Labor

Arthur Tianqi Yang was born at 7pm on Jan. 27th, 2009. Weight: 8 lb 4.8 oz. Length: 21 3/4 inches. Head circumference: 15 inch.

I was 10 cm dilated by 6:15 pm yesterday so Dr. Austin and Nurse Jody told me to start pushing. I worked really hard on the pushing for 40 minutes. Everyone could see the baby's head, but it just wouldn't come out. As a matter of fact, I worked so hard on it that I started vomiting like a fountain. Oxygen was applied to me immediately. Then I saw Dr. Austin gave me two snippets with a pair of scissors. My heart sank and I felt so desperate. Being cut was one of the worst memories from the first labor.

Before I knew it, the nurse put the baby on my chest and he felt so slimy. Arnold witnessed the whole process but didn't show too much interest in his brother at all. Biajee was holding him all the time so he didn't get any pictures of the new baby last night.

I was shivering with cold and starving afterwards, but I wanted to try nursing first. To our surprise, Arthur wouldn't latch on at all. Finally I gave up and had Biajee put him in the basket and the three of us started eating dinner. I couldn't fit anything down because of the pain.

Arthur slept in the nursery last night. He was fed Enfamil formula at 10 pm, 1 am and 5 am. Then I nursed him this morning around 8:30. He started to learn how to suck in the end. Dr. Cavannaugh just took him away for circumcision. She said they'd be back in 30 minutes and she'll put a ring on Arthur's pennis, which will fall off in about a week. We cannot give him a tub bath till both the ring and the cord fall off. Sponge bath only for the newborn.

Dr. Austin finally prescribed me some Ibuprofen and Tylenol with Codin to replace the pain killer I had been taking. I was feeling dizzy, sick and upside down all the time. The contraction is still there and then there are the sewn wounds. "Contraction is good," Dr. A said, "If you don't have contraction, you'll be bleeding a lot."

We have a new life in our family now, who is pink, ugly and all wrinkled up.

Induction

We got up at 5:00 am. Arrived at the hospital at 6:30 am. Doctor came at 8:10 am. He put the gel in me at 8:30 am. I had to lie down for an hour. Room number is 257. At 9:30 am, I was allowed to get up and go to the restroom. Then I was asked to walk for an hour. My water broke at 10:30 am.

I had asked for epidural as soon as I got in and I hope I'll get it soon. I'm contracting, but it's not nearly as painful as last labor. I would rate it a 5 on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being the highest. Dr. Austin will be back to see me around 12:30 pm. Of course, if I made leaping progress, he would be here in 20 seconds.

I just got the walking epidural. It's a new thing. Basically, patients who got that medicine could still walk around, drink water and go to the rest room. If the pain gets worse later, I can always switch to the normal epidural. I think the pain is under control now. I'm feeling very light headed and dizzy.

My dilation this morning was 2 cm and it is still 2 cm. We'll decide what to do when Dr. Austin comes in to see me in 30 minutes. At the moment, I'm going to take a nap.

己丑

我们终于顺利地过了农历年，现在再去引产应该没有什么遗憾的了。星期六打牌打到晚上11点，手气很旺，又混过了一个派对。新生儿将会是一头己丑牛。思来想去，牛头比老鼠尾巴好多了，否则孩子走到哪儿都是一条小尾巴尖儿，难成大器。医生也说在西方国家总觉得老鼠是腌臜鼠，绝对没有牛好。牛虽然辛苦，但至少吃喝用度都是自己汗珠子掉地上砸八瓣儿挣来的，花着心安理得，一点也不靠别人，多稳便。

昨天去家庭用品公司买了油漆。现在的科技真是发达，只要挖一块25美分硬币大的墙皮，就可以让电脑配出该种颜色的油漆。

今天Biajee终于在我的逼迫下去看了牙医。想到我白白给他买了四年的牙医保险，他一次都没有用过，我实在觉得心有不甘，钱花得冤枉。Biajee被查出牙齿上有六个小洞，虽然目前还不痛，但是医生建议赶快补，所以干脆就后天补。因为我正好在医院生孩子，让他去放假补牙。婴儿有护士照管，否则回家之后他就不会再有心情去补牙了。

明天一早就要去引产了，很有要英勇就义的感觉. 当务之急是选好几本书，万一引得很慢就可以多读些书了。每天下午四点钟电视里还有肥皂剧，Biajee上班时从来无法陪我看，这两天总算可以一起看肥皂剧了。今晨下了大雪，气压降低了，也许孩子会主动出来？气压的变化有可能导致生产。我很怕引产不成功导致剖腹，坚决不要剖腹产，宁死不当亡国奴。

Phone Call

My previous boss in Staples called me yesterday afternoon trying to have me go into the company to train some people on the database I built next Monday. Obviously I am not a Staples employee and they're not a not-for-profit organization so I cannot do it for free. I believe the company retained the talents to rebuild anything from scratch and will not need my service in future. My full time job is to find another full time job at the moment. Anything that takes time away from that needs to be commissioned.

