What happened next...

I just realised that I've been switching my date formats from UK-style to US-style. Oh dear... Don't like inconsistencies! :) Can't believe I didn't catch it. Must've been really tired...

So on Thursday, 31 Jan Juhee started coughing. I didn't think much of it at first but then in the evening she started running a fever. Then around midnight she vomited too. Not just a bit of her normal spit-up but projectile vomiting. Peter and I had been reviewing the notes from our classes on 'when to call the doctor' and referring to the baby books we have too. Her fever went past the 100.5 Fahrenheit mark which is one of the 'call immediately' signs to look out for as well as the projectile vomiting so we called the medical hotline number. The nurse I spoke to went thru a few things with us and felt that she had to wake-up the doctor. We were told to take her to the bathroom and stay with her in there for about 30 minutes with the shower running hot water to help with her congestion & breathing (we didn't have a humidifier or vaporiser), to keep an eye out on her for signs of her breathing becoming more difficult, watch for more vomiting, to try have her sleep with her body tilted upright, and to come in to the doc's 1st thing next morning. Well, needless to say, Peter and I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night. We took turns watching over her...

We went in at 8:30am on Friday, 1 Feb and after listening to her lungs and seeing how congested she was, our paediatrician sent us to have her lungs x-rayed and blood tested. We were on our way home when our doc called to say that she had pneumonia and needed to be admitted right away as it can be fatal in babies under 6 months. She said she had already called the hospital and booked a room for us. She said we'd be there for at least 48 hours. So we continued on our way home to pack some stuff and feed her, and then went to the hospital.

The person admitting us was the same admin person who took my details when I was in ER the previous Friday. We recognised each other and joked about how Peter & I liked the place so much we kept on coming back... 2 days in Dec, 1 day in Jan, at least another 2 days in Feb... Our Juhee had spent more days at Good Sam Hospital than at our Sunnyvale home (as we lived at mum's in Almaden for the 1st few weeks of her life)!

When we got there the doctor in charge was pretty sure it was viral and not bacterial pneumonia due to the way she was coughing but they had to make sure as the treatment's very different so she had more x-rays taken, more blood tests... Her heels were poked and squeezed so often that day... They had to take blood from a vein in her arm too but because they're so small and chubby they had a hard time finding it. They kept on pulling the long needle out and putting it back in again and again and again. She was screaming!!! It was very very painful to watch... When it was time for them to put an iv needle in her other arm they took her away to do it... I'm glad they did 'cause I don't think I wud've been able to keep my tears back with that one. I could hear her screaming down the corridor and that was hard enough! The x-rays and blood test results confirmed that she had RSV viral bronchial-pneumonia and that it wasn't bacterial.

The reason why pneumonia can be fatal in babies so young is because they breathe only through their noses at this age so if it gets congested and they start having trouble breathing, then... I found out later on that with the bacterial kind babies are administered antibiotics every four hours. Sooooooo glad we didn't have to go thru that!

She was responding to the treatment & medication well, not eating a whole lot but enough for the doc to be satisfied that she didn't need to be put on iv (they stuck the needle in as a 'just in case' measure). Everyone thought we'd be good to go home after the minimum 48 hours but on Sunday morning her oxygen count started dropping (she was being constantly monitored via a machine connected to her heel which measured her red blood cell levels) so she had to be put on oxygen support. It was so painful to see her struggling to breathe... The small round plaster they used on either cheek to keep the oxygen tubes in her nose were irritating her too. Having a line from the wall to her face and then another line from her heel to a machine near the wall made maneuvering a bit difficult too.

The treatment consisted of suctioning of mostly her nose (and occasionally throat for phlegm), patting her back & chest areas to loosen phlegm, and medication given to her via a nebuliser. This happened every 4-6 hours for approx 20 minutes each time, the doc in charge came to examine her once a day, she had full stats taken (blood pressure, temperature, weight, etc) once a day, nurses & respiratory therapists came to adjust her oxygen levels as and when needed plus other stuff going on so with all that happening she didn't get a whole lot of sleep which probably didn't help her recovery. Needless to say, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep either...

