What a Xmas Morning!

It's 2am in the morning on Xmas day.  You would think that Isabel is sleeping soundly dreaming about what Santa will bring her as Xmas gifts in the morning, but you would be wrong.  She is too young to still understand all that.  Instead, at 2am, she is crying on the top of her lungs from being overtired.  The screaming last for 5 minutes.  At 2:40am, I wake up to screaming again.  This time it's more like 20 min.  She was inconsolable for awhile.  I didn't realize but this is normal I guess for a child that has been overstimulated and so tired.

We went to a party at Jaime's parents' friend house Xmas Eve - a very nice party that had appetizers at 7pm and dinner at 10:30pm - a Spanish tradition I guess.  Quite a few bigger kids who happily entertained Isabel.  She was so excited and just played, played, and played.  We let her play thinking she is big enough now to stay up later.  Isabel didn't go to bed until 11:30pm in the car on the way home.  She seemed fine and went to sleep again soon after we got home.

It's now 3:17am.  She is asleep again thankfully but I can't sleep, worried that she may scream again and hoping at the same time that she won't and will rest well for the rest of the night. Agnes tells me her screaming is normal and she will be fine.  She is just over-tired, needs rest, but doesn't how to do it herself.  Agnes was holding her walking around in the room so she can be comforted to sleep again.

I guess it's lesson learned.
1.  When a baby is not yet 3 year old, they can't stay up way past their bed time (which is 9pm) without suffering a bit (screaming and being over-tired).  Few weeks ago, she was up until 10:30 but we put her to sleep at the friend's house we were at and she was fine that night.   11:30 was obviously too much.
2.  Don't let her watch TV when it's past her bedtime.  The kids and her were all watching Madagascar the movie.  I went to check on her at almost 11pm, she was looking at me cross-eyed a bit.  She was obviously way too tired.   A few months ago, she had this problem after she woke up from naps or sleep.  We took her to an eye doctor and she said it's probably normal since she is developing still.  After that I haven't noticed her  crossed-eyed much at all.  When I saw it tonight, it makes me worried.  Another reason to watch out when she stays up too late.
3. Don't let other people's opinion influence my instinct.  People told me it's fine to have her stay up late. Well, they are not up now at 3:25am worried about whether their child is resting well.  My instinct told me 11:30 was too late. I guess I feel guilty and probably should have tried to have her sleep earlier.   Every child is different.  Some has been trained to stay up late.  We can train Isabel but not do it this suddenly.  For the most part, I don't see any reason to train her to stay up late.  She can do that when she grows up.

I guess I feel bad overall.  It's hard to see our child suffer in the middle of the night.  I am sure she is fine now and I am probably being over-dramatic..  No crying since 3am.  I hope she is resting well now.  It's amazing how protective motherhood feels. I guess this is part of the roller-coaster ride of life.  Well, we will make sure Isabel gets plenty of rest and sleep as much as she wants so she can be all good to open her presents in the morning.

Now, hopefully, I can sleep soon too.

-Lei
It's 3:56am and she hasn't screamed again.  Time for mommy and daddy to go back to sleep

Very healthy Isabel

We took her to her 18 months check up last week and all is good. She is

• 33.75 inches tall at 90%
• weighs almost 24 lbs which is at 50%
  
• and her head size is at around 75%

She had 3 shots and cried for 20 seconds and was over it with no reaction afterward which is awesome. The doctor only had two advice for us

1. try to have her sleep 12 hours at night + 1 to 2 hour nap during the day. We been putting her to bed at 7:30 now and she gets up around 7pm and smiling even more, so it's great
2. less milk and more table food - she should have less than 18 oz of milk and more food from our dinner. Which is also working out great. She is even stealing Agnes's wrap sandwich now. Very cute - we have a video we will share in another post.

All is good. We also got referrals to dentists as Isabel has 6 teeths and many more coming out, so we are supposed to go see one in the next 6 months. Her stitches from her surgery is healing well. Had some bruising on one side and a little bubble but is much better now. She is such a strong, happy little girl. We are very blessed.

