about my first because she's having her second

Congratulations, dear Myrtle!!! :)

She announced on Saturday -- her birthday -- that she has Bun #2 in the oven, so I'm officially allowed to congratulate her and talk/blog/mention it without fear of being shunned, disowned, and/or pelted by sushi -- not that Myrtle would ever do that to anyone, nor would I complain because, hey, FREE SUSHI!

To celebrate, I'm doing a baby-related Facebook meme (yes, there's ANOTHER ONE making its rounds). This one's about my First Born, my Lam, very early on, when he was just baby Lam.

If you want to do this too, please go ahead. Just let me know so I can come and see yours!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes. I charted my temperature, ate right, took my prenatal vitamins prior -- hey, I was in training!

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? For a year and a half.

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? "Oh, FINALLY! All that sex was getting tiresome!"

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? And deprive the world of my phenomenal off-spring?! Hell no!

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 31

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Period was late -- Pee'd on a stick. You know, same ol', same ol'.

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? The guy who was in the shower at the time -- luckily, that guy was Roomie.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? No. There are so few REAL good surprises in the world, so why ruin it? But my instincts at first were screaming BOY -- Then Roomie used his Powers of Convincing to fool me into thinking it was a girl. I'm so foolie sometimes.

9. DUE DATE? July 5 - which would've been my Tatay Nonong's 93rd birthday (he's my paternal grandfather)

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Oh, yeah! As in "It's Morning Somewhere" Sickness... 24/7 for the first 3 months. At 8 weeks, I went on a girls' weekend in Toronto with my girlfriends Myrtle and Sly -- in the morning, we all barfed: me because I was preg, and them because they, well, they were very lushy. ;)

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? mango

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? my parents, the smell of a running dishwasher, the smell of Roomie's bicycle tires in the livingroom, the fact that I couldn't eat ANY SUSHI!

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Boy

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Nope

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 35

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yup, 2 of 'em! One from my Village of friends, and the other hosted by my family. Lots of loot.

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? Kinda.

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Yes - Gestational Diabetes at 32 weeks -- no chocolate cake and pasta for the rest of the pregnancy -- had to poke my finger everday to test my blood sugar. I was surprised that the GD would be done as soon as I birthed the placenta! -- I demanded a chocolate cake in my first post-partum meal. :)

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? St. Boniface General Hospital - but, because I was induced, I didn't get one of those cushy birthing rooms that look like a hotel suite. Bummer.

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 21 Hours -- after I was induced.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Roomie

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Roomie and my sister were my labour coaches -- although Roomie kept falling asleep while he was counting my pushing. Seriously, he was standing up and kept dozing off! "1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5........" annoyed wife-in-labour shakes his hand "oh, 6.. 7.. 8.. 9.. 10"

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? A very nice epidural that only made my left butt-cheek numb (I was labouring on my left side) -- but it did give me a chance to not be such a pain to my husband and sister that they were able to sleep.

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7 lbs. 2 oz.

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? June 29

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? L.A.M.

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 6 years and 8 months -- brilliant, cute, and awesome, of course. :)

10 comments:

  1. Re: number eight. I suspected girl right at the beginning, but was slowly convinced that the babe was a boy.

    Shoulda stuck with my first instinct.

    Re: number ten. Oh lawd, yes. This I hear and understand. I had the sick like it was going out of style. I became a forced vegetarian for the duration of my pregnancy, since any and all meat tasted like charnel. The sole exception was also a strong craving for tuna sashimi. I did sneak in a couple of spicy tuna rolls from time to time. A bit naughty, but no one was the worse for wear.

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  2. Thanks!

    Oh, I'd never shun or disown you...

    To be honest, I'd prefer it if someone else made the announcement for me. I have a hard time just slipping it into conversation.

    At work, I mostly wait for people to stare at my expanding belly.

    Aah, baby Lam. The youngest person at my wedding.

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  3. @wyliekat:
    I hear ya! we'd know better than anyone else, right?! we shoulda stuck to our guns.
    When we all meet up for the first time, we should do a sushi thing -- wouldn't that be awesome?!

    @myrtle:
    I know you're too lovely to do any of those things -- which is also why you are one of my bestests :) -- but I certainly wouldn't mind the pelting of sushi.

    When you have Bun #3, I'd be happy to announce it for you. ;)

    Yes, your wedding was the very first Lam ever attended. It's very special. :)

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  4. Oh. Oops, sorry, I forgot I was supposed to tell you I did it!

    http://harmzie.blogspot.com/2009/02/that-came-out-of-me.html

    Very nice stories. Brings back a lot of memories!

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  5. Re: cushy birthing rooms, yeah, that's right, I hear women enjoy them just like a luxury hotel room, because they're so cushy and everything! Maybe it's just the births I've been present at, but my impression is that once the labour starts in earnest the mother isn't particularly concerned with or even aware of whether she's at the Four Seasons or out in the stable...

    Re: "oh finally" --- I think you were being fooled and your hubby was prolonging the process just for the fun of it. Either that or the only other possible conclusion is that he's not the virile stud bull you thought he was, and that's obviously not right.

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  6. And I even remember the lead up to the testing... :)

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  7. @Albert:
    Re: the cushy rooms
    Oh, but the actual birthing time is just a fraction of the entire time you spend there. You (well, the new mom) has 2-3 more days to luxuriate in the luxury. Plus, you don't get moved around (labour, birth, recovery all in one room), you have your own private shower, and best of all, no strange roommates!

    @kyooty:
    You remember that, Mary?! It's like one big blur to me. :)

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  8. Wow, I had no idea that Winnipeg hospitals provided so much time for the mothers! Where I live, you are ejected from the labour and delivery room an hour or so after birth and mother and baby are moved to a room on the ward --- if you (or your insurance company) will pay you can get a private or semi-private room (if one is available).

    And unless there are complications the mother and child are sent home the next day. I mean, you get 24 hours, so if it's an 11PM birth you aren't kicked out the next morning. For our first it was 2 days, but they tightened that up in the intervening years. Mind you, most mothers are happy to get out so they can get some sleep --- with the baby in the room with you (and maybe your roomies' babies) and the nurses coming around every hour to poke you, take away the food you haven't got a chance to eat, etc. the hospital is pretty aggravating.

    But the labour and delivery rooms are pretty nice.

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  9. @Albert:
    Wow, the next day?!!! Nasty!

    With both births, I was there for 3 days (2 nights). The second stay was definitely luxurious. I didn't have to change rooms. Mini slept in the bed with me (she's been a great sleeper from day 1). People would come in and change my baby's diaper for me and bath her for me. I could just lay there and watch tv and eat. Mini was always in my lap.
    I really missed Lam (who was sick and at home with his dad), but I didn't want to leave!

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  10. Yes next day. Here in Wpg too! N was born at 6am on Thursday and I was home by noon on Friday.

    But I didn't have to move rooms. If you're lucky to get a birthing room, you get to stay.

    But the bed isn't terribly comfortable. Great for all the adjustments they can make during labour & delivery, not so good when you just want to lay flat.

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