YIKES!

on a much lighter note, victor and i experienced something quite shocking last night. everyone had told us that having a boy would provide interesting challenges at the changing table, and needless to say, we've witnessed several waterwork displays and have been sprayed a handful of times already. that was to be expected. what was NOT expected and was TOTALLY shocking, however, was the projectile pooing. yes, who knew that poop could squirt out of a baby AS he was being changed at such velocity that it could hit a wall 2 to 3 feet away? it all seemed to happen in slow motion. we were so caught off guard that we weren't able to act quickly enough to stop it. quite messy. quite disgusting. but it provided us a good laugh nonetheless. and to those who often come to our house to visit, don't worry, we cleaned it all up. you wouldn't have even known had i not told you.

A Sigh of Relief

whew! what a crazy few days...
thanks to everyone who wished our family well as we were dealing with caleb's jaundice. many people asked about his levels, so here they are: two days after he was born (wed), his biliruben level was at a 12. by friday, it had spiked to a whopping 22 (he was looking frighteningly yellow/orange). on friday night, after the hospital stay, he came down to around 20. then on saturday, he dropped to 19. we continued the phototherapy for the rest of the weekend. on monday, the doctor called to tell us that his biliruben level was still at around 18/19. we were so discouraged and concerned because he had been under the lights for 40 some-odd hours and it had not made much of a difference. later that afternoon, the doctor called us again and said that he had mistakened his previous blood draw for the most recent one (he has had 6 at 7 days of life) and that his biliruben level was actually standing at around 11.8. Praise the LORD! victor and i were so relieved to hear this. no more phototherapy for us, thanks! God is so good and so faithful to hear our prayers.

Jaundice scare

before leaving the hospital, our pediatrician told us that caleb might have a mild case of jaudice. he tested his biliruben levels and told us to go in for a check up on friday (2 days later). on friday, we discovered that his biliruben levels were extremely high and were instructed to go immediately to the hospital so that he could have phototherapy. we ended up spending most of friday afternoon in the hospital with caleb as he was "baked" under UV lights for several hours. at the end of the evening, we were told that his biliruben levels had dropped so he wouldn't have to check in to Texas Children's Hospital overnight (thank God), but we would have to continue the phototherapy at home.

so here he is... under the lights at home. he really hates it (as do we). his heel has acted as a pin cushin since he has had multiple (and will continue to have) his heel pricked and drawn for blood. poor little guy. we pray that he gets better soon.

We call him Popeye

caleb's right eye is swollen due to the trauma of delivery. nothing to be concerned about. it'll open once the swelling goes down. but for now, we've taken to calling him "Popeye".

The Story

the picture above is of me and caleb just minutes after he was born!

on tuesday morning, june 14, i woke up with sudden backpain. i had a really smooth pregnancy so far, so it was really out of the ordinary. as the day progressed, i was feeling contractions. victor and i timed them and found that they were about 4 to 5 minutes apart. by 8 pm that night, we decided to go to the hospital. i was hooked up to monitors and the nurse confirmed that i was having regular contractions, but i was still only 1 1/2 to 2 cm dilated. she said that i was in early labor (which could last anywhere from 8 to 12 hours), so she sent me home and said that i would probably be in the next day... but not to come in until my water broke or the contractions were regular and so painful i could not talk or walk.

so wednesday and thursday go by... my back aches even more, i had a harder and harder time walking, but my water hadn't broken and my contractions were irregular. soon, the weekend rolls around and i'm still at home. (so much for the 8-12 hours of early labor...) the pain is much worse. i had some excruciatingly wicked back pain (some that bring on tears), but no sign of baby coming. i called the doctor's office and the nurse told me that 1st time pregnancies can take a long time to progress because your body isn't used to this process (no kidding). she suggested taking a long walk (as if i can even get myself across the house). anyway, because i had been stuck at the same stage for awhile (1 cm dilated, 80% effaced, -1 station), the doctor said that if he didn't come by monday, we could induce. (thank the LORD!) i couldn't imagine going through more of the back pain without progress.

on monday morning, we got to the hospital in nervous anticipation. they started my pitocin drip at 8 am. i immediately went into some serious contractions and they told me i was progressing very quickly. my blood pressure skyrocketed as the contractions got stronger. i couldn't hold out any longer. God's gift to women: the epidural. whew!

by 1:30, i started pushing... victor was by my side encouraging me. as caleb's head started crowning, the nurse kept telling him to come and look. i could see the look of hesitancy in his eyes, but the nurse wouldn't let up, so he took a quick glance, said "oh my goodness!" and came straight back to my head. later, he told me that it was the bloodiest thing he had ever seen. :) good thing he didn't pass out.

at 1:55, caleb entered our world. yay! we liked him so much that we decided to keep him.

Welcome to the World, Caleb!

On June 20, Caleb Rong Sheng Chiao was born at 1:55 pm at Memorial City Memorial Hermann Hosipital. He weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 1/4 inches long!