Category: Family and Friends
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One Hundred Days
This day marks an important milestone. One hundred days represents one hundred years, and the baby at one hundred days is blessed with a long life of a hundred years. Here, Daphney is in the walnut maple cradle that was recently completed.
Daphney: may your days be filled with blessings and joy, for all one hundred years.
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First Fathers’ Day
This is the most special Fathers’ Day, since it’s my first. Yan whips up this fantastic meal to celebrate the event. There is acorn squash soup, summer rolls, and clay pot rice with savory toppings. To finish this off, Yan presents mung bean shaved ice topped with a cherry.
I love Daphney’s bib: “My HEART belongs to Daddy.”
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Orthopaedics Party for Daphney
Yan and I give a big thank you to the orthopaedic department for organizing this beautiful baby shower for Daphney. The feast was nothing short of spectacular, as was the décor. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by friends.
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Yan’s Graduation
After years of work toward her doctorate, Yan’s graduation is here. Just months before, while we were on vacation in Sedona, Yan was fretting over completing her graduation requirements. The program mandates a certain number of publications, and Yan and I worked on a resubmission of her manuscript. It got accepted, and now, she is here at the finish line.
One of the highlights of this weekend was seeing my wife on stage at the baccalaureate service giving a testimony of her faith experience. Yan related her path to Loma Linda, growth through Bible study, relationships built, and most recently, the blessing of a newborn daughter.
All the medical students look spectacular at commencement. Yan is beaming. The weekend finishes off with a lunch by the pond with family and friends.
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Baby in Black and White
Some of these first month shots are better presented in black and white, where the shapes and contrasts speak for themselves. This album represents some of those photographs, where simplicity better portrays the bond between parent and child.
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Daphney’s First Month
This first month is about eating, feeding, and sleeping. In between those crucial activities, we had to squeeze in photo shoots. The curly baby poses are hard to get, and it was tricky to time this just right—right after feedings so that she’s sleepy enough. Then, there were times we had to dodge bodily functions. We weren’t always successful, but the pictures are worth getting dirty for. I always felt like time was running out, as each day brought new changes.
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First Anniversary
It’s been one year! We are so excited to be celebrating this first anniversary. We feel very blessed—to have each other and our newborn Daphney. According to what they told us, we saved the top of our wedding cake from the reception. Unsealing it brings back memories. It tastes familiar, and at the same time, the sponge cake portion and the mango tastes like the freezer. Regardless, this is still very special.
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Pregnancy Sequence
Starting at the eighth-week mark, we began to take pictures at regular intervals. We decided to do this every four weeks, and as it turned out, the timing was perfect—monthly at about the same time after church. Each month, I would add to the sequence. Daphney was born right at 39 weeks, so the week 40 shot gave us the perfect opportunity to feature mother and child.
We also took pregnancy pictures at beautiful places.
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Baby Daphney Arrives
It’s nearly 6:00 am Saturday morning. I am groggy, but I remember Yan getting up a few times during the night.
“You’re in the bathroom again?” I ask.
“I’m not sure, but there’s some water here.”
I jump out of bed, and after one glance, I grab our packed bags. We’re heading to the hospital. It is in this rush that Yan would find out that she forgot her ID.
We zoom off to the hospital, and at the Labor and Delivery unit, we are greeted by the unit secretary. She could be characterized like the sloths in Zootopia’s DMV; anyways, that’s how she seemed to us. We are assigned one of the rooms, but I ask for a different one—one that has better sunlight. The nurse accommodates my request.
After getting hooked up to monitors, the doctor examines Yan. She’s at 3 cm. There are some regular contractions, but she says they are not too bad. Several weeks ago, I had gone to the birthing class without Yan, since she was preparing for an exam; I took notes, and now is the right time to apply what I had learned. I place Yan on the birthing ball and coach her through breathing techniques. This carries on for quite some time, and the contractions are becoming more intense. Examinations show that the dilation is progressing well.
Yan wants music, and I put on some classical music. Then, she wants different music. I put on different music. Then, she wants different music still. I put on different music. Finally, it’s Secret Garden that works.
Soon, 1:00 pm rolls around. Contractions are becoming more frequent and intense. The breathing becomes more deliberate. Our doctor comes in and finds that Yan is now at 8 cm. It has only been about seven hours, and labor is progressing very well. In the birthing class I attended, the instructor suggested that we help by counting backwards from thirty once active labor starts; that way, there is at least a sense of going toward completion as the countdown approaches zero. We start that: 30, 29, 28, 27. Yan had initially decided against an epidural given the risks, but now, as things are becoming more unbearable, she asks for anesthesia. I stall a little bit before asking for help, thinking we might get a few more contractions underway. 26, 25. Our doctor calls for the anesthesia team. 24. The resident arrives. He asks Yan to sign the consent, which she does in a scribble. 23. He goes out to prepare the tray, and in the meantime, Yan feels like pushing. I tell our doctor that Yan is now pushing. 22. She rushes in, examines her, and cancels the epidural.
“We’re delivering now!” she tells the nurse.
All of a sudden, the bed breaks down into a delivery chair. I am busy taking pictures while helping Yan through the next two contractions. The doctor coaches her. The head crowns, with the next push, and after another two pushes, Daphney is out!
It’s 1:33 pm, and a miracle just happened. Yan is holding Daphney in her arms, and both mom and daughter look exhausted from what they had just gone through. Later, talking to Yan, that first moment of baby on the chest felt so important and special. I didn’t exactly feel the throb of that miracle until later in the newborn nursery while giving her the first hairwashing and cleaning.
The night and next day tested my endurance, as the nurses insisted on waking us up every three hours to breastfeed. But with the help of the lactation consultant, we experience success. The baby latches, and Yan eventually makes enough colostrum and milk. The persistence paid off.
With Daphney joining our family, we feel so blessed!
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Tests and Ultrasounds
Yan and I had discussed about starting a family, and after the last time with the negative test, we were ecstatic that one morning when we saw the + on the test stick. But it was the first ultrasound with the baby’s heartbeat that brought the most excitement. It became so real.
Each subsequent ultrasound brought more joy as we watched the baby develop. We had one scare in this whole process, where the nuchal translucency thickness was out of range; this turned out to be a false positive.
The 3-D ultrasound gave us a chance to debate who the baby looked like: dad or mom. Not surprisingly, I was most interested in counting all ten fingers and toes, along with seeing both radius and ulna formed well. Now, it is all about anticipation.