I didn't sleep well last night. I'm a sensitive pregnant woman who is over due now and cannot tolerate any drastic abuse or stimulation mentioned above.

It's very likely that I can make it to 27th and be induced. Not my favorite way to go, but at least I know the baby wants to be born in the year of ox and I won't interfere it.

I successfully made my dreamed meatballs for dinner last night. The secret of tasty Lion's Heads is not to put too much meat in it.

床头柜

Biajee周末时装好了我们的新床头柜,却发现上层的抽屉非常生涩,简直就打不开,不知道是否安装的问题.当然最大的问题是这两个床头柜的四个抽屉现在全是空的.

"我长这么大第一次有床头柜,床头柜里应该放些什么呢?"我困惑地问Biajee.

"我也不知道啊,我以前也没有过床头柜,可以上网搜索一下,看看别人都往床头柜里放什么."他挠挠头说."或者周末去派对的时候偷偷看看人家的床头柜."

反正绝不能放内衣和性玩具,因为床头柜比较矮,阿诺随时会翻着玩,总不能装少儿不宜的东东.但是新的床头柜确实很好看,和我们的床是一套,当时买床的时候没舍得买,现在被裁员了,很有心情布置家居环境.

昨天试着做了红烧狮子头,好像肉放得太多了,丸子不够松软,今天准备往肉馅里加俩馒头和一包面包粉,再看看效果如何.可怜的Biajee和阿诺只能每天吃肉丸子,直到我把这道菜练得炉火纯青为止.

今晨发现纳斯达克指数跌了3%,源于微软准备裁员5000人,简直太可怕了.微软以前是以不裁员出名的.比尔盖茨撒手不管之后他们也不重视人才的重要性了.

Postponed Induction

We went to see Dr. Austin today.

"So where is the baby?" He said dandily as soon as he entered the room.

"We don't know. But I'd like to cancel the induction on Friday because I need to go to a party to celebrate Chinese Luna New Year on Saturday." I told him. "What does your schedule look like next week? May we schedule an induction some time next week?"

"Well, I need to check." He ran out of the room for a while and came back. "Do you want to do it on 27th or 28th?"

"They're the same to me. We can do it on Tuesday." I looked at Biajee.

"All right. 27th at 6:30." Dr. Austin said.

"6:30 in the morning? Of course I need to be there, but you don't have to." I sighed. "You'll probably come around 8:30."

"Hey, you may deliver this weekend at 2 o'clock in the morning." He complained.

"Well, you told me you would be on call so whether I schedule an induction or not, I'll have you this weekend if I'm in labor." I said cheerfully.

"Yeah, but I'm getting old. I don't want to get up at 2 o'clock in the morning. The little room in that emergency building only has a single bed and really not too much in it. I usually go home if there is nothing...." He murmured.

"You know, if I deliver before 26th, the baby will be born in the year of rat, otherwise he'll be born in the year of ox. His Chinese zodiac sign will be totally different and he may have a different fate. It's very important." I tried to tease him. "So I won't see you before 27th, huh?"

"Ha, maybe I'll see you this Friday." He winked evily. I don't think he likes the idea of being called out at 2 am for my labor.

总统宣誓

今天是个神圣的日子,奥巴马正式宣誓成为美国第44任总统.DC的天气很冷,只有华氏28度,国会山前却是人山人海,有人早上4点就到现场去目睹这个伟大时刻了.奥巴马的演说照例很激动人心,但可惜股市大跌了,跟我预想的完全相反.看来新总统也没能刺激股市和经济.

Biajee仍旧是一早就去排队办驾照,排在第一位,终于搞定了,而且上班也没迟到.现在他拿着一张有效期30天的临时驾照,不必再怕警察抓了.不过他被告知应该事先预约,下次再说吧.

我送阿诺到学校的时候,老师问我,"你的预产期是哪天?"

