New Blog

Bruce's blog has moved to a new place!
horrayy ...

Please check it out :
http://brucealexander.blogspot.com/

Tengkurep

I forgot to mention this last time.
The Doctor told me it's time to give Bruce a lot of tummy-time so he can train to raise his head.
I showed her this video ^_^
Doctor said, "oww ... okay .. yea, do that."
hihihi

2 Months =)

Bruce is Two Months alreadyy ... !!

We came back from his doctor today for two months check up.
Everything is good with Bruce. He's healthy, no more jaundice. (yay!)
Doctor was surprised when she saw him,
"Wooow, you look like a four month old baby! So big and alert!"
Here's his measurement :
Head Size : 15 3/4" -- percentile : 55% (average)
Length : 23 3/4" -- percentile : 75% (above average)
Weight : 14.25 lbs -- percentile : 95%!! (waaay above average! hahaha)
Bruce is heavy!!
Doctor gave two thumbs up to us ^_^
(yeah, to me too. Good supply of milk!!)

Poor baby got FOUR shots on his thighs today :(
He got five vaccines today ... one by mouth, like a syrup. Bruce likey...
If only all the immunizations were like that ...
But no, just one, the rest must be shot on both of his thighs.
He cried his lungs out.
I can really tell he was hurting because he doesn't cry like that at home.
(thank God)

As for me, I'm feeling great.
I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight already. Thank's to breastfeeding and lack of sleep!
Haha.
A lot less baby blues now.
I'm enjoying every minute I spend with this precious little boy :)
(yes, even at 3am)

Here's our 2 month family photo!

Mama Bruce, Papa Bruce, aaand
Mr. Amazing!

Walk?

Bruce wants to skip rolling over, standing, and crawling straight to walking. Papa is training him for US World Cup already. Hahahha...

Smiless...

If you have two minutes to spare .... =)
if not, start from 0:30 to 1:20
hihi

First supermarket trip!

Bruce at Indonaz

Two Weeks!

Bruce is two weeks old now!
Two days ago at his doctor's, he weighs 9 lbs.
He lost about 10 oz. on the first week.
I was so worried. But then he drinks a lot, poops a lot, now he's 1 lb more than his birth weight alreadyyy ... yay!
Doctor said usually babies lost weight at the beginning and back to his birth weight within two weeks. Bruce dah lewat ... heheheh...

Bruce got a present from US Government.
His Social Security Card arrived in the mail today!
and it doesnt have the notes "not valid for employment" hahahah
*mommy jealous.

Here's a pict of him today after my mom washed his hair. hihihi...

Happy two weeks, Bruce!!

Circumcised!

Bruce is 12 days old today.
We went to his pediatrician to have him circumcised.
I really wanted to do this in the hospital, when he was still one or two days old.
But Bruce was born on the weekend, something with the insurance not covering it on the weekend (idk, weird). And apparently the hospital was crowded that weekend.
So they scheduled him today, May 20th.
Dr said its the same within the first 3 weeks anyway.
Ya wes...

We got there at 11:15am.
Me, Hendra, my mom and Steph went there together. hehehe
It took a while for the nurse to prep everything ...
Bruce was crying when we had to take off his clothes.
Good thing we brought a thick blanket.
Susternya lama banget seh!! *ugh
Then she brought in a board called Circumstraint. It has Velcro straps to restrain the baby's arms and legs so that he cannot move.
I lost it ... I cried ... I couldnt bear the thought of him being restrained and in pain.

The Doctor came in and asked only one person to be present there.
She felt uncomfortable performing the procedure with too many people watching.
I obviously couldn't stay.
So only Hendra stayed during the whole thing.
Brave Papa :)

After about 20min or so ...
Hendra came to the waiting room and called us back in.
He said Bruce was very strong.
He cried at the beginning but was very quiet afterwards.
Even the Doctor was amazed and called him "Superstar" !!

