The Senakams | Corgi + 3

Still Here

Everything considered, I can now (almost at the end) say that I've had a pretty happy, uneventful pregnancy (*knock on wood*).

I mean, there were some rough days, especially in my seemingly never-ending first trimester (with nausea lasted till 18 weeks, ugh). But after hurling spectacularly just after walking out the gate at SFO some time around Week 18, I started feeling the baby kick like the very next day... And from there, I was generally happy and content with the way things went, all the way till about 35 weeks when all the aches and pains and anxiety reared its ugly head...

We didn't want to "jinx" things earlier on, but as they say "picture says a thousand words" (or something like that), here's a pictoral chronicle of my journey through pregnancy (or more like mid-pregnancy on):

1. Week 21, 2. Week 22, 3. Week 23, 4. Week 24, 5. Week 25, 6. Week 26, 7. Week 27, 8. Week 28, 9. Week 29, 10. Week 30, 11. Week 31, 12. Week 33, 13. Week 34, 14. Week 35, 15. Week 37, 16. Week 38

Can you tell there are some good days and there are some not-so-hot days (just love those when I'm still in my jammies at 3 p.m...)?

I remember just feeling horribly fat for a long time, then one day during my 6th or 7th month, I looked at the mirror after shower and saw my belly "heave" from one side to the other, and felt like I was hit by an internal earthquake (literally)... that's when it really hit me that our little baby is living inside that dimply, itchy bump. I mean I've long embraced the fact that I'm pregnant (not just fat), and I felt like I've already developed strong emotions towards our unborn child, but that was the day that I've really started to LOVE the way my pregnant belly looks.

I know, it's strange and hard to explain. But I think this is one of those things I'll miss about being pregnant...

Plus the daily bedtime massage by Masseuse Hubby (you won't believe the swelling that starts in the last month)...

Plus having Hubby rub lotion on my feet every day after shower (coz I can't reach) and belly (coz he loves massaging us "both" at the same time)...

Plus the extra special attention you get wherever you go ("sorry but I really can't sit at the counter, how about that booth by the window? Oh, thank you so very much")...

Plus being able to "play" with your baby's foot from across your belly (I know, sounds totally strange, but oh-so-fun; I swear I almost "caught" it the other day)... 

Plus the excitement and anticipation that only meeting your first born could bring...

Plus all the icecream you can eat without feeling horribly guilty...

P.S. I'll save all the things I WON'T miss about being pregnant for another day.

Bryson has a gift for his sister

That's right! Now that Bryson's feeling better, he's prepared (with a little help from me) a little gift for his sister (remember this sneak preview?)...

Ta-dah! It's yet another baby blanket :) And a close-up of the patchwork binding:

This is based loosely on instructions from this "Patchwork-trimmed Baby Blanket" project in Heather Ross' uber-popular book Weekend Sewing:

While the monogram is super cute, Bryson decided that ours needs a bit of a personal touch- one bearing his personal "signature". He picked out this photo dating back to his show-dog days, when he's considerably less saggy in the mid-section (hey, even dogs want to put their best foot forward, ya know?):

Departing from the instructions from the book out of laziness (which instructs you to use single-sided fusible interfacing which needs sewing on), I used this double-sided fusible web, Steam-a-Seam Lite to create a Bryson-shaped iron-on applique.

I don't know if I'm doing it right, but since this stuff looks so light, I didn't even cut out the middle of the webbing and there didn't seem to be any excess stiffness (can someone tell me if I should have followed instructions from the book?) Anyway, I then sewed a decorative zig-zag around it, and voila! Bryson is forever imprinted on his sister's blanket :) Now I just hope that it wouldn't fall apart after washing...

For fabrics, I used this super soft double-sided chenille-like (?) fabric for the main blanket that I imagine would feel oh-so-good against a baby's delicate skin (it's from Stonemountain here in Berkeley). For the trim, I used a mix of cotton fabrics from Joel Dewberry, Tula Pink and Urban Chiks I got online.

I really hope to squeeze one more sewing project in before our little bundle of trouble joy arrives, but based on all those Braxton-Hicks contractions I've been having + my ob's assessment at my 37.5-week visit, we may be meeting her sooner rather than later... While I'm eager to meet her (and be able to breathe/walk/use the bathroom like a normal person again), I feel like there's still so much more to do to get ready for her! Help me keep your fingers crossed that you'll see at least a couple more posts here before D-Day ;)

Our Babymoon!

We're back from our babymoon and 3 busy, busy days of last-minute baby prep!