Peter came and stayed when he could (even stayed the night) and mum dropped by almost everyday too to give me a break and bring me some home-made food too. Dad was visiting from Korea and so he came to visit when he could too. One day mum told Peter & I to go out and get some fresh air while Juhee was sleeping, so we took a walk through the hospital. After having been stuck in a small hospital room with a sick baby for days and days, it was nice to get out and walk. The nurses smiled and asked if we were going for a 'romantic stroll'. :) Peter's parents also visited and brought food for me to eat. I ordered a meal for every single meal as well and had most of the breakfasts but the hospital meals were usually for Peter. The hospital food at Good Sam's actually pretty good and is hotel style - you order from the menu and they deliver to your room. Sodexho does the catering for them, the same company that takes care of major hotels.

We had a sign on the door saying that warned people who entered the room that the patient inside had something viral and therefore caution must be taken when inside and leaving. The docs, nurses & respiratory therapists wore gowns, masks and gloves. Scrubbed in and out. The guy that came from our nebuliser rental company didn't even want to come into the room. The nurse made him wear a gown, mask and gloves 'cause he had to come in to show me how to use the equipment and get my signature. Poor guy, he was probably so worried.

We were there for much longer than we'd thought. Much longer than the medical staff thought too! After a very hard week, we finally left on Friday, 8 Feb. Everything happens on a Friday.

Peter just said "You're blogging again?" not in an exasperated way, just in a surprised way. Hey, I have 4 months of blogging to catch up on! :)

We went to our paediatrician's for her one-week post-discharge check-up and the doc said that I looked remarkably good for someone who's just spent a week in hospital with a very sick baby. :) It was a few days before she turned two months but seeing as we have to pay for every visit, we combined it with her two month check-up. She was doing well developmentally and she'd grown to 23 inches and weighed 11 pounds 8 ounces. She started lifting her head at about 4 weeks (very early) and she wasn't doing it as well while in hospital but she was doing it again once she regained her strength. She was also starting to really focus and stare at things around her. The doc noticed how she was mesmerised by the wallpaper and said it was a very good indication of her development. She received 5 jabs, 3 in one thigh, 2 in the other - bam bam bam bam bam! The nurse was so quick! She calmed down but then later in the evening, she started screaming with pain. We regretted not giving her infant Tylenol earlier 'cause we wanted to wait and see if she actually needed it... Ha... Our Juhee suffered 'cause of her parents' lack of experience. Poor little girl. :( But now we know so at her four month appointment (coming up next week!) we'll give her a bit before we go so it has time to work its magic before she starts feeling the pain from the shots. :)

Sometime in Feb (prob mid-Feb) I received my US Work Permit which was fab! I'd applied for it when I applied for my Permanent Resident Card (used to be called 'Green Card') as it's an option nowadays with the new system. The Permanent Resident Card overrides the Work Permit but the WP takes approx 3 months whereas the PRC takes approx 6, so if one is desperate to work or required US-government issued ID / permission to stay, then this is the way to do it.

On Monday, 3 Mar we went to the South Korean Consulate in San Francisco as we realised just the previous week while sorting out Juhee's birth certificate and social security card that my passport had just expired! So we went on Monday and then again on Thursday to pick it up. Ironically, I wouldn't have been able to make my passport without my Work Permit as I needed photo ID other than a drivers license which I didn't have prior to receiving my WP. Strange, huh?

