The First Month with Mina...the Battle Has Begun

The first month with Mina was a blur...except when I look at the few pictures we managed to take, I say, "Oh yeah...I remember that." LOL.

I remember that I was often torn between trying to recover from childbirth and taking care of Mina. Consecutive nights of lack of sleep certainly didn't help. Managing Mina's precise clock for her meal time was tough (how can her tummy be so precise? I swear she was on the dot, or only off by 1 or 2 minutes). All I can say is that it was really hard. It was really really hard. How did other mothers do it? My hubby and my parents did their best to help out but it was super challenging, to say the least.

So I say, let's just enjoy the pictures...Look at those cheeks...

 

Okay, It was All Worth It. EXCEPT...

...Except all the ugly stuff to deal with afterwards.
So, I stayed at the hospital overnight, as the doctor told me that I needed to be kept watch for 24 hours due to over-bleeding. It was really tough times for me:
- I was totally sleep-deprived, as from Friday night (May 9th) to the following Monday morning (May 12th), I didn't sleep any longer than pockets of 1 or 2 hours throughout the days. During the labor, the nurses were checking on my epidural effect (with ice cubes) and labor pain. After Mina was born, the nurses were checking on me and the baby.
- I was famished. I had only popsicles and diet soda for 20 hours. After Mina was born, I was so mentally everywhere, I don't recall having any comforting meal except small bites of hospital food.
- I was swollen and in pain. As Epidural wore off, I was in pain...also, my body was so swollen everywhere, I could barely sit comfortably, let alone walk to the washroom by myself.

Of course, this is only my story. I mean, I think my story is bad enough. Recovering from this would require some time, some uninterrupted sleep, some good comforting food...But what about Mina, very much a newborn baby who is highly in need? Despite reading "What to Expect When Expecting," we were pretty clueless. We barely knew how to change her diapers, or burp her after her meal. And so, my motherhood began.... in pretty rough shape.

The Big Day - Hello, My Little Baby...

May 11, 2014 AM. After 20 hours of agonizing labor, Mina Kimberley Shum was born. I always wondered and feared the labor pain, since I've heard some scary stories. Well, I can't quite describe the pain, but I can honestly say that I couldn't have done it without epidural. I really wonder how my mom was able to endure the pain when she gave birth to my sister and me. I really rather not talk so much about the labor process, as I do not even want to remember it.
Anyways, the pain was quickly forgotten when I saw one of the nurse hand me this little precious baby to my chest. She was. Precious.
The feeling I had when I was holding Mina was overwhelming. I don't think I can find a word to describe it, but I can definitely say that I felt like I achieved something really really great. I was in tears looking at her in awe and disbelief, thinking, Oh My God...this is MY BABY. When I first heard Mina cry, it was also a really sweet gentle cry. It didn't seem like she was upset....her cry was more like, 'oh, I think this is the part where I am supposed to cry?' type of cry. Cute little baby. Burke was smiling up to his ears and my mom held her, also in tears. When my dad held her, it felt like my dad was having some silent conversation with her with his eyes. It was all touching moments, and I told myself that all the hell I went through so far was worth this moment.
By the way, it happens that Mina was born on Mother's Day...:D What a precious precious gift for me...I became a mother on Mother's Day.

Hello, my little baby. I will take a good care of you.

Baby, Show Me the Strength!

During my pregnancy, some work colleagues of mine used to call my baby, "SAP baby." My work was going through a major business transformation from the good ol' legacy system to SAP and it was very challenging for a while, to say the least. Long hours, stressful situations, conflicts, tension between people, system malfunctions, imperfections, delays, politics, resistance, you name it....it wasn't oh-so-peaceful and happy environment for the baby. I often found myself angry or exhausted for most of the times, while worrying about how this would affect my baby.

February 3, 2014. One typical day after work, I was trying to get into my car in the parking lot after long, not-so-happy day...with my humpty dumpty body. It happened so fast, but with thinly laid ice on the parking lot, I fell down onto my side. I was in pain momentarily, but without thinking twice, just rushed back home. When I got home, I started having a bad headache, and that was when I got paranoid about my little baby.

Long story short, I was in the emergency room for about 5 hours, where they detected the baby's heartbeat. When I saw my little baby through the ultrasound, I was very relieved. I saw her turning, rolling, and even doing arm curls! At some point, we also saw her tongue action making bubbles in her space. The nurse confirmed that the baby was perfectly fine and happy. We came back home exhausted at 2am but we were very happy and relieved to see her again, healthy and happy. :).

