Lucu 3 months

Lucu is already 3.5 months now.
- wants us to hold him in standing position and he starts moving his feet to the front one by one
- we put him in his ‘bumbo’ seater and he can hold his head steady but he doesn’t seem to enjoy sitting there for too long
- had his first laugh out loud smile last week. He did it 3-4 times when I was playing with him while changing him. But he has not done it anymore after that.
- starts to reach his arm out to touch things
- starts to put anything in his hand into mouth

We are going to take a trip to LA for a week to send mom off and pick up Biby’s parents this weekend. We will leave on Sunday and return on Friday. It will be Lucu’s first out of town trip. I am trying to make a list of what we need to bring for him. It’s a lot!!! Don’t know how to pack all the stuff and the luggages into the car.

Mom is leaving in a week….sob…sob. I feel a bit nervous with mom leaving. We are lucky that we have mom with us for several months and Biby’s mom is now coming to take over for a couple of months, but things will change. Lucu will have to adjust to his oma after spending the first few months of his life with ama. Will he miss ama? After all, he responded to ama first when talked to rather than to me or Biby. I am sure that I will have to cook more often and do more house chores. With mom here, she has been cooking for us even after I returned to work and also helping with the house cleaning. I am going to miss her when she goes back

Baby-ku dah mau 3 bulan

Looking at the last entry in this journal, I was still wondering when the baby would be born. Now Lucu will already be 3 months old tomorrow. He was born two days after I wrote my last entry . I did write here and there after he was born but haven’t been posting them on wordpress. Will post them soon.

 

It’s been an amazing experience watching how much Lucu has grown, how he learns new skills. He loves to sit up so he can see things around him, he can now see far distance and knows when we are playing and talking to him. He’s been putting his hand into his mouth since a couple weeks ago and two nights ago he has ‘found’ his thumb to suck. He doesn’t stick his tongue out as much as when he was newborn. Mom has noticed that he loved sticking his tongue out right from when he was born When talked to, he would make all the cutest noises to respond and lately he would scream it out. He loves to recline in his daddy’s lap and just cuddles. Last night, we found something new, he was not sleepy and fussed when Biby lay him down. So Biby put Lucu on his belly on Biby’s chest. Then, he kept moving and finally ended up lying on his back across Biby’s tummy. What’s so cute is that his head was pretty much upside down with his body lying flat on his back. He looked so relax and content and was playing with his hands. I don’t know if that’s common for babies his age, but he looked like a big kid doing that. I should have taken a picture of that

 

This past Sunday was Lucu’s first Easter. We took him to the church for the first time. He was asleep when we got to the church but he woke up not long after the mass started. We picked him up and he was looking around curiously. Half way through the mass, he pooped and I took him to the women lounge to change him. He screamed so loudly coz he was sleepy. I stayed in the room until he was asleep and took him back just in time for the communion and got the priest to bless him. After that we went to KKI at the Nurman’s. We stayed there quite few hours. He was being really good and mellow looking around but he wouldn’t smile at all

 

I have returned to work for almost two weeks now and I am so sleepy right now. I was dreading coming back to work since three weeks before returning to work, but it turned out not bad at all. I do miss him but it’s not as bad as I thought it would. I am sure the biggest reason for it is because he is staying at home with my mom taking care of him. We are so blessed for that, having my mom with us from his birth until after I had to go back to work. Now I start dreading that mom is going back in three weeks . 

Minggu2 terakhir kerja

Hehehe, apa iya minggu terakhir kerja. Baby emang due Sabtu ini, tp kalo belon mo nongol jg, minggu depan gua kerja lagi dung???

 Last Friday gua dikasih shower tp yah shower ala kantor kita lah, gak ada acara special, cm potluck (yg mana gua jg ikut chip-in duit buat beli makanan) dan dikasih gift card. Gua sih dah ga ngarepin soalnya kantor kita sibuk ga ketulungan dengan big project yg sampe2 org2 disuruh lembur tgl 1 Jan. Dan ya gua dah tinggal seminggu lagi duenya, pada nungguin gua keburu lahiran kali jd ga usah kasih shower

Anyway, gua still make it ke kantor dan sibuk ga ketulungan dua hari ini. Sebel, kerjaan yg kemaren2 aja masih belon selesai, trus masih banyak issues yg baru lagi. Minggu2 sebelumnya gua kuatir, tp skrg dah agak bodo amat. Abisnya kerjaan ga abis2.

