Introducing Juliet Fern (including her birth story)!

Sooooooo a lot has happened since I last posted. We are now a family of 4, complete with a perfect set of boy and girl offspring. Juliet Fern was born on July 21 at 2:06 AM, weighing 5 lbs 14 oz and measuring 18.9 inches. According to my Thai due date (based on last menstrual period) I was 39 weeks, 2 days. According to my US due date based on my 10 week measurement scan, baby girl was actually born on her due date. So, somewhere between 39-40 weeks. 

Here's how it went down: Last Thursday I moved down to a serviced apartment near Bumrungrad Hospital. Our house is located 12 miles north of Bangkok and depending on traffic (which is notoriously terrible here), it can take a long time to get to the hospital. Add in the fact that after hours we'd have to get our driver to come to our house to pick us up, I was anxious that once labor got started, I'd be stuck in a car for 1.5+ hours and possibly end up delivering on the side of the road. 

Soooo game plan was that after my 39 week appointment, I'd move downtown and Forest and Jonathan would join me on Friday. 

A rare night to myself! Girly TV and Chamomile Tea. 

39 week bump

Our driver brought Forest to me Friday morning and we had a great last day together, just the two of us. We hung out at the grand opening at Bambini Villa (a little shopping center/playground that caters to toddlers/preschoolers). 

soaking in sweet time with Forest before baby

My parents were set to arrive on Saturday morning, which they did with a pretty smooth journey (as smooth as a 25 hour journey can go, at least). 

We took them to The Grand Palace but when I got there it was very hot and very crowded and I just felt very pregnant. When they told us the boys would have to rent pants and long sleeves we decided to nix those plans and just go to lunch. 

That afternoon those of us jet lagging and growing babies took naps while Jonathan took Forest to the hotel pool. That night we had plans to go to our hotel's rooftop restaurant, Above 11. 

Nana didn't make it as she was too exhausted but we had a nice 'Peruvian Japanese' meal. I just think that's hilariously random. Peruvian Japanese? What does that even mean? IDK but we enjoyed our Pisco Sours and Sushi. 

We left the restaurant around 7:30, put Forest to bed and tucked ourselves in around 8:30. I was having back cramps and contractions, but I mentioned I'd been having prodromal labor for weeks so I'd learned to just ignore these rather benign labor signs. But then I felt a little pop inside and then started to gush some fluid. I hopped up in a nanosecond, said 'I think my water just broke!' which got Jonathan also up in a nanosecond. 

Sure enough I continued to gush out some fluid and then the contractions started...The real contractions. And they were intense and very close together. We called my dad who came up to our room to stay with Forest while we frantically gathered last minute hospital bag items and Jonathan went down to get a cab lined up. The cab ride took about 2 minutes. I was so grateful we were downtown! (Though I was secretly hoping our cab would be a TukTuk just so I could say I was in labor in a TukTuk). 

I was instructed that if I went into labor at night, to go first to the emergency room. They got me in right away and put me in a bed next to a guy with a foot infection. Very sanitary! They hooked me up to a monitor, saw my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and topping the scales. They did a cervical check and I was.... 2 cm. Womp Womp. But since my contractions were clearly so strong and close, they went ahead and admitted me to labor and delivery. They put me in a monitoring room where another nurse confirmed I was 2 cm. She also said she didn't think my water broke. Even though there was a literal puddle on the floor in the room and I had filled up a menstrual pad with fluid. 

IDK, maybe I was just leaking and it didn't completely break.  Or maybe there was a language barrier. The whole experience of delivering in Thailand was top notch but the language barrier was a definite annoyance after a while (my fault for not knowing Thai). 

Bottom line is contractions at 2 cm. Topping the charts and 2-3 minutes apart. 

They went ahead and called my doctor to come in. The nurse said to try to wait until 4-5 cm for the epidural but I could have it anytime I wanted. Like, say the word and I would have it within 20 minutes. I was feeling like a weenie for wanting it already, but decided to tough it out until 4 cm. They came to check me 2 hours later (2.5 hours from my water breaking) and I was a 3. It was very discouraging, but I labored on. 

