Wiggly Piglet’s Playpen

Mckayla was drawing with Ted earlier this evening. She doesn’t really draw yet but asks us to draw for her. At first, she asked Ted to draw himself. Then, she asked for me. After that she asked for KK. Then, when Ted was done. She asked him to draw baby. After he finished drawing, she ran to me to show me the picture. And pointed out each of the figure one by one. Earlier today, when they came back from farmer’s market, Mckayla ran to me to give me a hug. Then, immediately, she asked, “where’s baby?”. I picked up Marcus from the playpen and showed her. We sat in her little chair in the kitchen and she patted him gently. Then, I asked her to give him a kiss. Without hesitation, she leaned over and kissed him on his cheek. After she finished her dinner today, she asked me for the baby’s whereabouts again. I told her he’s in his room sleeping. Then, she said, “KK wants to play with baby. KK cannot wake baby up. Baby’s sleeping”. So glad to see her showing signs of concerns of her little brother. But the funny thing is that she wouldn’t say “Marcus”. We’ve repeated told her his name before and after his arrival, but she hasn’t said it out loud. She’s usually a bit hesitant to say a new word out loud after she just learned it. But it’s been a couple weeks now since we first told her.

Marcus is getting stronger and bigger everyday. Yesterday, we noticed that he was able to lift his head up while I was holding him upright. I put him on his belly earlier today, he lifted his neck up and looked around. He’s much more alert today and was up most of the late morning and afternoon. Mckayla’s also getting better with Marcus. They didn’t interact much today because she’s still sick, but she would ask where’s baby when she hasn’t seen him for a while.

Mckayla came home from dinner looking pretty bad. Since I’m still under the first month post partum lock down, I stayed and ate dinner at home. She came running to me when they got back. Her body felt really warm and her cheeks were red. She was very clingy and telling me she’s got owie in her nose and neck. We tried to get her in the tub to take a bath, but all she wanted was to cuddle. We hung out in the bathroom for a long time until she finally agreed to get in the tub. After a quick rinse down, she wanted to get out. Another round of crying until we finally got her hair dried and dressed. She drank a full glass of orange juice and told me she was tired. Good thing Marcus was just fed and sound asleep, I was able to cuddle with her until she fell asleep. When I got up again at midnight to feed Marcus again, I went in her room to check her temperature. We had to wake her up to take a dose of Tylenol. She was pretty upset but calmed down after we offered her some water. She gulped down a bunch of water and laid back down in bed. This time she wanted to cuddle with Ted. He stayed in her room and slept with her until the next morning. She woke up well rested and was feeling much better. The fever had subsided and her runny nose was much better.

Ted’s Mom, brother, and cousin came up to visit last night. They flew in late last night and Mckayla was already asleep when they arrived. This morning, she got up and was pleasantly surprised with the house full of people. She was so happy to see her “other Grandma”. Then, she got to play with GuGu (Ted’s cousin) and ShuShu (Ted’s younger brother). She enjoyed all the attention she got from them and had a great time. She did really well when Marcus woke up and people took turns holding him. She even told Grandma that baby has an owie on his bellybutton and needs medicine. Unfortunately, she woke up with runny nose. We gotta to keep the kids separated for now to prevent the germs from spreading.

Marcus went in for his second new born club visit. They wanted to check his weight and feeding again. He’s now almost back to his birth weight at 1 week old, 8 lb 1 oz. Just a few ounces shy from where he started. He’s been feeding more frequently during the day and sleeping longer stretches at night (up to 4 hours). He’s not getting enough milk from me and is requiring supplementation at 2 ounces per feeding. He will be going back to New Born Club again next week to have his frenulum clipped. Mckayla had the same procedure done when she was about one and a half week old also. It was a quick (painless per MD) procedure but I recall shedding more tears myself than she did.

Mckayla is doing not too bad with Marcus’ arrival. My Mom brought her in the next morning to see us. She climbed in bed with me to cuddle and held the baby with me. She was little surprised with the disappearance of my big belly at first. We explained to her that the baby has came out and was right next to us. After we came home from the hospital, she had her moments. Sometimes she’s the sweetest sister, helping with diaper change and wanting to hold him. But the next moment, she wants nothing to do with him and gets upset when anyone’s holding the baby. At one point, she asked me to put the baby on the floor while I was feeding and hold her instead. I told her I will put the baby down in the crib when he’s done eating. She was very upset and turned her back to us. Then, we saw her little face turned red and tears started to drip down her face. She was crying but without making any noises. It was so sad seeing her like that. Then, later in the afternoon, she heard baby crying through the monitor and was the first one there by his crib to check on him. We’re hoping this jealousy period won’t last too long for Mckayla.

