Krees goes Dutch Kiwi!

Introducing Torsten Jinsup Yun

Just to spite me for saying that I didn't think he would come on his due date, Baby #2 made a valiant last ditch effort Sunday. Sporadic, mild contractions in the afternoon and evening were followed by my water breaking around 10:40pm. Nothing for a half-hour, then quicker, stronger contractions over the next hour, and we rushed off to the babysitter's and the hospital.

After 15 minutes of evaluation by the midwives and 5 minutes of pushing, we were blessed with another boy!

Torsten Jinsup Yun
Born 1:33am on Monday 22 June
3.81 kg / 8 lbs 6 oz
Lots of black hair and a Yun nose!

Torsten was my grandfather Palmquist's name (changed to Thomas when he immigrated from Sweden). Jinsup is made up of "Jin" (진/眞) meaning truth, faithfulness or real, and "Sup" (섭/燮), the generational family name he shares with his brother and cousins, meaning harmony or flame.

We're all doing great, Aldus and Maui included. More photos and updates to come.

Editor's note: Bad Umma! I got my Chinese characters mixed up in the original post. They've been updated to reflect the correct syllables. I will blame sleep deprivation.

Due Date 2009!

It's 21 June, my estimated due date, and the baby's not here. This is no surprise. Aldus was five days later than his estimated due date, and when we met with the doctor last week he thought that this baby would also be late. Apparently I make too good of a host for the baby to be in much of a hurry to come out.

That's okay with me. Aside from being more and more tired every day, I feel fine.

So with pretty much all of the cleaning done and a couple meals already prepped, we're spending a relatively lazy Father's Day weekend around the house. Charles takes Aldus outside for bike rides and playing on the playground between frequent rainbursts, and I'm pretty much trying to do as little possible. We'll just keep on waiting.

p.s. Charles must love me. He downloaded Top Gun to play on my iPod when we go to the hospital. Nothing like a little mindless entertainment to pass the time!

Four months in the making (for the one nine months in the making)

I finished the blanket before the baby arrived!

For the curious knitters, the pattern is the Garter Stitch Blanket from Baby Knits for Beginners by Debbie Bliss. I used Rowan Handknit DK Cotton yarn in 203 (pink), 239 (blue), 253 (taupe), 301 (green) and 334 (purple). Some of those colors have been discontinued but may still be available on yarn store shelves or online. The 72 squares, all in garter stitch, knit up super fast on a pair of size 8 Addy Turbos, but the piecing together took a while.

I hope the baby takes to this better than Aldus took to the Big Bad Baby Blanket.

Pregnancy, birth and child care in the Netherlands

A colleague sent out an email to those of us at the office who have recently had kids, asking for information and input for a friend about living in the Netherlands, especially with regard to having a baby and raising a child here. In true Krees fashion, I sent her a treatise. Then I realized that all the information (with a little opinion) might be useful to others. So here it is.

Back to the needles!

Yes, I fear we've already begun neglecting the second-born before it's even born. I don't have the time or energy to worry over every little aspect of this pregnancy like I did with my first. I think that's pretty common for a second pregnancy, especially with a toddler in tow. But we haven't even taken a single belly photo, and I'm already 21 weeks along. (Or is it 22? I've lost track. See what I mean?!? I couldn't even tell you how far along I am in plain old months.)

I think, though, at the very least, I ought to knit something for the baby. I tried picking up a little sweater project that I'd started a long time ago for a friend, but I'm not terribly impressed with my work. So instead I picked out what looks to be a relatively easy blanket pattern from a Debbie Bliss baby knits for beginners book, and found a great little yarn store yesterday, 't Ryahuis, that's not too far away. (Nice. 30 miles is now "not too far away". At least I didn't have to go to Groningen.)

Here's the yarn! Charles even says he likes the colors.

The pattern is sort of a patchwork of about ten or eleven squares of each color. I started on my first square last night and could hardly put it down to go to bed. I forgot how addictive short rows of garter stitch on a pair of Addi Turbos can be. Woo hoo! Can't wait to show you the finished product.

