It is with a heavy heart that we bring you an update on Hank. We are still processing through our visit today with our ENT specialist at Childrens. She started off by explaining that what they originally thought was scar tissue or possibly calcification in the nasal area due to repeated trauma (kicks), was not what we were dealing with in Hank's case. She said that it was pure coincidence (Providence) that the inflammation from the boys' ninja session brought the issue to our attention. They don't think the inflammation played any role in the growth of this mass. While she wasn't willing to speculate on what exactly the growth is, she does know (from the MRI) that it is not benign. She had already called another specialist yesterday, after calling us to set up our appointment with her, to make an appointment for him to see Hank ASAP... as in tomorrow. Taylor asked Dr. W how concerned she was, and she responded very seriously with "I am, we are, very concerned and want to progress treatment as quickly as we are able to." It was in that moment that Taylor and I knew this was going to be a heartbreaking journey. Dr W is uncertain what we are dealing with, but both she and the radiologist believe it could likely require more than just surgery... as she mentioned radiation and chemotherapy as possible treatment options. The praise of the day is that the mass/tissue has not breached any of his facial cavities, as far as they can tell, and that it has only spread in the exterior tissue. So while it has deformed his nose, cheek and lip, it has not applied pressure on any interior glands, etc. So praise God for that.
On the drive home, I couldn't help but think of what I thought was a prolonged timeline in the expediency of Hank's care up to now. Oh what a mercy that we did not have this news prior to my stomach bug, Christmas, and Ruby's arrival. We would have all been incredibly stressed and burdened with all those colliding. So I can only thank the Lord that His timing is not my timing. It is hard resting in the Lord with this news... I know the many trials and heartaches that the Lord has brought us through up to now, but it is so hard to find peace in this moment just now. Please pray for Taylor and I as we begin a journey of doctors' visits and big decisions. Please pray for Hank, that the growth would slow or stop growing. Please pray for our family as we all wrap our heads around this, especially Corin... he is very sensitive and tenderhearted towards suffering and has already shed many tears over Hank's nose.
We have an appointment with another doctor specializing in the face and throat tomorrow (3/5) at 1pm. Dr B will examine Hank and discuss a biopsy time with us. Once we have the biopsy, it will take about 5-7 days to process the tissue sample to let us know exactly what we are going to treat, and how to proceed with treatment (forms of treatment/surgery.) So we won't really have anymore information or answers to our questions until the biopsy comes back, which could take a couple weeks... so I likely won't have any updates until then. So until the next update, thank you for your prayers... they are priceless.
LL
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Friday, December 28, 2012
Oh, right, we have a blog.
Not that I am super concerned with updating our blog, as most of the people who once upon a time read it while we were in Korea were readers due to the distance... which now most of those faithful readers are within driving distance, so I appologize to those who are not and were looking forward to updates. Life... it gets a little busy as I am sure we are all familiar with.
Life... it is still moving at a high pace since our return to the States. For almost the past two months, our little family suffered from one ailment or another, mostly the stomach flu and colds. The stomach flu/bug raced through our home not once, not twice, but three times. Corin suffered the brunt of that in carrying the "load" THREE times in the course of five weeks. Poor kid. Hank got hit twice and Taylor and I each got it once. The first two weeks of the bug were fast and furious. I was pretty well SICK of laundry by the time we finally chased it out of the home with lysol, apple cider vinegar and acidopholus. The things you do to feel better. :P
With the now "behind" us, I can tell you of some of the latest and greatest additions to our routines. Taylor just finished his first semester of Seminary!!! Whoop! And he did very well at that. I just finished my first semester teaching refugee preschoolers! Whoop... I think I did well! ;) What?, you knew nothing of this preschool teaching job I speak of?! Well, I shall fill you in then.
I started teaching with a non-profit organization in the area that works with refugees and proclaims Christ all at the same time. Pretty cool, right?! Well, I get to be a part of it. I am working with 2 1/2- 5 year olds mostly from Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and recently Iraq. The kids are adorable and are doing quite well with memory verses, ABCs and 123s. We do a lot of coloring and playing outside rather than indoor games and crafts considering I am still a little afraid to give most of them scissors as the class often ends in some sort of WWIII... typically amongst the Sudanese girls. Eeek. I had a few that would not speak one word and gave me blank stares in the beginning. I thought originally it was due to their lack of understanding the English language, but as the weeks progressed they all slowly opened up and the two that were mum little ladies in the beginning are now my two chatty Cathys. :) Most of them now love to give me their goodbye hugs at the end of class and I get to see them two hours a day, three times a week. Lots of sweet hugs in my life right now, including my own boys! Speaking of boys... what do I do with them while I teach?! Corin is actually in my class, he tends to be my little helper and helps set an example for the other kiddos... most of the time good. ;) Hank goes with us too, only he toddles around with babes his age in a room down the hall. All-in-all, it has been a great experience. I never would have said I would enjoy teaching preschoolers, but in retrospect... it's not so bad, especially when you see them learning more about Christ and getting excited to "see what happens next" in His story. Quite rewarding. You can check out more about the non-profit, For the Nations:Refugee Outreach at http://ftnro.org/. Feel free to get with Cameron or Kaitlyn about volunteering or even giving. :)
So, what are the boys up to now? Let's face it, you are not here to hear about Taylor and I... ;)
Corin is a spelling MACHINE. He is now reading three to four letter words and sounding out words to attempt to spell them on his own. Like for instance, his word tonight... Zebra. He said it "ZEE-BRUH". He spelled it " Z-B-R-U." Not bad, not bad. :) He had the sounds down, poor kid has no clue the innumeral amount of rules for spelling and grammar ahead of him. He loves playing outdoors, anything superhero/spiderman/superman and still claims red as his favorite color. He is coming off the sugar high of the holidays and is readjusting to a normal diet... aren't we all.
