Many Faces of Skyler

Skyler is getting bigger. He is now 2144 grams. He is beginning to make faces when we visited him. When Issac visited him after haven't seen him for days, Issac said Skyler looks different. Maybe this is a good sign, a progress that he is growing. We are bottle/breast feeding him twice a day. Both Erica and I had "fun" burping Skyler. Erica said feeding Skyler is a full time job. :P

First Bottle Feeding

Por Por (Erica's Mom) visited Skyler for the first time. Does Erica and her mom looks alike?

Skyler also took his first bottle feeding today. It was a lot of work for him. He needs to suck, breathe, & swallow. Bottle feeding was much easier for him since he doesn't need to suck as hard. It was fun watching him. Erica and I got pretty tired ourselves trying to feed him.

12th day - Vinegar & Ginger

The Chinese tradition usually includes the Vinegar & Ginger party. My Mom made a huge pot today. She started at about 11 in the morning and was done around 4ish when my families arrived. Grandpa and Grandma finally got to visited Erica since got some time to recover. Although we couldn't visit Baby Skyler today, everyone chatted and got to ask Erica about her experience. Anyone that wants Vinegar and Ginger should give us a call or send us an email.

Skyler has been eating and sleeping well. He is now 4lbs and 3oz. We were glad to see him broke the 4lbs mark. His weight swung up and down around the 3lbs level the last 2 weeks like the stock market. AND in the long run, it should be up. :P

We also tried to take a picture for Skyler's Passport. This is the only good picture after 5 minutes of struggles before the nurse had to place the feeding tube.

Eye Opening Experience

January 10th, 2008

Baby Skyler is off the air machine and is digesting the milk. The Doctor also took out his IV. He looked much more comfortable today. His weight is at 3lbs and 14oz, his birth weight. When we visited him today, he was lying and sleeping on his stomach. But he didn't like that too much and tried to turn the body himself, according to Erica. I think he was just pushing and kicking. He was also quite awake today and we were able to capture him when he opened his eyes.

As the baby grows, the doctor is challenging him to grow. First, they lowered the air pressure so Skyler can learn to breath on his own. They are feeding him more and more so he will not need the IV once he can digest the milk and formula. The next step is to learn to eat without the tube and to learn to live in room temperature. We'll continue to challenge him until he is ready to go home.

Baby Skyler is teaching us to remember the little things we took for granted: how to breath, how to eat, and how to received care, support, and love from everyone around us. Sometime we think that he is all alone in the NICU box, fighting to get out to the world. But when I saw him looking at us today, I also discovered that Skyler might not believe he is alone. Through his eyes, he is not alone because there are so much more around him that hopefully he doesn't feel lonely. Maybe that's why he didn't like to sleep on his stomach.

Thank everyone again for your wonderful thoughts and wishes!

Thank You!

I just got back from visit Baby Skyler this morning. He is sleeping well. Today his weight is 3 lbs 12 oz. The Doctor said we would start breast feeding soon.

I was notify by my friends (Frances) that she received multiple emails from my hotmail account. I don't know why it happened since I got it only once myself. I apologize it you guys received the same email 10 times.


Any way, here is the email:

Dear Families and Friends,

Thank you for all your thoughts, greeting cards, voice mails and emails. Words can’t express our appreciations.

Baby Skyler is doing well, even though he is now weighting 3lbs and 12 oz. His weight went down a little and is now going back up. He was on the “sun bath” the last 2 days. The chest x-ray result looks good. He is also breathing on his own as the doctor will take out his air flow tube today or tomorrow. He is also digesting the breast milk. He enjoys his time when we can visit him. Erica changed his diaper for the first time last night, it was quite challenging but a great experience for all us. I had fun watching it. We’re counting the days when we can take him home. This would be couple weeks according to the Doctor.

After a hectic week, Erica and I are more calm now and are adjusting to the schedule and visits to Kaiser. As Erica is healing, we should be able to adjust ourselves after this week.

Erica and I had put together a blog to update her parents in Hong Kong and out of state friends. We will use it to update everyone on Erica and Skyler via this online blog, the address is http://esproduction.blogspot.com/ . We will try to update it as often as we find time. Email is still the best way to reach us. Thanks for all your wishes.

Sincerely,
Samson, Erica and Baby Skyler

P.S. I apologize if this email didn’t get to everyone. Please forward to our friends if they didn’t receive it. Thanks

January 7th - Day 6th

Day 6th, January 7th, 2008

Skyler is doing much better. He is still in NICU but the doctor said he is breathing much better. As he progress, the doctor will take his air flow tube out so he will breath on his own. He is also digesting Erica's milk well. He will soon be of IV as he gets stronger.

We hold him the first time on day 4. Sklyer was able to sleep on our chest and he likes it very much. His sleep like Erica, with both of his arms up in the air or over his head. He also kicks when he sleep. Erica and I spend time in the hospital visiting Sklyer when we have time.

A lot of our families and friends are very supportive and understanding. Once we are physically and emotionally settles, we can have guests. This way, Baby Skyler can meet his new friends.

We learned a lot over the last few days. Sometime life situation happens and take you unexpectedly. We decide to focus on our time and energy on how we could make it better for tomorrow, there wasn't much time to figure out what happened or how it happened. Every hour we spend with Sklyer meant a lot to us as we see other babies was able to go home with their parents. There are times when we don't want to leave the hospital so we can spend more time with him. Sometimes we take our family and friends for granted and forgotten how important those time together can be. More importantly, Erica had be very strong as she trying to recovery from the C-section and spend her energy on Skyler. I'll make sure Baby Sklyer will remember as he grows up.

Oh, call your mother once a while. They did a lot for us when we were kids.

January 1st, 2008 - Happy New Year!

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a great holiday and enjoyed their vacation. 2007 was an amazing and fun year. Erica and I welcomed the 2008 New Year at my friend, William & Nica’s place on New Year eves. We had a blast with all the laughter, food, & games and is surely another memorable party.

When Erica woke up the next morning, January 1st, 2008, she was shocked that she was bleeding. We had to go to Kaiser Labor and Delivery right away. Then on January 1st, 2008, Baby Skyler Chan is born, weighting 3lbs 14oz and 17.5 inches long. It was quite a day. (This was going to be our baby shower party invitation email, but it turns out to be better news). Baby Skyler didn’t want to wait till Feb 27th and decided to be a New Year Baby.

Erica and Baby Skyler are now stable condition. Erica is recovering from the Cesarean Section. Although it was tough, she was able to get out of bed yesterday and begin to walk around. She’ll need to improve her blood pressure. The Doctor might discharge her in a day or two. Baby Skyler is in NICU growing and will be discharge in 30-45 days once he is bigger and stronger. Please have your best wishes for them.

Erica and I are still overwhelmed and exhausted with all that is going around. We’ll update everyone via email. We’ll have our phone turned off most of the time, so if possible, please email us with your wishes & questions, rather then calling us via our phones. Also, this way I can print and read it to Erica while I visit her. Thanks everyone for your understanding and considerations.

2008 will be a fun and exciting year.


Best Regards,
Samson, Erica, Baby Skyler