On the drive back from Cleveland (We talk a lot during long drives). I asked Ahmie which of the Endless from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series did she think most personifies her.
She said incredulously, Death (Because I knew the answer before I asked her and she went to prom as death). She explains that because of her indominatable spirit and sense of joy with life and the world.
I asked her, "Which one most personifies me?"
She said Destruction, because he chooses not to fit into the predefined role for him. Which I think is valid. I don't fit the mold for the typical Chinese American man.
Although I thought Dream most personified me. She said that he is way too moopy.
So here is my open question to you (my readers) which of the endless most personify you and why?
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
The Lost part 1
On our way back from Cleveland, Ahmie and I talked about our loves lost. This gave me an idea. I think I will make a missing friends section, and hope out of touch friends will see this and will get in touch.
The first person on this list is our friend Possum.
Possum
She really is more of Ahmie's friend, but both of us have grown very fond of her and miss her very much.
Ahmie got to know Possum during high school with her literature magazine. Possum did not finish high school, she dropped out. Eventually several years later she did get her GED, and started going to Art School. However Possum never seemed to be able to finish anything she started aside from the GED though (she is so intelligent the GED was no challenge). I don't want to go into too much detail because there is much that I think is too personal to delve into.
Have you ever had a friend that for some reason really loved and you can't really put a finger on it? Possum is the personification of that type of friend. She really is greater then the sum of all of her parts. Her eyes are so big and round, the curve of her nose, the shape of her lips, each individually may not be the most beautiful by it self but all together creates a very stunning face.
Much like her face and physical beauty, she is also a beautiful person in the inside also. Her internal beauty has a haunting sadness to it. I do not know anyone who has lived more than she has. She dropped out; she traveled across the country, been homeless, has seen the best in people, and suffered from the worst of people. She can spin a tale full of beauty about the life experiences. She sees the world differently from most people, she truly believes in the best of people. This despite experiencing the worst from some people. There is a wild innocence about her, as if she really is a fairy in the real world.
She in so many ways is like a fairy, but mainly the real world and her world never really fully fit. She has gone about her life getting into dangerous situations, overdosing on drugs, being homeless, being stranded in the middle of nowhere. She can tell such magical tales about her life and tragedies. However the stories that she spins are neither sad nor depressing, there always lays a sense of beauty amidst the bad. Her innocence / naiveté can be infuriating because she does not seem to learn from what had happened to her. She sadly repeats similar mistakes.
She reminds me of Delirium of the endless. Possum has the same feral innocence that she has. Possum, much like Delirium must have suffered some tragedy to make her that way. Unfortunately Possum also have a strange ability of attracting like minded people (people who take drugs) where ever she goes.
In the final analysis Ahmie and I failed to do what we had set out to do, which was to give Possum a clean break. We sacrificed some of our privacy to have her live with us. She did abide by our house rules. However by the end of our summer together she had returned to her old patterns.
Friendships are much like the seasons of the year; true friends never break apart but rather go through cycles; Fall and Winter of distance and silence, Spring of blossoming and renewal, and Summer of heat and passion. No matter the distance, true friends never drift clean apart. Like a well loved and read book, true friendship could be picked up at anytime and continued.
So for friends! Let's spin around for another round!
The first person on this list is our friend Possum.
Possum
She really is more of Ahmie's friend, but both of us have grown very fond of her and miss her very much.
Ahmie got to know Possum during high school with her literature magazine. Possum did not finish high school, she dropped out. Eventually several years later she did get her GED, and started going to Art School. However Possum never seemed to be able to finish anything she started aside from the GED though (she is so intelligent the GED was no challenge). I don't want to go into too much detail because there is much that I think is too personal to delve into.
Have you ever had a friend that for some reason really loved and you can't really put a finger on it? Possum is the personification of that type of friend. She really is greater then the sum of all of her parts. Her eyes are so big and round, the curve of her nose, the shape of her lips, each individually may not be the most beautiful by it self but all together creates a very stunning face.
Much like her face and physical beauty, she is also a beautiful person in the inside also. Her internal beauty has a haunting sadness to it. I do not know anyone who has lived more than she has. She dropped out; she traveled across the country, been homeless, has seen the best in people, and suffered from the worst of people. She can spin a tale full of beauty about the life experiences. She sees the world differently from most people, she truly believes in the best of people. This despite experiencing the worst from some people. There is a wild innocence about her, as if she really is a fairy in the real world.
In fact Ahmie and I tried to give her a chance to make a break from her old friends and surroundings. After a year of Art school in Pittsburgh, she dropped out much to the chagrin of her mother. Ahmie and I asked her to come live with us in Virginia. We laid some ground rules. Possum got a job right away.
Her current plan at the time was to become a Stylist and was planning to go to school in DC so she can work for Vidal Sassoon. Her immediate goal was to make enough money to purchase a car. She had a friend that promised to get her a VW bug for 800$. Once Possum made enough money she went back to Cleveland and gave to her friend the money. Not surprisingly, she did not get the aforementioned car.
Granted we had talked to her about this "deal." We tried our best to dissuade her from going through with this. But, she wanted to go through with it even though every bone of our bodies said she was going to get screwed.