Hank... well, diet has never really been in his vocabulary. He is still a tank. :) An adorable little tank. Still a happy little fellow who loves to play with cars, balls and boy can that kid dance! He has progressed to a cantor and giggles joyfully as he and Corin run laps around our enormous livingroom. He too loves the outdoors but it is hard to say if that is a love of the outdoors or a love of eating dirt... it's a toss up.
In other news... we got an amazing looking Korean cookbook for Christmas and are looking forward to spending more time grossing out our housemates in the kitchen! :) Our housemates that we STILL actually really enjoy! 6 months in and we are not even close to regretting our decission on community living!
So to sum it all up... God is AMAZING. :)
LL
Monday, July 23, 2012
The dust is settling!
So let me first say, yes, we need to update our header and picture to include Hank... I am sure I will get around to that by the time he is a year old... maybe. :)
We have moved into our new home and are going on three weeks and counting now. Having roommates is a different experience for me having never gone off to college and shared a dorm room or an apartment with strangers. So... what's it like?! Well, so far, so good! We really enjoy our new friends! Aaron and Katie have a lot in common with us and it makes getting to know each other, eating with each other, and living in general a lot of fun. The boys have certainly made themselves at home and get along great with the roomies. Taylor is close to work, school and we are super close to church now! YAY for being able to get to and from church without Hank falling asleep and ruining his naps! :) It's the little things!
The plan? Well... we "plan" for Taylor to go to Redeemer Seminary for his M.Div and then head back to Korea. Taylor would like to teach in a University and I would love to hop back on board with women's ministries and we both would like to invest in ministering to the expats there. Yes, I said the expats and not the native Koreans. We found there to be a huge need in this group as accountability was lacking and temptations abundant. We are excited to get plugged back into ministry here as we are in Dallas for a few years(at least).
Prayer requests?!:
That the Lord would be faithful in providing all our needs for Seminary. It will be a very time consuming and physically demanding season in our lives as Taylor attempts to work and go to school full time as well as be a husband and dad. So prayers for patience, wisdom, frugality, steadfastness, and everything else that we might need to equip our hearts and minds for this season of life would be gladly welcomed! Thank you all for you prayers and support over the last few years of our lives. We are truly blessed by the people the Lord has chosen to place in our path!
LL
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Stepping out in Faith
So as some of you know, we moved back to the states to put Taylor through Seminary. It's not really any surprise that he was accepted the same day he applied at Redeemer Seminary here in Dallas. :) (Proud wife) And so the journey begins. We were blessed to have a move in ready home available for us the moment we arrived on our return from Korea. We have been living in a trailer home in Wylie for the past 4 months and it has definitely helped keep some change in our pocket books. The only issue was the distance between our home, and our life. Church is 25 minutes away, Tay's daily job about the same, and school... further. So when we started thinking of how much actual time was being spent on the road, it began to be very clear that we needed to move closer to the places we spent most of our time. This would not only save on gas, but give us more time to spend together as a family... and with seminary in the mix, I am going to want all the time I can get... which might not be much. So, the search and prayers began. At first we thought about an apartment, but between rent and bills, it was just going to ruin any plans for paying for tuition. So we waited. We figured we would see what God could come up with. We had heard about seminary students getting to live with wealthier families in guest houses or garage apartments and figured maybe one would become available to us.
A few weeks ago, an email went out from Redeemer Seminary that was notifying students of an available housing option. A married couple had been blessed with a massive home near the seminary and were wanting to extend the blessing to another couple in need. The "ad" mentioned that they were open to kids, so we sent them a reply.
After not hearing from them for about a week, we figured they had already found their new roommates and so we looked forward, still praying for a solution. Then, Taylor finally got an email back from the couple. They wanted to meet with us and have dinner. In my mind, I thought "Lord... I really don't want to live with anyone else. I want my own space, my own home." I kept thinking I would go in with a good attitude, but my heart was discouraged at the thought of having roommates. So I prayed about it. I asked God to change my heart and that if this was not the place for us, that He would make it very apparent and put up red flags during the "interview."
The evening started off well. WE walked int he door and immediately my nerves were calmed. I felt very at ease with the couple. We went straight to the food and waited to do a tour until after dinner. I mean, if you've seen one bedroom/bathroom, you've seen them all... right?! Anyways, by the time dinner was through, I really felt like I had known them for a while. I felt really comfortable around them and for me, that was HUGE! I am NOT good with flow of conversation with new people. I am usually very awkward and there tend to be lots of moments of silence. This time, not so much.
After dinner, we took a leisure tour of the massive home. It seemed like a pretty great place with a big shady backyard, a gigantic living room, two separate bedrooms with their own private bathroom in between and a large kitchen with all the amenities... including two full size fridges.
I kept looking for or even trying to create red flags due to my selfish heart... but to no avail. God was NOT going to let me have this one. After knowing this couple for a total of about 3 hours, we were offered the wing of the home for a GREAT rate that includes utilities and internet. Obviously, Taylor and I needed to discuss it before accepting the offer, but as soon as we buckled ourselves into the car... smiles lit up both our faces. Mine, because I KNEW this was an answer to prayer. Tay's because I think he secretly likes living on the edge. :) Okay, not secretly... but still.