On Friday, 7 Mar, I had my USCIS (US version of Home Office, used to be INS) interview. It was mandatory for Peter to attend as well as my permanent residency was based on my marriage to him and him 'sponsoring' me. Of course, Juhee went as well as further 'evidence' of us being a true married couple. :) We were 5 minutes late to our 8:30am appointment and got a scolding for it. No sympathy for having to bring a less than 3 month old baby with us. :) We eventually had our interview and the officer didn't ask us the questions we'd been warned about. I guess it was pretty obvious that we were married. She just went thru our docs, I gave her copies of my new passport, Juhee's Birth Certificate, gave her Juhee's social security number, etc and then she told us that there seems to be another person with the same name and birth date as me and so they'd need to check the other file before granting me permanent residency! So she said it'd take another few weeks longer than usual. Well, we got the letter from the USCIS saying that my 2-year conditional permanent residency has been approved about a week later and then the actual card a couple of weeks after that! Hurrah! :) So then it was time for us to go update my social security details with my new married name - done.

All of the paperwork is now done and all I need to do now is to get my CA drivers license. I couldn't previously as I didn't have documentation stating my residency status & time period in the US and my social security details weren't up-to-date. Well, all of that is now done so I can actually go take my test now. I'm not rushing tho as we only have one car anyway and petrol prices are rising like crazy...

The only reason why I want to get my license as soon as possible is so that I can go out and work again. It's been soooooooo long! It's such hard work being at home with Juhee all day... Going out and working would be much easier and I'd enjoy the adult company, making new friends, the challenge/stress/time constraints, the adrenalin rush... Peter would prefer to me to stay at home with Juhee and I will for the next couple of months. But then after that, depending on how our plans pan out, I'll hopefully be out working! At the moment, as she's only breastfeeding, it'd be a bit of a pain to pump at work and store the breast milk for her to be fed by someone else during the day. At her next appointment next week we'll discuss with our paediatrician her starting solids. a new adventure! :)

My finger's actually starting to hurt so I'm going to stop. Need to make a few more phone calls today and get a few other things done too.

Will upload pictures soon!

Missing you,
Jenny xxx

So much has happened...

It's been sooooooooooooo long... I'm not sure whether to start at the beginning or at the end! Well, let me tell you about yesterday & today and then go back to the beginning (as time allows).

Yesterday (Tuesday), Peter drove mum to SJC airport and she just barely made her flight to Dallas, Texas to help Jade set up her new home-to-be when she becomes Mrs. Chia next month. After that we took out one of the Sr. High girls for some shaved ice (pat-bing-soo) and a chat. Then we went to the Almaden area for a visitation for another couple of hours and Sara Juhee decided that she wasn't going to feed. She didn't want to feed in the house we were visiting and she didn't want to feed in the car. She was cranky, didn't want to play, and was obviously hungry but was refusing to eat. Peter and I were starting to become very worried as she was either sleeping or crying the whole time. We were worried about her blood sugar levels dropping and also worried about her not sleeping at night because she hadn't had enough to eat and because she'd slept too much during the day. Well, we don't know about her blood sugar levels dropping but I do definitely know she didn't sleep thru the night last night! She woke up every 3-4 hours so I was a very tired mum today. She wouldn't eat in the car Monday evening after mum's birthday dinner and I had to really coax her into eating at church on Sunday too. We're beginning to wonder, as she becomes increasingly aware of her environment, if she's going to become picky about where she eats, i.e. refuse to eat anywhere other than at home. That would be a real pain... Hopefully it won't happen!!! Today we stayed at home and her feedings were very regular, approx 3 hours apart. She ate well, slept well, poo-ed and pee-ed well... :) She even sat in her swing for a bit today. She used to love sitting in it, used to coo at the little animals on her mobile above the swing, and even fall asleep in it now and again but now... In less than a minute she's crying her lungs out asking to be taken out or at least for Peter / me to sit in front of her and entertain her but even that didn't last very long. Hopefully she's going to start enjoying sitting in her swing again. That means I'd be free to do some housework (or check my email, etc) while she's happy and I can keep an eye on her but not have to hold her the whole time! :)

So now, let me go back to the beginning... My latest 'new beginning'...

