By Julie

The only reason this entry exists is because I'm forcing myself to write it now before all the details escape my feeble sleep-deprived brain. I haven't felt like blogging little Angie's birth story, not because it was a horrible experience but because it was so wonderful that I don't want to admit it's the last time I'll ever experience something this amazing.

Here's a typical conversation you might overhear between me and Kevin if you happened to be in our house between 9 p.m. and 12 midnight on a random evening:

Me: look, she's so cute

Kevin: (some sort of acknowledgment of my previous statement)

Me: and she smells good

Kevin: (some sort of acknowledgment of my previous statement)

Me: and she's growing up too fast already... (burst into tears)

Kevin: (some comforting remarks about how they'll always be my babies, how we still have many years of parenting ahead of us, etc.)

Me: (keeps sobbing inconsolably and blubbering about how I don't want them to grow up)

Incidentally, we had similar conversations right after Ana was born. That's how we decided maybe we weren't done having kids yet. This time, however, I think I'll just have to suck it up and deal.

Angelina was born right on her due date, April 27, at 10:48 a.m., measuring a healthy 7 lbs 5.5 oz and 19 inches. About 24 hours before she was born I started feeling something that wasn't quite contractions yet, but it was significant enough that we completely forgot about Alex's karate lessons as well as a birthday party he was invited to attend that day.


Then, sometime in the afternoon, Kevin started keeping track of my contractions. They were still far apart. To pass the time, he sang songs from the Myspace karaoke website to me. It was a very effective distraction :)


At some point we told the kids that the baby was coming soon. They were very excited. Here they are playing animal doctor, delivering a puppy.

We also called Kevin's mom. That evening she came to our house with her overnight bag. Kevin read the kids a bedtime story and tucked them in while I alternated between walking around the house and lying down on the sofa. Kevin's mom stayed up with us for another hour or so and then went to bed.

Around 12:30 a.m. we set out. My contractions were not yet 5-1-1 (5 minutes apart, each 1 minute long, for 1 hour) but since we live about 30 minutes from the hospital, we decided to head to some place near the hospital, maybe a 24 hour diner, where we could hang out until I hit the 5-1-1 mark. About 5 minutes into the drive a particularly intense contraction made me change my mind, and we headed straight to the hospital instead.

When we arrived at the hospital, I was taken to a labor and delivery room immediately. A few weeks ago I had tested positive for group B strep, so I had to take antibiotics via IV for the baby's protection. Since I had to get 2 doses, preferably 3, with 4 hours between doses, the nurses did not give me Pitocin to speed up labor. This was a new experience for me. With Alex and Ana I didn't have group B strep, so maybe that's why they gave me Pitocin to make the baby come as quickly as possible. By contrast, going through labor without Pitocin was positively pleasant.

Kevin had packed 2 of my favorite DVDs in the suitcase. After we finished signing all the hospital paperwork, he started up Bride and Prejudice. My nurse was highly amused to find me LOLing in the midst of contractions whenever she came to check on me. We never got around to watching the other movie, Nacho Libre. By then my contractions were too strong for me to pay attention to a movie.


I made a joke about how strange it was that we didn't hear any screaming from the other rooms. I spoke too soon. Almost immediately I heard my neighbor in the next room start roaring in pain. I guessed that she had opted to go "natural." The yelling continued for about half an hour. It was very disconcerting.

Around 6 a.m. I requested an epidural. The anesthesiologist had just come on shift, and he didn't know what the previous guy had done with the key to the epidural cart. So I had to grit my teeth through 15 minutes of the worst pain while he and the nurse tracked down the key. But as soon as the drug kicked in, it was instant relief. I was so relaxed I fell asleep. Two hours later I woke up feeling positively refreshed, but I couldn't feel a thing from the waist down, so the nurse had to give me a catheter, which was yet another experience I'd not had before and one that I hope never to repeat, because while I couldn't feel a thing with the epidural, when it wore off I felt sore for quite some time afterwards.

Around 10:30 a.m., right after I received the 3rd dose of antibiotic, the nurse checked my progress and discovered to her surprise that I was fully dilated (10 cm) and the baby had crowned. Fortunately my epidural was still working because the doctor on duty was busy with another patient, so I was told to hang on for a few minutes. Immediately after the other woman delivered, the doctor ran into my room and changed into fresh scrubs. Five minutes and 4 pushes later, the nurse put Angelina into my arms, and for the third time in my life, I experienced love at first sight.

Labels: pregnancy

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By Kevin

Happy Birthday, Angelina! On Monday night we brought home the newest member of the family. I may be a little biased but I think she's one of the three most adorable babies ever. :) So far she mostly eats and sleeps but she's very aware of everything going on around her. Julie's been amazing, taking care of her day and night. She's going to be home with Angie for four months before returning to work and I don't know which of them is luckier.


The before picture was taken on April 8th and the after picture was this evening. I cut things a bit too close with the nursery remodel but had the bulk of the room done in time for baby. Over the last few days I did the rest of the molding and moved in the closet organizer and bookshelves. We've added the kids' bookshelves, reading light, and pillows into Angie's room so that all three of them can get story time together before bed. Between their book loving parents and their grade school teacher grandma, the kids have lots of opportunities to get new books. They now have a pair of 7' shelf units for their library and are at two-thirds capacity with about fifteen linear feet of books!


Meanwhile, we've tried to keep change to a minimum for Alex and Ana and make sure they get lots of parent time. Today Ana came along to Alex's karate practice and played with me at the adjacent park. After sparring was over, Alex joined us and we played frisbee for a while before heading home. It won't be long before all five of us are at the park together.

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By Julie

Because we couldn't go to the Coachella Music Festival this year, the regrettably human and therefore illogically petty part of my brain wants to believe it has already jumped the shark. So why am I sitting here anxiously waiting for the live webcast to start?

Earlier today I was on ROFLCon watching this session's live webcast. The online chatters who were watching the discussion with me were all being "extra special," especially once the live Q and A turned to issues of gender and race, so I left. I guess I could have tried to challenge my fellow chatters, but I really wasn't in the mood. Now I wish I had watched the LOLCATS session. At least they were willing to address the gender issue.

A couple of friends suggested that I update my Facebook profile with the progress of my labor. (Not that it's started yet.) My response? So not gonna happen! But I offered to text them when I head to the hospital.

Labels: music, news, pregnancy

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By Julie

Today I read about this violent hate crime against an Asian guy in nearby San Dimas. Kevin and I lived there for about a year before the kids were born. It was a very homogeneous place. Aside from the employees at the one single decent Chinese fast food place in town, I rarely saw another Asian face. There was a passable coffee house where we hung out along with the other college kids, but the jeering from the loud drunk faux cowboys who went line-dancing at the bar upstairs sometimes made it a less than pleasant experience. By the time Alex was born we were living elsewhere, thank goodness, and when we started house-hunting we didn't even bother looking in San Dimas. In my ideal town, no ethnic group would be in the majority, and while Walnut looks like it's headed to become yet another Asian 'burb, at least for now it's still fairly diverse.


Here's a picture of the nursery as it looks now. Kevin has installed most of the chair rail (slim piece of wood in the middle of the wall) and base moulding (wide piece of wood at the bottom of the wall). He did an amazing job. Trust me when I say the picture doesn't do it justice.

Today was going to be my last day at work before going on leave, but I called in sick. I spent most of the day lying on the sofa in a daze. I figured it was my body's way of getting me some rest before having to deal with the exhaustion of labor, which incidentally has not started yet.

Labels: home improvement, lusers, news, pregnancy, work

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