"今天",我快乐地说,"不过今天好像不会生.我中午还要去剪头发呢."

理发师说如果我想留长发,就不要剪得这么勤.反正我短期内也不要剪了,得在家休养.理发行业受的影响不是很大,因为大家被裁员之后,要去找工作和面试,所以还得经常光顾理发店.还有宠物行业受的影响也不是很大,人们丢掉工作之后,最先减少对奢侈品的购买,而不是立刻将已有的宠物丢掉.

Biajee已经把相机和摄像机都装在车里,准备随时去医院了,所以最近无法给阿诺照相了.婴儿踢锝很厉害,脚法比较象贝克汉姆,家里又要有足球健将了.

Martin Luther King Day

Today is Martin Luther King Day. Even the stock market closed. It's such a big holiday, but both Biajee and I forgot about it. We sent Biajee to DMV at 7 am today to renew his driver's license. He waited there till 8 am, but nobody showed up so he had to go to work.

I drove Arnold to school and then went to see Dr. Fox, my chiropractor.

"No baby yet." This is my greeting every day when I see someone I know. "But my husband said my hip bones had opened. Can you tell?"

"Your hip bones do feel different," He replied after examining me. "I'd be shocked if you made through next week."

Well, we'll have to wait and see. I certainly hope I can make my hair appointment tomorrow. Then I'll see Dr. Austin on Wednesday to decide whether I'll go for induction this Friday. Chances are I may cancel it, but if the baby chooses to come, we can't stop him.

墨镜

今天中午去取了新墨镜,是古奇的,镜框原价420美元,我买的时候正好赶上减价,于是只需付210美元,再加上镜片以及保险公司付的部分,自己还是付了218美刀.这是我有生以来最贵的墨镜了.失业以后就不会再狂买这种奢侈品了.

昨天给Biajee打手机，怎么也打不进去，被告知此号码被停机。后来才发现原来阿诺在玩Biajee的手机时，将所有的打入电话都转到一个不存在的号码上了，真了不起啦。

刚才去邮局取爸爸寄来的爱心包裹，顺便买了两版牛年的纪念邮票。牛年将于2009年1月26日开始，2010年2月13日结束。戴安娜王妃，未来的总统奥巴马，前总统尼克松，前英国首相撒切尔夫人，画家凡高，演员乔治科鲁尼，比尔克斯比，简方达，摩根佛里曼，李察基尔和达斯廷霍夫曼都是牛年出生的。

今天早上觉得腰很酸，以为要生了，后来睡了一上午，又没有任何感觉了。天气好得不得了，大概婴儿想选择寒冷的下雪天降临人世。我的使命感太强了，所以这次会晚些生。我们准备这周末去韩国店买菜，去家庭用品公司买油漆--Biajee决定在我生完之后将厨房和餐厅的墙壁重新油漆一下。我们买好油漆之后可能会将餐厅的家具和植物挪挪地方。还有可能去银行存利率7%的定期存单。所以我怎么可能这就生孩子呢？还有很多事要做，生完就没时间做啦。

Oil Change

I took the Civic for oil change today. The dealer found out 3 problems:

1) Wiper blades may need to change
2) Engine oil gasket leak - $200 to fix (2 hours work)
3) Bush arm leak - over $600 to fix (4 hours work)

We need to make an appointment for the above service. Maybe we should do it with the next oil change. Anyway, we need to leave the car there for this.

Biajee put the new Britax car seat in the Civic last night. We found that the fabric of the car seat cover was not as good as before. We should have ordered the cheaper pink car seat cover and a different seat cover for boys separately. Then we can sell the pink car seat cover on eBay to get our money back. Why haven't I thought about this before? Who can imagine the quality of the same product going down every year?

I'm still glad we're using Britax car seat though. It's the safest car seat we could find in the market. The cheaper ones in Wal-mart wouldn't work at all. I constantly worried about the baby and the car seat falling out of the window when we test used it. Fortunately I persuaded Biajee to return it to Wal-mart.

车座来了

我们给二宝贝儿买的车座今天被送到家门口了. 刚才和Biajee一起去看奥斯汀医生,子宫口还是开1.5厘米,没有任何即将临盆的感觉.幸亏没有预约到明天引产,否则会感觉像上刑场的.

"我昨晚值班,等了你一晚上,你也没来生."医生调侃地说.

