My Sister Has A New Addition to Her Life

Well, we already know about her pregnancy. I'm referring to her new blog! Looks like she named it after her kids, although I hope the third child doesn't mind being referred to simply as "baby." But hey, the name reflects a very specific time in my sister's life, so it's very appropriate. We all knew Mary had a creative side, so it's good to see a forum for her to express herself. Good Luck, Mary.

Getting Psyched For August

I really want to go to Lollapalooza this year. It's been years since I've been excited about a summer festival show, and there are at least ten bands on the line-up that I want to see. For company, I have a few maybes, but no commitments yet. Anyone interested in going with me? To get you excited, I've made a mix of out of 17 bands on the line-up. At 72 minutes long, it'll make a nice cd (remember those?)

Download the .zip file from yousendit.com here.

I Spelled My Daughter's Name Wrong

Sorry guys, and a special sorry to Paige. Her name is actually Paige Elizabeth Lan Nguyen. Notice the "g" is gone. My mother, the bestower of Vietnamese names, prefers it that way.

Paige is keeping us up. She has this thing where she cries non-stop from 9:30 PM to 3:30 AM. Those of you who are already parents are probably smiling or nodding knowingly. However, for Megan and I who used to love our sleep (probably too much) it's been quite an adjustment. Right now, I actually don't mind it. I have three continuous days off work, so I don't have any sleep requirements, except to sleep when she sleeps. Therefore, this "Witching Hour" as I've dubbed it is just an excuse for me to spend time with her. I was working an evening shift two days ago and I found myself wanting to be home with her continuous crying instead. Near the end of my shift, I found myself staring at her pictures. I guess I have fallen in love with my daughter.

Her corrected birth announcement via weblog here.

A Blog Is Born

The whole story...

We went to the hospital on 12/5/06 a little after midnight. When Megan was placed on the monitor, we realized that she was already having contractions, but I guess they weren't strong enough for her to feel them. Dr. Cooper, the obstetrician on call, placed a balloon to dilate Megan's cervix from one to four centimeters. Essentially, it was the balloon of a foley catheter placed in the cervix to mechanically dilate her. A couple hours later, Megan was four centimeters and the balloon fell out.

Then, Dr. Cooper broke Megan's water and placed a heart-rate monitor on Paige's scalp. Megan was placed on Pitosin, a medication to strengthen the contractions and further the induction. That started the pain. Within hours, Megan realized she needed the epidural, so one was placed. Unfortunately, despite working really well on her right side, even causing leg numbness, she could still feel pain on her left. The anesthesiologist came back and slightly repositioned the epidural catheter, but that only made the pain-control suboptimal on both sides.

Paige's heart rate dropped. Normally, an expectant baby's heart rate decreases for a few seconds with each contraction, but Paige's slow heart rate persisted. This was a sign of decreased oxygen getting to our baby, perhaps because Pitosin was causing too many contractions or Paige's umbilical cord was in a bad position (wrapped around her neck, for example.) Dr. Cooper ordered a dose of Terbutaline to suppress the contractions. Seconds turned into minutes and Dr. Cooper told me she was going to do a C-section. Immediately, the operating room. staff was called, nurses packed all of Megan's lines and tubes onto her stretcher, they began rolling Megan out the door and they covered her belly with Betadine in preparation for surgery. Then, the Terbutaline worked and Paige's heart-rate came back up. Our trip to the operating room was canceled.

Dr. Cooper told us that perhaps, the Pitosin was working too well, making the contractions too close together. She wanted the medicine drip turned off and, after some time, slowly restarted again. Paige appeared to do perfectly well with this.

However, Megan's pain was unbearable. Another anesthesia consult revealed that there was nothing else they could do. So Megan received an IV dose of Stadol and Phenergan. The narcotic really made her loopy. She fell asleep with it, but the pain of contractions would wake her up. For the next couple of hours, with each contraction, she would wake up and either moan in discomfort or try her deep breathing, then immediately fall back asleep again. Sometimes between contractions, she would frustratingly rub her face with a damp cloth, trying to arouse herself, or she would repeat the same statement multiple times or simply mumble incoherently.

By 4:10 PM, after 12 hours of labor, Megan stated was ready to push and the medicine had worn off. She had no effective pain relief, but realized that each contraction compelled her to push. Dr. Chou, Megan's obstetrician had arrived (after her own stressful day of vision problems and emergency ophthalmology appointments, but that's a different story.) Megan was falling asleep between pushes, but during them she was wide awake and straining. After 90 minutes of pushing, our Paige came into this world. Amazingly, upon Paige's birth, Megan developed this sudden second wind. Anyone looking at her, then, would not have believed the 14 hour ordeal she had just experienced.

So Paige entered this world at 5:39 PM on May 5th, 2006, weighing in at 6 pounds and 13 ounces and measuring 20 inches. She has a full head of black hair (very thick) and she has a big bottom lip like her parents (probably more like her mother.) Her nose started out looking like mine, but in the last two days of reshaping, it looks like it'll stick out more like her mother's. You can tell she's asian by her eyes, especially those epicanthal folds, and her skin color is darker than Megan's but lighter than mine. I've started a blog dedicated to her and, of course, she gets the song of the week. I promise more baby pictures on her blog.

Another Picture Taken Within Paige's First Hour

Another Hastily Sent Picture On Paige's Birthday

Hastily Sent Picture On Paige's Birthday

Let Me Be The First to Wish You "Happy Cinco De Mayo"

At 12:15 AM on May 5th, 2006 we got the call to go into the hospital to begin labor induction. We wake up Barb and Charlie, who are staying at our house to let them know. We're told they'll join us later... goodnight.

Tonight's the Night (or Is It?)

I worked today. My shift was scheduled to end two hours before Megan was supposed to go into the hospital. Well, obviously, that plan did not go as planned. Ten minutes before the end of my shift, I really thought I was going to get out on time. I had a plan arranged for all my patients, and I thought any new ones coming in could be seen by the doctor relieving me. Then two genuine emergencies came in. One was an elderly patient who had a fatal arhythmia (V Tach) and a 26 year old overdose patient whose heart rate was 20 (that's too slow to support life.) The nurses were urgently calling me into the rooms, and I swear, I must of had a look on my face that said "do I REALLY have to?"

So, I got to my house an hour late only to find out that our induction is delayed because the obstetric unit is full. They'll call us later tonight when they have a room for us. Nothing else to do bu wait...

I Assemble Furniture On My Days Off

Ever since my parents stopped renting out their Ocean City condo, they've been making massive improvements; re-doing the kitchen and bathrooms. Today, my dad and I assembled a bunk bed (the first of two) in anticpation for all the new grandchildren they expect to be hosting in the upcoming years. You guys should check the place out before it becomes populated with the Nguyen family litter.

As for other furniture, I recenly finished a 16-hour project assembling a bookcase and a desk in our little home study. I feared that once Paige came along, all organization ideas would be put on the back burner. Only 4 days left, by the way. Unless Megan delivers in the next 24 hours, it looks like Hue is going to take home the money.