here's to hitting a few more milestones! Yay, Riley!
Tay's came with a low-grade fever and a bit of crankiness, but none of the drool and incessant biting(!). Riley had no fever, but she made it very obvious that her gums were itching by chewing and biting on everything to include (but not limited to) her spoon during feeding, her bottles during nursing, ME, and her fingers! Oh, and the drool! Her little mouth had a never-ending leak. :)...
Another milestone she has almost mastered is sitting up by herself (not from a lying down position, although she has been working ever-so-hard on those flutter kicks). She's very good at the "tri-pod" and now prefers that to any other placement (not her back, not her tummy). I still try and avoid sitting her up after she has eaten or nursed because she still doesn't sit up quite straight, so some of it comes right up when squished properly...ugh. Her back strength is getting very good, I think because she LOVED tummy time for a while, so she always wanted to be on her belly. I got a few really cute video clips of her sitting up and toppling over, but I want to merge them together because watching them in series is just that much funnier...if I can figure out how to do it.
Yay for developing! She's already starting to scoot around on her belly (with every bit of strength she has in that little body) and grunts all the while, but she doesn't get far...yet. She hasn't figured out that if her face is down on the mat, it's gonna hurt if she scoots too far. I'm hoping her "inch worm" maneuver transitions into a more of a face-up low crawl soon.
OH! I also forgot to mention that she CLEARLY knows who "Umma" is...if you ask, "Where's Umma?" she'll turn her head and look around for me and when our eyes meet, she gets this HUGE goofy grin on her face...then she tucks her little chin down to her chest and squints her eyes with a smile like she's being bashful or something...hehehehe...adorable. Riley's just starting to grow out of that immobile newborn phase and about to move into the uber-cute melt-your-heart charmer phase...Tay went through that transition and can still melt your heart in the blink of an eye...now we're gonna have TWO of them in the house! How am I going to get anything done?!?
Well, we've got another fun-filled weekend ahead of us, so here's to hitting a few more milestones! Yay, Riley!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Lazy Momma?
Perhaps I have become lazy now that I have two little girls to write about except one...
I feel sorry that I can't capture every developmental milestone like I did for Tay, but the world still knows what's going on because of Facebook. I think because it's so much easier to write short status rather than writing a whole blog entry for each event, I have resorted to doing that to let people know what's going on with our little family. Anyhow, that's just lazy, I think, on my part...so I really ought to get on it and write. Enough making excuses and on with the post...
Since November, Riley has hit quite a few milestones. She has grown like a weed, of course. At her two month check-up, she weighed over 15 pounds and was already rolling from belly to back. At her four month check up, she was 17 pounds and 10 ounces and rolling in both directions. We thought we had a thumb-sucker on our hands because for a while she constantly sucked her hands and her thumb, but now she has relinquished the thumb and just licks her hands or whatever happens to be near her mouth and sometimes she sucks it for a few moments and then resumes licking. Riley must have been born with an appetite for solids because even before she was three months old, she would drool and demand whatever food we were eating. We got a really hilarious video of her getting mad while her sister ate a cheese stick right in front of her without sharing. I decided to start her on solids just a little past her four-month birthday, and it has been hugely successful. I made my own rice soup for her and she ate it like a champ. One day after work, I was so hungry I was eating a pita and dipping it in some homemade hummus. Riley was watching me and drooling a waterfall...and then she started getting mad that I wasn't sharing. I decided to give her a taste, so I dipped my finger in the hummus and let her taste...oh my. She LOVED it. She was demanding more. I didn't think she could handle a lot yet, so I just gave her one more dipped finger, and she grabbed my hand as soon as she saw it and shoved my finger in her mouth! I knew she was definitely ready for more than just rice soup. Then, we introduced green beans and rice puree, which she loved even more. We introduced some prunes as well because she hadn't poo-ed in more days than I was used to...she made some interesting faces to that, but she did get to liking it. She has also had a couple tastes of banana, too, as Tay and I made some banana muffins one evening. :)
Riley seems to enjoy getting read to...especially if she can see the books and the colorful pages. I enjoy lying in between my girls and reading a book to them together...it doesn't last super-long, but it's so wonderful while it lasts.
I'd like to mention here that this post is not chronologically arranged...I'm just writing as I remember.
Christmas was a blast with the two kids. Of course it would have been nice to see some family, but it was also very nice having a nice cozy Christmas, just the four of us. Christmas was even more fun this year than last because Tay had a blast opening all the great presents she got and even helped Riley open her presents. We had a nice lazy day. I absolutely love the Christmas season.
Shortly after Christmas, on 29 December 2010 to be precise, Riley turned 100 days old so we got a little cake, dressed the girls up in pretty dresses and had our own little party in the comfort of our home. Also, that day marked the first day that Riley rolled from back to front! What another great way to mark a milestone. On a side-note, we didn't do a big 100-day celebration because our entire household was recovering from the sniffles...that nasty cough lingered for over two weeks! Yuck. For the first time ever, I had to suction a baby's nose so she could eat easier. Poor thing.
2011 arrived and I made us dduk-guk for dinner that night. I can't remember what we did that morning during the day, though...why?
I've noticed that Riley really enjoys being on her tummy for the most part. She sometimes seems to prefer being on her belly rather than her back. Perhaps it's because she's on her back the majority of the time, but she definitely gets a kick out of rolling over on to her belly and looking around. Now her arm strength is getting much stronger so she rotates on her belly as she needs to to reach toys and such. Just recently, (mid Feb) she has started to scoot on her belly by doing the "inch worm"...she puts her face down on the mat, scoots her behind up in the air, then pushes forward with her knees on her belly and face. She doesn't scoot far, so I'm not so concerned that she'll get mat-burn on her face, but it's a concern that we'll probably have soon enough...ugh.
This past weekend was the Coex Baby Fair. Riley and I were "live" models to demonstrate the use of the Moby Wrap for two shifts - Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon. It was quite an adventure with SO many people, but because she's just so darn cute, she made an excellent model because everyone would first look at her and then ask me about the wrap! :) It worked out well...hopefully we helped make some sales.
Well, in other news, I have changed jobs and this week will be my first week at the new job. It'll be a steep learning curve, I think, but I will enjoy the challenge! Hopefully this job will also motivate me to write a bit more regularly...maybe. Or maybe it'll have me so busy I'll give up writing all together!!! Hopefully not...
Looking forward to another great month with my family and my ever-growing sweet baby girl. Happy five month birthday, Shinah Riley!
I feel sorry that I can't capture every developmental milestone like I did for Tay, but the world still knows what's going on because of Facebook. I think because it's so much easier to write short status rather than writing a whole blog entry for each event, I have resorted to doing that to let people know what's going on with our little family. Anyhow, that's just lazy, I think, on my part...so I really ought to get on it and write. Enough making excuses and on with the post...
Since November, Riley has hit quite a few milestones. She has grown like a weed, of course. At her two month check-up, she weighed over 15 pounds and was already rolling from belly to back. At her four month check up, she was 17 pounds and 10 ounces and rolling in both directions. We thought we had a thumb-sucker on our hands because for a while she constantly sucked her hands and her thumb, but now she has relinquished the thumb and just licks her hands or whatever happens to be near her mouth and sometimes she sucks it for a few moments and then resumes licking. Riley must have been born with an appetite for solids because even before she was three months old, she would drool and demand whatever food we were eating. We got a really hilarious video of her getting mad while her sister ate a cheese stick right in front of her without sharing. I decided to start her on solids just a little past her four-month birthday, and it has been hugely successful. I made my own rice soup for her and she ate it like a champ. One day after work, I was so hungry I was eating a pita and dipping it in some homemade hummus. Riley was watching me and drooling a waterfall...and then she started getting mad that I wasn't sharing. I decided to give her a taste, so I dipped my finger in the hummus and let her taste...oh my. She LOVED it. She was demanding more. I didn't think she could handle a lot yet, so I just gave her one more dipped finger, and she grabbed my hand as soon as she saw it and shoved my finger in her mouth! I knew she was definitely ready for more than just rice soup. Then, we introduced green beans and rice puree, which she loved even more. We introduced some prunes as well because she hadn't poo-ed in more days than I was used to...she made some interesting faces to that, but she did get to liking it. She has also had a couple tastes of banana, too, as Tay and I made some banana muffins one evening. :)
Riley seems to enjoy getting read to...especially if she can see the books and the colorful pages. I enjoy lying in between my girls and reading a book to them together...it doesn't last super-long, but it's so wonderful while it lasts.
I'd like to mention here that this post is not chronologically arranged...I'm just writing as I remember.
Christmas was a blast with the two kids. Of course it would have been nice to see some family, but it was also very nice having a nice cozy Christmas, just the four of us. Christmas was even more fun this year than last because Tay had a blast opening all the great presents she got and even helped Riley open her presents. We had a nice lazy day. I absolutely love the Christmas season.
Shortly after Christmas, on 29 December 2010 to be precise, Riley turned 100 days old so we got a little cake, dressed the girls up in pretty dresses and had our own little party in the comfort of our home. Also, that day marked the first day that Riley rolled from back to front! What another great way to mark a milestone. On a side-note, we didn't do a big 100-day celebration because our entire household was recovering from the sniffles...that nasty cough lingered for over two weeks! Yuck. For the first time ever, I had to suction a baby's nose so she could eat easier. Poor thing.
2011 arrived and I made us dduk-guk for dinner that night. I can't remember what we did that morning during the day, though...why?
I've noticed that Riley really enjoys being on her tummy for the most part. She sometimes seems to prefer being on her belly rather than her back. Perhaps it's because she's on her back the majority of the time, but she definitely gets a kick out of rolling over on to her belly and looking around. Now her arm strength is getting much stronger so she rotates on her belly as she needs to to reach toys and such. Just recently, (mid Feb) she has started to scoot on her belly by doing the "inch worm"...she puts her face down on the mat, scoots her behind up in the air, then pushes forward with her knees on her belly and face. She doesn't scoot far, so I'm not so concerned that she'll get mat-burn on her face, but it's a concern that we'll probably have soon enough...ugh.
This past weekend was the Coex Baby Fair. Riley and I were "live" models to demonstrate the use of the Moby Wrap for two shifts - Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon. It was quite an adventure with SO many people, but because she's just so darn cute, she made an excellent model because everyone would first look at her and then ask me about the wrap! :) It worked out well...hopefully we helped make some sales.
Well, in other news, I have changed jobs and this week will be my first week at the new job. It'll be a steep learning curve, I think, but I will enjoy the challenge! Hopefully this job will also motivate me to write a bit more regularly...maybe. Or maybe it'll have me so busy I'll give up writing all together!!! Hopefully not...
Looking forward to another great month with my family and my ever-growing sweet baby girl. Happy five month birthday, Shinah Riley!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Riley Rolls Over; a catch-up entry...
