Tummy Time

I made this while we were waiting in line at Target.  God bless iPhones ...

"What is this warm stuff?"

First bath ever!  You can clearly see the confusion on Bradley's face.  He knows he should feel uncomfortable without clothes (like he does when we change him) but the soothing warm water makes him feel otherwise.

12 Days Old

Today Mr. B is 12 days old. Not only is he looking more and more like Big R, he is also a night owl like his daddy. Baby B is ready to party from 1am to 5 am and likes to keep mommy up all night, laughing, eating, and staring up at her with his big brown eyes. Above is a picture of him recovering from his night of partying and sleeping it off all day long.
- Blog by Kim from my iPhone

Watch Out Jordan

I took the liberty of making Bradley his own KD IV 'Year of the Dragon'.






- Posted by Papa Bear Ron

Last But Not Least

Finally Grandpa Chai got to meet his new grandson


- Posted by Papa Bear Ron

Baby Showers

A little late but I'm finally getting around to unloading my camera.  Here are a few select shots from the baby showers we were thrown by our awesome family and friends ... clicky

First Tummy Time

Bradley's First Attempt  ...

My Family

:)


- Blog by Kim

One Week Old

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Big Sis Mulan "The Guardian"

After much speculation we finally got to see how our first baby, Mulan, reacted to Bradley. We were amazed what we saw ...

Not only did Mulan take an immediate liking to Bradley, she has taken it upon herself to be his guardian/protector.

She rarely leaves his side and everytime he gets fussy, she gets fussy. As if she wanted to take care of him.

She always tries to be a part of feeding time by sitting at Tiger Mom's feet. And at times she'll sit at the nursery'd doorway to prevent unwanted visitors.

I guess Bradley brings out the Maternal Instinct in everyone.

Bradley's Guardian on active duty...








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Cannon to the Right of Them ...

Tron Baby No More

Bradley made good progress today! His bilirubin levels didn't go down as much as we liked, but the important thing is that it didn't go up. Baby doc recommends to take Bradley off light therapy and see how he does on his own. So one more night at the hospital. Tomorrow morning, if things go down, we free to go home ... again!
While Tiger Mom and cub were being transferred to a private suite Tiger Dad went back to the den to get food and supplies. When he got back, he found baby cub locked in a cage like he was at the zoo.

Back to the Hotel

Tron Bay in his LightCycle:





Unfortunately the at home light treatment was ineffective in bringing down Bradley's bilirubin levels. So, per doc's recommendation, the fam is back at TMMC for a more intensive treatment.

Can't say I'm too worried, the family next to us has a baby who's bili level was almost twice that of Bradley's.

This kid is a fighter.

He never ceases to amaze me ...

Baby's Day Out

First official day of my/our p(m)aternity leave!

Leading up to the delivery I had grand delusions that my leave would mostly consist of long walks on the beach and frolicking on the grass with Tron Baby.

Reality begs to differ...

So far our day has been me driving around Tiger Mom and Tron Baby Miss Daisy style from hospital lab to baby doc watching while Tron Baby gets poke and prodded like an alien from Area 51.

Bradley doesn't mind though. He's sleeping through all this like a champion. I on the other hand almost passed out during the blood draw.

Right before the lancing. He even makes a warming pad look adorable!

Uncle Corey and Aunt Heather

With Tron Baby ...


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The Hits Keep Coming

He already was born with his umbilical cord around his neck.  He survived a pregnancy with a knot in his cord. He's not eating as well as the doc would like.  And now he has an ever so slight case of Jaundice.  Not so severe that he has to stay for treatment.  He's a fighter!

He does have to do some light therapy at home. It's a pretty cool, device.  A thin strip of "blue light" that Bradley has to lay on 24/7.  The high intensity blue light has caused me to nickname Bradley:  Tron Baby.

Anyhoo, we get to go home!  Here is his going home outfit!

Rough Night

Night Two was the COMPLETE opposite of night one.  Bradley was a non stop high pitched, high intensity machine.  Nothing we did seemed to work.  It got to a point where one of the nurses offered to take him to the nursery for a few ours while Tiger Mom got some much needed sleep.  I was passed out from exhaustion at this point.

Nurses said he's a singer due to high extremely high level of cries.  We're so lucky =T

Grandma Chai and Aunt Jenny

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Val and Freddy

Mer and Brendo

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Grace and Chris

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Aunt and Great Grandma

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Aunt Jane and Uncle Andrew

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Uncle Ariel and Auntie Wen

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Aunt Riz and Uncle Enrile

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Grand folks ... again.

Of course they'd visit.


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First Full Day

The night was a pleasant one to say the least. Bradley slept really well!

A little too well.

Not a single peep came out of him leading me to do the paranoid parenting 'wake the baby up in the middle of the night' maneuver.

He can't even stay awake long enough to breast feed. Always falling asleep "at the wheel".

Anyhoo, visiting day has officially begun.

First up the Uncle and Auntie Garaniel!




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Meconium

Look into it. I conquered it. Respect.


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An Exhausting Day and a True Blessing

Nighttime approached while our new little family had quite the bonding time. Everything happened so fast. It's not quite how I envisioned things in my head. This was much nicer. Much quicker. As soon as Bradley came out, Kim was talking about how it wasn't that bad!

