Kyran Kai Chen
7 pounds 13 ounces * 19 inches
April 08, 2011 * 8:16 PM
Kyran: Sanskrit for Beam of Light
Kai: Chinese for Triumphant
We are happy to welcome baby Kyran into the world and into our family! The birth was a beautiful experience (much better than the first time around!) and we could not love both of our kids any more. With an apgar score of 10, mom and dad could not beam any brighter as we cradled our surprise! Call it dad, said our nurse Jennifer, who was an amazing help- "It's a boy shiL" said paul. What a fun, joyful experience.
The contractions started around 3:00 PM that Friday. Even though I had experienced it all before, I was not sure if this was the real deal, so I went out as planned. Stopped off to pick up a pearl tea and then headed to DSW to get sticky pads for my new flip flops. Once I got back to my car, I called Paul up around 4:30 to tell him I felt something... and wasn't exactly sure what. He said he would leave soon. Around 5, I realized this was labor and took a shower. My mom picked up Syona and Paul and I were at the hospital just before 6.
I walked in stating I wanted an epidural, I could really feel everything strongly now. We were 15 days early! Wow, could it really be..! Our nurse checked and said I was 7 cm dialated, she said I was handling the contractions really well, she assumed I was a lot smaller, and thought I could totally handle having the baby without an epi. OK I said, let's do it. She said it was all about attitude and I had it!
The next hour was really tough. I spent most of the time in the shower and on a bouncy ball to work through the contractions. I couldn't have asked for a better cheer leading team to get me through it- Paul, Nurse Jennifer and Dr. Hua were all amazing. Around 7:25, I was 10 cm and we started pushing. I entered transition around 7:40 or so. And the baby was born 8:16 PM. It was tough, and I was in a lot of pain, but it was such a relief when Kyran was finally here and felt so good that I had worked through the whole birth naturally. It felt better than completing a half marathon. It was truly a wonderful experience, and I felt so healthy and satisfied and pleased with myself afterwards. It was great holding Kyran right after he was born- I loved him there just as much as I love Syona, and I loved feeling that way. He was so cute and he latched on right away.
Afterwards, we brought Syona in to meet Kyran first. She was a little hesitant at first, and said told her dada she didn't want to see the baby when asked, but said she wanted to see me. She was in awe when she saw his little head of hair peeking through the blankie. And quiet too. But then we asked her to give Kyran a kiss and she sent him a flying kiss which was really cute. We brought her Princess Frog PJs from Muma, Dada and Kyran and she was really happy about that.
We then had the rest of the family come in- Mom, Dad, Paul's Mom, Sej and Bij and enjoyed the baby together. Paul and I were lucky to get our own private room this time around and spent two nights at the hospital. We had the baby sleep with us the first night and half the second night. He had was fussy the second night and we were exhausted (I couldn't sleep the first night because I was sooo excited!), and got some rest.
I feel so blessed that everything went so well. We are enjoying the little guy at home!
It's been 3 great weeks with Kyran. He is growing beautifully. He eats, pees and poops a lot, but I think he is finally going through some bigger stretches of sleep. Which is nice because between two kids, muma and dada could sure use more sleep. He has lots of fun expressions and my favorite time is when he sits up to burp and stretches his arms out like Superman. I love when he stretches too right before he wakes up! I love him very much and am so happy he is here in our family. I can't help to think how cute he is every time I feed him and love how his face makes these two cute little indents on the sides of his mouth when he feeds. I didn't know how it would feel to raise a boy, since I am only used to raising a girl- but it feels very natural.
