生產紀錄

覺得是時候來寫一下我的生產紀錄
其實很想看能不能把欣怡的生產紀錄copy只要改個時間就好
不過這種東西還是不能抄別人的

話說我一直已為我會早生 因為媽媽姐姐都比預產期早生
而且我的肚子低到從二月底就有人警告我應該快生了
我還特地在預產期前一個禮拜開始請待產假
順便陪遠道而來幫我做月子的爸媽

等待的過程一天就像一個禮拜
爸媽已經等到很無聊了 我也等的沉不住氣
每天在散步 帶爸媽出門 及花兩三個小時工作下渡過
不知道為什麼我很不習慣這樣沒什麼目標的生活
可能是心裡一直牽掛著沒寫完的研究計畫(現在還是沒寫完)
我老公倒是趁著爸媽在的這段不用煮飯洗碗的日子
多花點時間在他的論文上

預產期(4/20)那一周的產檢 只開了1cm
那代表…我有可能當天會生…也有可能兩個禮拜後生 (反正就是不知道何時會生)
醫生說如過一切沒問題 要預產期過後兩個禮拜左右才會催生
那個星期五再去做一次產檢 一樣還是開1cm
這次內診搞的很痛 害我之後到生產時一直在出血
到這個時候, 我已經做了要催生的最壞打算
也不想再神經質得把一點點不舒服都認為是生產的前兆

星期六(4/24)一整天在外面趴趴走
早上帶爸媽去買菜 下午去家裡附近的Frick House看古董車展兼散步
下午覺得有點像生理期來時的不舒適 想說應該是內診出血造成的
傍晚的時候 覺得有經痛的感覺 不過也沒放在心上
一直到吃晚餐時才警覺會不會這就是陣痛 而開始做陣痛紀錄
這個時候 疼痛也慢慢變規律…不過還可以在疼痛的時候說話
(聽說到痛無法說話時就真的要進入產程了)
打電話問了醫生, 醫生要我在家觀察一陣子
我們還放了星際大戰來看 我也一邊翻譯給爸媽聽
晚上九點多 陣痛已經是每五六分鐘一次
這個時候的痛 讓我不能在邊看電影邊講解給爸媽聽
我決定去洗個澡 也把該帶去醫院的東西做最後整理
我老公還老神在在的繼續講解star war的劇情
由於我從前一天持續的在出血 所以也分不出是不是見紅
在醫生的同意下 決定在晚上十點半去出發去醫院

4/24 1130pm
醫師內診 開3cm (終於!) 雖然還沒進入active labor (要開4cm才算)
醫生想說也不遠了 就決定讓我住院待產
等到手續辦完到生產房也已經是要半夜12點多了
這時的陣痛已經很難忍受了

4/25 1am
再次內診還是3cm 醫生徵求我的同意要幫我破羊水 加速產程
(痛……………..)
由於星期六一整天都沒有怎麼休息
這個時候的我已經是又累又痛
我一直想自然生產不用無痛 所以還在ㄍ一ㄥ
陣痛時躺在床上最難受….可是又沒什麼力氣到處走
我就在搖椅和birthing ball上渡過這幾個小時的陣痛

3am
我已經痛到想打人了 再次內診 還是3cm
有種欲哭無淚的感覺 我不知道自己還可以撐多久
醫生徵求我同意說要打催生針 因為產程進行的有點慢
我痛到累到沒有印象說 “好” 只覺得好像有護士幫我接上IV
想說應該是為了避免我脫水打的IV
醫生也再一次的勸我打無痛 他怕我再痛下去沒有體力生小孩
再三跟我保證很安全
我心裡超級猶豫 想打 又覺得guilty
幾千幾萬年來的女人沒有無痛針可打 還不是照樣生小孩
想說自然最好 再撐一下看看好了

這個時候 陣痛越來越強烈 身體越來越沒力
整個人趴在Brian身上 痛到眼淚一直掉
心裡還在掙扎要不要打無痛 最糟的是還吐了起來

4am
這時才知道三點左右裝IV時 催生針也順便一起打下去了
所以才會痛的很慘又吐的亂七八糟
這個時候的我知道自己已經撐不下去了
催生針打下去只會讓我的陣痛更加難以忍受而已
所以我決定放棄堅持 淚眼汪汪的跟Brian說
“I can’t do this anymore, I just can’t. I need epidural.”
麻醉師應該是不到十分鐘的時間就出現在我的病房
依照規定是要跟我解釋整個過程及危險
心裡其實很OOXX, 因為我已經痛到不知道他的英文在講什麼
我只聽道在打的時候即使是陣痛身體也不能動 (這是最機車的地方)