She in so many ways is like a fairy, but mainly the real world and her world never really fully fit. She has gone about her life getting into dangerous situations, overdosing on drugs, being homeless, being stranded in the middle of nowhere. She can tell such magical tales about her life and tragedies. However the stories that she spins are neither sad nor depressing, there always lays a sense of beauty amidst the bad. Her innocence / naiveté can be infuriating because she does not seem to learn from what had happened to her. She sadly repeats similar mistakes.
She reminds me of Delirium of the endless. Possum has the same feral innocence that she has. Possum, much like Delirium must have suffered some tragedy to make her that way. Unfortunately Possum also have a strange ability of attracting like minded people (people who take drugs) where ever she goes.
When she was staying with us in Ashburn, she would often take long night walks. In fact I gave her one of my flashlights so she could be seen in the dark. For some reason she had gotten to meet some people through walking around at night and at work. These new friends were people who used drugs (mostly marijuana). Towards the end of the summer she had gone to live with these friends of hers. Eventually she returned to Cleveland, because she missed her friends in Cleveland.
In the final analysis Ahmie and I failed to do what we had set out to do, which was to give Possum a clean break. We sacrificed some of our privacy to have her live with us. She did abide by our house rules. However by the end of our summer together she had returned to her old patterns.
Friendships are much like the seasons of the year; true friends never break apart but rather go through cycles; Fall and Winter of distance and silence, Spring of blossoming and renewal, and Summer of heat and passion. No matter the distance, true friends never drift clean apart. Like a well loved and read book, true friendship could be picked up at anytime and continued.
So for friends! Let's spin around for another round!
Recap of Cleveland Trip
We finally left for Cleveland Thursday afternoon at about 5 pm; we got stuck in the Rout 15 traffic around Leesburg. Aside from Liam waking and screaming we stopped 3 times and we did not arrive at our mother in law's house until early Friday morning. Even with the early morning introduction I think Cindy (Ahmie's mom) instantly fell in love. We stayed awake talking for an hour or two more. I don't think I got to sleep until about 4-5 in the morning.
For this Cleveland trip we had 3 items in our itinerary.
1. Show Liam to family especially Cindy and Henry
2. Get a job
3. Get a place to live
4. Get a local phone
Friday
Friday started in a flurry of activity. I woke up and started calling school systems about open teacher positions. Most districts had finished hiring but I kept calling, I think I got two positions to follow up on.
Marvin (my younger brother) traveled from New York to see us in Cleveland. He originally intended to stay with us for a while but he got work as construction help from a long time friend. So his plan was to visit and leave Sunday morning. He arrived at the Greyhound Station at 2:30 in the afternoon. I was dropping off an application so Ahmie and I did not get to pick him up until about an hour later.
Greyhound stations tend be in parts of cities that have seen better days. On the same token many stations I have had the pleasure of stopping by also have seen better days, The Cleveland station was no exception. I walked in and my brother saw me and walked towards me. The first thing I noticed was his shorter hair, about 2-3 inches long and standing up, although hair styling products did not play a role in his hair. His hair reminded me of adult Gohan from Dragonball Z.
We walked into the light rain and stowed his bags into the trunk of the car. Marvin sat in the back seat and had a great view of Liam. Marvin marveled at how small Liam was. We drove around areas where we might want to live when we move back to Cleveland, mostly in the Old Brooklyn area (a working class area in Cleveland although all of Cleveland is working class neighborhoods).
We drove around for a while and got to see a bit of the Old Brooklyn area. We noticed some homes for rent. Including the "murder house", where a few weeks ago I think the exboyfriend stabbed to death the fiancé of the person who lived in the duplex.
Later that evening I looked online on cleveland.com to look for homes for rent.
Saturday
Saturday all of us groggily woke up and took our sweet time to get started. Ahmie started calling some of the properties that I and her mother highlighted. In fact we looked at one of the properties that day. A nice turn of the century Duplex, when I saw it I fell in love with it.
Later that afternoon we (Marvin, Ahmie, Liam and I) went to visit Ahmie's Father Henry. Ahmie's father remarried after divorcing Cindy when Ahmie was about two. Henry instantly fell in love with Liam much did Cindy and Marvin. He was wonderful and held him for a long time. Her half brother Matt was home and saw the baby but was not as interested. Henry's wife Carolyn saw the baby too but was not as enthused. However I think more of that was due to medical issues this week. We knew that Ahmie's Aunt, and Uncle and two of her cousins would barge in at any time, some how they knew we were visiting. Fortunately they were late and Henry had an opportunity to sit with Liam for a good half hour.
Sunday
We went to West Shore UU Church in the morning and Cindy drove Marvin to the bus station. I really thought Marvin had bonded with Liam, as little as he would like to admit it. Saturday night Marvin of his own volition went to Liam and looked at him and touched him. He also helped out alot when Liam was very fussy. He did more then I had expected him to do, which was wonderful.
We looked at one apartment in Old Brooklyn and later that evening I called several other classified ads.
Monday
We rested mostly on Monday. I started by following up the two teaching positions and another position.
Keep fingers crossed
Tuesday
This was by far the busiest day of the trip. Started the day with follow up phone calls to the school districts I sent letters to. Later Cindy and We went to Best Buy to set up a new cell phone account. It was great We got phones for all three of us and not only was it cheep but after the rebates we will get 200+ Dollars back over rebates that will make the phones free. Not to mention they will reimburse the first month's bill. That was great.
