Siri is 3 weeks old

Siri falling asleep in my arms. She looks so peaceful doesn't she?
Siri all dressed up for Father's Day
"I like to smile" :)
"I like boppy time"

It's been a more than a week since my last post.....unfortunately my computer crashed, again! I've had so many problems with my laptop so I'm finally going to buying an Apple, I hear they don't crash, yay!! Since my pictures were on my computer, I've uploaded the ones I have been taking using my camera phone to post on the blog for now....they aren't too bad huh?! Of course, like anyone who has a new child, I've been taking endless pictures of Baby Siri....probably too many...and then I actually print every single one of them as well!!! That's probably not going to be sustainable...considering how I just spent $60 one time and then $15 the last time just for photos. Ahhh, what the heck, Baby Siri is all worth it :)

Well Baby Siri is 3 weeks old now....but it doesn't feel like it because she's growing so fast. Very early on she's been holding her head up and now she's been sleeping long hours in the night, it's great! She's been a really good baby so far, not crying much unless she's hungry.....although the cries do get worse since we take a minute or two to warm up her milk!! But the moment we feed her, she's all quiet and happy :) Mommy and Daddy are doing very well....loving every moment we spend with our baby girl. Mommy has been taking Baby Siri on lots of shopping trips .....she enjoys the outings...well, what she enjoys is being in her carseat/stroller, its seems to be very calming for her.

Siri just hanging out at home

Boppy Time! June 11, 2008
Grandma, Baby Siri, Mamma, and Uncles Muni, Nakia & Nando.
Siri with her happy Papa :)
Siri after waking up from her nap. June 13, 2008

Baby Siri, out 'n about!

Siri just hanging out on the bed

Siri with her Uncle Nando... just had lunch.
Baby Siri eventually woke up but quietly stayed snuggly in her stroller. She's our cutie-pie :)
3 generations of shoppers, Lilly's mom, Lilly & Baby Siri
Siri and her Papa.....look how happy the new daddy is, he loves his baby girl!!
My mom with her first grandchild :)

Our baby Siri today is 9 days old today...and everyday, our little girl is changing, from her face, to her eyes, to how she looks at you, to how much she eats and how long she can stay up.....subtle changes, but still very noticeable and so very amazing!! I know it's only been 9 days but people have always said, "they grow up so fast", and I definitely can see why they say that. Mamma & Papa are also doing well, we both really enjoy every moment with her.....especially when she's just staring at you, oh it's so heart-warming :) She's still sleeping most of the day so when she's up, it's just so cute to look at her. She likes to keep us up at night, between the hours of 1-4 a.m, but eventually she settles down and sleeps well into the late morning.

Siri's grandmother arrived from Cambodia last Thursday and unfortunately is leaving us tonight. With her here, we've been taking our little Siri out 'n about, walking around, doing some shopping and enjoying the nice weather. We've even gone to see Siri's uncle Nando at the Grove and had a nice lunch at Morel's Bistro....Baby Siri does so well when we're out, she's sleeping the entire time but that's okay! Thanks Maman for coming here....I wish you could stay longer, it's been very nice to have you around, Baby Siri will miss you :) Please come back soon!! Here are some more pictures of our little one during her first week.

Baby Siri is one week old today :)

Yes I know I have different mittens on, they just keep falling off, but I'm still cute :)

Siri is getting her first sponge bath. She doesn't like it much now but hopefully she will later on. Mamma had to hold her hands to keep her from crying while Papa did the bathing.
Baby Siri hanging out in her playard. This is great for the daytime so you don't have to go up and down the stairs!
This is Siri on her first day out 'n about. She slept through the whole day...as you can see, she's quite comfortable in her carseat! But this is what Siri looks like most of the time....with her eyes closed.
Mommy and Me time...I love my baby girl!!!Baby Siri just hanging out on her boppy after Mommy fed her :)

Our baby is here, beautiful & healthy!!!