We went in on Friday to see the OB again. The plan was to stretch the membrane one more time, then I’ll go in on Saturday morning for the induction. After she performed membrane stretching and assessment, she asked if we want to check in for the induction since I was already 3cm dilated and baby wasn’t very active in the past 24 hours. Instead of being wheeled into the labor & delivery department with Mckayla, this time I was able to walk from the OB office to the hospital on my own. Shortly after we checked in, I was hooked up with the monitor and IV line. About four in the afternoon, I was finally started on Pitocin at a very low rate (2 drops per hour). The plan was to slowly increase the dosage every half an hour. By around five thirty, I started to feel the strong contractions and requested for the epidural. The anesthesiologist arrived shortly and soon after that the strong contraction pain was replaced by pressure in the lower abdomen. Around six thirty, an OB resident came in to check on the status of cervix dilation. At that point, it was about 6 cm and the pitocin was put on hold. The nurse continued her assessment after the resident has left. Then, all the sudden, I noticed the baby’s heart rate was dropping. I was asked to change position but it didn’t help. Then, she placed the oxygen mask on my face and got on the phone asking for help. Within seconds, the room was filled with nurses and doctors. Cervix was fully dilated at this point and I was asked to start pushing. With every contraction, baby’s heart rate dipped. At one point, his heart rate dropped to the 70’s. After a few pushes, I was told to take a break and let the baby “recover” a bit before we start pushing again. We waited for another fifteen minutes but his heart rate continued to drop with every contraction. One of the MD told us it’s probably because the umbilical cord is wrapped around his neck. I was asked to start pushing again with every contraction. Because I wasn’t making enough progress so the plan was to vacuum him out if I couldn’t do in on my own with the next couple pushes. Luckily, we were able to see him crowning with a few more pushes and finally he came out on his own. Here’s Marcus Jhih-Kai Kao born on 3/5/2010 @ 8:44PM, weight 8lb 3.4 oz, length 19.4 inches.

Mckayla and I went for a walk earlier today. We went out to grab breakfast this morning because the cleaners were here and we were trying to get out of their way. Our tummies were all too full and we need to burn off some excess calories. During the walk, Mckayla was looking for the birds that were bathing in the rain puddles that she saw few days ago. She talked about the birds flying around, then about the planes that flew over in the sky, the cars driving by, the dogs barking in our neighbor’s yard, the wind blowing the trees, the branches falling off the tree, and the squirrels running around. For the entire forty five minute walk, she did not stop talking. We walked down the street where some horses were kept but I guess they have moved since the last time I visited almost three years ago with Fluffy and MeiMei. At one point, she did ask me to pick her up, but I reminded her that I couldn’t do that because the belly was in the way. She didn’t complain and just held my hand instead. She was a little disappointed when I pointed out the empty barn and said the horses went home. But we enjoyed our time outdoor with the nice weather.

This morning, when I came out of shower, I heard Mckayla singing in the living room. She was playing happily in her kitchen all by herself. I left her alone and went to the kitchen to grab breakfast. While we were in the kitchen, we can still hear her singing pretty loud. She was stuck on this Chinese song called “Little Lady” and was singing it over and over. Then, she moved on to sing “I love you”. After that she switched to “Happy Birthday” to her baby dolls. It was so cute listening to her singing out loud and really enjoying it herself.

We went in for my 39 week check today. Still not much progress since Monday. I’ve felt a few contractions here and there, but nothing strong or consistent. According to OB, still less than 2 cm dilated. She tried to get me in for induction today but Labor & Delivery was already full but scheduled me for the first available induction appointment which is not until 3/8. But she doesn’t think I will make it until then since I’m already so uncomfortable with the big belly. I started having hip pain on my left side about two weeks ago, and now the pain is in all my joints on the left side. I’m also having pain in my lower abdomen, especially with any changes in position. She induced me “mechanically” in office today, by stretching/stripping the membranes. Hoping this will release more prostaglandin and intensify the contractions. I’m scheduled to see her again in two days and repeat the procedure if nothing happens before then. Then, OB wants me to go to the hospital the following day when she’s on hospital duty and start inducing me chemically with misoprotol and pitocin if needed.