我很想知道医生下下周的日程.万一我下星期不生,又不想引产,我们星期六就可以去朋友家参加派对,打牌了.不过那样的话婴儿很可能就属牛了.到底让二宝贝儿属牛还是属老鼠呢? 我们有一周的时间决定,因为下一次看医生是21日.想到我能够决定一个人的属相,不由得感到自己肩上责任重大.

奥斯汀医生说由于我是生第二胎,引产可能只需要生第一胎一半的时间,也就是当天就能引下来. 医生的办公室里有一个时间表,上面有受孕时间和怀胎满40周时间的算法.如果二宝贝儿是4月24日受孕的话,要到1月31日才满40周.但如果以此推断阿诺的受孕时间,并不准确.可见生孩子并不一定是满40周那天,所以任何计算都没有用. 奥斯汀医生明确地告诉我们,迄今为止也未发现是什么诱发了生产过程,反正锻炼是没有用的,所以我每天去健身也不会让孩子早点出来.

我决定下周生之前再去剪一次头发.

Court

I took Arnold to the dentist today. It was his first dental visit, which was referred to as happy visit. He got his teeth polished and cleaned and sat on the funny chair. The hygenist gave him a Tiger toothbrush and several toys as gifts. Dr. Keene even came out and looked at his teeth.

"Thank you for bringing him in." Dr. Keene said. "We need to get them used to the dental office environment as early as possible so that when they have cavities and other issues, they wouldn't resent the place."

The visit was totally free. I tried to schedule an appointment for Biajee, but they were all fully booked till Jan. 26th. I don't think Biajee can go to the dentist on Jan. 26th because I'll either be resting in bed with the new baby or will be in the delivery room.

Right after I got home, I found a letter from court in the mail. It asked me to pay a fine of $37.50 and assess one point on my driver's license so that I don't have to go to court on February 17th. Oh Thank YOU GOD! I believe there is a GOD and some justice.

It was totally my fault to have made that illegal U Turn, but I don't deserve to go to court for it with a 2 week old baby. I'll drive extra carefully from now on. In fact, I'll try to stay home and not operate a vehicle at all.

近视

星期六带阿诺去看眼科医生，这也是最后利用公司的医疗保险计划之一。阿诺被查出先天性近视，可能上小学一，二年级时就得戴眼镜了。这完全是Ｂｉａｊｅｅ的遗传造成的。Ｂｉａｊｅｅ的两只眼睛度数全部超过５００度，很容易就遗传给下一代了。我不禁为二宝贝儿担心了。希望二宝贝儿运气好些，不要从爸爸那里遗传近视眼。好像阿诺还有散光，所以可能一定得戴眼镜了。想到他那么喜欢玩爸爸的眼镜，不由得有些辛酸。

Ｂｉａｊｅｅ在周末是做了一个喂兔子吃草的小笼子，我们在里面装上苜蓿，放在院子里，兔子们便来时常光顾了。阿诺的乐趣之一就是趴在窗口看兔子。这次我们不打算像上次那样捉兔子了，上次怀孕时捉了三只小兔，后来就生了阿诺。从医院回来后，Ｂｉａｊｅｅ花了一整天才把兔子逮住放掉。因为兔子不甘寂寞，楼上楼下跑着玩去了。

昨天去买了十种不同颜色的橡皮泥给阿诺玩，却被他全部混合起来。那么漂亮的颜色混合之后的效果就是黑色。早知道还不如只买黑色的橡皮泥。Ｂｉａｊｅｅ用那一大坨黑色橡皮泥给阿诺捏了一坨粑粑屎，父子俩非常开心，真恶心。美国的橡皮泥好像就是面粉做的，而不是胶泥，还有一股淡淡的甜味，所以小孩子很喜欢。以后要记住只买一种颜色的，或者干脆揉一团面算了。

今晨下大雪了，Ｂｉａｊｅｅ不肯早起床，上班迟到了。我照例去健身房游泳，他们现在不用氯消毒了，所以不必担心会把皮肤烧坏。

No School in Spring

I tried to sign up for an online course in CU Denver during the spring semester, but the class was already closed out with 11 people on wait list. A lot of people have lost their jobs and come back to school. I'll have to wait for the summer semester. I can start to register for classes on March 6th for summer. I guess I'll hop on line then and secure a spot for me for all the classes I can take between May and August.

I had lunch with my previous boss today. He was asleep at home when I arrived at the restaurant so I had to call him out to meet me. He is playing basketball 3 times a week now. Apart from not having a job, he is really doing great in every aspect. He is also looking to go back to school for his Master of Accounting degree.

