Update of the past week....

We finally got a chance to visit Mason's great Grandma. Although she is blind and hard of hearing, she was very excited to touch and feel her little great Grandson. It seems like it was only a few years ago that Grandma was taking care of Brian and his siblings. We sure are lucky to have Grandma around still. Even though she demands a regular diet of fish sandwiches from McDs and pineapple bread from Chinatown, we love visiting her. We love hearing her stories of how good Brian was as a kid. She is always happy to tell us that Brian was her favorite....and Michael and Lisa are the naughtiest (depending on what day you see her). Oh, and Mike, Grandma says you haven't visited her in a few years.




After a long day of work, Mason is always exhausted. He has the cutest poses.





Mason loves being on his tummy with his knees underneath him. Like I said before....the little guys a monkey. I'm not sure how he holds on....oh wait...he's just sitting on my big belly.





Another cute pose.





Ah yes....the "Chan" nose. Thanks to all those that came before Mason....that proudly wore the "Chan" nose. Here's a quick list (from most obvious "Chan" nose to least obvious):
1. Great Grandma (my mom's grandma)
2. A-Po (mom's mom)
3. Ko-Gong (Grandma's younger brother....spitting image of my grandma)
4. Mom (she slowly moves up this list each year)
5. Joseph (mom's cousin)
6. Richard (large and in-charge)
7. Brian
8. Mason
9. Lisa (its in the genes Lisa...sooner or later...your nose will morph into Grandmas)

Mason....Day 18 check up....9 pounds

Mason had his checkup today and did quite well. His jaundice is improving and he's putting on the weight. He's been waking up every 2 hours to eat still, which makes sleeping a bit difficult. Cheers to Rebecca for feeding this little guy every couple hours. I'll post more pictures soon.

Mason....one week old and growing....

Thought I would share some more pictures of our boy Mason.

1. 7 pounds, 12 ounces (Day 6)



2. Looks like he gets this from Rebecca......(j/k)




3. Rebecca has been exhausted with the feeding/diaper change cycle every 2-3 hours. This morning I found her like this. I love you Rebecca! Oh, and notice who has taken over my side of the bed? I've been taking the couch until the in-laws move out of the den. Ah, the joys of downtown condo living.




4. Grandpa Shen looks so proud here. This is his first grandchild and I caught this candid picture as he was admiring his grandson. He's only going to be here a few more weeks, so he's trying to get as much Mason as possible before he returns to Taiwan.




5. Well, we sure are in love with this guy. He makes everything that we've been through worth it. He has brought so much joy into our lives. Rebecca and I feel so blessed that we've been given this opportunity to love and nurture this gift from Heaven. Thank you to all of our family and friends that have and continue to support us! We look forward to sharing our laughter and tears with you!

Just more pictures of my boy.....(I'm just a proud papa)

Mason is like a monkey. He climbs around until he finds a dark place to put his head to sleep.





This is one of my favorites of him:

Mason checking out his new ride......

Mason's tanning booth

As if he wasn't dark enough, the doctors wanted Mason to get that deep bronze Islander tan. They've lent him a pretty cool infant size tanning booth. Actually, its because the little guy has jaundice. The artificial light helps his body breakdown the bilirubin in the skin.

Mason sure enjoys making faces......

Snowcone machine.....

So how was the first night having baby Mason at home??? He's been pretty fussy....wish we could just understand what he wants/needs. He's been crying unless he's feeding. Although there was about 20 minutes of silence last night at around 3AM. I was holding him and suddenly smelled a ridiculous stench.....his second poo of his life. So Rebecca and I set him on the bathroom counter and started the teamwork approach to change his diaper. As I held his legs up in the air, Rebecca did the wiping. I was surprised because baby Mason was wide awake, but not crying! He was actually enjoying the diaper change....or could we be wrong?? Well, as Rebecca finished wiping, and placed a new diaper under his bum.....suddenly a facial expression all too familiar....baby Mason was pushing hard.....more tarry poo. This continued to happen for about 10 minutes. Every time we would wipe his little bum....more poo! And all the while, little Mason, silent, as he enjoyed his bowel movement. It was pretty funny watching us rush to keep up with our little chocolate snowcone machine. Well, I guess its better than diarrhea. Sorry for the detailed post.