Here's a picture of him while waiting on the exam table ...
thanks for the 'empeng', Auntie Inez! :D

Bruce Alexander Christianus Hutagaol

Finally, our baby BACH was born :)
....and after several days I can return to Internet world again. haha..

Bruce is 6 day-old today ... and he's such a good baby.
I love him so muchhhh ... !! I can stare at him for hours gk bosen2 ... cant believe he's here.

Ohh lots of stories alreadyy ... there's at least 3 blogs-worth per day I can write about our last 5 days! I wish I could be like Destri who can feed the baby and update blog at the same time. haha..
but I'll try to catch up soon.
In the mean time, I try to take as many picts as possible !! hehehe

this is how my album looks like in my phone ..
hehehe.....

Today's conversations with strangers....

"How many months are you?" .... nine.
"How many weeks are you now?" .... forty.
"When are you due?" .... yesterday

responses : "wowwwww"

Hehehe ... yeaa, Bruce still staying comfortably in my belly. No signs what so ever. Not even a single braxton. haha ...

Cinco de Mayo!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo for those who celebrates it!
Looks like Bruce is celebrating in my tummy still!! hahahah .. .no new signs of labor so far.
I've been having some cramps lately, but comes and goes irregularly. So I guess that's still the 'practice' ones ... haizzz...


Althoooo ... my feet are finally catching up with my hands ...
they're swollen now!!
They're so plumped up, the skin stretches when I walk.
Looks like the Nutty Professor's plump feet.

The Muljadis are here!!

Yayyy ... my Mom , Dad, and Steph finally arrived last night at SFO.
We're all so excited to see them =D.
Everybody's responses were the same when they saw me, "wow ... u so big!"
...........

Anyway, they brought a lot of stuff for Bruce! hihi ...
plenty of clothes, small pillow & guling (so cuteee), bedding accessories, boppy, minyak telon (english ...?), macem2 dah! banyakk! And he got some gifts too, from my mom's friends (toys and baby foot chain), from Martha (thanks Marrr!!) and from Eric Tan's family (thanksss a lottt!!!!)
I think no shopping for Bruce for the next couple of months. Hihi .....

Went to the doctor this morning.
My appointment was moved from Wednesday to today because Wed is already 5/5.
We talked about inducing the labor because we're so close already.
We don't want the baby to stay in too long because if he gets too big, there's more chance of me needing a c-section.
So they scheduled the induction for me this Saturday, May 8th.
We're still hoping he's gonna be born on Cinco de Mayo (haha), but if he's not, he should be out this Saturday. hehe ... its gonna be an interesting week.

Pics from Baby Shower

Eric Koe just sent me a link for Baby Shower pics :)
Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49739180@N04/sets/72157623829601101/
*or click on Hendra. hihi*

Thanks Eric!!

Zzzzzz

Abis makan , ngantuk
Abis cuci piring, ngantuk
Abis kerja, ngantuk
Abis ngemil, ngantuk

Adoehhh so sleepppyyyyy.....

1 cm .... !!

Just came back from the doctor today.
(again, waited so long until I fell asleep)
Everything is normal, my blood pressure, heartbeat, Bruce's heartbeat, measurement semuanya ok.
And ... no weight gain!!! Yay! I'm still 146lbs like last week.
Wait ... this also means another pre-labor signs : Weight Stabilization!
Weleh ... four down now.

Dr checked my cervix and said I'm already dilated 1cm.
Hihihi ... doesn't mean much. Can be soon, can be weeks from now.
But I'm already nervous!!!!

38 weeks!

Here I am ... 38 weeks pregnant... already considered full term (Bruce can be born anyday now and no longer considered prematured birth). I already have some pre-labor signs lately :

1. Braxton Hicks (2 blogs below)

2. Enlightening or Belly Drop (ini mah udah dari kapan2)

3. for the last three days : Diarheaaaaaaaa!!!
I thought it was because I ate too spicy Indonesian Fried Rice from Jayakarta on Sunday, hahaha ... but I only ate a little bit, with steamed rice and chicken too. And Hendra also had (a lot more) the same fried rice, but it didn't bother him. The next couple of days I always eat the same food as Hendra, but only me going back and forth the bathroom.

