Introducing Emery Rose

On July 20, 2012 at 7:52 p.m., we finally got to meet Emery Rose!  Emi weighed in at a healthy 6 lbs 7.9 ounces and stretched out to 18 inches tall.  She is totally perfect in every way!

Everyone says that I had a very easy labor.  I started feeling discomfort at around 12:30 a.m.  By 8:00 a.m., Steve and I started to time my contractions.  They were never too painful, just very uncomfortable.  At around 11:00 a.m., my contractions were about 6-8 minutes apart…then they started to spread out again and at one point reached 14 minutes apart.  I was set on staying at home as long as possible and was a bit disappointed that my contractions weren’t progressing.  So, we drove out to Santa Monica and walked around a park.  At the park, my contractions became more painful, so we headed home.  At 2:42 p.m., I sprinted to the bathroom as my water broke.  (The nurses at the hospital explained that it ruptured, which explains why it seemed like Niagara Falls at our house.)  We called the Labor & Delivery number and were told to come on in.  Once we arrived at the hospital, the midwife checked and I was five centimeters dilated!  I was SO happy that I made it that far at home.  It was a rough few hours after that, but I successfully made it through labor and pushing without any drugs…just as I had so hoped to do.  Plus, it all ended with the most beautiful little baby!!

Week 40

As you all know by now, Baby Vo did not arrive on her due date.  I thought I wouldn’t mind when she came, but after her due date, I started to get anxious.  I badly wanted to give birth without any intervention, but with each day after her due date, it seemed more and more inevitable that Baby Vo would need some “help” coming out (i.e., the doctors would have to induce her).  We took this picture the day after my due date.  In an effort to encourage Baby Vo to come out on her own, we went out for spicy dumplings in Alhambra and stopped by Occidental College for a quick photo session.

Due Date

It’s almost 11:30 p.m. on Baby Vo’s due date and there is no sign that she’s anywhere close to making her way out.  Looks like we have a few more days/weeks of waiting!

In the meantime, I’ve been trying to take full advantage of my maternity leave.  Last week, my mom arrived and we started walking every morning and getting the house ready for a baby.  I’ve also been trying to take advantage LA activities that are usually impossible due to work (i.e., going to the beach on a weekday, going to a taping of the Jimmy Kimmel Show, etc.).   I could get used to this whole maternity-leave-without-a-baby thing!

Week 39

This week, Baby Vo is still the size of a watermelon.  We have barely started to eat the watermelon from last week, so there’s no need to buy one for this week’s picture.  Instead, we took this picture at Urban Light at the LACMA near our house.  Hopefully we’ll get to meet Baby Vo soon!!

Celebrating in the Courtroom

On June 25th, my co-clerk, Lindsay, threw me a work baby shower.  Since I’ve worked for a number of judges and with most of the clerk’s office staff, there were over 40 people there!!  (And, since the shower was during work hours, everyone was more than excited to get away from their desks for a while.)  With the help of some of the other law clerks, Lindsay turned my judge’s courtroom into a very classy baby shower local.  She got an enormous cake from Portos, my friend, Stephanie set up three baby shower games (guess the baby food; guess how many M&Ms in a jar; and guess the size of my waste), and our courtroom deputy, Sharon, filled the place with balloons.  They even had favors for everyone.  It was super adorable and everyone at the court was beyond generous…Baby Vo now has her pack-n-play and plenty of clothes and shoes.  She’s very lucky!!  (As am I – I felt so blessed to have such kind and excited coworkers.  Hopefully I can take Baby Vo into meet them all when I’m on maternity leave.)

Celeb Sighting!!

