Sarah's Hair

Is Sarah's hair curly or straight? Well, there is no telling at this point what it will be eventually, but the answer seems to be BOTH for now. When she was first born, Sarah had a whole mess of dark curly hair on her head! We were of course surprised because both David and I have straight (more or less) hair! My mom was so proud--she said Sarah inherited the curls from her! Then the nurses gave her her first bath, and she came back to our hospital room with straight hair! We thought the curls must just have been a fluke caused by being in the womb or something. But when we started bathing Sarah ourselves, we discovered that whenever her hair is wet--it IS curly! But by that time I was used to the way the nurses combed it out straight, so I have kept doing that. My mom is disgusted I don't let her hair just stay curly, but because it is thin and the shape of her head makes her look like she has a receding hairline, when her hair is curly I think it makes her look like this actor from The Wire and Flight of the Conchords:



Judge for yourself. Sarah's hair curly, just after a bath:



And Sarah, hair styled by Mom and beautiful:

Photo Review

So, just when I thought I was getting "good" at blogging regularly, I realize today its been like 2 weeks since my last post! Oh, well! Many photos have been taken, mostly thanks to my mom being here with us, so I thought I would post a few here to give you an idea of what we've been up to the last couple of weeks.
Sarah's first pediatrician appointment, 3 days after we got out of the hospital.
Three of the four mom's from my birthing class. Over several weeks, David and I really bonded with these other two couples, and it was really fun to see the changes as we all became parents around the same time!
The three babies: Carson, Sarah and Regan.
Having lunch at Miguel's (YUM!) with Barb, the American nurse who was my labor coach.
Sarah cuddling with Grandma. This is my new favorite thing--when anyone holds her up like this on her chest, she will lay her head down on your shoulder to cuddle with you--SOOO precious!!

Two Weeks

So, right now it is 5:34 a.m. and I am waiting to see if my little one will eventually tire out and want to get a little more sleep. She just had a good feeding, which this time of day usually results in her immediately going back to sleep for at least a couple of hours, but today she just wants to wiggle. So, we are both sitting on the bed, me on the computer and Sarah right next to me, perfectly content to be doing her "baby tai chi" as David calls it (which is surprisingly appropriate, given the time of day!)
In two hours it will be exactly two weeks ago that Sarah was born! As I was changing her a few minutes ago, she and I had a moment I can't completely explain or describe. I set her down on the bed, as I always do, then started spreading out her changing pad. This has become routine for me, and there was something in the way she looked at me that conveyed that this was routine for her as well--that I was doing exactly what she expected me to do and that she liked that. Something in her manner expressed something miraculous--trust??? Ok, so I know I am dealing with a two week old here, and maybe its sleep deprivation that is making me imagine something that would seem to make more than worthwhile all the sacrifice and discomfort of middle of the night feedings. I admit this possibility.
Still, things have changed. Where there used to just be confusion and blank stares, Sarah is now comforted by my voice, by my touch. Obviously, her concept of "mom" still needs a lot of developing. More than anything she just knows me as the "Dairy Queen" (new nickname from David; also a new favorite: "Lunch Lady"). But we are definitely getting somewhere, and we are both enjoying the trip. Its been a good two weeks.
On a related but different note: lingering pain. So, for those who haven't given birth, maybe you are wondering what your body feels like two weeks after giving birth. Well, I am sure it is different for everyone, and certainly different for those who gave birth the "old fashioned way", whereas I had a c-section. But currently the most sore part of my body, lingering from the birth experience? My left hand. That is where they put the IV they used to administer the pitocin and the nasty antibiotics they gave me during labor (penicilin burns like heck, just so you'll know!) That hand got really swollen from the IV, and the swelling has yet to completely go away, and the whole hand and forearm remain really tender to the touch! Who would have thought something as inocuous as an IV could give me more lingering pain than 30 hours of labor and major abdominal surgery? This only serves to deepen my intense hatred of needles (unfortunately).

Sarah's First Bath

These were taken several days ago, and actually David and I have given Sarah two baths now since she came home from the hospital. She didn't particularly like either (both were just sponge baths since her umbilical cord has yet to fall off), but the 2nd time she really enjoyed the part where we washed her hair. She was upset and crying, just as she'd done the first time, while we washed her body--but then as soon as we started on her hair her eyes got bright and she made her "satisfied" face she makes after a good meal or a good poop! It was so cute! Its amazing how fun just the everyday tasks of taking care of her can be. :)

