Browse Category: babies

Shower for Jia and Jason

DSC_6298This morning, we hosted a Baby Shower for Jia and Jason at Blue Line Pizza in Burlingame.

DSC_6280The venue turned out to be a very good one since we opted for the covered patio that shaded us and shielded us from the wind.  DSC_6270We had the balloons blown up at a nearby Safeway and then picked up yummy chocolate sea salt and vanilla coconut cupcakes from Kara’s across the street from the pizza place.  Loved how conveniently located they were.  I also ordered these cupcake lines and treat cups from Amazon, which completed the look.

DSC_6272Their friend Elsa made the diaper cake that was complete with socks, and elephant, a book, and of course diapers.

DSC_6301This is Elsa and her family.

DSC_6289The pizza and appetizers were all so yummy and we had just enough food with a little left over for Jason to eat later. 🙂

DSC_6312We can’t wait to meet the twins!  We’re also hoping for them to cook until at least 36 weeks and for a smooth and uneventful delivery.

Baby Sabrina

IMG_4200Last night after work, I drove up to Walnut Creek to visit Mai and her 2-week-old baby girl Sabrina.

DSC_6203DSC_6179I tried to get some portraits taken but she was either sleeping or fussing.

DSC_6185Mai looks great and has been adjusting to motherhood so gracefully.

IMG_4192It was also fun to have Ranee and her girls there.  Avia is 9 months now and just started crawling.

IMG_4206Our little group of babies from work is certainly growing and so much fun to watch through their milestones.

Congratulations to Mai and Dennis!!

Oahu: Day 3

Day Three: 3/7/14

IMG_3076On Saturday morning, we headed out to the Farmer’s Market at KCC.  It was already packed at 8:30 in the morning but we got through the crowd and ate some pretty good stuff.  We first wandered around and bought some fresh fruit to eat.

IMG_3082IMG_3073We also stopped at The Pig & The Lady stall for some Vietnamese food.  Brother had noodles and soup while I just had a bowl of their tasty broth. IMG_4108IMG_3087

Jes and I got fresh-squeezed lemonade from two competing stands.  Mine was cheaper and tasted better but he would argue for his.

IMG_3099Our last treat was a little something from Ono Pops.  I got Waialua Estate Mocha that basically tasted like a mud pie on a stick.  Brother got Kona Latte that tasted like Jamoca ice cream from Baskin-Robbins as well as the Lilikoi 50/50 that was like a creamscicle.  All were very good.

IMG_3104After the Farmer’s Market, we hung out at the hotel for a bit before heading out to Yoon’s condo.  She had prepared quite a feast for our little group and served it all in her clubroom by the pool.  They had chapchae, 3 kinds of poke, Chinese chicken salad, Portuguese sausage, and Kahlua pork.

IMG_2275We brought dessert from the Farmer’s Market –  pineapple lime pie and banana cream pie.

IMG_3103We all met little Trevor, who slept pretty much through lunch.  He’s a chunky little guy that Yoon says eats almost every hour.IMG_2277These two little rugrats hung out too and it was funny seeing KK mean-muggin’ Alice when she was peeling her mandarins.

IMG_3113It was so fun hanging out with Yoon – can’t believe she’s a Mommy now!  Some things may have changed but some things remain the same – like the classic headlock hug.

IMG_3120Thanks for having us over, Yoon!

IMG_4181In the evening, KK hung out with the family while Jes and I went out for dinner on our own.  The last time we were out by ourselves was probably last September for a wedding.

IMG_2289It looked like they all had a good time while we were away.

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For dinner, we went to Alan Wong’s.  The last time Jes and I had gone was back in 2000.  Crazy.  This was my appetizer: crab cake (substitute for the tuna tartar that was on the tasting menu) and a grilled cheese made with foie and kahlua pork.  It was on top of a parmesan cracker and cold tomato soup.IMG_3131

This was the butter-poached lobster.  It was so yummy – Jes’ favorite.IMG_3132

Next was the crusted fish.  My memory is so bad that I can’t remember what the actual fish was.  Regardless, it was delicious – especially the sauce underneath.  We also had a meat dish – short rib with gochuchang and a bowl of rice.  It was so tasty that I forgot to take a picture. 🙂

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Dessert was a haupia ice cream with a chocolate and coconut shell served with fresh fruit and lilikoi sauce.  So good but I couldn’t finish it.IMG_3137We also took a photo at the restaurant, which we never do anymore.  Cheers to a fun date night!  Thanks for watching KK, Family!

Lunar New Year

IMG_2792We had a late celebration this year with the usual animals.  We met up with the Bangs and Sokol-Juns at Yank Sing on Sunday for some dim sum and catching up.  It’s fun seeing all 5 kids interact with each other nowadays.  Mei-mei follows KK around.  Rowan follows Jack around.  Reese plays with everyone.

IMG_2773Jack tried chicken feet for the first time and needed a little practice with separating the meat from the bones.

IMG_2775It was nice to have place where the grown-ups could have a good meal together while the kids had a place to roam and be kids.  We were seated out in the atrium where their noises blended in with everything else.

IMG_2797Happy Year of the Ram!  Next year, Peanut will be added to this photo.