Thank you, my precious little baby. You showed me you are strong! I certainly got an energy boost to stay strong and positive for the remainder months at work.

The Spinach Dream

So, one thing that I had complained to my mom along my pregnancy was that she hasn't had any conception dream (태몽) on my behalf. I don't know if it is true or not, but when I was living in Korea, I was told by people that your mom would have some meaningful dream of forthcoming conception that would show some signs about what kind of baby you would have. My mom used to tell me that while she was pregnant with me, my grandma had a dream about receiving truck loads of pretty chrysanthemums in her house. This dream was supposed to be a conception dream which symbolizes that there would be some happy celebration (aka my being born?). So, when I was pregnant with Mina, I had asked her several times, if she had any "dreams" for my baby. When she said no, I used to nag her about how I am waiting for that dream. I know, that's kind of beyond my mom's control, but basically I was being a greedy daughter that wanted to nourish and experience what other typical (or at least of what I knew) pregnant daughter would experience. I wanted to tell Mina one day, just like how my mom was telling me about my grandma's dream, that there was some very symbolizing and powerful dream pointing to Mina's birth and her outlook. (ok, I agree. I should just be consulting a fortune teller...)

Anyways, one day, it happened! My mom called me in the morning and told me that she had a strange dream. In her dream, my mom went to this market and bought a bunch of fresh spinach. When she woke up, she thought this was not a typical dream because it was so vivid, so she decided to look up the dream meaning. When she did look it up, she was surprised to find out that this was a conception dream, and that there will be a great, reputable figure that will be born in the family. She was so excited as she was telling me this news. I know. You might be rolling your eyes now... I mean, how true would this be, right? Well, I guess, time will tell! (muhahahahaha). Okay, but in all seriousness, I was just happy that my mom had the conception dream that I've been asking for, and now I can tell Mina when she's old enough to find these things interesting. :D

The Naming Decision - Thank you, Mina Shum!

You might have guessed it. Once we found out that we were having a girl, the next big assignment was naming our daughter. There were so many pretty and nice names out there, it was really really hard to decide and agree with everyone...even between Burke and I, we had so many "disagreements," we often had to put a time-out and remind ourselves that this is supposed to be a happy dilemma .......and that ultimately, I needed to be in a happy state for the sake of the little girl inside of my tummy :) One of the biggest contender was Olivia. We really liked this name as we thought it was classy and cute but also had weight. However, we found out that we were not the only ones that thought this way, and the name had to be eliminated in our options as we really didn't want her to be in a class with many other girls of the same name (this name made it to the top 5 baby girl names for last 5+ years). Then there was Julia, which we liked, but it somehow wasn't 100% convincing...And then there was Gia, which we thought was cute, but also didn't receive much positive feedback.

Meanwhile, Burke and I was aware that our little girl would also have Korean and Chinese names. Not legally, but as grandparents from both side of the family would speak either Korean or Chinese, we thought that it would be nice to have a name that roots to our culture. We both thought that it would be actually nice to have one name that would serve this purpose.

As I was googling "successful Chinese Canadians" (yes, I know...you are now judging me) in hopes of getting any inspirations, we actually came across the name, Mina. It was actually really funny, as the lady by the name Mina also had the last name Shum! I learned that she was an independent film maker that won several awards, and she's from my hometown (or province), BC! Mina Shum sounded so...perfect! It was difficult to find first names that were compatible phonetically with the last name that started with "Sh-" (...try Vanessa Shum), but Mina worked! We felt that the name sounded cute, pretty yet smart and strong. So, we finally made the decision to name our daughter Mina.

We were happy to find out that Mina sounded English, but also was somehow linked to Chinese and Korean names. It turns out that Mina was also a Korean name as well (민아), and in a way, it also felt meaningful, as it had part of my mom's maiden name - Min (민). As for Chinese name, Burke's parents named our daughter Ming-ah: 娥 名, which meant distinguished, fame and beautiful. They also mentioned that there are some celebrities with this name. We do really hope that Mina grows up to be a distinguished, wise and beautiful woman.... now I understand why parents name their children with all the nicest meanings attached to the name - to wish great things and happy blessings for their children (like my parents named me, bright accomplishment...although I still feel like I have yet to show them that I can live by this name..sigh). Anyways, I also learned that the name, Mina is quite international. Did you know that Mina in German means love?

This post is getting a bit long. Just to wrap up, we named our daughter Mina Kimberley Shum, which incorporated part of my last name (Kim!) in her middle name. I also thought Kimberley added some traditional-ness, weight and classic feel to the name. Anyways, thank you Mina Shum! :D We do not know if our daughter will become a filmmaker, but we do sincerely hope that she gets to do what she really loves to do in the future.