Actually, one of the amazing things about this new adventure was that Taylor and I had just been talking about missing community and ministering with our home like we did in Korea. We missed the way we were able to live like sojourners with very few material things to our name. This was an answer to those problems. We would get to minister not only to this couple, but would be able to get back to that "wanderer" status by not giving up the home we now reside in and downsizing to what will fit in two rooms again! YAY! I know. Most of you are sitting there thinking this sounds awful to you or sounds risky. Trust me when I say, I am sooooooooo stinking excited about this!
So now, I ask you to pray for our transition as we get ready to move into the new place over the next two weeks. Our goal is to be out of the trailer and into the new home by July 1st. :) Praise the Lord for answering prayers in ways that we don't understand at the time.
Thank you Lord, for this chance to grow and learn.Thank you for meeting our needs and more! You are such a gracious and generous God and beyond worthy to be praised!!!!!!!
LL
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Hank Saga...Part 3
Okay, so this is the REAL part 2, but since I already used that title, deal with it. :P
So I left off with Taylor coming to my rescue at about 5am, saving me from the terror that was my sleeping chamber. It kind of felt like a death chamber at the time though.
Anyways. We headed down to feed Hank for the second time and Taylor managed to sneak in with me again. Apparently he was not supposed to be in the nursing room with me the first time but he had stood his ground and I think the nurses were just a little frightened of the 6 foot 3 inch foreigner. Just a little. :) SO since there were no other moms nursing, he was able to go in with me again. Hank was less puffy this time, definitely less purplish-red, and his nose was looking less like a bulldog's now. Poor kid. He was not a very attractive newborn when fresh out of the oven. I was a little concerned he would have that nose for the rest of his life... but it was not meant to be! :)
Taylor had managed to get a little bit of sleep in the car. I managed to tell him the story of the room without crying and perhaps even faked a laugh here and there... it still was not funny to me yet. :D (Okay, maybe a little, but I was tired and totally wiped from the sauna of a room I was confined to.)
After feeding Hank, the nurse came in and told us we needed to head back. I tried to pretend I was still nursing so that I could stay in the quiet nursery and see both Tay and the babe for a little longer. I think she caught on the second time she came in and I tried to use the same excuse. SO I finally just asked for ten more minutes. She nervously smiled and agreed. Taylor and I took a couple pictures with the phone and then sent out some e-mails to family with the phone since they didn't have wireless for Tay to use the computer to get word out. Then we had to give Hank back and head back to the room. Taylor decided to head towards Greg and Gabi's to get Corin since they both had to work that morning. It was still 5 something in the morning, so his plan was to sleep in the car until about 8. He left the phone with me in case they called on the cell to come feed again, and then he was off. I figured he was just as wiped as me, so I sent a text to our friends to let them know that he would be sleeping in the car in their parking lot and to go tap on the window before they left for work. Plus.... if he didn't show, I wanted to know ASAP... since he was a sleepy driver and all.
Sigh... for me it was back to that room. I got back and the "soundtrack" was still turned up full volume. Soon the sun would be shining through the windows and at least I could read then. I sat twiddling my fingers waiting for daybreak. Finally the sun beams shone into our windows and I was about to open my book, when I hear this "BANG BANG BANG" and then drilling and jackhammering. WHAT?!!!! What was going on?! Then I remembered that the building next door was under construction. Just my luck. After a few minutes I realized that I could not longer hear the moaning, snoring, or sleep talking. I was actually kind of thankful for the construction noise now. Soon, the people in the room were waking up and I began to fall asleep to the sound of workers cutting steel. I remember looking at the clock before the eyelids gave out and it was quarter 'til 8. I soon awoke to the nurse waking me to try and shoot me up with some unknown injection... to which I politely refused. She was so confused. She kept trying to explain that "You need" "you need"... to which I would reply, "I don't. I don't" She shook her head and spoke to me in Korean (at lightening speed I might add) so that I had absolutely no clue what she was saying and since she was talking so fast, there was no hope of me even catching a few of the words. She wet around and gave all the other patients the shot and walked by my bed on her way out with a somewhat scowling look. Oh well I thought. Then I looked at the clock. Rats. It was 8:20. That means I got a whopping 30 minutes of sleep at the most. I tried to lay back down but then another nurse came in, escorting the nurse who had just been in, and she tried to persuade me to take a drug that I had absolutely no clue what it was. She tried looking up the translation on her phone and showing me that it was an antibiotic, but I was not having it. So she gave up and they both walked out the door talking in amazement with one another. (Probably discussing how stubborn I was and that I was undoubtedly going to die without this much needed injection that every Korean takes without question.)
Again, laying the head down and eyes closed when in walks a couple women with meal trays. They messed with my bed trying to get the bed tray to come up and after 3 or 4 minutes of wrestling with it, finally managed to get the arm to come up and placed a tray of food on it for me. Of course in the process I was pushed and nudged in an attempt to make me move around so they could set it up. I was not happy.
I looked around the room and watched as all the women opened their food dishes with delight. I slowly pulled the lid off the bowl. I knew what it was going to be... seaweed soup and rice. This is the "prescribed meal" for women who have just given birth and this is what they eat for about three days postpartum. While I like seaweed soup and I like rice... I am not to keen on it being my breakfast. I pushed the tray back and grabbed a snack out of my bag since I was nursing, and then laid back down. Not two minutes later, a nurse walks in and informs me it is time to feed.
