Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!! We woke up bright an early this morning to do husband's makeup. There is a contest at his work and the grand prize is $500 so we are in it to WIN it!! think of all the diapers and baby supplies we can buy haha..

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I can't wait to share it with Maddie!! This is her FIRST halloween and even though she won't remember anything, we are still going to dress her up an take her to the mall today with my niece and nephew. This past Sunday we took her to the pumpkin patch and she wore her cute strawberry costume (doesn't she look yummy?!) Next year, I am thinking rainbow brite and twink like this picture I found online! :)




Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Prayers for the East Coast

I've been watching the news for hours on end and googling constantly for updates on Hurricane Sandy. Living in Southern California, it is hard to imagine just how epic this storm is. It has affected over 10 states all across the Northeast with over 8 million out of power and fatalities rising daily. I have so many friends on the East Coast and my prayers are with them and everyone else going through this terrifying superstorm.

My heart especially goes out to all the parents whose babies were in the NICU at NYU hospital. Having a baby in NICU is scary enough it's difficult to think about the added stress and fear these parents are going through right now. I am in awe after hearing stories of nurses pumping oxygen by hand carrying infants down 9 flights of stairs (http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/30/health/sandy-hospital/index.html) and how a New Jersey mom gave birth without epidural in a hospital truck. Thank goodness for the nurses, doctors, rescue workers and volunteers who are working tirelessly for those in need.

With all the power outages, my heart also goes out to the breastfeed moms who are in jeopardy of losing their freezer stash. Here is a great article on how to protect your breastmilk (liquid gold!!)

Hurricane Sandy: Tips on Maintaining Breastfeeding Success During an Emergency: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/gina-ciagne/hurricane-sandy_b_2040054.html

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Mommy Brain

Something happens to your brain when you have a baby.. They call it "mommy brain" which is essentially the rapid deterioration of brain cells used to process or retain simple information such as where you left your keys or what you ate for breakfast this morning.

We once found a car at the Disney parking lot windows down, keys in ignition with the engine running, two carseats and no one in sight. This was before marriage and baby, so we were in utter shock. How could any parent be so careless?! When we called security, they said this was a common occurrence at Disneyland and happens at least once a day. Now as a mom, I can totally understand!

With one baby, I haven't reached mommy brain to that level yet, but I've definitely had my share of "mommy brain" moments. It ranges from looking for my phone for 10-15 minutes and then realizing the phone is in my pocket to completely forgetting where I parked outside of Target even though I only went in for 15 minutes to return something.

This morning, my husband left his phone at home and after calling him and hearing it ring in the other room.. I immediately sent him a text message "You left your phone at home". This was 9am, it is now 6pm and I just realized what I did.. now if it took you a moment to process that, then maybe you are suffering from "mommy brain" as well :)

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Happy 100 Days of Birth!!

Dear Madison,

Baby girl, you are 100 days old today!! Mommy and Daddy can't believe how fast you have grown! As much as I want this moment with you to last forever, mommy also can't wait to watch you grow up.

Most days I can't believe how lucky I am to be your mom. I find myself staring at you as you sleep and feeling a tug in my heart that can only be the unconditional love I have for you. You are starting to recognize mama and dada and when you respond to our voice with your cute smiles and little wisps of a giggle, oh my heart just melts! Sometimes you just stare into mama's eyes with those all-knowing soft caramel eyes of yours and I so desperately want to know what you are thinking.

I want you to know Maddie that mama and dada love you so much. Every day we talk about what we can do to create the best future for you. You motivate us to do better and be successful because my hunnie, the sky is the limit and the only way we can teach you to fulfill your every hopes and dreams is to do it ourselves.

The last 100 days have been the best days of my life and each day just keeps getting better. Thank you Maddie for being the most amazing daughter ever!

*a little note from your dada:
Sweetheart, I wonder if you will remember the conversations we've had after bath time? If you don't, it's ok. Our topics usually consists of doo doo, if you've missed dada, and how much dada's missed you. Please start using complete sentences so dada understands. Thanks sweetheart! Happy 100 days, I love you with all my heart!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Guys with Kids/Ben & Kate

Just started watching "Guys with Kids" on Hulu and gotta say, this show is pretty hilarious. I can't say if it's just funny to me right now because I have a kid or if it's actually a funny show because imdb ratings are 4.8/10 but who cares, it make me laugh :)

I'm pretty sure this show is not meant for 1) guys without kids.. enough said, 2) girls without kids, because I don't think any of my girlfriends without kids would watch this and 3) guys with kids because I can't imagine any dad who would want to sit and watch a show about other dudes with kids during their free time.. so I guess that just makes this a show for moms..

Now it's nearly 3am and I just finished watching the first two episodes of Ben and Kate. Great show too.. but I may be biased because the little girl's name is Maddie. Ok, it's time for bed now, not sure why I'm up still.. Feeling a little delirious.. I have less than a month until I go back to work and I'm feeling like I'm running out of time with Maddie. I know it sounds a little ridiculous, but I would love to stay at home with her. Anyway, that's a topic for another day.. Night!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Co-Sleep Convert

Hi, my name is Maggie and I co-sleep with my baby..

Yes, I was one of those people pre-baby who swore I would NOT co-sleep when I had a baby. I wanted baby to sleep in the crib, I wanted baby to be "independent", I didn't want to sacrifice sleeping with husband... but then, baby came along and..

