pregnancy – Cozy in Love

To My Labor Partners

March 29, 2018 No Comments

This post is dedicated to my two incredible labor partners: my husband and my mom. I decided to have a natural birth and to deliver Eden unmedicated after learning about the effects that induction and pain meds have on both mom and baby during labor and thereafter. It was a personal choice that I had the privilege to make, having been blessed with a complication-free pregnancy and healthy baby. So Conoon and I carefully devised our birth plan and I prepared to surrender both body and mind to the natural birth process.

Night and day of, Conoon coached me through nearly every single contraction. We were in labor for 24 hrs, from Tuesday 1:00am to Wednesday 1:15am. At the time, we didn’t have a definite end time to work toward. The only finish line we could see was after each declining contraction; as one passed, it became time to focus on the next. “Just one more.” Without Conoon’s encouragement, help with breathing through waves of pain, and literally his body to hang onto, I probably would have asked for an epidural or pitocin eventually. But the mantras he spoke kept me focused; his confidence and spirit gave me strength, and we welcomed Eden home by our original plan.

With ultimate patience and true “mom intuition”, my mom provided me and Conoon relief and comfort in areas that we had control over. She abided with my requests (or at times, demands) for water, counter-pressure for back pain, and fanning when it got too hot. She cushioned my knees with a pillow when I labored in positions that had me kneeling on the hard ground. She brought me new towels and dried my hair after each hot shower. She made sure Conoon stayed hydrated and ate to sustain his energy. What was feeding her in those 24 hrs, I have no idea. But her presence and humble help allowed Conoon and me the additional room and focus to do the purposeful work we needed to do.

Definitely a team effort. Definitely #teamcozykim in play here. To Conoon and Ma: from the deepest part of my heart, thank you. Thank you for the gift of a work-heavy, unmedicated, beautiful labor. Thank you for trusting and believing in me. And most of all, thank you for the gift of the healthiest, happiest, strongest Eden possible 🌹💪

Pregnancy

Bumpdate | 39 Weeks

March 19, 2018 No Comments

We’ve reached full term at 39 weeks! On Saturday night and into Sunday’s afternoon, I felt my strongest Braxton Hicks contractions yet. I thought I was entering into early labor(!), but the strength and frequency of the contractions lowered as the hours passed and afternoon turned to night. This Monday morning, my mucus plug came out (sorry if that’s TMI) which means my body is REALLY preparing to bring Baby Eden into this world. Any day now… She could come in a few days or in a few weeks!

This past week, Conoon worked from home and we got a lot of things DONE (Does perusing the aisles of Target count as getting things done?):

finished packing my hospital bag with clothes and things for me, Conoon and Eden,
ordered some last minute baby needs on Amazon,
did loads and loads of baby laundry,
printed out copies of our birth plan,
finally visited Conoon at work to attend 12 o’clock mass at the Archdiocese,
and most importantly, installed Eden’s carseat with the help of a car seat technician.

Marc, the technician, came to our apartment to teach us the importance of car seat safety and how to properly install and use our carseat. At first, I thought “What’s the big deal and why do we need to call a specialist? It’s just a car seat.” But I’m so glad we did. There were many little details about car seat safety that I would have overlooked without Marc’s teaching and guidance.

If you need help installing your carseat or want someone to double check your setup, I HIGHLY recommend that you contact Marc. He travels to your location, spends an hour with you (he kindly spent two with us), thoroughly goes over all the features of your specific car seat, and teaches you how to install it into your car. He doesn’t charge a fee, but accepts donations. Marc is awesome and a big jokester, but the best thing about him is that he is passionate about what he does. Years ago, he lost his daughter and grandson in a car accident, and since then, has been teaching families all over LA about the important of car safety. One big takeaway I learned from him? He asked, “Where’s the safest place to keep a baby?” In my head, I was thinking, rear-faced in the middle seat. My husband answered, “At home.” To which Marc replied, “That’s right. At home.”

—

Baby Fruit/Veggie: Baby is as big as a pumpkin! This week, my OB estimated that Eden weighs around 6.5 lbs and will continue to gain 0.5 lbs each week.

Cravings: Avocado smoothies for breakfast! If you thought avocados were only meant to eat in savory dishes, think again! I’ve been putting avocado, banana, kale, milk and a liiittle bit of honey. Also try avocado sprinkled with sugar (if you dare). It’s a great snack!

