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Six Pounds!


Hayden had a check-up with the midwife earlier this week. He has finally broken that 6 lb mark weighing in at an astounding 6 lbs 1.5 oz! They gave him a clean bill of health and are very happy with his progress. They are most pleased with his intaking and outaking (aka breastfeeding, poos, and pees). Mostly, they just like to gush over him which is why a quick check up takes us an hour and a half.

Aunts and Uncs




If there is one thing that we have realized from having Hayden, it is how important family is. Who else will put up with all of our crabbiness and still help out with our chores. Hayden is very lucky to have some great, albeit cooky, Aunts and Uncles. He has yet to meet his Uncle David but has been told to brush up on his knowledge of tools before meeting him so he's been studying up.

Poor Daddy


Hayden wanted me to post a message about his poor Daddy. He feels so bad for him when he has to shlep himself out of bed to go to work everyday. He wishes Dad could stay home and play with him but he's proud that he has such a hard working Dad. We miss you Dad!

Routine


Another new week and we're all starting to get into a bit of a routine. Hayden is such a great kid so far and is really taking it easy on us to help us get used to things. He rarely cries and is a really good sleeper. So good in fact, that we're waking him up to eat. He's a little like his Dad in that way and I'm starting to envision my life as an alarm clock in the future.

A Great Grand Day!




Great Papa
Grandpa Doug
Grandma Elaine


Hayden had a very exciting day today. Too bad he didn't rest up last night to prepare.
He met his Great Papa today. In fact, the entire Officer/Manis clan got together for a little lunch. His Dad tells him that family and Grandparents are very important so you can imagine how excited he was to meet a Great Grandparent.

Four Generations!

Of course, he loves his Yeh Yeh and Nai Nai too.

The Hayden Show

I hope this works. I've tried a couple of video sites but I think I've found one that actually works.
I'm not exactly sure how to share the videos with you but I'm going to try to put the link here. In any case, the website is youtube.com. My screen name is tiiuofficer.
Incidentally, you can also search this site for classic Sesame Street clips that will take you way back.

Sling Fling!




Another day of firsts. Thanks to Aunty Debbie, Uncle Peter, and Jessica, we were able to take our first walk with Jessie today because of the wonderful slings they gave to us. These things are great!
Another exciting event happened last night. Take a close look. What do you see?

Thank Yous


We don't even know where to begin. First of all, thank you to everyone and their well wishes. We may not have the time to reply to all of your emails but they've been read and appreciated.
I want to thank the students of Churchill and especially from 216 for all of your great cards. They were a great surprise when I got home from the hospital.
Thank you to Grandma Elaine and Nai Nai Tsao for all of the nourishment. Grandma Elaine came over and cooked up enough meals to feed an army. She knows her son well. Everything has been so easy to heat up and it's all been so yummy. Nai Nai Tsao made some miracle ancient Chinese secret soup. It's probably the reason I'm feeling so great. Both Grandpa Doug and Yeh Yeh Tsao have been there with strong shoulders to lean on and a quiet confidence in our abilities that is also much appreciated.
Our friends Ray and Jenny took such good care of our house and our Jessie while we were at the hospital. So good in fact that Jessie's thinking of moving in with them now that we're back with the baby. We aren't letting her go though.
Thank you to the Godparents. Godmother Sara was super helpful running errands at the hospital even though she was busy with her brother's wedding. Godfather Shawn was awesome at entertaining Scott and helping him to relax after the hospital ordeal.
We can't thank Aunty Jaime enough for EVERYTHING! Hayden owes her big and we'll make sure he pays up...in kisses.
Big ups to Aunty Heidi too. Since her and Nico showed up, she's made Nico clean our fridge, make meals, clean up after meals, and even massage Unkie Scott's stinky feet! Just kidding. She didn't massage his feet. Actually, we think of Aunty Heidi every time we open our immaculate fridge. She's given us so much helpful advice like how to give Hayden his first bath. She even helped to bring Hayden out on his first outings today as we had some appointments. This included sitting in a stinky waiting room at the Gatineau Hospital with naked old people dressed only in sparse gowns. Now, if that's not love, I don't know what is. Thank you Aunty Heidi!
We know we're probably forgetting someone as everyone has been so helpful. We're so grateful.

