We're alive!!

I can't believe it's almost been 2 years since my last post! Honestly, I'm surprised to see that blogger didn't delete my blog (like how xanga and friendster did away with everyone's blogs and profiles!). Here are my lame excuses for the lack of posts: facebook and just plain exhaustion from my 2 boys:P

Shots out! I'd like to thank my new and old friends for encouraging me (reminding me!) to post and update!!! For my new friends - welcome! U can now read about the details of my 2 pregnancies hahaa


Laying it out: Everything is more or less the same here in Brooklyn. We moved to a bigger apt in a better neighborhood over a year ago, which was dramatically superior to our first apt which was tiny and in no man's land. I definitely thank God for this apt and location!! WE got super lucky.
I can't believe we've been living in NY for over 2 yrs now! It's still an adventure living here, both good and bad, especially with 2 active toddler boys!! I like how we're in NY temporarily and that our end point is Cali. This very fact gets me through tough days (sorry, I know my NY friends esp natives are groaning right about now:/). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all the fun stuff that NY has to offer such as the arts, amazing food, fashion, history, and authenticity - that is all very fun when time and energy allows, but when talking about day-to-day with the boys who are now 2 and 3.5 yrs old - getting around is really really tricky especially during lock-down weather (i.e. winter blizzards, extreme heat&humidity, rain, hurricane scares)= worst cabin fever ever, and then there's Chuperman's crazy residency schedule.

No matter how much I gripe about how challenging it is living in the city with 2 boys and hubby in residency - I know this is temporary and I know that I couldn't be more blessed with my family and friends. :)

Retail Therapy: I did not know what these 2 words put together meant until I moved to New York. I had a few big days, including opening a Saks acct. It's the beginning of the end I tell ya. I will not divulge what I purchased but at the time of purchase, it was definitely an I "NEED" this and I "Deserve" this type situation. I'm sure all girls and moms can relate when we're having a really bad day! haha


Fitness: Over the summer I canceled my membership to YMCA and joined New York Sports Club. It was a great move! It's the same price! I've been going a few times a week to stay in shape so I can keep up with my 2 active boys and to decompress. The locker room is pretty nice actually, which includes carpeted floors, steam room, and sauna. I ran a few 5K's over the summer and now I want to run a 10K. The problem is I kind of lost my rhythm due to a back injury that involved carrying a clingy 35lbs micah all over downtown manhattan and across the the brooklyn bridge. my defiant 2nd son is going through a phase where he won't sit in the stroller and won't hold hands while crossing the street. I'm praying this phase passes quickly!!

ENough text my gosh!

Here are some fun photos!!



Blue Ribbon Sushi: pictured above - hamachi tartare with quail egg, wasabi, special dark soy sauce, on shiso leaf, and best of all - on the house. we're regulars here b/c this place has good sushi & great noodles for the kids - a huge plus, this place is within a few blocks walking distance from our apt! this is truly the only place where the waitstaff makes us feel at home. they love the boys and are always so excited to see us! will def miss them and their service when we move!!



Central Park: boys having a snack from the wafel and dinges truck with McKenzie!! Chuperman was supposed to be here but was stuck in Chicago O'Hare (worst airport ever) due to canceled and delayed flights!



Micah (looking scared haha) and Mommy at Victoria Gardens, a summer amusement park on Wolfman's Rink in Central Park. I think we were prob on dumbo.




Limelight Market Place in Chelsea: this space used to be a church and now it houses a lil food court, kangol hat shop, apparel shop, Grimaldi's pizzeria, home furnishings store, etc.. cute and unique space!



Chuperman took me to Eleven Madison Park for my bday lunch. At the end they gave me a box containing chocolate truffle bar with nuts and dried fruit, and also a jar of house-made granola in a bass jar. Nice touch!



Jacob and Children's Museum of Manhattan. It was truthfully a bit traumatizing as an adult. of course, kids are not scared of mob crowds and tight spaces. I like the Children's museum of Brooklyn 100X's better.



