Wireless

Since the day Baby Bunny was born, she was hooked up to wires and tubes.  Wires were there to monitor her heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen levels.  Tubes and IVs were there to deliver fluids and medicine of all sorts.  When we brought her home from the hospital, she came with a monitor that would sound off when it detected bradycardia (slow heart rates) or apnea (low breath rates), both are common in preemies.  The alarms were as loud as a smoke alarm, ear-piercing.  Once a month, the medical equipment company would have us download data from the monitor that has recorded all the activities.  Once a month, the pediatricians would get the results and inform us if we needed to continue the monitoring.  This past month, the darn thing kept going off, and I thought for sure we would be stuck with it for another month, through Thanksgiving and perhaps Christmas, too.  You see, the wires are attached to sticky pads that sometimes slide off or a felt belt that sometimes come loose.  The monitor would go off because it couldn't detect anything.  Well, by the title of the blog, you may have already guessed where I'm going with this.  When the pediatrician's office called this week and left a message for us to call back, I sure didn't expected them to tell me that there were no pathological episodes detected.  That same night, I gave Baby Bunny a bath and said good-bye to all the sticky pads and belts and wires!  For as much as it was annoying and an inconvenience to lug around even though it was small and light weight, we were able to sleep better at night knowing that we would be alerted if anything happened.  So, thank you modern technology!  By the way, for about a week now, Baby Bunny has been sleeping in her new dig, her crib.  She looks so tiny in it.

Thankfulness Friday, Part 2

1.  Veterans...  Today (November 11) is Veteran's Day.  I am thankful for all who served, especially those who served in the Pacific during WWII.
2.  Technology...  I don't have every fancy gadget ever made and certainly do not wait in line for the latest Apple product.  I do own an iPod and an iPad.  Both have been wonderful gadgets.  I've owned my iPod for over 5 years now.  I listen to Podcast sermons during my drive to and from work.  When I stay up late at night with Bun Bun, I use the iPad to pass the time and watch movies.  I am certainly grateful for computers, without them, I'm not sure what I'd be doing every day.
3.  Science...  I love to teach and think about science.  Best of all, I get paid to do both!
4.  DNA... the blueprint of life!  See #3 above.
5.  Employment...  See #3 and 4 above.
6.  Weekends...  Thank God it's Friday!  I look forward to naps in the afternoons and walks around the neighborhood with Bun Bun.
7.  Sleep...  Something so necessary yet basic is very much taken for granted when we do lose it every now and then.  I am grateful that Bun Bun has been sleeping through the night for a couple of months now.  In fact, I often have to wake her up in the morning for her first breakfast.  This morning, I realized another gift.  She falls asleep after that first breakfast, long enough for me to get ready for work.  About an hour later, I wake her up again before I head out the door when she gets her second breakfast from Grandma.

Thankfulness Friday, Part 1

This is the month of the Thanksgiving holiday celebrating the first harvest of the Pilgrims in the new America.  It usually means family gatherings to share a meal with turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, pies, etc.  Secondarily, people think about giving thanks and acknowledge the blessings they have received.  On Facebook, several of my friends have begun the 30 days of thanksgiving by listing one thing or people for which they are thankful each day.  I thought about doing that in my Blog but realized I probably won't be able to keep up with it.  So, I figure I'll do it once a week on Fridays and list 7 specific things and people for whom I am thankful.

1.  My savior, Christ Jesus
2.  My wonderful husband.  He keeps me entertained.
3.  Our precious gift, Bun Bun.  She makes everything worthwhile and will probably end up teaching me lot more than I am able to teach her.
4.  My mom who has been watching Bun Bun while I work during the day.  Plus, she makes delicious meals which helps us tremendously.  Her latest projects are making sleeping sacs for Bun Bun to keep her warm at night.
5.  My friends who send occasional notes of encouragement.
6.  My praying friends, many I probably don't even know or have never met, for praying us through the tough days.
7.  My work family.  I don't think I can find a better group of people to spend time away from my baby.

Cuddle

Safe and secure in Daddy's arms

Focus on the cute baby, ignore the grinning ogre.  Picture was taken by our friend Ilona... thanks for visiting us!

We're well into the fall season.  The leaves have changed colors and many have fallen.  It is getting cold!  Baby Bunny is nice and toasty warm though.  It's such a treat to cuddle up with her.

