10 days old

Nicole - before and after!

Dave and Karen visiting in the hospital.

Mark holding their son Avery- we'll be nanny sharing with Mark and Andi.

Our other nanny at home - Sofie!

Hudson is 10 days old today! Woohoo!

- Barbara left today to go back to Dallas. This is a huge accomplishment for her, and we're looking forward to her feeling well, being back at full strength.

- My mom is now here, and is really helpful in taking care of us!

- I go back to work Monday...aaahhhhh!

- Hudson is doing well - gaining weight, eating every 3 hours or so. He has now mastered the art of peeing while we're changing him...in fact he even hit his own face once!

comparisons

My dad as a kid.

Me! I'm not called "Chunky" for nothing...

Pictures here and elsewhere

Hey everyone,

I'll still be putting pictures and updates on the blog. Also, we're going to keep more pictures on Picasa, a photo sharing website.

I'll post links to the various photo albums, and hopefully this will get more advanced and presentable. In the meantime, here are two albums:

Hudson, album 1

Hudson, album 2

from Danielle, Mike, and Addison

...one of our most loyal blog readers! A gift from her daughter, Addison!

Hey everyone, you may notice that I'm going to start typing less, but still try to keep pictures up. It takes longer to type, and man we are tired from getting up every 2-3 hours to feed and change and comfort him. Having said that, he is a little angel.

- He is starting to get the hang of breast feeding, though still neither he or we are experts.

- Robert (Nicole's dad) is in town for the weekend. He's the professional photographer of the family!

- Father's Day is tomorrow, how cool is that!

- Had our first "I peed on you while you were changing my diaper!"

- Jeannie and Barbara (Nicole's aunt and mom) are conspiring to live here permanently..."We won't take up much room, we promise!"

- Sofie is a gracious big sister, and whenever Hudson cries she is around to console him.

- We appreciate all the support that is coming our way!

- First pediatrician visit today - Hudson is doing great! 75th percentile in weight, 90th in height, at birth...

In other news...

- Natalie Hejko just got married! Nicole's longtime friend from childhood...best wishes! (I learned you don't say congratulations to a new bride, but instead best wishes)

- Sarah and Alex, and Amy and Nate are expecting soon!

- Barbara had her oncology follow up, and the plan is to "watch and wait" - we hope the surgeon got all of the kidney cancer and that she is cured. She'll follow up here at UNC over the next year for surveillance.

- Jeff (my bro in law) had Usher roll up into the Reeves motorcars showroom! Met him in person!

- Mom and dad to visit end of June, and Jenny to come visit toward mid-end July.

- We will be moving to Atlanta in a year. It is exciting! But also bittersweet, because we have grown to love it here too...

We're home!

Its so great to be home and introduce Hudson to his new home! And to his sister Sofie, who promptly licked his feet and then went for his face! Hudson is currently sitting in his swing, and Sofie keeps walking by and looking at her curiously. Everything has gone really well. We had a great experience at Durham Regional Hospital. I think the only issue that will be a big challenge is the whole breastfeeding thing. Hudson is great at sucking on a pacifier, and even on a slow-flow bottle, but he just hasn't got the hang of the real thing yet. I think that once Nicole's milk starts flowing, he'll latch on better. The lactation consultant thinks that Hudson was sucking on his lower lip in utero, and got so used to it that he does it when he's trying to latch, making it harder. Hudson also has newborn rash, which apparently doesn't cause any problems and goes away in a few days.


Anyways, we're all doing well and thanks for keeping up with us!

From Robert, Nicole's dad

Robert sent us a picture and a caption stating, "I told you that Hudson would look just like me!"

Time to breathe

Hey everyone,

We are doing so well and we really appreciate everyone's support, and I'm glad you are enjoying the updates!

Hudson is pretty darn cute and adorable, if I say so myself! He has so far been really well behaved - he barely cries, and usually is just chillin', looking around, playing with his hands, and making rooting motions with his mouth. He hasn't caught on to the breast feeding yet, but I'm sure its coming soon.