Frankie's 457: antipasto chef's plate. this was quite amazing. not too salty and perfectly mild tasting. will def return to this neighborhood joint in Carroll Gardens!

Even if no one reads this, it's definitely therapeutic for me to get it all out - like a diary i suppose. Gosh, I really do miss posting! Until next time!!

the beginning of my car's Golden Years in NYC

This is what Chuperman woke-up to before going to work.
Poor hapless Altima parked behind our car:





our car:



Lexus in front of us also sustained damage to hood and bumper. our bumper got scuffed up but our hood was fine. however, front license plate holder sustained a little tear.

Chuperman thought i was going to shed some tears when I saw the damage to my car. Please, give me some credit... I've recently become less attached to material things... seriously, I'm quite down to earth! (ok ppl are snickering at this point).. anyway, all i could say was "German steel". both cars behind and in front of my car are japanese. Enough said. :P


So anyway, welcome to our life in crazy NYC. As you can see, NYC drivers are flippin' out of control. I bet you anything the driver was totally sober too - just a pure moron. sigh..

I know, we are totally lucky that the damage was minor and most importantly no one was hurt!! Thank God.

We usually park our car in a garage. But since it's a pain to actually get to our car (think massive iron gates that we have to manually open, then walk 50yards, and manually open garage - then do opposite when backing out), lately Chuperman has been parking on the street since he uses the car almost everyday to go to work. Chuperman usually bikes to work, but it's been freezing lately.

This is to the moron who crashed into a row of parked cars in front of our building - totaling an Altima,damaged our SUV and Lexus in front of our car:



That's right. Even an infant can detect an ultimate moron. haha.. kidding,this photo was taken a few wks back.

Well, at least NYC has awesome comfort food to make up for the chaos of daily life:

Lucali's - cute romantic pizzeria near our place!!



Nyonya - Malaysian cuisine in brooklyn chinatown (close to chuperman's hospital). this is where we went on our recent lunch date... literally walked there, got seated quickly, ordered quickly, ate quickly (prob spent no more than 30 mins in restaurant), then chuperman had to go back to work haha



Burger Joint - hole in wall hidden behind red velvet curtains at swanky Le Parker Meridien Hotel in Midtown East




ginberbread house contest at Le Parker Meridien:







Lobby of Le Parker Meridien:



Life in the city is absolutely insane but despite the daily chaos, we're loving the food and excitement that keeps us going:)

Parisian macaroons in the Slope!! =D

I finally had a chance to explore our neighborhood after over 3 months of living here! haha. I am sooOOoo happy to announce that today, while meandering through Park Slope (aka "the Slope"), I stumbled upon TWO hidden European bakeries that serve *MACAROONS*.

Almondine Bakery
I was with my girlfriend and I fortuitously spotted Almondine Bakery while walking down a row of brownstones. It was a super late lunch/early dinner/snack (at 4pm haha). I quickly ordered a ham/emmental quiche, black currant macaroon, and a rocher (giant hazelnut truffle.. kind of like ferrero rocher but bigger and badder).

The quiche was delicious -- tasted just like what we had in Paris! In fact, the pastry chef and cashier checker are French - that is authentic enough for me:P It was so tasty that I had to get a slice for Chuperman to try as well. He loved it. Unfortunately, Chuperman has come down with a nasty cold. He has been coughing and coughing and coughing... hope he gets better ASAP, esp since my parents are flying in tomorrow night for Thxgiving!

So back to Almondine... the black currant macaroon was delightful. Ok, wasn't as good as say La Duree of Paris but really good for it being a different continent. My friend got the lemon macaroon and she loved it.

The rocher was insane. Hard to pick out of the 3, what my favorite snack was haha... life is rough..