Yesterday, I heard a talk given by my colleague on global climate change due to human activity.  It was quite depressing.  The drastic weather patterns (severe thunderstorms and record snow falls) we've been experiencing have been primarily due to increase in temperature globally, perhaps better known as the green house effect.  We've been burning fossil fuel, releasing the CO2, but also cutting down the forests.  Trees complement us so well when they take up the CO2 and convert it to sugars and other organic matters.  Glacier ice in the Arctic have shrunken so significantly that it's scary.  Where we should all work together to salvage what we are able and reverse the trends, we've sadly made this really important issue very political.  Sure hope Baby Bunny will live in a world where we take better care of the resources given us.  In the mean time, we are preparing for another rough winter ahead.

Notice I'm wearing my Philadelphia Phillies sweatshirt. Another sad note...  The Phillies had the best season ever, winning 102 out of 162 total games this year.  They had the best winning record of all the baseball teams, too.  You think they would be playing in the World Series right now?  Nope!  They pathetically lost in the first round of playoffs.

I promise my next post will be more uplifting!

Live, Love, Smile!

Smile, Baby Bunny!

Huh?

Smile?  Like this?

This better?  Like my little dimple?

Baby Bunny has been smiling!  No giggles yet.  We're working on it!

By the way, at 3.5 months old, Baby Bunny has more than doubled her birth weight.  She now weighs about the same as a gallon of milk.  Yup!  We're getting a good workout picking her up and holding her.  Soon enough, we'll have to move her out of her bassinet and into a real crib, now all ready to go with bedding and lady bug mobile.  Don't grow up too fast, Baby Bunny!

Neglected!

Poor neglected Doggie!  Going anywhere with the baby takes a lot of planning ahead.  Before she arrived, our Sundays composed of going to church then to Mom's house for lunch.  That's when I get my fill of Doggie.  She gets a quick rub down and her teeth brushed.  We haven't been to church in about 3 months now.  I've seen Doggie here and there since we've been to Grandma's house several times, but sporadically.  Doggie and Bun Bun haven't officially met.  Hope they'll be the best of friends.

Grandma

There are pictures of Grandma back in 2006 when we visited Taiwan to celebrate the Chinese New Year.  The last time I saw her was just this past January.  She passed away a few days after Baby Bunny was born.  Grandma celebrated her 101st birthday in May.  Baby Bunny would never know her great grandmother.  But, they kind of have met.  I was barely 3 months pregnant when we visited in January.

Most of what I know about my grandmother are stories my mom told me.  She raised seven children, lived through the Japanese occupation & WWII, was grandmother to ten grandchildren and great-grandmother to two great-grandkids.  I got to spend one whole week with her in 1995 when I visited Taiwan after college graduation.  At that time, she still walked to the market and grocery store; I had a hard time keeping up with her!  She spoke the Cantonese dialect and had a thick Mandarin accent making her hard to understand sometimes.  That was a fun week nonetheless.

She is greatly missed.

Globe Trotting

One of my favorite preachers is Chuck Swindoll.  His sermons are broadcasted on radios and available on podcasts.  He loves to tell stories and jokes during his sermons.  One that I will always remember is his retelling of a Christmas gift he received when he was a child.  He had wanted and begged his parents for a basketball.  Come Christmas morning, he saw a round package under the tree.  When he unwrapped it, it wasn't a basketball but a world globe.

I thought of this story when we first learned that Baby Bunny has Down syndrome.  During the pregnancy, John and I talked about the hopes and dreams we have for our daughter.  She would rather be smart than pretty and a nerd just like her parents.

When I was pregnant, people always asked if the baby was a boy or girl.  Before we found out, we really didn't have a preference as long as the baby was healthy.  I thought then, well, even if the baby wasn't perfect, we would still take him or her home.  Perhaps I had a premonition that something maybe wrong.  After all, I am older, nearing the end of my child bearing years.  Children bore to older women have higher incidences of chromosomal abnormalities.