Mina Mina in My Tummy...preparing for her intro

These were some moments that I remember, prior to Mina being born out in this world. They were much "quieter" moments than now, hahaha.... but very emotional moments. 

 

How could I forget? December 7, 2013...Mina was a tiny baby in my tummy. When Burke and I saw Mina and heard her heartbeat in the ultrasound room, the feeling that we both had was indescribable... we both looked at each other in tears, full of joy. It was a strange feeling that I never felt before, and I still can't quite find a word to describe that moment. Our emotional rollercoaster didn't end as we were not able to find out the baby's gender promptly. The technician told us that the baby was happy, and super active....even after one hour session, the technician wasn't able to confirm the gender due to the baby's frequent movements.

But in a few days later, we were ecstatic to find out that we were having a little girl! I was so happy, thinking about how I can buy all the pretty little things for her and also go shopping together with her hand in hand! (this was the postcard that we received from the lab...I wonder if this baby model was actually sleeping like this? Based on my experience, having a baby to pose is very challenging...let alone putting a lipstick on)
 

Yes, you may ask why the book is upside down. Well, we went over this book many many many and many times with many contemplations...to a point where I was seeking inspirations upside down. In the end, we chose the name that wasn't even there...lol. I will put another post just specifically dedicated to the naming decision.

This was a family portrait taken back in March of last year. Happy times for Bibi, my dog...who is now known as "cold rice" (Korean expression for second, or unwanted choice). I do look funny without socks...

I know, this picture just screams unnatural and awkwardness...lol. Doesn't it look like a commercial for the book that we are holding? or...the blanket? I know this wasn't the "real" reading session, but at least for the last trimester, Burke managed to read at least one story to my "tummy" every day.

Mina's room! We actually had to change the wallpaper as the first wallpaper we had was not feng-shui friendly (it was a cute wallpaper with cartooney animals...but apparently tigers and lions, however in cute shape or form, were not good for baby room). Long story short, it was some work for Burke, but in the end, the room turned out to be quite serene and pretty for a little cute baby Mina.

This is the other side of Mina's room. Although I did not have any official baby shower, my friends and colleagues were very kind to give lots and lots of nice gifts. I felt so blessed and also excited, thinking about all the cute outfits that I could put on my little baby! The diaper cake was also very amusing to see...

I was smiling outside...but not smiling inside... this was in mid-April, just couple weeks before the due date. I was feeling heavy, tired, bloated, and anxious. At this point, I had reached about 170 lbs.....and getting out of bed would be seen as a comic relief. Of course, these feelings of discomfort and anxiety continued, as Mina was born even 2 weeks after due date. As I just wanted Mina to be out, I wasn't quite buying my mom's comfort, "it's a lot easier now - wait until she's born...you will be super busy!".....little did I know that "busy" was an understatement. When I think back, I don't think I could have ever prepared for what was coming. I can only laugh about it now... :D

Welcome to Supa Minky!

Hello,

Welcome to my blog!
First of all, although I am narrating this post as if there will be some readers out there reading my blog (the thought actually makes me want to smirk or giggle?), this blog is primarily for myself to remember some memorable moments of my life since my little love, Mina came into my life. It's now about 11 months since my daughter, Mina Kimberley Shum was born...I am not sure how time passed by so fast, as when I look back, everything seems like a haze. As Mina is growing and passing every little and big milestones, I have tried to log them in my diary, but weren't very successful in logging all the precious details. I only came to have courage to start a blog after my best friend, Lisa (thanks Lisa!!) has suggested this wonderful idea of blogging. Writing is really not my forte, but I will try my best to keep the quality as decent as I can...so please bare with me for anyone out there. I hope to keep this blog updated for a little while...although I am not sure how I can keep up once I go back to work in mid-May :*(

So how did I come up with SupaMinky as part of my blog address? Minky was a magical princess in one of my favorite cartoon show that I used to watch when I was a little girl. I always remembered this name as it was a memorable name and brought me some nostalgic, happy (& worry-free) times. Since I had the opportunity to create my own blog, I thought it would make me happy to incorporate my favorite cartoon character. At the same time, I also thought the name sounded cute and catchy, which went with my precious baby's personality: cute and loving ...yet spunky and tushie-kicking.

I hope to capture and log many of my precious moments that I had with Mina in the last 11 months or so, while also adding some current and upcoming highlights as well. Happy logging! ...to me :)