I dropped off my resume in North Olmstead; I hope something will come of all of my applications. We looked at several other properties. But we in the end choose the "murder house."
That house is great, granted the obvious problem. for 550$ a month we have a 2 bedroom 1 bath with kitchen, living room and a dining room, Most of the basement for storage with washer and drier, and a garage space. A good price for 1 unit in a duplex. We are close to the highway so it does not matter as much where I work. Well one major hurdle managed, we have a place to move to with space for all of Ahmie & My stuff.
Well 3 of 4 off the check list one to go.
For this Cleveland trip we had 3 items in our itinerary.
1. Show Liam to family especially Cindy and Henry
2. Get a job
3. Get a place to live
4. Get a local phone
Friday
Friday started in a flurry of activity. I woke up and started calling school systems about open teacher positions. Most districts had finished hiring but I kept calling, I think I got two positions to follow up on.
Marvin (my younger brother) traveled from New York to see us in Cleveland. He originally intended to stay with us for a while but he got work as construction help from a long time friend. So his plan was to visit and leave Sunday morning. He arrived at the Greyhound Station at 2:30 in the afternoon. I was dropping off an application so Ahmie and I did not get to pick him up until about an hour later.
Greyhound stations tend be in parts of cities that have seen better days. On the same token many stations I have had the pleasure of stopping by also have seen better days, The Cleveland station was no exception. I walked in and my brother saw me and walked towards me. The first thing I noticed was his shorter hair, about 2-3 inches long and standing up, although hair styling products did not play a role in his hair. His hair reminded me of adult Gohan from Dragonball Z.
We walked into the light rain and stowed his bags into the trunk of the car. Marvin sat in the back seat and had a great view of Liam. Marvin marveled at how small Liam was. We drove around areas where we might want to live when we move back to Cleveland, mostly in the Old Brooklyn area (a working class area in Cleveland although all of Cleveland is working class neighborhoods).
We drove around for a while and got to see a bit of the Old Brooklyn area. We noticed some homes for rent. Including the "murder house", where a few weeks ago I think the exboyfriend stabbed to death the fiancé of the person who lived in the duplex.
Later that evening I looked online on cleveland.com to look for homes for rent.
Saturday
Saturday all of us groggily woke up and took our sweet time to get started. Ahmie started calling some of the properties that I and her mother highlighted. In fact we looked at one of the properties that day. A nice turn of the century Duplex, when I saw it I fell in love with it.
Later that afternoon we (Marvin, Ahmie, Liam and I) went to visit Ahmie's Father Henry. Ahmie's father remarried after divorcing Cindy when Ahmie was about two. Henry instantly fell in love with Liam much did Cindy and Marvin. He was wonderful and held him for a long time. Her half brother Matt was home and saw the baby but was not as interested. Henry's wife Carolyn saw the baby too but was not as enthused. However I think more of that was due to medical issues this week. We knew that Ahmie's Aunt, and Uncle and two of her cousins would barge in at any time, some how they knew we were visiting. Fortunately they were late and Henry had an opportunity to sit with Liam for a good half hour.
Sunday
We went to West Shore UU Church in the morning and Cindy drove Marvin to the bus station. I really thought Marvin had bonded with Liam, as little as he would like to admit it. Saturday night Marvin of his own volition went to Liam and looked at him and touched him. He also helped out alot when Liam was very fussy. He did more then I had expected him to do, which was wonderful.
We looked at one apartment in Old Brooklyn and later that evening I called several other classified ads.
Monday
We rested mostly on Monday. I started by following up the two teaching positions and another position.
Keep fingers crossed
Tuesday
This was by far the busiest day of the trip. Started the day with follow up phone calls to the school districts I sent letters to. Later Cindy and We went to Best Buy to set up a new cell phone account. It was great We got phones for all three of us and not only was it cheep but after the rebates we will get 200+ Dollars back over rebates that will make the phones free. Not to mention they will reimburse the first month's bill. That was great.
I dropped off my resume in North Olmstead; I hope something will come of all of my applications. We looked at several other properties. But we in the end choose the "murder house."
That house is great, granted the obvious problem. for 550$ a month we have a 2 bedroom 1 bath with kitchen, living room and a dining room, Most of the basement for storage with washer and drier, and a garage space. A good price for 1 unit in a duplex. We are close to the highway so it does not matter as much where I work. Well one major hurdle managed, we have a place to move to with space for all of Ahmie & My stuff.
Well 3 of 4 off the check list one to go.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Visit to Cleveland
Ahmie Liam and I will be going to Cleveland today and I will probably not update while I am out of town. However I will take some time to write everyday to record the memory.
So Wednesday night Ahmie called her Mom Cindy to arrange preparations for our visit. We will be staying at her apartment. Ahmie got to talking with her mom and her mom started to talk about concerns that her sister Janet has about our moving back.
People on Ahmie's mother side of the family have not said things to our faces of their concerns about us. They don't have the guts. If Janet had expressed her concerns about us moving back to Cleveland she would get a facefull of knuckle sandwich.
That is so insulting. Ahmie's maternal grandfather shared the same sentiments, at Christmas time, but we can excuse that because he is (well) old and have not had a good track record of being kind, thoughtful or insightful.
I have been working hard to get my teaching certification in Ohio. I have already spent hundreds of dollars getting testing to get my certification. I did well in all of them. I know my responsibility, because I have to provide for my family. Fortunately I will have some money to tide us through for a few months. But I plan to look for and get a teaching position right away. In fact I will call the school districts again and try to arrange for a walk thought or an interview.
