Transitions

Just like when traveling, there is always a transitional period after illnesses when everyone needs to adjust back to everyday life; this observation seems even more so with a child. Trung and I started off the week letting Lydia do and have almost whatever she wanted because she was so miserable and she only really wanted to be held. Now at the end of the week, however, she has become awfully complain-y and cry-y because she wants to be held all the time, and since Trung has been busy working all week, she only wants me. I know that Lydia is shedding tears of endearment, but sometimes I too need a little break, especially when I had a stomachache last night.

Most importantly, we want to detach Lydia from me by the time the baby arrives because it will become quite overwhelming with kids dependent on me. She is gradually doing better as she is feeling better, and Trung is being a great sport, so I'm sure she will be up to par by April. We put Lydia to sleep around 7:30 PM since her nap times have been quite short lately, and then we settled down to watch some Korean monster movie called "The Host". Yeah, very interesting.

Happier Days

Lydia had a couple very wet diapers today, but otherwise her appetite is back and her demeanor is getting here. She has been very dependent on me these last few days and refusing Trung, so it's been hard carrying and messing with her all the time, but overall, I'm glad she's feeling better physically. I too am feeling much better and my appetite finally came back late this afternoon. Thanks for all the prayers! :)

Congratulations to Nick and Wendy on the birth of their baby girl, Kaitlin Nicole; she was born today at 3:30 PM. We plan on paying the new family a visit tomorrow night, so that they can rest tonight.

GI Grace

Yup, Lydia passed her GI to me. I had every intention of getting my three hour glucose test done this morning, but my stomach had other plans for me. I visited the bathroom several times early this morning, so by the time I woke up for the day, I was dehydrated. I could barely keep any food or liquids down, but I tried to eat what I could. At least Lydia was feeling better, though, right? Sure, until 2 PM, when her diarrhea started kicking in. Sorry, folks, I know these posts lately have been pretty nappy, but I'm hoping to help out other mommies (and myself in the future) regarding the same situations.

I had to take about 1.5 hour naps every 1.5 hours, usually during Lydia's naptimes, but by the end of the day, I was feeling much better. We had offered Lydia some milk since she was fine all yesterday, but the dairy finally started affecting her in the afternoon. No more milk for Lydia! The rest of the day was pretty much a blur since I was napping off and on, though around 6:30 PM Lydia and I split some Chicken Noodle Soup. Soon after, we took our bath/shower and headed off to sleep; I haven't slept at 8:30 PM since I was a kid!

Early bird catches the worm

Lydia started off the morning pretty early around 5 AM, which was honestly later that I expected; she wasn't too unhappy, just hungry. Per the nurse's orders, however, I couldn't feed her for an hour and had to keep up the 10 cc of pedialyte that I had ended with last night. Finally after 50 minutes, I finally gave in and offered Lydia some Cheerios. I thought she would practically inhale the cereal, but it was her sippy cup of water that she really wanted. Lydia drank about 7 ounces of water in one sitting with some Cheerio feedings in between; she normally drinks that much in one day!

She went back to sleep around 6:20 AM and didn't wake up until 9:30 AM, at which time I feed her some frosted mini wheats, pedialyte, and some water. After playing for about an hour, Lydia got tired again, so I put her to sleep and she hasn't gotten up yet. Wow, this infection sure has knocked her out; she barely has her round and profound belly anymore! Oh, the nurse said that GI is going around, so try to stay indoors or make sure to wash your hands frequently.

On the upside, Lydia is getting better, but on the downside, I was informed today that I am a little bit anemic (again) and that I have to take the three hour glucose exam. The nurse said that my glucose level was slightly high and that I probably don't have gestational diabetes, but that I should take the exam just to be sure. Diabetes does run in my family, and it sure didn't help that I had so many sweets during the holidays, but everything will be fine regardless of the results. It's not the end of the world as I keep trying to tell my melodramatic self.

Possible GI

Lydia woke up from her nap very upset again and threw up almost as soon as I picked her up; I discovered later that she had thrown up in her crib too. The one time that Trung tried giving her water, she lost all of it (and some) almost immediately. I finally called the pediatrician's office to ask a nurse to call me back because Lydia was now only vomiting a faint yellow liquid. The poor dear was very calm, but would start crying when she felt the vomit coming.