打完無痛後的15分鐘 我已經可以說說笑笑了
套Brian說的 打無痛前後 像是 day and night的差別

7am
這個時候的我 已經斷斷續續睡了3個小時 精神好了很多
這次的內診大大進步 開了6cm
醫生說 我之前痛的難過全身緊繃 也可能是讓產程慢下來的原因之一
打了epidural 身體放鬆 反而有助益
醫生叮嚀等到我有持續感覺便意的時候 她會再過來檢查

930am
雖然打epidural不會痛 但是還是感覺的到壓力
這時我已經有持續好幾次的便意…可是好像也沒有很強烈
這次內診只有一兩秒的時間 因為醫生馬上就碰到baby的頭了
她說 ”It’s time to push”
這個PUSH是有學問的 有人幫忙扶小腿腳踝
可是自己要抓著大腿(或膝蓋)出力 讓整個上身弓起來
同時還要把臀部壓低…..我也搞很久才慢慢了解到底是要怎樣PUSH
我就這樣用力了70分鐘
好險有打epidural 有休息到 不然應該沒有力氣用力那麼久
終於在4/25上午10:41把baby擠出來
我的撕裂傷很小 只縫了一兩針 (感謝我兒子沒有遺傳到我的大頭)
(美國剪會陰不是routine, 有必要才剪….所以我也很幸運沒剪到)

Voila~ 這就是我的生產經驗
整個過程跟我的birth plan完全不同
(本來不希望催生 不希望打無痛 也沒料到會人工破水)
還是很高興一切都很順利
雖然最後還是屈服打了無痛
不過我也是有經歷到好幾個小時的想打人的痛 這也就夠了

還有 媽媽姐姐的生產經驗完全不能拿來做參考
Every birth is different.
And remember to keep your options open

P.S. 我後來發現我洗臉的時候臉頰好痛 沒料到PUSH的時候臉頰也出了那麼大的力

Little Bu Meets World

Well, it only took a few days since YT's last post and our waiting is over. Little Bu made his appearance to the world as we know it today, Sunday morning April 25 at 10:41, after a long night of labor. He weighed 6lbs 13oz and was 19 inches long. Things have quieted down a bit now, so I thought I'd take a bit of time to record for myself and posterity the ins and outs of how it went down. 

First of all, history will note that Little Bu (LB) was very nearly born on April the 22nd, which as you all know is of course also Earth Day (as I learned recently). This is relevant for reasons that will be more apparent soon, I hope. In the early afternoon that day, YT started to experience painful contractions, and we thought the time was upon us. They were somewhat regular, but didn't yet reach the magic 5-1-1 we had been told to wait for (5 minutes in between, 1 minute duration, for 1 hour). We took YT's mom's advice and went for a nice long walk in Frick Park, which is just down the road. It was a beautiful spring day, and we really enjoyed the sun glistening through the green leaves in the wooded park. I couldn't help but sing In the Bulb There is a Flower (1st verse) to him, which seemed quite fitting. Despite all our efforts to convince him it would be much cooler to be born on Earth Day rather than the day after Earth Day, he didn't listen. Instead of becoming regular and more intense, the contractions actually sort of faded away. They were painful, but probably Braxton Hicks and not the real thing. I think LB was just trying to help us learn to be patient.

Friday (4/23) went by with no developments, and it seemed like things were back to 'normal'. Saturday (4/24)  morning YT even went to the strip with her parents to buy groceries and other sundries at the Chinese grocery store. We even tried to find stuff to do to keep her parents from getting bored, so we walked back down to Frick Park to see the Clayton House (former home of Henry Clay Frick) and associated exhibits. After dinner, we started to watch a movie (Star Wars: A New Hope, mainly because YT's parents hadn't seen it before and I had it at home). There were no subtitles, so YT and I were both trying to translate/explain what was happening.  Before too long, we found we were translating/explaining between increasingly regular and intensely painful contractions. We saw Ben fall to Darth Vader before we got the return call from the OB and we prepared to head to the hospital. I guess LB couldn't handle the suspense. Poor guy.  If you see him, please don't ruin the ending for him.

 

We packed up the car and drove to the hospital around 10:30pm, and went into triage around 11:10pm. Not too long before midnight, we were officially admitted to the hospital -- 3cm dilated.

The rest of the story will be resumed later.  Mother and baby are down for the count, and I'm practically there myself.  I believe for the first time in a long time, I will really sleep like a baby.