Round 2

IMG_0294aWe have big news: I’m 11 weeks pregnant and it’s a boy!!  Our estimated due date is August 1st.

2weeks_111414Here is a picture of him as a hatched blastocyst.  At that point, he was just a ball of cells.

7weeks_121514On 11/23/14, I went in for my blood test and it was positive!  On 12/15/14, I had my first ultrasound, which confirmed that there was something growing inside.  He had a strong heart beat and was just under a centimeter long.  If you can’t tell, the embryo is that little bean-shaped thing hanging from the top of the black circle.

10weeks_010215_aOn Friday, I had my 10-week ultrasound and the little guy waved to me!  He has 4 limbs and actually looked like baby. This is the side view.

10weeks_010215_bWe also got a front view with all his limbs showing.  Again, there was a strong heart beat and he had tripled in size over the last 3 weeks!  No wonder I’ve been feeling so fat.

For those who are interested, I thought I’d write a little about our year-long baby project. Don’t read this part if this stuff grosses you out or if it’s TMI.

It all started last January (2014) when we decided to start trying for #2.  I went back to PFC (the clinic where we got help for KK) and my doctor said that we wouldn’t have to change the game plan.  The problem that I have with conceiving naturally is that my pituitary gland is lazy and doesn’t produce the hormone that signals the release of the egg from my ovaries.  So, without medical intervention, we would still be child-less.

We started with IUI, which is the least invasive method that involves ultrasounds to figure out when my follicles were mature and taking medicine to help the mature egg get released.  That’s how we conceived KK.  Well, after 4 failed attempts, my doctor advised us to go to the next step, which was IVF.  He said the reason why IUI wasn’t working was likely due to the age of my eggs and that most would not survive because of genetic problems.  Essentially, each time we tried, I miscarried because of a genetic problem. I took a long break and it happened to coincide with our trip to Hawaii.  It was a GREAT time to be off meds and to be able to eat and drink freely.  I’d consider that my last hurrah.

We started the IVF process in the summer after I took a month off of meds and intervention.  This process was WAY more invasive and costly.  We had to go through a consent and counseling process before I could even order my meds.  The meds included lots of injectables plus the oral meds that I was already taking.

The first step was to get my eggs to grow.  I had to get all these hormones injected every night.  Fortunately, Jesse was able to do all the injections and most of them didn’t hurt too much.  It was just an intense couple weeks of at least 2-3 injections in my belly per night and a giant needle one in my butt the night before the eggs were harvested. I had at least 5 ultrasounds and blood draws throughout this month to monitor the progress of my follicles.  By the end of the process, I was pretty uncomfortable because it was like carrying two sacs of marbles in my abdomen.

On 9/9/14, they harvested the eggs (I was sedated) and they retrieved 35 eggs!  Whoa.  I guess my supply is not the problem.  I was so bloated for the following week and looked 16 weeks pregnant.  This was probably the worst part of the whole process. Once the oocytes were harvested, they were fertilized in the lab and over the next 8 days, they were each analyzed and given a rating.  By the end of the 8 days, we had 11 good embyros to biopsy.  That’s a crazy attrition rate.

The next step was for the genetic testing to be done.  They biopsied each of the embryos to check for genetic abnormalities.  All the embryos that had anything other than 46 chromosomes were discarded.  We took this extra step to increase our chances of a viable embryo.  It also weeded out the most common problems with old eggs, including Trisomy 21 (Downs’ Syndrome).  As a bi-product of the genetic testing, we also knew the gender of each embryo.  After the biopsies, we got 4 embryos with 46 chromosomes: 2 boys and 2 girls.  We were hoping for a boy and the best-looking embryo turned out to be a boy.  So, that’s what the doctor decided to implant.  They were frozen for a month while I had to get physically ready, which involved a rest month and then starting the injections again.

The final step was the implantation, which occurred on 11/14/14.  I was awake for this procedure and watched on the ultrasound screen how they released the defrosted embryo with a catheter.  Two weeks later, I had a blood test and the rest is history!

I know this was a really unnatural process but it’s just the path we had to take.  It also takes a little bit of stress and guessing out of this round since we can be a little more confident of the gender and health of this kid so we can start donating/giving away KK’s girly stuff.

IMG_1525Oh and after my last ultrasound, the doctor said “congratulations, you’ve graduated!”  IMG_1547The nurse also handed me a gift: a pregnancy book and a cute onesie that says “Made in San Francisco”.  Haha.  Funny.

Alice is 1

DSC_5677 This weekend we celebrated Alice’s 1st birthday at Liberty Park.  DSCN3463The room was really nice and it was located right next to the playground.

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There were lots of guests who attended and Mommy ordered so much Thai food!

IMG_0070 DSCN3488It was so nice to catch up with the family and lots of Brother’s friends.

DSCN3508Alice actually slept through most of her party but she woke up in time for he cake.

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We also made an attempt at getting a photo of the 2nd cousins together.  This was the best we could do that day.

IMG_9474Happy Birthday, Alice!!  It was fun celebrating with you all weekend!!  KK loved having cake or ice cream every day of the 4-day weekend!