At a mere seven weeks and four days old, our little Riley rolled over from her belly to her back, much to her surprise! Usually in the mornings when she wakes up, I bring her out to the living room floor mat and we do stretching and some tummy time because she's fairly content and relaxed and quite playful. This morning, we were moving slowly, so Tay was also awake and Tita Beth had already arrived at the house. I placed her on her tummy on the mat to see if she'd reach for some toys we had set in front of her, and after doing a little mini-push-up and holding her head and shoulders up a while, she suddenly rolled onto her back going to the right. She looked so surprised and we were all so surprised that we yelped with joy and laughter (which I'm sure startled the little one even more). Anyhow, we wanted to see if it was just a mistake, so I placed her once again on her belly, and less than two seconds later, there she went, rolling immediately to her right and startling herself again and flailing on her back. :) We decided to let her try again, so she went on her tummy again, and with a few more grunts this time, she flipped herself right over onto her back once again. YAY! :) Perhaps tomorrow morning, I can get it on video...
I feel awful that this is my first posting on Riley since she has been born, but life is much more hectic with two little girls to entertain than it was with one. As for milestones, the rolling over one is probably the first really big milestone for her, but she has already passed many of the smaller ones. She has been lifting her head when lying on her tummy since birth, almost...whenever I'd put her on my stomach as I lay on my back, she'd lift her head to look at my face. She studies faces like they are the most interesting things on Earth...especially new faces. She always turns toward the sound of her big sister...:) She smiles and coos a lot in the morning and after every nap when she's at her happiest. She chuckls in her sleep...which I personally find hilarious...when she's dreaming, you can actually hear her go "hm-hm-hm-hm-hm" with a huge smile on her face. She hasn't actually done that awake yet, but I think she's going to have a great sense of humor much like her big sister. Around five weeks, she noticed her hand for the first time and stared at it for a while before hitting herself in the eye with it. Then, she didn't know what to do, so she got all upset and made sad faces until I picked her up. Earlier this week, I had laid her in her little floor mat gym and she stared intently at the hanging toys for a while with her hands by her side, then suddenly, she swung her right hand up and batted one of the toys! When she did that, her eyes got really big and both her arms and legs started flailing, but she didn't do much more coordinated hitting after that...mostly accidental batting, I think. She smiles a lot at any face that's smiling at her, including stuffed animals and dolls.
I have a feeling she's going to be as talkative as her big sister because she'll gurgle and coo at anyone who's talking to her, but especially her big sister. She really enjoys the interaction and will spend quite a long time just lying on the mat as long as someone is talking to her and listening to her. She's generally a very happy baby and also a very good sleeper. Her hardest time is between 6 and 8pm when she's most cranky. Our nightly routine now is she gets a bath while her big sister is getting a bath, then a nice little massage and swaddling, nursing, then put down for sleep...usually by 7:30. Then she'll sleep until three or four in the morning! Last night, she slept until 5:15 in the morning and woke up STARVING! :) She's been doing that for a couple weeks now already...it makes my life so much easier. :) If by chance she doesn't get a bath, though, she definitely wakes up many more times in the night. I think the bath relaxes her and she sleeps so much better. Her big sister was much like that as well, and I had a good sleeper until around 4 months when she started waking up more frequently in the middle of the night...I attribute it to a growth spurt...perhaps it will be the same with this one, too.
Speaking of growth, Riley's growing like a weed! Her birth weight was 3.47 kgs (7lbs, 10oz), her one week weight was 3.85 kgs (8lbs, 8oz), and her one month weight was 5.2 kgs (11lbs, 7oz)! I have her two-month appointment scheduled for the 18th, so we'll see how much she weighs then, and perhaps they'll do a length measurement, too. She looks fairly long now, as opposed to when she was first born and she was just this tiny, curled-up bundle. I'm thankful that I am able to breastfeed and that it is plenty for my little one because it is just so much easier than having to prepare and warm bottles and such, but I must admit, pumping is not my favorite thing in the world...
Going back to work full time in a short six weeks after delivery has been a rough adjustment. Work has been very lenient with my pumping and feeding schedule, so I am able to go home at lunch time every day and pump twice/three times a day. I don't really like having to pump in the bathroom - it's quite chilly and not the most comfortable environment - but luckily, my milk lets down pretty quickly and my quantity is going up since I nurse on demand when I'm home, so the routine is getting easier. I think the first week back, I had some major tension headaches because of the stress of coming back to work and getting back into the swing of things while having to leave my little baby at home. Luckily, the baby is not with a stranger and I know she's very well taken care of, so that part was a little easier than I thought it would be.
I can't complain about how things are going right now because it is only getting easier. The girls are doing very well and are generally quite happy the way things are. I'm getting accustomed to being at work again, although it's hard to focus on work when all I can think about are my babies back home. I look forward to the holidays this year as a family of four...although it would be nice to be able to spend them with our extended family back in the States.
How thankful I am for the life I lead...I truly cannot ask for more.
Rosa
I feel awful that this is my first posting on Riley since she has been born, but life is much more hectic with two little girls to entertain than it was with one. As for milestones, the rolling over one is probably the first really big milestone for her, but she has already passed many of the smaller ones. She has been lifting her head when lying on her tummy since birth, almost...whenever I'd put her on my stomach as I lay on my back, she'd lift her head to look at my face. She studies faces like they are the most interesting things on Earth...especially new faces. She always turns toward the sound of her big sister...:) She smiles and coos a lot in the morning and after every nap when she's at her happiest. She chuckls in her sleep...which I personally find hilarious...when she's dreaming, you can actually hear her go "hm-hm-hm-hm-hm" with a huge smile on her face. She hasn't actually done that awake yet, but I think she's going to have a great sense of humor much like her big sister. Around five weeks, she noticed her hand for the first time and stared at it for a while before hitting herself in the eye with it. Then, she didn't know what to do, so she got all upset and made sad faces until I picked her up. Earlier this week, I had laid her in her little floor mat gym and she stared intently at the hanging toys for a while with her hands by her side, then suddenly, she swung her right hand up and batted one of the toys! When she did that, her eyes got really big and both her arms and legs started flailing, but she didn't do much more coordinated hitting after that...mostly accidental batting, I think. She smiles a lot at any face that's smiling at her, including stuffed animals and dolls.
I have a feeling she's going to be as talkative as her big sister because she'll gurgle and coo at anyone who's talking to her, but especially her big sister. She really enjoys the interaction and will spend quite a long time just lying on the mat as long as someone is talking to her and listening to her. She's generally a very happy baby and also a very good sleeper. Her hardest time is between 6 and 8pm when she's most cranky. Our nightly routine now is she gets a bath while her big sister is getting a bath, then a nice little massage and swaddling, nursing, then put down for sleep...usually by 7:30. Then she'll sleep until three or four in the morning! Last night, she slept until 5:15 in the morning and woke up STARVING! :) She's been doing that for a couple weeks now already...it makes my life so much easier. :) If by chance she doesn't get a bath, though, she definitely wakes up many more times in the night. I think the bath relaxes her and she sleeps so much better. Her big sister was much like that as well, and I had a good sleeper until around 4 months when she started waking up more frequently in the middle of the night...I attribute it to a growth spurt...perhaps it will be the same with this one, too.
Speaking of growth, Riley's growing like a weed! Her birth weight was 3.47 kgs (7lbs, 10oz), her one week weight was 3.85 kgs (8lbs, 8oz), and her one month weight was 5.2 kgs (11lbs, 7oz)! I have her two-month appointment scheduled for the 18th, so we'll see how much she weighs then, and perhaps they'll do a length measurement, too. She looks fairly long now, as opposed to when she was first born and she was just this tiny, curled-up bundle. I'm thankful that I am able to breastfeed and that it is plenty for my little one because it is just so much easier than having to prepare and warm bottles and such, but I must admit, pumping is not my favorite thing in the world...
Going back to work full time in a short six weeks after delivery has been a rough adjustment. Work has been very lenient with my pumping and feeding schedule, so I am able to go home at lunch time every day and pump twice/three times a day. I don't really like having to pump in the bathroom - it's quite chilly and not the most comfortable environment - but luckily, my milk lets down pretty quickly and my quantity is going up since I nurse on demand when I'm home, so the routine is getting easier. I think the first week back, I had some major tension headaches because of the stress of coming back to work and getting back into the swing of things while having to leave my little baby at home. Luckily, the baby is not with a stranger and I know she's very well taken care of, so that part was a little easier than I thought it would be.
I can't complain about how things are going right now because it is only getting easier. The girls are doing very well and are generally quite happy the way things are. I'm getting accustomed to being at work again, although it's hard to focus on work when all I can think about are my babies back home. I look forward to the holidays this year as a family of four...although it would be nice to be able to spend them with our extended family back in the States.
How thankful I am for the life I lead...I truly cannot ask for more.
Rosa
Sunday, October 3, 2010
My Second Labor Story
After about a week of recovery, I finally feel sane enough to right down my second labor story. So here goes...
My mom arrived in Korea at 4:30 in the morning on the 19th of September. Jeff went to pick her up and after they arrived home, we got cleaned up and mom, Tay, and I went to church while Jeff got caught up a bit on sleep. The rest of that day was spent just catching up with mom and we made a run to E-Mart for some basics to fill the kitchen and prepare for after the delivery. After the trip to E-Mart, I was exhausted, and when we got home, I felt a little cramping in my lower stomach, but nothing I thought that was worth noting or worrying about...
Later that evening, we had a nice dinner and my mom left for her sister's house because the next day, 20 September, was the anniversary of my grandmother's passing, so my aunt had rented a van to transport all the sisters down to Daejeon in the morning to visit the grave site. Jeff and I put Tay down for the night around 8:30 and we actually went to bed around 9pm.
I was feeling a little anxious for some reason so I tossed and turned for a bit, but I eventually dozed off until I was awoken by a stronger-than-normal contraction. I got up out of bed because I wanted to know what time it was...it was only 9:30. I didn't think I could fall back asleep right away, so I decided to check my email and facebook. A short while later, I felt another one of the contractions, so I checked the time and it was 9:40. No pain associated with the contractions, though, so I didn't think anything of it. As I'm facebook-stalking my friends, I have another contraction...9:49. Another one at 9:59. Now I'm curious...could this be...early labor? I Google early labor and continue timing the contractions. They keep coming regularly at 9 to 10 minute intervals...still no pain. Then they get a little closer...about 7 to 8 minutes apart. Still no pain...but the Google findings are confirming that I am probably in early labor since the contractions are coming on regularly and getting progressively closer together and not going away when I "change positions" by walking around or sitting for a while or lying on my side. I still haven't woken Jeff yet because I am still not convinced that I'm in labor...
Around 12:45, the contractions are coming about every five minutes now and I'm debating whether or not to wake Jeff up, so at 1am, I decide it might be time to wake up Jeff and let him know I might be in labor. When I tell a very groggy Jeff, he almost leaps out of bed and says, "Let's go!" but I am not in a hurry because I'm still not convinced I'm really in labor. There's still no real pain coming with the contractions, so I guess that's why I just had no sense of urgency...I hadn't gotten to the active labor part yet...perhaps. I finally call my mom at 1:30am at my aunt's house and tell her we're probably going to head to the hospital soon to check if I am in labor and my mom says she'll meet us there...then she says she'll just come straight to our house and go with us to the hospital because I told her we were getting our bag ready to go and that it might be a bit before we actually get out of the house. By 2am, Jeff and I are packed up and ready to go, but my mom hadn't arrived yet...and Jeff's now getting antsy, but I'm still pretty relaxed although my contractions are still coming every five minutes or so. My mom finally arrives, we pick up Tay from her bed (who is still sleeping), we head to the hospital and arrive there at 2:30am. On the drive over, Tay wakes up and she's wired...poor thing.
