Playdate

 

Ok, maybe not a real play date, but the first time Max has met someone his own age. Barrett and Max are closer in age than wei yan and uncle josh. Perhaps they will grow up together just like josh and wei yan did in greenville - as grandpa chan predicts.

our mornings

in the mornings a lot of times i'll tuck max in with dad while i brush my teeth and grab a bite to eat before it's time for dad to go to work...

 

max is sleeping, but his eyes in that pic are a little open. and in the words of my pediatrician, yes it is a little creepy ;-)

Grandma's got the touch!

My mom left on Sunday, but while she was here she got Max to smile a lot! I joke that we're in survival mode so we are just concentrating on keeping the kid alive, whereas when she was here she had lots of extra energy to play with Max. I still say that he smiled a whole lot more when she was here - and here is some proof!

 

 

 

breastfeeding is hard

max weighs 11 lbs 5 oz now and gaining about an ounce or more a day - which is all what it's supposed to be. i've been dealing with some pain that has always kinda been there (max does better on one side than the other) and when he started his last growth spurt he really took out some frustration on the side he doesn't like as much. so it's been tough. i finally broke down & went to see a lactation consultant a week and a half ago, went to a nursing mothers of raleigh support group meeting and also rented a hospital grade pump - the other pump wasn't working that well for me most of the time. it was all going pretty well before that or about as well as i was expecting breastfeeding to be. so i keep telling myself that one of these days it will be easier and this will be the last thing we need to get over, but i'm guessing that is not true, that as soon as we get past this there will be something else. max no longer wants to go 3 hours between feedings consistently, but i guess i've traded 45 min feedings for 10 min feedings every hour or two. so it's been long enough that i don't think he will go back to the 3 hrs between feedings at this point.

i woke up this morning only to realize that in 3 weeks i go back to work! yikes! today i was in bed til 12:30 - max was in bed with me after 8am and we napped between feedings. so i wonder if i'll be ready and need to figure out the pumping thing before i go back as well! oh, and i tried to give max a bottle for the first time last night (pumped to give the problem side a rest) - he cried and fussed the whole time and ended up taking both sides anyway.

my mom was here for a week and so our house is cleaner, we're all very well fed and max got lots of cuddles and love last week.

growth spurt at 5.5 weeks continued

Just kidding. He totally fakes us out. He's back to 10 feedings a day and hasn't gone more than 3 hrs between feedings (and that's maybe once a day). Not too bad, but yeah, he eats for a really long time still. Anyway, just gotta keep through. Hopefully Wei Yan and my mom can hold out on the temptation to "just give him a bottle" - while the intentions are good to let me sleep & rest, I don't want to go through the not being able to keep up with his demand thing and trying to breastfeed & supplement with formula all by myself at home while everyone is gone a week from now. Max started this growth spurt Sunday - so someone please tell me it will be over soon. On the plus side, he is growing - for good or bad. He started using his hands to push off my chest and pull on me when he's really hungry. He also learned today that if he spits up in his mouth and then blows out it's really fun (too bad I was talking right to him when he first did this this morning). And he's hang onto my shirt when I'm feeding him and roll onto his side when we put him down on his play mat.

Growth Spurt

So right at the end of our 1st trip seems that max started a bit of a growth spurt. Incidentally, we caught the Duke-Carolina basketball game and Max stayed up for all of it and we made him do the UNC cheer. His arms are too short to make a C and therefore the C-A-R-O-L-I-N-A cheer will really have to wait...and "A" is totally out of the question with those short arms.

Oh, yes, growth spurts. So he was really getting frustrated with my milk flow and causing a bit of pain and then I was not able to pump very much. Kind of panicked, and went to see a lactation consultant. Course now his growth spurt has slowed down a bit from the last few days and he was much calmer. We also weighed him Tuesday (he has crusty cradle cap on his eyebrows & ears that is REALLY gross and spitting up a lot but dr says it's normal after hearing all about it) at 10 lbs 5 ounces. And then today at 10 lbs 10.5 ounces (when I left the lactation consultants office) - so yeah, that just confirmed he's growing like crazy the last few days and everything is normal. Technically I do need to make sure I can pump enough when I go back to work, but guess we can worry about that when Max is NOT going through a growth spurt.

