| Belated Happy New Year to Everyone! It?s been awhile since we?ve kept in touch. A lot has happened since our church wedding last April - THANK YOU once again for all your love & support, including those who were unable to attend our wedding. Your gifts will eventually help us with a future down payment on a house, but those plans are later on down the road. We would also like to extend our heartfelt ?Thank You?s? for our recent surprise Baby showers & baby gifts? our apologies for not being able to attend all of the baby showers. We have been blessed with a healthy baby boy - Tommy!! (click here to view pictures...) Tommy?s Birth Story? Let me give you a little recap of my pregnancy with Tommy. With the guidance of the Lord, we were so blessed to have our dear Tommy delivered full-term. Yes, he was 37 weeks and 4 days to be exact. I had a feeling that he?d come out early. I was measuring big ever since my 28th week, and my Kaiser-Nurse Practioner, Judy, was telling me that I would be having a big baby - at least seven pounds! My appetite was really good, there were times I had to wake up in the middle of the night just to snack on a piece of bread ? but that didn?t calm me down to go to sleep. I found that what I really needed to eat was rice! (diet for all Asians!). The pregnancy went so well, all my tests and screenings were fine. Thanks be to God! It was Monday, December 10th around 7:20AM, Mike and I took Vincent to school, and I drove Mike to his first day at his new job at BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in downtown Oakland ? (where parking is minimum & very expensive). I drove back home by myself, gassed up the car, and then rushed to go home to get ready for my prenatal appointment at 11:00AM. I was having irregular contractions in the car, but thought it was just a Braxton Hicks that I normally had for the last 2 weeks. I got home around 9:00AM. I went to the bathroom and saw some unusual discharge. There I thought I was in labor ? 1st stage. I still experienced contractions which were kinda irregular. I called my mom and my sister and told them that I had an appointment at 11:00 and I wanted them to go with me, since I wasn?t sure if I would be admitted to Labor & Delivery (if they found out that I may be progressing to active labor). Fortunately, Randy (my brother in-law) was off at that time and Bhel (my sister who is also pregnant & due this March) had scheduled an appointment also at Kaiser. We all went to the hospital, where my NP told me that, yes, there was something going on there but I was still 0 dilated. She told me that the dilations would begin tonight or tomorrow morning. In short, we went home and I was so hungry so I told everyone I wanted to eat some soup at our (mine & Mike?s) favorite Chinese restaurant. While I was eating, I was having regular contractions and it was progressing to be more painful and at shorter intervals. It was around 2pm when we got home & my sister told me that they (she and Randy) would go to the Mall and I would page her just in case I progressed into active labor. She left and I called my mother-in-law in Virginia to give her an update at which time (a few minutes after my sister left) my bag of water broke. I told my mother-in law that I had to hang up and rush to Alta Bates, labor and delivery. I called Mike on his cell phone to meet me at Alta Bates Medical Center ? he had to take a Taxi. We were all panicking because no one was able to drive me to the hospital. My mom (Nanay) and Jack could not drive, my sister and Randy had just left, and Mike was in the middle of his new job orientation with no car to go home. I thought, ?What am I gonna do???? We were all asking together, Jack and Nanay were running back and forth trying to figure out who was gonna take me. Taxi, 911,?? Nanay and Jack thought of Darlene, who worked in our Apartment Rental Office. Jack went to the Rental Office and Darlene offered that her husband should drive me instead. Thanks to Darlene and to her husband. They had a van so it made things easier. While I was in the van (with Nanay & Jack by my side), my labor was really progressing fast and I was screaming - even the driver was getting nervous. I knew I was almost there (active labor) ? the drive was really stressful, with my labor pain and the traffic. Darlene?s husband really did a good job driving! When we arrived, Mike was standing in front of the hospital ER entrance and was so surprised that I was riding in an unknown vehicle with a driver that he had never met before. From the ER, they took me to L&D right away, I went straight to the L&D room, that was around 2:55PM. They checked my dilation and it had increased to around 6-7 cm! The doctor told me that they?d come back to get an ultrasound and asked me if I wanted some pain relievers. I told them that it wouldn?t help anymore at all. The dilation was completed around 3:10PM and the baby was pushing to around 7-8 cm. Mike was by my side coaching. He did a good job! (Thanks honey!) I started to push around 3:12 and Tommy came out at 3:19PM. Then Mike told me, ?Honey, it?s a boy ? it?s our Tommy!? (we already had a name picked out with the help of Vincent). We were watching and admiring Tommy as the nurses cleaned him up. By then all my initial pains were nearly gone by just simply admiring our most precious gift of life from God. Tommy weighed 8 lbs & 2 oz, 20 � long, 13 � head size. Judy was right, he was a big baby. I am very grateful for the wonderful gift, easy and quick labor, no IV, no ultrasound, no pain relievers and Tommy was really helping me out. It was funny that they completed the admission and consent papers just after the delivery. Thanks to the staff of Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley, they all did an outstanding job, from the L&D to Recovery Staff, to Mike who was so supportive during my labor, to Nanay, Jack, Bhel & Randy, Darlene & her husband, to my mother-in-law (Nerissa) and to all of you who prayed for me and the baby. GOD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME! BART - Mike? 2001 has given us many challenges... in June 2001, Mike was laid off from his Network Support position at SBC Datacomm due to cut-backs proliferated by downsizing within the Information Technology (IT) sector. Mike had spent the next 4 & a half months job-hunting for an equivalent IT job but to no avail. Out of desperation, Mike applied for, & was offered, a Sales/Manager-In-Training position at Radio Shack in October 2001 which Mike had accepted while continuing his technical job search. Finally, on December 10, 2001 (the same day Tommy was born), after many prayers, Mike was offered a Communications Electronic Technician position with the Bay Area Rapid Transit (a.k.a. BART - the bay areas subway system), which he enjoys. We thank GOD for this blessing! United Airlines - Mercy.. As all of you know, the Airline industry has been struggling since the Sept 11th attack. We pray for all of those innocent people who suddenly & tragically lost their lives. With God?s many blessings, I was not one of the many United Airlines employees to be laid off. The number was horrific, just in our group alone at SFO, more than half of us were laid off. We were truly praying that I would not be included in that list, since Mike was laid off at that time and we were very concerned with our Medical Insurance due to my pregnancy. God is GOOD! ALL THE TIME! Mom?s Chemo & Dad?s Operation? Mike?s mother has completed her chemo-therapy treatment (after having colon cancer removed last April on our wedding day) and she is doing much better now. Mike?s dad had triple bypass heart surgery last October and has recovered quite well too. Mike?s uncle also recently had double bypass heart surgery and is recovering well. Thanks be to God for the gift of good health! Thanksgiving? As our stories reveal to you, we have had much to be thankful for in 2001. We know that many of you have also gone through difficult times. The Lord always provides us blessings even during times of our deepest distress. In our life?s trials and tribulations (especially this past year), we?ve discovered that we may think we know what?s best for ourselves. But if we put all of our trust in the Lord in all that we do, the true meaning of His Love will unfold before us through His blessings. In trusting the Lord completely, He blesses us in ways that are far greater than we could ever imagine. Thank you for praying for us. We pray for the many blessing of the Lord to continue to be upon all of you, our dearest family & friends, in 2002 and beyond... God bless! Love, Mike, Mercy, Vincent & Tommy |