Valentine's Night Out

We took Sarah "out" for the first time on Sunday night to celebrate Valentine's Day (a day late, obviously). We are new at this whole having a baby thing, so we didn't really know what to expect! We noticed that she usually has a pretty good feeding early in the evenings, then a 2-3 hour nap, so we figured we'd try feeding her and then letting her sleep in her little carrier thing while David, Mom and I enjoyed a delicious dinner at our favorite restaurant in Chiang Mai--Duke's. Well, Sarah was spectacular--she slept the whole time and let us enjoy a leisurely and delicious dinner! Here are some photos:

Fun with Daddy

Sorry I am so sporadic with posting these days! The last few days have been preoccupied with getting all the paperwork and baby passport photos and all that and taking them to the U.S. Consulate here in Chiang Mai to get the process started for Sarah's passport. But I have taken some good photos even in the midst of the craziness, so here are a few cute ones I took of Sarah and David together. Enjoy!

Sarah on YouTube

Hey everyone! David has been posting some cute videos (or videos that we, her proud parents, think are cute!) on YouTube for our families at home to watch. Thought I would post the link here for those of you who are interested:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ddeanUNC

Enjoy! (If you like videos of babies . . . )

Cute Sarah Photos from Week 1 of Her Life

Some of Sarah's silly faces:





She's so precious when she sleeps!

She sure looks good in her little sleeper with the cow feet!

Photo Review: Mom's Arrival

So, this is out of order life-wise, as these photos were taken in the couple of days before Sarah was born. But the photos are so cute, I just have to post them.
Our reunion at the Chiang Mai airport!

The day before I went into labor: enjoying delicious sundaes at Swensen's--a Thailand favorite of David's and mine!
Mom getting her pedicure on our "day of fun" the day before I went into labor! I got a pedicure too, but we didn't get a photo. It is too bad too, because when I finally conceded to having a c-section just a few hours later, my beautiful pedicure was removed as prep for the surgery! The funniest part was Barb, my American labor nurse, who had been admiring my pedicure since we got to the hospital and who was going on 20 plus hours without sleep because of coaching me, was so upset about it! She said in the States they wouldn't have had to remove all of it--just one toe so they could watch the color to monitor the oxygen in my blood. :)

Sarah's Birth Story

Sarah Grace Dean is finally here! After 9 plus months of waiting and dreaming of "Baby Dean," not knowing who he or she might be, we have finally met HER!!! David and I have thoroughly enjoyed these first five or so days of her life, learning her various gas faces and favorite movements and what soothes her to sleep (sometimes) and how to wake her from her beloved mid-feeding naps! I realized today that ALREADY the pain of labor and the details of that day were fading in my mind in light of the joy of having Sarah with us, so before I get too forgetful I would share with you all (and record for the future) the story of the day(s) Sarah was born:

It all started on Thursday. My mom arrived in Thailand on Wednesday, and I was feeling fantastic. So Thursday we decided we'd go into town for some shopping and pedicures and dinner out before my OB appointment that evening. Unfortunately I was feeling kind of crappy on Thursday--just extra tired and kind of crampy, lots of lower back pain, etc. But we decided to go for our fun day out anyway. I remember walking in the mall--if I walked or stood up for more than 3 minutes at a time, I'd have to sit down for 5 to rest! Still, the pain I was feeling didn't feel like contractions, so I never thought I might be in labor. At our OB appointment that evening, the doctor informed us that the baby had un-dropped! I mentally prepared myself that Baby Dean's arrival was still a way's off.

That night at midnight, my water broke. It was the wierdest sensation, but I will spare you the details and just suffice it to say I KNEW what was happening. So, suddenly, we knew the Baby was coming! In the states and in Thailand they don't let you go beyond 24 to 48 hours after your water breaks before the baby is born, one way or another. So excitement set in, but also anxiety--what do we do now?? I wasn't having contractions--do we go to the hospital or wait for labor to start or what? We called the doctor and she said to wait a couple of hours and if contractions didn't start, to come to the hospital so I could be induced. Well, within a couple of hours I was having 30 sec contractions 5 minutes apart, so we decided to let nature take its course and wait till morning to head to the hospital.

We got to the hospital around 7:30 a.m. My contractions were still just 45 sec long or so and 4 minutes apart--not very serious, labor-wise, but we were making progress (or so I thought). My initial exam showed I was LESS than 1 cm dilated. Already 8 hours had passed since my water had broken, so we needed to get this show on the road! So, the pitocin was ordered. Now in the states, you can get an epidural whenever you want and many women choose to get an epidural as soon as they learn they are doing to have to have pitocin, or the "drug from hell" as some women refer to it. But here they generally won't give you an epidural till you are already 5 cm dilated. So I braced myself for some pitocin-induced want-to-die labor and thanked the Lord that I'd learned at least a few natural childbirth labor techniques in the birth class we took here in Chiang Mai.