After 30 more minutes I asked for the epidural and I was 4. Yay! And this is where things went south. For some reason the epidural took FOREVER to insert. So I was hunched in a ball for 15 minutes, instructed to stay completely still, all while having minute-long contractions every 3 minutes. It was tough. But the toughest part was everyone speaking Thai in hurried voices and me not having any idea what was going on. 

They eventually got everything set up, and I instantly started shaking uncontrollably and breaking out in a cold sweat and was miserably nauseated. I'd rather be a 10 on the pain scale than puke my guts up so I was feeling like I'd made a bad trade. 

I asked for a cold rag and they just stared at me blankly having no idea what I was asking for. Finally Jon got my point across and they gave me a cool rag and put anti-nausea meds in my IV. They also gave me something to stop the shaking, but that made me itchy all over. So that took some time to figure out. But then I had sweet relief for about 45 minutes (4 hours after water breaking). 

Then suddenly I start feeling contractions again, hard core. I told Jonathan who called the nurses, doctor and anesthesiologist in. I was numb on the outside but completely feeling everything internally. At this point I was 8 cm and the contractions were almost continuous. The anesthesiologist tried to get me some relief but from there I went from 8-10 in a heartbeat. My doctor asked me if I wanted to push to which I retorted: 'You're the doctor. Is it time to push?' She said yes and said 'take deep breaths between contractions' to which I retorted 'There doesn't feel like a break. It's like one continuous contraction.' She laughed. Ha. But I was able to catch a breath in the 10 seconds of relief between contractions, and for the next 10 minutes or so I pushed with all my might. I just wanted the constant excruciating pain to end! 

I could feel the baby moving out, but luckily that part of me was numb so I didn't feel any tearing or pain in my nether regions. It was such a relief to birth her and I have to say, I feel like there was more of an emotional bonding right away versus with Forest where I was completely numb from a spinal block. 

Never is a woman more photogenic than 60 seconds after giving birth. My doctor was stitching me up during this photo. LOL!

Water breaking to delivery was right at 5 hours. Timing couldn't have been better with my parents arriving in the knick of time, water breaking at a low traffic time and us being just a short cab ride away from the hospital. I'm so glad we were next to the hospital and our stay downtown was only a few days! 

Juliet remained alert and awake for several hours after the birth. It was tough to not get any sleep the night before and then have her be so wide awake, but Forest was the same so I was prepared for it and running on adrenaline. 

Around 7 am I got her to doze off for a nap and ever since she's gotten the hang of the sleep thing. 

I'm knocking on all the wood and trying not to talk about fight club, but the nurses at the hospital nicknamed her 'sleepy girl' (versus Forest who the nurses could hear bellowing from down the hall). 

The recovery process was so much different than what I experienced in Scotland. It was like comparing a hostel to the Ritz. Instead of getting to know my new baby and trying to nurse in a room with 5 other women in the same situation, I had a private suite with a large bathroom, kitchenette, and a twin sofa/bed for guests to lounge on. And there were no archaic visiting hours. 

My mom showed up at 4 am the morning of her birth to relieve Jonathan so he could dash back to the hotel for some rest (another perk of having a hotel room near the hospital!). 

Resting at the hospital was tough during the day because I felt like there were constant interruptions for me and Juliet, but nighttime was actually fine. Again, girl likes her sleep so we are getting along just fine. 

Unfortunately, she's not as crazy about eating and with her low birth weight we have to really try to get her to take bigger feedings. 

But nursing is like a tranquilizer dart for her. She'll be bright eyed and ready to rumble but as soon as she starts nursing her eyes flutter closed and she's out cold within minutes. 

This has caused a poor latch and some breast feeding issues for momma.  A week later we are making some better progress. She's putting on a little weight (still a loss overall from birth weight, about 5 lb 6 oz as of Saturday). 