Oh trus hari ini, ada temen kerja gua yg ngomong sesuatu yg bikin gua gak percaya rasanya. Kita tuh emang lagi short-staffed banget, ada satu yg minggu lalu terakhir dan satu lagi minggu depan berenti. Trus si temen kerja gua lagi nanya2 tentang berapa lama mereka harus cover kerjaan gua. Si bos bilang gua off 3 bulan sampe april. Trus gua bilang, awal april kayaknya dah balik deh. Eh, dia bilang istri dia dulu cm ambil 4-6 weeks untuk anak pertama dan cuma 3 HARI untuk anak kedua. Gila amat!!! Itu mah begitu keluar rumah sakit langsung besoknya balik kerja apa?? Sebel banget gua dengernya. Dah gitu boss gua bilang oh iya kalo gitu dia punya strong work ethics. Itu mah bukan strong work ethics tp ga py pilihan kali. Abis itu temen gua langsung ga enak sih, langsung bilang krn waktu itu dia kerja malem dan weekend. Tp tetep aja, itu kan hak gua mau ambil 3 bulan.

Gua jg gak kebayang sih pas balik,  kerjaan gua bakalan kacau kayak apa. Ada org2 yg gua train, tp berhub kita lg sibuk banget, mereka belon bisa mulai take over kerjaan gua jd gua ga tau deh mereka dah sefasih apa nanti kalo musti langsung kerjain sendiri. Gua dah sebisa mungkin taroh in writing procedurenya.

39 weeks 3 days

It’s Tuesday, Jan 13. Only 4 days prior to baby’s due date this Saturday on Jan 17.

“Baby, are you ready? Will you go past the due date? Mommy was worried that you might come early before 37 weeks and is thankful that you passed the pre-term mark of 37 weeks. But now mommy is worried that you might go past the due date. Are you still comfortable sitting in mommy’s belly? As long as baby is healthy, mommy won’t mind. “

I have heard that first child is usually past the due date, but I thought that I would go early considering how big I have got and considering the most of my friends who had their first last year went early. Now when I get to work, I will get lots of comments about how I still made it to work, that my belly looks like it’s ready to pop anytime, etc.

Sleeping has been pretty uncomfortable mostly because of the sciatica on my legs. But I am trying to enjoy the last moment with baby. Last Saturday, we had a really nice walk in a beautiful weather around the neighborhood. It felt good spending quiet time with Biby and baby.

These past few days, the crampings come and go and I think I started getting the braxton hicks contraction (at least, I think I can tell it apart from baby’s movement). Not sure about baby dropping, haven’t felt much difference in the pressure. Will have another dr appt on this coming Thursday, we’ll see what the doctor says.

Happy New Year 2009

It’s another new year, but this year will be an exciting one I am sure, especially with the baby completing our little family.

Our new year day was spent really mellow. Biby was sick from cold and cough, and we stayed home all day and took naps. Poor dad and mom since we didn’t take them out anywhere. We did go out for new year’s eve’s dinner at Saigon Pho. Had the house special lobster, french beef, stir fry french bean with pork and a fish dish (don’t remember what it’s called). My parents enjoyed it and we finished everything

We tried to take them out on weekends so they won’t feel so bored. I am not too worried about mom since I know she can find something to do around the house (she is a very creative person). Before mom arrived, I was still cooking but now mom is doing the cooking I am so lucky to not have to worry about the meals and have hot dinners waiting for me when I get home from work.  But I know my dad will get bored. I hooked him up with some chinese news websites so he can at least read the news online.

We actually went up to Flagstaff this past Sunday. We meant to take them the weekend they got here but were worried that they might still be tired from the trip from Singapore and I might go into labor. Then last week both Biby and I were sick. Luckily we felt better on Saturday night, so we did take them to Flagstaff on Sunday. And also since there was not much sign I was going into labor. What a lucky trip! Not only Flagstaff was covered with snow, it was also snowing the whole trip. It’s really beautiful. We didn’t stay long though, went up there almost noon and then had lunch at the Thai restaurant that we went year with mom and dad, took a walk in the downtown area and then headed to take some pictures in the snow-covered pine trees area. It was already almost 8 when we got home. At first, mom and dad were reluctant to go saying that it would be too cold but actually they were just worried that I might go into labor. But I think baby also enjoyed the trip

Btw, I got the cold again yesterday and am having a very stuffy nose right now. I’d better get well before baby is born. Definitely do not want to pass this to baby.