Fast forward 12 hours--7 or so hours of do-able pain and contractions, 5 hours of kill-me-now-12-on-a-pain-scale-of-1-to-10 contractions and back labor. I am now TWO cm dilated!!! I am begging for an epidural (and have been for 4 hours or so) and finally the doctor agrees to give it to me despite my lack of dilation. During this whole process the Lord provided Barb Krohn, a nurse here in Chiang Mai, as a labor coach for me and she was instrumental in convincing the doctors to let me have the epidural. Her rational was that either the epidural would speed things up, or I was headed for a c-section and I'd be getting an epidural then anyway. (By the way, the ONLY thing that got me through those 12 hours was David! He was absolutely AMAZING--my night in shining armor! He practically never left my side, constantly encouraging me, constantly doing everything he could to make me more comfortable! He is my labor HERO!!!)

I was absolutely giddy after I got the epidural. To be honest, the idea of an epidural freaked me out pre-labor, but in reality the pain I experienced when they put in the epidural was MAYBE 20% as painful as the contractions I was having at that time--NO comparison at all!! After this my labor actually DID speed up, though not by much. I started having contractions in the front (rather than all in my back) and it felt like they were actually doing what they were supposed to be doing! But 8 hours later I was still only dilated to 6 cm. So, since it had been 30 hours since my water broke and the risk of infection was increasing with each hour we waited, I finally consented to a c-section.

I was pretty freaked out by the idea of a c-section--major abdominal surgery and I was going to be awake for the whole thing!!! But, again, the Lord provided! The anaestesiologist was amazing! Not only was she of course watching my anaestesia through the whole surgery, but she talked to me and comforted me during my most anxious moments--mostly the 45 min or so of surgery prep they did when they wouldn't allow David to be in the room. Once they let David in, it was wham bam Baby is here!! David called out, "It's a girl!! Oh, and she's cute!! She's really really cute!!!" We were instantly thrilled! They gave the baby to David to hold and he brought her over for me to see. He said, "So her name is Sarah, right? Sarah Grace Dean." I said yes. It was time to sew me up and to take the baby to the nursery to be weighed and all that. David asked, "Do you want me to stay here with you or is it OK if I go to the nursery with Sarah?" I gave him permission to go, glad that at least one of us could be with her during those first few precious moments of her life!! Sarah was born Saturday morning February 7th around 7:30 a.m. and weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz.

So, that's the story! Oh, for those of you who've read thus far I have a special treat. Here is the link to some awesome photos our friends from birth class Vandenn and Danielle Krouch took of Sarah and us on Monday I believe. His camera is amazing, and the photos are fantastic. We'll be posting more soon, I am sure, but here is the link to these for now:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vandenn/sets/72157613518607661/

Last Date Night Without Kids?

Every Sunday night, the place David and I are staying here in Chiang Mai, does not offer supper in order to give its staff sort of a Sabbath rest (normally, 3 meals a day are provided here--sort of like at summer camp). So, David and I planned to go into the city today and have a date night, realizing it is possible this will be our last one as a couple without kids to rush home to and rescue the babysitter from!! Our plan was to leave mid-afternoon and go to this really cool market I had heard about (lots of authentic Thai goods, also a random selection of cheap baby stuff, supposed to be a really cool place to shop). I needed to purchase a couple of things--a mosquito net for the baby, and a few other things, but mostly I thought it would just be a cool outing. Afterwards David and I were going to go to a nice dinner together, though we hadn't yet decided what restaurant we would go to. So, we called a cab driver we have used several times (a very interesting Christian Thai man with quite a big personality--he always greets you with "God bless you!!" and blasts praise and worship music in his cab, which is covered in Christian stickers!!). He called his wife while on the way to take us to the market to shop, but she informed him that the market was closed today because it is a holiday (wives are so in the know). So he suggested we go to Tesco Lotus instead. Tesco Lotus is basically a Thai version of Super Wal-mart, but it certainly had everything we needed to get on our list, so we agreed. After an hour of grocery shopping, David and I were quite tired and hungry. So, we nixed the going someplace fancy for dinner idea and instead ate at a pizza restaurant right there in the Tesco Lotus building. This building also had a Swensen's ice cream shop, so we both got delicious sundaes after dinner! We did all this with our full shopping cart sitting right next to our table, at dinner and at the ice cream place!! We got back here to our room with all our groceries at about 6:30 p.m.!! It was then when we realized how less-than-romantic, but incredibly convenient and practical our "date night" turned out to be! Maybe this proves we are ready to be parents after all, hehehe! :)