God I am so mad. Although I can understand that her precious (ahem) talented son has been unemployed since mid April. He has not been interested in getting a job and is mooching off of her.
For all of this I say boo hoo. Kick his ass to the curb, because he is 22 and can fend for himself. Time to fly or die.
So Wednesday night Ahmie called her Mom Cindy to arrange preparations for our visit. We will be staying at her apartment. Ahmie got to talking with her mom and her mom started to talk about concerns that her sister Janet has about our moving back.
Janet was concerned that Ahmie, Liam and I will live in Cindy's apartment and mooch off of her and that neither of us will get jobs and so on and on.
People on Ahmie's mother side of the family have not said things to our faces of their concerns about us. They don't have the guts. If Janet had expressed her concerns about us moving back to Cleveland she would get a facefull of knuckle sandwich.
That is so insulting. Ahmie's maternal grandfather shared the same sentiments, at Christmas time, but we can excuse that because he is (well) old and have not had a good track record of being kind, thoughtful or insightful.
I have been working hard to get my teaching certification in Ohio. I have already spent hundreds of dollars getting testing to get my certification. I did well in all of them. I know my responsibility, because I have to provide for my family. Fortunately I will have some money to tide us through for a few months. But I plan to look for and get a teaching position right away. In fact I will call the school districts again and try to arrange for a walk thought or an interview.
God I am so mad. Although I can understand that her precious (ahem) talented son has been unemployed since mid April. He has not been interested in getting a job and is mooching off of her.
For all of this I say boo hoo. Kick his ass to the curb, because he is 22 and can fend for himself. Time to fly or die.
Liam Update
Well Liam is 2 weeks old as of yesterday. After the flurry of action during the first week of life, we are settling into life as parents, we are in the firsts stage of development with Liam. He is going through his first growth spurt right now. He is a hungry fellow, and feeds well and regularly.
We went to the Pediatrician yesterday for his two week check up and he had surpassed his birth weight by 5 ozs. He now weighs 8lbs 10ozs. His head is 14 and 1/4 inches. He is 22 inches long (I think this may be due to difference in measurement and not all actual growth. The Pediatrician thinks Liam is growing fine since he has regained his birth weight (and more) feeding and is filling his diaper well and often.
Speaking of diapers Ahmie and I are in the habit of praising his bodily movements. I think this will fade. Since we don't (interrupted to feed Liam some bottled breast milk) have to be super vigilant about Liam's inputs and outputs anymore because the doctor is not concerned about Liam's Jaundice. We can now enjoy this regular and mandatory requirement of early parenting.
We went to the Pediatrician yesterday for his two week check up and he had surpassed his birth weight by 5 ozs. He now weighs 8lbs 10ozs. His head is 14 and 1/4 inches. He is 22 inches long (I think this may be due to difference in measurement and not all actual growth. The Pediatrician thinks Liam is growing fine since he has regained his birth weight (and more) feeding and is filling his diaper well and often.
Speaking of diapers Ahmie and I are in the habit of praising his bodily movements. I think this will fade. Since we don't (interrupted to feed Liam some bottled breast milk) have to be super vigilant about Liam's inputs and outputs anymore because the doctor is not concerned about Liam's Jaundice. We can now enjoy this regular and mandatory requirement of early parenting.
Liam Update
Well Liam is 2 weeks old as of yesterday. After the flurry of action during the first week of life, we are settling into life as parents, we are in the firsts stage of development with Liam. He is going through his first growth spurt right now. He is a hungry fellow, and feeds well and regularily.
We went to the Pediaterician yesterday for his two week check up and he had surpassed his birth weight by 5 ozs. He now weighs 8lbs 10ozs. His head is 14 and 1/4 inches. He is 22 inches long (I think this may be due to difference in measurement and not all actual growth. The Pediaterician thinks Liam is growing fine since he has regained his birth weight (and more) feeding and is filling his diaper well and often.
Speakng of diapers Ahmie and I are in the habit of praising his bodily movements. I think this will fade. Since we don't (interrupted to feed Liam some bottled breast milk)have to be super vigilient about Liam's imputs and outputs anymore because the doctor is not concerned about Liam's Jaundice. We can now enjoy this regular and mandatory requiremnet of early parenting.
We went to the Pediaterician yesterday for his two week check up and he had surpassed his birth weight by 5 ozs. He now weighs 8lbs 10ozs. His head is 14 and 1/4 inches. He is 22 inches long (I think this may be due to difference in measurement and not all actual growth. The Pediaterician thinks Liam is growing fine since he has regained his birth weight (and more) feeding and is filling his diaper well and often.
Speakng of diapers Ahmie and I are in the habit of praising his bodily movements. I think this will fade. Since we don't (interrupted to feed Liam some bottled breast milk)have to be super vigilient about Liam's imputs and outputs anymore because the doctor is not concerned about Liam's Jaundice. We can now enjoy this regular and mandatory requiremnet of early parenting.
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Monday, May 31, 2004
Like father like son
Apparently I also had Jaundice as a baby. My mom called this morning and told Ahmie that I was Jaundiced as a baby and had to use the Phototherpy lamps to clear up the Jaundice.