Update from after Paris

Yes, I've been lax about posting lately. There was the visit from my family for Thanksgiving (good!), the trip to Palermo with the Yuns over Christmas (good!), and since the New Year I've been busy busy busy preparing for this trip for Paris - far more so for the e-VLBI demonstration we gave at the opening ceremony for the International Year of Astronomy last week than for the couple days of sightseeing we got this weekend.

Charles spent Thursday and Friday last week, then Monday and Tuesday this week, chaperoning Aldus around Paris, entertaining him at the Louvre and elsewhere, and trying to break him of his new habit of NOT giving kisses to pretty foreign girls who request them. His flirtation with a handful of French girls at a cafe Monday seems to be a step in the right direction.

There are two main reasons I feel particularly compelled to [begin a] post today rather than wait for...say...another six weeks or so as has become habit.

1. INAUGURATION. I can't wait to get out of this IAU Symposium this afternoon (don't tell my boss!) to go find a place where we can watch Obama sworn in. Yes, I will likely find myself crying in public, but I think people will understand. [Addendum: Charles and I both missed the swearing-in but met up to catch the speech. Unfortunately for us it was being dubbed over in French and was difficult to hear the original audio over the French. I cried anyway. And somehow managed to make Charles a little teary-eyed as well.]

2. I suppose I should make some sort of more formal announcement to those we haven't told already: Aldus will be getting a little brother or sister in June. Woo hoo! I will admit I was feeling quite shell-shocked when I found out at the end of October that I was pregnant, but most of that stemmed from first-trimester exhaustion and trying to keep up with Aldus. Now that my energy and appetite are back, the thought of trying to keep up with a newborn and a two year-old seems much more manageable. And in the past few days I've started to feel the baby move! Every woman who wants it should be able to get that feeling. There's nothing like it.

2009 is going to be a big year.

It's Friday, I'm in love!

I know it's actually Monday now. I would apologize for not updating the blog sooner, but I think you'll all understand.

Aldus arrived last Friday at 3:45am weighing 3.895 kilograms (8 lbs 9 oz). He has a full head of dark brown, almost black hair and blue eyes (for now). He definitely looks like his dad and his grandpa Yun, but I think he has my eyelids, ears and fingers.

HE IS AMAZING. I'm so in love with this kid. (Charles is, too. You should see the way he looks at him and dotes on him.) The last 24 hours have been a little difficult with a couple uncontrollable screaming jags, but otherwise he's been such a good baby! He's been nursing like a champ every few hours from the very beginning, sleeps or quietly lazes about between feedings, lets us get some sleep during the nights, has already started regaining weight and was already lifting his head up yesterday. I'm completely gob-smacked.

Labor and delivery? That was okay, too. It started with some contractions early Thursday morning (1am-ish?) and ended with a pain-med free delivery a little over 24 hours later. They sent us home from the hospital about 1pm Friday. If I get a chance I'll write up the entire birth story, but I can't make any promises.

I'll also try to post updates as often as I can here, but I readily admit that sometimes just sitting and staring at this guy is a heck of a lot more enjoyable than blogging.

This post was written with my new son making smacking noises in his crib next to me. I can't believe he's here!

Great Baby Standoff: And 4...

My mother is probably going to want to kill me for this. Heck, even Charles' mom will probably think it was a bad idea. But we realized Tuesday night that we had maybe two weeks' worth of rice in the house. For just the two of us.

Charles' parents arrive in a little over a week, and the household rice (and other Korean grocery) cooking and consumption will (I hope!) skyrocket. Egads! What will we eat?!?