AT this point I am kind of just dragging. I was happy and eager to see Hank again. Taylor still wasn't back with Corin and so I went down alone. This time, there were about 5 other moms in there nursing. I was a little surprised to see other people since up until then I was the only one in there at feeding times. I found out later that the moms had the option of supplementing with formula if they wanted, and so during the night, no one nursed. Hmmm. Okay.
SO of course I walk into the room and all eyes are on the foreigner white girl. I think they were expecting the nurses to bring a half Korean baby in to me, but when they brought little white boy Hank, the women all stared harder. I averted my eyes from everyone but Henry and tried to be as discreet as I could while nursing. It was really awkward to have 6 other Korean women staring at em while I nursed. VERY AWKWARD! A nurse came into the room and was walking around helping women who had never breastfed before and then she came to me. Hank and I were doing just fine, but I think she wanted to "show off" her English and so she grabbed the baby and my nursing equipment and began to demonstrate to me "how to." I was in a slight amount of shock. I just looked at her blankly, pushed her hands away, and informed her that this wasn't my first time. She looked at me with pity... as if I was some poor crazy fool who was going to starve my child because I wouldn't take her advice on feeding.
The truth was... I WAS starting to go a little crazy. Every single Korean nurse treated me as if I were the most ignorant person ever. Finally a nurse came on duty that could speak some English, and she asked if this was my first baby. To which I replied that it was my third and she about fainted on the spot. "THREE" she gasped! I simply shook my head and then told her three is not uncommon in the U.S. She shook her head form side to side and said that I shouldn't have anymore because it is not good for my health. Then she asked how much my baby weighed. I was reluctant to answer because I knew where this was headed. Finally I told her and she made the most ridiculous face ever. I was fed up. I am not a freak show people... and I am not going to die from having three kids, four kids... however many stinking kids I choose! Get over it. Your way is not the ONLY way to do things!!!!! AHHHH! Of course those thoughts were kept to myself, but I decided I was just going to stop talking to the nurses from that point onward.
Hank was full and so I headed back to my room. As I walked out of the nursery, I took a second to look a the visitation times. there were two daily visiting times and each visit was only 20 minutes. I remember thinking that it must have been extremely hard for the moms who were not nursing to only see their babies through the glass for 40 minutes a day. All other contact was prohibited and they did not bring the babies to your rooms... even if it was a private room. Then I realized that none of the women in my room had even been out of bed since I got there. When I got back, they were all still in their beds... watching Korean dramas on T.V. and munching on the soup and rice. I was surprised at how they seemed to not mind the fact that they had not seen their babies yet since being up.
At 9:20, our room was on the schedule to have "visitation", but NONE of the women or men in the room left. There were two couples that were up and moving about, but they didn't go down to see the baby?! Why on earth not?! Was this normal? I was so confused as to why none of my roomies were trying to see their newborns. I assume since they had c-sections that they got to see the baby for the minimum 25 seconds that I got... if that. I began to wonder if they had even ever seen their babies at all. It was so strange. The women seemed more concerned with getting more meds or eating the hospital food than seeing the new little life they had just brought in tot he world.
Soon Tay and Corin walked in and boy was I happy to see them. :) Tay brought some fruit and snacks for me for breakfast and soon we were watching a movie on Tay's computer as the rest of the room stared at us... mainly Corin. NOt long after they got there, my doctor came in. I was soooo relieved to see her. She asked how I was doing and my response was, "I am ready to go home with my family." She looked at me, smiled, and said "Well then lets try to make that happen soon!" I was so happy she was there. She told us that we would have to probably be there through the afternoon since she had appointments full booked until after lunch (which is from 12-2) but that she would see me that afternoon to clear me for release. I felt like I could finally breathe. Taylor soon took Corin to go play in the playroom after he got antsy in my room... and I managed to sneak in another 30 minute nap before anther nurse came to get em to feed. Since Taylor and Corin had missed the first visitation, I somehow talked the nurse into letting the guys see the baby through the viewing window for a couple minutes. This was Corin's first time to meet Hank. He was pretty excited, but after only about minute, the nurse gestured that she had to take him out of the window and closed the curtain on us. Taylor and I were not happy to say the least, but it was like pulling teeth to even get that much viewing time "off schedule." Sigh. I was beyond glad that we would be going home that afternoon. I wasn't sure how much more I could take of this. After having midwives with Corin and Owen and taking them both home only 3 hours after birth... not to mention they were in the same room those three hours with us... this experience was a bitter pill to swallow in comparison.
Around noon Tay snuck out to go get us lunch and Corin and I snuggled up for a movie on my bed. Not long after Tay got back and I had finished my sandwich, a nurse came in and gently took my hand to take me to see the doctor. This was the first kind nurse I had had. She was so sweet and seemed to be quite intrigued by me, but not in a stared you down stalker kind of way... just a gentle smile and wanting to hold my hand (which is a very common way of expressing affection in Korean culture between girl friends.) I obliged her and she apologetically informed me (in very broken english mixed with Korean) that she had to take me to the other side of the hospital and that it was a long walk. I was still in pain obviously, so I was very grateful that she was kind and patient with me as I walked slowly beside her.
