california pictures and movies update

Finally, a little time to update the world...so, we had a short getaway to San Jose, CA two weekends ago for a wedding..Dan was asked to be the officiant, which was really neat and an honor to be part of Tram and Tom's big day...it was a traditional Vietnamese wedding with a western twist--Dan as the minister..hahaha..we had a lot of fun and had tons of great food!
The other highlight, for me especially, I got to hang out with my childhood friend, Jessica Yang now Stone and her family. I think last time I saw her, Sofia was just one...and now she is four. It was really nice to catch up..i felt like we never lost touch and was able to just chat and chat..oh, and eat! Yummy Dim Sum, even though Charles says it wasn't the best. Dan and I can't imagine what good dim sum would be then...then, Jess and I ventured to the local bubble tea joint with taiwanese fried chicken...I was heaven..i mean, you get these stuff on the streets of taiwan and here I am having it melt in my mouth!

Isaac and Jed are both good travelers..Isaac slept on a queen size bed all by himself without falling off..and Jed is getting so much more interactive. At one point during the reception, Isaac scoped out a dance partner, ran straight to her and brought her to the dance floor, by himself. It was hilarious for Dan and I to watch! He was very persistent in asking "where's the girl?"
Isaac hit it off with Sofia and Sarah pretty well. They would watch a princess movies together, while Isaac keeps asking Sofia "what happened?" I miss good friends:(

Sleep PLEASE!!!

I don't know if I should pray for sleep for Isaac or Jed? I've started bottle feeding breastmilk on Jed during the day because I've notices that he tend to nibble less, which I am going to try for night time. He will almost always sleep 3-4 hours on the first nightly feeding waking up around 1am, but after that, its nursing for 40 min and then up again in an other hour an a half. He maybe going through a growth spurt..in two weeks he went from 8 lbs 40zs to 9 lbs 6 ozs., but I am finding that it's easier for him to eat from a bottle than nursing...so we'll see...as for the other sleeping situation...Isaac has been up every night since Jed got home, which has been hard for us. Last night, he was up at 1 am and I walked him back to his room at least 10 times before Dan went in to lay down with him. Needless to say, none of us got any sleep...where is the light at the end of the tunnel? I am tired!

2 weeks after birth....

Well, to say having two kids is easy is an UNDERSTATEMENT! Today marks two weeks since we had Jed....overall, I feel great physically surprisingly not horribly sleep deprived. The hardest part would have to be the emotional aspect of having two kids. I am incrediably overwhelmed with emotions when is comes to two kids. I've been struggling to feel adquate as mother. I know I will never be perfect, but by God's grace I am here for my kids. I've been struggling with feeling guilty not being able to spend as much time as I would like with Isaac. Its hard for me to see him struggle to adjust as well. He has been very nice to his brother, but has his moments of tantrums where you don't know where it comes from. He has not been sleeping the past week, waking up twice a night and basically wide awake at 4:30am. Last week, I basically cried every day just feeling sad that 1.) I can't pick Isaac up because of my c-section (no lifting for 6 weeks) when he askes me to "hold you." 2.) wondering how am I going to juggle two kids and be equal in love and attention 3.) amongst all these is adjusting to the new baby schedule. I think Dan and I forget what it was like to have a baby. We figured since we got Isaac all figured out this one should be easy.

All in all, God is faithful and He will not give us anything we can't handle. We've had so many friends and family coming in to help out as well as dinners made for us. We are just blessed in friendship, its amazing. Dan and I have learned greatly through the birth of our second child that there is enough love to go around, by human standard there are limitations, but by God's is never ending and unconditional. I have to give props to Dan for being a great husband and father. I've never known anyone so willing to jumping and help meanwhile, making sure I'm doing okay. Whats interesting is that our church focus this month in on family. Pastor had spoken about how as parents we forget that our first commitment other than God is our spouse and then our kids. This was also a good reminder for Dan and I to get back in the Lord together.

I will conclude with this....you will never be ready enough for kids, but God is here so that there are enough love, patience, kindness, and grace to go around....praise Him for that!
Jed has been sleeping 3-4 hours nightly. There are even times where I would only get up twice a night, so that has been nice...It's been two weeks and he is already getting bigger. At one week, he went from 8lbs 4 ozs to 8lbs 11 ozs. We'll see how he is doing at 2 weeks coming up Wed. Maureen is also coming out Wed. to help out, which will be nice. Thanks Mo!