But before we go into that, I'm sure you want to know how Bryson's doing with his Addison's. Remember last week he had a small set back, throwing up and having diarrhea with severe drippage for 2 straight days (sorry, tmi but you get the picture).

We were worried sick that it was his Addison's acting up, turns out it was just some icky stuff (probably other dog's poop and other miscellaneous crap) he feasted on. Whew! It ran its course and now he's once again his perky usual self :) We're going back to the vet next week for more testing, will keep you all posted on how he does then.

So, back to the babymoon... This is the first week of my maternity leave (just 4 more weeks to D-day, can you believe it?!), and I literally worked till the minute before hubby finally peeled me off my computer and packed me into the car so we can take the hour-long drive to escape reality for a few days.

Our destination is the rustic yet luxurious Carneros Inn, somewhere halfway between Napa and Sonoma. Think sprawling vineyards on rolling hills, dotted with clusters of cottages, cozy restaurants, a world class spa, all interconnected with pretty orchards and gardens and outdoor gathering places. (Sorry you probably couldn't tell that from our sub-par photos, it's hard to shoot when you're carrying around a watermelon. But you can see them here on Flickr if you'd like)

It could easily have been the most relaxing trip I've ever been on, except... well, I'll just say this- ladies who are or ever contemplate to be pregnant- do NOT plan your babymoon in the last month of your pregnancy.

Just imagine this- whenever you're upright, you feel like your bladder's about to explode; you lie down for some relief, and now you feel like you're suffocating with the baby up in your lungs; and when you finally have no choice but to haul yourself up to go pee for the 10,000th time that hour, you flounder around like a beached whale, and you can only hope that your spouse on receiving your distress call would go fetch that small crane and come hoist you up. And these are just the atrocities fun stuff I could mention here on this G-rated blog.

With that and a couple of freaky moments thinking I'm going into labor (I lost this while in Napa, oops), our trip consists of mostly laying low at the resort...

Reading my new Kindle (my wedding anniversary gift from hubby :>), having alfresco breakfasts in our bathrobes on our tiny little private patio...

    

... getting pampered at the spa, then tanning back in our patio au naturale so baby can get some vitamin D too (sorry, no pictures of that, you wouldn't want to see it anyway)...  

... eating stuff I'm not supposed to at the Oxbow market (oysters with sips of chilled, white wine, shhhh...), and taking long, cool naps under a fully-blasting A/C (except for this one unfortunate incident where hubby got himself into the dog house messing with my temp control and the blatant cover-up attempts that ensues... but we won't go into that now).

 

Above unfortunate incident notwithstanding, we're a couple of happy campers at the end.

 

And now we can go back to freaking out about getting ready for a potentially early arrival *shudder*. Stay tuned!

Bryson and His Sister's Shower

Once again, thanks for your concerns for Bryson! He's much better having received his steroids for about a week now.

He's almost back to himself, if maybe a tad bit more hyper and feisty than his usual self (roid rage?? :D). But today he had a small set back... we tapered his steroid dose yesterday as directed, and today he started throwing up all over the place. Since vomiting could be a sign that his Addison's not adequately treated, the vet advised us to raise his steroid dose back up to his starting dose. He seems to respond well to that, we'll just have to taper his steroid dose more slowly from now on.

I'm sure we'll get a hang of this titrating-up-and-down business- I'm a pharmacist after all-  I'm just worried since we have our babymoon + 5-year wedding anniversary coming up this weekend in Napa, when we're supposed to leave Bryson with Picasso for a few days. I'm sure he'll be in good hands, but you still worry, you know, what if something happens and we're not there and all that guilty baggage that comes with it. I guess this is all good practice for the day when we have to deal with a sick child, and all the worries and fear and guilt that come with it... *sigh*

OK, enough sick puppy talk. As promised, here are some photos of the fantabulous shower our lucky baby's aunties threw for us:

{ More photos on Flickr here }

I love the color-coordinated everything- from the food (pink and orange M&M's) to the beverage (blood orange Italian soda) to the decor (pink peonies, heavenly!) even down to the fuschia feather boa they made me wear (which kinda made me resemble a waddling big bird in drag).

And as I mentioned before, I love love LOVE the book plate idea, and all the beautiful onsies our very creative guests painted for her (there is even a "simulated bikini", ha ha!) Unlike her mother, I can see both brain and beauty in our baby's future ;)

 

Bryson Receives His Diagnosis

First of all, thanks everyone for your concerns, well wishes and helpful tips on Bryson's health.

After agonizing days watching him slowly deteriorate, accompanied with constant visits to the vet, testing, waiting, more testing, and more waiting, we finally got the phone call we half-dreaded from the vet this afternoon...

