Baby Wong (Caleb Wong & Caris Wong & Chloe Wong)
The adventures of Caleb, Caris, Chloe & Family
So it seems like the consensus opinon is that Caleb looks like Yvonne. It’s about 75% in favor of Yvonne. Minus my family, and that number shoots up close to 100%.
Yvonne and I were looking at our infant photos just to compare. So now… who does he look like? Picture 1? Or Picture 2?
Caleb
Picture 1
Picture 2
Caleb’s 10 pounds now… well sorta… with onesies, socks, and a dry cloth diaper. He’s at least half the weight of one of our cats now. Watch out, Tommy & Ellie… Soon Caleb will be using you as pillows and having fun pulling your tails.
Us crazy Wongs took a trip up to Oakland this past weekend. I know, i know… we’re crazy. I’m still having trouble walking and we decide to go on this trip. Actually, this trip was planned long before Caleb came. I figured that by this time, I’d be healed and we’d be in a nice routine… perfect for going on our first travel adventure as a family.
We went with my mom, my mom’s dog, my sister Sandra, and her 2-year old daughter Eileen. Drove up in a mini van. That was one full vehicle! I’ve never packed so much stuff in my life for a trip! Normally, the trip takes 5-6 hours. Took us over 8 hours on the way up and 10 hours on the way down. Hee-hee. It was tense on this trip at times as my mom’s patience waned with Eileen. But, I must admit there were some hilarious moments. We pulled off on exits I’ve never heard of with no street lights, no gas stations, nothing… all just to breastfeed wailing Caleb. My mom and sister peed next to the van when there was no place else to go. Chris cleaned enough explosive poopy diapers to be called a Poop Expert now.
FIRSTS on this trip:
– Traveling in a car with Caleb for something besides the doctors or breastfeeding class.
– Eating in a restaurant with Caleb
– Taking Caleb to church
– Staying in a hotel with Caleb
– Sleeping in a bed big enough for all 3 of us (so that Chris & Yvonne aren’t falling off)
– Yvonne traveling with her sitz bath (the hotel workers must have thought we were moving in)
– Taking Caleb to a social function (Sam & Charis’ wedding reception)
– Trying to breastfeed Caleb in restaurants and in church
– Yvonne squatting over dirty toilets to pee and do “peri-care” (keeping my perineum area clean)
– Yvonne’s first time drinking milk & having an ice cream shake since pregnancy (not so good on baby Caleb or Yvonne’s tummy… by the way)
It was good, though, seeing Sam & Charis… and lots of others. The great thing about the difficulties of traveling is that taking care of Caleb and myself at home now seems a bit easier than before. 🙂
Thanks for praying for us!!! I’m starting to feel better with less frequent perineal pain now. I have a nurse midwife coming Wednesday morning to do a second opinion consult. Going on 5 weeks now since Caleb’s birth and I still haven’t healed fully. Thanks for your continued prayers.
caleb’s 9 pounds already! he likes to eat.
he’s already heavier than the normal bowling ball weight i use.
Caleb is almost 4 weeks old come this Wednesday! I still feel like I’m living in a blur. Man, doing all-nighters in high school and college didn’t do this to me. Youth event overnighters didn’t do this to me. Taking care of a newborn does. I thought that by now I’d be up and going, back to my normal multi-tasking busy self. But, most of my pre-birth expectations have left me ultimately humbled.
Broken Expectation #1
Breastfeeding comes naturally to newborns. Yeah, it’ll take some practice, but since it’s so good for the baby, it must not be that hard to get down.
Reality: Breastfeeding does not come naturally for me or little Caleb. He’s got an inefficient, disorganized suck. And, I’ve got wimpy, tender breasts. All I want to do is provide nourishment for my little one. How could something that seems so simple be so hard?
Broken Expectation #2
Women who have a natural normal vaginal delivery are able to get up and walk around within hours after delivery.
Reality: I kept fainting after birth from low blood pressure (from blood loss during the delivery). And it still hurts (4 weeks later) to walk around. I got a rare perineal infection, and have been told by my OBGYN that it could still be weeks before I can exercise or walk around. How do you take care of a baby when you’re told you’re supposed to lay in bed all the time?