We first walk into the Emergency Room (ER) because I'm not sure if there's anyone in Labor and Delivery (LD), but the staff in the ER direct me to LD. We walk over to LD and there seems to be only a cleaning staff there and one of the ladies tells me to go on in (no children allowed). We leave a wide-awake Tay with my mom and Jeff and I go in to find out what's going on with me. When I tell them my contractions are coming about five minutes apart and not painful yet, they have me fill out a card and direct me to a tiny labor room. They have me change and such to prep me and check me and tell Jeff to wait outside. Disappointingly, no one is really friendly or smiling, which is bothersome since this should be a happy time...but since it was the middle of the night shift, I assumed they were just all really tired. There were a few other women I could hear laboring, which was also a bit disturbing.
Jeff came back in after I had changed into the hospital gown, so we waited some more for them to come and do a non-stress test and check my contractions. Jeff went out again to check on how Tay and my mom were doing and he brought in all the bags so that my mom didn't have to watch Tay and keep an eye on our bags.
With the monitor on, the contractions were showing that they were still coming every four to five minutes. They checked my dilation and effacement and I was only about 30% effaced and 3cm dilated. After about 30 minutes of the NST, they removed the contraction monitor and kept the heart rate monitor on for the baby. By now it was past 4am and I was getting antsy and uncomfortable from just lying there. I was also getting upset because I had wanted to tell Tay that everything would be okay and that I love her before I was stuck to a hospital bed. I also thought she'd be able to be in the labor room with me for a bit before they had to leave, but they wouldn't let me go back out to see her because I was already dilated. I guess that's the difference between a Korean and American hospital system...I was restricted to the bed entirely even though I still wasn't in any pain from my contractions. Quite frustrating. Anyhow, it was 7am now and Beth was on her way to the hospital to pick up Tay and I really missed her so I asked the nurse again if I could go see her and at least tell her good bye before she went with Beth for the day. They finally said okay, but after their shift change! Ugh...I was frustrated, but I said I'd wait and waited and waited and waited...until finally I called someone in it was someone new, so I knew shift change had happened (by now it was about 7:30 and Beth was already there, but I asked her to wait so I could see Tay before they left). When I mentioned to the nurse that the previous shift nurse had told me I could go see her after shift change, the nurse said she had to check me first and that it was not recommended that I walk anywhere. NOOOOOOOOO!!!! I told her I HAD to go see my daughter and that I would be very very upset if I didn't get to, so when they checked me, I was still at 3cm dilated and just a bit more effaced. So they finally said I could go see her so I got up and walked out (all of 20 yards or so) to see her in the waiting area and got to hug and kiss my sweet big girl...knowing that the next time I saw her, our relationship would change drastically...even though I would still love her all the same...::sigh:: It made me so sad to see her go...seeing her so grown up.
After the brief meeting and farewell, Jeff took Tay and Beth home (where Tay finally fell asleep since she woke up at 2am) and Jeff went into work...for a bit. It was about 7:45 by now.
When I came back in, they checked my dilation once more and told me I was at 4cm now and almost 100% effaced. A good sign! They moved me into a "labor and delivery" room where they informed me I would be delivering there. They also told me my labor was stalling (I was back to having contractions about every five minutes again), so they would be starting me on Pictocin to get things moving again. I let Jeff know that they were going to start me on the drip so things may start moving quickly, so he started making his way back to the hospital. Shortly after they started the drip, the contractions started coming back more frequently (no clock in front of my bed now, so I don't know how frequently) and I started to feel a little bit of pain along with each contraction. I actually had to concentrate and breathe rhythmically to get through them. Nothing worth yelling about, though. Less than four or five of those times of contractions later, another nurse came and checked my progress and I was already 6cm dilated from the previous four! Sweeeeeet. Only concern was that since I had progressed that quickly, they were saying I'd probably be ready to push soon, but Jeff wasn't back yet! Anyhow, the contractions continued to come on stronger, although I couldn't tell if they were coming on more frequently or anything. A few more contractions later, they checked me again and I was at 8cm! The room started to buzz with a few more nurses and they called the doctor to tell him I was almost ready so he should make his way down. The nurse also broke my water (I think) when she last checked me to keep things moving (or else my water broke naturally while she was checking me, but whatever) and after that happened, the contractions were significantly stronger and definitely painful...but still not nearly as painful as I could recall from my first labor. They told me to roll over on my side to help things move along (and reduce my back labor!) so when I did that, MAN, the contractions were much more painful, but still manageable with controlled breathing...and shortly after that, I felt Jeff's hand on my shoulder to tell me he was here. I guess that was Riley's cue, too, because I had that sudden sensation that I really really needed to push really soon! I started to say, "I need to push, I need to push!" but apparently no one understood me except Jeff and my mom...and of course, my mom runs to one of the nurses and tells her that I was ready to push...in ENGLISH. :) Hehehe...not so funny at the time, but funny now that I think about it. Anyhow, eventually they got the message that I was ready to push and they told me not to push too hard because they didn't want me to tear. One of the nurses coached me through the breathing so I wouldn't push too hard and soon everyone was ready to receive the baby and I was ready to push her out of me. I'll spare any further details, but after only about five or six times pushing, Shinah Riley Ryals entered the world at 9:08am. A healthy 3.47 kgs (7 lbs, 10 oz.) little girl born at 38 weeks + 5 days and a whopping 19.5 inches...a whole inch shorter than Tay was when she was born and almost a whole pound lighter than Tay.
As they're discussing various things about the baby and such, one of the nurses asked if I had registered for cord banking and someone responded "No" and oddly enough, I was lucid enough to speak up and say, "YES I DID!" and they came over to me and asked me if I had any paperwork, and luckily...I had all of it, including the receipt of when I paid for it all together in my hospital bag that I had packed! HA! If this had happened with Tay, I definitely would not have been lucid enough to catch the conversation, much less remember that I had all the paperwork in my bag. They brought the bag over to me and I fished out the paperwork and they banked the cord blood right away. We didn't bank Tay's cord blood, but we did decide to do it this time...just on the off chance that we may need it someday. Hopefully not.
Unlike when I had Tay, they wrapped the little bundle up and handed her to me to hold while the nurses were massaging my abdomen so that Riley could get familiar with my scent before they took her to the nursery to be examined, cleaned, etc...I'm not sure where Jeff and my mom went (perhaps with Riley) but the nurses covered me in a super-warm blanket after the doctor left and I was left in the dimmed room to rest and recover for a bit before they moved me to the recovery room in a whole different wing. I also had to remind the nurses again that we wanted to room in with Riley instead of leaving her in the nursery so they would bring her up to the recovery room as soon as she was ready.
All in all, this hospital experience was much worse than my first time around with Tay, but the labor and delivery was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier...and I felt lucid the entire time. I never felt out of control and I can clearly remember the entire event with no negative feelings about it. I have no negative feelings about my labor with Tay, but I also can't remember exactly what happened toward the end when I actually started having the stronger contractions. I guess maybe because my body had experienced it before, it was more ready to take it on and my tolerance for pain had grown significantly. I didn't even need to let out a yelp. Jeff likes to remind me that I yelled at him quite a bit in Korean during my first labor. I don't recall any of that.
Anyhow, that is my second labor story, and it was surprisingly pleasant for me. The recovery story will come at a later time. :)
Welcome to our family, Shinah Riley. :) We're so glad to have you!
My mom arrived in Korea at 4:30 in the morning on the 19th of September. Jeff went to pick her up and after they arrived home, we got cleaned up and mom, Tay, and I went to church while Jeff got caught up a bit on sleep. The rest of that day was spent just catching up with mom and we made a run to E-Mart for some basics to fill the kitchen and prepare for after the delivery. After the trip to E-Mart, I was exhausted, and when we got home, I felt a little cramping in my lower stomach, but nothing I thought that was worth noting or worrying about...
Later that evening, we had a nice dinner and my mom left for her sister's house because the next day, 20 September, was the anniversary of my grandmother's passing, so my aunt had rented a van to transport all the sisters down to Daejeon in the morning to visit the grave site. Jeff and I put Tay down for the night around 8:30 and we actually went to bed around 9pm.
I was feeling a little anxious for some reason so I tossed and turned for a bit, but I eventually dozed off until I was awoken by a stronger-than-normal contraction. I got up out of bed because I wanted to know what time it was...it was only 9:30. I didn't think I could fall back asleep right away, so I decided to check my email and facebook. A short while later, I felt another one of the contractions, so I checked the time and it was 9:40. No pain associated with the contractions, though, so I didn't think anything of it. As I'm facebook-stalking my friends, I have another contraction...9:49. Another one at 9:59. Now I'm curious...could this be...early labor? I Google early labor and continue timing the contractions. They keep coming regularly at 9 to 10 minute intervals...still no pain. Then they get a little closer...about 7 to 8 minutes apart. Still no pain...but the Google findings are confirming that I am probably in early labor since the contractions are coming on regularly and getting progressively closer together and not going away when I "change positions" by walking around or sitting for a while or lying on my side. I still haven't woken Jeff yet because I am still not convinced that I'm in labor...
Around 12:45, the contractions are coming about every five minutes now and I'm debating whether or not to wake Jeff up, so at 1am, I decide it might be time to wake up Jeff and let him know I might be in labor. When I tell a very groggy Jeff, he almost leaps out of bed and says, "Let's go!" but I am not in a hurry because I'm still not convinced I'm really in labor. There's still no real pain coming with the contractions, so I guess that's why I just had no sense of urgency...I hadn't gotten to the active labor part yet...perhaps. I finally call my mom at 1:30am at my aunt's house and tell her we're probably going to head to the hospital soon to check if I am in labor and my mom says she'll meet us there...then she says she'll just come straight to our house and go with us to the hospital because I told her we were getting our bag ready to go and that it might be a bit before we actually get out of the house. By 2am, Jeff and I are packed up and ready to go, but my mom hadn't arrived yet...and Jeff's now getting antsy, but I'm still pretty relaxed although my contractions are still coming every five minutes or so. My mom finally arrives, we pick up Tay from her bed (who is still sleeping), we head to the hospital and arrive there at 2:30am. On the drive over, Tay wakes up and she's wired...poor thing.
We first walk into the Emergency Room (ER) because I'm not sure if there's anyone in Labor and Delivery (LD), but the staff in the ER direct me to LD. We walk over to LD and there seems to be only a cleaning staff there and one of the ladies tells me to go on in (no children allowed). We leave a wide-awake Tay with my mom and Jeff and I go in to find out what's going on with me. When I tell them my contractions are coming about five minutes apart and not painful yet, they have me fill out a card and direct me to a tiny labor room. They have me change and such to prep me and check me and tell Jeff to wait outside. Disappointingly, no one is really friendly or smiling, which is bothersome since this should be a happy time...but since it was the middle of the night shift, I assumed they were just all really tired. There were a few other women I could hear laboring, which was also a bit disturbing.