She needed up being readmitted to the hospital for jaundice on Friday, but that's another cultural sort of post for another day... I hope that sometime in the next week I'll get around to blogging about her first week, her hospital stint and her name story. Stay tuned!  

Baby Shipment Hiccups

Whoa Lordy we had some dramatics getting our baby shipment packed up and sent to Bangkok! So to review, Jon's company pays for your to have a 500 lb shipment sent from your home country to your country of residence if you deliver a baby internationally. This is a great benefit, but a little stressful since you're mostly shopping online and having to have someone in the states organizing everything for you (thanks mom and dad!). 

So we did the best we could, and when the packers showed up at my parent's house at noon (midnight Bangkok time) they told them they were there to pack up an air shipment that had to fit in a tiny box and therefore only about 1/3 of what we purchased would be coming our way. That lead to lots of phone calls (in the middle of the night our time) trying to disprove that statement (which we eventually did) and they ended up packing everything except a rug that they said was too big (which again, the shipment was based on weight, not size, but whatevs- small potatoes compared to when they told us they could only pack up a fraction of the items). 

So they packed it all up and told us they'd put it on a sea freight and we could expect it in 6-8 weeks, just around the time I was reaching full term of my pregnancy. Flash forward 4 weeks and Jonathan hasn't received a single update despite repeated attempts to get a tracking idea of when to expect the shipment. Finally the packing company emailed him to let him know that our shipment didn't exactly make it on the barge. Oops. It was still sitting on a dock in LA. And yea, wouldn't make it until mid-August (baby due July 26 for those keeping track). 

So I have a panic attack and once again do all the mental gymnastics of 'what do I absolutely need for a newborn that I don't have and where can I find it Bangkok?'. Luckily that day I was already planning to go to the Bangkok Baby Expo where I was able to get some swaddle blankets, a small manual breast pump, a wrap carrier, and a few bottles and Pacis (all repeats of things I had already purchased in my shipment). 

While I got anxious, Jon got mad. We were banking on that shipment, had invested a lot of time and money into it, and there needed to be some sort of reparation for that. So he did his Type A leadership thing and somehow got them to agree to pull the shipment off the docks, and send it via air. Deep exhale out. A few more weeks went by with no info. Jonathan tried contacting them. Crickets. Turned out one of the 3 air shipment boxes made it to Bangkok but 2 of them were stuck somewhere in Europe. It happens... 

Anyhoos, alls well that ends well because about a week and a half later our baby shipment arrived! We've been nesting hard for the past 2 weeks and feel much more prepared for baby's imminent arrival. 

The Labor That Cried Wolf

I was 36.5 weeks pregnant the first time contractions woke me up in the middle of the night. They seemed pretty close together so I timed them for 2 hours and sure enough, they were averaging about a minute in duration, about 3 minutes apart. 

They weren't especially painful, just tight and crampy and uncomfortable. The rule is usually 4-1-1 for going to the hospital (contractions 4 minutes apart, 1 minute in duration, for an hour or more) so I was in this territory but, like I said, I wasn't writhing in pain or anything. I decided to try to sleep it off and if it was the real deal, I'd know it. Also, Jonathan was out of town, and I'd have had to have woken up our driver and scrambled to find childcare for Forest at 3 AM so I wanted to be reeeaaallly sure before I got all of those moving parts involved. 

Spoiler alert, eventually I fell asleep and the contractions abated, though I continued to feel them for much of the next day. 

I had an appointment that week which involved an NST (non stress test) to track baby's heart rate and movement since she was measuring small. During the test, it was clear I was having frequent contractions so they checked my cervix and found NADA. 

Bottom line is contractions. 

10 days later at my NST, same story. "Um, are you in pain? You are having strong contractions 2 minutes apart." "Yes I'm aware and no I am not in pain. Just uncomfortable, tired and confused because this keeps on happening." 

They called my doctor who came down to check me and once again, NADA happening in the cervical dilation department. So its likely what's called prodromal labor which is when your body basically starts labor and then stalls out because your contractions aren't actually progressing you. It can happen for hours, days, or weeks before active labor begins.  I'm currently in the 'weeks' category.  It's thought maybe to occur if baby's position isn't quite optimal and the contractions are trying to move them to a more favorable birthing station. 

I'm just lucky that it's not super uncomfortable because I know some women experience a lot of pain in prodromal labor. There are occasional contractions where I kind of have to wince and breathe through it, but for the most part its just like intense menstrual cramps. 

The worst part is how mentally draining it is. We live in Bangkok which has atrocious traffic. Even though we are only 12 miles or so from the hospital, it can take anywhere for 1-1.75 hours to get there. Jonathan's company doesn't allow us to drive so we have to have a driver to take us to the hospital. We have a live in nanny during the week so childcare is covered but she lives out on the weekends so she's basically just on call for emergencies (which this of course classifies as but I want to be sure before I call her in!). 

So every time this happens, my mind starts doing mental gymnastics of 'should I start making phone calls and getting my bases covered or are these contractions just going to stop in 3 hours and not lead anywhere?' Ideally, I'd like to be in the hospital in time to get an epidural but mainly I want to get to the hospital in time to have a baby and not deliver in the back of an SUV in Bangkok traffic with our driver in the car. That's basically the gist of my birth plan: *GIVE BIRTH IN THE HOSPITAL*. 

So we're considering moving this week to a hotel near Bumrungrad Hospital so that at least eliminates the possible hour + in the car once things get rolling for real. But we still need to have a plan for someone to watch Forest so that may involve putting our driver or nanny up in a hotel nearby as well (sometimes I fantasize about how simple life would be if I lived 15 minutes from an amazing hospital, say in The Woodlands, TX or something, and had my parents on call for Forest just a mile down the road....).

My parents show up in Bangkok on Saturday (I'll be 39+1) so I'm just really hoping that baby girl holds off until then since they can stay downtown with us and keep Forest when the time comes. But at the same time, I'm mentally and physically drained from all these contractions. I know having a newborn will be 10 xs worse, but the discomfort I am feeling sure makes me feel naive enough to say 'I'm ready go ahead and do this thing!' 

Under the Thaiscun Sun

One major bummer about baby girl's end of July due date was that my plane travel was halted just as Forest was getting out of school in early June. Luckily, we had two sets of friends offer to fly to us and we even planned a last hurrah road trip with one of the couples up to the Khoa Yai national park area. My friend Natalie was looking for a good golf resort to commemorate her hubby's birthday, and I had heard of this bizarre little place called Toscana Valley 2.5 hours north of Bangkok that supposedly instantly transported you from Thailand to Tuscany. 

I was intrigued and felt comfortable with the proximity to Bangkok in my 35th week of pregnancy, so we hatched a plan for our first road trip in Thailand. 

didn't make it out of the neighborhood without stopping at Starbucks 

Typical Thai rest stop. BYOTP (Bring your own toilet paper)

Since our family, plus Natalie and Matt and their two kiddos couldn't all fit in one vehicle (especially when you factor in the fact that we have a driver) we hired and extra car and driver to follow our car up there. This was fairly inexpensive. Like $120 bucks round trip (and he was driving there and back each leg while our driver stayed nearby for baby emergency purposes). 

We didn't have many plans for our two night stay. The husbands were going to golf on our first morning, and we were expecting cooler temps in which to enjoy the many resort pools and amazing 'adventure playground' with the 3 boys (5, 5, 2.5). 

While we did enjoy the resort amenities, the temperatures were not cooler! When I plugged in Khoa Yai into my weather app, it must have sent readings from the top of the highest mountain peak, because where we were located was in the 90s and pure sunshine. 

Oh well. We're used to it. 

I will say the resort was beautiful. And if you could ignore the scorching temps and mosquitoes, it did look just like the Tuscan countryside. Very picturesque with lots of cute photo ops. 

The gelato and pizza weren't quite up to snuff but we enjoyed our fair share anyway! 

The pools were gorgeous and Forest especially loved the playground and racing with his friends down the cobblestone streets. 

Trips like this make me slightly sad he doesn't have a twin brother. Eli and Forest had a blast together, and almost-3-year-old year old Ethan is getting to an age where he's pretty fun for the older boys to hang out with as well. I was just excited that Forest had someone besides me with which to converse about Octonauts and LEGO for hooooours. 

One funny cultural observation was at the adventure playground there was a sign saying the playground was only for the 10 and over. 

Now, while I admit it wasn't suitable for toddlers and Ethan needed occasional parental assistance, the 5 year olds were entirely capable of doing everything independently and safely. Also, I don't know a ton of over 10 year olds hanging out at playgrounds. But Thais are inconsistently concerned about safety. Playgrounds here have SO many rules. But a baby riding on a motorcycle without a helmet? We'll allow it! 

Anyhoos, the second day we were there, we took the boys to play for a bit and there were a ton of young teenagers actually playing on the playground. So perhaps it's just American kids who lose their playground love once they enter the tween years... 

(Clearly a certain 34 year old enjoyed his time on the playground with the kiddos.)

After a bit of playground time and a gelato break, we loaded into our cars for the drive back to Bangkok. Since we live on the northern side of Bangkok and Khoa Yai is also north of the city, it was a seriously easy drive. No traffic and smooth sailing the entire way. We will definitely go back, maybe when my parents come later this month. It would be a good first little experimental travel outing with the baby. 

Jonathan said it was once of the nicest golf courses he's ever played. And he's lived in Scotland and Northern California, so I'd say that's high praise! 

We were sad to send our friends back to Singapore after a great weekend, but love knowing the are just a quick flight away. Visiting them will be one of our first excursions once baby girl has her passport, visa, and vaccinations. #expatbabyproblems 

The next weekend, our friends from Chiang Mai came for a short visit (Forest was slightly disappointed that they came without their cat but his excitement quickly overshadowed that). 

I felt so bad because by this time I'd started having prodromal labor (more on that in the next post) and was just exhausted and not wanting to be out and about all day. George came on Friday so we just took him to Sweet Poppy for brunch and then he and Jonathan went to run errands and go to the driving range. Just giving them a glimpse of that exciting Bangkok life! 

George and Jonathan played golf the next morning before picking Heather up from the airport and the 3 of them headed for a fancy adults only lunch experience at Issaya Siam House. 

We actually had other friends in town house hunting for their upcoming move to Bangkok so Forest and I met up with them at a more kid friendly establishment. Since we all had a long day and huge lunches, we just Netflix, leftovers and chilled that night. Heather had flown straight to Bangkok from Myanmar (where Jonathan technically works) so there was lots of discussion about Burmese culture and food which lead to the boys donning their Longyis and drinking whisky while watching Anthony Bourdain's Myanmar Parts Unknown special. 

Anybody else's coffee table eternally covered in LEGOs? 

Again, just trying to show them how exciting Bangkok can be. Ha! 

We loved having quality time with them, even if I didn't have much energy to tour them around town. And Forest seriously loves them! I'm sure I've mentioned it before but Forest is about the most sensitive kid I've ever met. He warms up to some people right away and others he flat out refuses to speak to. Personally, I think he gravitates to the energy of certain people. He's like a puppy and needs people, especially grown ups, to be what Cesar Milan would call 'calm-assertive'. 

Well George and Heather instantly wormed their way into his heart and he bonded with them immediately. My heart just about broke when he actually cried big ole teardrops when they left for the airport. Not like a tantrum. Like pitiful, silent, tears streaming down his face. 

I agree, dude. They are good people and it was good for all of our souls to get to hang out with them for a few days. Next set of visitors: my parents!!! Arriving this weekend! EEEEEEEKKKKK! Who'll get here first- Baby Girl or her Nana and Pops??? Stay tuned to find out!