So I think Liam will be all right after all
So I think Liam will be all right after all
It isn't easy being yellow
We went to church this morning and showed Liam to the congregants. Everyone commented on his hair and his good looks and how he has a resemblance to me. We made a few stops before we returned home. At about 5 pm we got a call from our Family doctor Dr. Kugler, telling us the results of Liam's Bilirubin levels. Which I think was 18 (probably 18mg/dL). She recommended that we go to the ER at Reston Hospital right away. Ahmie was in the middle of photographing Liam with her labor pants as a back drop. We did not get to the hospital until about 6:30PM
When we got the call I got numb hearing that we need to go to Reston hospital really shocked me. Really anything that we needed to do we would have done. We just hope that Liam would be healthy and I think that simply any parent would also be concerned if they found out that their child needed to go to the ER right away. I packed the Diaper bag and got things ready, while Ahmie fed Liam. This delayed us a bit.
On the ride over, (Ahmie was driving) Ahmie was tearing and was afraid that something might be terribly wrong with Liam. Her eyes narrowed and tears grew and welled in her eyes. I held her hands and said to her that it was only jaundice and that lots of babies get it and it should not be a problem.
We soon arrived at Reston Hospital to see our relatives already beat us there. Our Uncle Dan, her daughter Kerri with her infant daughter Ella, and her oldest daughter Kristy and her S.O. Tony (Mr. Nice Pants uhh… a story for a later day).
The next section reads like a list so bare with me.
5/30/04 6:54 pm
Admitted to Reston ER
Got a call @ 5ish from Dr. Kugler about Liam's bilirubin levels.
5/30/04 7:07 pm
Er pediatrician Dr. Lozano meets with us check vitals
Normal exam check fine
Told that Liam was at high risk for jaundice because of the following factors, mom O+ blood type, Asian heritage, breast fed.
Dr. Lozano ordered the following blood tests bilirubin level/blood count/ type (coombs test)
5/30/04 7:49 pm
Waiting for the blood draw
Kristy came in to talk w/ us
5/30/04 7:53 pm
The guy was a real wiz at drawing blood. Even though with each drop collected it pained my soul. That little bit one drop at a time. Liam was really good I kissed him and gave him my pinky to suck on to calm him.
5/30/04 8:07 pm
Ordeal over went out and asked Ahmie to come back in. Ahmie came in and fed Liam and we stayed and waited for the results in the ER room.
The tests took over one hour to process we watched some TV in the ER room, Dr. Lozano came in and talked with us and explained to us the test results, normal blood levels, O+ blood type and a Bilirubin level of 17.5 mg/dL. She diagnosed Liam with Jaundice. She said that this is a step in the right direction because the level did not get any higher but since the 1 test was from another lab then she wanted another blood test tomorrow to verify that the levels are dropping and or stable. Dr Lozano talked with us and gave us some level of reassurance that things are fairly OK. We left at about 10:30 after checking out and pre registering for tomorrow's blood test.
It isn't easy being yellow.
When we got the call I got numb hearing that we need to go to Reston hospital really shocked me. Really anything that we needed to do we would have done. We just hope that Liam would be healthy and I think that simply any parent would also be concerned if they found out that their child needed to go to the ER right away. I packed the Diaper bag and got things ready, while Ahmie fed Liam. This delayed us a bit.
On the ride over, (Ahmie was driving) Ahmie was tearing and was afraid that something might be terribly wrong with Liam. Her eyes narrowed and tears grew and welled in her eyes. I held her hands and said to her that it was only jaundice and that lots of babies get it and it should not be a problem.
In my mind I was really concerned, Ahmie had dreams while she was pregnant and in none of the dreams did it involve a boy child. She always dreamt of girl children. I was at some base level concerned that Liam might be really sick and I can't even write the next line in my train of thought.
We soon arrived at Reston Hospital to see our relatives already beat us there. Our Uncle Dan, her daughter Kerri with her infant daughter Ella, and her oldest daughter Kristy and her S.O. Tony (Mr. Nice Pants uhh… a story for a later day).
The next section reads like a list so bare with me.
5/30/04 6:54 pm
Admitted to Reston ER
Got a call @ 5ish from Dr. Kugler about Liam's bilirubin levels.
5/30/04 7:07 pm
Er pediatrician Dr. Lozano meets with us check vitals
Normal exam check fine
Told that Liam was at high risk for jaundice because of the following factors, mom O+ blood type, Asian heritage, breast fed.
Dr. Lozano ordered the following blood tests bilirubin level/blood count/ type (coombs test)
5/30/04 7:49 pm
Waiting for the blood draw
Kristy came in to talk w/ us
5/30/04 7:53 pm
The guy was a real wiz at drawing blood. Even though with each drop collected it pained my soul. That little bit one drop at a time. Liam was really good I kissed him and gave him my pinky to suck on to calm him.
5/30/04 8:07 pm
Ordeal over went out and asked Ahmie to come back in. Ahmie came in and fed Liam and we stayed and waited for the results in the ER room.
The tests took over one hour to process we watched some TV in the ER room, Dr. Lozano came in and talked with us and explained to us the test results, normal blood levels, O+ blood type and a Bilirubin level of 17.5 mg/dL. She diagnosed Liam with Jaundice. She said that this is a step in the right direction because the level did not get any higher but since the 1 test was from another lab then she wanted another blood test tomorrow to verify that the levels are dropping and or stable. Dr Lozano talked with us and gave us some level of reassurance that things are fairly OK. We left at about 10:30 after checking out and pre registering for tomorrow's blood test.