Bb

39W

今天是39週的最後一天
也就是說明天就是我的預產期 (4/20)
一直以為我會比預產期早生
因為兩個姐姐的小孩都是比預產期早一到兩個禮拜生
加上爸媽3/30就到達Pittsburgh
就所幸的在預產期前一個禮拜開始請假
順便陪爸媽到處走走
沒想到他們已經來快三個禮拜了
我家的小Bu還是不肯出來跟大家見面

Today is the last day of my 39W, which means tomorrow is my due date. I always thought I would have this baby before my due date because my two sisters had their babies about 1-2 weeks prior to the due date. In addition to my parents’ arrival in the end of March, I took a week off before the big day to spend more time with them. Who knows…our little Bu is still happy inside mommy’s tummy.

我這個人本來就不擅長等待
這一個禮拜在家裡已經悶的發慌了
每天也盡量安排至少兩三個小時的活動帶爸媽出去走走 (買東西居多)
雖然還是有斷斷續續的在寫我的研究計畫 可總覺得提不起勁
我看我還是不怎麼適合當米蟲 注定是一生勞碌命吧

I’m not very good in waiting (Brian knows that pretty well). I’ve grew tired of waiting during this week-long off. I tried to schedule 2-3 hr activity for my parents everyday (mostly shopping) and also work part-time on finishing my grant, but I still felt certain level of weariness. I guess I’m not quite a material for being a long-term couch potato (who is??) and would probably work one way or another all my life….sighs.

不知道為什麼我沒有像姐姐和媽媽一樣早生
或是因為我生第一胎的年齡都比她們大
或許因為我兒子是半個白人….所以這招不管用
或許因為大家希望他出來的時間都不一樣…所以他confused
不過可以確定的是
現在大家都非常期待能夠早點見到小Bu
因為萬一過了預產期太久 要催生就不大好了
I don’t know why I didn’t “inherit” the “early labor” gene. Maybe because I am older than my sisters were when they had their first baby; maybe because my son is half Caucasian, so this “gene” doesn’t work; or maybe because he got confused about when to leave the womb since everyone has different agenda. But one thing is for sure that everyone is very looking forward to meeting him. I would not want to see this little boy being induced by medication.

小 Bu是個愛動的小baby
尤其是去看醫生或照超音波的時候
幾天前因為沒怎麼感覺到胎動 馬上很擔心的到醫院做了fetal monitoring
果然 才把監視器都還沒裝好 小 Bu就動個不停
害我這個做媽的覺得有點小丟臉

Little Bu has been an active baby, especially at the doctor’s visit. I didn’t feel much of his movement a few days ago and doctor wanted me to come in right away to do fetal monitoring. And of course, he started moving like crazy even before nurse finished strapping the monitor on my belly. It was a bit embarrassing.

親愛的小Bu…..你就快點出來吧 大家都很期待和你見面喔
Dear little Bu, please hurry up!! Everyone is very looking forward to meeting you!!!

Snow storm Feb 2010

週末(02/05, 06)讓我見識到什麼叫做下大雪
Pittsburgh 地區大概下了有50cm左有的積雪
星期二,三又要再下個20cm左右
目前PITT已經停止上班上課兩天了
不知道會不會整個禮拜都是放雪假(snow day)

The big snowstorm last weekend really opened my eyes. We got about 18.7 inches of snow in the city of Pittsburgh. There is another snow storming coming this Tuesday and Wednesday with about 6-10" of snow. University have been close since Monday...not sure whether we need to go back to work on Wed. Who knows...maybe we will have a whole week of snow days.

從星期五晚上開始 從窗外看去是一切都是雪白的
馬路和人行道都分的不是很清楚
星期六下午趁雪停後到家裡附近走走 順便照一些雪景
在及膝的雪裡走路真的不是很容易 
花了比平常多了兩倍的時間才走到附近的公園
才走半個小時我就累的半死了
積雪大到有人在公園裡cross country ski 呢
還有很多小朋友坐在雪板上給爸媽拖著在雪裡走     超可愛的
Post 一些照片給大家看看....有興趣看更多的請連至右下角的相片集

Since late Friday night last week, the view from our living window has been just all "white". It actually took a while to distinguish road and sidewalk. We went out for a snow walk Saturday afternoon after snow stoppped and took several interesting pictures. Walking in keen-height depth snow was not easy..it took twice more time to walk to the city park near by, and I got really exhausted after 30 mins of walk. Snow in the park was thick and fluffy....we heard people were cross-country skiing earlier. We also saw kids happily siting in their sleds hauled by their parents......it would be us in a few years!!
We posted some pictures here...if you are interested in seeing more, you can click on the photo album in the bottom of the right panel.