So I felt pretty guilty after a calorie-laden splurge of a snack... so to make myself feel better, I traversed the brownstone lined streets of Park Slope, wondering (not wishing tho) what it would be like to live in a brownstone. Even though living in a brownstone is the ultimate dream that many new yorkers share, especially in Park Slope - coming from OC, I just can't see myself living in a brownstone, indefinitely, with kids and a car. Don't get me wrong, I love the beautiful historic architecture and the charm of old new york brownstones, but I just can't stomach all of those stairs up to the front door. With a double stroller or carrying bags and bags of groceries, this would be a nightmare. Also, brownstones don't typically come with attached garages. So, you pay like $5M (especially if you renovate - im making up the figure, but u get the idea) for a brownstone and you still have to park your car on the street, that's IF you can find a parking spot. I really don't think that's worth it. That is why car service is very popular for brownstoners. Also, I heard that some brownstoners also have butlers! now that is old school.

Zana Cafe
SO anyway, walking back home I stumbled upon yet another bakery that serves macaroons!! This one is totally under the radar. They don't even have a website nor is it yelp-reviewed. Enter "Zana Cafe". Apparently, Zana Cafe was a result of a bitter divorce. A couple that had a Parisian bakery in the Slope got divorced, then the wife went and opened Zana Cafe. So the bottom line is that Zana cafe has MACAROONS! And they are quite tasty as well. I also got a few dark choc lacey almond cookies and a fudge walnut brownie. In all fairness, I was thirsty and got a diet ginger ale to counteract my ridiculous sweet-tooth hahaa... I should really go back and take pix of this place and be the first to post on yelp!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! May you and your loved ones be blessed abundantly during this Thanksgiving.

...in Brooklyn and alive!

this post is still alive.. (though barely).... it's easier for us to post pix on fbook;)

I cannot believe that it's been almost 3 mos since we moved to NYC. It has been an absolute blur. Life is rather hectic on a daily basis - trying to juggle 2 babies, maintaining the apt, and part-time work from home - but super fun when we're able to get out of the apt and explore the city.

Living in NYC is a nice change of pace from OC. I really appreciate how much of NYC is authentic, original, and historic. I feel like ppl here are more "real", not saying that OC peeps are unreal - but the general feeling is that ppl in NYC are more "raw", natural, ambitious, and are survivors in the city that im deeming " city of the survival of the fittest". I feel like OC peeps are overall more into aesthetics and definitely more laid-back.

The Kids. We essentially moved when Micah was just 9 wks old and Jacob was 20 mos. Fortunately Micah has been sleeping through the night and is better at sleeping during the day. The thing is with Micah is that he ALWAYS spits up after each feeding, which equates to endless laundry and endless mopping. As much as I love Jacob, I can't even begin to tell you how difficult he's been behaving around us and when we go out. Can we say TERRIBLE TWO'S and he's not even 2 yet. Poor big brother - he's been teething big time, adjusting to big bro role, adjusting to apt living, and switching nannies. It's a lot of change for jacob but he has fun whenever we're out and about in the city. Overall, we're embracing the change and glad to be here =D

A few things that I'm diggin' in the city:

* GOOD EATS: awesome food that seems to be everywhere. so far i've been lucky enough to eat/hang out in the east village, soho, chelsea, flatiron, park slope, midtown, etc etc.. in fact, two of our fave restaurants are located right in our neighborhood! a colombian restaurant and an italian restaurant -- yummz
* open air markets/street fairs
* endless places to go with or without the kids... we've taken the kids to a few of ny's most bad-ass parks like Central Park and Prospect Park, also the New York Aquarium at coney island....next up, Children's Museum..
* the 4 seasons (hotel).. haha i wish.. i love the fall here and can't wait to see jacob play in the snow! i went to umich for college and endured 4 long harsh winters...
* convenient to meet up with friends here since NYC really ain't that big. luckily i have college friends and other friends that live in the city. pretty much, NYC is like a giant playground for me (when i can manage to get out of the house).
* walkable city: i dont have to hop into my car as much. so far, i've walked to the optometrist and pediacian's office -- super convenient