There she is, Siri's first few minutes outside her mommy's womb :)
Mommy getting to hold her baby girl for the first time, oh, what an emotional moment!
Siri, in the evening of her birthday, June 2, 2008 (unfortunately she scratched herself)
Siri Natalia Hyde, doing her favorite thing, sleeping :)

Yes, our little baby girl is finally here....2 days after her due date, YAY!!! We went into the hospital on Sunday morning, a little after 10 a.m. because I thought perhaps my water might have leaked and I did start having some minor contractions. Although it was determined that my water had not broken yet, the nurse/midwife advised that my labor be "augmented" (I was already in labor but in the very early stage so technically it's not an induction) because they saw that my amniotic fluid was slightly low and that their wasn't a large amount of fetal activity. They broke my water around 3 pm and then I began feeling stronger contractions and started going into "active" labor. After 12 hours of active labor, our little Siri was ready to come out. She was born on Monday June 2nd, at 3:42 a.m. at 8 lbs, 2 ounces. Yup, she was a big baby :) The whole process of Siri's birth was not what I had anticipated but I hear it never goes the way you think it might. The birth experience for me was great despite a minor "hiccup" in which I had to endure 2 hours of painful contractions (sans epidural)......think of sharps pains shooting across your lower back, not so nice! But of course it's all worth it when you get a wonderful gift in the end, our beautiful baby, Siri Natalia Hyde. She's such a precious little baby and we just adore her, so taken back by the fact that she is in our lives now . She's been a typical little newborn so far, just eating and sleeping and keeping us up in the middle of the night. Here are some pictures of Siri in her first few minutes and days of life!!

Siri's Nursery

Look at Siri's cute little outfit...she'll match her room!

I think I've done all I could do in preparation for our Little Siri. Her nursery is done, her clothes are laundered and clean, and she's got everything she needs now, including a ton of diapers and wipes :) So right now, Mommy-to-be is just resting, running errands and anxiously waiting for the day that our Baby Siri decides to come into this world. Here are some pictures of her nursery.....we have a 2 bedroom condo so we had to make her room also function as a guestroom so we decorated the existing bedroom furniture we have to match her nursery (or vice-versa). Surprisingly, it all fits in there!

I went to see the Dr. again yesterday and everything is okay. No sign of Siri coming just yet.....I think she's real comfortable in my tummy :) I hope she doesn't take too long because as each day passes, I get bigger and bigger and it becomes more uncomfortable to manuever myself around, not to mention the frequent trips to the ladies room!! Hopefully my next post is of Siri's arrival....her expected due date is this Saturday...so close! I have to say, I am quite nervous but I'm certainly ready.

Waiting for our Little Siri!

Corinne's Baby Shower ( Me, geri, Corinne, Celin, Stacey & Alice)

The mom-to-be has been off work for a week now.....I spent the whole week in complete nesting mode, cleaning and organizing my house and getting Baby Siri's nursery ready (opening all the gifts and boxes, putting things away, washing her teeny tiny clothes and all her crib stuff, decorating, vacuuming, etc). I feel very accomplished!! I've made many trips to Baby's R Us to buy the rest of the things on the registry, my next stop is Target. Everything is almost done so I won't have much left to do next week...I plan on just resting and conserving my energy for labor and delivery. I still need to get my hospital bag ready and that's pretty much it....oh, and Papa Charles needs to install the car seats as well, that's pretty important! Today I'm feeling weaker and more tired....I don't know if that's a sign for me to just take it easy and relax. I've just been so anxious to have her here so I've been doing everything I can to make sure we're ready for her. We're definitely more ready now than we were a week ago :)

Last Sunday was Corinne's Baby Shower and we spent a wonderful afternoon in Pasadena. There was a Intuitive Counselor there and she shared some interesting things about our little Siri....she's going to like to sing. Apparently all my singing in the car soothes her :)

During my last visit to the Dr. on Thursday, she checked again to see if my cervix had opened and unfortuntately it's still closed. Our little Siri isn't quite ready to come out yet...but hopefully she won't be too long, she's due in a week! She's estimated right now at around 6 lbs & 12 ounces.