Sorry for the delay



Hello Everyone! I feel like I've been cut off from society for years. We left the power cord for our computer at the hospital so I haven't been able to update until now. We're all settling in and getting to know each other. Aunty Heidi is, as we speak, cleaning out our fridge. Her and Nico are taking good care of us.
As for the actual event, it did go quickly but I wouldn't classify it as being easy. Things progressed so fast, I had no idea what hit me. I was so lucky to have Scott and Jaime there. They were both unbelievable as was our midwife Tobi-Lyn and her student Eloise. Things were a bit complicated by the fact that we were in the hospital instead of the Birthing Centre. Scott really had to stand up for certain things that we wanted or didn't want. He was absoutely amazing and our midwife cannot stop going on about how strong he was. I was able to go without the epidural but I must admit, I did contemplate it.
Baby Hayden is doing well. He's a wee little guy and needs to stay bundled. He's extra sleepy and learning how to feed well but he is a strong little sucker. He has his days and nights a bit mixed up right now but he's just so darn cute, we don't mind. He looks a lot like Scott but has Chinese eyes. His hands and feet are so long.
Aunty Jaime just arrived so we gotta go. More updates to come on a regular basis from now on, we promise.

Fully Realized Half 'n Half



We'll fill you in on all the details soon but for now, here are some pictures of our beautiful Half 'n Half, aka Hayden Emanual Tsao Long Officer (Long=Dragon, pronounced low-ng).

What Happened?!

It's Heidi again.

The baby is out! And he's healthy and everything and everyone is fine. Believe me, I'm as shocked as you are. This is what our mother said, "Baby is here." (Imagine it with a Chinese accent -- it's much funnier).

So anyway, I asked Tiiu what went down and after saying "ha ha" to me (because my own experience was not as expediant) she said that she started feeling contractions, but thought that it was just the cervical softener, but then they started getting worse and just when she thought that she wouldn't be able to stand it all night, the nurses checked her and told her that the contractions were 2 minutes apart and that she was nearly fully effaced (I'm guessing). So Tiiu got in the bath, which helped a bit, then her midwife arrived, just in time, and POP! the boy was out. 5lbs. 13ozs. He's a tiny little thing, but judging by his dad, he'll grow.

Auntie Jaime, who was supposed to coach, showed up 4 minutes after the deed was done. I spoke to her and she was all giggly and said that the baby is perfect (and that Nico would be bossing him around for sure).

I haven't revealed the name as I think I'll let Tiiu & Scott do that. Scott, by the way, is doing great, Jaime reports. Way to go, dudes! And new little dude too!

A Change of Plans

Hi everyone. It's Heidi, Tiiu's evil big sister. No, I haven't hacked into Tiiu and Scott's blog. Tiiu asked me to post a message to let everyone know what's going on. No need for alarm, but this morning, the midwife recommended that Tiiu be induced because of some symptoms that could possibly mean preeclampsia (high blood pressure, a little protein in her urine). You can read about this condition here.

Now, Tiiu doesn't necessarily have preeclampsia, but the midwife thought better safe than sorry. To be honest, we're all a little relieved that this has caused Tiiu to have to have the baby in the hospital instead of at the birthing centre as planned. I'm sure that she's pretty disappointed, though. I bet she'll somehow try to blame me. OK, I'll admit it. I planted protein deposits in her pee and increased her blood pressure by mentioning Eric Estrada.

Anyway, the last time I spoke to Tiiu, she was calling from her hospital room. Originally, she'd been put in a private room, but had to move to a semi-private with one other woman. The other woman is out having a C-section, so it's pretty quiet. If a private room becomes available, Tiiu and Scott can move into it.