Jeff came back in after I had changed into the hospital gown, so we waited some more for them to come and do a non-stress test and check my contractions. Jeff went out again to check on how Tay and my mom were doing and he brought in all the bags so that my mom didn't have to watch Tay and keep an eye on our bags.
With the monitor on, the contractions were showing that they were still coming every four to five minutes. They checked my dilation and effacement and I was only about 30% effaced and 3cm dilated. After about 30 minutes of the NST, they removed the contraction monitor and kept the heart rate monitor on for the baby. By now it was past 4am and I was getting antsy and uncomfortable from just lying there. I was also getting upset because I had wanted to tell Tay that everything would be okay and that I love her before I was stuck to a hospital bed. I also thought she'd be able to be in the labor room with me for a bit before they had to leave, but they wouldn't let me go back out to see her because I was already dilated. I guess that's the difference between a Korean and American hospital system...I was restricted to the bed entirely even though I still wasn't in any pain from my contractions. Quite frustrating. Anyhow, it was 7am now and Beth was on her way to the hospital to pick up Tay and I really missed her so I asked the nurse again if I could go see her and at least tell her good bye before she went with Beth for the day. They finally said okay, but after their shift change! Ugh...I was frustrated, but I said I'd wait and waited and waited and waited...until finally I called someone in it was someone new, so I knew shift change had happened (by now it was about 7:30 and Beth was already there, but I asked her to wait so I could see Tay before they left). When I mentioned to the nurse that the previous shift nurse had told me I could go see her after shift change, the nurse said she had to check me first and that it was not recommended that I walk anywhere. NOOOOOOOOO!!!! I told her I HAD to go see my daughter and that I would be very very upset if I didn't get to, so when they checked me, I was still at 3cm dilated and just a bit more effaced. So they finally said I could go see her so I got up and walked out (all of 20 yards or so) to see her in the waiting area and got to hug and kiss my sweet big girl...knowing that the next time I saw her, our relationship would change drastically...even though I would still love her all the same...::sigh:: It made me so sad to see her go...seeing her so grown up.
After the brief meeting and farewell, Jeff took Tay and Beth home (where Tay finally fell asleep since she woke up at 2am) and Jeff went into work...for a bit. It was about 7:45 by now.
When I came back in, they checked my dilation once more and told me I was at 4cm now and almost 100% effaced. A good sign! They moved me into a "labor and delivery" room where they informed me I would be delivering there. They also told me my labor was stalling (I was back to having contractions about every five minutes again), so they would be starting me on Pictocin to get things moving again. I let Jeff know that they were going to start me on the drip so things may start moving quickly, so he started making his way back to the hospital. Shortly after they started the drip, the contractions started coming back more frequently (no clock in front of my bed now, so I don't know how frequently) and I started to feel a little bit of pain along with each contraction. I actually had to concentrate and breathe rhythmically to get through them. Nothing worth yelling about, though. Less than four or five of those times of contractions later, another nurse came and checked my progress and I was already 6cm dilated from the previous four! Sweeeeeet. Only concern was that since I had progressed that quickly, they were saying I'd probably be ready to push soon, but Jeff wasn't back yet! Anyhow, the contractions continued to come on stronger, although I couldn't tell if they were coming on more frequently or anything. A few more contractions later, they checked me again and I was at 8cm! The room started to buzz with a few more nurses and they called the doctor to tell him I was almost ready so he should make his way down. The nurse also broke my water (I think) when she last checked me to keep things moving (or else my water broke naturally while she was checking me, but whatever) and after that happened, the contractions were significantly stronger and definitely painful...but still not nearly as painful as I could recall from my first labor. They told me to roll over on my side to help things move along (and reduce my back labor!) so when I did that, MAN, the contractions were much more painful, but still manageable with controlled breathing...and shortly after that, I felt Jeff's hand on my shoulder to tell me he was here. I guess that was Riley's cue, too, because I had that sudden sensation that I really really needed to push really soon! I started to say, "I need to push, I need to push!" but apparently no one understood me except Jeff and my mom...and of course, my mom runs to one of the nurses and tells her that I was ready to push...in ENGLISH. :) Hehehe...not so funny at the time, but funny now that I think about it. Anyhow, eventually they got the message that I was ready to push and they told me not to push too hard because they didn't want me to tear. One of the nurses coached me through the breathing so I wouldn't push too hard and soon everyone was ready to receive the baby and I was ready to push her out of me. I'll spare any further details, but after only about five or six times pushing, Shinah Riley Ryals entered the world at 9:08am. A healthy 3.47 kgs (7 lbs, 10 oz.) little girl born at 38 weeks + 5 days and a whopping 19.5 inches...a whole inch shorter than Tay was when she was born and almost a whole pound lighter than Tay.
As they're discussing various things about the baby and such, one of the nurses asked if I had registered for cord banking and someone responded "No" and oddly enough, I was lucid enough to speak up and say, "YES I DID!" and they came over to me and asked me if I had any paperwork, and luckily...I had all of it, including the receipt of when I paid for it all together in my hospital bag that I had packed! HA! If this had happened with Tay, I definitely would not have been lucid enough to catch the conversation, much less remember that I had all the paperwork in my bag. They brought the bag over to me and I fished out the paperwork and they banked the cord blood right away. We didn't bank Tay's cord blood, but we did decide to do it this time...just on the off chance that we may need it someday. Hopefully not.
Unlike when I had Tay, they wrapped the little bundle up and handed her to me to hold while the nurses were massaging my abdomen so that Riley could get familiar with my scent before they took her to the nursery to be examined, cleaned, etc...I'm not sure where Jeff and my mom went (perhaps with Riley) but the nurses covered me in a super-warm blanket after the doctor left and I was left in the dimmed room to rest and recover for a bit before they moved me to the recovery room in a whole different wing. I also had to remind the nurses again that we wanted to room in with Riley instead of leaving her in the nursery so they would bring her up to the recovery room as soon as she was ready.
All in all, this hospital experience was much worse than my first time around with Tay, but the labor and delivery was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier...and I felt lucid the entire time. I never felt out of control and I can clearly remember the entire event with no negative feelings about it. I have no negative feelings about my labor with Tay, but I also can't remember exactly what happened toward the end when I actually started having the stronger contractions. I guess maybe because my body had experienced it before, it was more ready to take it on and my tolerance for pain had grown significantly. I didn't even need to let out a yelp. Jeff likes to remind me that I yelled at him quite a bit in Korean during my first labor. I don't recall any of that.
Anyhow, that is my second labor story, and it was surprisingly pleasant for me. The recovery story will come at a later time. :)
Welcome to our family, Shinah Riley. :) We're so glad to have you!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Week 38/39 Doc Visit
Well, this morning's visit to the doctor's office was none too exciting, but it was lengthy. I had the usual ultrasound to check the size of the baby, then had my consult, then a chest x-ray and EKG. Riley's growing like a weed in there because she's already measuring 3.5 kgs (7.7 lbs!!!), but the doc assured me that babies usually weigh a little less than the measurement on the ultrasound. That still means she's going to be over seven pounds, which is fine, but I still have two weeks to go according to the calendar! How much more is she going to grow?
At least the no-later-than date is now set - the induction is scheduled for the 29th of September if she doesn't come out on her own before then...so that she doesn't get too big and get stuck. I guess I need to start powerwalking everywhere to make sure she comes out before then...I'd rather try and avoid the induction this time around, but there is something nice about knowing when her ultimate due date is...I guess.
Other than that, Riley's growing strong and running out of room in there. I'll get the results from my x-ray and EKG next week at my next appointment. I know most hospitals do the cervix check and such around this time to see if I'm effaced or dilated at all, but they haven't done that and doesn't look like they'll be doing that in the next week or two, so I guess it'll just be when she comes she'll come. I do have another NST (non-stress test) scheduled for next week's appointment; I had one of those two weeks ago as well and she's definitely doing just fine. She was asleep for the first ten minutes of the test, so they came and buzzed her so she'd move around, and she definitely didn't like that so she got active and kicked around quite a bit for the next twenty minutes. We'll see how she does next week.
Insomnia has really been kicking my behind the past week and it doesn't seem to be getting much better. The frequent bathroom trips don't help, but it's not the primary cause...I just have very very busy dreams where I'm just busy doing every day stuff from work to taking care of household chores to caring for Tay, so when I finally wake up, it feels like I haven't slept at all! The constant exhaustion is really making me cranky throughout the day, which I'm sure is wearing on Jeff and Tay...so how do I break this cycle? I feel like I got no rest this weekend, and it was supposed to be relaxing! Ah well...even taking naps during the day just don't seem to help much anymore. Perhaps this is the way my body is trying to prepare me for having a newborn in the house again...getting my body used to the lack of good "rest?" At least then I'll have a cuddly newborn to love on with a sweetheart of a big sister to help me out...and no work to think about...at least for six weeks? Maybe I should just start my maternity leave next week...::sigh::
Mom gets here on the 19th and Chuseok is on the 22nd...I'm hoping the little one comes on the 23rd. Others are betting earlier. I'm still hoping the 23rd. Riley, come on the 23rd, yes? Please? :)
Hoping for a good next week...and a safe and happy delivery after my mom gets here!
At least the no-later-than date is now set - the induction is scheduled for the 29th of September if she doesn't come out on her own before then...so that she doesn't get too big and get stuck. I guess I need to start powerwalking everywhere to make sure she comes out before then...I'd rather try and avoid the induction this time around, but there is something nice about knowing when her ultimate due date is...I guess.
Other than that, Riley's growing strong and running out of room in there. I'll get the results from my x-ray and EKG next week at my next appointment. I know most hospitals do the cervix check and such around this time to see if I'm effaced or dilated at all, but they haven't done that and doesn't look like they'll be doing that in the next week or two, so I guess it'll just be when she comes she'll come. I do have another NST (non-stress test) scheduled for next week's appointment; I had one of those two weeks ago as well and she's definitely doing just fine. She was asleep for the first ten minutes of the test, so they came and buzzed her so she'd move around, and she definitely didn't like that so she got active and kicked around quite a bit for the next twenty minutes. We'll see how she does next week.
Insomnia has really been kicking my behind the past week and it doesn't seem to be getting much better. The frequent bathroom trips don't help, but it's not the primary cause...I just have very very busy dreams where I'm just busy doing every day stuff from work to taking care of household chores to caring for Tay, so when I finally wake up, it feels like I haven't slept at all! The constant exhaustion is really making me cranky throughout the day, which I'm sure is wearing on Jeff and Tay...so how do I break this cycle? I feel like I got no rest this weekend, and it was supposed to be relaxing! Ah well...even taking naps during the day just don't seem to help much anymore. Perhaps this is the way my body is trying to prepare me for having a newborn in the house again...getting my body used to the lack of good "rest?" At least then I'll have a cuddly newborn to love on with a sweetheart of a big sister to help me out...and no work to think about...at least for six weeks? Maybe I should just start my maternity leave next week...::sigh::
Mom gets here on the 19th and Chuseok is on the 22nd...I'm hoping the little one comes on the 23rd. Others are betting earlier. I'm still hoping the 23rd. Riley, come on the 23rd, yes? Please? :)
Hoping for a good next week...and a safe and happy delivery after my mom gets here!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The last month...