A few things that rub me the wrong way:
* broken glass on sidewalks - during the first wk within our move here, i took jacob on a stroll wearing flip flops and felt a prick on the bottom of my right foot, knew it was glass, and luckily didn't step all the way down! it wasn't a big deal but still.. i've even seen broken glass at the playground!! grrr...
* grocery shopping ain't so great here. i have to drive through ghetto brooklyn to get groceries at Fairway, which is actually a pretty nice grocery store in it of itself. It's a hybrid of Trader Joe's/Whole Foods/Berkeley Bowl. i try to limit my outtings for errands. plus, the produce here is subpar compared to CA. fruits and veggies cost 50% more.
* grumpy east coast ppl.. not a lot of ppl here are friendly. occasionally i'd get a "hello" or "hi". well after living here for almost 3 months, i can see why ppl ain't so friendly. the city isn't the easiest place to live, especially New york city. the trains can be slow, ppl can be rude, ppl are always in a rush, there's always a long que for something, it's tough to run errands, driving here is insane, traffic on the bridges gets dicey, etc.

A few things that I miss about Cali and the suburbs!:

* S P A C E --> SQ FOOTAGE!!! when both babies are screaming, i want to just cry but can't b/c im so beat and calloused. our apt is modern and new, but is small and echo-ey.. which brings me to my next pt..

* CARPET. i miss stepping on carpet. it's all about wood floors in the city, which is fine. but i also miss my carpet. carpet is not only soft on feet but also helps to absorb a lot of noise. get's pretty frickin loud in here between 7-8:30pm, coincidentally during the bebes bedtime. im pretty sure our floormates can appreciate all the craziness.

* ATTACHED Garage. lugging groceries between our car which is parked in a separate garage 3 doors up is a big pain. i have to use a dolley to go back and forth. did i mention to get to the garage i have to manually open these big side-by-sde iron gates, walk 20 yards, then manually open the garage with my hands?! and we PAY extra for this. i know, im such a suburban princess. the alternative is street parking, but then we'd have to deal with double sided street cleaning. meaning, we'd have to repark the car a few times a week. i dont' think so.

* Parking lots. it's the city - what can u expect, there are none in manhattan unless u want to pay like $10/hr or something. although, on wkends manhattan has free street parking:) during the first month, i was too scared of taking the subways for fear i'd get lost haha.. so i actually drove into the city, which is much more challenging haha. but hey, i prefer to drive. however, now that im okie with taking the train - it's not too bad.
we live in brooklyn, which is a considered a "suburban" borough compared to manhattan. it still requires strategic planning when going out, esp with the bebes.

It can be pretty darn humbling and daunting living in the city with 2 babies. It's such a drastic lifestyle change for me. It really makes me realize what I had in OC is completely fantasy for most ppl. I had absolutely nothing to complain about in OC. I was well insulated by my family from the real world.

I think God had us relocate to the city for a reason: so i can finally grow-up, experience the real world outside of my wonderful bubble in OC, and finally stand on my 2 feet - without the coddling from my parents. The umbillical cord has officially been cut!

Park Slope Mother's Group
Fortunately, I've been blessed with a good network of friends here. Most of them are old college buddies but I've also gotten around to joining a mother's group. It's a small mother's group with day care. So it's great that I can take Jacob for his weekly playgroup while fellowshippin' with other neighborhood moms going through the same stuff. Wonderful group of moms btw. All very smart, tough, and caring.

We are reading Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture by Mary E. Demuth.

I really like this particular chapter titled "A Haven".

"How do we create a haven where we protect our children from the snares of our current culture?"

1)Let kindness reign: parenthood is a balance of both kindness and truth tempered by grace. kind words make a haven. kind words welcome repentence and relationship. avoid harsh words.

2) Welcome hard questions. Jacob doesn't even know how to make a phrase yet - so i'll wait until he can complete a sentence to welcome any hard questions haha.

3) Be There: spending quality time with kids and being available to them. this one seems kind of obvious but hard to do if the mom has to work full-time, etc.