First Road Trip

 

This past weekend, Max got to meet his yeh yeh (grandfather) and see his ma ma (grandmother) again. He also got to meet lots of uncles and aunts and family friends. His yeh yeh made red eggs for everyone to eat for good luck.

If he hadn't gotten stuck on I-40 during rush hour when an accident happened, that trip to Greenville (NC) would have been his longest.

Happy to be 1 month old....

 

Ok, so he's really happy about something else, but I was actually able to get a picture of him smiling on Wednesday. We can't wait til he starts smiling at people socially, but this will have to do until then!

Happy 1 Month!

 

Today Max is 1 month old...well, technically he is 4 weeks old.

Not all things on newborns are proportional. His little arms barely reach to the top of his head! Pretty much all bodily secretions are HUGE compared to this "little" 10 lb guys. And his burps and farts are already as loud as those of a full grown adult. We both still jump when he poops his diaper it's so loud! Things I had never thought about before...

Heels are #1 and Bruins are #2 in the men's basketball rankings this week! Nice!

Changing every day!

 

Today Max went with me to an old friend's house for lunch. He stayed up for quite a while there - so I got a pic of him with his eyes open. He got bopped on the head by the 2 year old - but he slept through it...even the subsequent apology. I wasn't as upset as I thought I'd be, but I think that's because I really trust my friend (we've known each other for 13 years now) and he really didn't get hit very hard at all. I was also more interested in seeing motherhood in action - how my friend taught her son right from wrong, that there were consequences to his actions, that he needed to apologize, and that there is forgiveness and unconditional love.

Oh, I also stopped by Target on the way home. I used to think that I'd always just wait til hubby got home to run errands. I mean, why would I deal with the hassle of bringing a kid along, but I guess I've just been so stir crazy & feeling house-bound, that it just felt good to get out & do something normal. And maybe it's a way to prove to myself that the baby is not going to stop me from being able to do normal stuff like go to Target. I made it back just in time - he got hungry just as we were driving home! I knew I was playing with fire!

His baby acne seems to have emerged today. :-( Here is the exact face we get when we try to burp Max most of the time (well, unless he just falls asleep right after his feeding):

 

swaddle

 

Normally Max is not too big into the whole swaddle thing. Is it just me or do these swaddle blankets look suspiciously like straight jackets. We heard some popping noises coming from Max's hip the last few days and the doctor told us to come it so they could check it out so I took him in. The doctor said that it's probably just a ligament - more common in the shoulders & he was able to get it to happen on Max's shoulder while we were there today. But the doctor check his hip sockets and was unable to get his hip to come out of socket, so he said that was good & showed me how to check it next time it happens.

I changed Max's diaper as soon as we got to the pediatricians office & then we weighed him - 9lbs 7 ounces. While I was taking him back to the room from the scales he promptly spit up on me (I had just finished feeding him at home before I came to the dr.'s office). Then while the doctor was examining him, he spit up again some more - in fact he's spit up a whole bunch since he got weighed. He also pooped while the doctor was examining his butt/hips - the doc was quick with that diaper shield! So I changed him, then while the doc was explaining follow up, he pooped again! I changed him and then he pooped yet again! So I'm pretty sure that he lost at least 2 ounces after getting weighed, but 8 ounces in 6 days is looking good. We haven't had to supplement any formula or breastmilk after I feed him for quite a while now - so the latest weigh in was good to know that he's just falling asleep because he really is full. And I think we're done with newborn swaddlers....onto the next bigger (read: higher capacity) size.