I now have just about one month left before our second angel joins our family. I don't know what it is that I feel about the pregnancy right now, but a strange sense of calm and happiness has settled over me, so perhaps serenity is the best word to describe it. For most of the pregnancy, I think I was feeling anxiety and some guilt about brining this new life into our seemingly perfect three-person family life, but now as the time draws closer to meet little Riley, I'm happy and feel ready to take on the task of mothering a newborn again with enough love to spare for my still beautiful and ever-needy-yet-independent Tay. I feel bad for those people who always comment that Tay will become old news once the new baby is born because I think I will be even more amazed and loving toward her because of her new role as a big sister, and I fully believe that she will embrace that role with enthusiasm. Of course, I expect the natural jealousy and moments of frustration she will feel when I, or others, have to be preoccupied because of the newborn, but I feel I will be able to help her feel loved enough for her not to feel threatened. Not because I think I'm some super-mom or have any special skills on mothering...just because I know that Tay has an enormous heart and my love for her is so overwhelming that I can't fathom feeling any other way toward her...no matter what. It's a great sort of feeling that has settled over me, and I hope it carries through the rest of the time I have left being pregnant and through the birth and thereafter.
As for my physical well-being, I can't say it's quite as happy as my mental state. My lower back is aching all day, especially first thing in the morning when I get out of bed, and of course, by the late evening when the day's activities are wearing me down. It feels like little Riley is starting to move down already, which puts a little more pressure on my lower nerves and of course my bladder...which results in more frequent trips to the restroom. I don't mind those as much, but I don't like the wake-up calls in the middle of the night feeling like I'm about to wet myself if I don't hurry up and get to the bathroom. Also, when pregnant the first time I didn't have any reccurance of nausea once my third trimester hit, but now I'm feeling that slight queasy feeling again; thankfully not as severely as the first trimester. I am significantly more tired this trimester than I was in my second trimester, but I know it's because I'm wearing myself out trying to keep Tay busy and entertained after work. Keeping active has also given me much more energy, though, so I think the tiredness during the day is worth having more energy in the evening to spend with her. I have started to battle the "waddle," as my natural gait starts to widen to make room for my ever-dropping baby belly, but I think part of it has to do with the fact that I don't like the way my inner thighs rub together in this sweaty heat. Waddling reduces the friction...ugh. Sleeping is also a little less comfortable now because when I lie down, breathing gets to be more difficult until I get my belly situated "just-so" on one side or the other, so every time I wake up to roll over (or go to the bathroom), I have to resituate myself into a comfortable position to fall back asleep. My insomnia seems to have passed, but I still feel like I'm losing quite a lot of sleep because of all the time spent waking up in the middle of the night with visits to the bathroom and rolling over. And of course, I can't forget Mr. Sciatic Nerve as it continues to cramp my behind's style and Mr. Leg Cramps as it wakes me up in a jerking motion trying to get the cramp out before it really locks me up. I don't remember being so whiney about all the physical pains of pregnancy during my first pregnancy, but man...it just all seems so much worse this time around. I think I just got lucky and had it super easy my first time, so I'm paying for it this time around...:P Can't REALLY complain, though...I still have it pretty easy compared to some of my poor pregnant friends who are on bed rest or have morning sickness throughout the entire pregnancy. I feel for you guys...
Last, but not least, I've been doing a lot of reading about doulas lately and now am considering hiring one for my birth. It seems there are quite a few options here in Korea for doulas, and although I feel a lot less anxious about this labor/delivery than the first time around, I have this feeling that I experienced my first labor/delivery sort of haphazardly. I think after Jeff gets back from this exercise, we'll chat about it and see what he thinks and maybe we'll chat with one or two ladies to see how we feel. Anyone have any experience with doulas here in Korea wanna share? :)
As for my physical well-being, I can't say it's quite as happy as my mental state. My lower back is aching all day, especially first thing in the morning when I get out of bed, and of course, by the late evening when the day's activities are wearing me down. It feels like little Riley is starting to move down already, which puts a little more pressure on my lower nerves and of course my bladder...which results in more frequent trips to the restroom. I don't mind those as much, but I don't like the wake-up calls in the middle of the night feeling like I'm about to wet myself if I don't hurry up and get to the bathroom. Also, when pregnant the first time I didn't have any reccurance of nausea once my third trimester hit, but now I'm feeling that slight queasy feeling again; thankfully not as severely as the first trimester. I am significantly more tired this trimester than I was in my second trimester, but I know it's because I'm wearing myself out trying to keep Tay busy and entertained after work. Keeping active has also given me much more energy, though, so I think the tiredness during the day is worth having more energy in the evening to spend with her. I have started to battle the "waddle," as my natural gait starts to widen to make room for my ever-dropping baby belly, but I think part of it has to do with the fact that I don't like the way my inner thighs rub together in this sweaty heat. Waddling reduces the friction...ugh. Sleeping is also a little less comfortable now because when I lie down, breathing gets to be more difficult until I get my belly situated "just-so" on one side or the other, so every time I wake up to roll over (or go to the bathroom), I have to resituate myself into a comfortable position to fall back asleep. My insomnia seems to have passed, but I still feel like I'm losing quite a lot of sleep because of all the time spent waking up in the middle of the night with visits to the bathroom and rolling over. And of course, I can't forget Mr. Sciatic Nerve as it continues to cramp my behind's style and Mr. Leg Cramps as it wakes me up in a jerking motion trying to get the cramp out before it really locks me up. I don't remember being so whiney about all the physical pains of pregnancy during my first pregnancy, but man...it just all seems so much worse this time around. I think I just got lucky and had it super easy my first time, so I'm paying for it this time around...:P Can't REALLY complain, though...I still have it pretty easy compared to some of my poor pregnant friends who are on bed rest or have morning sickness throughout the entire pregnancy. I feel for you guys...
Last, but not least, I've been doing a lot of reading about doulas lately and now am considering hiring one for my birth. It seems there are quite a few options here in Korea for doulas, and although I feel a lot less anxious about this labor/delivery than the first time around, I have this feeling that I experienced my first labor/delivery sort of haphazardly. I think after Jeff gets back from this exercise, we'll chat about it and see what he thinks and maybe we'll chat with one or two ladies to see how we feel. Anyone have any experience with doulas here in Korea wanna share? :)
Friday, July 30, 2010
Vacation, Hiccups, and a little more...
Vacationing while pregnant has its perks and its disadvantages. The obvious disadvantages are the discomforts of travelling by any mode of transportation for any given amount of time; dietary changes that may or may not impact your digestive tract; not being able to sleep in your own bed; and just being out of sync because you're out of your routine.
Some of the perks are pretty sweet, though. Like...being able to eat whatever dessert you want without feeling guilty (although I still did because I knew my doc in Korea would pass out at my weight gain when I got back); no work to think about (!!!!!!); napping in the middle of the day with my big girl...every day; seeing FAMILY; catching up with friends; and I think I have to admit that jet lag on vacation is actually a perk for pregnant women because now we really have an excuse to sleep all day and sleep all night...and so much more.
Moving on...
Another part of being on vacation is that I get lazy. I haven't decided if that's a perk or a disadvantage because part of vacation is supposed to be enjoyable because you get to be lazy...right? Anyhow, when pregnant, you must be vigilant about certain things, like taking your prenatal vitamins, and recording special developments with the little baby growing inside of you as if she were your first. I can't say I've been as dilligent about writing about this pregnancy as I did with Tay, but I think circumstances are a little different right now, too...I'm still working full time at the tail end of this pregnancy, I've got a toddler who's quite interesting to say the least, and some things I guess are just not as novel the second time around.
I was going back and reading through some of my pregnancy experiences with Tay, and noticed that I recorded the very first time I felt her hiccupping inside of me and how excited I was (and how hilarious I found it) to know what it was. Well, I can't equate the experience of my first hiccups with little Riley to Tay's first hiccups, but I did record it and it was memorable. Riley had her first hiccups on July 14th and 4:45am and it woke me up because she was hiccupping right by my bladder. The first thought that actually crossed my mind when I realized she was hiccuping: "Thank goodness, she's now in the head-down position." Is that odd? I guess I was a little more concerned with the possibility of her being breech than I thought I was.
I did get asked if I was carrying twins a couple times, but I decided not to get offended because some people just aren't used to seeing pregnant women...eh. At least while I was in the states, I had more people tell me that I looked small for being so far along instead of the constant "you're so huge" comments I received here in Korea.
Once we got back to Korea, though, the jet lag is kicking my butt since I actually have to be awake during the day because of work, but Tay doesn't want to sleep past 2am...ugh. It's been a rough few days, but she's slowly starting to sleep a little later...like this morning, she woke up at 3:45 instead of 2am and stayed in bed until at least 5:15...
I also had my doctor's appointment after I got back and luckily, the doctor didn't fall out of her chair when she saw my weight (although she did gasp in disgust). Little Riley is quite healthy and developing and growing at a rapid rate. She is still in the head-down position and looks to be stuck there for the time being. According to the measurements, she's looking like she's already over four pounds...let's hope she doesn't double in weight between now and when she wants to come out, but if she does, then I'll just have another healthy big baby girl. :)
I transfer over to Cha hospital now so my next visit will be with Dr. Cha on the 16th of August. Looking forward to getting to that finish line, but am in no rush to get there. We'll just take it one day at a time and enjoy my last couple months with Riley's ever-growing big sister Tay as an only child.
Some of the perks are pretty sweet, though. Like...being able to eat whatever dessert you want without feeling guilty (although I still did because I knew my doc in Korea would pass out at my weight gain when I got back); no work to think about (!!!!!!); napping in the middle of the day with my big girl...every day; seeing FAMILY; catching up with friends; and I think I have to admit that jet lag on vacation is actually a perk for pregnant women because now we really have an excuse to sleep all day and sleep all night...and so much more.
Moving on...
Another part of being on vacation is that I get lazy. I haven't decided if that's a perk or a disadvantage because part of vacation is supposed to be enjoyable because you get to be lazy...right? Anyhow, when pregnant, you must be vigilant about certain things, like taking your prenatal vitamins, and recording special developments with the little baby growing inside of you as if she were your first. I can't say I've been as dilligent about writing about this pregnancy as I did with Tay, but I think circumstances are a little different right now, too...I'm still working full time at the tail end of this pregnancy, I've got a toddler who's quite interesting to say the least, and some things I guess are just not as novel the second time around.