29W

不知不覺中我已經進入懷孕的最後一期….
覺得才剛懷孕不是嗎?怎麼時間過的這麼快
都已經七個多月了…我才寫過一篇懷孕日誌
大概是史上最無敵懶惰的孕婦
那我就大概交代一下這幾個月的近況吧

All of a sudden, I’m in the 3rd trimester. Didn’t I just get pregnant? Where did the time go? Now it has been 7 months and 1 week, and I have so far only written one blog post about my pregnancy. I’m probably the laziest pregnant lady (at least one of them). I thought I would just give everyone a brief summary about the past few months.

孕婦我本身呢 其實健康狀況目前一切良好
幾個星期前的血糖測試一切正常 只是有貧血現象
我一點都不覺得去產檢很麻煩
因為醫生很nice也漂亮 又可以免費停車
而且覺得我體重控制的很好很高興 (目前大概只胖了 16 lb~=7Kg)
(不過有體重有加速增加的現象…所以可以維持多久很難講)
美國的正常標準是增加25-35 lb (11-15kg)
可我姐叫我不要胖超過10公斤
她說我是東方人要用東方人的標準 不然以後很難瘦下來

For me, everything is going well…really nothing to complain. The glucose test done a few weeks back was normal…just that I’m a little bit anemic. My prenatal visits so far have been very pleasant experiences. Nice doctors (particularly one), free hospital parking. Plus I am happy to find out each time that I’m doing a good job of controlling my weight (So far I’ve gained about 16lb, but there seems to be acceleration in weight gain in the last few weeks. So we will see how good I’ll be able to maintain my weight situation). In the US, the normal weight gain is between 25-35lb. But my sisters said: “You are Asian, you should use the Asian standard”, which means no more than 22lb. Otherwise, I’ll have a hard time giving birth and losing weight afterwards.

寶寶的話呢….是個男生啦
果然敵不過布先生家”生男生的傳統” (他16個cousin只有一個是女生)
應該會是一個好動的寶寶 每次照超音波都動來動去
上次醫生在聽他的心跳的時候 他也給人家翻滾了一下…差點嚇到醫生

As for the baby…in case you don’t know yet, it’s a boy. I still can’t break Mr. Bru’s family tradition (he only has 1 girl cousin among a total of 16). We think he is going to be an active baby. He moves a lot in every ultrasound visit. He made a big noise last time (by bumping my tummy) when the doctor used the Doppler to listen to his heartbeat. He almost scared the doctor.

話說 有一次跟我媽視訊的時候
寶寶突然在肚子裡大力的翻動
我就叫了一聲 ”我的媽呀!!” 結果被我媽罵
她說 寶寶動的時候要安撫他 要說好聽的話 不是大叫我的媽呀

One time I was chatting with my mom using the webcam, and baby made a big kick. Immediately, I screamed out something equivalent to OMG in Chinese. My mom warmed me not to scream like that and instead, I should calm the baby and say some nice words to him. Well...I’ll try my best. But when he kicks like that, it’s hard to not shout out.

以前胎動都要用感覺的
現在胎動看肚皮就看的出來
我很期待看到大家描述的
“可以在肚皮上看到寶寶的手或腳型” 不過聽說很痛就是了

Before the end of the 2nd trimester, I could only feel baby’s movement, but now I can see it too. It’s quite an interesting experience. Although it hurts a lot, I’m looking forward to see baby’s hand and/or foot shape on my belly.

我跟布先生偶而會唸故事給寶寶聽
布先生說我要多學習用英文唸故事 因為我的語調太平了
他還每天唱同一首歌給他聽 (In the bulb there is a flower)
有朋友說 將來寶寶出生後聽到這首歌 會有熟悉的感覺而靜下來
有沒有用 以後再跟大家報告

In The Bulb There Is A Flower

In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;

In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!

In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Occasionally, Mr. Bru and I will read stories to the baby (we only have English baby books). He said I need to practice this more because my tone is too plain. Also, starting from several weeks ago, he has sang to baby the same song, “In the bulb there is a flower”, everyday. He hopes this song will become a soothing song for the baby. It apparently works for a friend’s sister. Later, we will let you know whether this method really works.

已經29週了 還有一堆事情都沒有做
按照媽媽說我會早生的推算
(因為她的三個女兒還有我兩位姐的四個小孩都是提早生)
算算只剩下兩個多月的時間了…….啊

29 weeks, lots of things are waiting to be done. According to my mom, I should expect to give birth 7-10 days before the due date. Because her 3 pregnancies and my two sisters’ 4 pregnancies, babies were born about 7-10 before the due date. So, I guess I only have barely more than 2 month to get things done… augh!!