So we made an executive decision. Even though I'd rather stick pretty close to home or to the hospital, Charles took most of the day off work yesterday and we drove to Amsterdam to the Korean grocer's. We got rice, kimchi, kogi (sliced short ribs), real soy sauce (not the crappy, cheap kind we picked up on the last trip), miyuk (seaweed) and canned oysters for miyuk-guk (seaweed soup - gotta be good for strong, breastfed babies, right?), mandu (dumplings), soju (Korean alcohol so that Charles and his dad can drink to the new baby), plus lunch of kimbap, a California roll and some kimchi mandu. It was good. And now the Korean cupboard is stocked. We're ready for the baby and for Charles' parents to arrive!

Also, I've started to promise Charles when he goes to the office or walks the dog that I won't have the baby while he's gone.

This post was written while pondering the Dutch highway system.

Even Greater Baby Standoff: Day 2 and then some...

We had another doctor's appointment today. Judging by the amount of fluid surrounding the baby, the doctor doesn't think I'll be delivering this week. He thinks the baby is just too comfortable in there to come out. So we wait at least another week, at which point they'll hook me up to a fetal heart monitor and we'll figure out what to do from there.

Again, I'm really feeling good. I still LOVE being pregnant. And I want the baby to be as comfortable as possible and to take as much time as it needs to grow "BIG AND STRONG!!!" (as Charles likes to shout at my belly). But I admit that I would really prefer something to happen this week. I want this all to start naturally. I don't want them to have to induce labor. I want to bond with the baby and start to learn to breastfeed for at least a few days before my in-laws arrive. (Although it would be special to have them here for the birth, too.)

Anyway, if I stop posting these (almost) daily updates, please don't think I must have gone to the hospital and had the baby. Truly, in this case, no news will mean no news. We'll be sure to keep everyone posted if anything happens.

This post was written while drinking homemade chai. If I don't have to be as concerned about dehydration in labor at this point, then I'm having a little caffeine, dammit!

Great Baby Standoff: And 2...

No baby yet! My feet really hurt, and I'm wearing running socks because the extra support feels sooooo good. But no baby.

Maybe the doctor will have something interesting to say at our appointment today, but I suspect he'll tell us the same thing as last week. If the baby hasn't come by our appointment next week (at which point I'll be nine days past my due date), then they'll do an ultrasound to see what's happening and make a determination of whether to induce or not. I don't mind the baby taking its time, but I definitely want it to come on its OWN and not have to be induced.

This post was written while eating a slice of homemade cranberry coffee cake. Yum!

Great Baby Standoff: And 1...

No baby yet! No nesting, no contractions, no bloody show.

I'm feeling good, but boy did I get cranky at the grocery store today! I may expound later on my love/hate perspective on the lack of child supervision here. I've already blogged about how fed up I get having to bag my own groceries at the store and how it doesn't allow for an efficient flow of traffic at the cash register. Let's just say that these things, plus the elderly couple behind me in line joking about how difficult it must be to bend over my belly to empty my grocery cart, put me in a fine mood. But I digress...

Otherwise I'm still feeling fine and even went for a leisurely bike ride with Charles and Maui yesterday.

This post was written while listening to Miss Chicky Bawk-Bawk cluck and squawk ceaselessly for no apparent reason.

Great Baby Standoff: 0 day

Today's my due date! Estimated due date, anyway, and no sign of the baby yet. Not even a shred of obsessive-compulsive nesting. I did change the bed and am running a load of laundry, but that's pretty typical for a Sunday around here. I don't think it counts.

A coworker said something interesting the other day. Once the baby comes, if I do have to stay overnight at the hospital, they will still kick Charles out at 11pm. I guess I assumed that since they recognize the importance of the comforts of home for birth and recovery, that they would also allow spouses to stay overnight. After all, we're going to be a brand new little family unit; it won't be the same if he's not there. But I guess they have a hospital to run, too.

Anyway, many of you have expressed an interest in seeing photos of me nine months pregnant. So here you go. This was taken this morning -- for posterity!

This post was written while contemplating cranberry bread and where to go with the baby over the holidays.

Great Baby Standoff: 3 Days...