Mom update: I’ve been feeling a lot of conflicting emotions lately. Is it possible to feel anticipation, joy, sadness, worry, apprehension, and peace all in one day? Let me tell you– when you’re pregnant and your hormones are all over the place, yes, you most certainly can.

Just patiently waiting for Eden’s arrival.

Pregnancy

Bumpdate | 36 Weeks

February 28, 2018 No Comments

4 weeks away from Baby Eden’s due date and I’m officially on maternity leave! My goal this week is to stay active and maximize my time by running errands and finishing up little projects around the house. The ENFP in me has to pat myself on the back for everything I’ve done so far, so here’s my list of this week’s accomplishments:

packed labor bag
went on a Target run (which there will be plenty more of)
ordered photos and frames for the our currently sad, bare dining room wall
went to a nursing bra fitting (who knew that was a thing?) and bought some bras
organized baby shower gifts and hand-me-downs
went to a 36th week doctor’s appointment
took photos for this week’s bumpdate!

Still to do…

organize and clean the nursery (we’ve seriously accumulated so much stuff!)
finish decorating the nursery and living room
wash baby clothes, blankets and other accessories
make a dentist appointment for a regular cleaning
pack hospital bag
type up birth plan
buy a few more things in time for baby’s arrival

Lots of to-do’s, but I’m taking it a step at a time. Just very thankful to have the time off work to do all these things with time remaining to relax.

Cozy Update: The season of Lent started two weeks ago and we have BANNED THE USE OF SCREENS (aka phone, laptops, and tv) after 7pm. Before Lent, our approach to relaxation was watching Netflix or YouTube for a few hours, and then spending time on our laptops doing miscellaneous things. Now, we basically do a combination of eat, talk, nap, clean, shower/bath, meditate, or read before going to sleep. It’s been a nice change of pace. Our conversations and time together have upped in quality and we’re definitely clocking in more sleep. (We sleep before midnight nowadays– big shocker for us night owls!)

As Conoon and I near the end of this pregnancy, I can’t help but feel like it’s the end of an era… the “Just Us” era of Cozy. Even though we dated for 8 years before getting married, it never really felt like it was “just us” until we made that life-long commitment. So while it’s bittersweet to say goodbye to our lives as we know it, looking ahead, I see that a grander adventure awaits. An adventure that will test and break us in difficult moments, but make our bond and trust in each other stronger with time. I’m not afraid because I know we have each other, God, and the overwhelming support of family and friends (to whom I say a heartfelt Thank you! and I love you!).

And now for some less lengthy updates…

Baby Fruit/Veggie: Baby is the size of a papaya this week, weighing in at 5.73 lbs and measuring 18.7 inches.

Baby Milestone: First time getting upset with mommy. I was sitting slumped on the couch one night, and my back started hurting so I sat up with my back straight, making my stomach close in around her more tightly. Baby totally KICKED me moments after– I have 4 witnesses. Not a very nice way of telling me she’s squished, hmph! But besides that incident, I still LOVE feeling the big swooshes and gentle nudges of her movement.

Mom Update: My uterus measures 35cm. Belly button is looking weirder by the day. Braxton Hicks contractions are frequent. Swelling of the cankles and feet are very real and the urge to pee every hour is going strong. Feeling excited, anxious, in love, and like I’m running out of time!

And that’s week 36!

Events, Pregnancy

Baby Shower Eats

January 30, 2018 No Comments

Conoon and I threw a simple baby shower at our place to celebrate Baby with our closest friends. We served an assortment of snacks and desserts:

My favorite dessert: homemade pudim (Brazilian flan) made by my mom
Mini avocado toasts
Caprese kabobs
Cheese platter (we cheated and bought the prepackaged Ralphs platter because it’s easy, addicting, and feeds lots!)
Egg rolls and spring rolls from Pho 87 (which has the best Vietnamese egg rolls EVER, and the spring rolls were a fresh, light addition).
Egg tarts from 85 Degrees Bakery

Here are some photos of the spread!

Pregnancy

Bumpdate | 30 Weeks

January 15, 2018 No Comments

Here’s a little (or not so little) belly progress photo since I didn’t get to post one last week.