Lei
p.s: this picture with the post is old - probably when she was only 15 months old but it's so cute!

The Sound of Silence

is music to my ears and surprisingly Isabel's too. You will see what I mean. Three weeks ago, Isabel started crying out every night in the middle of the night. We were starting to worry that we had to have her cry it out again which is not easy for me to bear or that she will have to sleep with one of us. Our theory was that since she is older and also has slept with me a few nights here and there for a few hours, she is crying out to want me to pick her up and sleep with her in bed.

Agnes and I agonized for two or three nights. What do we do if she cries? How long to let her cry? Do we need to permanently allow her to sleep in bed with one of us? etc.. Well, boy were we on the wrong track.

Luckily, I was not fully willing to give up on her sleeping in her crib and thought maybe if we gave her a new bed time routine, she would not cry out for me in the middle of the night. So on the 4th night, we took her to the room and turn the lights on. I read to her a few books while turning on her music soother. Once I turned off the lights, I also held her for 5 more minutes and just spoke to her in Chinese about her day and telling her goodnight. Between the nice blue lights from her soother and more time with me, she seemed calm and went to bed no problem. She didn't cry that night at all and slept all the way until 7am.

One more thing, because of all the extra bed time routine, we forgot to turn on the classical music we play her all through out the night. I started doing that after I came back from Chicago and saw that Jaime's sister did that for her baby Gabby and she seems to sleep really well.

Well, long story short, the second night I did the same bed time routine with her and noticed one thing just before leaving the room. Isabel turned off her soother music before she went to sleep. And it dawned on me. She was crying in the middle of the night before because the classic music was probably too loud. Once she woke up she could not go back to sleep and she couldn't turn it off herself, unlike the soother.

We tested our theory - still continue the bedtime routine as well and no more classical music. Well, she has been sleeping like an angel. I guess it was too late of an age for her to get used to all night music after having silence for the first 15 months of her life. Unlike Gabby who is probably used to it, it bothered Isabel and she slept soundly in my room because there was silence.

Moral of the story: Never jump too quickly to conclusions as we don't always know what's going on. Also every baby is unique. What works for one may bother another.

Motherhood is a constant guessing game and a roller coaster ride. It's challenging and lots of learning that is worth every effort :-)

- Lei

When In Doubt

- go to Bikram yoga (great for headaches, stress release, exercise, and a calming mind) and dance classes
- talking to someone or several people (very cathartic to just vent or share. Amazing how many people are in the same boat. Helps me realize it's not such a big issue - many go through it)
- distract myself (go shopping, go dancing, go to a new music group for Isabel, watch a funny movie, do anything different from routine, also gives my analytic brain a rest)
- color (well this is more clear for "sex and the city" movie fans. I won't elaborate, but it's great for curing headaches and tense muscles :-) )
- let it take its course (life is about rhythms. There is always up and downs, but just remember whatever it is it will pass)
- remember it's ok to have flaws (not the end of the earth or a major issue. It's just insecurities)
- forget about it (don't try so hard to fix it - instead go do something fun and forget about it. The mind and the body have a natural way of working itself out)
- don't get attached to the result (just enjoy the journey, if it doesn't work out, try something else. don't force it)

So why am I writing this list? well, it's really to remind myself to read it when I am down or stuck in something negative. I have had trouble sleeping in the last week and had a headache (no more) pretty much for that long. Mostly due to silly insecurities and an overly analytical mind. Jaime and I have been working a lot on our business ideas. So I have been thinking day and night about them. Guess I haven't let my mind rest for the last few weeks and it's so tired that it forgot how to stop thinking.