4) Limit media: for me, it's easy to put jacob in front of the tube to buy some time. i think an hr a day should be okie. sometimes i really an hour to feed micah, clean up, or eat.

5) Play Outside: going to the park, camping, hiking, fishing, biking, walking , skating -- all these activities connect us to each other and help us to experience God in a shared encounter.

6) Weep & Rejoice: parents should strive to dress our children's hurts with bandages of attentive empathy while celebrating our children's victories.

7) Cherish childhood: Through toddler tantrums and being covered in Micah's spit up most of the day, I told Chuperman that no matter how hard it gets with the kids, that I'm going to savor each day with them. maybe not the whole day but at least part of the day. There have been a few times during the past few wks where i just completely hit a wall and had it with living here. I really miss how easy everything was in Cali. But then I realized that this is just a phase. It will get better as the kids get a lil older. I just have to stick it out.
So back to cherishing childhood -- It's a great feeling to watch Jacob gleefully run through a bed of fall leaves and to see Micah coo and smile at me with those chubby cheeks of his.
Motherhood has definitely been challenging for me these past few months, especially in the city, but I'm trying to cherish their childhood as much as I can.

22 months Jacob

not quite 5 months old Micah. 18lbs!

8) Read: read to your kids! i try to read to them whenever I can. it's usually during bedtime or naptime. and as they get older im gonna have them read good books. good books teach lessons, not by preaching buy by unveiling a well-told story.

9) Laugh hard - but not at another's expense.

10) Practice God's presence. living life joyfully, even doing the most mundane things like washing dishes.

hope everyone is doing well!! and sorry for being MIA!!

Bday wkend rehash

Big Night with the girls:
First we prepartied a lil bit with a bottle of champagne at Toro's pad in westLA:

(champagne with haribo raspberries)

Then we set out for dinner at Raku .. and drank more hehee
(2 flasks of sake: one was dry and other was sweet - altho to me it all started to blend together) hahaa

The food at Raku was super yummy.
middle dish is mountain potato with sea urchin

high recommended Clam udon!! this was AMAZING

yummy boston crm pie cake! love the flowers!

we headed out to Ma Kai after dinner and had a buncha drinks.. some of us got sick (not me actually! haha) altho i did have a lot to drink considering that i thought my tolerance was ZERO. i think the key was that i paced myself this year hahaaa.
this is what i had to drink: glass of champagne, lotsa sake, some kind of martini, 2 shots of SoCo and lime, Long Island, and 1/2 rum'n'coke (i donated other 1/2 to toro who has highest tolerance out of all of us) haha... GOOD TIMES and gosh, my tolerance is pretty high (maybe b/c i have a higher BMI right now)!

When we got home at like 2am, Toro fried up the most scrumptious potstickers. A big night out cannot be complete without a midnight snack!

Brunch at celeb hang out Shutters in santa monica.. right on the beach!


view from my seat at our table. aww damnit.. im gonna miss cali SO MUCH! so hard to move away from this! :( :(

Toro & toronto inside The Coast (1 of 2 restaurants in Shutters)

on top of each ordering our own entree - we also shared fish'n'chips for an app... we were in total starvation mode!

celeb hang out... DWIGHT from the Office is to the left of my head haha... looks totally normal in person and not as repulsive looking as he is on TV. he was brunchin' with his family.
we also spotted Dylan McDermott (Practice).. who looks better in person as well. he definitely has that star quality.

After a big night of boozing, dancing, and good times with the girls, and then brunch the next day (afternoon), even tho i was beat to a pulp - i still took jacob to disneyland!! After giving birth for the 2nd time, I had this goal of taking to JAcob to DL on my bday. I promised him and myself I would take him - so i just pressed on! I only took a few pix since taking jacob to DL by myself was quite challenging given that i was somewhat hung over haha.

this was taken at disney store in downtown disney. if he gets really antsy, we give him a toothbrush to keep him entertained hahaa

Overall, the wkend was SUPER fun and just what I needed. Disneyland definitely put me over. There were a few moments at DL when it was supercrowded and Jacob didn't want to sit in the stroller, then i had to carry him.. where it felt like I was going to die from exhaustion and claustrophobia (dude, it was frickin crowded last night) haha.