The unemployment rate has climbed up to around 8% and it's only getting worse as the year progresses. Fortunately I don't have an urge to go back to work any time soon so I can enjoy the time off and binding with the babies in this economic recession. I'm pretty confident that our lives will be a lot better if we survive 2009. We should live happily every day because we have the privilege to be alive.

祸不单行

昨天配墨镜之后在去医院的路上因非法掉头被警车拿下了。根据星象，2009年我会倒大霉的，果然年初就被裁员，现在又吃了罚单。最可恶的是我告诉警察我马上要生孩子了，他还是让我2月17日去出庭。没办法，今天早上只好去了一趟布龙菲法庭，职员说她还没有收到这张罚单，让我一星期以后打电话并且给法官写书面申请，要求推迟出庭日期。我从来没有如此憎恨过警察。

俗语说，“福无双至，祸不单行”。西谚说，“坏事成三”。所以我还应该再等待下一个坏运气才对。

医生检查之后说子宫口开了1.5厘米，但婴儿还没下坠，所以还不会马上生。我预约了在23日做引产，主要是考虑医生的日程。如果23日不做，就得在27日或28日做，也许太晚了。而且周末会比较好，因为Biajee可以在家多呆几天。当然很有可能23日之前就生了，就不必做引产了。无论如何今年春节是无法去朋友家参加派对了。

我询问奥斯汀医生运动是否有助于早生孩子，他笑笑说这没有什么关系。嘬大拇指和运动的效果应该一样，或者我可以去按摩膝盖。总之，统计结果表明，沙发土豆们并不比运动健将们晚生孩子。

昨晚吃饭时阿诺的坏脾气又犯了，于是Biajee的生日就在阿诺的哭闹中过完了。Biajee已经三张了，从今之后只能走下坡路了。他好像还没有很失落，大概是因为我的罚单把他原有的情绪全打乱了。

Swimming

I went lap swimming this morning for an hour, in hope that it'll help the baby come out faster. It'd been so long since I seriously did lap swimming. During the first 15 minutes, I was losing my breath and was thinking I couldn't make it any more. But it gradually got better. I think it's a great way to kill my time before labor.

I told our cleaner not to come till March. Basically we'll cut the cleaning to once a month instead of every two weeks. With the economy this way, everyone has to have some type of budget cut.

Today is Biajee's birthday. We're going to Sushi Tora tonight to celebrate. We've discovered that the Japanese Uni was really delicious. The only problem is that it's $6.50/piece. No question the Japanese people are so skinny. One bite of Uni would worth 4 McDonald's cheeseburgers plus a large fountain drink.

I'm seeing the eye doctor and the OB today. Hopefully I'm more dilated than a week ago. Dr. A might suggest me schedule an inducement again. I may choose a date in the year of cow.

沮丧

我们过了一个很沮丧的周末。先是星期六去Biajee的同事家吃饭，听了一堆糟糕的消息。星期天我以前的同事朱尔斯带着她的一对双胞胎儿女来我们家玩。她先生主动请缨去阿富汗作合同工了，据说一年可以挣30多万。好像是做情报工作的，希望不要有什么危险才好。

这对一岁的双胞胎由于是家里的保姆带大的，脾气非常不好，而且什么都不懂，吃饭很龌龊，把Biajee刚收拾好的房子弄得乱七八糟。我们才发现原来早已忘了小小孩是如此不堪入目，不由得为即将到来的二宝贝儿发愁。

早上去健身又碰见了以前的同事吉姆，他也被公司裁员了，所以更加有时间每天运动。没有工作的日子一点也不难受，没有钱的日子才真的不好过。我们为我们的榻榻米床买了两个配套的床头柜。所谓配套，就是说床头柜长得很像榻榻米，非常特别。我发现自己现在有时间琢磨家具了，还有时间和心情做以前根本不可能去想的事情。目前还没有开始涂指甲油，但很快就可以花更多的时间在打扮自己上面了，只不过因为怀孕，还无法出去买衣服。

现在许多公司都不付搬家费用。我们要不要自己付钱搬家呢？所有的决定都得生完孩子才能考虑。我很希望二宝贝儿是属老鼠的，最好是老鼠尾巴尖。看样子今年的春节要在婴儿的苦恼中度过了。

我发现许多能力很差的人挣的钱都比我和Biajee多，这是很让人气恼的，真是人比人，气死人，所以永远只能和自己比。