This morning I woke up at 6am, going to the bathroom three times in an hour.
But that was it. It's 4pm now and I feel fine.

There are four other pre-labor signs I think ....
- weight stabilization (when I no longer gain weight .... I just gained another two pounds last time I went to the Dr..... bah)
- burst of energy (gk ada tu ... teler terus. sleepy all the time)
- bloody show ... *gk ngerti. ntar aja kl uda terjadi tulis blog lagi.
- .... i forgot. Hahaha

wado wado wado udah 3 signs neh ... it's coming!!!

Baby Basics Class

Hendra and I went to Baby Basics Class offered by John Muir today.

This basic course teaches what every parent should know about caring for their newborn. Hands on practice with diapering and swaddling. Receive information regarding normal newborn appearance, behavior and practical parenting tips.

It was from 6:30pm to 9:30pm.
We got a lot of information in this two hours!
We learned how to change diapers, what diapers to get, what we should watch out for. I never knew that we shoudn't use baby powder. Apparently recent studies show that baby powder can cause breathing problems and serious lung damage when inhaled by the baby. Hmm .... didn't we all use baby powder when we're babies?? hwehehe ...

We also learned to swaddle. Haiz. .. I need to practice more. I sucked. Kriput2 smua blanketnya. ... This is not the same as wrapping gifts ya. .. haha

There's also a slide show about how newborns look like, what procedure will take place, what symptoms to look out for, etc etc. We talked about what to do in the first month, how to see baby's personality, when to call the doctor, etc etc.
Two hours went by just like that.
So quick.
So much info.
Good thing there's a handout. haha ...

Another tiger baby is born today!!!
Baby Brandon Lucas Gunawan Tan was born this morning 6lbs 11oz and 20 inches!
Congratulation Rika and Fredrik (and Bryan) for a healthy baby boy ^_^
Can't wait to see some pictures!!

Braxton Hicks

This morning after breakfast, my lower abdomen felt weird.
A little bit heavy.
Hours later, feels a bit painful.
Felt like I ate something wrong. (you know, when u had too much chili, or ate expired food)
I was so confused because I didn't feel like going to the bathroom.
It comes and goes irregularly. Destri told me to time it, but it's so irregular ... sometimes long, sometimes short .. weird.
And around 2pm, I was hungry.
He ... mana ada orang sakit perut bisa lapar...
So I was almost certain this is not food related. Haha ...

4pm, Doctor appointment ...
She's so busy today ... I had to wait a looonggg time in the exam room.
I usually just sat on the exam table but my lower tummy hurts, so I laid down.
The doctor took so long that I fell asleep!
Which was actually good because it didn't hurt anymore.
I guess I have to lay down then ....

When she came in, she checked everything is normal.
My cervix is still closed, meaning no dilation at all.
So she confirms that it's Braxton Hicks (read : practice contraction)
.... ada ada aja lah kontraksi ajah pake latian!!@#@%
She said if it becomes more often I have to call her.
But so far, I'm on the right track.
I should be worried if I had this before week 37.
whadaya know ... today i'm exactly 37 weeks.
>.<

Old legend about King Bruce :)

King Robert the Bruce I was born at Lochmaben Castle in 1274. He was Knight and Overlord of Annandale. In 1306 he was crowned King of Scotland and henceforth tried to free Scotland from the English enemy.

After being defeated at a battle, Bruce escaped and found a hideout in a cave. Hiding in a cave for three months, Bruce was at the lowest point of his life. He thought about leaving the country and never coming back.

While waiting, he watched a spider building a web in the cave's entrance. The spider fell down time after time, but finally he succeeded with his web. So Bruce decided also to retry his fight and told his men: "If at first you don't succeed, try try and try again".

He came back and won the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, even though his men were outnumbered ten to one.