Tiiu told me that she's been administered something to soften her cervix (yum!), which will take 12 hours, so at around 5am tomorrow morning, they'll start the oxytocin drip to start inducing contractions. Then if all goes well, several hours later, Baby Boy Officer will be here.

Tiiu wanted me to let everyone know and to make sure that no one is worrying about anything. Personally, I think the one thing that she should be worried about is the fact that she allowed me to post messages on her blog.

I've probably already said waaaay too much, so I'll sign off here. But before I do that, here's a picture of Nico at the zoo for your viewing enjoyment. I'll keep y'all posted if anything (or anyone) happens.

Heidi

Weekend Update

Wow! I had no idea how seriously some of you check this blog. A couple of you wrote expressing excitement and concern that I hadn't posted over the weekend thinking we may have gone into labour. In reality, we just didn't do anything that exciting. Scott and I saw Little Miss Sunshine (which I thought was hilarious) with Jaime. We also went swimming at the Sportsplex which felt heavenly for me. We even went to a cheezy baby show. Scott got some more work done (sealing the new tile and replacing some fire alarms) while I napped. All in all, it was a weekend that months from now, we'll probably be longing for.
Now we're getting ready for another busy week. Scott's hockey starts up again. Sara and Shawn are coming in for Sara's brother's wedding. I'm hoping to finish the quilt and my quest for a comfortable sleeping position continues.
That's all the excitement for now. Sorry for worrying some of you and thanks for checking up on us!

Quilt Top


Yeah! I finished the quilt top today. I worked all day on it so I'm late for my nap. My belly is feeling pretty tight these days and I think my feet might blow up soon. It's pretty hard to get comfortable, especially at night so I'm pretty sleepy all the time. Gotta go snooze.

Hard Day at the Office

I put in another hard day at the office. Made my hubby some coffee and his lunch, walked the dog, went to the salon, napped, and quilted. Not a bad day. I worked so hard that I finished all the squares for the quilt top.
My new office

Quilt top squares

Manicured Quilting

While the rest of my colleagues and friends were getting over the first day jitters and stresses and getting used to having yard duty again, I scheduled myself in for a massage and manicure. Suckers! Thank you Aunty Jaime for the birthday gift certificate. Unfortunately, I've already chipped the manicure. I'm just not meant to be fancy. I've finally gotten back to the quilt and made some great progress today. I finished a third of the blocks needed for the quilt top. We also had our last pre-natal class. Aunty Jaime came along as she will probably be there to help Scott keep me calm and maybe to help keep him calm too. This class was the big doozy with the graphic video. We got another tour of the birthing room. It seemed a little unreal to think that the next time we'd be in there would be on the big day itself. My bag is packed though and we're pretty much ready to go as there are only three weeks until our due date. Yikes!

Good Luck Daddy!

We want to wish our Daddy the best of luck on his first day back to school. We're going to miss him a lot at home because we've had such a fantastic summer together. We're so proud of all his hard work at home. He's going to make such a smashing impression on everyone this year with all his ironed shirts! We're all so sad to see Uncle Danny and Aunty Alexis go. Jessie can barely find the will to get off the couch.

Gliding and Visiting

It's been a busy Labour Day Weekend for us. Uncle Dan and Aunty Alexis are down for a visit. It was nice to visit with them (especially after they showered the stink off of them from their five day canoe trip). Breakfast with Cousin Becky and Cousin Michael was tasty and fun too. Thank you to Yeh Yeh Tsao for the comfy glider. Now Mommy will have somewhere to rest her big butt while feeding me.

Cankles

Much to the delight of my sister but much to my chagrin, my cankles have arrived. I hate them.


I didn't even want to take a picture and share them but since I have made no progress on the quilt, I had nothing else to write about.
I also went to Kiddytown at St. Laurent this morning and got completely overwhelmed. There are just so many gidgets and gadgets out there today for baby. I'm glad we're taking a simplified approach.