Sep
30
baby @ 3 weeks
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Samantha is absolutely a textbook baby. She’s hitting every milestone exactly when she should. It’s the beginning of her third week and she has become more alert and fussy whenever we put her down to sleep. She used to be able to sleep right after a feeding but now she’s wild awake and needs us to soothe her to sleep. Whenever we put her down, she starts to fuss and we would have to soothe her all again. We heard she’ll get even more fussy until sixth week and that’s when she has learned to soothe herself. Lucky, she’s only fussy in the evening. During the day she much easier to put to sleep. We want to include activities in the routine, but whenever we do an activity like tummy time after a good feeding, she aren’t able to fall asleep afterwards. I don’t know if we should continue with tummy time or just let her sleep.
Sep
24
Our gallery has been updated with the latest Sam pics taken since her birth photos. I know she’s not 1 month old just yet, but I felt enthused to start one early as I’ve been going a bit camera crazy, as you might expect.
Sep
24
How’s it going, dad?
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So I’m a new father! How does it feel? Weird? Sure, it’s weird. I was the youngest in my family, used to getting some attention. Now I have to direct that kind of attention and more to Samantha. And I’ll spare you the cliche descriptions of how sentimental and overwhelmed with emotions you get when you see your first pop out. While much of this is real and indeed a moment like no other, I’d rather like to reflect on some specific things that made me think “wow, I’m a dad”.
The C Battery!
You remember the C battery? That huge, clunky battery (looks like a AA battery on steriods). Yes, that one. The one that I discovered is needed to operate almost all the vibrating, bouncy, chiming, Fisher Price chairs and swings we got for Samantha. And not only that, some even need the D battery. Remember that one? Even bigger than the C. My first reaction was laughter because I hadn’t seen or used one in so long. Then my next thought was, “they still make these?”. Well they obviously do. Holding one in my hands conjures up all these old images and reminders of many tacky, not-so-well built toys and games from my childhood. I guess its come time to revisit this era. Man, the C battery… I’m definitely a dad now.
It’s all about the Wrap, baby!
Seeing your first child enter the world is a super special time for sure. But over the next few days, as I watched Samantha’s movements and expressions, I started to see this whole experience from her traumatizing point of view. She had spent 9 months inside a cozy womb, well fed, warm, secure and in amniotic bliss. All of the sudden she had been ripped out naked into this harsh unfamiliar world where sounds, food and temperature had changed drastically. No wonder she would get startled even at the movements of her own arms and legs. Poor thing.
It was then during our first trip to the Pediatrician’s office that Joanne busted out the new Didymos baby wrap to carry Sam. She was all scrunched up, skin to skin with Joanne inside this wrap, and I had never seen her so happy and comfortable. For that moment, she probably thought that we finally returned her back home to the womb. This Didymos was not merely a highly German engineered piece of (expensive) fabric that gets a lot of stares on the street, this was her sanctuary. If she couldn’t be returned to the womb, this wrap would have to do for now. Caring for a dependent, whether it be your child or even a dog, requires that you sometimes see things from their point of view in order to fulfill their needs. Wow, I guess I am a dad now.
Sep
24
Sleep, eat, sleep, eat
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We’ve made it through the first week as new parents, and things are going well. Special thanks to family who have been a great help by cooking us feasts. We’re still getting used to Samantha’s rhythms and syncing our routines to her needs. Eating and sleeping are basically all that newborns do, and both seem to require a bit of managing and mindfulness if Samantha is to be satisfied.
Feeding can be somewhat of a learning curve and quite challenging, especially if the baby is being breastfed like ours. Luckily we managed to get wonderful lactation consultation, and Samantha’s been eating heartily and gaining proper weight since. Not sure about other first-time fathers, but I sometimes feel quite helpless and vulnerable for these first couple of weeks, since I won’t be able to do much on my own if Samantha cries (uh, I mean scream) in hunger. Bottles won’t come into the picture until 2 weeks or so.
Babies’ sleep routines and durations also might not be as self-evident as one may expect. From my readings, it seems as though a rule of thumb is to never awake a sleeping baby. I know some parents would naturally want to wake their baby to feed them, especially if they’ve slept for many hours. But apparently hunger is controlled by the stomach, while wake/sleep cycles are managed by the brain. Hunger does not play a role in waking a baby. So if her developing brain is being fed with sleep, should we disrupt that in order to feed her stomach? What to do? For now, letting her sleep uninterrupted seems preferable. Plus, the long sleeping appears to condition her to sleep easier subsequently, as it’s a learned behavior.
More later…
Sep
19
We’re happy to announce the birth of our baby daughter, Samantha Helen Wong! She was born on Monday, September 15th at 11:10 am and weighed in at 5 lbs 14 oz.
The whole procedure went exceptionally well. Joanne did a great job and is
currently doing and feeling well. We just arrived back home on Wednesday. Here are some pictures.
More to come on our first week as parents…
Sep
11
Bush with Boobs
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Ok, sorry to rain on the Palin Party, but since I don’t shoot moose or go to hockey games regularly (do people still play that sport?) I need to step in here with a reality check. Even with the experience debate aside for the moment, this woman is proud of letting “God” influence her political decisions, doesn’t believe humans cause global warming, wants to perpetually dig baby dig for oil instead of focus full effort on renewable energy, thinks that the trickle-down free market can solve any problem that anyone has ever encountered, thinks that the I-raq (eye rack) surge is anything more than buying time for a political settlement that has yet to happen, avoids the Media, knows little about the non-western outside world, and who’s office sites “executive privilege” when reporters ask for 1000 of her hidden emails to be released.
If I hadn’t mention her name, you’d really think I was talking about our current world-class President huh? It’s not just that it’s “more of the same”…it’s that its more of .. ugh.. god.. HIM..
These guys are once again fooling good ole’ down home folks to vote against their economic interests and well-being. If we can’t stop them this time, it might very well be easier to arm the moose in Alaska and teach them to shoot back.
Sep
11
Starting working from home this week, which should be a pretty relaxing week, but I caught what I thought was a cold but it’s really hay fever. What the hell? So close to delivery and I am sick! Every part of my body hurts. I can’t rest, I can’t eat much, i can’t do anything much. Sometimes, I just feel like crying. It’s the third time this year that I’ve been sick. I know pregnancy makes your body weaker but this is ridiculous.
Sep
8
Confused..
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If anyone understands this commercial, please feel free to explain. I have no idea. I hope the series gets better, or at least somewhat humorous.
Sep
8
Mc-No Ideas of His Own
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If “Change” has been a nicely packaged selling point to voters over the past year, then Obama is the iPod, McCain is the Zune. Let’s hope the iPod continues to have the larger market share over it’s imitators this coming November.
Sep
8
When is it going to be my turn? Six pregos in the office. 4 down two more to go. It should happen very soon… I hope.