We finally got to the doctors office and she checked me out and then she said the magic words... "You are free to go home!" I hugged her and thanked her. She seemed surprised at the hug, but laughed and let k=me know what to expect at checkout.
Soon I was walking with my sweet little nurse again back to the room to get dressed and packed up. Meanwhile, another nurse came in and handed me a filled prescription and tried to tell me when to take them and why. I just nodded and said I understood (the doctor had already explained) and soon we were downstairs ready to pick up Hank!!!!! They asked for our take home outfit. I had the same outfit in hand that Corin and Owen both came home in. The only problem was... would it fit Hank? I mean neither of them were over 8lb. 2oz. Henry was a massive 9lb. 11oz. The nurse held it up and gave a doubtful look. I was a little doubtful too. :)
Soon, out came Henry with his shoulders sticking slightly out of the outfit, but at least he was able to carry on the tradition.... even if it was a little tight! :)
I asked if we needed to pay, she said they'd send and bill and so out the door we went!
We made one stop on the way home and that was to our friends' home to show off Hank to Greg and Gabi. Hank got passed from Greg's parents to Gabi when she walked in the door and made a bee-line for the sink to wash her hands! She was super excited to hold him. :) I was glad to oblige! Then we were headed home and soon I was able to get some real sleep! And Taylor was too! We were both WIPED out! Luckily, Hank was such a sweet fellow, that sleep was not hard to manage. And soo.... that is the story of how we brought our not so little Henry Aaron Lett in to the world. :)
I am sure I left some things out here and there, but for the most part, I think I covered it.
I'd like to take a moment to Thank a few people now...
First, Praise you Lord for the safe and healthy delivery of Henry.
Secondly, thank you Taylor for your support through it all... raging hormones of a pregnancy and raging lunatic of a laboring mother. I love you and could have never managed any of it without you! Especially the whole making a kid part! ;) Rawr!
Thirdly, Thanks to GReg and Gabi and Greg's parents for helping out with Corin... what a blessing. Seriously, Huge blessing! Thanks for being such great friends.
And I would like to thank friends and family who were praying for us!
P.s. Thanks to our parents for stocking us up with baby supplies, to my mom for coming out and helping in so many ways, and to great aunts and great grandparents for gifts as well! WE love you and miss you all! Can't wait to introduce you to Henry!
So I left off with Taylor coming to my rescue at about 5am, saving me from the terror that was my sleeping chamber. It kind of felt like a death chamber at the time though.
Anyways. We headed down to feed Hank for the second time and Taylor managed to sneak in with me again. Apparently he was not supposed to be in the nursing room with me the first time but he had stood his ground and I think the nurses were just a little frightened of the 6 foot 3 inch foreigner. Just a little. :) SO since there were no other moms nursing, he was able to go in with me again. Hank was less puffy this time, definitely less purplish-red, and his nose was looking less like a bulldog's now. Poor kid. He was not a very attractive newborn when fresh out of the oven. I was a little concerned he would have that nose for the rest of his life... but it was not meant to be! :)
Taylor had managed to get a little bit of sleep in the car. I managed to tell him the story of the room without crying and perhaps even faked a laugh here and there... it still was not funny to me yet. :D (Okay, maybe a little, but I was tired and totally wiped from the sauna of a room I was confined to.)
After feeding Hank, the nurse came in and told us we needed to head back. I tried to pretend I was still nursing so that I could stay in the quiet nursery and see both Tay and the babe for a little longer. I think she caught on the second time she came in and I tried to use the same excuse. SO I finally just asked for ten more minutes. She nervously smiled and agreed. Taylor and I took a couple pictures with the phone and then sent out some e-mails to family with the phone since they didn't have wireless for Tay to use the computer to get word out. Then we had to give Hank back and head back to the room. Taylor decided to head towards Greg and Gabi's to get Corin since they both had to work that morning. It was still 5 something in the morning, so his plan was to sleep in the car until about 8. He left the phone with me in case they called on the cell to come feed again, and then he was off. I figured he was just as wiped as me, so I sent a text to our friends to let them know that he would be sleeping in the car in their parking lot and to go tap on the window before they left for work. Plus.... if he didn't show, I wanted to know ASAP... since he was a sleepy driver and all.
Sigh... for me it was back to that room. I got back and the "soundtrack" was still turned up full volume. Soon the sun would be shining through the windows and at least I could read then. I sat twiddling my fingers waiting for daybreak. Finally the sun beams shone into our windows and I was about to open my book, when I hear this "BANG BANG BANG" and then drilling and jackhammering. WHAT?!!!! What was going on?! Then I remembered that the building next door was under construction. Just my luck. After a few minutes I realized that I could not longer hear the moaning, snoring, or sleep talking. I was actually kind of thankful for the construction noise now. Soon, the people in the room were waking up and I began to fall asleep to the sound of workers cutting steel. I remember looking at the clock before the eyelids gave out and it was quarter 'til 8. I soon awoke to the nurse waking me to try and shoot me up with some unknown injection... to which I politely refused. She was so confused. She kept trying to explain that "You need" "you need"... to which I would reply, "I don't. I don't" She shook her head and spoke to me in Korean (at lightening speed I might add) so that I had absolutely no clue what she was saying and since she was talking so fast, there was no hope of me even catching a few of the words. She wet around and gave all the other patients the shot and walked by my bed on her way out with a somewhat scowling look. Oh well I thought. Then I looked at the clock. Rats. It was 8:20. That means I got a whopping 30 minutes of sleep at the most. I tried to lay back down but then another nurse came in, escorting the nurse who had just been in, and she tried to persuade me to take a drug that I had absolutely no clue what it was. She tried looking up the translation on her phone and showing me that it was an antibiotic, but I was not having it. So she gave up and they both walked out the door talking in amazement with one another. (Probably discussing how stubborn I was and that I was undoubtedly going to die without this much needed injection that every Korean takes without question.)
