A few more

Here are a few more pictures that I didn't want to wait on uploading yesterday. I love the picture of Daniel with Isaiah laying on his chest. I think it is so fun that Daniel has another guy around.


These are from when we were getting ready to leave the hospital. The entire time at the hospital we had him wrapped up like it was 20 degrees. I think none of us are really used to the air conditioning. Anyway, I knew we were going home to a much warmer environment, so I was very excited to put on this cute little outfit. My mom sent it over during Christmas and it is one of my favorites, so I couldn't resist putting it on for our trip home.


Its been so fun to be home and show off the little guy to everyone. Last night I asked a couple people to come over and help me so that Daniel could go play basketball and while they were here we got to looking through some old pictures of when JoAnn was a baby. I knew they looked a lot alike, but when I actually got out the pictures I could barely believe it. Here are a few that I think really show how much they look alike.



Other than that things are slowly getting easier. I still have to rely on others a ton, but I'm starting to figure out how to move without using my stomach muscles so hopefully that will just continue to make things easier. One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that I had an awful reaction to the morphine they gave me while I was in surgery. I knew from having JoAnn that I don't react well to it. It really makes my eczema go crazy for a few days, but the doctor insisted that it really is the best way to control the pain so we settled on him giving me steroids during and after the surgery to help control the reaction. It helped, but my face took most of the blow and was bright red and incredibly itchy. That's why I have a red face in most of the pictures after having him. Anyway, it's taking a long time, but that also seems to be getting better. So, it is a much slower process than last time, but things are starting to feel more like normal.

Finally Something for the eyes

We are home from the hospital today! I am very happy to be home and to see JoAnn again. I really missed her while we were gone. Anyway,now that I can use our internet at home here are some pictures from the last few days. I have many more pictures but we will start with these...


Alright, while I'm waiting for those to upload I will babble on a little more about what's been going on. First, let me just say this whole birthing experience has been so completely different than the one I had with JoAnn and although I wouldn't have done it differently given the situation, I must say I very much prefer the natural delivery that I had with JoAnn. Yes, the labor was extremely painful and seemed like it would never end, but at this point after I had JoAnn I was pretty much completely pain-free and felt like I could do whatever I wanted. This time, I'm finding myself stuck laying or sitting down and not really wanting to get up unless I absolutely have to. I am finding myself needing to rely on Daniel or whoever is around and willing to help. Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband who has never complained about getting something all the way across the room because it is just a couple inches out of my reach even in the middle of the night. I really cannot imagine doing this without his help. I also have wonderful friends who have already helped so much by taking care of JoAnn, feeding us and are willing to keep it up until I feel better. I really feel that God has blessed me so much with the people around me.

Isaiah Matthew Bucher

I would love to put up a bunch of pictures of my sweet adorable new little one, but the internet is really slow right now and I'm afraid it would take forever to post even one or two pictures. Anyway, I still wanted to recount the last couple of weeks waiting for Isaiah to arrive. I promise to put up some pictures soon though.

About a week and a half ago I went in for the 38 week check up with my OB and she told Daniel and I that she expected me to have the baby before I went in the next week. So we spent the next few days anxiously waiting for labor to start. I had gone in on Wednesday and on Friday I started to get some contractions, so we got really excited. However, God had different plans and after a few hours of waiting for them to get stronger they eventually went the other way and ended up stopping. False labor. I think all three of us had been so anxious to meet the little guy that we were all a little bummed. JoAnn started asking to see baby brother and it was so cute to see how excited she was to meet him. Anyway, the next Wednesday rolled around and I was still pregnant. So we went in for another check up and the doctor told us that if I didn't start labor by Saturday, which was my due date that she wanted me to come in and get a non stress test. I guess that is just the way they do things here. If you hit your due date they like to make sure that the baby is still thriving and that it is okay to keep going with the pregnancy. So, early Saturday morning Daniel and I left to get the test done. We had left home not really expecting anything and in just a matter of hours, I had the NST and one other test done and we were sitting across from the doctor who was telling us she thought it would be best for us to have the baby that day by c-section. Wow. That was not what I was expecting when I woke up in the morning.

I guess when they did the NST, it came back that he was non-reactive. I don't know all the ins and outs of the test, but from what I understood it meant that when he encountered the normal stresses of being in the uterus (i.e. braxton hicks contractions, his own kicking and moving, and external noises) his heart rate didn't go up like it should have. Just like when we do anything our heart rate spikes momentarily, his should have too, but did not. Anyway, they followed that test up by doing a very in depth ultrasound that showed the amount of blood flow to the uterus, umbilical cord, his brain, etc. They were trying to find out if there was a restriction somewhere that was causing his heart rate to not react like it should have. Evidently, that test showed that the blood flow was fine, but also showed that the placenta had already started to age and break down. So, based on the fact that the placenta was starting to age, the doctor felt as though I needed to have the baby that day. Normally she would have waited another week before inducing me. So, that meant I either needed to have them try to start labor or I needed to have a c-section. When she took into account the fact that he didn't react well on the NST to normal stresses, she was highly concerned that if I went into labor, he really wouldn't do well. So, that left the c-section. So, that was it. I had told Daniel as soon as I figured things weren't going the way they were supposed to that I wanted to do whatever the doctor felt was best. She is a very good doctor, a strong Christian and I completely trust her, so it was settled. We went straight to the pre labor room where they prepped me and got things started.

