Our precious daughter, Bethany Priscilla Pang Vautour made her grand entrance to this world, and it marked the beginning of parenting journey for Joe and myself.
Bethany weighed 6lb 15oz and measured 20 inches long when she was at birth. She is just perfect!
It was a very emotional day for Joe and myself. I could not believe I am a mom! My mom was with us at the hospital. When Joe brought Bethany to my mom, she was very emotional and Joe later told me that there were tears in my mom's eyes when she held Bethany in her arms.
Joe and I spent quite a long time to come up with Bethany's middle names. Growing up, Joe has always believed that a girl borned into the Vautour's family should have Marie as the middle name. While a boy borned into the Vatuour's family should have Joseph as the middle name. For some reason, I did not really like the name Marie. After much discussion and consideration, we had decided, as a couple, to name our baby after her grandmother (a.k.a. my mom). My mom and I have a very tight-knit bond as far back as I could remember (I was a breast-fed baby!) and naming our baby after my mom seemed to be the right thing to do. Also, my mom's birthday is Aug 12 and with my original due date of Aug 24, Joe and I both thought that this would be the best birthday present we could ever get my mom! :-)
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| From Drop Box |
Baby Bethany and I stayed at the hospital until Thursday Aug 20. Joe spent monday night at the hospital rooming in with us. Poor Joe, he slept in a cot and pulled his back while helping me with breastfeeding on Tuesday. He got rushed to ER by a nurse in the maternity ward. The ER doctor gave him a shot of Advil and gave him a prescription for anti-inflammatory pills. Knowing that Joe wanted to help out as much as he could, having a pulled-back simply would not do any good for Bethany and me, so I simply sent him home so that he could rest. Joe, being a first-time daddy, felt particularly awful and he cried.
Bethany and I got moved to a private room (with minimal or no A/C) on Tuesday afternoon. I survived tuesday and wednesday nights with Bethany alone in the room. Being a first-time mom, I had no idea what to do with Bethany other than change her diaper and feed her once every two hours. Mom came to the hospital twice a day (noon and early evening) to bring me home-made meals . I am a super fussy person and hospital food does not agree with my stomach, so I gave all the hospital food to Joe, while I had all the yummy home-made chinese post-partum food made by Mom!
Monday afternoon, Bethany received her very first present from Pao Pao (grandma Priscilla) -- a flower arrangment made with long stem pink roses, rested in a pink piggy vase!
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| From Drop Box |
Monday evening, godparents Barry and Annette came to visit us. They brought us a lovely flower arrangement! Joe slept for a straight 7 hours in the cot, and I got around 2 hrs of sleep.
Tuesday early afternoon, my OB/GYN Dr. Jessica Dy dropped by to say hello! I really like Dr. Dy and I am glad that she delivered Bethany!
Tuesday afternoon, I learned from the nurse how to give Bethany a bath. Too bad that Joe was recovering from the back pain at home, he missed Bethany's first bath.
Tuesday evening, my friend Marie-Eve (who is expecting also) and her hubby Shaun came for a short visit, and brought Bethany a Noah Ark's piggy bank.
Tuesday night, I recieved a breath-taking flower arrangement from the Costco's Fresh Foods team! Joe went home around 10pm. I had 2 hrs of sleep.
I told the day-nurse that I needed to see a lactation consultant as Bethany had trouble latching on properly, and I was worried that she did not get enough breastmilk. The day-nurse did not even bother to make an appointment for me! I HATED HATED her!
Wendesday: Bethany had lost 9.02% of her birth weight (losing between 7-10% of birth weight by Day 3 is normal) and being the queen of worrying, I worried that Bethany was not getting enough breastmilk. Worrying turned into a semi panic attack in the wee hours of Thursday... and this translated to NO SLEEP!
Wednesday midnight: Recieved a flower arrangement from Godmother Virigina!
Thursday: The semi panic attack had progressed to a full-blown panic attack. I was frustrated and Bethany was frustrated. My heart ached when she was crying as she was hungry. It seems that she was not satisfied with my breastmilk. I felt that I had failed miserably as a mom and that my baby was starving and I could not do anything to take the hunger away from her! At 5am, after trying feeing Bethany for 45 mins, I cried with my daughter for half an hour as I felt so helpless. The night nurse was absolutely terrible and she did not seem to care if Bethany was latched on properly or not. All she wanted me to do was to give Bethany formula instead of breastmilk!
Thursday late morning: I got a new day nurse today. She came in to check my vitals and prepare for the discharge. I mentioned to her about my breastfeeing problem. She observed my techniques, and after 5 mins, she asked, "Have you considered seeing our lactation consultant?" I was like, "YES YES ! I have been asking the other nurse Eleanor for this for the last two days, and she kept saying I was doing fine! And NO I am not doing fine, and NO I am not emotional! And YES I am worried about my daughter!" At 10am, Joe and I met with the lactation consulatant, Nancy. She is a sweet lady, and she gave me a few pointers on different lactching positions. Too bad that at this point, my nipples were sore and were bleeding, and it made breastfeeding extremely difficult. At 2pm, Nancy suggested that I explore the option of getting a breast pump. Ok... breast pump it is then. If this is the solution and that Bethany will no longer be starving... I do not care if the breast pump costs $300 or even $3000! First time in the last 9 months, I felt the despair and desperation in myself and I worried about someone else more than myself. I guess this is the magic of mother-hood!
We got discharged around 5pm. Rushed home for the 5:30pm feeding (I pumped 1.5oz breast milk at the hospital), and then Joe and I went to Shoppers to get a Breast Pump. Being the queen of Google and competitive shopping, I did not even bother to compare prices and simply grab a Medela Battery Operated Breast Pump (Swing). This marked the beginning of my new career -- a pumping mom!
Friday am: Surived the first night with baby at home! It was not too bad. I had not been sleeping at all, and it seems that my body had quite adjusted to the lack of sleep. On the other hand, Joe still managed to get 6 - 7 hours of sleep every night! Men, they can really sleep through everything!
Friday noon: Baby's first doctor appointment. It is a normal procedure that the baby needs to be seen by a family doctor or pediatrician within 48 hours after discharge from the hospital. The doctor appt lasted for 45 mins and Joe and I asked tons of questions... and the doctor (our family doctor) is very patient with us and answered all our questions.
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| From Drop Box |
Friday evening: My in-laws Carl and Sandy called! Carl talked to Joe for a few minutes, and I spoke with Sandy for a few minutes. They asked how I was doing after the c-section and then how Bethany was doing.
My dad calls everyday to make sure I am doing ok. Other than the lack of sleep, everything was going great. I had a major melt-down thursday afternoon. I was really frustrated and diappointed at myself at the same time, that I felt I had failed my daughter in providing her nutrients through my breastmilk. After a long chat with my sister, I felt much better. I have learned to accept that fact the expressing breastmilk by pumping is an alternative way of breast-feeding. Though it is not ideal and can be time consuming, it is still better thatn formula-feeding.
Perhaps it was the post-partum hormones, I find that I am super sensitive these days... one stupid comment would simply send me to the land of tears... so Joe (if you are reading this blog...) bear with me... and stop questioning about why we need a bottle / nipple rack in the kitchen, and why I want only Bambino receiving blankets!
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