At first, I tried so hard to fix it - fix my sleeping, fix my headache. I guess I am a problem solver. Well, it just made it (headache and trouble sleeping) worse - trying too hard is not always the answer. Now I am trying other things (list above). so far so good. :-)

Enjoying life with all its up and downs. ;-)

- Lei
p.s: I wrote this last night and went to sleep at 11:45pm. Fell asleep right away. I already had a back up plan to get up and read my Chinese karate book if I didn't. I was actually looking forward to it. I guess I was no longer attached to falling asleep and that's when it happened. I slept until 8am. :-) Life's lessons are sometimes hard but good to learn.

falling sleep

We have been trying to catch her on video, falling sleep for awhile now. Agnes finally succeeded.



- Lei

12 hours of sleep!

We are truly blessed as Isabel is such a big girl now. Since we have freed her from her swaddle and her sleep blanket, she is actually sleeping better - 12 hours of sleep straight without any crying! Wow. I guess she has been trying to tell us she can do it now and it took us a week to understand her.

She looks so at peace and cute in her crib when she sleeps. She loves sleeping on her stomach and sometimes with her butt up. It looks so comfortable for her. I am so happy and can't believe how grown up she is now. In the middle of the night if she wakes up, she doesn't cry and simply crawl a little to another spot and sleep again. She also doesn't cry when she wakes up in the morning. She just simply start climbing the sides to stand up and either look to see if Agnes is up and look towards the door to see when we will come in to say good morning.

How lucky we are! Morale of the story is don't fret and let sleep happen naturally. Eventually they figure it out.

- Lei

8 months old and unswaddled

Happy New Year! Isabel turned 8 months old yesterday. She is almost 18 pounds and about 28.5 inches tall. It's so fun to watch her grow, play, and make sounds right now. Everything to her is a delight - especially anything electronic like remotes, cell phones, clocks. I guess she will be a geek like me. :-)

Also she has finally broken free of her swaddle at night. We had modified her swaddle two months ago to be on a larger sleep sack. That worked well for awhile, but for the last week, she has been breaking free of it and waking up screaming. She is so strong now that she can flip over with her arms swaddled or she would just break free and start standing up on the crib even though her feet are in the sleep sack blanket. We got scared that she would trip over her own sleep sack while trying to stand up, so we bit the bullet yesterday and took out her swaddle and her sleep sack.

We were bracing for a rough night, but I guess she has gotten old enough to sleep without help. Of course she cried for 20 min, but she was able to stand up and then sit down and then go back and forth without falling and finally fall asleep on her tummy until 8:30 this morning. We just hope this will repeat again tonight. Keeping our fingers acrossed.

I guess there is a reason people say a baby can be swaddled up until 8 months old, because after that they are so strong, it's no use to keep restraining them anymore. We hope this time the sleep training will not take two weeks. will keep you posted.

- Lei

I have been rushing

Only a few days ago, I realized why I have been so tense. I have been rushing around everywhere trying to do too many things.

I started work 3 weeks ago part time and I thought "great I live so close, I can come home and feed the baby at lunch time." What a brilliant idea! Well, not so. I tried and tried and ended up rushing home to feed her and thinking about work as well and then rushing back for meetings and then getting home at 6 or 6:30pm.

What was supposed to be a pretty easy schedule feels like a 12 hour work day 4 days a week. I guess that's what I get for being a perfectionist. I have since learned. Now I go to work from 8:30 to 3:30, eating lunch at my desk, so I can go home and then devote my complete attention to the baby or working out or relaxing.

Finally an doable schedule... I also was able to settle into a regular workout routine - Sundays and Thursdays yoga and Wii Fit twice a week. I haven't figured out how to fit salsa nights in there yet, although I probably should have gone tonight since I am still up now and feeling anxious.

I have been trying to go to sleep by 10pm since I get up early now to feed the baby before I go to work. Well, the idea is nice but I am not always sleepy early, like tonight. I tried for an hour to sleep and finally gave up to blog.

I am still learning how not to rush. I think it has to do with learning how to not control everything and letting it flow. It's a work in progress. I think I was doing fairly well before the baby. As a new mom, I easily reverted to my old ways of survival - by trying to be a perfectionist. Now that I am starting to get the hang of things, perhaps I will let up. Time to sleep...