stylin

Seems that getting a shot of max when he is awake is tough. Here's a rare one taken last week - onesie made by max's great auntie. today max is 3 weeks old. we went to visit dad at work today for lunch and to get out of the house for a few minutes. max slept the whole time starting from the car ride to work and only started fussing when it was time to go home. of course he slept on the ride home & then started crying once the car stopped!

saturday

we are trying to catch up on some sleep and laundry this weekend. saturday, max got a visit from his great grandmother who was returning from a trip to the west coast and we got to eat some dim sum take out at the house with family. max got lots of presents from his relatives on the west coast and those who have not gotten a chance to visit him yet.

weigh in

took max to the pediatrician on Wed. he was only 8 lbs 8.5 ounces and the dr was not happy that he had only gained .5 ounce in 8 days. he told us to up bottle feedings to 3 ounces and feed him more often. after not getting any sleep tuesday night after my mom left & I woke up to every noise max made in his sleep, i was very upset at the pediatrician's conclusion that we weren't feeding him enough. but finally got some sleep & slept in the other bedroom while Wei Yan slept with the baby in our bedroom after that 1st night.

thurs & friday morning pm max decided on his own that he wanted to be fed every 2 hours for the first couple feeding of the day. saturday night he took 4 ounces of formula and would not be ok with anything less. friday we took him back to the pediatricians office and he was 8 lbs 15 ounces. i think he's gained even a few more ounces since then. luckily we've made it through most of Saturday without having to give him any formula and he's been content, so hopefully soon my milk supply will be able to keep up with him and we can keep little max gaining weight. thurs & friday were rough since it's hard to breastfeed & then try to get a supplemental bottle into him all in one feeding. saturday I even got a chance to get out of the house & walk around with him in his stroller for a few minutes.

Who you gonna call?

Babies sleep in such weird positions....

Thanks Grandmas!

Wei Yan's mom was here from Sunday to Tuesday and my mom was here from Tuesday until today. They have been a tremendous help and Max loved all the attention. Thank you to both of them for helping us out!

Tonight will be the first all night with just the 2 of us covering for quite a while - and the first since my infection settled in. I am feeling much better and only have 1 more day of antibiotics to go. Had a check up with the OB today and he said everything is looking good & should be a dim memory soon. Tomorrow is Max's 2 week check up - so the today & tomorrow will be ok with Wei Yan having to play chauffeur, so Thursday will be a real test.

Lip quiver & chinese new year (fixed link)

Max has some strong neck muscles! His neck is still a little floppy especially when he's tired, but with how big he is he definitely hasn't seemed as fragile as everyone told us he would be as a newborn. When he gets really upset, his lip quivers when he cries, it's really funny (your not supposed to laugh when your baby cries, I know...)


Also, here is Max's 1st ly-see (hong bao/red packet) from great grandma on chinese new year eve. Perspective makes his hand look big - it's not THAT big.
 
When they put Max on my chest right after he was born, I saw his hands & feet and thought - oh man they are huge! I'm supposed to think they are so tiny, but dang, they didn't look like tiny baby hands & feet. I was wondering how he fit inside my belly and thankful those kicks didn't hurt as much as they could with his big feet (thank god he didn't have room to get the momentum going for those kicks!)

Recovery

So I was a little hesitant to write over the last few days, but now that I've had some time to not be in pain & reflect, I thought I'd post an update. We got home from the hospital on Thursday. I had been off of vicodin for 36 hours and was not in a lot of pain. By Friday afternoon I was feeling uncomfortable sitting, and by Saturday night I was sobbing in pain and Sunday was not much better. Saturday evening, I called the doctor and he basically told me a bunch of stuff that I should have been doing to speed the healing process & make it more comfortable. None of which I really got from my nurses or doctors when leaving the hospital. All I remember them telling me to do when I went home was take 800mg of ibuprofen every 4 hours. Sunday morning, I was ready to have Wei Yan drop me off at the hospital again just so they could give me some pain meds.