This week I had my first REAL pregnancy brain moment. One day after getting home from work, I opened a cupboard looking for a cup and instead found a jug of lukewarm OJ inside. In a morning frenzy after fixing a quick breakfast, I must’ve jammed the juice in the cupboard thinking it was the fridge HA! I was instantly confused and my first instinct was to yell after my husband like “BAAAABE WHAT IS THIS?!” but then a split second later I realized that heh…. it was me. I shut up real quick lol.

30 weeks pregnant and baby is the size of a zucchini, cabbage, or cantaloupe! #yuge #30weekspreg

Pregnancy

Gender Reveal | 20 Weeks

November 6, 2017 No Comments

It’s a GIRL!!! Today we found out we’ll be welcoming a baby girl into our family in March. When the ultrasound tech was showing us the baby, Baby was being super active, wriggling her feet and sucking her thumb! We saw her opening and closing her mouth as she drank amniotic fluid and even got a peek at her little tongue. She’s come a long way since we first saw her at 9 weeks, having tripled in size and developing far more in complexity since her gummy-bear-like state!

What incredible, first-time sights for us first-time parents. Conoon and I have been in amazement each day since learning we are having our first child. For me, it’s an incredible honor to be carrying this baby, to be this child’s first home in this physical world. While the first trimester consisted of accustoming to drastic bodily changes and constant fatigue, the second trimester has been all fun and pleasantries so far (minus occasions of gassiness and indigestion pains from eating too much). The shock factor of being pregnant has subsided and been replaced by an overall embrace of my new reality. I’m intrigued by pregnancy symptoms that appear one day and are gone the next and welcome the gradual belly growth. I enjoy basing my meals off of what Baby needs to eat more of and feel pangs of joy when I feel Baby jerking around at random times of the day. Now at 20 weeks, I feel her moving and fluttering about regularly; it’s the coolest feeling and the sweetest reminder of my new role as a mom.

While I’m making the most of these times, some days are still harder than others: I’ll feel overly tired for no reason or experience unceasingly long headaches that only a full night of sleep can cure. But coming home to Conoon and resting together on the same wavelength makes the physical burdens easier to bear. We are doing this together after all.

Conoon has been immensely supportive throughout the pregnancy, and to him I am so grateful. We still have little spats every now and then, usually caused by miscommunication or heightened moodiness, irritability, or shortened patience, but we get through these harder moments by talking it out, being honest about our feelings, and committing to doing better next time. Even though a lot of our focus is on our baby and our future, we still work hard at becoming better, more loving teammates and strive to cherish every single moment of the present. We know that our lives will never be the same (or nearly as peaceful) come Baby.

I wish we could watch Baby every day through the ultrasound up until her delivery date. It’s so surreal that this little life is going about her days in my tummy. I can’t imagine what it’ll be like when she’s actually here.

We’re halfway there! Now the hunt for girl names begins…

Pregnancy

Halloween P(h)un

October 31, 2017 No Comments

Happy Halloween! Can you guess what our couple costume is? #costumepuns

It’s the best when you can be lazy and cheap with costumes 😂 Went to the dollar store to get cat ears but they only had Minnie Mouse ears left 😒 I refused to go anywhere else and spend more than $1.21 so I bought the Minnie, ripped off the bow, cut it up and refashioned them into cat ears. What was supposed to be an easy “slap it on” costume, turned into a 2-hour DIY sesh 🤦🏻‍♀️ (I was distracted by Stranger Things too okay?) But voila! Cat ears to add to my no-longer-existent costume box #worthit.

Also, kudos to me for thinking of a clever costume for my husband who’s even lazier than me when it comes to Halloween 😂 Gotta work with what I got if I want him to play along with my impromptu photo ideas!!

Ps. Baby is the size of a mango this week 💕 #19weeks #lilmango #teamcozykim

Pps. In case you’re still perplexed about what our costume is.

Pregnancy

At First Bump | 17 Weeks

October 20, 2017 No Comments

It’s been a lightning fast 17 weeks and I can’t believe Conoon and I are nearing the halfway mark. With all the changes and discomforts, pregnancy for me has been exciting and joyful, but also overwhelming, annoying, tiring, and so much more, depending on the hour and the day. In my moody, unstable moments I have to remember that these are times I won’t get ever get back with Baby and Conoon, so I should take it ALL in with gratitude and grace, with an openness to learning some shtuff~ along the way. We and this pregnancy are far from perfection (we’ve encountered more “bumps” than this growing one), but it’s perfect for us mere humans, and I’m at peace knowing we’re doing the best we can.