The nurse's advice...wait one hour from the last time the child vomits and then try giving 5 cc of pedialyte every twenty minutes to see if it is kept down. After three consecutive applications, start giving 10 cc every twenty minutes and so on and so forth. Every time we hit 40 minutes, Lydia would throw up and we'd have to start the clock all over again. She had taken only about a 30 minute nap, so she was so tired that she fell asleep in my arms for about 30 minutes around 5 PM. Lydia hasn't fallen asleep in my arms in forever; it was very sweet! Her stomach did not "settle" until 7:20 PM, but once it did, we made it to 10 cc at 8:20 PM and she went to sleep without so much as a peep. I suspect that Lydia will wake up in the middle of the night hungry, but I'm hoping at least for no more vomiting. Thank goodness she was still able to produce tears and was finally able to keep the liquid down or else we would have had to take her to the Children's Hospital. Many thanks to Trung for being so helpful tonight as we cared for Lydia and each other. *muah*

Pobrecita

Lydia woke up this morning pretty unhappy; she was crying and refused to eat her breakfast right away. She had had four dirty diapers yesterday, so I knew her stomach must be at least a little bit upset, but usually a good night's sleep takes care of that. Lydia finally ate her breakfast and was her self the rest of the morning until I put her down for her nap. I hadn't slept well last night and was looking forward to a nap too, but she did not sleep a wink so neither did I.

So, we got up and I had lunch an hour and a half later, but Lydia just picked at her food. Then we went to the grocery store and everything seemed fine until we got home. Lydia started dozing off in the car on the way home, so I planned to give her a small snack and put her to sleep. Well, the moment she walked into the house, she started vomiting A LOT (I was shocked that all that came out of her!). After we got the mess cleaned up, I gave Lydia a quick bath and changed my clothes. She didn't want anything to eat, so I took her to her room when she threw up again along the side of my arm. I finally got Lydia (sans clothes) into her crib where she immediately went to sleep. Poor thing...I've got to figure out how I'm going to help her feel better once she gets up. Please pray for Lydia today that she will feel better and for me that I will have the wisdom and patience to nurse her back to health.

The Sixes

Today Lydia is 16 months old and I am 6 months pregnant (26 weeks and 6 days to be exact), wow, time sure does fly. It was such a beautiful day that we had to enjoy the outdoors somehow, especially after cleaning all morning; I cleaned our master bathroom and Trung swiffered the kitchen floors. Lydia woke up late this morning around 8:30 AM and didn't take her nap until 10:45 AM, but we didn't expect her to sleep for two hours and 45 minutes! By the time we got her ready and headed out, we were all starving. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen and did some shopping at various places...it was quite a productive day. Lydia stopped by a fountain to play at the Domain.

Preparing for baby

Lydia had received a little Asian doll aka Calin Yang for her birthday from our neighbors (they said the doll looked exactly like her and they had to buy it), but she never really took to it. Every time I handed the doll to her, she would throw it across the room. I was a little disappointed because I was hoping that Lydia would like her baby just as she would like her real baby sister come April. Well, today I tried presenting Calin to her again for the first time in almost a month and she seemed to like her; at least she didn't throw it across the room.

Weighing in...

I had my 6th month visit today and have so far gained about 17 pounds, not bad for 26.5 weeks if I do say so myself. :) I still weigh less than I did last pregnancy at this point in my current pregnancy, but there is still plenty of time to surpass that weight at the end. People have often asked me how much total weight I gained the first time around, and I verified today that it was right around 30 pounds. (about 8 pounds of it was Lydia) Anyhow, everything is fine with the baby and hopefully, my glucose test will come back negative.

I had placed an order for some books that cousin Jacob owned which Lydia loved reading while in Tampa. Well, they came in today and after one reading, already some of the pages are bent and one even has a torn piece. All the books are board books, but a few have flip pages that ask "where is ..."; I don't think that they will last very long since they are Lydia's favorites.

Congratulations to Jonathan & Grace on the birth of Rachel on December 22th... to Christine & Jun expecting their first child in May, and to Louis & Martha expecting their third child in June.

Happy 2008!

We arrived back to Austin around 12:30 PM yesterday and boy, were we glad to be home. We weren't home for long though; after unloading the car, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to Target to purchase some essentials, like whole milk for Lydia. Good thing we didn't go to HEB because I heard it was extremely packed. After a lot of unpacking, we had dinner at Dave, Joy, & Parker's house with several friends around 6:30 PM, and passed the time away playing wii and watching TV. (Lydia took a bath and slept at their house until we left). Almost as soon as it was midnight, everyone dispersed...it certainly isn't like the good 'ole days anymore when everyone would stay up and chat for hours. *sigh*

Today we had dim-sum with most of the friends from the night before. Later, Trung played Company of Heroes and I did laundry and posted some ebay items while Lydia took her afternoon nap. It didn't really seem like a holiday since we didn't do anything special. A cold front had swept in last night, so it was chilly, yet sunny. We enjoyed the weather briefly when Trung and I took Lydia for a walk, but the chill soon got the best of us. We look forward to many happy times in 2008 and look forward to sharing them with you. Happy New Year's to you all! :)