Broken Expectation #3
New mothers have an uncanny mothering instinct that tells them what their baby needs and when he needs it. For example, they wake up seconds after their baby cries at night.
Reality: I love my sleep. From 1AM-4AM, this chickadee has no inborn mothering insticts. “Chris, you’re syringe feeding the baby? I didn’t even hear him cry.” Chris’ response: “He was crying so loud, but you didn’t move. I had to check to make sure you were alive.” Good thing my hubby is a night person…. otherwise, our baby might starve at night.
Anyways, I’d love your PRAYERS.
1. Continued healing of my body and perineum.
2. Success with breastfeeding.
3. Patience for myself as I learn to be a mom. Satan has been putting heaps of unhealthy thinking into me (of inadequacy, incompetency, and failure).
4. Restoration of my relationship with my mother. She left abruptly Thursday night when she decided she was too frustrated with me and our unpredictable schedule.
Thanks!
Now this kid thinks he’s adorable, huh? I think not. Don’t be deceived.
We got pictures done a couple days ago. There are more pictures at picasaweb if you’re interested. Again, he’s not cute at all so there’s no bother. But there is a handsome picture of me if you’re interested.
I need new breasts. Mine hurt. Babies can only get away with this cruelty cuz they look so cute.
Context: Yvonne and I have been trying to get our baby to only breastfeed. For the past week and a half, Yvonne’s been pumping her breast and then Caleb is being bottle-fed. And every once in a while we’d try to get him on the breast again. Before he’s been unable to efficiently get milk from the breast. And Yvonne’s boob would be all tender and raw and cracked. So that’s why we had to resort to pumping and bottle-feeding. But it came to a point where now Caleb is now knowing that the bottle is easier and not even trying on the breast. So yesterday afternoon, we went breast only. And boy has it been hard. It’s been so hard on Yvonne, but I’m so proud of her. She’s really toughing it out, but our boy is finally get full feedings on the breast, and he hasn’t been bottle fed for 18 hours now. And boy is still getting enough milk. But it’s still hard. And it takes an extremely long time. Patience is wearing thin and frustrations are building. So please pray for Yvonne and Caleb. They need it.
So last night I was having all these dreams about him breastfeeding. Sometimes he’d do well in my dream. Sometimes not. But here’s the last one I had.
Dream: This is the end of the dream. I was riding in Yvonne’s car with the baby. Kurtis from work was with me for some strange reason, but we were pulling into Truth Seminary. Wayne’s car was parked there among other cars, so of course I back up into the parking sport next to his at a fast rate with the brake not working. Great parking job anyways.
So I go into the Truth Seminary room with Caleb. Apparently Eric is recording baby sucking sounds for unknown reasons. Kevin Chan is sitting there doing homework or something. And John is about to leave cause he just finished his baby sounds for Eric. Flora is now going to record some sounds. So she puts this thing in her mouth and starts sucking this thing like a pacifier. Now I’m thinking this is really strange. I put Caleb down next to Flora’s face where the recording equipment is. And then Caleb rips this huge fart. I say, “now that’s authentic.”
I am then soon awaken to the baby’s cries for food. Sorry, Yvonne. Caleb is a “Hungry Saurous” as his bib says.
So, this a little late of a post, but I’ve been a bit busy… 🙂
As Chris mentioned, we thought we’d have an early baby since I was showing so many prelabor signs. But, Caleb didn’t come early. And as each day passed by, I stopped thinking so much about whether this would be the day… and I starting keeping myself busy. For example, 2 days before labor, I spent the day at Disneyland with Rosalyn. We met at 7:30AM and waited in the Finding Nemo Submarine Ride line for 3 hours. Crazy, eh?
On Wednesday, 6/27, I saw my OBGYN in the morning. Anytime, he tells me. Same thing he’s told me for the past 3 weeks. I ran errands all morning. Felt really tired in the afternoon. Tried to take a nap… and out of no where, my water breaks at 5PM. Poopers, on my comforter. First thought: Gotta wash my comforter. So, I start a load in the washer. Then I realize, oh I should call Chris and Nancy (our doula).