On a side note, tonight was the Mega Million Lottery. This is what winning one must feel like.

You see, the doc is calling Bradley a "Miracle Baby". Turns out he already overcame two adversities:

1) It turns out his umbilical cord had a tied knot in it which alone could've been fatal
and
2) His cord was also wrapped around his neck when he came out.

A true miracle indeed.

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Everyone. I'd Like You to Meet

Bradley (insert Korean name here) Benaraw

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It's a boy!!!!!

No name just yet.

Born March 16 2012 at 6:06 pm.

20 inches. 7 lbs. 3 oz.

Full head of hair.


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Practice Pushes

Started doing practice pushes, but I can already see the top of his head!

He has my hair.

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Update #2

Kim is doing EXTREMELY well. As of 4:30 this afternoon she's hit the 9 cm mark already. Doc is coming in an hour or so and we're going to start the delivery process!

I think this is Principal Chai's way of getting back to work sooner than expected.



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My Coach Shirt

I almost forget to rock my coach's uniform. Special thanks to Alia for the shirt.




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Pic

This labor stuff isn't so bad. Good times ahead!
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Update #1

So after Kim's amazing run of not feeling the contractions to the hefty size of 5 cm she started to feel. Once that happened, she demanded the epidural!

God bless drugs.

Grandmas are here. As strong as Kim is, in the end a woman always wants her mommy.

After apart throwing up at home, I'm finally settling down. I sure could use some mind numbing drugs right about now.

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It's Showtime!

Around 11 this morning I got a call from Kim and Jenny saying what was a routine checkup has turned into Labor Day!
Turns out Baby Mama was 5 cm along. In true Kim fashion she amazed everyone with the fact that she felt no contractions what so ever.

Speeding Ticket

People no need to alarmed but we are fast approaching Go Time!

Doc says Kim is at 2 cm along this morning.

Looks like Baby Benaraw is taking on his mama's "punctuality" genes and plans on coming out soon. Doc says she'd be surprised if Kim made it to her next checkup a week from now.

The closest description on how I feel at this moment can be summed like this:
Have you ever passed a speed trap while going ever so slightly higher than the speed limit? The fear you get as you zip by the cop and start looking at your rear view mirror knowing very well you got caught and wonder when you'll start to see those flashing red and blue lights?
You know that feeling?

Now make it last all ... day ... long.

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The Red Zone

With a week and a half until Baby Boy's arrival we have officially entered the "red zone".

Google defines this as:
" (In American football) ... the area of the field between the opponent's 20-yard line and the goal line ... it is expected that it will score some type of points, i.e. a touchdown or a field goal."

It can happen any minute. Is it going to be a quick strike in the end zone? Are we going to have a showdown at the goal line? The defense is hard to read. We have no timeouts remaining, the clock just hit the two minute mark.

Let's win one for the gipper!

Baby Mama

Mini and Van

Two words I grew up thinking should never go together.  Like 'summer' and school'.

But, we did it.  Traded in the ole Mini and got ourselves a minivan.  Never thought I'd see the day it would happen.  But you know what?  I'm okay with it.  More than ok actually.

Only parents would understand this.  Sometimes you have to replace the things with what you need with the things that you NEED.  Just don't start expecting me to change my Kobes for Toms.

* As an added bonus, I found that I can get away with my (sometimes) aggressive driving because in the end all the other driver will see is an Asian man driving a minivan.  Stereotypes for the win.

Random Thought in Bed #1

During her last visit to the OB, Kim said the doc told her they had four occurrences of babies being born the other sex the parents were expecting. Four! What if a girl popped out in two weeks?!  Ronalda?

Done ... for now.

Hung the finishing touch for the nursery the other night. That was the last big project I wanted to do for the longest time.

I can't believe nesting the house hit me so hard. I get these sudden urges to build things for the baby. Or for the house in general. One week, it's build swings and rockers. The next week, it's chopping down trees and planting flower boxes.

If this boy was due for another month, this house would have a second story.

Family Photos

Thanks to the wonderful husband and wife team of Weekley & Weekley Photography (I made that up) for the photo session!  We had a great time and LOVE the results.  Clicky

Mini Me

Like if there was any doubt, the resemblance between Baby Benaraw and Baby Ronaldo is uncanny.

Snack TIme

Back to School Again

In an attempt to be ready for the arrival of Baby Boy, Kim and I went to the first of two baby caring classes. We were fortunate enough to have Michelle and Kelly watch this spectacle with us.

I've read materials and was lectured numerous times by Principal Chai to feel confident enough to take care of baby if he were to come out today. But the paranoid father in me was looking forward to a class to A) see how much I already knew compared to watch they'd be teaching, and B) learn something new.

I couldn't be happier when we were leaving class tonight and here are the reasons why (in quick bullet point presentation fashion):

• Aside from Vaseline and gauze, we had everything listed on the teacher's Must Have list
• The only "revelation" I picked up today was learning how far to stick a thermometer up a baby's butt
• There are people that needed this class more than me, making me realize we're in good shape

Example

Instructor: "It is best to have an empty sleeping area in the first 6 months to reduce the chance of S.I.D.S."

New mom: "Are blankets okay?"

Instructor: "It's better to have nothing in there." New mom: "How about a pillow?"
Instructor: "It's best to not have one." New mom: "How about a tiny pillow?"

-_-