Recap on Brody's Birth

Before I forget the details: (WARNING: this is the long version. Feel free to not read. Several people have asked me so I decided to just post it)

5/15/09 (My due date)
6 am - Up to use the bathroom, was having some minor back pain but ignored it & went back to bed.
7:30 am - Up getting ready for my last day of work which I was scheduled for at 8:30. Back pain getting worse and seems to be coming in waves. Hmmm - is this labor pains? It doesn't hurt anywhere except a dull ache in my lower back. Maybe I'm just sore from scrubbing the bathroom floor last night. Consider calling in to work but decide to hold off.
8:13 am - Begin writing down intervals. 8:16, 8:19, 8:21. Holy cow - they're coming 3 minutes apart - they had told me to come in when they were 5 minutes apart. Begin pacing, slightly panicked. Call Justin who 's is about 30 minutes away. Tell him to meet me at hospital. Call Mom, she leaves work & drove me to hospital. Call in sick to work.
9 am - At 1 cm (where I had been for 3 weeks). They decide to have me walk the halls for an hour & then recheck.
10:30 am - No real progress. Contractions 3-4 min apart & 40 seconds long. They send us home, tell me to come back when the contractions get bad.11 am - 2:30 pm. Justin runs into Vons on the way home. I'm craving bagels & cream cheese & sorbet. Stop by Hollywood Video. Watch Marley & Me - a good distraction at first but not doing it for my by the end.
3 pm - Go to scheduled 40 week OB appt. Dr says I'm about 3 cm & sends us back to the birthing center to be admitted.
5 pm - I'm hooked up to IV & they tell me I have to wait about 1 & 1/2 hours for the epidural. Contractions are getting stronger but I think I can wait that long. Justin helps me through contractions.
5:30 - I decide I can't wait that long. Too bad.
7:00 - Anesthesiologist administers the epidural while I try my hardest not to squirm & fail. Once it was in I ask if I'm still having contractions. It's amazing. Some of my family members came in & visit while I sleep off & on.
5/16/09
2 am - Not much progress. They decide they have to turn down the epidural to move things along. Doctor breaks my water. Over the next few hours contractions get pretty bad again. I don't know how people to it without drugs! I squeeze Justin's hand & my mom in-law helps distract me by rubbing my forehead, practically hypnotizing me. It was soooo much better once she started helping - she should be a doula.
5:30 am - Pushing. Not painful like I thought it would be. Very excited to meet my son. Nurse tells us he's got dark hair. Umbilical cord is around baby's head but he made it out just fine. He opens his eyes as soon as his head is out.
5:55 am - I meet baby Brody. He's so handsome!. I can't stop staring at him. The nurse suctions him & he resists, kicking, catches her stethiscope on his foot & pulls her into him. They try to make him cry. He's not interested. He's awake for the next 2 hours while he's passed around & everyone ooo's & ahhh's over him.

Brody's B-Day

Welcome

Broderick Sanford Huang

5.16.2009, 5:55Am

7lbs 5oz

20 inches long

More pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/29891596@N04/sets/72157618299708813/

Baby Shower

Thanks so much everyone for the wonderful shower! Chrissy planned it & picked a perfect location and made the tables adorable and did the games. Sierra made an incredible cake. Mine & Justin's moms made a yummy summery menu. I didn't have to take a single picture because Paula photographed everything. And so many of my friends came, I had a ton of fun. We pretty much have everything we need now. I've really had to control myself from constantly wanting to buy cute things when I see them and no I'm glad I didn't cause we're bursting at the seams with baby paraphernalia! I'm really grateful that we have so much support... it helps when I get nervous thinking about actually having the baby here. The baby's dropped and now it's a waiting game.

Justin just couldn't wait so see him again, so we did a 3d/4d ultrasound of baby Huang & the 1st time we went his hands were in front of his face the whole time, so they told us we could come back & try again. We went back another day & this time his feet were the problem...

.

yes his face is behind there

toes in eyes

chubby cheeks, round nose and apparently he has hair.

I didn't want to do it because the pictures look so funny but I'm so glad we did. Some say we're spoiling all the fun of being surprised but it still leaves enough for my imagination and only makes me even more excited!

Update

Haven't posted in a while...

Justin's been working around the house a lot. He ground down, patched, stained & finished the concrete floor in the extra bedroom. I think it's pretty cool looking. He originally wanted to do it in the whole house but decided against it & we're going to tile the rest. Justin has re-done lots of the plumbing in the house. I finally realized it's ok for me to paint so we're both glad that there's at least one thing I can help with. Soon we'll start working on the baby's room.

We've been gardening a ton - can't wait until our efforts start to bloom. We've planted 295 bulbs (callas, ranunculus & anemones) & a cutting garden at the side yard of sweet peas, poppies & some unusual flower that I can't remember the name of & transplanted several of our potted plants to the garden & started new plants in the pots. We started some veggies inside in trays. Justin re-seeded the lawn in late fall. That's a funny story because his brother Zeb helped him & when Justin went inside for a break Zeb thought it would look nice to fill all the planters with grass seed, too. Seems like we have more grass in the planters than on the lawn. My muscle man wrastled this snaggle-tooth monster of a weed from the back yard yesterday.

On Valentine's day Justin took me to White Forest nursery & we picked out an Alexandria Saucer Magnolia tree & a red-leaf Japanese Maple & planted them in the front. I was very excited (still am). Here's what it should look like (ours is rather bare after the wind storm):

We love College Heights Ward. We got a long vacation from callings but they finally got around to putting us to work. Justin is the Cub Scout leader & I'm the RS Enrichment leader & Primary pianist. If you know me, you know I'm not an accomplished pianist so this one's a stretch for me - I even have trouble with primary songs & hymns but it forces me to practice & I am getting better.

Here I am at 6 1/2 months. I thought it was cool feeling the baby move - it's even better to look down & see my belly moving.

Merry Christmas!

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yawning

We got the best Christmas present this year. The last ultrasound lasted 2 minutes... just enough time to measure and say "we can't do this now". This one was so much better. The technician took time for us to look at our SON from every possible angle and we were able to watch him move around a lot. It's amazing how much he's grown just in the last 2 & 1/2 weeks...he's filled out and I'm already convinced he's the cutest baby to ever exist! At every stage of my pregnancy it gets so much more real, and this was a big one. I'm so excited & thinking about how blessed we are to have this little one straight from heaven to my belly and soon to our home.

Ultrasound

So sorry I haven't posted... our internet has been down for a while. We had our 20-week ultrasound on Dec 5th. It was so cool to see our little baby... in fact, they said it was actually too little to tell much, but looks healthy! She started taking measurements right away and questioned me on my dates: apparently we were at 17 weeks, not 20...ooops. She tried to sneak a peak to see boy or girl but the cord was between the baby's legs. I'm kind of relieved because the books all said that I should have been feeling the baby by then, but I was just confused about whether it was gas or baby. Now the baby moves so much I sometimes wish it would know when it's naptime. My adjusted due date is May 15th. We're having another ultrasound this Wednesday, merry Christmas Eve to us!