Season's Cheer from Us to You...

Family Photos

Our neighbor, Mike, is a photography aficionado and Canon DSLR owner, which makes it fun for me to have someone to chat with about the latest camera gear gadgets. Anyhow, Mike was awesome enough to spend a morning taking some family photos for us. We had two remote flashes going on, a kids play-date during setup in-between time, and good wintery outdoor weather. Thanks Mike! Here are the few photos we picked out.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Bad Santa!

Bad Santa. I'm sure you and I and most people have the classic "fear of Santa" photo.. so here's to keeping up with the tradition! One for us to embarrass our kids with in the future. hehe.. yes, Ryan and I are a bit too amused, eh?

Maybe we should have taken a family photo with the holiday Marine or the Christmas tree that was there at the local neighborhood Toys for Tots community event. Oh well Santa... maybe better luck next year! =)

Little Monkey's Resistance Training

Good thing our little monkey is quite tolerant of the exercise regiment we (aka Ryan) puts him through. It's what we call "active time" to engage his muscles with resistance training (aka holding him in certain positions that he fights against).

This is the "look" he gives us... don't think he likes it...

but our little monkey is tolerant! =)

Where'd November go?

November was busy... I think.. It's all a blur now. Where'd November go??!

We had both sets of grand-parents here helping out in alternating, consecutive weeks. During that time frame, it allowed us to focus on working with Liam to get him on a consistent schedule of feeding time, active time combined with awake time, and sleep time. He has naturally adapted to a 4 hour interval schedule. The nights have been still hard with less sleep than optimal for Ryan and I. Liam has been good though, and has gone as long as 6.5 hour interval between feedings, but that's not consistent yet. The hardest time interval is still the 4am feeding.

While this period has been exhausting, it has also been quite fun getting to know the little dude. He is mellow and chill, quite different than Emilia was at this stage. Emilia naturally takes on a big sister role with him - sharing with him and asking for his whereabouts when she does not know where he is. She has tried to play with him too. In fact, the other day she tried to play horsie ride with him and sat on his back while we were not looking. Ah.. the fun of watching (or not watching) two kids!

Here are some random November photos of the kiddies:

Ducatista

Haven't posted up much lately because Connie and I are still adjusting to life at home with two kids under the age of 2. It's seems to be non-stop with something always going on with one or the other or both at the same time. So free time is not something we see much of these days. But through it all, the kids are definitely progressing.

A month or so ago, I took the training wheels off Emilia's Ducati because I thought she was ready to make the step up. But it was a little early, and she showed no interest in trying to ride on something that would fall over if she didn't support it. However, that all changed about a week ago, and she's now burning rubber through the house like a real Ducatista (Ducati fanatic). She's even discovered her own clever way of dismounting...

Edit: Yes, our video quality sucks. We're working on improving it one of these days.

Big Sister

Emilia seems to be embracing her role as a big sister. Here she is reading to her little brother.



Overall, she's been really good with Liam. But she still doesn't fully grasp the concept of a fragile baby. Like, it's not good to drop a toy on his head ;^O

Photoshoot Fun with Liam

I had a little photo fun with Liam one morning and did a short photo session of him wearing a very cute onesie given to him by aunt Carey and a cute hat from surf gal, Amy.

The onesie is by Studio Bree Designs

Despite being ultra busy and lack of sleep, we're having a blast with Liam! =)

Trick or Treat

Emilia got to go Trick or Treating for the first time this year. Her monkey costume (Thanks Kate & Aaron) was a little warm in the car, but she survived the short trip down to the neighborhood homes.


It wasn't an overwhelming Halloween, but more than good enough for this age.


We met up with some neighbors...



No, she didn't have a choice in the costume. But everyone else loved it.


A good part of the time was spent chasing the little monkey down...


Monkey on the run...


Fascinated by the lights...


Hanging out with some skeletons. Is this really for toddlers?


This was the highlight house. Unfortunately I couldn't get a good picture. The house was completely decorated, and the garage converted into a haunted maze. Emilia did great inside, and it helped that they toned things down a bit as the little ones went through.


The end of a fun time. Yes, I'm ready to go home, and get out of this monkey suit ;^)

Liam's Favorite Place to Sleep

ABS Bouldering Comp

Got to see my niece, Elizabeth, compete in the ABS Youth Bouldering Comp today at our other local gym, Mesa Rim. She placed second in a similar comp in CO. Looking forward to the time when we can get Em and Liam out climbing with her.


Update: Elizabeth placed second in her division at this comp. She's setting a high bar for Emilia and Liam.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Momma trying to catch some precious zzz's while Liam naps. Don't roll over ;^0

In The Clear

Today's doc check gave Liam a clear on the jaundice. The yellow color is gone and Liam's weight is slowly gaining. He is at 7lbs-2oz now and looks to be at his birth weight really soon. So, all in all, we're finally back to adjusting to each other, new schedules, and new ways of doing things.

