Labor Days (Part 1/2)

The labor story is actually pretty long, well because the labor was pretty long. As I found out later, I was going through a prolonged labor that was a result of my small pelvic opening, which later resulted finally in a Caesarean.

On Sunday, Sept. 23, Day 1 of labor, I started contractions. They were coming at about 5 minutes apart, but only last 30 seconds, and they were not very painful. When the contractions started, we were really excited that today might be the day. By nighttime, the contractions were not increasing so we both went to sleep.

Monday, Day 2 of labor, the contractions continued. Alvin and I woke up and started taking walks. We walked about 2 hours on Day 2 to try to make labor go faster. The contractions were now 7 minutes apart, lasting for a minute, and continuing all day. Yet, by the recommendation of our doctor, we were not supposed to come in until the contractions were 5 minutes apart, lasting for a minute, continuous for more than an hour.

Tuesday, Day 3, the contractions continued. On this day we walked for 3 hours, but there was not much of an increase.

Wednesday, Day 4, the contractions continued. We went to the hospital to do something, and so we ended up having them hook me up to a fetal monitor. According to the doctor, some of the contractions were very strong, and some of them were just ok. Disappointingly, we went home. That day, I tried not to think about the contractions. I almost felt like if I ignored them, they didn't hurt. All of this positive thinking changed that night. That night the contractions got really intense. Yet, I didn't believe that it was enough to get admitted in the hospital. I was still counting at about 7 minutes apart, but the pain was starting to get very intense. Before, when I would have contractions, a shower would help ease the pain. Soon a shower didn't help, and I also started noticing that I couldn't pee. I actually couldn't pee very well since Day 1 of labor, but by Day 4, nothing came out all day, and I had extreme back pain. It even hurt to sit. Yet, since the contractions were still far apart, we stayed home.

On Thursday, Day 5, the pain became intense. I could hardly walk. That night, even sitting on my bum hurt. So for four hours, I sat in "Child's pose" doing breathing exercises. I told myself not to move at all, because every time I moved, I would want to pee which I couldn't do because of the pain. The contractions were still about 7 minutes apart, lasting for 1 minute and a half, and they were very intense. I wasn't sure we should go to the hospital, but when I went to the bathroom, I asked Alvin to come in too, and after he saw how much pain it was for me to try to pee, we decided to go to the hospital. There also was this weird phenomenon. My pregnant belly started looking like a huge kidney bean. Instead of one big belly, I had a bump on top, another bump on the bottom and a dip in between. We weren't sure what was happening, so we packed up and went to the hospital.

(story continues tomorrow)

My Girls

One of the most frequent comments we've received - from friends, family, nurses - is just how much hair Meliya has right at birth. Yeah, I guess it is quite a bit of hair. We're just leaving it, though, to do its own mohawk thing. And we think her head might be a bit big too... every little hat we put on her seems to shoot off the top of her head within a few minutes.

I shot this picture earlier today during one of Meliya's 10-minute alert times. She enjoyed lying next to mommy just to watch her.

Meliya Comes to China

And so... we are parents. Our baby girl, Meliya (rhymes with Maria), was born on Friday morning. The doctors say that everything looks good, for her and for Bethany. We're thankful that everyone is healthy and well.

Our parenting journey now begins. The last 60 hours have been about learning rhythms. For these first few weeks, it seems that daily (and nightly) life for us will be viewed in terms of 2.5 hour blocks - sleeping, waking, feeding, changing. This has been tiring for us so far, of course, because it's all so new. But not overwhelming or discouraging, and for that we are also thankful.

So far, Meliya has been absolutely adorable. She doesn't open her eyes much, except for maybe 10 minutes of alert time near the end of each 2.5 hour cycle. These precious few minutes give us some time to interact with her, study her, and just look at her in wonder.

39 Weeks and One Day

Yesterday, we went to the doctor for our 39 week check-up. The doctor said everything is good, and she looked to see if she can tell when the baby is coming. She said that there was slight dilation and she gives it a 50% chance that the baby will come this week. At first, I thought, "wait, that isn't saying much since most likely the baby will come in the next two weeks anyway." But the doctor did say that sometimes she looks at other women, and there is no chance that the baby is coming that week. So at least there is a chance.

She recommends walking. I am taking it to heart and will increase my walks. I walked an hour and a half today, maybe I will walk 2 hours tomorrow.

Here's a picture of us at 39 weeks:

The Waddle

I have been trying to walk at least an hour each day, to get some exercise and the rumor is that it could help get labor started.

Lately, I have been getting a lot of stares on the street. Sometimes I get a person giving me a double, triple take. I think, maybe I am very big. I often don't feel big, but by the stares, I assume that usually someone this pregnant is not out on the streets. Everyday, I get at least one comment from a passerby-er. They usually range from, "look at her, she is very big," or "look how pointy she is."

I have been pretty proud that I haven't been doing the "pregnant woman waddle" and am able to walk "normally." But today, while I was walking, I got this weird "twinge" in my lower back. It wasn't pain so much, but a twinge in my muscle. I couldn't walk normally for a little bit without aggravating it, but I discovered that if I shuffled my feet and put my upper body forward, it didn't hurt when I walked. Yet, as I caught my reflection in windows, I knew I looked really silly. Also, it would have taken me a while to get home. The twinge would come and go, and then I discovered it: it doesn't hurt at all if you spread your legs wide and do the pregnant woman waddle. I looked like a cowboy walking into a western saloon ready for my shootout.

After my walk, the twinge went away after the walk, but I will use this technique again tomorrow if it returns.

38 Weeks Pictures

No news yet to report, but we have some pictures of us at 38 weeks. Tomorrow we will be at 39 weeks, so we will try to take pictures then too (that is if the baby has not come yet.)



We went to visit some friends that went to the Ikea in this city. This is us goofing off as we were waiting.

Harry Potter 哈利 • 波特

I went and bought my next Chinese reading book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I am currently on chapter 5 out of 17, but it takes me a lot longer to read a chapter in this book than from Chronicles. It is quite fun to read the book since I am a big fan of the English books. One thing I noticed is that I do catch different details when reading in Chinese. I must have skimmed through some of the details in English because I couldn’t wait to read what happens next. In Chinese, I am reading and contemplating each word more slowly, but absorbing more of the details.

There are some practical words I have learned through reading the first few chapters:
For example, I learned the word for “owl” 猫头鹰, “scar” 伤疤， and “lightning” 闪电.

I also have learned non-practical words such as “muggle” 麻瓜 (pronounced ma2gua1).

The funniest part is when they use a name because it just turns out to be a lot of characters that make it sound like the name. For example, Harry Potter is ha1 li4 bo1 te4.

So here is my Potter quiz: Figure out the English name for the following pinyin. (I left out the tone marks.)
1) A bu si Deng bu li duo
2) Fu de mo
3) Huo ge wo ci