I was going back and reading through some of my pregnancy experiences with Tay, and noticed that I recorded the very first time I felt her hiccupping inside of me and how excited I was (and how hilarious I found it) to know what it was. Well, I can't equate the experience of my first hiccups with little Riley to Tay's first hiccups, but I did record it and it was memorable. Riley had her first hiccups on July 14th and 4:45am and it woke me up because she was hiccupping right by my bladder. The first thought that actually crossed my mind when I realized she was hiccuping: "Thank goodness, she's now in the head-down position." Is that odd? I guess I was a little more concerned with the possibility of her being breech than I thought I was.
I did get asked if I was carrying twins a couple times, but I decided not to get offended because some people just aren't used to seeing pregnant women...eh. At least while I was in the states, I had more people tell me that I looked small for being so far along instead of the constant "you're so huge" comments I received here in Korea.
Once we got back to Korea, though, the jet lag is kicking my butt since I actually have to be awake during the day because of work, but Tay doesn't want to sleep past 2am...ugh. It's been a rough few days, but she's slowly starting to sleep a little later...like this morning, she woke up at 3:45 instead of 2am and stayed in bed until at least 5:15...
I also had my doctor's appointment after I got back and luckily, the doctor didn't fall out of her chair when she saw my weight (although she did gasp in disgust). Little Riley is quite healthy and developing and growing at a rapid rate. She is still in the head-down position and looks to be stuck there for the time being. According to the measurements, she's looking like she's already over four pounds...let's hope she doesn't double in weight between now and when she wants to come out, but if she does, then I'll just have another healthy big baby girl. :)
I transfer over to Cha hospital now so my next visit will be with Dr. Cha on the 16th of August. Looking forward to getting to that finish line, but am in no rush to get there. We'll just take it one day at a time and enjoy my last couple months with Riley's ever-growing big sister Tay as an only child.
Monday, June 21, 2010
No Phone Call Yet...
Well, so far, I've received no phone call regarding my glucose screening, which might mean good news that I am not gestationaly diebetic. It's been almost a week, and usually they call within the week if anything is wrong. We'll wait a few more days before the final determination.
The doctor's visit last Tuesday went about as expected. They told me I was gaining too much weight and told me I needed to go on a diet. Eh. Luckily, I am somewhat numbed to them saying it now, so it didn't have the effect it did the first few times. :P The baby has grown quite a bit since my last visit, too, though, so it's not just all me! Anyhow, I'm now sitting around 27 weeks according to the size of the baby, and they said it's about time for me to start doing exercises to make the baby turn. She's sitting in a breech position right now with her head snuggled up near my rib cage and constantly kicking my bladder. It's so strange to have so much information this pregnancy. I wouldn't have known if Tay was in a breech or otherwise position until at least week 36 or so...and probably wouldn't have worried about it. Now I'm doing daily exercises already to get this little one to turn...but I think there's still too much room in there for her to stay in the head-down position. A few times after the exercises, I'll feel her kicking up in my rib cage and think, oh, she's turned, but then later on that day, she'll be right back down by my bladder kicking away. Maybe I should just wait a few more weeks before trying to get her turned...in the mean time, she seems to be just fine rolling around in there however she feels like rolling.
I've also tried adjusting my diet a little, mostly snacking on grape/cherry tomatoes - my latest "craving" persay. It's hard trying to eat only healthy alternatives...for me, I think it's mostly portion control that I have issues with...and preventing myself from eating whatever is available at the time...
In other symptomatic news, I have had minor bloody noses for the past three or four days in the morning. I think it's because our air conditioner finally works in the bedroom, so it's drying out my nasal passages, but I am sleeping a whole lot better since I'm not sweltering...is it worth the tradeoff? Perhaps. My lower back is also bothering me quite a bit, but I think that is mostly due to my sciatic nerve and carrying around Tay everywhere. She doesn't feel heavy to me, but I can feel the ache in my lower back after I've carried her for a while and set her down.
Another thing that has been on my mind lately is what Saint's name to give to little Riley since she will be baptized in the Catholic church shortly after she is born. I'm hoping that she will be able to be baptized while my parents are still here visiting after her birth. Some of my favorites with the September month association are Seraphia and Teresa, while Sophia is also one I like. Also, who can we ask to be a God-parent for her? Religion is increasingly important for me these days...I'm not exactly sure why...but I just feel the need for God's presence in our lives, and I want to raise our children with an awareness and understanding of God and His love for us.
Oooo...another improvement from last week is that my crazy sweets craving has subsided, mostly, so I'm not craving chocolate every minute of every day. :) I am satisfied with a piece of fruit or even a cherry tomato! Thank goodness. Maybe I can finally get this weight under control...ha ha...
Anyway, I got my fit-to-fly memorandum for our vacation! We fly on Saturday so I'm hoping for the best. I never flew so far into my pregnancy last time around, so this should be interesting. I hear I should walk a lot to prevent clots and swelling...I'll see what I can do. Also...will they let pregnant women take snacks on board?
The doctor's visit last Tuesday went about as expected. They told me I was gaining too much weight and told me I needed to go on a diet. Eh. Luckily, I am somewhat numbed to them saying it now, so it didn't have the effect it did the first few times. :P The baby has grown quite a bit since my last visit, too, though, so it's not just all me! Anyhow, I'm now sitting around 27 weeks according to the size of the baby, and they said it's about time for me to start doing exercises to make the baby turn. She's sitting in a breech position right now with her head snuggled up near my rib cage and constantly kicking my bladder. It's so strange to have so much information this pregnancy. I wouldn't have known if Tay was in a breech or otherwise position until at least week 36 or so...and probably wouldn't have worried about it. Now I'm doing daily exercises already to get this little one to turn...but I think there's still too much room in there for her to stay in the head-down position. A few times after the exercises, I'll feel her kicking up in my rib cage and think, oh, she's turned, but then later on that day, she'll be right back down by my bladder kicking away. Maybe I should just wait a few more weeks before trying to get her turned...in the mean time, she seems to be just fine rolling around in there however she feels like rolling.
I've also tried adjusting my diet a little, mostly snacking on grape/cherry tomatoes - my latest "craving" persay. It's hard trying to eat only healthy alternatives...for me, I think it's mostly portion control that I have issues with...and preventing myself from eating whatever is available at the time...
In other symptomatic news, I have had minor bloody noses for the past three or four days in the morning. I think it's because our air conditioner finally works in the bedroom, so it's drying out my nasal passages, but I am sleeping a whole lot better since I'm not sweltering...is it worth the tradeoff? Perhaps. My lower back is also bothering me quite a bit, but I think that is mostly due to my sciatic nerve and carrying around Tay everywhere. She doesn't feel heavy to me, but I can feel the ache in my lower back after I've carried her for a while and set her down.
Another thing that has been on my mind lately is what Saint's name to give to little Riley since she will be baptized in the Catholic church shortly after she is born. I'm hoping that she will be able to be baptized while my parents are still here visiting after her birth. Some of my favorites with the September month association are Seraphia and Teresa, while Sophia is also one I like. Also, who can we ask to be a God-parent for her? Religion is increasingly important for me these days...I'm not exactly sure why...but I just feel the need for God's presence in our lives, and I want to raise our children with an awareness and understanding of God and His love for us.
Oooo...another improvement from last week is that my crazy sweets craving has subsided, mostly, so I'm not craving chocolate every minute of every day. :) I am satisfied with a piece of fruit or even a cherry tomato! Thank goodness. Maybe I can finally get this weight under control...ha ha...
Anyway, I got my fit-to-fly memorandum for our vacation! We fly on Saturday so I'm hoping for the best. I never flew so far into my pregnancy last time around, so this should be interesting. I hear I should walk a lot to prevent clots and swelling...I'll see what I can do. Also...will they let pregnant women take snacks on board?
Monday, June 14, 2010
Pregnant Beauty
Never during my first pregnancy did I ever think my pregnant body was...too fat or too ugly or too anything...except perfect. I can't say that I didn't have any of the typical pregnancy symptoms like breakouts and fat rolls and funny skin color changes, but NEVER have I ever felt "unattractive" because I knew my body was growing a beautiful human being inside of me and that she was healthy and I was healthy. It didn't matter that I gained weight every second I breathed and it didn't matter that I didn't stay under the recommended weight gain for a "healthy" pregnant woman...I still felt BEAUTIFUL and happy with my physical body...literally the entire pregnancy. I might not have been emotionally stable throughout it, much like this current pregnancy, but the emotional instability was more focused on what I was going to be doing in the future, what kind of mom I was going to be, if I'd be a good mom, etc. Not about my body image.
This pregnancy, I think 90% of my stress is coming from how "fat" I'm getting and how much I weigh. I stepped on the scale yesterday, to psychologically try and prepare myself for my next doctor's appointment tomorrow, and nearly fell over in shock at the number on the scale. Honestly, I probably weighed more than that with the first pregnancy at 25/26 weeks, but all I could hear in my head was, YOU ARE GAINING TOO MUCH WEIGHT, YOU ARE OVER OBESE, YOU NEED TO STOP EATING...
I keep telling myself I'll adjust my diet, eat less, no more sweets, etc...but constantly worrying about my weight is actually making me crave the sweets and unhealthy foods that I need to be avoiding! Why do I do this???
I don't feel "unhealthy." I did just jog a 5K fun run in 40 minutes and 45 seconds and felt fine (my leg muscles were sore for a couple days after). I do walk fairly frequently, although not the recommended three hours a day from my doctor. I never charted my weight gain the first time around, but for this pregnancy, I have been keeping track, somewhat, but not religiously like my doctor recommended (to ensure I gain only 11 pounds this prengancy, ha!). Sadly to say, I have already burst the bubble on those recommended eleven pounds, but I'm happy to report that I have been steadily gaining one to two pounds (most weeks, two pounds) throughout this second trimester. My understanding is that is an okay weight gain for someone who was in the normal weight range before I got pregnant. According to my current doctor, though, I started out my pregnancy as an obese person, so I was not supposed to gain the "normal" amount of weight for this pregnancy. Blah blah blah...so I weighed more than 100 pounds when I got pregnant. I'm not the "typical" Korean woman. Give me a break.
This next doctor's appointment will be my last with this doctor. I'll be transferring to the hospital where I am planning on having little Riley - the same hospital where I had Tay. And I'll even have the same doctor if everything goes as planned. Maybe they'll give me a break about my weight and just be happy for me that the little life growing inside of me is healthy and strong and that she will be just as lovely when she's born as my first angel was...:)
Tomorrow is my glucose screening...yay. More to follow after the test. Hopefully I'll have a better self-image by then...:P
This pregnancy, I think 90% of my stress is coming from how "fat" I'm getting and how much I weigh. I stepped on the scale yesterday, to psychologically try and prepare myself for my next doctor's appointment tomorrow, and nearly fell over in shock at the number on the scale. Honestly, I probably weighed more than that with the first pregnancy at 25/26 weeks, but all I could hear in my head was, YOU ARE GAINING TOO MUCH WEIGHT, YOU ARE OVER OBESE, YOU NEED TO STOP EATING...
I keep telling myself I'll adjust my diet, eat less, no more sweets, etc...but constantly worrying about my weight is actually making me crave the sweets and unhealthy foods that I need to be avoiding! Why do I do this???