Soooo, last year, what big events happened to us? Of course, no doubt, me getting pregnant and I guess that was the biggest thing that dominated almost the whole year That was such a great gift from God. We didn’t do any big trips but it’s all worth it. We did manage to drive to LA for a long weekend to satisfy my cravings for Indonesian food when I was around 20 weeks. And we did fly to San Antonio and Texas for a few days when I was about 24 or 28 weeks. A lot of my friends were pregnant or had their babies last year too. With the economic crisis, we ended up not getting another house and decided not to replace our Civic.

All in all, it was a good year for us. We can’t ask for more.

Now, 2009 is here, what do we expect and what will the new year bring us? Don’t know yet. Big changes for sure with the baby and lots of things to learn in being parents. Only hope that we will be able to make good parents for baby. Let’s hope 2009 will be a good year to all!!

Week 37 and 38

Week 37

Last Tuesday, I had my 37 weeks doctor visit. Everything was well. I was about 162 or 164 lbs. Baby shld be full term already.  I started having mild menstrual cramps since week 35 and it got stronger in the beginning of week 37, the week papa and mama arrived. I thought that baby was gonna pop since I was telling baby to wait until he is full term and my parents are here But when the doctor checked me, baby has not even dropped(lightening). I think I statrted to have mild contractions but no obvious signs of labor. 

Week 38

I will have my week 38 checkup in a couple of days. No sign of labor yet. Still have menstrual cramps every now and then. Nothing really painful, just uncomfortable.  My feet are swollen like pig’s feet in the past two days (so big that they won’t fit into my sandals anymore) and my right hand feels numb and stiff during day time too (it used to be only at night).

The past week, we have also been cleaning and we got most of the cleaning and organizing done. All big stuff for baby like the crib, changing table, stroller, car seat, swing, etc have been put up for a while. I did a load of laundry this weekend and we put on the bed sheet, bed skirt, bumper for the crib and the cover sheet for the changing table last night. It completely creates a different feeling to the room. I still need to do another load of laundry, fold and hang the clothes and organize the baskets for the changing table.  Is it nesting urge? I am not sure. It took me a while to get things organized. There has always been an urge to get things done for a while, but I would also get tired quickly and wouldn’t get as much things done as I would like. Now the urge I have is to get the remaining stuff done, so hopefully I still have some time to relax and enjoy the last few days with baby inside my belly.

I am ready though if baby is ready now. Before, I was worried because baby was not yet full term and there were so many things to do. Now that baby is full term and things are getting more organized, I feel more ready. I will leave it to baby whenever he is ready

Miscellaneous in the past two-three weeks

It’s been a while ago since I last wrote. Things have been pretty hectic at work so I haven’t been able to take long enough break to write.

Just some random things that happened to us in the past couple weeks:

Studio picture

We took a studio picture of us at the Kiddie Kandids of Babies’r'us.  I didn’t expect much already since the sample they had on the photo coupon was really not professional and looked more like the picture you took on photo box. But it came out pretty nicely done, well, no complaint since we got the photo session for free for signing up for baby registry at babies’r'us.

Baby shower

I had a baby shower on the thirteenth where I had a really good time. It was a shower to honor me and also another mom-to-be friend. I had a good time, and really appreciate the effort of our friends to throw the shower for us in the middle of the busy holidays season. Baby got lots of gifts especially clothes. Now baby will have lots of clothes. I was worried in the beginning that baby didn’t have enough newborn size clothes. We have been buying clothes for baby since I was around 4 months pregnant , but most of them are for 3 months and up. So we did go buy several more outfits for baby after the shower. But now, I think baby will have more than enough outfits that we don’t need to buy any for another few months . In addition to the ones we bought and the shower gifts, my mom brought a lot of the newborn size and Biby’s coworkers also threw him a shower and we got a lot of clothes again.

Mom and Dad are here

And yes, my parents flew in from Indonesia and got here last Friday the 26th. I had to work that day and Biby flew to LA to pick them up at the airport and they got here in Phoenix around 7 at night. It was a long flight for them of almost 24 hours from Singapore to Phoenix. I was so excited to see them again after a year. I feel so blessed that they make the trip specially to see baby and to help out during the first few months after baby is born. Mom is gonna stay for 3-4 months and Dad is gonna stay here for a month or so. Now I don’t have to worry about what to have for dinner after work I do feel bad though since both of them have to stay home on the weekdays when we both work. Living in residential area here, there’s almost nothing within walking distance so they are kinda stuck at home. I wanted to take them to Flagstaff (about 3 hrs from Phoenix) to see snow but at the same time worried that I might go into labor on the trip. Hopefully we can drive Dad to LA with baby when he is leaving for Indonesia.