For the first month and a half, I stuck to my guns.. During the first month at my mom's while doing the Chinese "sitting" month (坐月子), Maddie slept in the Arm's Reach Mini co-sleeper bassinet. It was nice because she was next to the bed but had her own space and as a newborn, she was so tiny I would've been too scared to have her in bed with me. But even the first few weeks I spent nights just holding her because she was nursing NON-STOP! gotta love cluster feeding.. NOT! x_x

When we went home, I left the co-sleeper bassinet at my mom's since we had a crib for her at home. The first two weeks home (week 5 & 6) she slept in her crib and I slept in the daybed we have in the nursery. As much as I wanted to sleep with husband, we have our other two babies aka our dogs, Ronald & Batman, who sleep with us in our bed. Husband also wanted me to stay with baby so he stayed in our room with the puppies while I stayed in the nursery.

After many nights of having to wake up several times to get her out of the crib to nurse, I was so tired and sleep-deprived. When I got home from my weekend trip without baby to San Francisco, I missed her so much I put her next to me in the daybed for the night..

And you know what, I loved it so much I've been co-sleeping since!! baby sleeps well, I sleep well.. nursing in the middle of the night isn't a chore because I just sit up in bed and nurse. I also get up to nurse her before she starts fully crying which I think has helped her sleep longer. Shortly after co-sleeping, baby started sleeping 5-7 hour stretches which most would consider as "sleeping through the night". She's usually in bed by 10pm and will get up around 4-5am to nurse and then back to bed until 7-8am.

People warn me it's going to be a bad habit to break and the pre-baby me is probably shaking her head but I don't care what anyone says! :) I'm no longer feeling sleep-deprived, I love having her next to me and husband loves that I'm next to her. On the weekends, we switch off and he'll sleep next to her in the nursery while I sleep in our room.

When the time comes for her to sleep on her own, it'll probably be harder for me than her, because I've left her sleeping for long stretches alone and she seems fine. I know one day baby girl is going to sleep on her own, but tonight, she sleeps with her mama :)

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Traveling with Baby - Road Trip

The thought of traveling with baby is always nerve-wracking.. Especially on a 6+ hour road trip! Yikes!

The plan was to leave at noon, but as usual with a baby.. plans change. After brunch with my mother-in-law and a pit stop at her house to breastfeed one last time, we (Maddie, my brother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and myself) started our drive at 2pm. Husband was landing at San Jose airport at 9:30pm so the plan was to time our trip just right to pick him up before driving to our final destination in Livermore.

Overall, the trip went smoothly! Baby girl was asleep for most of the way. We stopped twice so I could nurse. Once around 5:30pm and the next time when we arrived to San Jose at 8:30pm. To kill time before husband arrived, we stopped by Wal-Mart to get water, jackets and long-sleeved onesies for Maddie! It was windy and freezing up north!! By the time we were done, husband had just arrived and we made our way to our hotel. Maddie definitely got restless towards the end of the trip and was rightfully fussy and sick of being stuck in the carseat. I can't blame her. After all those hours in the car, my back was killing me.

Here are some tips I learned from my trip:
-make sure to add an additional half hour for every estimated 3 hours of your drive
-always pack short and long sleeved onesies for baby, you never know what the weather is going to be like
-keep baby in light clothing during the trip because it gets hot & sweaty sitting in the car seat. Keep a blanket with you in case it does get cold
-get a dress easy for nursing if you are attending a formal event. I decided to wear a dress that was NOT nursing-friendly and paid for it. Imagine sitting on a toilet in the restroom stall in only your undies nursing your baby.. yes, I did that and no, it was not fun and I do not plan on doing that again!!

I would give more tips, but Madison did so well I can't complain. Even during the wedding ceremony, I made sure to stay in the back just in case she started crying and fussing, but she only made one small cry and stopped the instant I picked her up. Phew! That was the one thing I was most worried about!

It'll probably be a long while before I subject her to such long hours in the carseat.. but I'm happy we survived our first road trip travel experience! :)

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Late Night/Early Morning chats

2am
L: Nursing?
M: yup!

5am
M: Nursing?
A: yup!

the awesome thing about a friend and a cousin who had their babies around the same time as me is always having a late night/early morning buddy to chat with!

It's one of the little things that keeps me sane during this roller coaster ride called motherhood!

On another note, I am up at 4:15am while baby is sleeping because I have to utilize this time to pack for our trip to NorCal for a cousin's wedding. Last feeding was at 1:30am so I still have a good 15min before baby is up... ok, never mind.. I hear her grunting and struggling to escape her swaddle strap.. guess she's early as usual!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Rose Bowl Stroller Walk

I've been wanting to take Maddie on a late afternoon stroller walk around the Rose Bowl loop but the weather has been scorching HOT lately! Even at 4pm it's been 100 degrees the last few days!

This morning we had to wake up bright and early at 4:30am.. which is usually the time I get up for her to nurse.. but instead of going back to bed, we had to take husband to the airport for his business trip. On the way home, I decided to go for an early morning stroller walk with Maddie at the Rose Bowl since it was just breaking into daylight and a cool 70 degrees out.

The walk was amazing! Walking with a stroller is awesome because you can put water and snacks in the stroller.. Drinking a soy latte and eating a chocolate croissant probably defeats the purpose of walking, but with mt belly burner on, I still worked up a good sweat!

This walk got me thinking of starting a community stroller walk at the Rose Bowl to push myself to wake up early and go on walks with Maddie when I go back to work. Husband likes the idea so we'll see how it goes :)

picture: Maddie before and after stroll