It isn't easy being yellow.
Saturday Bloody Saturday
Saturday:
We were expecting our friend Melissa also another one of Liam's godmothers, to stop by and visit. I spent most of the morning tidying up since we have not had much of an opportunity to tidy up from all the pre-labor waiting. We caught up on some laundry.
At 3 we had a home health nurse come visit. This was provided for by the HMO because of the early release. Everything was fine Liam had lost a few ounces he weighed in at 7lbs 12oz. All was fine except that she noticed that Liam was very yellow and wanted to collect a blood sample to test for his bilirubin levels.
That was a painful experience to behold it took 2 heel sticks to collect enough blood to do the test. Liam's heels got very bloody, from the massaging of the heel and collection of little drops of blood squeezed from the heel. It pained me to see Liam subjected to such a procedure. I held fast and held him to help the Nurse complete the test quickly. In the end literally both of Liam's heels were covered in a sticky film of drying blood.
Liam calmed down so well after that he must have some saint in him.
We were expecting our friend Melissa also another one of Liam's godmothers, to stop by and visit. I spent most of the morning tidying up since we have not had much of an opportunity to tidy up from all the pre-labor waiting. We caught up on some laundry.
At 3 we had a home health nurse come visit. This was provided for by the HMO because of the early release. Everything was fine Liam had lost a few ounces he weighed in at 7lbs 12oz. All was fine except that she noticed that Liam was very yellow and wanted to collect a blood sample to test for his bilirubin levels.
That was a painful experience to behold it took 2 heel sticks to collect enough blood to do the test. Liam's heels got very bloody, from the massaging of the heel and collection of little drops of blood squeezed from the heel. It pained me to see Liam subjected to such a procedure. I held fast and held him to help the Nurse complete the test quickly. In the end literally both of Liam's heels were covered in a sticky film of drying blood.
Liam calmed down so well after that he must have some saint in him.
First Full Day Home
Friday Ahmie finally started producing breast milk, which really satisfied Liam. This allowed us to go to the follow up appointment with Dr. Kugler of NOVA medical group. Two issues of concern, splotches on Liam's skin and the whites of his eyes being yellow tinged. We did spend a good deal of time in the waiting room of her office. When we did meet with her she seemed cordial and talked with us for a great deal. We found out that the skin splotches were most likely Erythema Toxicum.
After the Doctor's appointment, we went to North Street to fill out the enrolment forms for Liam to enroll in our HMO. We stopped by the Science Supervisor's office to show off little Liam. After this we made a few stops and then returned home.
After the Doctor's appointment, we went to North Street to fill out the enrolment forms for Liam to enroll in our HMO. We stopped by the Science Supervisor's office to show off little Liam. After this we made a few stops and then returned home.
Saturday, May 29, 2004
Wednesday night and Thursday
After all the birth all of us (Ahmie, Emily, Liam, Sabrina, and I) stayed mostly in the post partum room and talked and looked after the baby. I was the first to take Liam out of the Post partum room, for his sponge bath. I was the first one to make little Liam cry. Washing his hair (Where did all that hair come from? Both Ahmie and I did not have much hair at birth.) and wiping off the vernix. Liam cried mightily when I was wiping him with a warm wet washcloths. I walked dejectedly back to the post partum room saying to Ahmie.
Later that afternoon Kerri (Ahmie's cousin) came over to visit and brought a very cute picture frame with a stork holding a picture frame with it's mouth, and a bag of chocolates. At about 6ish Sabrina and Emily left, I think after about 6 days of being with us they were ready to take a respite from us. Kerri stayed for till about 7:30PM (could not tell because the clock in the room was broken). Liam was sleeping very well. (found out that Ahmie was given Tylenol 3 w/codeine, when she only asked for regular Tylenol, Ahmie was most upset) Apparently the codeine also affected Liam. Which explains why he was so quiet and did not nurse all afternoon.
Wednesday Night was really tough. Liam began to wake and feed frequently. Ahmie was uncomfortable in the Hospital bed. The convertible couch was as hard as a brick to sleep on. Overall we slept terribly Wednesday night.
Thursday
We managed to sleep 2 hours or so Wednesday night. Liam could not be released until he had a PKU test and an Auditory test. Since there were an abundance of babies born there was a long wait for the auditory test, we did not test until about noon, and that took almost an hour and a half to do because Liam was very active and fussy and kept knocking the testing equipment off of him. Although we did have a wonderful conversation with the audio tech Rebecca, who is a Harry Potter(head). After the audio test was over, I took Liam for his Vitamin K shot and PKU screen. Liam liked neither.
Finally we were cleared to leave at about 2:30PM. It took me about half an hour to pack up the car and we left the Birthing Inn at about 3ish. I took longer to pack the car since it rained.
Later that afternoon Keri brought her daughter Ella and her sister Katherine over to visit and it was nice to have guests at home although the apartment was messy. They stayed for about an hour.
Thursday night
Was a repeat of Wednesday night very little sleep. Liam kept waking and wanting to be fed.
Thank goodness Ahmie started expressing milk instead of colostrum.
"I'm a bad daddy. I made Liam cry."
