Baby Faces

We are over 2 months now with baby P.  I know they do this, but they grow so fast!  Here are a few photos of her sweet baby faces over these couple of months.  We're loving those chubby cheeks and every single roll!

Baby Blessing

While Ben's family was here we decided to bless the babe on November 18.  We belong to a small branch where about 15-20 people attend each week.  With my parents and Ben's parents and sister we almost doubled the attendance that day.  P was blessed by her father and had both grandfathers, the branch president, first counselor and another branch member assist.  It was a nice blessing and a great day with family.

Visit From the Idaho People

E likes to refer to Ben's family as the Idaho people.  We were lucky to have a few of the Idaho people come visit us.  A few days after we got P's passport we picked up Ben's parents and sister, Anna, at the airport in Seoul.  They stayed with us just over a week.  They got in some baby snuggles, playtime with E, and some Korean culture experiences.  (But we all know the real reason to come was for these kiddos.)

They arrived Sunday night then spent Monday wandering around the markets and streets of Seoul.  This, of course, was quite the experience for them.  After living here 18 months you forget how strange some things are!

Mom with some odd man trying to sell something at Namdaemun market.

Items for sale.

Trying on traditional Korean clothes.

Anna at a local pavilion.

After all the exploring, eating and shopping we headed down to our house.  Anna and I rode the bus with baby P while everyone else drove down.

For most of the adventures I stayed home with the babe and sometimes E.  The first stop was to the Tongyeong Cable Cars.  We went with Emma for her 2nd birthday.  From what I hear they had a great time enjoying the beauty of Korea.

On the cable cars.

Along the trail.

At the top.

They also went to the P.O.W. camp from the Korean War which was located on the island.

We enjoyed a dinner at our favorite Korean BBQ.

They also went to a neighboring city, Jinju, to the fortress used in the 1500's.  

They went on a drive around the island.

Ben had to go into work one day so I took them to the bamboo forest where we enjoyed a nice walk (my mom also came along).

It was fun for Ben's family to see where we live, where E goes to school and the just see the girls.  We enjoyed reading, playing, dancing...

and snuggling!

Passport

Ten days after baby P was born we loaded the car and drove to Seoul.  We needed to go to the U.S. Embassy to record the birth and apply for a passport.  Luckily we have grandma and grandpa to stay with to make it easier.  Check out this little one's passport picture!

It really makes me smile.  And it makes me smile that this will be her passport for the next 5 years.  The process was fairly easy for us.  Fortunately we had all the correct paperwork!  It also helps that we are both born U.S. citizens who have only been married to each other.  We sure heard some crazy stories while we were there.  Congratulations on your U.S. citizenship baby P!  (No, we did not file for Korean citizenship.)

Baby Paige

Paige was born on Monday, October 29, 2012 at 11:07 a.m.  She weighed 3.54 kg (7 lbs 12 oz) and was 48 cm (18.9 inches).  She was delivered via Cesarean in Okpo, South Korea by Dr. Lee.

Because of my previous Cesarean our doctor recommended another Cesarean.  We scheduled the delivery in my 38th week of pregnancy.  We arrived at MizMom Clinic around 9 a.m.  The doctor performed an ultrasounds then sent me upstairs to prep for the procedure.  I was in a room with one other Korean lady also being prepared for the Cesarean.  After some preparation they allowed Ben to come in the room to wait with me.  At about 10:30 the nurses came to get me and take me into the operation room. In Korea Cesareans are done under general anesthesia but they did give me some sort of epidural for minor pain relief.  Not long after the epidural was in my doctor arrived (he being one of the only staff to speak English more than a couple words).  He explained they would put me 'under' while he made the incision because it was very painful.  He said they would wake me up when the baby was born.  The anesthesiologist asked me if I knew the song "Gongnam Style", which of course I did.  He turned it on his phone and that was the last thing I remember.

They woke me up after Paige was born but I could hardly open my eyes.  They kept saying, "Baby" but the drugs were too strong.  I was shortly out again.  I guess at this time they got Ben out of the waiting area and brought him to the edge of the operating room (because he was not allowed in during the procedure) to see his girl.  They then took her to the nursery to get her cleaned up and had her under observations for about 4 hours.  This is the first picture Ben got of her.

While under observation Ben assisted the nurses with getting me into a room.  Let's just say I was a little loopy.  Ben said I asked the same questions several times (about her size and what she looks like).  Although Korea is different with their normal delivery and recovery practices it probably worked out well that they had Paige for several hours so I could have time to get back to reality.

At about 3:00 p.m. the nurses brought in our little bundle!  In Korea the baby usually stays in the nursery for about 2 weeks while the mother recovers.  They have a room where the mother can feed the baby but the baby does not stay in the room with the mom.  After a few days of recovery in the clinic the mom stayed in another part of the facility where she participates in yoga, gets massages, does crafts, etc.  Very different.  We opted to have our baby in our room and get home as soon as we could.

Paige came with adorable chubby cheeks, a head full of dark hair, long fingers and toes, and a couple fused toes (2nd and 3rd toes) on her right foot.

That evening we had my parents and big sister E visit.  I'm not sure they were supposed to come into the room but we had them sneak in.  E was a little nervous at first but quickly got more comfortable with her little sis.  It was great to have them all come and for us to be a little family!

We stayed in the hospital until Friday morning.  It was nice to have some quite recovery time but even better to get home.  We loved our daily visits from Grandma and big sister.

We are loving this little girl!