37 weeks.....and lots of learnings!

The very-soon-to-be parents

(Photo by Carly Daniel)

We have learned so much in the last week.......we had a "Breastfeeding for Success" class last Monday, our 2nd week of Chilbirth Preparation on Thursday and tonight we just got back from Infant Safety & CPR class...and yes, Papa Charles came to all the classes with me :) Sure you can read about all these things in books and magazines but it's nice to hear it from someone who's been through it and been doing it for a long time. I was really getting nervous about labor but after the last Childbirth Ed class, I'm not AS scared because I know what to expect and learned some ways to cope with the labor pains (contractions). People say once you're in labor, all of that is forgotten but hey, I'll bring my birth ball anyway......it's fun to sit on that thing!! Plus squatting comes natural to me, I'm Cambodian and we like to squat! Tonight we learned how to perform Infant CPR and we practiced on a baby doll many, many times.....that was pretty neat. I hope we would never have to really do it but if we ever need to, we are prepared!!

I'm really looking forward to the end of this week.......it's my last week of work, YAY! As much of a workaholic I am.....I can't deny the fact that I need this time off to prepare for Baby Siri's arrival. Our house is completely filled with boxes and gift bags galore filled with a whole bunch of baby things. I have yet to wash anything and put her nursery together. Papa Chuk has just finished the crown molding and has put together all the big furniture pieces so now I can start on the decorating...the fun part :)

A couple weeks ago we took some Maternity Photos.....to capture the beauty of pregnancy. Here is one of the photos for you to see. The others are quite intimate & personal to post on this blog that ANYONE can see!

My Baby Shower

My brothers, Siri's Uncles....Uncle Nando & Uncle Nakia.

These are the fabulous women who helped with the shower..THANK YOU!!!!
Cute & personal touches, courtesy of my crafty cousin Tevy!!
Time to open gifts :) This one came from my brother Nakia & David
Beautiful ladies in the family
My wonderful hosts, Tevy & Casey
Me and the girls!
The Future Mamma & Papa

Yesterday, Sunday May 4th 2008 was a day I was looking forward to for months because it was the day of my baby shower. It was well worth the wait because I had such a great time with all my wonderful friends & family!!! There were family members that came all the way from Arizona just for the day to come to my shower....thank you ladies for making the trip!! And I had lots of friends come who I haven't seen much because we've all been so busy. It was just great to see everyone...those from near & far. I felt bad because I couldn't spend much time with any one particular friend/family.....I wish there was more time to catch up on things with all who came. My cousins Tevy & Casey hosted the event for me at their beautiful house in Fullerton and they made the shower so extra special with all the cute, personal touches. Everything was so amazing from the pink & brown themed decor, celebrating Baby Siri's upcoming arrival, to all the yummy food & desserts. Special thanks goes to my hosts and all their helpers, Cassidy, Emma, Julie, Celin & Debbie. Thank you ladies for such a special day...I'll remember forever! Thank you to my brother Nando for designing my fabulous "HERESHEIS" chocolate bar favors...they were a hit with the guests, super cute!! Baby Siri is already so loved and I cannot wait to introduce her to everyone when she finally comes.

35 weeks....31 days to go!

I have officially one more month left, and Baby Siri will be here with us....woo hoo!! As each day, week and month passes, the anticipation and excitement just gets bigger!!! I had my doctor's appointment this morning and everything is going well. I'm measuring around 35 weeks even though I'm closer to 36 weeks, which is okay. Baby Siri is estimated at around 5 lbs right now...her heartbeat is 132 bpm. The doctor checked my cervix this time to see if it's open at all.....and Whoa!, that was a weird experience!! But anyway, nope, my cervix is closed which is fine since I still have a month to go anyway. I'm going to go process my state disability paperwork today as well....my last day of work will be May 16th so that gives me two weeks to prepare for Siri's arrival. Still lots to do....but we'll get it done!! We're starting childbirth classes tomorrow.....every Thursday night up until I give birth. I'll tell you how that goes. I have no new pictures so here's our little Princess framed :)