I don't feel "unhealthy." I did just jog a 5K fun run in 40 minutes and 45 seconds and felt fine (my leg muscles were sore for a couple days after). I do walk fairly frequently, although not the recommended three hours a day from my doctor. I never charted my weight gain the first time around, but for this pregnancy, I have been keeping track, somewhat, but not religiously like my doctor recommended (to ensure I gain only 11 pounds this prengancy, ha!). Sadly to say, I have already burst the bubble on those recommended eleven pounds, but I'm happy to report that I have been steadily gaining one to two pounds (most weeks, two pounds) throughout this second trimester. My understanding is that is an okay weight gain for someone who was in the normal weight range before I got pregnant. According to my current doctor, though, I started out my pregnancy as an obese person, so I was not supposed to gain the "normal" amount of weight for this pregnancy. Blah blah blah...so I weighed more than 100 pounds when I got pregnant. I'm not the "typical" Korean woman. Give me a break.
This next doctor's appointment will be my last with this doctor. I'll be transferring to the hospital where I am planning on having little Riley - the same hospital where I had Tay. And I'll even have the same doctor if everything goes as planned. Maybe they'll give me a break about my weight and just be happy for me that the little life growing inside of me is healthy and strong and that she will be just as lovely when she's born as my first angel was...:)
Tomorrow is my glucose screening...yay. More to follow after the test. Hopefully I'll have a better self-image by then...:P
Monday, June 7, 2010
Overdue...post.
There have been a lot of thinking on my part about this pregnancy, but I haven't had the time or motivation to write it all down, so here I am trying to capture some of my thoughts after about a month's hiatus.
I am now around 24 weeks pregnant and feeling pretty good. Mostly I am tired from lack of sleep, but usually my pregnancy sleepiness hits around 1:30 or 2 and really makes me tired so I like taking a nap around then for an hour or two (or three...if I can get away with it).
As for some other symptoms, I have recently started having lower back pain and some of it I'm sure has to do with me carrying around Tay all the time still (she's now around 32 pounds!) but some of it is definitely sciatica pain that comes with pregnancy. I had some of it with Tay, too, so it's a familiar kind of pain...ugh. My hands and feet are also now constantly hot...which doesn't help at all now that the weather's also getting extremely hot, day and night. The fact that our AC units in our new apartment aren't functioning well also doesn't help...especially when I try to sleep at night. People have started saying that I just have this great pregnancy glow these past few days, but I think they are just mistaking my constantly sweaty skin for the "glow"...or maybe they're just trying to be nice. I am showing significantly in my belly, of course, and there also has been quite a bit of growth in my behind and cheeks as well. Welcome back, chipmunk cheeks. Will there be photos? Maybe. I haven't decided. I probably ought to get some taken of the belly at least for posterity. I feel huge already, and I am not looking forward to getting even more huge as the summer progresses, but what I AM looking forward to is seeing all my family in a few weeks at Calloway Gardens! I'm sure I'll be sweltering there, too, but at least I will just be relaxing and spending some fun time with family and friends on wonderful-looking resort grounds...:) Another thing I'm looking forward to...finding and buying some summer maternity clothes! There just isn't much selection here, and all my maternity clothes from when I was big with Tay are winter clothes since I had her in March!
Ah, another big development in the pregnancy is that we have decided on this little angel's name: Shinah Riley Ryals! Jeff and I had been talking about possible names for her for a while, and we finally agreed on Shinah, which means "beautiful faith" in Korean, and it is like her big sister's name in that Tay's first name is Shingil, which means "a path to faith" in Korean. Her middle name is just a name we had always both liked and we had contemplated between the names Riley and Raegan before choosing Riley. I'm not sure if it's normal to announce the decision of a baby's name already, but we did the same with Tay, so here it is. She will be called Shinah Riley Ryals.
Riley is quite the active one. We can already see her wiggling, jiggling, and kicking around in my belly...enough that you can see it from the outside. Tay felt her kick for the first time and now she refers to my belly as "the baby." She seems to be most active at night time right before I go to sleep, which doesn't help me fall asleep, but it's a nice way to drift off to sleep as I feel her kicking around in there. She doesn't seem to have a regular awake and sleeping period like Tay did, though, because most of her movement is sporadically throughout the day. She'll be really still for a bit, and then she'll be really active for about 10-15 minutes. Sometimes her movements will go on for almost an hour, at which point it feels like my insides have become all jumbled and I get a little nauseous...:)
My eating habits have not improved...I am trying to curb my appetite, but all I crave these days are sweets...and anything chocolate. Disturbing. I did have a hankering for watermelon, to which Jeff brought home a huge DELICIOUS watermelon. We've eaten half of it (perfect for this stifling weather, too!) and I imagine I'll prep the rest of it for eating tonight. I have also loved the taste and smell of cumin and chili powder as well as any and all kinds of salsa, so Mexican/southwestern dishes have been my foods of choice lately. Luckily, I found a GREAT and easy recipe on smittenkitchen.com for Southwestern pulled brisket, which I've already made two weeks in a row. Guess what's for dinner tonight? :) What I love best about it is that the prep takes about 20-30 minutes, and then you throw it all in a slow cooker for 8-10 hours (I usually do this overnight or prep it first thing in the morning) and dinner is ready for two-three days! The delicious smell that fills our house as it cooks is just...::sigh::...I love it...and so does the rest of the family, including Tay and Riley. Looks like it will be a staple at my house for a while.
My next doc appointment is scheduled for 15 June, and it will be for my glucose screening. Not looking forward to drinking the orange stuff, but hopefully all will be well and I will not be gestationally diebetic.
Ah, another thing to note that I didn't mention before is that I tried Zumba for the first time a couple weeks ago! It was a GREAT class and I felt absolutely ridiculous (mainly because I'm not super coordinated) and because gyrating hips and I don't get along so well, especially in public in front of giant mirrors...and with a giant belly. hahahaha...it provide much amusement, though, for me and everyone else in the room, I'm sure. :) Definitely want to go back, but need to find a class time I can make on a regular basis...I will definitely try and make that part of my post-baby routine, though - awesome workout.
I'm still debating whether or not I should merge this blog with the currently blog I keep for Tay...I like the separate blogs for now, and I think the entries may get too long if I merge them, but maybe in the future, I'll merge them to simplify...we'll see. If I feel motivated, I'll post some pictures of the bump and some of the ultrasound pics.
I am now around 24 weeks pregnant and feeling pretty good. Mostly I am tired from lack of sleep, but usually my pregnancy sleepiness hits around 1:30 or 2 and really makes me tired so I like taking a nap around then for an hour or two (or three...if I can get away with it).
As for some other symptoms, I have recently started having lower back pain and some of it I'm sure has to do with me carrying around Tay all the time still (she's now around 32 pounds!) but some of it is definitely sciatica pain that comes with pregnancy. I had some of it with Tay, too, so it's a familiar kind of pain...ugh. My hands and feet are also now constantly hot...which doesn't help at all now that the weather's also getting extremely hot, day and night. The fact that our AC units in our new apartment aren't functioning well also doesn't help...especially when I try to sleep at night. People have started saying that I just have this great pregnancy glow these past few days, but I think they are just mistaking my constantly sweaty skin for the "glow"...or maybe they're just trying to be nice. I am showing significantly in my belly, of course, and there also has been quite a bit of growth in my behind and cheeks as well. Welcome back, chipmunk cheeks. Will there be photos? Maybe. I haven't decided. I probably ought to get some taken of the belly at least for posterity. I feel huge already, and I am not looking forward to getting even more huge as the summer progresses, but what I AM looking forward to is seeing all my family in a few weeks at Calloway Gardens! I'm sure I'll be sweltering there, too, but at least I will just be relaxing and spending some fun time with family and friends on wonderful-looking resort grounds...:) Another thing I'm looking forward to...finding and buying some summer maternity clothes! There just isn't much selection here, and all my maternity clothes from when I was big with Tay are winter clothes since I had her in March!
Ah, another big development in the pregnancy is that we have decided on this little angel's name: Shinah Riley Ryals! Jeff and I had been talking about possible names for her for a while, and we finally agreed on Shinah, which means "beautiful faith" in Korean, and it is like her big sister's name in that Tay's first name is Shingil, which means "a path to faith" in Korean. Her middle name is just a name we had always both liked and we had contemplated between the names Riley and Raegan before choosing Riley. I'm not sure if it's normal to announce the decision of a baby's name already, but we did the same with Tay, so here it is. She will be called Shinah Riley Ryals.
Riley is quite the active one. We can already see her wiggling, jiggling, and kicking around in my belly...enough that you can see it from the outside. Tay felt her kick for the first time and now she refers to my belly as "the baby." She seems to be most active at night time right before I go to sleep, which doesn't help me fall asleep, but it's a nice way to drift off to sleep as I feel her kicking around in there. She doesn't seem to have a regular awake and sleeping period like Tay did, though, because most of her movement is sporadically throughout the day. She'll be really still for a bit, and then she'll be really active for about 10-15 minutes. Sometimes her movements will go on for almost an hour, at which point it feels like my insides have become all jumbled and I get a little nauseous...:)
My eating habits have not improved...I am trying to curb my appetite, but all I crave these days are sweets...and anything chocolate. Disturbing. I did have a hankering for watermelon, to which Jeff brought home a huge DELICIOUS watermelon. We've eaten half of it (perfect for this stifling weather, too!) and I imagine I'll prep the rest of it for eating tonight. I have also loved the taste and smell of cumin and chili powder as well as any and all kinds of salsa, so Mexican/southwestern dishes have been my foods of choice lately. Luckily, I found a GREAT and easy recipe on smittenkitchen.com for Southwestern pulled brisket, which I've already made two weeks in a row. Guess what's for dinner tonight? :) What I love best about it is that the prep takes about 20-30 minutes, and then you throw it all in a slow cooker for 8-10 hours (I usually do this overnight or prep it first thing in the morning) and dinner is ready for two-three days! The delicious smell that fills our house as it cooks is just...::sigh::...I love it...and so does the rest of the family, including Tay and Riley. Looks like it will be a staple at my house for a while.
My next doc appointment is scheduled for 15 June, and it will be for my glucose screening. Not looking forward to drinking the orange stuff, but hopefully all will be well and I will not be gestationally diebetic.
Ah, another thing to note that I didn't mention before is that I tried Zumba for the first time a couple weeks ago! It was a GREAT class and I felt absolutely ridiculous (mainly because I'm not super coordinated) and because gyrating hips and I don't get along so well, especially in public in front of giant mirrors...and with a giant belly. hahahaha...it provide much amusement, though, for me and everyone else in the room, I'm sure. :) Definitely want to go back, but need to find a class time I can make on a regular basis...I will definitely try and make that part of my post-baby routine, though - awesome workout.
I'm still debating whether or not I should merge this blog with the currently blog I keep for Tay...I like the separate blogs for now, and I think the entries may get too long if I merge them, but maybe in the future, I'll merge them to simplify...we'll see. If I feel motivated, I'll post some pictures of the bump and some of the ultrasound pics.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Excitement for More Pink!