Mom and Mason are home at last.....

Rebecca and baby Mason made it home this afternoon after a long few days at the hospital. They had to stay 48 hours because both mom and baby had a temperature after delivery. Anyways, both are healthy and have made it home.

Now we can start on the list of firsts for baby Mason:

First Diaper change: Grandma Chan
First Bath: right half/some nurse left half/Dad (nurse was teaching Brian how to bathe the baby)
Second Bath: Grandma Chan

Oh yes...we plan on getting the family involved with baby Mason :)

And Lisa and Josh, as the closest relative (two blocks from us), will get lots of babysitting duties!

And thanks to Rebecca's stepmom for staying three nights at the hospital with her during her recovery. She's been a great cook and helper since arriving here from Taiwan last week.

Introducing....Mason Chan....weighing in at 7Lbs, 8oz., 19.5 inches long....

He's here! Our little boy made a "splashing" entrance into this world at 12:52PM, on Monday, April 30, 2007. He was the best birthday present his dad could ever ask for. Why did I say splashing?? Well....lets just say there was a corked-bottle effect when he made his entrance, with amniotic fluid and meconium pushing him out like a cork. OK...I'll spare you the details.

Rebecca did great during this whole process. Here was the timeline:

Sunday, April 29th - Rebecca felt tightness/contractions in the late evening. She started timing them around 11:30PM. They were 3-7 minutes apart, lasting close to a minute. She was able to talk through them and they felt like menstrual cramps.

Monday, April 30th - 1:30AM We packed up and headed to the hospital after talking to the oncall doctor. We checked in at 2AM, and after monitoring the contractions, they checked us in. Contractions worsened but Rebecca didn't want epidural yet. Doctor came in around 4AM and broke Rebecca's water. Contractions worsened. Rebecca had the epidural at around 6:00AM. She was dialated to about 7cm. We took a nap from 7-9AM as the contractions continued. She didn't feel a thing...great epidural! At noon, she was fully dialated, and the baby was very low. The pushing began. Mason was born at 12:52PM. In attendance....Rebecca, Brian, Rebecca's stepmom, Brian's mom, and Brian's sister Lisa.

We've had lots of visitors and phone calls. Rebecca hasn't had the energy to call everyone back, but she wants to say thank you! Here's some pictures to enjoy. Who does he look like??

Its April 30, 2007, 6:15AM.....we haven't slept all night.....

Well....I thought it would be fitting to start this blog up again early in the morning...like my last post over a year ago. This time I'm up early for a different reason though. Rebecca, after being overdue with our first child for nearly a week, finally went into labor early this morning, April 30, 2007. We arrived at the hospital at around 1:30AM. She has been a true champ the past few hours. It currently is 6:15AM, and she is getting her first rest. She lasted from 1:30AM until 5AM before finally she needed the epidural. I always joked with her that she would need the epidural a month before the due date because of her low pain tolerance. However, she proved me wrong and lasted through some tough contractions. She is only 4 cm dilated, so they will be giving her Uterus a kick with the Pitocin. I'm glad she's getting some sleep because I've got a feeling we've got a few more hours ahead before our son comes out.

So far Rebecca's timing has been pretty amazing. Our original due date was April 24th. My birthday is April 30th, and so I put the request in 6 months ago that I would love to share my bday with my son. I even promised Rebecca....no more presents if I can have a son on my bday....that would be the best present ever! Also, Amanda asked her to not have the baby prior to yesterday because she would be out of town until yesterday. And Lisa/Josh asked her to have the baby before May 1, because they fly out of town on May 1. So either Rebecca has some amazing pelvic musculature control, or my son is a very well behaved child. Regardless, they have made everyone happy....except for my patients...who will probably have to wait a couple days for their next treatment.

Well...I'm getting very sleepy.....and I guess this is supposed to last for the next few years. I'm gonna catch a quick snooze and will be back to keep you updated....this time I'll be quicker than a year :).