Although we live in Los Angeles, we honestly don’t see many celebrities.  (At least we don’t recognize many.)  I blame this disappointment on the fact that Steve and I both work normal jobs and are thus, not out on random weekday afternoons when celebrities go about their daily tasks like shopping and eating out.  I swear, some of our friends see A-listers all the time…on Tuesdays and Wednesdays of course.  Well, it turns out that celebrities also visit hospitals, but at more regular-person times.  On our way to one of our many baby/birthing prep classes, we walked right by P.Diddy as he was leaving the hospital.  From a distance, we knew that he was someone famous just by the way he was dressed.  I have to admit, I got a bit giddy inside as we got closer and recognized him.  He was on his phone talking to someone about the BET Awards.  (This was on June 26th, the week that the BET Awards were filming here in LA.)  I was starstruck, but tried to play it totally cool…I probably looked like a complete gawking idiot.  Oh well…

(My mom was super excited when she visited for my shower because we saw Angelica Huston at dinner one night.)

Week 38 – Watermelon

Last week, Baby Vo was the size of a watermelon.  It was also my last week of work before maternity leave.

Week 37

For weeks 37-39, the book says that Baby Vo is the size of  a watermelon.  (Geez, Louise, that’s a lot of baby inside me!)  We decided to take the actual watermelon picture during week 38 to break things up a bit.  For now, here is what I looked like in week 37.

Maternity Photos

In LA (and I think around the country now), it’s become somewhat trendy for couples to take maternity photos.  The photos are very similar to engagement pictures, but the woman obviously has a large baby bump.  There are many professional photographers out there who take these type of pictures and in fact, Steve has done photo sessions for our good friends.  Naturally, Steve and I wanted a few of our own…but we didn’t want to pay the exorbitant prices that professionals charge.  So, what did we do instead?  We turned to Craigslist of course!  (What can’t you find on there?!)  Steve advertised that he was looking for a photography student or aspiring photographer and found a guy from Orange County willing to take our photos for free (in exchange for getting to use Steve’s camera.)  The Friday after our mothers left LA, we met the guy down in Palos Verdes, where he took photos of us along the bluffs.  It was definitely an interesting experience, but totally worth it for the photos that we got.  (Steve did all of the editing.)

The next day, we were supposed to go sit in the audience for “The Voice” blind auditions (one of my personal favorite shows on TV), but unfortunately, we were turned away at the door because the audience was full.  This was probably for the best because the last time we sat in a studio audience (for “The Sing-Off“), we ended up being in uncomfortable seats for five hours without any food or water.  I’m not sure I would have enjoyed a similar experience at 37 weeks pregnant no matter how much I like the show.  We didn’t let this snafu discourage us, though.  Instead, we went home, changed, and headed up to a park outside of Beverly Hills to take some more maternity photos.  With just us, a few props, and Steve’s camera equipment, I think we came out with some great photos.  Steve would say the whole process was very tedious (after all, he was the one running between posing for the photo and positioning his camera while trying to do everything with a timer), but I had fun just being with Steve and laughing at some of the ridiculous places we tried to stop for creative photo ops.

Lots of Love for Baby Vo

One month before my due date, on June 16th, seven of my church friends threw me an absolutely wonderful baby shower tea party in one of their backyards.  My mom, sister, and mother-in-law all flew into town for the event.  I think the pictures really show what the festivities were all about – lots of girly fun!  Instead of giving me cards with their gifts, my friends gave Baby Vo books.  Her library is packed now!  (She even received the cutest, “Goodnight Los Angeles” book modeled off of the “Goodnight Moon” book.)  My mom gave Baby Vo my old Paddington Bear book, which is of course very special since Paddington Bear was my favorite toy growing up.  Steve’s mom made Baby Vo a ton of beautiful knit clothing including a gorgeous cocoon and matching hat/shoe sets.  (She’s not only a very talented knitter, but also a very productive one!)  My good friend, Jenny, made us a fun UW baby blanket (which Steve has claimed as his own) and my friend, Carrie, made us burp clothes out of reusable diapers.  I can’t believe how crafty everyone is!  (If I only had half of their skills, I’d be content.)  Baby Vo is one very lucky little girl.