- Lei

Sleep Trained Angel

After much heartache, I think we succeeded in Isabel's sleep training of crying it out. It was so hard but so worth it. We tried 3 methods before it worked.

1. Cold turkey - no swaddle, no feeding, and the Ferber method (soothing her after a few min and waiting longer each time up to as long as 25 min before soothing her again)
   Result: We gave up after 6 nights. She was crying as long as 90 min sometimes. Then on the 6th night, she woke up every hour to cry for 30 min. We couldn't take it anymore and was worried that she was afraid to go to sleep, etc...
   
   
2. Middle of the road - no swaddle, no feeding, and gentle persuasion (soothing her as soon as she cries - until she went back to sleep)
   Result: We gave up after a week. She was crying a little less but still woke up 2-4 times a night. We gave up after visiting her pediatrician at her six months check-up. He suggested method number 3
   
   
3. Cry it Out - swaddled, wedged in (so she can't easily flip over), and cry it out (no soothing at all until she sleep again)
   Result: It has been two weeks. We definitely had challenges with this one too, but it seems to be working now. She can sleep at least 9 hours straight without crying now. Around the 6th night, she cried about 90 min once and I almost gave up again. But then I thought, if I gave up now, all the training is lost and she suffered for nothing. So although it really hurts to hear her cry, I toughed it out and just stayed up the whole time she was crying. I blogged, watched TV, and talked to Jaime while we waited it out. Wow, that was a tough night. But it all got better from there.
   

She cried about 10 min the next night once, and then only 1-2 min once each night after that. The last few nights - no crying at all from 9-6 and then even when she woke up, she didn't cry until she saw one of us or it's around 7am. We peek at her without her knowing and she would just play.

Moral of the Story - Crying it Out fully works

• Ferber method didn't work. As soon as she saw Agnes soothe her, her energy to cry was renewed. It's better and faster to just let her cry until she sleeps. It sends a clear method that she needs to go back to sleep on her own and no one is coming. We of course make sure she is safe. Agnes is a trooper and checks on her from under the bumper to make sure Isabel is safe, while avoiding being seen
• Give any method 2 weeks. Isabel is smart and stubborn. She will test us fully before giving up. If I gave in on the 6th night of our 3rd method, she would have won and know she can still get us in there with pro-longed crying. So glad I stayed strong.
• Crying is not bad for the baby. She may sound like she is suffering or hungry, but our pediatrician assured us she can take it and it's worth it to train her. Uninterrupted sleep is the best for her.
  
• She doesn't need to eat at night. We actually developed that habit for her by rushing to her at her first cry. At 12 weeks, she started flipping over swaddled and we freaked out and started rushing to her at her first cry every night after that. Little did we know, that ruined her sleep through the night habit and since then, she started getting up 1 to 2 times a night to feed. I think if we just thought of putting a pillow in her crib to prevent her from turning while swaddled and then let her cry a little instead of rushing to her every night, she probably wouldn't have develop the bad sleep habits that we then had to break with the method above. Oh well, c'est la vie. Such is the life of new parents!

At the end of the day, we are lucky she is so healthy and a good girl after all. I still get up to pump, but since she is sleeping through the night now. I feel comfortable pumping at 5 or 6am now instead of 3 or 4am, so I can sleep up to 7 hours straight now, maybe even 8. Ahhhh, such a blessing!!

- Lei

Cold Turkey - night 4 and 5

Isabel did well for night 3 and 4 - slept from 10pm to 7:15am. Then last night, all was erased it seemed. She had trouble going to sleep. Didn't sleep until 10pm, then woke a little at 10:30pm, then 12:45pm (we had to feed her), 4:30am, then 8am.

While we would like for her to sleep through the night, we don't have the heart to have her cry night after night. We also don't want her to feel scared in the dark. So we have a new strategy starting tonight.

Not all was lost as we accomplished two goals with this training so far: 1. have her sleep unswaddled and sleep with no milk until at least 6am. Both were successful. Yeepy. I still have plenty of milk again for her to be 100% breastfed. She looks so cute sleeping with her arms spread out.