Later that afternoon Kerri (Ahmie's cousin) came over to visit and brought a very cute picture frame with a stork holding a picture frame with it's mouth, and a bag of chocolates. At about 6ish Sabrina and Emily left, I think after about 6 days of being with us they were ready to take a respite from us. Kerri stayed for till about 7:30PM (could not tell because the clock in the room was broken). Liam was sleeping very well. (found out that Ahmie was given Tylenol 3 w/codeine, when she only asked for regular Tylenol, Ahmie was most upset) Apparently the codeine also affected Liam. Which explains why he was so quiet and did not nurse all afternoon.
Wednesday Night was really tough. Liam began to wake and feed frequently. Ahmie was uncomfortable in the Hospital bed. The convertible couch was as hard as a brick to sleep on. Overall we slept terribly Wednesday night.
Thursday
We managed to sleep 2 hours or so Wednesday night. Liam could not be released until he had a PKU test and an Auditory test. Since there were an abundance of babies born there was a long wait for the auditory test, we did not test until about noon, and that took almost an hour and a half to do because Liam was very active and fussy and kept knocking the testing equipment off of him. Although we did have a wonderful conversation with the audio tech Rebecca, who is a Harry Potter(head). After the audio test was over, I took Liam for his Vitamin K shot and PKU screen. Liam liked neither.
Finally we were cleared to leave at about 2:30PM. It took me about half an hour to pack up the car and we left the Birthing Inn at about 3ish. I took longer to pack the car since it rained.
Later that afternoon Keri brought her daughter Ella and her sister Katherine over to visit and it was nice to have guests at home although the apartment was messy. They stayed for about an hour.
Thursday night
Was a repeat of Wednesday night very little sleep. Liam kept waking and wanting to be fed.
Thank goodness Ahmie started expressing milk instead of colostrum.
After the Birth
Ahmie and Little Liam
Right after birthing, we brought the baby directly to Ahmie's Brest to feed the newborn. This happened so quickly we did not know for about half a minute if we should call the baby Liam or Juliana. The honor of cutting the cord was bestowed to Liam's Godmother Sabrina. For the first 10 to 15 minutes Ahmie held Liam while the nurses were busy cleaning up and organizing the Delivery room.
Liam measured
After about 10 minutes or so the nurses took Liam and measured him.
Sabrina and Liam
After the measurements Liam was swaddled and Sabrina was first to hold the newly born Liam, then me.
Ahmie, Liam, and Garvin
I brought Liam back to Ahmie for some bonding time.
Emily and Liam
After this Liam was passed around to Emily who also labor sat Ahmie along with Sabrina. The nurse were attending to Ahmie when this picture was taken.
After the nurses had finished taking initial care of Ahmie I wheeled her to room 168 which was the post partum room for Ahmie. This was where Ahmie, Liam and I were to spend the next day of our lives.
Sabrina, Emily and Liam
Another cute picture of Liam with Sabrina and Emily.
Birth and all the details
So we called our friends Emily and Sabrina Wednesday Morning at about 6 AM, and told them that Ahmie's water broke. They rushed to our apartment. By that time Ahmie's contractions were distraction and we were keeping time, contractions were 3-5 minutes apart. All of us arrived at the Birthing Inn at about 7:30AM and was admitted into a delivery room. Where we unpacked and Ahmie got into her "labor pants".
By this time Ahmie was in a good deal of discomfort. Not really from the labor contractions but rather her SI joints. The baby's head was pressing against her S1 and S2 spinal disks and causing a good deal of pain level of 6-8 on a scale of 10. We used an exercise ball to help her position herself to a less painful position. All of this we were waiting for our mid wife and waiting for admittance forms, which came in as a trickle. The compounding problem was there were several births this morning, so the delivery area was very busy. Ahmie spent a good deal of time in the tub to help ease some of her back pain. I spent much time pressing against her tailbone to help ease her pain.
We saw our midwife Wendy several times that morning. But she had to catch up with some patients and such so it was not until about 10 did she really get and stayed with us for Ahmie's labor. At that time slowed down and everything got really fuzzy. She measured Ahmie's Cervix and it was 8 cm dilated, after 5 contractions 9 cm dilated. Not soon after she started the urge to push. The mid wife reconfigured the hospital bed to act as a birthing stool to encourage a better birthing posture (sitting up) as opposed to the "traditional" lay down on back position. Within about an hour and a half Liam was born.
Our birth wish list included that I was to catch the baby as it came out of Ahmie. However after the head was pushed out < 30 minutes. The rest of the baby's body POPPED out in the very next push. Ahmie said later that during the pushing stage she felt that Liam was also pushing with his feet to help himself out of Ahmie's womb.
As you remember Liam was born 11:46 AM, The reason for most of Ahmie's discomfort was that the baby was positioned in what is called back labor. Back Labor is when the baby's back is aligned with the Mother's back thus causing more pressure on the spine of the mother. Ahmie said during her pregnancy that if the baby was causing back labor the baby would be born grounded (yes, Liam your mommy is strict) from toys. His saving grace, born before lunch (I have audio of this and will post here in the future).
All in all it was an impressive labor, not too short and not too long everything started right away after the Midwife arrived to be with Ahmie full time. It was a drug free labor and delivery, mostly painless except her injured spinal disks.
More Details next.
