Labor

3.6.2010

This is the call to the doctor's answering service once my contractions were within the proscribed timing and consistency.  Getting to this point took all day with contractions on and off, getting closer together and then further apart, and then closer and closer and more intense (and I felt like I would die if I didn't make it to IKEA, but I can't remember what I wanted to buy).  Dad's nervous.  Bailey's stoked because everyone is in one room and not spread through the house AND she gets to be on the ottoman without her blanket.  I'm just thinking about all of the needles and prodding and poking and strangers that are going to be involved in the next hours of my life (thank goodness I had no idea what was actually coming).  

I did not handle this stage of labor gracefully.  Contractions HURT.  They are not simply "pressure" as books and pregnancy blogs suggest.  They are pain.  And the breathing trick that my mom (Miss Au Naturel with BOTH kids) taught me - more time breathing in/less time breathing out or vice versa - stopped working.  

If all goes as planned this time around (cough, cough), I will be checking myself into the hospital a week before my due date, and having a planned C-section.

Fear

Fear plays a large role in all my decisions - fear of failure, not being good, disappointing others, doing something wrong, getting hurt, or being ridiculed.  These two guys are teaching me to try new things and ignore fear's weight in the equation.  I want William to tackle opportunities for the experience and not to consider being good a prerequisite for starting.  That starts begins with him seeing Nang and I do the same.  Kids these days and their expectations - sheesh!

Before

BEFORE the friends I am supposed to be joining in September blog-a-day tan my hide, let me say that I'm sorry.  I thought the peer pressure of others' expectations of daily posts would be enough to get me to stay awake an extra 15 minutes and write, post a picture, something.  But that peer pressure wasn't as effective as I predicted, and performance anxiety/writer's block took over.  Blog-a-day seemed like a great idea BEFORE I recognized the imminence of Baby Ngo #2's scheduled arrival date.  She hasn't been formally introduced...now for the uterus shots:

A wee bebe

20 weeks - we decided to find out the gender this time, and it's a....

GIRL!

The sonogram technician loved her role in the surprise and pointing out the details of #2's girly bits - she included three angles.  Nang opened the envelope with the results for Father's Day.

34 week profile - things are getting cramped in there

Whole body shots don't fit because she's so much bigger.  This is her foot.  The doctor says that the fluid level is on the low end of normal, and her weight is on the low end of normal, but not to worry until 36 weeks.  I tried to convince her that my husband is Asian, so a smaller-than-white baby might be expected...she didn't buy it.

Man of the house

When Ba's not around, William does his best to fill Nang's shoes by wearing his drawers and using his toothbrush.

Astros game

Kip and Kristina invited William (and by default, Nang and me) to the Astros game, and William was excited about it for 2 days beforehand - the first thing he asked about in the morning and the last thing he mentioned at night was baseball game and some combination of Kip, Tina, and Sadie, their dog who William assumed would also be attending the game. It is a tough life for William. He's been to three baseball games - two in the Diamond Club (great seats behind home plate) and one way up in the nosebleed section (10 rows up behind home plate). What's next? A box at a Texans game?

Haircut

Big Dub has been a little shaggy for awhile. Last night after his shower, he agreed to let me give him a haircut. This morning, he wanted more cut off in addition to getting his 'do wet, adding mousse, and blowing it dry. Definitely Nang's son!

Cereal snacking

Tonight after his bottle of milk (yes, I KNOW he is too old for a bottle - you can tell him this news), William announced he wanted a cookie, opened the pantry, and came back with the oatmeal. He's sitting on the couch eating raw oatmeal, and he shared with his Mama. Tasty.