Apparently today's a holiday. Who knew?!? Actually, I think I knew something was coming up, because a couple months ago they sent around a holiday notice at work, and I remember putting something on Charles' calendar. But it had slipped my mind. And he didn't realize it until someone mentioned that the office would be closed Thursday, and that so few people would show up for work on Friday that the canteen and reception would be closed.

Today is Hemelvaartsdag, or Ascension Day. We tried to go to Hoogeveen to buy a pre-paid phone for our parents to use when they come visit, but none of the stores on the Hoofdstraat were open. The grocery store was also closed. All the restaurants were closed.

We considered stopping in Dwingeloo to try to find some lunch. (There was a big ceramics market going on, and I figured they must be selling food there.) But the crowds were too big, the parking lots were full and I didn't feel like dealing with the Dutch today.

Anyway, nothing's happening with the baby, but I couldn't help but wonder if the hospital gets short-staffed on holidays like today?

This post was written while contemplating where to take the baby for the Christmas holiday.

Great Baby Standoff: 5 Days...

Had another weekly doctor's appointment today. They're so frequent now that we're almost forgetting to go to them! Anyway, it was another five-minute turbo appointment.

• Weight? Check (No, I'm not telling you.)
• Blood pressure? 120/65
• Still pregnant? Yes
• Any signs of labor? No
• Still feeling the baby move? Yes
• "Let's have a look." Doctor pokes at my belly to see how much amniotic fluid there seems to be and to make sure the baby's still head-down, then checks the heartbeat.

Interpretation and comments? There's still plenty of amniotic fluid, which means the placenta is still working just fine to support the baby, so the baby doesn't have any need to come out yet. (Just as I suspected! Perfectly comfy!)

When will they start to consider the baby overdue? Probably around May 30. So if I don't go into labor in the meantime, we'll have a repeat of this appointment next week and then another on May 29. If the baby's still hanging out at that point they'll do an ultrasound to check development and position and determine whether or not we induce labor.

And how did I sleep last night? Much better - thanks for asking! But I had funny half-dreams all night about how I needed to feel happy and safe and comfortable so that my body would naturally produce oxytocin and they wouldn't have to give it to me artificially (pitocin) to progress labor. Maybe that's why I slept better -- all those happy, safe, comfy thoughts. Or maybe it's because I didn't take a nap and went to bed at a normal time.

This post was written after struggling through Dutch homework.

Great Baby Standoff: T-Minus Six Days and Counting

We're now officially in the last week before my estimated due date: May 20. So far the baby and I have been locked in a battle - not of wills, but of comfort. I've spent most of the pregnancy saying, "Yeah, I'm really lucky. No morning sickness, no nausea, no heartburn, no swelling...." blah blah blah. The baby, could he or she talk, seems to have spent most of the pregnancy saying, "Yeah, it's cool here. I'm just going to chill out and grow for a while. I won't even trouble you with any bleeding or spotting or anything. I might poke you sometimes, but come on, you know you like it. I promise not to kick too hard." He or she hasn't troubled me much, I've tried to be good to the baby and I've been blessed with a great pregnancy. It's like we're both lazing around saying, "I could go a while longer, how about you?" "Yeah sure, I could go a little longer. How about you?"

Until last night. I could NOT sleep. Part of it might be my own fault - I took an hour-long nap in the afternoon. (But really, shouldn't I be able to take a nap now while I still can? And it was only an hour!) But I could not fall asleep last night. I couldn't get comfortable. I rolled this way and that way. And once I did fall asleep, I woke up least every two hours and had difficulty getting to sleep again because my ribs were sore or my hips were sore or I was rolling onto my back and my uterus would cut off circulation to my head. I think I even kept poor Maui awake with my tossing and turning.

So yeah -- I'm still not miserable yet. Baby can cook for a little while longer if he or she wants to. But I hope last night isn't a sign of the nights to come, at least not the nights before the baby even gets here.

This post was written while listening to...a marching band go by? Diever has some sort of marching band?!?