Christmas and New Year

We had a pretty relaxing quiet Christmas this year. Didn’t have any plan to meet up with anyone. Just went to the mass on Christmas and had dinsum afterwards, just the two of us enjoying the alone time before baby comes.

Tomorrow is already the last day of year 2008. We plan to have the lobster dinner at Saigon Pho, but Biby is sick today, so we’ll see. Soon, it will be 2009 and no tax deduction for this year since baby is now not likely to be born in 2008 . If baby is born in 2008, we will be able to claim tax deduction for child dependent to reduce our tax when we file the 2008 income tax. However, I don’t care about the deduction. As long as baby is born healthy, I would rather not have the deduction this year.

This holidays season feels different. This year, my mind is more occupied with preparing for the coming of baby. I don’t even feel like tomorrow is new year’s eve. My days are full of anticipation of baby’s birth more than anything else

Work

Things have been pretty crazy at the office for the past week. We got a big project going on and I was asked to drop other things and work on the project. It’s a nice break but at the same it worries me since I will have lots of things unfinished if I have to go into labor sooner. We are even asked to come in on January 1st to work overtime. I am scheduled to have Friday the 2nd off but it doesnt seem very likely now. Well, I guess in this kind of economic crisis, it’s a good thing as it’s kind of a job security if we have lots of things to do

First bi-weekly pre-natal visit

Yesterday, we went to the ob-gyn for the first bi-weekly prenatal visit.

- I thought I gained 5-6 lbs these past two weeks, but I didn’t.  It was either the doctor’s scale or my scale that’s not accurate. Two weeks ago, I weighed 158 lbs at the doctor’s office and two-three days ago, I weighed 163 at home, it freaked me out that I was back gaining weight at such a rate. But it turned out, I only weighed 160 lbs at the doctor’s office yesterday, so yeah, I am doing good, 2 lbs in two weeks

- We saw another doctor, Dr. Mayer,  yesterday and she was really nice too. Won’t mind being delivered by her if she is on call when I go into labor.

- Baby is measuring perfect and his head stays down, so hopefully, he stays that way for labor.

- Asked the doctor about the twitching in my lower belly. I have had this twitching for quite a while, at first, I thought it was baby’s movements. But now that I can tell baby’s movement apart, I didn’t think the twitching was baby’s toes or fingers.  I feel this rhythmic twitching 2-3 times a day for 5-10 mins and it makes me wonder why there’s such twitching. Biby told me that it might be the baby having hiccups. And he was right! That’s what the doctor said too. Baby was having hiccups and it’s perfectly normal and is actually a good sign. I did worry that baby was having the hiccups too often but the doctor said babies can’t have too much hiccups. So, let the baby hiccup away

The past two weeks

Another week starts. Feeling grateful that we still have our jobs in the economy like this. At the same time, I feel like I can use a couple more days off J So sleepy this morning since I didn’t get a good sleep last night. For some reasons, my brain just wouldn’t shut down and let it rest.

 

I had a good thanksgiving actually, with four day long weekend. We had a relaxing Thanksgiving day. I actually woke up earlier than Biby and was ironing in the morning, then I made something for lunch (can’t remember what I made though, I think it was the baked chicken). And the day just went by so quickly spent on browsing the ads for black Friday J Then we went to the Nurman’s house for the thanksgiving dinner. The dinner started with a short praise and worship that was nice. Then we feasted with the both American and Indonesian menu. There was so much food that the mini quiche I brought was almost untouched. No, not because it was not good. It was good alright, but there were just too many selections and the quiche was somehow moved to the side countertop L Hehehe, anyway, it’s not like I made them myself, they were the frozen one that just needed to be baked to heat them up. I was really stuffed although I tried to cut back J We stayed until 10-ish and helped clean up a bit. There was so much leftover that the hosts asked people to bring the food home. I actually was not going too, but the food was good and there were so many left over dishes and desserts. So, we ended up taking home several different kinds although just a bit of each.