Again, laying the head down and eyes closed when in walks a couple women with meal trays. They messed with my bed trying to get the bed tray to come up and after 3 or 4 minutes of wrestling with it, finally managed to get the arm to come up and placed a tray of food on it for me. Of course in the process I was pushed and nudged in an attempt to make me move around so they could set it up. I was not happy.
I looked around the room and watched as all the women opened their food dishes with delight. I slowly pulled the lid off the bowl. I knew what it was going to be... seaweed soup and rice. This is the "prescribed meal" for women who have just given birth and this is what they eat for about three days postpartum. While I like seaweed soup and I like rice... I am not to keen on it being my breakfast. I pushed the tray back and grabbed a snack out of my bag since I was nursing, and then laid back down. Not two minutes later, a nurse walks in and informs me it is time to feed.
AT this point I am kind of just dragging. I was happy and eager to see Hank again. Taylor still wasn't back with Corin and so I went down alone. This time, there were about 5 other moms in there nursing. I was a little surprised to see other people since up until then I was the only one in there at feeding times. I found out later that the moms had the option of supplementing with formula if they wanted, and so during the night, no one nursed. Hmmm. Okay.
SO of course I walk into the room and all eyes are on the foreigner white girl. I think they were expecting the nurses to bring a half Korean baby in to me, but when they brought little white boy Hank, the women all stared harder. I averted my eyes from everyone but Henry and tried to be as discreet as I could while nursing. It was really awkward to have 6 other Korean women staring at em while I nursed. VERY AWKWARD! A nurse came into the room and was walking around helping women who had never breastfed before and then she came to me. Hank and I were doing just fine, but I think she wanted to "show off" her English and so she grabbed the baby and my nursing equipment and began to demonstrate to me "how to." I was in a slight amount of shock. I just looked at her blankly, pushed her hands away, and informed her that this wasn't my first time. She looked at me with pity... as if I was some poor crazy fool who was going to starve my child because I wouldn't take her advice on feeding.
The truth was... I WAS starting to go a little crazy. Every single Korean nurse treated me as if I were the most ignorant person ever. Finally a nurse came on duty that could speak some English, and she asked if this was my first baby. To which I replied that it was my third and she about fainted on the spot. "THREE" she gasped! I simply shook my head and then told her three is not uncommon in the U.S. She shook her head form side to side and said that I shouldn't have anymore because it is not good for my health. Then she asked how much my baby weighed. I was reluctant to answer because I knew where this was headed. Finally I told her and she made the most ridiculous face ever. I was fed up. I am not a freak show people... and I am not going to die from having three kids, four kids... however many stinking kids I choose! Get over it. Your way is not the ONLY way to do things!!!!! AHHHH! Of course those thoughts were kept to myself, but I decided I was just going to stop talking to the nurses from that point onward.
Hank was full and so I headed back to my room. As I walked out of the nursery, I took a second to look a the visitation times. there were two daily visiting times and each visit was only 20 minutes. I remember thinking that it must have been extremely hard for the moms who were not nursing to only see their babies through the glass for 40 minutes a day. All other contact was prohibited and they did not bring the babies to your rooms... even if it was a private room. Then I realized that none of the women in my room had even been out of bed since I got there. When I got back, they were all still in their beds... watching Korean dramas on T.V. and munching on the soup and rice. I was surprised at how they seemed to not mind the fact that they had not seen their babies yet since being up.
At 9:20, our room was on the schedule to have "visitation", but NONE of the women or men in the room left. There were two couples that were up and moving about, but they didn't go down to see the baby?! Why on earth not?! Was this normal? I was so confused as to why none of my roomies were trying to see their newborns. I assume since they had c-sections that they got to see the baby for the minimum 25 seconds that I got... if that. I began to wonder if they had even ever seen their babies at all. It was so strange. The women seemed more concerned with getting more meds or eating the hospital food than seeing the new little life they had just brought in tot he world.
Soon Tay and Corin walked in and boy was I happy to see them. :) Tay brought some fruit and snacks for me for breakfast and soon we were watching a movie on Tay's computer as the rest of the room stared at us... mainly Corin. NOt long after they got there, my doctor came in. I was soooo relieved to see her. She asked how I was doing and my response was, "I am ready to go home with my family." She looked at me, smiled, and said "Well then lets try to make that happen soon!" I was so happy she was there. She told us that we would have to probably be there through the afternoon since she had appointments full booked until after lunch (which is from 12-2) but that she would see me that afternoon to clear me for release. I felt like I could finally breathe. Taylor soon took Corin to go play in the playroom after he got antsy in my room... and I managed to sneak in another 30 minute nap before anther nurse came to get em to feed. Since Taylor and Corin had missed the first visitation, I somehow talked the nurse into letting the guys see the baby through the viewing window for a couple minutes. This was Corin's first time to meet Hank. He was pretty excited, but after only about minute, the nurse gestured that she had to take him out of the window and closed the curtain on us. Taylor and I were not happy to say the least, but it was like pulling teeth to even get that much viewing time "off schedule." Sigh. I was beyond glad that we would be going home that afternoon. I wasn't sure how much more I could take of this. After having midwives with Corin and Owen and taking them both home only 3 hours after birth... not to mention they were in the same room those three hours with us... this experience was a bitter pill to swallow in comparison.