The good news is that Jacob learned how to hold hands at Disneyland last. night I held his hand and dragged him from It's a Small world down to buzz light year without stopping!

And at the Spectrum today, i forgot the stroller and so i made him walk from parking structure to Cheesecake Factory - hand-in-hand. This is a break through for him! Good training for airport and NYC.

We continued the bday celebrations with Tyler and his parents at Chzcake factory. Tyler (almost 3 yrs old) sang Happy Birthday to "Auntie Shell".. it was soo cute!!

Okay, I'm freakin beat! g'night y'all!

First 6 wks with 2 babies!

WARNING: FRICKIN LOOONG POST

Boy o boy has it been crazy! (sorry for the lack of posts but now that everyone is on fbook, i feel that it's just easier to upload pix and videos rather than writing this blog haha, but i figure I should really keep up with this journal to chronicle this intense life stage).. moving fwd...

I can't believe I gave birth just 6.5 wks ago to another baby! I was driving back from an unsatisfactory visit to the hair salon (stylist couldn't follow simple directions and now my bangs are too short..boo) and was thinking "i can't believe i'm a mother of TWO kids!" Everything seems to be happening so fast. And now my whole life will be completedly uprooted to the urban jungle that is NYC in just 2.5 wks! Excited? YES! Nervous? EXTREMELY.

For starters, I am really nervous for the 5 hr plane ride with J&M. It will be their first plane ride. Jacob has the attention span of a fly and is still too young to be reasoned with. I am trying to train him to watch the DVD player so we're not chasing him around the plane. I'm going to bring new toys which I'm 100% positive will end up being chucked on the floor within a minute or two. oi... i have a headache just thinking of the plane ride. Good thing Chuperman will have to deal with Jacob as I have my hands full with Micah. I know how mean ppl can be to mothers with babies on planes. I think we've all seen it or experienced it. I'm going to try my best to tune everyone out (rudeness, looks of horror, etc).

While our apt is brand new, it's quite small for a family of four. We're talking 840 sq ft. Chuperman's pix on fbook are very nice, but quite frankly, make our apt look deceptively spacious. It's only 2 bedrooms and they're side-by-side. Meaning, if one baby cries, he might wake the other baby in the next room... Even in my parent's spacious home, just yesterday, Micah was crying and woke JAcob from his nap. Jacob was PISSED off and was screaming and crying... oi... God help me perservere through the next few years of insanity. I know I can do it -- I just need to tough it out.

I'm looking for a baby-sitter/ live-out nanny. Yes, I know - many moms take care of 2 babies without much help. Well, everyone is different. I need help with Jacob. Especially since Micah can easily take 2 straight hours of my time for cluster feeds, diaper changes, cleaning up his spit up, etc.. very difficult to oversee Jacob in times like this, especially since Jacob can be so clingy and needy too, he still cannot fully feed himself, and really needs 100% supervision when he is awake since he is so rambunctious. I cannot hold both of them at the same time if they're both crying.

Yesterday, I had Micah in the stroller and Jacob almost pushed the stroller over - TWICE! And today, Jacob was shaking Micah's playpen with Micah sleeping in it.

I wish Jacob could learn to hold hands and to stand still. I think we're gonna have to get him a monkey-on-his-back backpack leash, which will prob last 5 mins haha.

Hopefully I can find a good sitter so that I can freely run errands and get things done without 2 babies attached to me in NYC!