"Yes, I'm afraid as we suspected, the last test confirmed that Bryson does have Addison's Disease..."

Addison's Disease. Not exactly what we want to hear, since it's incurable and potentially life-threatening, but it's with much relief that we finally learned what's been ailing him, and also that it's something we can manage with close observation and life-long medications.

What it is (as I learned from pharmacy school eons ago) is basically a condition where your adrenal glands which normally secretes all kinds of steroids that keep you alive stop working for some unknown reason. As a result, your electrolytes are all off-kilter (which can cause the tremors we saw in him and even lethal arrhythmia when you're in what's called an "Addisoninan crisis"), and you can't cope with any kind of stress coz you have no cortisol (which can show up as skin sores, infections, general frailness, etc).

It's not terribly common in people (but JFK did have it all his life which he tried desperately to hide- a little bit of trivia for ya), and even rarer in dogs. In fact, I never knew dogs can have it until the vet suggested that might be the culprit a few days ago (kudos to the team of super-diligent vets that took care of him!) 

But when we look at the list of symptoms: anorexia, weight loss (Bryson lost 5 lbs this past month), tremors, listlessness, depression, weakness in hind quarters... that's exactlywhat he's been having these past few weeks. And come to think of it, all his previous vague episodes of general illness and fear of new people/dogs could probably be related to it (sorry, Bryson, that we always just assumed that you're a prissy, sensitive soul!) 

And yet, because the symptoms are so non-specific, many dogs end up being misdiagnosed and mistreated for months or years before they're finally diagnosed during an Addisonian crisis and on the verge of death...

So, in a way, we may actually have to thank Pixar!

Coz, think about it... if not for the stress that the constant pile-driving caused him, he would not have gone into this current episode, which brought on the "hot spot", which prompted us to bring him into the vet, which warranted him a trial course of steroid, which then eventually led to this seemingly-unrelated and elusive diagnosis.

Can you imagine if we didn't find out now and have him put on the appropriate treatment, only for him to lapse into one of these episodes when we bring our new crying and fussing baby (aka mother-of-all-stressors) home in a few weeks??

Anyway, we began treatment right away this afternoon, starting with an injection of Percorten-V(coincidentally made by the company I work for), which will be given to him monthly for the rest of his life, as well as a dose of oral prednisolone, also to be given lifelong at various doses (depending on his stress levels).

It'll take a few days for us to see any significant improvement, but he did finish his dinner tonight (something he hasn't done for days...). I can say that things are starting to look up :)

So, with that, we hope to be able to say, "Adios, Addisonian Bryson!":

 

And "Hello, Happy Bryson!" in due course :)

 

A Bryson Health Update

Well, it looks like I've jinxed things in the last post when I said Bryson's all better.

He's not better. In fact he looked terrible all weekend...

Not only was his listless and hiding from us again as soon as the steroid wore off, he was trembling from head to toe and nothing we did could console him. Poor baby looked like he was in a lot of pain. We just felt so helpless when he looked at us with those sad puppy eyes pleading for us to do something, and yet we didn't know how to help him.

We checked him everywhere, couldn't find anything, and the "hot spot" that we thought was the culprit has already healed. We tried giving him treats, hugs, toys, old pain medicine... nothing seemed to really help. I googled all night looking for clues. A thousand different possibilities- everything from a simple urinary tract infection to some deadly neurologic disease ran through my head... I totally worried myself sick. It breaks my heart to even lay eyes on his little trembling body, it just makes me cry (the pregnancy hormones aren't helping either). 

We took him to the vet today, and even the vet was stumped (not the most reassuring thing to hear). They ran a bunch of tests, and was told that we'll get the results tomorrow or Wednesday. "Tomorrow or Wednesday" couldn't come soon enough...

I almost felt guilty for going to our baby shower and celebrate when he was in such bad shape. But I'm glad I did, being surrounded by everyone who loved and cared about us so much definitely help me feel more positive. The party planning committee- Auntie Aimee, Auntie Van and Auntie Rita put together such a fabulous party I can't even begin to describe it here... I think I'll just post the pix when I get them and you'll see what lucky girls (me + baby) we are...

Here's just one example of the many brilliant ideas they had (Auntie Aimee designed and gocco'd the book plate, and every guest who brought a baby book gets to write a message to our baby. Isn't that so neat?)

By the way, this is Auntie Van's message in the Dr. Seuss book "It's Not Easy Being a Bunny".

I'll keep you all posted about Bryson when we hear back from the vet. Wish us luck.