Around noon Tay snuck out to go get us lunch and Corin and I snuggled up for a movie on my bed. Not long after Tay got back and I had finished my sandwich, a nurse came in and gently took my hand to take me to see the doctor. This was the first kind nurse I had had. She was so sweet and seemed to be quite intrigued by me, but not in a stared you down stalker kind of way... just a gentle smile and wanting to hold my hand (which is a very common way of expressing affection in Korean culture between girl friends.) I obliged her and she apologetically informed me (in very broken english mixed with Korean) that she had to take me to the other side of the hospital and that it was a long walk. I was still in pain obviously, so I was very grateful that she was kind and patient with me as I walked slowly beside her.
We finally got to the doctors office and she checked me out and then she said the magic words... "You are free to go home!" I hugged her and thanked her. She seemed surprised at the hug, but laughed and let k=me know what to expect at checkout.
Soon I was walking with my sweet little nurse again back to the room to get dressed and packed up. Meanwhile, another nurse came in and handed me a filled prescription and tried to tell me when to take them and why. I just nodded and said I understood (the doctor had already explained) and soon we were downstairs ready to pick up Hank!!!!! They asked for our take home outfit. I had the same outfit in hand that Corin and Owen both came home in. The only problem was... would it fit Hank? I mean neither of them were over 8lb. 2oz. Henry was a massive 9lb. 11oz. The nurse held it up and gave a doubtful look. I was a little doubtful too. :)
Soon, out came Henry with his shoulders sticking slightly out of the outfit, but at least he was able to carry on the tradition.... even if it was a little tight! :)
I asked if we needed to pay, she said they'd send and bill and so out the door we went!
We made one stop on the way home and that was to our friends' home to show off Hank to Greg and Gabi. Hank got passed from Greg's parents to Gabi when she walked in the door and made a bee-line for the sink to wash her hands! She was super excited to hold him. :) I was glad to oblige! Then we were headed home and soon I was able to get some real sleep! And Taylor was too! We were both WIPED out! Luckily, Hank was such a sweet fellow, that sleep was not hard to manage. And soo.... that is the story of how we brought our not so little Henry Aaron Lett in to the world. :)
I am sure I left some things out here and there, but for the most part, I think I covered it.
I'd like to take a moment to Thank a few people now...
First, Praise you Lord for the safe and healthy delivery of Henry.
Secondly, thank you Taylor for your support through it all... raging hormones of a pregnancy and raging lunatic of a laboring mother. I love you and could have never managed any of it without you! Especially the whole making a kid part! ;) Rawr!
Thirdly, Thanks to GReg and Gabi and Greg's parents for helping out with Corin... what a blessing. Seriously, Huge blessing! Thanks for being such great friends.
And I would like to thank friends and family who were praying for us!
P.s. Thanks to our parents for stocking us up with baby supplies, to my mom for coming out and helping in so many ways, and to great aunts and great grandparents for gifts as well! WE love you and miss you all! Can't wait to introduce you to Henry!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Hank: Part 2
So in my hustle and bustle of writing out the trama on my part, I totally forgot to mention the amazing parts in part 1 of the Hank Saga.
Firstly, I forgot to mention the fact that Taylor was there by my side the entire time and for that I could not have been more grateful. He was my birthing coach, my sanity check, and the most adorable person I have ever seen when he held our baby. He also managed to get Corin set up with some AWESOME babysitters, held his ground when it came to decisions that needed to be made, and just overall a very patient husband while I was a not so patient patient. :/ Seriously, could not have made it through that experience on my own in the delivery room... He was my glue.
Secondly, I don't think I have ever prayed in a 24 hour time period... okay, maybe not a truthful statement, but I definitely did not pray that hard during the births of Corin or Owen. I knew that my midwives and family were there praying for me and ready to support me and help out. This time around, I was a little more stressed. By little I mean, well... I was FREAKED!!!!!! Good thing I had Tay.
Thirdly, I don't think I have ever felt as blessed as I had at the joy of being surprised! For 6 months now I was lead to believe we would be having a little girl and was a little nervous about what to do with a little lady in the mix. I was also a little dissappointed that I knew what we were having when I really enjoy the surprise at the birth. But low and behold, God fooled the doctors and I was given the joy ( and shock) of hearing "It's a BOY!" (Mind you, we STILL had not picked a middle name for who I though was to be Dylan. But we did however, for the third babe in a row, have the boy name settled and ready to go!) Yay for little boys! Did I mention the fact that I was also feeling super blessed with the safe delivery of a healthy baby boy to look after while here on earth after losing Owen only two years ago?! Well, I felt super blessed. I feel super blessed. I AM super blessed with an amazing husband and father to the two amazing children we now have.