The Labor Story

SO, here I am three days later...recounting my second labor experience for those who are interested....

Sunday afternoon on my due date, I was desperate to deliver this baby. I went out and got some castor oil. The cocktail of orange juice and castor oil wasn't as bad as what others have told me. I went ahead and called Estall wondering if I had done something wrong. She then told me I needed to drink a little more for the full effect. So, here I am chugging it down in like two shots. Within two hours, I was cramping and having liquid diarrhea. That subsided around 9:30pm with no regular contractions. At 12:10am, I woke up with really bad cramping, ran to the bathroom, no much going on there. So I thought I could just try to let it go and go back to bed. After about twenty minutes, I woke Dan up and told him, I really don't feel good. Dan said "no, you are not going to labor." So I laid back down and waited. No change, the contractions are getting worse and going to my back. Finally, we woke everybody up and left for Madigan.

When we got to L & D, I was only still 2 cm dilated with hard contractions the doctors were even considering letting me go home and walk and then come back, at least that was their plan until the baby's heart rate went down. Once that happened, I became a full admit. For the next 12 hours, Dan and I slept and waited for more dilation until about 11 AM we decided our best bet to augment the labor, which wasn't progressing was with Pitocin. I was a bit reluctant about starting because of what happened with Isaac last time and ending up with a c-section. But thank God, everything worked out okay. It helped dilate me up to 6 cm, but the baby was still at -3 station, which is way high up in my pelvis. In a last ditch effort, my doctor thought maybe we should try and rupture the membranes...well, within minutes of my water breaking, the heart rate when down for a third time. I had people coming in left and right and the doctor literally stuck his hand up my cervix to hold the baby up so that baby's head would be off the cord. It was at that time, I gave up on a VBAC and decided to go ahead with the c-section. As much as I wanted to be natural, I felt that my baby would be in more danger the longer I wait. So we went ahead and started on the c-section.

By the time we got to the OR, I already have had the epidural on board for over 10 hours and it had started to wear off. Everything was going great until they started sewing me up. For some reason, I felt more pain than anything. Not wanting more pain meds, I kept refusing. I was in so much pain, I even asked Dan to not talk me (sorry, honey). I was feeling every pull and stitch. I was screaming and swearing...at one point, I was holding on to the surgeons legs so tight, one doctor was like "Ms. Solverson can you put your arm back on the board." Finally, the surgery ended. Jed was healthy and I was put out for the final stitches. Thank God everything worked out. I was a bit bummed about not being able to do a VBAC, but I was reassured to know that the surgeons evaluated my pelvis during the operation and concluded that there was no way I was going to fit an 8-lb baby out of my pelvis. I'm just thankful I have a great doctor that listened and really cared about what was going on the whole way through.

Now, life with two kids..we'll see.....more to come...

Please help us welcome Jed

Jedidiah Daniel Yang Solverson
8 lbs 4 oz, 19 3/4 inches
24 Sept 2007, 1753

Almost 40 weeks and still pregnant

The anticipation of this baby is making me very impatient. I just had my 39th week appointment and once again not much change. The good thing is that the baby and I are healthy. But, I find myself wonder or even wake up in the middle of the night, wondering if I will ever deliver...???

Anyways..onward, Isaac has been what seems to be nightmares. Last night, he start crying really hard for no reason. I ran into his room and he was totally asleep, but still crying. Once, I put my hands on him, he woke up and stopped crying. I've heard that kids around the age of two starts to get nightmares. I am praying that God will keep him safe and clear his mind as he sleeps. Below are some pictures of Isaac "the reader". We got a lot of cool books from my shower at work and Isaac is enjoying every one of those books...

More updates of baby when he decides to come....

Passing 38 weeks

My 38 week appointment was uneventful other than my son begging to lay down on the exam table and riped half of my paper gown they gave me during the exam and this is while Dan is around to "help out." The doctor said i'm still about 1-2 cm dilated and somewhat effaced. I was so anxious about delivering, I haven't been able to sleep, which after seeing the doctor I gave up hope for an early arrival of the baby--thus slept like a baby last night!

My work gave me a baby shower after work on Wed. It was quite fun to watch my boss, one of the guys other than Dan, playing baby shower games. We had fresh home made veggie salsa, pasta salad, fresh pickled cucumbers and of course CAKE!

Well, until next time..i'll keep posting!