The cutest baby in the world (I'm a bit biased I know!), Sara Juhee Oh, was born with 22 minutes remaining at 11:38pm on 22 Dec 2007 at Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Gatos, CA, USA weighing in at 6lb 3oz and 19 inches in length. I was 4cm dilated when I went in at around 4pm so had my epidural as soon as poss but then it slowed down my contractions so much they had to give me some pitocin too. I never actually fully reached 10cm but she was so far down she was actually sitting (lying?) on a nerve and making my left leg hurt (even with the epidural) so a bit before 11:00pm-ish I started pushing. I can't remember how many pushes it took but I know I didn't think I could push again but then still managed to push one more time... And then one more time... And Peter was there the whole time holding up my left let while Dr Noh held up my right with both men encouraging me the whole time "pu~~~sh!!!", "good job!", "one more!!!", "i can see her head!!! her head's out!!!", "oh my gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!" :) Jade had the camcorder, mum was a bit of a wreck and then burst out crying when Juhee was born. She said that it was out of pure joy and excitement experiencing the miracle of birth - not because her daughter had just gone through so much pain. :)

After an exhausting day and a very late night, Peter was at church early the next day and made announcements during the Youth services about Juhee's birth. :) Christine, one of the youth girls, recorded it on her phone so I got to see it. Peter was a very happy and proud dad. He was so cute. :) After the two Youth services he rushed over to the hospital to see his two girls, had a rush lunch and then had to rush back to church again for the 3pm Christmas service. He was back again after that. As with the previous night, I insisted that Peter go home to sleep as he wouldn't have many nights of uninterrupted sleep for a while! So Jade stayed with me the 1st night and then I was alone the 2nd night. The food was brilliant as were the facilities and nurses.

In terms of pain, yes, childbirth was still painful even with epidural but I definitely couldn't feel any pain from my contractions just slight pressure once the epidural's magical powers started to work - phew! But the day after... Oh dear... I couldn't walk... I was sooooooooo tired and in so much pain... I actually fell asleep soon after they moved me from the Labour & Delivery room to the Postpartum room so didn't get to see Juhee having her 1st bath and then they took her to the nursery for me so I could get a few hours of good sleep before she woke up and had to be fed. I was in such a daze those first 24 hours... Breastfeeding was a challenge but we got there. It was really nice having such supportive and experienced nurses around the first couple of days. They helped much more than the lactation consultant that dropped by before we left.

Juhee's bilirubin count was high so she had to use a bili-blanket from her 2nd day (24 Dec) and then after we were discharged from the hospital we had to continue to use a rented one at home and go for blood tests to the hospital everyday too. She didn't like the bili-blanket, it was loud, and it was finicky for us as it had to go underneath her clothes so it was hard trying to be disciplined in using it all the time. On the 27th Peter took her to the Good Sam for her last blood test as that afternoon we were given the all-clear by our Paediatrician. Peter then went to the Youth Winter Retreat (against the advice given to us by the nurses) that afternoon and came back on the 29th. It was hard for him to go as he wanted to be with his recovering wife and new baby daughter but he had to go... I missed him but I wouldn't have had it any other way either.

We were taught during our Childbirth Preparation Classes & other classes that we attended, the importance of not allowing a baby to go without a feed for longer than 3-4 hours for breastfed babies. So we woke Juhee up the first few days to feed her but then stopped doing it as we didn't think it necessary. It made life soooooo much easier for all of us! I didn't have to set my alarm clock to wake her up for feedings, she wasn't in a bad mood as she was allowed to sleep till she naturally woke up, and she didn't sleep for so long that we felt worried about her blood sugar levels dropping. It was our 1st lesson in using our own parental instincts to judge what was right for our baby. Peter was fab during the 1st few days as I was so weak and tired it was hard for me to lift Juhee out of her crib for feedings. Peter always changed her diaper and then brought her to me so I wouldn't have to lift her or bend my sore back. After we arrived at mum's my hands and feet also swell up like balloons so it was even harder for me to do all those things. But Peter didn't complain once about having to wake up in the middle of the night. He's so caring, so sweet... I don't know what I would've done without him! :)