Call them. Nancy tells me she’s going to check back with me in the morning to see how labor’s progressing. I say ok… and figure most women take forever in the early labor stage. I tell Chris to take his time coming home… didn’t want him to get stuck in bad traffic. I go downstairs to see if I can watch some MacGyver episodes and finish my photo scanning project. And, I eat heaps of food, leftover desserts, and drinks (since they don’t let you eat in the hospital during labor).
Around 6:30PM, I start feeling pretty strong cramps in my lower abdomen. Strong enough to take my concentration off of Macgyver. But, Nancy told me that most women feel labor pains radiate to their back when they’re actively laboring. My pain was just in my lower abdomen. So, I must not be laboring yet. ok, I’ll go up and take a shower to relax. In the shower… ouch… these hurt more. I’m resting on all fours in my tub (just felt more comfortable for some reason). Man, I’m a wimp. I already feel like I have pain, and I’m probably not in labor yet, right?
Nancy calls back around 7. Says she just felt like she needed to call back and check in on me. Told her what I’ve been feeling. She says I still sound calm/cheerful, so she’s going to take a nap and check back with me in a little while. Man, these pains are coming every 4 minutes already. I’m sweating. Let me lie on this cool bathroom tile floor. Ah, better. Chris is home. Finds me on the bathroom floor. I go downstairs with him. These pains aren’t letting up. Still only in my lower abdomen. Sometimes they’re coming one on top of another. Chris calls Nancy. She comes over. I labor for an hour at home. But the pains are coming kinda quickly and I feel burpy and a little shaky already. Chris is eating leftover DinTaiFong dumplings. His food smells strong… making me nauseous. But I want him to eat, so I don’t say anything about the smell. I can’t be this far along in labor. I think to myself i must be emotionally causing myself to feel this way already. I don’t wanna go to the hospital and be one of those women who’s only 1-2 cm dilated and gets sent back home. Nancy tells us we should go to the hospital.
Car ride was no fun. In the 15 minute drive, I had 7-8 contractions. Had to stop for contractions on the walk into the hospital. They made me go to labor evaluation by myself. The nurse was task-oriented. put on this gown, give me a urine sample. What’s taking so long, she asks. I’m on the floor having contractions. Yuck! I would never be touching a hospital floor if I was of sane mind. At this point, it just doesn’t matter anymore. I want my husband. Where is he? On goes the fetal monitor. Why are you putting oxygen on me? You’ve got variables (stress on the baby during contractions usually due to cord compression). The heart rate looks fine, though? Yes. Vaginal exam – owh. Nurse tells me she thinks I’m 5-6cm. They roll me into my labor & delivery room. Where’s Chris? All these questions. Tired of talking. One nurse starts an IV. What are you hanging? LR. OK, I’ll take Lactated Ringers.
Finally, they let Chris & Nancy back with me. I’m feeling out of control already. I want to sit up to labor. The nurses tell me I have to lay on my left side with oxygen since the baby’s stressed. Too tired and in pain to fight. I’m clinging to Chris, who’s whispering how much he loves me. You better! (Hee-hee… I don’t remember actually thinking this at the time). Nurse says I’m only 5-6cm. Nancy tells them they should check me again. 8cm. In a few minutes, I begin to feel rectal pressure like I have to push. No, you can’t push yet. Where’s the doctor? They’re like 6-7 nurses in the room now. I have to push, or I’m gonna explode. Pant they tell me. uh, ok. i’ll try. i want pain meds, i want pain meds. (chris says i never said this out loud, but i was certainly thinking it.) ok, you can push. phew. 6-7 contractions with 6-7 nurses yelling out numbers at me as i push, caleb was born. and finally in came the doctor… just in time to clamp the umbilical cord. 10:45PM – less than 6 hours from when my water broke.
caleb was so alert. his cry was strong. and he pinked up in less than a minute. he took to the breast without a problem. so cute. this baby came out of me? yay, praise God caleb’s here!
I think people have been asking for more pictures. So here are some. There are more pictures up at http://picasaweb.google.com/chriswong/BabyPictures
I have some funny stories to tell, but that requires more time that I don’t have. And all funny stories begin and end with poop. That’s what you get to look forward to on the next post.