 

The next day, the black Friday, Biby woke up early as he was going to Best Buy to get the doorbuster camcorder. He said he woke up at 2 or 3 and I didn’t even know. He ended up not going though since he found a better deal online and came back to bed. He did wake up around 6 or 7 and went to Lowes to get a few things. Around 10-ish, we went to Anthem outlet mall, which is about 45 mins from our house, but we didn’t find a lot of good deals actually. The outlet was open since midnight the night before and a lot of their deals are only until 6 AM that morning or one or two stores had the deals until noon. Well, we weren’t really looking for anything specific anyway. It was a good exercise for me though, the weather was nice and we walked around taking our time (unlike usual when we had to rush from one store to another for the good deals). We stayed until 4 or 5 I think and went straight home since Biby was already so sleepy and kinda cranky since he was really sleepy. We bought quite a lot of things at the end. No clothing for me since I don’t want to buy any more maternity clothes and can’t really fit into anything right now. We did get a lot of clothes for Biby, some baby clothing, jacket for papa. Phew, I think I didn’t need to exercise for the next week after the shopping trip.

 

The rest of the weekend was spent pretty relaxing. We went to Chandler mall on Saturday and didn’t get much, just walked around to join in the holidays shopping crowd, indulged myself with the cheesecake from Cheesecake factory J It was another long day just walking around. And I was supposed to organize tons of things at home L On Sunday, we just went to the church and I think we didn’t do much either.

 

This weekend, we took the baby care class and it was just a waste of time and money. I didn’t get much out of it L It was a three hour class on Saturday and I really felt that the information was too general and not hands on enough. After lunch at House of Hongkong in Ahwatukee, we went to Chandler to see a used changing table that we found on craigslist. The changing table was just used for 4 months and actually still in really good condition, the color matches with our crib too. However, there’s this part of me not willing to buy used things for my baby. I don’t mind having baby use certain used items from people that I know but when it comes to buying used items, I have this ‘gak rela’ feeling. But we’ll see, may be we’ll find other used items for baby J We dropped by TJ Maxx to return stuff and Target to check on the electric kettle. But we didn’t stay long as I was already so tired and didn’t feel comfortable walking. I fell asleep on the way home and it was a really really good nap J

 

Rented and watched Wall-E at home while organizing the stationery. On Sunday, we went to the church, lunch at Sushi Ken, then to Babies R Us and Target since the Target we went on Saturday didn’t have the electric kettle we were looking for. After that we went swimming. Oh boy, that was a good swim. The last time we went swimming, the water was freezing cold and I was a bit scared to swim again when I think of the cold water since I was not sure if it was the cold weather or something wrong with the thermostat. But the LA Fitness that we went yesterday had normal temperature and it felt great to swim in. On our way home, we checked out Ikea to see if they have the bookcase we want on sale, which they didn’t, and then to Costco for some grocery shopping.

 

Oh well, two weekends passed by just like that….it will be Christmas in three weeks and it will be here just like that before I know it. I don’t even know if we are going to put up the Christmas tree. Biby said he was going to, but it’s only three weeks away and the tree is still in the box J So, we’ll see.

Week 34

I am in my 34 week now, another 6 more weeks to go. Time really flies. I start to think about the labor and delivery process. I haven’t really thought much about it but it starts to become more real.

 

I am now 164 lbs (74 kg) and the belly circumference is 42.5 inches (108 cm).  I have now gained about 44 lbs more from my pre-pregnancy weight. I had my doctor appointment two weeks ago and I was 158 lbs, can’t believe that I gained 6 lbs in 2 weeks L. I am going to skip rice this week and curb my appetite a bit more especially the appetite for the holidays chocolate and cookies. I wasn’t a snack or dessert person before, but now the thought of chocolate, cookies, cakes just makes me salivate J

 

Baby has been moving a lot more frequently and sometimes I could feel him moving way up near my rib cage. My rib cage starts to hurt again but it’s nowhere compared to the pain I had a few months ago. Sleeping has been more of a challenge now with the big belly getting heavier and my legs get sorer. I would start sleeping on my left side, then right side, back to left side and then right side, and finally after both my legs feel so sore and sometimes in pain, I would sleep in half-sitting position. I would put three pillows and sit up so I can lie on my back not completely flat but rather kinda reclining. And not sure if it’s because of drier air or just part of the pregnancy, my nose gets stuffy especially at night.

 

One thing I am lucky not to have is heartburn. I feel nauseated from time to time, but I don’t think it’s heartburn. It’s weird since I had heartburn from time to time before I got pregnant J

 

This week I am starting my two-week prenatal visit and am going to start seeing different ob-gyn from my doctor office to get to know them. Since my doctor is part of a group practice of six ob-gyn doctors, I might be delivered by either one of them depending who will be on call when I go into labor.