We stayed at mum's place in Almaden for the first 5-6 weeks and when we 1st arrived from the hospital, Peter carried me up the stairs. Poor Peter! :) I then stayed in the top floor of mum's house for nearly the whole duration. I remember feeling shock horror after my first trip down just a few steps to the lower level - my hip joints & back hurt! It wasn't worth it... It was hard being cooped up in mum's room the whole time. I couldn't go out to the living room area much as I was either breastfeeding or sleeping most of the time and I even ate in the room too. After a few weeks I started going stir-crazy and feeling really down so whenever I was at home alone or my brothers at least weren't at home, I started breastfeeding and eating in the living room. It really helped. I remember saying to my mum the 1st time I went downstairs to eat (I think after 4 weeks) that I felt like I was in a different house.

One of the bestest highlights was definitely Sarah & Jay Tucker coming to visit from the UK when Sara was 4 weeks old (Sat, 19 Jan). Time definitely flew by way too quickly!!! We were going to take them out for a steak dinner but then changed plans last minute and ended up eating Korean food at home. I'm going to regret that decision forever for 2 main reasons: we wanted to treat them and missed a rare opportunity to do so & we didn't have much to eat at home. I'm not sure how we would've done had we gone out but...

Another highlight was Hannelie taking the time out from visiting her late sister's family to come see us (Thu, Jan 17). It was a bit of a weird day as while Hannelie was visiting with her niece a few other people from church also came to visit at the same time and kind of took over the baby. It was lovely to see her again though and although we didn't really get to talk much it was nice to meet her niece and just be able to spend time together.

Fri, 25 Jan I had my USCIS (US version of the Home Office, used to be called INS) Biometrics appt in downtown San Jose. It was a wet rainy day, our 1st time leaving Juhee, and my 1st time out of the house since I arrived two days after giving birth. We left mum with defrosted breastmilk just in case our appt took longer than we expected. Peter had to rush us to my appt cuz Juhee woke up when we were nearly ready to leave and had a feeding so we ended up leaving later than we'd planned. We arrived ok, Peter stayed in the car so he could get some work done, I had my fingerprints taken, a picture taken, and was done. We started back, driving carefully as it wasn't raining as heavily anymore but was still sprinkling and there was a lot of water on the surface. Suddenly our car was spinning and then bam! bam! We hydroplaned on freeway 87 and hit the centre barrier ending up facing the opposite direction. When we stopped I looked in front of me and all of the cars that were behind us had stopped in one line along the freeway... It was the strangest sight... I'd banged my head against the seatbelt holder (? the part where the seatbelt folds) so had a headache. Peter checked to make sure that I didn't have a concussion as I also had blood dripping down my scalp. When it was safe to do so, the cars that had stopped started driving past us and Peter turned the car around onto the closest exit ramp. A CHP (California Highway Patrol) officer came to check on us and said that we did the right thing. He said we didn't need to report the accident to the DMV (US version of DVLA) as it was just us involved. When the tow truck driver came he took us home first so I could feed Juhee and then drove Peter to the garage and back. After I fed Juhee and Peter got back, Peter and mum had a closer look at my bleeding and found that it went up a lot further and that there was more blood than we'd initially thought. So after I had some food (I was so hungry I was starting to shake, breastfeeding mums and hunger don't go very well together) we went to the ER at Good Sam. We weren't too impressed with the way they treated us but the important thing is that they said that I was ok. :)

Tuesday, Jan 29 the three of us moved to our Sunnyvale condo. Peter had been back and forth to check post, water the plants, etc but it was my 1st time back since I left in pain due to my every-5-minutes contractions the day I gave birth to Juhee. And of course, it was our Little Miss Oh's first time home. She also had her 1st trip to a restaurant that evening - Black Angus! :)

I'll continue some other time with what happened late on Thursday, Jan 31st... Need to sleep... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

I'll upload some pics next time too! :)

Missing you,
Jenny x