30-Day Chinese Confinement: Boy am I'm glad this is over! For the first month after giving birth to Micah, I pretty much stayed home all day long except to go out for doctor appts. Micah also had jaundice and was sent to the NICU for phototherapy for 24+ hrs. It was super hard on me to be away from my baby AND with Chuperman gone. During those 24 hrs the baby blues hit me hard. I cried and cried and cried so hard that I could barely open my eyes. Even the NICU nurse noticed my puffy eyes. She knew that I was sad to be away from my baby, but she didn't know that I was also sad b.c my hubby wasn't around either. Once Micah got discharged, the baby blues quickly retreated as fast as it came. I was fine when I was able to bring Micah back home. Gosh, really wasn't expecting to completely meltdown while Micah was in the NICU. I'm positive it was the friggin' hormones doing their thang! Stupid hormones!

Anyway, in terms of recovery after birth, 2nd time is a cinch! Compared to the first time around, I had relatively no pain. The nurses were even surprised that I had no pain and felt fine after birth. And my energy level came back pretty fast! I even had enough energy to take Jacob to a bunch of bday parties, showers, and outings during the first 30 days. I still need to give Jacob undivided attention without Micah to make Jacob feel special and loved. I think Jacob can be jealous of Micah at times and definitely misses Chuperdaddy. It's a tough time for Jacob too so I try to spend quality one-on-one time with him everyday (in between Micah's feedings).

What is Micah like? So far, my 2nd son is in general more laid-back than Jacob was at this stage. His cries aren't as ear-piercing or urgent, although he does have fussy spells that can last an hour at a time. Micah is a big feeder just like Jacob. I have less milk this time around b/c in the beginning I had the nanny help with feedings at night so that I could rest, which kind of jacked up my supply since I was too tired in the middle of night to pump:/ But after much effort to eat more nutritious foods, drink more soymilk, my milk supply is back up and I still have a slight surplus. I currently have about 4 or 5 gallon freezer bags of milk in the freezer (takes up more than 1/2 of freezer). The last time I had so much milk that I had to purchase a deep freezer that sits in the garage! I'm less inclined to pump as much this time simply b/c our freezer in our new apt is TINY. Where are we going to store ice cream and dumplings if the freezer is jampacked with Micah's milk?!

So back to Micah, I think he drinks like 5-6 oz at each feeding which I believe is quite a lot for a 6.5wk old. The only thing that is kind of annoying is that he spits up after each feeding, prob b/c of my oversupply. Hopefully Micah will grow out of this as it adds to more laundry.

Micah has slept through the night twice already starting this past week! He slept from 11pm-6:45am one night, and the next night he slept from 11:30pm-7:45am! Last night was 2:20am - 9:20am... we're talking 7-8hrs between feedings -not bad stretches! He still wakes up in the middle of night, but I just pat him down and give him a pacifier;) Oh, I think Micah is addicted to the soothie. JAcob was not. With Jacob, I had more patience to go without a pacificer. It's definitely soo much easier with a pacifier. Saves a lot of times. I just hope Micah grows out of it SOON so he's not too dependent on it.

Oh wow, this is what happens when I don't post on a regular basis -- my post is out-of-control SUPER long. This is a frickin saga of a post. Congrats if anyone read down this far!! I'll try to post on a more regular basis.. sheesh! It's so hard to keep up between fbook, email, and this blog:P

Have a good wkend y'all!

I'm turning 31 on Sunday.. booo!! Chuperman won't be here to celebrate.. booooo!!! Although to kind of make up for his absence, he sent me abuncha beautiful roses today =D

Welcome Baby Micah!!

So, I ain't preggo any more - woohoo! We made it! After much effort to self-induce - we succeeded and met our goal of having Chuperman meet Micah before Chuperman left THIS very morning to head out to NYC for residency. Good thing Micah was delivered 7 days ago so that Chuperman could meet Chuperbebe #2 and have a few days to bond together. Phew!

*WARNING: SLIGHTLY GRAPHIC MATERIAL*

Tiramesu's L&D experience of #2 Chuperbebe:

Let's get to a timeline. Last Tuesday, I felt very desperate and frustrated that I wasn't feeling any real contractions, afterall, we obviously wanted Chuperman to be at the birth before he flew off to NY. So I decided to do JUMPING JACKS. Yup, I did about 30 jumping jacks to help kick-start contractions.