Well, what can I say about our (really, Nicole's) labor experience. The most impressive thing was how dang painful those contractions were after her water broke. Man, I just am not used to people being in that much pain...I am so glad it was, in retrospective, a short period of time.

As you know, it all started around 10am when Nicole's induction was started. From 10 to 7pm, Nicole was really not changing much. She was still hanging out, talking, drinking, and visiting with her mom and Jeannie. At 7pm, Dr. Chappell (who was wonderful), was checking Nicole. Still, she was 2cm, but as she was feeling the membranes, pop! Her water broke around 7:30pm. Her contractions immediately started getting stronger, and stronger, and PAINFUL! I think the combination of pitocin and having her membranes ruptured really caused some intense contractions. She was contracting predictably, every 2 minutes, and could barely tolerate the intensity. She got 1 dose of Stadol which took the edge off for about 30 minutes, and she looked a little more calm. Once the Stadol wore off, Nicole was begging for more pain medicine or for the epidural to start. Around 8:30 she was checked, and was 4cm. Yes, progress! We decided on the epidural, so anesthesia was called and another hour went by until the epidural was fully placed. Right as the epidural was finished, Nicole said..."I feel like I have to push!" So around 9:30pm, she was checked again, and all of a sudden she was fully dilated!!! So we did a little preparation, and we pushed for about an hour. The epidural definitely helped - Nicole felt so much better, relaxed, and just felt pressure but no more pain! Nicole was an awesome pusher - I was watching the whole time (a strange sight), and with every push I could see Hudson getting closer and closer to joining the world. Finally at 11:38pm Hudson Cole Cheng was born!

He wasn't really crying for the first 30 seconds, but then he let out a small cry, and then some huge cries! He has lungs like a horse! He was crying for a good few minutes until he got under the warmer, and then he instantly stopped crying and started looking around at us, at me...it was amazing! He cried for a good few minutes, but after being under the warmer he instantly stopped, and began looking around, playing with his hands and feet, and making cute rooting movements. He had us wrapped around his finger ever since then! We stayed in the delivery room til about 1:30, when we moved to the recovery room. Tried breast feeding but were unsuccessful, then decided to have Hudson go to the nursery and called it a night.

We slept from 2 to 6 am, and today has been a bit of a whirlwind. Barbara had a doctor's appt at UNC, so she and I went there while Jeannie and Nicole chilled at UNC. Now were back, and just getting used to the idea of being parents!

All in all, June 17th was an exciting day for us. We introduced our baby boy into the world, and found out where the next phase of our lives will be. We're looking forward to sharing Hudson with all of you, and can't wait for you to meet him!

Love,
Nicole, Alan, Hudson, and Sofie

The arrival of Hudson Cole Cheng

We are excited to announce the arrival of Hudson Cole Cheng! He arrived at 11:38pm, weighing 8 lbs, 4 1/2 ozs, and measuring 21 inches! Mom and baby are doing great! I'll write more soon...

6:15pm - How does a contraction feel?

The discomfort is starting to kick in...poor Nicole! Women and moms, I have to hand it to you, you are my heroes!

Nicole's pitocin is now at 24mu/min. !!

2:45pm

- Around 2pm, Nic's pitocin was increased to 16mU/hr. She is definitely feeling it more now. Not the crazy "made for movies" contractions yet, but definitely getting stronger. She's starting to become uncomfortable.
- More jello, and orange popsicles. I've been informed that the first thing she wants when she's done is a hot turkey sub from Jimmy John's.
- I had a yummy salad and vegetable soup, and felt bad about it. But Nicole was gracious and didn't mind.
- Otherwise, Nic is doing great and so is Hudson! He's got great "heart rate variability".
- There's not much on tv in the afternoons...
- Hudson will be a fan of - the UNC tarheels, the Braves, the Rays, the Bucs and Cowboys, and the Magic. The Yankees? I'm not so sure...but he does have a cute Yankees uniform (sorry Robert...)

noon

- Nicole is feeling some more frequent contractions, that seem stronger but still only slightly uncomfortable. The monitor says about every 2-3 minutes (but I'm not sure)
- Pitocin just increased to 8mu/hr.
- Otherwise she feels good.
- We've been going bonkers waiting for some action and for the match...