God gives perfect and good gifts.  Baby Bunny is none other.  We have no idea what her future will be like.  Down syndrome is exhibited differently in different individuals.  We are fortunate that our daughter does not have many of the physical ailments that often come with the diagnosis, like heart defects and gastrointestinal issues.  One of the biggest challenges is low muscle tone which makes daily physical activities difficult, even something as simple as sucking.  Baby Bunny actually has pretty good muscle tone.  The other biggest challenge is low mental capacity.  But, there are some Down syndrome individuals with fairly average IQ.  At this point, it's difficult to assess how Baby Bunny will do as she grows.  We're enjoying this wonderful gift God has given us for now and savor each moment.

Chuck Swindoll may have wanted a basketball, but his parents knew better how much more he needed the globe.

Over the river and through the woods...

There was a bad thunder storm the day Bun Bun came home from the hospital.  Thunder storms have increased in frequency and severity recently, most likely an effect of global climate change.  This summer, we've gotten most of our rain water from thunder storms.  We live in an area with lots of very tall trees and power lines, not so good mixed with heavy down pours and gusty winds.  So, soon after we got our daughter settled at home, the power went out!  If the power went out today, we would have just winged it.  That day, being on our own for the first time, without the help of NICU nurses, we started to panic very quickly.  The last time power went out after a thunder storm, it didn't come back on for 4 days!  No more time to lose, we packed up our preemie, grabbed the essentials, and literally over the river and through the woods, we all spent the night at Grandma's house.  In lieu of a crib, Baby Bunny slept in a cardboard box lined with a heavy wool blanket.  She was a trooper!

Picture of Baby Bunny at 10 weeks.  She's starting to react to faces and sounds more and more.

NICU

Olivia stayed in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for the first 25 days of her life.  By the way, we rarely call her Olivia.  So far, she's been Baby Bunny, Bun Bun, and Little Monkey plus a bunch of other nick names in Chinese.  Born on a Thursday, she didn't have a name until Sunday.  John and I couldn't settle on a name for a long time.  We had a list, but I didn't want to pick one until I had met her.  I was to be discharged from the hospital 5 days after delivery and go home without the baby.  We had to name her and fill out paperwork before we left.  So, she was officially dubbed Olivia Anne.  Olivia was one name on our list.  Anne Shirley is one of my favorite literary characters-Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables-Anne, with an "e"!

It was hard having to wait to bring her home.  The NICU nursing staff was fantastic and so supportive.  They pretty much taught us everything we needed to know about babies and particularly preemies.  For ten days, Olivia lived in an incubator.  For seven of those, she underwent phototherapy to bring down her bilirubin levels.  It was almost like tanning under the blue light.  The nurses would put shields over her eyes which she would promptly rip off.  They fed her intravenously until she was able to take in a few drops of breast milk by mouth.  It was a good day when she was moved out of the incubator and into an open crib where we could see her, touch her, kiss her, and change her diapers!  Oh, how tiny were those preemie diapers!  We visited her everyday and tried to hit the hours when we could feed her.  Preemies are very sleepy little creatures.  Technically, they should still be growing in the womb, not quite ready to eat on their own, maintain they own body temperature, and even breathe on their own.  Some days Olivia would sleep through our visit, and it was heart-breaking to watch breast milk being pumped down an NG (nasogastric) tube.  It's heart-breaking, because for her to come home, she needed to take in ALL of her nutrients by mouth.  On the visits when she was alert, her huge eyes darted around the room.  The nurses had nick named her the Mrs. Kravitz of the NICU.  Mrs. Kravitz was a character on an old TV show, Bewitched; she was an extremely nosy lady who would sometimes peer through the her neighbor's windows.  I guess Olivia liked to know what's happening around her.  Day by day, she learned how to coordinate suck, swallow, and breathe.  Day by day, she would gain a little more weight.  On August 1st, we brought her home.  Even then, she wasn't suppose to be born yet for another 12 days.

God is good, and He is sovereign!  The chromosome test confirmed the Down syndrome.  Reality has sunken in, but by that point, we were smitten by our little girl.  Everyone we talked to and confided in were very encouraging.  We immediately got the ball rolling in seeking help and resources for Olivia.  In this day and age, there are tons; a lot more is known.  What a blessing to be living close the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, one of the best hospitals for kids in the world; we got on the wait list for the Trisomy 21 Program.  We signed up for Early Intervention that provides infants with physical, occupational, speech therapies.  God is good, and He is sovereign!  The adventure begins!