Our new strategy is to have a routine for her at night that is gentle. First a bath around 7:45pm, then feed her, then read or play with her for a bit before she goes to sleep. If she wakes up in the middle of the night, Agnes will try to soothe her without picking her up (she won't leave her though). We will still try not to feed her before 6am. This way I can pump some milk for her and have a chance to sleep as well. After 6am, I will feed her or Agnes would feed her the bottle if I need to sleep.

We will see how this goes. Every baby is different I guess. Isabel is a good girl. She will learn all in time. She still haven't learned how to sleep on her tummy. She always seems to freak when she is tired and happen to flip herself on her tummy. She doesn't know how to flip back to her back to sleep or sleep on her tummy. This may be why it was hard for her to be sleep trained. Whatever the reason, we are making adjustment and see. What's really important is she is a very healthy and happy baby. :-)

- Lei

Cold Turkey - night 3

She didn't sleep until 9:45pm, but she slept all the way through to 7:15am this time. I was restless all night worried about her, waiting for her to cry, and feeling relieved when I didn't hear it. Motherhood is tough at times.

We agreed to feed her at 8am so she cried and complained from 7:15 to 8. And then I fed her and took a nap with her for an hour. Those are the best times. She was snoring, so cute.

I am hoping tonight will be just as good as last night. No guarantees though. She is a baby after all. Wish us luck..

- Lei

Cold Turkey - night 2

Isabel fell asleep before 9pm last night and woke up twice (at 1am and at 5:30am). I am really glad I went out salsa dancing last night because I was so tired, I was able to sleep through the crying while Agnes soothed her according to the Ferber Method. I don't think I could have taken it if I was awake. Isabel was up 45 min at 1am and almost 90 min at 5:30am. But she did fall asleep after that until 8am. While I was able to sleep through most of it, I dreamt again of feeding her and cuddling her in my dreams.

I fed her in the morning at 8:15am. She ate and slept with me until 11:30am. I guess I felt guilty, although it's so necessary. We have spoiled her by feeding her at night when she really doesn't need it. Now we are correcting that.

Tonight will be hard, as I am at home all night. I am trying to sleep late, so I will be tired later and won't wake up to her crying... my poor baby... On the bright side, I am saving up more milk for her as I still pump at night.

The battle continues... wish us luck... She looks so cute unswaddled and snoring

- Lei

Cold Turkey

Isabel is almost 6 months old. We finally decided it's time for her to sleep through the night, unswaddled and unfed. This is hard as this mean we would have to let her "cry it out" if she wakes up in the middle of the night, not pick her up, or feed her. We are using the Ferber Method. It will not affect her health as she can go without eating for 24 hrs and be fine. It's just that she is so used to waking up and eating in the middle of the night. We have to do this to break the habit eventually.

We started this last night. She actually went to sleep by 8:50pm and didn't wake up until 4:45am this morning. But then she cried and cried for what seemed like forever (maybe 45 min). Agnes soothed her according to the Ferber method (first after 5 min, then 10, then 15). Isabel fell asleep and then woke up again at 6:10am.

This time hearing her cry was heart wrenching. All I dreamed about before she woke up again was feeding Isabel and holding her in my arms. We originally agree to not feed her until 7am but I couldn't take it. Since she already fell asleep once on her own, I fed her at 6:30am and she fell sleep by 6:50.

She woke up at 8:15 this morning and seems fine. We have to do this again tonight and thereafter until she sleeps through the night. yikes. At least I am so lucky that Agnes is doing this. I just need to stay out of the room and let her cry, which is soooo hard already. Wish us luck.

- Lei

Waiting for the other shoe to drop

Being a new mom is sometimes like waiting for the other shoe to drop. I hated it when I feel that way, but for some reason I cannot shake it at times. I feel it at least once a week. I wonder if all new moms go through this or just moms who are also type A perfectionists.