By this time Ahmie was in a good deal of discomfort. Not really from the labor contractions but rather her SI joints. The baby's head was pressing against her S1 and S2 spinal disks and causing a good deal of pain level of 6-8 on a scale of 10. We used an exercise ball to help her position herself to a less painful position. All of this we were waiting for our mid wife and waiting for admittance forms, which came in as a trickle. The compounding problem was there were several births this morning, so the delivery area was very busy. Ahmie spent a good deal of time in the tub to help ease some of her back pain. I spent much time pressing against her tailbone to help ease her pain.
We saw our midwife Wendy several times that morning. But she had to catch up with some patients and such so it was not until about 10 did she really get and stayed with us for Ahmie's labor. At that time slowed down and everything got really fuzzy. She measured Ahmie's Cervix and it was 8 cm dilated, after 5 contractions 9 cm dilated. Not soon after she started the urge to push. The mid wife reconfigured the hospital bed to act as a birthing stool to encourage a better birthing posture (sitting up) as opposed to the "traditional" lay down on back position. Within about an hour and a half Liam was born.
Our birth wish list included that I was to catch the baby as it came out of Ahmie. However after the head was pushed out < 30 minutes. The rest of the baby's body POPPED out in the very next push. Ahmie said later that during the pushing stage she felt that Liam was also pushing with his feet to help himself out of Ahmie's womb.
As you remember Liam was born 11:46 AM, The reason for most of Ahmie's discomfort was that the baby was positioned in what is called back labor. Back Labor is when the baby's back is aligned with the Mother's back thus causing more pressure on the spine of the mother. Ahmie said during her pregnancy that if the baby was causing back labor the baby would be born grounded (yes, Liam your mommy is strict) from toys. His saving grace, born before lunch (I have audio of this and will post here in the future).
All in all it was an impressive labor, not too short and not too long everything started right away after the Midwife arrived to be with Ahmie full time. It was a drug free labor and delivery, mostly painless except her injured spinal disks.
More Details next.
Friday, May 28, 2004
A watched baby never boils (that's it I think)...
As noted earlier, Ahmie really started laboring early Wednesday morning. To tell the whole story, we need to wind back the clock.
As you may have read earlier our friends Sabrina and Emily have been labor sitting with Ahmie since Friday afternoon. Because Ahmie felt her first regular contractions since Friday morning. Pretty much nothing happened that weekend. Monday was our regular checkup appointment with the midwife office. That day we walked around the mall and other stuff to help set off heavier labor. Feeling that all the walking on Monday was for naught Ahmie decided that she should stay home and laugh it up to help induce labor. So Tuesday we stayed at home all of us watching comedies. By the end of Tuesday night We decided that the baby may be staying in Ahmie for several more days and that the best thing would be to for Sabrina and Emily to return to their lives and wait for Ahmie's water to break, before rushing back to her side. Since there is really a 24 hour countdown that gets started after the breaking of the water. We said our goodbyes and hugged each other and I walked them down to Sabrina's car.
I returned upstairs and went to bed thinking what we were going to do Wednesday. Cleaning up some since the apartment got alittle messy with Emily and Sabrina staying in the living room. I went to sleep thinking about watching the copy of the Tick that I copied from a friend. I think you know about what happened on Wednesday.
Well all the best laid plans of mice and men...
As you may have read earlier our friends Sabrina and Emily have been labor sitting with Ahmie since Friday afternoon. Because Ahmie felt her first regular contractions since Friday morning. Pretty much nothing happened that weekend. Monday was our regular checkup appointment with the midwife office. That day we walked around the mall and other stuff to help set off heavier labor. Feeling that all the walking on Monday was for naught Ahmie decided that she should stay home and laugh it up to help induce labor. So Tuesday we stayed at home all of us watching comedies. By the end of Tuesday night We decided that the baby may be staying in Ahmie for several more days and that the best thing would be to for Sabrina and Emily to return to their lives and wait for Ahmie's water to break, before rushing back to her side. Since there is really a 24 hour countdown that gets started after the breaking of the water. We said our goodbyes and hugged each other and I walked them down to Sabrina's car.
I returned upstairs and went to bed thinking what we were going to do Wednesday. Cleaning up some since the apartment got alittle messy with Emily and Sabrina staying in the living room. I went to sleep thinking about watching the copy of the Tick that I copied from a friend. I think you know about what happened on Wednesday.
Well all the best laid plans of mice and men...
Thursday, May 27, 2004
The New About Me Photo
Garvin Yeung 05/26/2004
This is a picture of me with Liam about 30 minutes after birth.
William Zhuo Ming Yeung
William Zhuo Ming Yeung
A bouncing baby boy (why do people describe babies as bouncing, when you should never drop one). Born on May 26, 2004 at 11:46 AM at the Birthing In at Loudoun Hospital. William (Liam) at birth weighed at 8lbs 5oz (Yes! My foot was spared stomping. My wife said if the baby weighed more than 9lbs she would stomp on my foot). Liam at birth was 19.5 inches long.
The full details are to follow, because I need sleep.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
An Interesting Development
Ahmie woke me up at 3:40 telling me that her water has broken. Called midwives and was told that she (and I) should get some sleep and then go to the Birthing Inn.
More to come, I will go back to bed, maybe the last 4 hours of sleep before being a father.
More to come, I will go back to bed, maybe the last 4 hours of sleep before being a father.
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