Everything felt like a whirlwind, but God has provided a great group of doctors and friends for us here and it went about as smoothly as I could have hoped for. The one thing I will always be thankful for is that our doctor, who knew from when I had JoAnn and also from previous conversations during this pregnancy that I felt very strongly about wanting to have Daniel with me for as much of the process as possible and even though hospital policy is now that they do not allow the fathers in the operating room for any c-section, she talked them into allowing Daniel to be there once they had me prepped and ready to go. That was huge for me since I hadn't been able to see him since the decision was made for me to have the baby and I was starting to get pretty anxious about what was happening. Other than dental surgery (which I don't really count as surgery) it was my first time ever having any kind of surgery and I barely had anytime to process what was going on.

Anyway, as it turns out it was really good that I hadn't gone into labor and tried to have Isaiah naturally because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, which is why they think he didn't do as well on the NST as they had wanted. So, all in all both he and I are doing great and I have to thank God for getting us through everything like He did. So, just to wrap it up here are a few of the stats...

Isaiah Matthew Bucher
Born Feb. 20, 2010 1:51 PM, Manila time
7 lbs 12 oz.
21 inches

I promise to put up some pictures soon.

Bubbles!

Ever since we were home over the summer and JoAnn played with a bubble machine for the first time, she has loved bubbles. So, for Christmas we gave her a bubble gun. The only problem...now that we've gone through all the bubbles it came with I'm having a horrible time finding refills. So, finally today I broke down and bought the cheapest bubble gun I could find so we could use the bubbles it came with for the gun she got for Christmas. After she woke up from her nap today, Daniel took her on a walk so they could play with the newly refilled bubble gun. Only problem is that it doesn't really work the greatest. So, after a few minutes they came home and got the new cheap one that I had bought today. This one doesn't take a battery, so instead of having a pump to take the liquid to the part that actually blows the bubble you have to dip it yourself. No big deal right, except the part you dip doesn't fit into the bottle the bubbles came in, so we just decided to get a bowl and dump the bubbles in that. It worked great, for all of 10 seconds. After which, the new bubble gun also broke. After, which we just decided to do it the old fashion way that we used to blow bubbles when Daniel and I were kids...by blowing them yourself. One of the great things about living here is that toys are extremely cheap, but one of the downsides is that just like today the cheap toys often either come already broken when we open the box or break within seconds of trying to use it for the first time. Anyway, I always have fun watching JoAnn play with bubbles, so I thought I would share the story and pictures.

This is the second bubble gun shortly after it broke and JoAnn was still trying to figure it out.

When we first decided to blow the bubbles ourselves.
After I went inside and got the wand that wouldn't make our hands so sticky.
I just have to mention this since so many people back home just got hit with a huge snow storm. Yes these pictures were taken today, in the beginning of February and we are outside with the sun still shinning late afternoon wearing shorts and T-shirts. Just thought I would point that out to those of you still looking out the window at massive piles of snow.

What's the difference?

Do you see a difference between these two pacifiers?


Is this a trick question? No. When JoAnn was only about 6 months, she completely stopped using a pacifier pretty much on her own. Then I made the mistake of giving it back to her a couple months later when she started teething. I did restrict it to only when she was sleeping. However, over the last few weeks I have been very lazy and when she should be using the pacifier less, I have allowed her to use it more. Lately, you can barely ever catch her without it. Anyway, she brought her favorite pacifier with her to church today and we made the mistake of leaving it in the car when we came home. Not wanting to run all the way back to the car (really, it was more not wanting to go up 2 flights of stairs when I'm carrying around almost 30 extra pounds) I dug out another package of pacifiers I had in a drawer that were exactly the same kind and even the same color. Then without telling her it was any different, I gave her the new pacifier. It took her only a couple minutes before she looked at me, took the pacifier out of her mouth and said "No, Mommy. Paci green." (Which is what she calls her favorite pacifier.) I couldn't believe it, how did she know it wasn't the same? I can't tell the difference, but the first picture is her favorite pacifier and the second picture is the one I gave her today.

