Japanese School

After my family's visit from Japan I was reinvigorated to find some kind of Japanese lesson for my son. I figured it would be difficult for him to start the formal weekend Japanese school at age 5, when at age 3 he knows none. So back on the web I went searching for any kind of Japanese lessons for toddlers, and at last resort I figured I would search or advertise through Craigslist to see if I can hire someone. That's when I stumbled upon Sora Classic again. When I first found their site they didn't have any Japanese lessons at that time, but this time they were offering a 45 min class, every Saturday for several weeks and it was for 3-5 year olds. YES!

Without hesitation I enrolled him, and began his Japanese class in June.  He's attended 2 classes so far, and with me making a conscious effort to speak to him in mainly Japanese he's beginning to pick up a couple words here and there. He's still shy in class and forces me to sit in class with him, but I think after a couple more classes I can hopefully slip out to at least grab some coffee with the hubby.

Sora Classics also offers art and music classes. You can check out their website at http://soraclassicarts.com/Sora_Classic_Arts/Home.html

First smile

He'll be 6 weeks tomorrow, and we think this may be his first real smile.

Happy 1 Month Birthday Baby Mason!

We celebrated our baby's 1 month birthday with some chocolate cake, and of course a photo session followed.
      

It was cool that my aunt from Japan was here to celebrate Mason's one month, just like she was here for Maddeux's one month. The cake was from Whole Foods. Very chocolaty and delicious.

Mason wasn't too happy at the beginning of the photo session, but after he calmed down he fell asleep. So sweet. One or two of the stuffed animals was the same one we posed Maddeux with when he was a month old.

Today we're back on our own (Family visits from Japan)

My aunt, who is like a mother to me, her friend, and my cousin all came from Japan to meet little Mason and to help out where ever they can. Fumi-chan (cousin) could only stay for a week, and the aunties were able to stay for 2 weeks. We were so excited that they were coming that we pretty much planned their whole stay.

I do have to say that we are so blessed to have such a loving family that would come all the way from Japan to visit the kids. They were such a huge help it gave us time to recoup and they kept Maddie preoccupied. He really took a liking to Fumi-chan, dragging her all over the place, commanding her to play with him. She was a really good sport. My aunt took the night shift watching and sleeping with baby Mason from the day she arrived. I don't know how she does it, but I hope to be a mom and grandma just like her! Love you!

It was great to catch up on family stuff and to spend time with them. I'm going to really miss them, but I know I'll see them again soon.

The detail of events:

Friday June 4th  -    They arrived 1 hour early. (Yes we ended up picking them up late, should have checked  their flight status a lot earlier). At night we drove around the city to see if we could get some good night shots.     

Saturday June 5th -  BBQ at the house.

Sunday June 6-8th - Las Vegas to visit my sister. Yes we drove all the way there with a 3 year old and 3 1/2 weeks old so my aunt can visit my sister, although I couldn't tell if my sister appreciated the gesture. Siblings! On a brighter note we were able to watch Mystere at a discounted price, and had time to drive around and so a little shopping.

 Wednesday, June 9th - Fumi's last day before she had to leave so we took her to do some shopping etc, and she wanted to make us a special dinner. She made us Okonomiyaki for dinner. One with beef for Peter and seafood for the rest of us. It was tasty. Yum.

Thursday, June 10th - Fumi-chan left. Maddie was good and said goodbye without crying. I asked him later where Fumi-chan was, and he said that she was on the airplane. I guess he did comprehend.  

 

Friday, June 11th - Went to the SF Japanese Embassy to add Mason to the family registry, took them around SF to the touristy spots and then had Korean BBQ for dinner.

Saturday, June 12th - Went to go see hubby at the autocross. My aunt got the chance to sit in one of the runs. She had a blast.

Sunday, June 13th - Went to the SF SGI Culture Center, and did some shopping afterwards.

Monday, June 14th - I went to go get my hair done while the aunties watched the kids. Took them to Stanford Mall in the evening.

Tuesday, June 15th - Went to the wine country, checked out Castillo de Amorosa winery and ate a burger at Gott's Burger. For dinner they made us Sukiyaki.

Wednesday, June 16th - SF Giants Game! Then went out for sushi for our last dinner together.

Thursday, June 17th - Got ready in the morning, loaded up the car and headed for a last bit of fun with the kids at the park. After that we then drove them to the airport to see them off. Boo hoo hoo.... 

I should have checked the flight status before going. Their flight was delayed by at least 3 hours. Delta isn't very good about keeping their passengers updated. My aunt and her friend didn't take off until 5:30pm, when it was scheduled for 1:15pm. I kept checking the flight status online to see if they really did take off, but selfishly I was hoping it was canceled and they had to take the next flight the day after home. They did end up arriving in Japan safely, 4 hours later than anticipated.  

Can't wait to see them all again. Hopefully the end of this year.

11 days later

We survived the first week since coming home from the hospital last Saturday. We're tired, but luckily not as tired as we were with our first.  At night he sleeps for about 3 hours at a time, which helps out a lot. I remember it was about every 1-2 hours for the first couple of weeks with our first. I can put him down after he falls asleep, giving me time to eat, clean, and update my blog. LOL...  Overall he's been a lot easier than our first. Thank goodness.