Baby shower

Thank you Stella for hosting my second baby shower at her lovely home. My MOPS mom, Nimae, Tram, Aunt Patty, and Joy were all able to be there. We had a great time eating, sharing, and trying to figure out what kind of poop is in the diaper aka candy bars. There are some of the highlights...as you can see, my stomach has also blossomed over the week at 38 weeks.

37 weeks

Here I am at 37 weeks...I know I am getting big. I actually feel pretty good, ever once a while I kinda wish I can arch my back a little to take some pressure off. Other than that, not much progress yet! Stay tuned!


On another note, we went to the zoo with Niebergalls, it was Enya's 2nd birthday. Her dad Michael had just finished the Canadian Iron Man the weekend before. Talk about a active family. Enya was kind to let Isaac sit in her stroller since we didn't bring our and constantly extending hugs and kisses to him. Isaac was a bit taken back, after all, he is usually the one that initiates.

36 week appt

So I went to my 36 week appointment...as of today, 1 cm dilated and no effacement:( so the doctor told me to come back in two weeks..we'll see. I am still feeling pretty good. Over the weekend, I had an episode of palpitation that lasted for 5 hours. I finally went to my work and got myself an EKG, which was normal. It was such a weird sensation..counting down.

Here it is at 35 weeks and two days....

I am feeling really good. I am still moving:) I went to IKEA for some organization stuff for the kiddies...but man, I tell ya, IKEA knows how to advertise. Everything I see there I wanted to buy. So here at am at 35 weeks hitting that final month.

Baby #2 Update

SO, here I am at 35 weeks, which I need to take a profile picture. I actually feel really good. I don't know if the baby dropped or not, but I am peeing like there is no tomorrow. I am up at least three times a night and my right sciatica seems to have gotten a lot better. I am still working out 3-4x a week. Hopefully, it'll pay off after I deliver and during delivery. I am contracting, but no on a regular basis. The uterus tightens and catches me off guard, because I would just be sitting there..and then the other interesting thing is that I've been having upset stomach. If anything, being pregnant would be a constipation that one would struggle with(okay TMI), but I have been having an upset stomach every day for the past three days. well, more to come...

It's a boy

21 weeks, healthy.

What should I eat?

To those of you pregnant out there, what should I eat? nothing makes me feel better. Sometime I would think I have a taste for something and then I would feel horrible afterwards. As many of you know that we are expecting our second child sometime in the early fall. Well, with this pregnancy I 've been a lot more nauseous and have already vomited three times. Tonight was probably the worse. We just had dinner and for some reason night time has been the worse for me. I never seem to be able to find the right food that would settle in my stomach. It doesn't help that I don't want to cook either. All I want is deli sandwiches and citrus juices. So we, Isaac, Dan and I, were sitting the living room playing the next thing I feel is a wave of nausea. As always, I assumed it was just going to be dry heave and will get better after I gag a little. Well, with the heave I had more coming than I thought. My hands were full of vomit as it drip down my shirt, pants, and the carpet as my 14th month old son watched in shock and Dan turning green and proceeded on gagging. Needless to say, I did feel much better afterwards. Overall, I'm adjusting well,but I can relate to those pregnant girlfriends of mine. The nausea is not fun and the fatigue seemed worse this time. I've been taking 1.5 hours of nap daily and if you know me, I NEVER TAKE NAPS NO MATTER HOW TIRED I AM. But now, here I am could barely open my eyes around 2pm. But all in all, we are excited for this baby and have started to prep Isaac with his new sibling.

Isaac has been a bundle of joy. He has been talking up a storm and voicing his opinion. He enjoys going ot the park and climb up the slide like a big boy. Today we took him to the zoo, and for the first time, he was able to focus on the animals and really have fun with it. He is such as sweet baby. After I vomited, he kept coming over to me looking upset. I could tell, he knew mommy didn't feel good.

Another in the oven

We saw the heart beat today so it's official. We're expecting a second child, due in September.

Coincidentally, Dan's twin brother is expecting as well, and, surprisingly, they share the exact same due date!

A Manny, not a Nanny

Lester visited us for about a week...it was nice to have a good old friend around and remembering the good old days. Isaac also especially enjoyed his new MANNY, yes, MANNY! He is the new type of nanny in town because he is a man! Surprisingly, he is really good with the baby and baby loves him as well. We really enjoyed our time together!