On a separate note, I've heard it said that when you are pregnant you become much more clumsy, so I'm going to blame this story on being pregnant. On Friday, Daniel and I went to see a movie at the mall and as we were walking out to the car I stepped down off the curb and next thing I knew I was laying on the ground with my ankle throbbing. This mall also has a grocery store in it, so in the parking lot they made a small wooden ramp that they put next to the curb so you can take your shopping cart to your car easier and somehow I managed to step right on the edge of the ramp, twist my ankle and fall "like a sack of rocks" as Daniel has been saying. Truthfully, despite the fact that there were plenty of witnesses to my fall, I was really wasn't very embarrassed at the time. The part that was hard to deal with was more that I still had the whole parking lot to cross and I could barely walk my ankle hurt so bad. I immediately went home and put ice on it and started the whole "RICE" treatment since all I could think about was how embarrassed I would be limping into the hospital and explaining what happened to my doctor if I went into labor before it started to feel better. For some reason I was never embarrassed about when I had an injury due to playing sports, but now that I'm older and don't play I feel like an idiot anytime I hurt myself. Plus, it just doesn't seem to fit the image of a pregnant lady that I have in my head. The good news is that other than a few small bruises on my ankle and limping for a couple days, you wouldn't even know I hurt myself. For Daniel, it did bring up the story of his mom breaking her leg when she was pregnant with his sister and I have to say, I just can't imagine having that happen. I never really thought about how hard that must have been, especially with 4 boys already. As Daniel would say, she is a warrior.

Belly Bump and Baby Shower

I'm a little late on this post as well, but at least I'm getting it up, right? I have been so tired lately that every time I think I'm going to sit down and write out a post I end up taking a nap instead. I guess that will probably be the norm once the little guy gets here, so I should probably just get used to it and be thankful that I have the ability to take a nap, but right now I find it slightly annoying.

Alright, moving on. Here is my belly at 36 weeks. (I am currently 37 1/2, not that I'm counting down the days or anything. Only 18 more days!) JoAnn likes to be in the picture with me, but she doesn't like to smile for the picture, go figure.

I know I may not look too big, but my stomach feels like it is just about stretched to its limit. I never got anywhere close to being this big with Jo, so it seems strange to see me so big.

That picture was taken right before I went to a baby shower that some of the women here threw for me. I remember feeling a similar feeling when I was near the end of the pregnancy with JoAnn, but it makes me thankful to have some good friends around when I'm getting ready to have the baby. For some reason I have this minor fear of "What if something happens to me" and it's good to know that Daniel would have some great people around to help if anything really did happen. Anyway, it was fun to have a blue themed baby shower this time around. Last time everything was pink, so it was fun to have something a little different. I got some really cute little boy outfits, blankets and one of my favorite things to get as a gift...lots of diapers! I know that may sound crazy, but you go through so many when they are young and I hate buying them.

One of the fun things about showers here is we have one lady who loves to make cakes and is really creative and talented at making them. I stole these pictures from her blog, so thanks for the picture Val, but this first one is from my shower with JoAnn and one of my all time favorite cakes ever. The second one is the one we had this time and is also very cute, but even better is my favorite type of cake she makes. It is a chocolate cake with chocolate truffle icing. It was VERY yummy.


Anyway, I had a great time with the women and it made me all the more excited to meet the little dude.

One last thing to put up...
One of the benefits of living here is that labor is really cheap, so when I realized that I was having a boy and the only infant car seat I had had a big pink cover on it, I decided to get some fabric and have one made that was a little more boyish. This is the final result. I think it turned out pretty cute and was very happy.
As if it wasn't enough to be happy with the results, when I was pretty nervous about what I was going to end up with. I had asked the lady that works for us, Ida, to give the materials and directions to the seamstress for me since she would be able to explain it in Tagalog. After I got it back, there were a few minor alterations that needed to be done, so I was asked Ida to go back to the lady and ask her to change a few things. When she returned, Ida was telling me that she was able to talk to the lady about God and encourage her to start praying since she was not a Christian and works for an older single lady who is not known for being very kind. Ida explained that the lady mentioned something about how it must be very different to work for Americans than Filipinos and Ida explained that if she is unhappy about her work situation, she could pray that God would change the heart of the lady she works for to be nicer to others since He is able to change anyone . I couldn't believe it, as I become more pregnant, I have been getting harder on Ida since it seems like nothing is ever really clean here and I'm about to bring home a new born baby. This was a great reminder that I should be focusing on how thankful I am to have a neat Christian lady work for us, instead of all the other stuff. I have talked to this seamstress many times since her main employer lives in the same building as we do and many times she is outside walking her employer's dog when JoAnn and I are on walks. But I have never once been able to communicate more than figuring out what the dog's name is and in only talking to her 3 times Ida was able to find out that she isn't a Christian and able to share a little bit of the hope she could find in Christ. That just amazes me.