Do you know what I mean by waiting for the other shoe to drop? It's the anticipation of something unpleasant to happen. For example, whenever I go do a blood test, I have to look at the needle to see when it will prick me. This way, I can relax until it happens and I know how long it will last and only brace for the discomfort when I see the needle go in. Otherwise, if I was looking away, I would hate the feeling of anticipating that pain but not knowing when it's going to happen. Then I end up suffering for the whole time I am there waiting and when the needle hits me.

Well, it's like that sometime with Isabel. She is a baby, so her sleep schedule is unpredictable. Sometime, she gets up once or none during the night and other times she may get up 3 times in one night. For some reason, some nights, I would feel uneasy and almost wait for her to wake up to feed. That unfortunately translates to very light and uneasy sleep.

I think it's because I associate her getting up multiple times with her being uncomfortable or hurt for some reason. I have tried all kinds of methods to find out what makes her comfortable. Most of which is around the temperature of her room and how much she is wearing. It's obsessive, I know, but somehow I keep doing it. I am getting better as I have noticed no clear pattern. Like a scientist, I have been keeping track of her room temperature and how often she gets up, with no clear answers.

At the end of the day, I think I just need to accept that she is a baby and actually a very healthy one. Her getting up once or many times is random, it's what babies do, and I can't change it even if I want to. I guess it is the control freak side of me that is having a hard time accepting it.

I am not always like this every night. Just some nights, especially when I am really tired. I guess I then try to control her environment hoping she won't get up too early since I need rest. I end up doing the opposite however and worry so much that I don't rest even though she sleeps fine. Ironically, during those nights, I actually am relieved when she finally does get up to feed. It's similary to finally feeling that needle in the arm of a blood test. I end up relaxing and sleeping like a baby after that.

Life as a new mom is definitely different in some ways. I am coping better everyday though. Some of the illogical things I do doesn't even make sense to me, but I guess this is what people mean when they say no one worries the way a mom does for her baby.

- Lei

I am sleeping 7+ hrs finally!

You may think, wait a minute, didn't you say your baby has been sleeping 11 hours a night? What's the big deal in sleeping 7+ hours?

For me, it is a big deal to sleep 7+ hour straight through, because even when Isabel sleeps more, I usually have to get up to pump. Before, I would have to get up after 5 or 6 hours because I get so engorged. Then after pumping and washing everything (which can take 30+ min), I may not be able to sleep anymore until later.

I have basically done that now for almost 12 weeks. Even if I get a total of 8 or 9 hours of sleep a day, it may take 3 different sleep times which is very different from sleeping straight through. I guess it's because I never get to the deep sleep I need to fully feel rested.

Only in the latter of last week and some of this week, I have been able to sleep 7.5 hours without getting up. I feel so different after that: 1. I realize just how tired I used to be when I slept less and more fragmented, 2. I feel physically much stronger since I am getting better quality sleep.

Things are finally looking up and I am on my road to full recovery soon :-)

- Lei

Good Morning Isabel

Isabel slept 11 hours last night from 9:30pm to 8:30am and she is 12 weeks old today. Wow. Time flies. Every morning when Isabel wakes up, I say "Good Morning Isabel" and she smiles at me. Jaime and I both love loosening her swaddle as she immediately raises her arms to stretch. It's so adorable. See for yourself ... :-)

-Lei

Growing up fast

It's not me as I don't want to ever grow up even after having a child. Isabel on the other hand is growing up fast. We swear we can tell that she is gaining weight every day.

- She looked me straight in the eyes today and smiled for awhile (I cried from joy)
- She can now fall asleep on her own at night as long as she is swaddled
- She sleeps 7-9 hours straight at night (we are the luckiest parents in the world)
- She can play on her own in the crib when we turn on her music toy for about 20-30 min sometimes (especially in the morning)
- She is making many more sounds and can laugh out loud at times

We are still working on how to soothe her in public. She gets fussy sooner in public as if she is not used to being out of the house. She gets quiet as soon as we get in the elevator to go home. It's like she knows she is going home or something. She does the same when we drive into the garage.

