On his way...

Josh is on his way to being a chubby baby. He weighed in at 7lbs 2.5oz yesterday at his pediatrician's, which is a 6oz increase in 6 days. Hopefully, he will continue to gain. :)

Saturday Visitors

This afternoon J had two visitors. First Auntie Jeannie and Uncle Robert dropped by, and they brought us cake! Yummy.



And then later in the afternoon, Auntie Viv and Uncle Keith dropped by. They brought us a yummy bouquet made with fruit. Unfortunately, J was hungry so had to be excused for his feeding.



Hmmm... I wonder if Uncle Keith is scared of J and hence hiding behind the sofa. :)

It was nice to have some visitors so that we were able to engage in some adult conversations.

Thanks for dropping by.

Thanks to Auntie Poopsie and also to Uncle Wil

J had some great awake time today so I figured he could use some sit-up time. The neck pillow from Uncle Wil came in handy to keep J's head upright, and the Lulla Blanket from Auntie Poopsie kept him warm (it's so soft and reminds me of my blankie).

Glider

During the first week, Ducks has been complaining of backpain while feeding J. The problem is that we don't really have a good, comfortable chair in the house for her. So we finally caved in and visited our favourite baby store (they really should be loving us by now) and found a wonderful glider on sale.

We initially said that we did not want to get one of those typical gliders, and opted for something that matched our decor. After sitting in this chair, we decided that it was well worth the design contradiction (or maybe it's our lack of sleep clouding our judgement). It did help that the colour of the chair is black and cream (rather than the typical oak colour ... blech). The chair and ottoman are made of maple and fairly lightweight, so I was able to put it into Grand-mama's SUV and carry it upstairs.

When my mom first heard about Letty's backpain, she had also recommended that we get a good chair. Coincidentally, she offered to get a glider for us. So thanks to Grandma for getting the chair...

Album: Baby Shower (Part One)

REA Baby Shower

Album: Baby Shower (Part Two)

BMO Baby Shower

Lactation Consultant

Today we returned to Mount Sinai Hospital for a follow-up with the lactation consultant. Letty feels that breastfeeding is the most difficult part of preganancy, labour and raising a child. It requires a lot of energy and dedication. Josh has old gained 0.5 ounce in the last 5 days and that is causing some concern. It is discouraging because we have been feeding him 8 to 9 times a day (for 40 minutes each). So now, we are going to have to supplement Josh with expressed breast milk or formula.

Album: Week One

20070223 - Joshua Week One

Daddy and Josh

Daddy and Josh

Watching Deal or No Deal with Grandma.

Josh's Birth Story

On Feb 14th at 1:24am, my water broke. Luckily, I was actually on the toilet. Because I tested GBS positive, I needed to get to the hospital right away. Unfortunately, there was a snowstorm. But at 2 in the morning, traffic was light. I was already having contractions around 4-5 min apart. They were fairly mild though, and I was able to get through them.

When I was admitted to triage, I was 2-3 cm dialated. This was around 2:30am. I was able to breath through the contractions until around 7am when I asked for the epidural. Tim was so good, always holding my hand and helping me with the breathing exercises. After I got the epi, things got a *little* better. I was around 5cm dialted then. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, Josh turned and I ended up in back labour. The pain and pressure was unbearable, and I had an epi top up 3 times. But, it didn't work!!!! I was at 10cm by 4pm and needed to push badly. I pushed for around 2 hours, and NOTHING. By then, the pain was so intense, I was almost delirious. I was crying and exhausted and I think I crushed Tim's hand a few times. The OB told me to get another top up, and to rest for an hour and then try to push again while he tried to turn J to the right position. That one hour was awful. The top up didn't work of course, and the pain was unbearable. When the hour was up, I had to push again for around 45min. My pelvis was too narrow so the OB couldn't turn Josh around. When he did an ultrasound, he realized his head was also flexed which will make it difficult to pass through my pelvis. At that point, he decided on a C-section. I was so relieved because I just wanted the contractions to go away.

I was prepped for surgery at 7:30pm and given a local anesthesia which finally took the contractions away. Josh was born at 9:03pm. I couldn't hold and feed him until around an hour and a half later because I was completely numb.

Tim has been phenomenal during labour and during my recovery. My recovery was very difficult. It's hard to recover from a surgery, when you have to take care of a newborn. The first 2 days I couldn't even get out of bed. Tim had to do everything for Josh. He has been such an excellent husband and I love him so much more every passing day. My Mom has also been wonderful and I'm really glad I have that extra support.

Josh has been mostly a fussy baby but we are dealing with it. I am also having a lot of trouble breast feeding. The nights are the longest and hardest, and I must say I have a lot of difficulty adjusting to motherhood especially since I am use to around 8 hours of sleep every night. It is hard, and right now I am not seeing the reward. Emotionally, I am very drained and I'm really glad Tim is taking it better than me. But I love looking at Josh and can't believe that he is finally here with us.

Last Day of Work

Today was my last day of work. It's amazing how time flies, because it seems like yesterday when I was peeing on that stick, and now, it's 9 months later. It will be weird to not go back to work on Monday.

Everyone at REA was so generous! Josh ended up with a lot of cash (Pack N Play, here we come!), a hand knitted outfit, a onesie, two sleepers, and some much needed essentials (including a newborn diaper cover!!!).

Now, all I ask for is a few relaxing days of sleeping in, and then we're ready for you, Josh!

Car Seat Installation

We took Josh's car seat to the store today to check if Uncle Jim and Tim installed it correctly. Apparently, the angle was incorrect (it shifted) and it was a little loose. The guy at the store was very helpful. He showed me exactly what to do, and I ended up getting a wedge (like a pool noodle) and buying a seat saver (to save my leather seats!) for the car seat. He installed it (it should be one hand's width from the front seat), then showed me how to put a baby in the car seat. Apparently, the bulgy pads are for over the shoulder, and he recommended that I remove them for a newborn. We also have to make sure the chest clip is at nipple height, and that his bum is wedged into the seat.

Also, the installation certificate should be kept in the car, and we should we get into a car accident, we need the receipt for the car seat so we can get reimbursed for a new one from the insurance company.

Mental note: we need to send in the warranty card so that if anything is recalled, we will know.