It's been looking good since Liam's come home. Emilia loves her little brother and shares her toys with him. She likes to help and tends to him, rocking his bouncer, putting his blanket on him, and patting him. So, all in all, we're settling in... finally. =)

Liam's Current Stats

Today's Bili is at an acceptable level of 12, which means it hasn't really increased since leaving the hospital. Doc still wants close monitoring, so another day of doctors and/or hospitals. Seems like it's one or the other every day.



Liam is doing well overall. He went into the bili-hospital with almost 9% loss of his birth weight, from 7 lbs-4oz to 6 lbs-10oz. Now with the aggressive bili-feeding approach and strict 3-hour feeding schedule, he has gained weight and is now at 7 lbs.

Bili Update: The Light at the End of the Bili-Tub

These past few days reminds me of the song "Blue" by Eiffel 65 as Liam and I have only seen blue while trapped inside a tiny little sterile room. Everything feels like it appropriately fits with a techno-beat blue song.

"Yo listen up, here is the story about a little guy, that lives in a blue world, and all day and all night, and everything he sees, is just blue... "




Labor and delivery was relatively short and easy compared to the past few days, which have been frustrating and tiresome. Liam has been such a trooper through all the blood draws, needle pricks, forced eye mask, and a blue tub isolation without much cuddle or holding. Mama has not been such a trooper, running on 1 hour intervals of sleep getting maybe 4-5 hours of sleep in 24 hour period, going back and forth with hospital personnels on the care of Liam and fighting traditional mentalities with modern preferences, while trying to "recover" from giving birth.

To recap and correct prior posts, Liam's bili went this way --> 7.1 --> 9.2 --> 15.3 --> 18.3 --> photo-therapy --> 15.3 --> 11.9 (yeh! below 12 means we get to come home!) Objective is to have a low number and/or a low delta gain the following day. So, from 7.1 to 9.2, delta gain is relatively low. But then it jumps from a 9 to a 15. Big delta change for a day's worth. And then from 15 to 18 in just a few hours. Not good. The numbers don't mean much, the concern is that 18.3 is very high and getting close to danger zone and other issues, so it was good that we did get re-admitted to the hospital to deal with this, even though it was very not fun.

We are now home, but not exactly out of the woods. The photo-therapy and increased in Liam's protein intake through formula supplement and me vigorously feeding him every three hours and additionally increasing milk through pumping after his feedings helped to bring the bili number back to a manageable level. Now the docs needs to see that Liam's liver can handle the bilirubins on their own, which we hope, and we will get an idea of that with another doc visit/blood draw tomorrow. So.. out of the woods, but not in the clearing yet.

Here's Ryan and Emilia paying Liam and I a visit:

Return of the Bilirubin, Part 2

This seems to be the way things go for us (we had a similar situation with Emilia). We found out that Liam's bilirubin level was too high again on Saturday so Connie had to take him back to the hospital. This time he went to the pediatric unit at Palomar Hospital. In retrospect, we may have been discharged too early from UCSD Hospital. I had the bilirubin levels wrong in my last post. His initial reading was correct at 7, but his second reading was just slightly higher (need to get the exact number when Connie gets back). It's a little obscure what is a good reading as it's more dependent on the trend. As long as the levels rise slightly or stay the same, things are good. But if they rise too rapidly, then alternative measures need to be taken. At UCSD, they must have thought that it was rising at an acceptable rate. But by Saturday, when we had him checked by our pediatrician, they had elevated to an unacceptable level. So that meant he had to receive phototherapy and supplemental formula until Connie's milk is fully in. He was retested this morning after receiving these treatments, and he is responding well. They expect that, if this trend continues, he should be able to come home tomorrow.

Welcome Home, Liam

We brought Liam home this afternoon after he was cleared of any bilirubin problems (He scored a 7 on his initial test which is borderline for requiring phototherapy. But he also tested Coombs negative which is good, and later tested at 14 for bilirubin so he was good to go). So this was the first opportunity for Emilia to meet him. (Sorry for the poor video - probably not enough light for the camera to focus properly.) She wasn't quite sure what to make of him (maybe he was too chill), but she later (off-camera) warmed up quite a bit and was even able to pronounce his name. She wants to help more than we can allow her so that gets frustrating for her. If she had her choice, she'd like to be able to carry him around. But for obvious reasons, we can't allow her to do that. The plus though is that I think she's going to be a big help down the road.



ps. It's way different having two babies at home - lots of juggling and shuffling.

The Name

Well, we've finally come up with the name for Baby 2:

Liam has an Irish origin, and means "unwavering protector" which we hope he will be for his "big" sister. Noboru was suggested by my Mom, and means "to rise or ascend" which, not only has a climbing connotation, but is hopefully how he will meet the challenges in his life.

We've also found out that little Liam may not be as mild-mannered as we thought he was going to be...