Got a prescription for vicodin on Sunday from the on-call doctor but didn't seem to work well (was told to take it every 6 hours, but I was in enough pain that I was hurting by 4 hours). The on-call doctor suggested that I come in on Monday. Monday we went to see the doctor - last minute appointments were only available with the oldest partner in the group who no longer delivers babies, but has the most experience. He checked out the stitches & said everything looked ok - hard to say if the swelling was part of the normal healing process or because of an infection. He thought that I probably had an infection based on the amount of pain I was in. My blood pressure was really high, which I knew was because I was in a lot of pain.

Started on some antibiotics and vicodin (every 4 hours) and continued with the other care measures for the stitches. I've been feeling better - at least not in continuous pain or crying because of the pain. Not sure if I could have avoided an infection or not, but I'm sure if the nurses/doctors had given more more information on what I should have been doing to take care of myself I would have at least been in a little less pain. Or maybe all of the pain really was because of an infection, I'm really not sure. I think had I not been feeling so good upon discharge, I wouldn't have been taken by such surprise and perhaps the nurses/doctors would have given me more instructions or at least know when things weren't going well right from the start of the pain.

I definitely have learned a lot from the last week or so.
1. Always ask the doctors what to expect and what to do if something happens that you don't expect and when to call them.
2. Make sure that you have people taking care of you, so you can take care of the baby. They will end up taking care of the baby too, but make sure they are people who will tell you when your maternal insticts are making you do more than you should. It's best to have a woman you can call who has been through what you've been through, to help tell you all the stuff other people don't tell you.
3. Pain is good in that it tells you when something is wrong and makes you slow down when you need to. Pain meds are bad in that they do lie to you and tell you you can do more than you should be to recover. Pain meds are good if they help lower your blood pressure below 150/120 and stop the sobbing.
4. Have your baby at the end of the week so that you don't have to be in pain over a whole weekend if something goes wrong once you go home ;-)

It's weird how there was so much information given to me on the pregnancy and even how to take care of the baby once he arrived, but I had virtually no education on what I should be doing to take care of myself after the pregnancy ended. I have had a lot of folks tell me some of the normal changes, but not a lot on what I should or should have been doing to take care of myself. And yes, this post is at 4am. Christina told me that she was more tired during pregnancy than once the baby arrived, and I would tend to agree. I have not been able to sleep all the time, so I sleep when I am really tired. Luckily my mom is here now, so she's taking care of the baby when wei yan is at work & I'm tired & can actually sleep.

1st portrait

Max wouldn't wake up for the lady to take his picture at the hospital, but check out the pictures she took of him on Thursday before we left the hospital.

Introducing Maxton Takahiro Chan

It has been a couple of long nights. We finally decided on a name, Maxton Takahiro Chan. We were released from the hospital yesterday around 5pm and suddenly we were on our own. Things have been a little crazy since. No more room service. No more calling the nurse for help with Max. No more sending him to the nursery for some rest. Yeah, the hospital was nice.

Our first night at home was sleepless to say the least. Max just would not sleep on his own. He would only sleep if someone held him. So Robin and I took turns holding him last night while the other slept. I think I actually dozed off a few times holding him... luckily I didn't drop him!

We took Max to the doctor today just for a quick check up and they said he has gotten more jaundiced. He is reading 12.4 on some jaundice scale, up from 7.5 when he left the hospital. We have to bring him back to the pediatritian tomorrow to see if it is still going up. If so, they will place him under some lamp or something.

CC has been a great help these last few days. She's been over here helping us watch Max and even got us food and did some grocery shopping for us. Thanks Sis!

I would also like to thank everyone for their well wishes in emails, text messages, voicemails. I have read and heard them all. I apologize for not responding back but it has been very crazy here, lots to adjust to. Max has been taking up all of our time and energy!

Tekelec released their earnings yesterday. Numbers were good. Yay! Stock goes down? Boo! Bonus is 140% Yay! So that's a wash I guess.

Anyway, here are a few recent pics: