Browse Author: beakatude

I’m a Mommy.

Just the other night, I was watching Modern Family and was having a good time just chillin’ and laughing. Then I had a weird moment. I looked down to find my baby girl in my arms sleeping like a little angel and my first thought was, “Whoa, I have a baby.” For a fleeting moment, I had forgotten that I went through the whole childbirth process and that I’ve had a little human relying on me for the past 3 weeks.

Despite the lack of sleep and complete change in my daily routine, this has been a fun adventure so far.  I’ve met some pretty cute babies in my life but I have to say that I’ve got the cutest one yet.  It’s hard not to stare at her when she’s sleeping and I can’t help gush over her when she’s being super animated.  Her farts make me laugh and I really don’t mind using my own pinkie nail to pick out a booger that’s been bugging her.  It’s true when people say, “It’ll be different when it’s your own baby.”  The crying and poopy diapers are all just part of the adventure and they don’t last forever.  The smiles, sneaky looks, and squeaks make it all worth it.

Sometimes I still can’t believe I’m a Mommy and I’ll never forget the simultaneous feeling of shock, joy, and fear the moment the nurses plopped Kumquat on my chest.  At that point, life would never be the same again.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms and moms-to-be out there!!

Go Team Go

This year, our team from the hospital played in the annual wheelchair basketball tournament once again.  It’s our 4th year participating but I didn’t get to play this time around for obvious reasons.  I did, however, stop by to cheer for the team and to see my friends.

It was nice to be out and Kumquat did rather well on her extended outing today.  She slept in the stroller for a bit, got passed around to the girls, and even napped in my infant carrier without a lot of fuss.  She even sat through Bay Bridge traffic on the way home like a trooper.

By the end of the tournament, I heard that our team went to the semi-finals again and one of our guys received the Best Sportsmanship award.  Yay!

Sunshine and Fresh Air

This past week in SF was unusually warm and sunny.  On Friday, my mom and I took a walk with Kumquat in the stroller to Gott’s, which is where we met up with Jes for lunch.  On the walk over and back, I enjoyed just being in the sun without my hoodie on for once.  It almost felt like being in LA again.  We also walked at a pretty brisk pace, which felt pretty good too.  When can I start running again?!

Guilty

It’s been two and a half weeks since we’ve been home from the hospital and I was starting to run out of everyday things: conditioner, saline, vitamins, etc.  We were also low on diapers last night so I decided that I was going to take a trip to Target with my mom and the baby.

For those of you who believe that I should keep the baby at home for at least a month, I’m sorry.  I’m guilty for breaking that rule since last week and went even further by taking her into two more public places today. It was just something I needed to do.  I don’t think I’ve ever spent this much time indoors and in my own home since I had the chicken pox as a kid.

First stop was Target.  The car seat fit right into the main compartment of the shopping cart and we kept her covered for most of the shopping trip.  She slept from the moment we put her in the car seat and napped throughout. It was also nice to be there at 10 am on a Wednesday so that the number of grubby preschoolers in the store was kept to a minimum.

She only woke up only briefly as I moved her back into the car and headed to our next stop: 99 Ranch Market.  Ew, right?  Yeah, I get a little grossed out by just their shopping carts but we managed to mount the car seat onto the cart, cover her with a thin blanket, and shop for groceries without having to lay a finger on her.  In fact, I didn’t have to touch her until I got her back into the house and washed my hands first.  Germ exposure minimized!  Yes, she was a bucket baby for 2 hours and I’m sounding like a germaphobe mom in this post but it’s what I’ll have to do for now until she’s gotten at least a couple vaccinations.  I’m all for the 5-second rule when she’s a little older and stronger but we don’t need a sick 2-week-old baby at this point in time.

Early Training

Kumquat may be too young to fetch Daddy’s beer from the fridge but she’s already helping with getting it home from the grocery store.

The actual reason I bought beer for Jes today was because he helped me out last night when I wasn’t feeling my best.  All day yesterday I wasn’t feeling like my usual self.  I was lethargic, achey, and had a headache all day.  By the evening, I was ready to fall asleep around 8:30 and had the craziest chills.  At midnight when the baby woke up crying and needed to be fed, I was burning hot all over and my legs were stiff and sore.  After feeding Kumquat, I took some Tylenol and Jes helped soothe her back to sleep while I passed out instantly.  At 2:30 am, it was time for another feeding and I woke up sweaty all over.  Unfortunately, Kumquat was not in the mood to go back to sleep so Jes got up again to hang out with her until she was ready. I think it took about a half hour by the time she went back to sleep.  By the morning, I had gotten up a couple more times to feed and was feeling progressively better but still exhausted so I slept in until 10:00 am while Jes got up to do the diaper changes, etc.  Once I was up and showered, I felt like a new person.  I was ready to go outside and the first stop was Safeway…to buy my husband a 12-pack of beer. 🙂

Family Time

We had a lot of family time this weekend. It was a very warm 78 degrees this weekend in SF and perfect for having visitors.

Brother, Joy, and my dad were here for a long weekend since Thursday.  We spent a lot of time just hanging out together in our usual way…eating, napping, and making fun of each other. The dog also seemed to enjoy the company.

It’s just too bad that I’ve become the boring sister that can’t leave the house for longer than 2 hours at a time.  They still managed to make their way around the city and Oakland and they even brought back some cookies for me from Bakesale Betty.

Jes’ parents drove up late on Friday and came over on Saturday to visit their granddaughter and to also bring me a special ginger soup containing pork knuckle, lots of vinegar, and of course ginger.  It’s supposed to help me with my postpartum recovery and they were very eager for me to have some this week.  Jes’ mom had never made it before and it wasn’t bad.  It was just VERY rich since it was half collagen from the bone marrow that had cooked off.

We also had a visit from my cousin Ishya, Billy, her twins, and my uncle and aunt as well.  The house was filled with babies and I had a fun time catching up with everyone.  Joy also got a lesson on feeding a distracted 5-month-old.

I attempted to take a photo of Kumquat and the twins together but of course I have a child that will sleep through anything.  Look at her…fast asleep without a care in the world despite 7 adults making noises and faces to get their attention.