I just found out I matched at Emory for cardiology! Woo hoo!

10:35 am

1-2 cm dilated
-2 to -1 station
Pitocin started - they start at 2mu/min and increase 0.5mu every 30 minutes
Nicole's feeling just fine. Mild contractions around every 10 minutes.
Jello and apple juice requested. She's hungry!

Waiting...

This is a video from inside the delivery room....NO its not Nicole pushing....just saying hi!

Update

Nicole is going to be induced tomorrow - Wednesday 6/17 at 6am! The doctors moved us up because a spot opened up. Nicole is happy about this - she's ready! So tonight is our last night as childless parents...we're going to celebrate by going out to eat...and going to bed!

videos!

Hey everyone, we just bought a new handheld camcorder (great idea Amy) ...using your advice, we will be making videos and recording some memories. And I discovered just now, I can post them here too!

This is a message from lil ol' me...everyone else is asleep...

We went to the doctor today...not much change! Still 1-2cm dilated, 80% effaced. It was a little bit disappointing that we didnt have much progress, but the good news is Hudson is doing just fine. Amniotic fluid levels, heart rate, movement, all look good. We have a date for induction set for Thursday, June 18th. On Wednesday, June 17th, we find out where we match for cardiology! Ahhhhhh! I think I started this blog with a similar entry, finding out where I matched for residency...

Thanks to everyone who have been calling, emailing, or texting to find out how Nicole is doing! She's hanging in there....I can't believe I'm gonna be a dad!

still no baby!

Today we are 40 weeks and 3 days. Nicole is doing well, but still having those pesky cramps that don't really count as contractions. Maybe they are getting mildly more uncomfortable...the doctor told us we're not ready to go in until the contractions are crazy intense. So Nicole responds, "So I have to wait for pain?" He says, "Yep." Anyways, Monday (tomorrow) is our next appointment. I think that if we aren't in action by then, we'll probably ask to be induced.

In the meantime, I would like to advertise what I do for my pregnant wife.

- I function as Nicole's shoehorn, helping her put on her shoes. In fact, today, when she needs me, she just says "Oh Mr. Shoehorn!....."
- I cook...sometimes
- I make the bed
- I put together the baby's swing
- I woke up at 4:15am because Nicole can't sleep and wants to take a walk around the neighborhood, so I sleepily walk with her...
- I try to entertain her to distract her from her cramps...like going to the UNC planetarium and watching "adventures of the solar system" (ages 8 and up)
- I massage her feet with lotion
- I get her cold watermelon to eat

And I'm not complaining, just simply stating and loving every minute of it. She is my hero and has really done well with all of this. Sofie is "dog of the year" - she's been very understanding and will make a great big sister/nanny.

Question - should I buy a camcorder and tape record the birth?

contractions

...happening about every 7-10 minutes! Not too strong yet, they're not the crazy painful types, just really tight. We called the doctor, but sounds like we're in prelabor, not "active labor", quite yet.

baby's coming!

Hey everyone,

Just a quick update that the baby is almost here! Nicole is 39 weeks and 4 days today...we had our checkup at the OB, and everything is going well. She's stayed about 2cm dilated for the last few weeks, so we are getting anxious! I can't believe we're about to become parents. Though I've had 9 months to think about, it still doesn't feel totally real!

I've been able to "practice" a little bit with Dave and Karen's daughter, Natalie. She is adorable and now just over a year old, and has lots of bubbly personality. Seeing her grow up and become a little person definitely makes me excited to be a dad and see our son grow up!

We'll let everyone know when he's born. Can't wait! Hudson Cole Cheng will be joining the world soon!

Alan