Today's doctor's appointment was much anticipated since it was the full ultrasound where they would officially tell us if the little one was going to be a girl or a boy. Jeff even came with me this morning to ensure he heard (or saw) the same thing I did. After the routine stuff at the beginning, we went in for the ultrasound. Well, the start was quite...tedious, but good to hear that the baby was growing well in there. After all the official measurements and listening to the heart beat (beating at a rapid 154 bpm), the tech ended the viewing without any comment on the gender! Well, I casually mentioned to her that Jeff had actually come along specifically to find out the gender, so she sat me back down and we took a quick look...and she showed us...definitely girl! :)
Jeff and I are so excited that Tay's going to have a little sister! I'm so excited to meet the little personality growing inside me! Half way through and half way to go...can't hardly wait.
I wonder how similar and different she will be from Tay. Looking forward to getting to know her better...now that I can call her my little girl...:)
Jeff and I are so excited that Tay's going to have a little sister! I'm so excited to meet the little personality growing inside me! Half way through and half way to go...can't hardly wait.
I wonder how similar and different she will be from Tay. Looking forward to getting to know her better...now that I can call her my little girl...:)
Saturday, May 1, 2010
First movement!
While we were in Bali from 15-21 April, I felt the little one inside me move for the first time! It was that sweet little fluttering sensation that was undeniably the little one making itself known. Now that the first fetal movement has been felt, I can feel the little one kicking away and pushing to make room inside every day! Quite an amazing feeling and makes me smile every time...:)
Monday, April 5, 2010
15 Weeks...
Well, here I am sitting at 15 weeks along, and I've got a doctor's appointment this Wednesday. Holy week went by in a blur, and I am hoping that all those hours singing and not sleeping hasn't taken a toll on my little one growing inside. I have not rested as I should these past few weeks, but I think it has to do with the fact that I'm feeling much better now that I am out of the first trimester. The "morning sickness" and the strange salivating has subsided, and although when I eat certain foods, I still get a little queasy, I feel pretty good most of the time. I also have been so busy, I haven't had much opportunity to feel tired, except in the morning after a busy busy evening.
My belly is definitely starting to show, and it's particularly noticeable after I eat a large meal. At the end of the day as I'm getting Tay ready for a bath, she and I can stand next to each other and her little toddler belly and mine are quite similar...:) Depending on what I'm wearing, it can still look like I'm just putting on some weight as opposed to actually being pregnant, but I think it's pretty obvious that I'm pregnant...and I look forward to it being more pronounced in the next few weeks.
It's funny how different this pregnancy is from the first. Mostly, the difference, I think, has to do with the foods I'm interested in eating. I feel like I ate a lot of salmon (or fish, in general) and fruit when I was pregnant with Tay, but with this one, most of what I'm craving is salad and spicy foods. I've also craved naeng-myun, made spicy with the mustard. I can also eat and enjoy eggs (like poached eggs), whereas when I was pregnant with Tay, I couldn't even stand the sight of eggs, particularly scrambled eggs!
As for my health, I know I was sick with a cold at the very beginning of the pregnancy with Tay, and I was also pretty sick this time around, too, but it was a much more aggressive sickness, but short-lived. Thankfully. I'm a little concerned now, though, because it seems after last week's over-exhaustion, I have caught another bug that's giving me quite the discomfort with nasal stuffiness, coughing, and sneezing. I hope it doesn't progress much worse than it is now...definitely do not want to go through what I did with the first cold in the first trimester. Ugh.
I think this go around, my stomach is just a lot more "ready" to flip inside-out as opposed to the first time...it's strange, but even the slightest gagging sensation will result in a full-on gag session or throwing up. It's rather unpleasant, and I'm hoping all of that is gone, but even so, I accidentally gagged myself brushing my teeth one morning and I spent about a minute gagging in the sink with nothing in my stomach but acid. Just not pleasant...I really don't like that super-watery-mouth feeling when it thinks you're going to throw up, but you're hoping you won't, so you just breathe and pant trying to keep it down, but your mouth is just producing saliva like crazy. Wow, that was a long sentence that probably doesn't make sense to anyone else but me...ah well...
I wonder if they'll be able to tell the gender of you at this next visit. I really really really hope so because I really really really want to know (and I know there are many others who want to know, too), but I have a feeling they'll tell me it's too early to tell. I don't know why I'm so very curious this time around, but it's definitely something that's in the forefront of my mind about you lately. It's hard, I think, to really start talking to you and addressing you like my own little baby until I can picture you as a little boy or girl. My guess flip-flops regularly, but something tells me you might be a boy. Maybe it's because I feel like I'm getting a little hairier than I think I normally am...maybe it's because of the gender predictor kit...who knows. No matter what, I'll love you and you've already got two other built-in people who will love you as much as I do.
You have also got the most caring and loving little sister...if you could only see how she is around other children...and her strong belief in the need for fairness in life...her loving actions to protect those who are smaller than her...her willingness to help others...it's beautiful and you are a luckly little one to have such a loving big sister. I looking forward to the day you get to meet her. :) She will love you...very much.
I'm really looking forward to the Wednesday appointment. Let's hope you're doing well, even though I am a bit under the weather...
My belly is definitely starting to show, and it's particularly noticeable after I eat a large meal. At the end of the day as I'm getting Tay ready for a bath, she and I can stand next to each other and her little toddler belly and mine are quite similar...:) Depending on what I'm wearing, it can still look like I'm just putting on some weight as opposed to actually being pregnant, but I think it's pretty obvious that I'm pregnant...and I look forward to it being more pronounced in the next few weeks.
It's funny how different this pregnancy is from the first. Mostly, the difference, I think, has to do with the foods I'm interested in eating. I feel like I ate a lot of salmon (or fish, in general) and fruit when I was pregnant with Tay, but with this one, most of what I'm craving is salad and spicy foods. I've also craved naeng-myun, made spicy with the mustard. I can also eat and enjoy eggs (like poached eggs), whereas when I was pregnant with Tay, I couldn't even stand the sight of eggs, particularly scrambled eggs!
As for my health, I know I was sick with a cold at the very beginning of the pregnancy with Tay, and I was also pretty sick this time around, too, but it was a much more aggressive sickness, but short-lived. Thankfully. I'm a little concerned now, though, because it seems after last week's over-exhaustion, I have caught another bug that's giving me quite the discomfort with nasal stuffiness, coughing, and sneezing. I hope it doesn't progress much worse than it is now...definitely do not want to go through what I did with the first cold in the first trimester. Ugh.
I think this go around, my stomach is just a lot more "ready" to flip inside-out as opposed to the first time...it's strange, but even the slightest gagging sensation will result in a full-on gag session or throwing up. It's rather unpleasant, and I'm hoping all of that is gone, but even so, I accidentally gagged myself brushing my teeth one morning and I spent about a minute gagging in the sink with nothing in my stomach but acid. Just not pleasant...I really don't like that super-watery-mouth feeling when it thinks you're going to throw up, but you're hoping you won't, so you just breathe and pant trying to keep it down, but your mouth is just producing saliva like crazy. Wow, that was a long sentence that probably doesn't make sense to anyone else but me...ah well...
I wonder if they'll be able to tell the gender of you at this next visit. I really really really hope so because I really really really want to know (and I know there are many others who want to know, too), but I have a feeling they'll tell me it's too early to tell. I don't know why I'm so very curious this time around, but it's definitely something that's in the forefront of my mind about you lately. It's hard, I think, to really start talking to you and addressing you like my own little baby until I can picture you as a little boy or girl. My guess flip-flops regularly, but something tells me you might be a boy. Maybe it's because I feel like I'm getting a little hairier than I think I normally am...maybe it's because of the gender predictor kit...who knows. No matter what, I'll love you and you've already got two other built-in people who will love you as much as I do.
You have also got the most caring and loving little sister...if you could only see how she is around other children...and her strong belief in the need for fairness in life...her loving actions to protect those who are smaller than her...her willingness to help others...it's beautiful and you are a luckly little one to have such a loving big sister. I looking forward to the day you get to meet her. :) She will love you...very much.
I'm really looking forward to the Wednesday appointment. Let's hope you're doing well, even though I am a bit under the weather...
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Gender Predictor Kit!
Well, my impatience in finding out the gender of this little one growing in my belly got so out of hand that I ordered an Intelligender Predictor Kit from target.com. I first heard about it from my friend Sarah who had her little baby in the earliest part of this year, so I was intrigued to try it now as well. Obviously it's not 100% accurate, but it wasn't too pricy and my curiosity won out, so I purchased one. The test explains that you can take it from 10 weeks on, but when I hit 10 weeks, Jeff was still out of town, so I waited until now because I wanted a second opinion on the "color" of the sample.
You're supposed to use the first morning urine sample, so I happily collected that this morning (j/k) and followed their directions to include waiting 10 minutes before "reading" the color of the sample in the cup. At 10 minutes, we both took a look at the color and I automatically said, DEFINITELY BOY, but then, Jeff had to confuse me and said there's a hint of orange in there (which could mean a girl). So, Jeff's guessing girl and I'm guessing boy for now.
Who knows...it was fun to see what might come up anyway. Of course, we'll not know for sure until we get the ultrasound (and of course that's not 100% either, but close enough), but for the time being, it's interesting (and a bit scary) to think I might have a little boy growing in there...how in the world do I raise a little boy???
Part of me still thinks it's going to be a little girl...but maybe I'll be one of the 85% that the gender predictor kit predicted properly...:)
We'll see. Just hope you're doing well in there, little one.
Week 12 down; on with week 13!
You're supposed to use the first morning urine sample, so I happily collected that this morning (j/k) and followed their directions to include waiting 10 minutes before "reading" the color of the sample in the cup. At 10 minutes, we both took a look at the color and I automatically said, DEFINITELY BOY, but then, Jeff had to confuse me and said there's a hint of orange in there (which could mean a girl). So, Jeff's guessing girl and I'm guessing boy for now.
Who knows...it was fun to see what might come up anyway. Of course, we'll not know for sure until we get the ultrasound (and of course that's not 100% either, but close enough), but for the time being, it's interesting (and a bit scary) to think I might have a little boy growing in there...how in the world do I raise a little boy???
Part of me still thinks it's going to be a little girl...but maybe I'll be one of the 85% that the gender predictor kit predicted properly...:)
We'll see. Just hope you're doing well in there, little one.
Week 12 down; on with week 13!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Welcome, 2nd Trimester!
Today is the day my second trimester begins, and it has started off GREAT! I got very good sleep last night and woke up relatively refreshed this morning. For the first morning in a long time, I didn't feel nauseous, and I had this new energy to get ready for the day. Tay was surprisingly cooperative this morning getting ready, so we got some snacks for the day and we headed out the door with no fuss (minus a bit of jacket battle) and we were on the road before 8am! Amazing! I don't think I've done that for at least the past two months!
This might be sign of good things to come this trimester, and I definitely look forward to getting to know the little one growing inside of me a little better this trimester...
YAY!
This might be sign of good things to come this trimester, and I definitely look forward to getting to know the little one growing inside of me a little better this trimester...
YAY!
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