A lot has happened over his first week home. We've been to the doctor's office 3 times, twice to check his jaundice and the 3rd for his circumcision.  Physically looking at him, his jaundice was slight, but his blood test showed that his bilirubin level was pretty high. Not high enough where he needed to be hospitalized or had to have any other treatments done, but high enough to be concerned.  He had 3 blood tests (one a day) to monitor the bilirubin level, and all three was turning out to be on the high side. By the time we saw our primary pediatrician he didn't seem as concerned as the other doctors. He looked good, and the yellowing of his skin seemed to be going away.  Our pediatrician was waiting for one more test result to see if he needed to order another blood test, which luckily we didn't need to have another blood test. He also told us to continue to supplement with the formula to help flush the bilirubin out. He suggested that I nurse for 10 min on each side, and then supplement 30 - 45 ml of formula. He assured us that he won't overeat and only take in what he needs. It's been so long that we couldn't remember what the rule of supplementing was, the nurses and the lactation specialists at the hospital had scared us about newborns stomach being so small that they can only take 10ml or less. blah blah....  That's the same information that made us starve our poor Maddie and made us terribly sleep deprived.

Yesterday was the circumcision day. This is the one reason I hate having a boy, I feel so bad for them. It probably hurts me more than it hurts him, but you can't help but feel so terrible for them. Peter stayed and watch the procedure, and I left to wait in the waiting room. Mason did great, didn't cry during the procedure, but as the numbing gel wore off he started to cry. He slept through most of the day, but in the evening when he was awake, you can tell he was in pain. We just had to comfort him and soothe him as much as possible. I was thinking it was going to be a long night, but to my surprise he slept through the night very well. Waking every 3-4 hours to be fed and changed. And today he's much better. Still looks raw, but he's not crying or fussing and seems to be back to his normal self.

Maddie seems to be adjusting well, but I think he's bored being cooped up in the house all day. If we could afford it, I probably would have left in daycare on a part time basis for some socialization, routine, and fun. He's been a good helper, but definitely doesn't understand how rough he is or how loud he is.

Well that's our first week home.

Welcome Baby Mason

Our new bundle of joy is finally here. Meet our little guy. 

Born May 13th at 8:31am. 7 lbs and 10 ounces and 20 inches in length. Aside from the little jaundice he's perfectly healthy.

The funny thing is both him and his brother were born on the 13th, and had exactly the same weight. 

More pictures can be found on our picasa site.

Now that I have a little time I can tell you how it all went down.

Tuesday early morning right after my husband left for work I started to have really bad cramps, so bad I was thinking I might have to call the ambulance or something.  They were about 10 min apart so I called and left a message at my husband's work to have him come home and take me to the hospital. But soon after I left that message the contractions started to lessen in pain, and soon 10 mins were now 15 mins, and by late afternoon they were gone.  Argh! Another false labor.

That same night after I went to sleep I was awaken by the cramping again at 1am. They were pretty far apart that I was able to sleep between the cramping, but by 2am they started coming closer together and stronger. I wasn't sure if this was another false alarm, or if it was a real deal, but one thing for sure I wasn't going anywhere until I knew that was the real deal. At first the contractions were 15 minutes apart which soon turned into 6-8 minutes apart. After the 3rd contraction I started to think that this was it, but I let it go on for a good hour before waking up my husband.

3am I woke up my husband, had him call the doctor, and started to get ready to go. Woke up my poor son and got him ready as well. It took us about 45 minutes to get ready to go and to receive the OK from the doctor to go to Labor and Delivery.  By the time I got in the car to head to the hospital the contractions were 4-6 min apart, and boy did they hurt. I don't remember my contractions hurting this much when I was in labor with Maddeux. You literally can't walk or breath during the contractions.

4:15am I was admitted to the hospital and was 5cm dilated, 70 % effaced, the baby was still at a -2 station, and my water wasn't broken yet. The nurses rushed to get me all set up so I can get my epidural and about 1 1/2 hour later I was finally in epidural heaven. My doctor came to check on me shortly after to do his own assessment. At that time I was about 9cm dilated, my cervix was about 90% effaced (or more), and my water hadn't been broken yet. My doctor felt that he still had some time, so he left to go perform a caesarian section on another one of his patient and once he was done he'd come back to break my water. 

8:00am ish, my doctor was back to break my water, but I think my water broke while he was gone. The funny thing is my doctor's plan was to break my water, then go get an omelette for breakfast, and then come back to deliver my baby. But then he went to check me and found that my water was already broken and the baby was ready to be delivered at that moment. His plan was foiled. LOL.

8:15am ish my legs were put onto the stirrup and was told to start pushing during the contractions. I think I was still in disbelief because it was going by so fast. I didn't feel like I needed to push yet, but I was told to push. After the 3rd push the head was out. 
Have you ever seen the episode of the Kardashian's where Courtney is in labor and she reaches down and pulls out her baby? Well that happened to me. I never thought I would do it but in the heat of the moment and with my doctor telling (almost commanding me to) "reach down and grab him!". I did and I can't lie, it felt gross.

8:31am, Baby Mason was born.

39 Weeks Appointment

Today I had my regular appointment with my doctor. I'm 3cm dilated, and now 70% effaced. Yeah! He stripped my membrane, and have been having some cramping since then. A tiny bit of blood, but no bloody show yet. Hopefully I begin the real labor over the next couple of days. If not, I have an induction date of 5/21.

Til next week (or earlier)....