It's amazing to watch her grow and see how she figures things out. I am in awe of the process.

- Lei

Sleeping Beauty

Isabel is almost 8 weeks old and things are getting better every day. It is as people say, 8 weeks is probably the turning point for most new parents. We are getting more sleep!

She is also such a good baby. We lucked out. She is consistently sleeping at least 5-7 hours at one stretch at night and actually slept a whopping 9.5 hour just two nights ago. Soon enough, we hope she will sleep 12 hours at night in one shot.

Keeping our fingers crossed.

- Lei

Saved by the Baby

I hit my lowest point last wed. After almost six weeks of sleep deprivation and intermittent pain from the c-section, I was exhausted. Adding hormonal roller coaster to that, I felt really overwhelmed last Wed.

I know "baby blues" are normal and in fact, I cry about 3-4 times a week when I have surge and start feeling overwhelmed or trapped. most of the time, it goes away in 20-30 min and I am fine again. Last wed however, my baby blues were quick significant and I started getting a headache all day and felt soooooo tired.

You would think this means I just collapsed and slept a lot. Actually just the opposite. I couldn't sleep even when Isabel was napping or taken care by Jaime's parents. The pressure from my head, the pressure to sleep according to Isabel's schedule, and the pressure of constantly having to breastfeed her all led me to have insomnia. I was so tired I couldn't tell if I was hungry or tired any more. I don't know if you ever experience that - the forever "in between" feeling.

Well, by night time, Isabel was sleep at 10, I was still wide awake exhausted and couldn't sleep until 1:30 and that was with a lot of soothing from Jaime (thank God for him). Luckily I was saved by my baby because Isabel slept until 4:30 that night, so i still got 3 hours of sleep. After feeding her, she went back to sleep for another 3 hours, so I got almost 6 hours of rest all together.

I feel extremely fortunately that our baby is so good to us. Her sleep pattern is improving so much. She is now not even 7 weeks and she slept 8 hours last night and the one before. So despite my minor meltdown, I recovered quickly as she allowed me to sleep 6 hour that night. It will only get better from here, I hope...

-Lei

The "Fourth Trimester"

With so much excitement with a new baby, a new mom often forgets about herself and the incredible change the body is still going through after birth, which I call the "fourth trimester". I think I was also hoping that somehow my body would miraculously just go back to my pre-pregnancy shape in no time.

Well, reality is a little different. Here are what I am experiencing in the "fourth trimester" as a new mom
- I gain almost 40 pounds during pregnancy and lost only about 10 pounds after birth (7.5 pounds of Isabel and the rest are the placenta and fluids): so literally, I still looked 6 months pregnant. I hear it takes about another 9 months to lose the baby wait
- I have the "baby blues" due to hormone roller coasters that happens to every mom after birth, so I would cry for no reason or all of a sudden. Luckily my mom and Jaime have been very supportive when it happens
- I use to sleep 8-10 hours a night, now I am happy if I can get 2-3 hours of sleep at a time
- Hormones makes me sweat every time I sleep and soak my t-shirt. good thing I have over 25 t-shirts to wear. I go through 4 or 5 a day
- my day is completely filled with breastfeeding: Isabel feeds every 2-3 hours. You would think that's should gave us plenty of time, but not when the breastfeeding, burping, diaper changing each time take almost 90 min each time. This means it actual only leaves about 30 min - 90 min or so for eating, sleeping, showering, etc for myself before the whole cycle start again.
- I eat about 6 times a day and sometimes get instantly hungry after feeding. I guess Isabel is getting all the good stuff from my milk.
- I still can't sleep sideways due to the c section stitching and can only go out/walk a few blocks before getting so tired. Doctors says it will take 6 weeks to recover and before I can exercise.
- None of our friends can visit right now since Isabel hasn't gotten all her immunization shots yet. We are following the Asian tradition of being hermits the first months of her life

- Lei