And sure enough later on that night at 2:45AM, Wednesday, June 17, Chuperman and I heard a loud snap or twang - really sounded like someone plucking a violin string "D" note to be exact, to signify that my water broke! I quickly waddled to the bathroom and changed into Depends (hahaa). Since I have a history of having my water break out of nowhere, I thought I'd better be prepared this time and sure enough these senior citizen diapers were quite useful. Especially on the car -ride to the hospital where water kept on gushing out! I also had 2 beachtowels layed out beforehand on the passenger seat for this very reason.

After my water broke, I immediately started to feel very queasy, but excited and happy that God answered our prayers of having our baby's birth day come early!. Contractions at 4-5 minute intervals took over the next few hours until about 5am where I quickly broke down and got an epidural, which btw, HURT this time. The anestheiologist used a courser more old school way of injected me with anestheia - she pumped 5 different installments into my back - i felt each one of the installments - each one had an acute/burning sensation (ouch!). Luckily shortly after the epidural was administered I was able to breath happily...

Pre-epidural words to Chuperman:

Stop talking, don't touch me, I hate you right now!

Post-epidural words to Chuperman:

I'm soo glad you're here (and not in NY). I love you.

At 6am, I was ready to push but we were waiting for the OB to get to the hospital. My OB finally got to the hospital at around 6:45am. The doc instructed an unassuming Chuperman to gown up, wear a mask/ face shield, and deliver our baby! Chuperman was caught off guard I think b/c he was ready with his big SLR to take pix of the action. Instead, he had to put down his camera and he actually delivered the baby! Chuperman helped to rotate Micah's head and pull out the body, then hand him off to me! But the downside was that no pix were taken of him delivering the baby b/c my mom didn't know how to switch from video to still photo on my point on shoot.

So after a few pushes, Micah came into the world, all 8 lbs 5 oz and 20", at 7:18am, Wednesday, June 17, 2009!

Because my L&D was so quick, my contractions were actually pushing Micah out without me having to push. Thus unfortunately, Micah sustained some bruising and hemorrhaging in his eyes. His skin is normalizing as we speak, although he has a lil bit of jaundice - so I have to take him to his ped tomorrow.

I also want to add that the anestheiologist shot me up with too much pain medication. I couldn't feel any pressure while I was pushing, thus making it hard to push. I liked my anestheiologist for Jacob's delivery MUCH better. He injected my epidural in a slower, less painful manner, and I could feel the pressure during pushing, thus making it easier to push.

We are elated that Micah's birth day came early so that Micah and Chuperman could meet each other! We feel so blessed with our new bundle of joy. Even though nursing a newborn is quite laborious (and is kicking my butt), looking into Micah's face is like falling in love again. :)

So far Micah is a pretty good feeder and sleeper for a 7 day old newborn. He sleeps every 1.5 - 5 hours. Micah let mommy and daddy "sleep-in" on Father's day which was nice of him. Micah's version of letting us sleep-in on Saturday night were feeding at 9:15pm, midnight, 5am, 9:30am. Each feeding takes me an hour (sometimes 1.5hrs including clean-up, etc) b/c Micah is still sleepy, then of course diaper changes, and I also have to pump since I have an oversupply of milk again, then wash all the pumping apparatus.

The 2nd time around of L&D overall was MUCH EASIER than the 1st time around for me. Even recovery is a lot swifter this time around. I can see how other mom's can have multiple kids. It does get easier, but tricky with a toddler around.

HAPPY FATHER's DAY CHUPERMAN! You're the BEST DAD in the WHOLE WORLD!!

In the middle of the night, Chuperman would still help me with changing Micah's diaper, burping, swaddling, and comforting our new baby even though he was tired from packing and from Jacob being ultra clingy to him. Thanks Chuperman for being our hero!




Welcome home Micah! Thank you Micah and thank you God for having your birth day land on a perfect day and according to mommy and daddy's crazy schedule!