Fourthly, did you know that it cost less than $300 total from first doctor visit to hospital check out to cover all our medical costs?! Did I also mention that we were gifted an amazing amount of baby supplies from friends and family both here in Korea and the States?! The Lord totally provided for us in every possible way! Our Heavenly Father is such a gracious and loving God. I wish I could just give Him a great big hug. :)
Okay, stay tuned for a part three and I will finish the saga... promise. AND post more pics of Hank the Tank! :P
LL
Firstly, I forgot to mention the fact that Taylor was there by my side the entire time and for that I could not have been more grateful. He was my birthing coach, my sanity check, and the most adorable person I have ever seen when he held our baby. He also managed to get Corin set up with some AWESOME babysitters, held his ground when it came to decisions that needed to be made, and just overall a very patient husband while I was a not so patient patient. :/ Seriously, could not have made it through that experience on my own in the delivery room... He was my glue.
Secondly, I don't think I have ever prayed in a 24 hour time period... okay, maybe not a truthful statement, but I definitely did not pray that hard during the births of Corin or Owen. I knew that my midwives and family were there praying for me and ready to support me and help out. This time around, I was a little more stressed. By little I mean, well... I was FREAKED!!!!!! Good thing I had Tay.
Thirdly, I don't think I have ever felt as blessed as I had at the joy of being surprised! For 6 months now I was lead to believe we would be having a little girl and was a little nervous about what to do with a little lady in the mix. I was also a little dissappointed that I knew what we were having when I really enjoy the surprise at the birth. But low and behold, God fooled the doctors and I was given the joy ( and shock) of hearing "It's a BOY!" (Mind you, we STILL had not picked a middle name for who I though was to be Dylan. But we did however, for the third babe in a row, have the boy name settled and ready to go!) Yay for little boys! Did I mention the fact that I was also feeling super blessed with the safe delivery of a healthy baby boy to look after while here on earth after losing Owen only two years ago?! Well, I felt super blessed. I feel super blessed. I AM super blessed with an amazing husband and father to the two amazing children we now have.
Fourthly, did you know that it cost less than $300 total from first doctor visit to hospital check out to cover all our medical costs?! Did I also mention that we were gifted an amazing amount of baby supplies from friends and family both here in Korea and the States?! The Lord totally provided for us in every possible way! Our Heavenly Father is such a gracious and loving God. I wish I could just give Him a great big hug. :)
Okay, stay tuned for a part three and I will finish the saga... promise. AND post more pics of Hank the Tank! :P
LL
Friday, September 30, 2011
Henry Aaron Lett~ Est. 2011 The Saga:Part 1
So as most of you know, Taylor and I took a little while finding the right doctor here in Korea. By a little while I mean I went for my frist appointment in the month of September with our new doctor after the epic fail at the doctors office in Masan at the end of May. Yes, we may have procrastinated and been a little indecisive within that limbo time frame, but it seemed to have all ended up working out in the end. Our doctor, who works out of a Women's and Children;s hospital in Daegu, speaks incredibly good English. The head nurse in her wing also speaks a decent amount of English and so I was feeling more and more confident with each visit... I know, all 3 of them! ;) Anyways... I knew this baby was getting pretty big. I had reached the uncomfortable stage and the doctor was getting concerned with the size as well. No at first I didn;t think much of it because most Korean babies weigh a whole whopping 6.5 pounds and so big to them was 7. I can handle 7. I can handle 8.2. I was NOT prepared for the whopper we got! 9.7 pounds! What? Neither of the other two were over 8.2, so this was totally unexpected. Well... we will get to that in a minute.
So Monday, the 26th, I had an appoinment. I knew the doctor was going to talk to me about inducing based on her reaction the week before and the fact that I had had some contractions the previous week with nothing to follow it up. Sure enough, I walked in much to her surprise... still pregnant and no action. I told her that Taylor and I were interested in induction only if we could do it all natural. She also wanted to try a natural method before medicinal. A point for the doctor! :) So she agreed to "stripping the membranes." Google it if you are interested... I am not going into details. (You are welcome guys)
So I went home from my 3pm appointment hoping for the best. Sure enough, by the time we got home ( after our 45 minute drive) I was starting to have contractions. They were really far apart so I decided to eat and lay down to take it easy until later. Glad I did. Around 8 they got fast and furious... I mean out of no where they were 5 minutes apart! Bam. I was in labor. We were rushing out the door and making phone calls along the drive.
Once we got to the hospital, I was a little less nervous in thinking there would surely be some English speakers. I was wrong. Oh so wrong. Anxiety rose as I had to labor via phone... I ended up calling one of our church leaders and his wife (who is Korean) and she was able to translate all our requests and answer all our questions. I was so thankful to have an interpretter at that point that it didn't matter that I was having to talk to people through contractions. Soon though, the phone had to be passed as I hit the "every two minutes hard and heavy stage." I hate contractions. I mean I love them because they get the baby out... but I hate them.
So push time came... this was the only word the nurse on duty knew. "Pushi" "Pushi" .... "No pushi." Yeesh. How does a gal get so lucky?!
Praise the Lord, we had friends in Daegu, who were so willing to ditch their parents who were in town visiting, to come take Corin so Taylor could be with me during this stressful time... otherwise... well, let's not think about me having to have done that alone. They moved me from one bed to the next. I went through 3 beds during labor and delivery... then back to another bed. Then to a wheel chair... then to another bed! Yeesh. Laundry must be outrageous at this hospital.
Anyways... I was in the "pushi" stage when they tried to transfer me to this strage table out of the 1950's that had massive box lights over head and had leg holster thingys. It was a little scary. I was in a crazy amount of labor pain, and there was no way I was getting on that table. Taylor and nurses ended up lifting me onto it and I immediately found myself recalling reading about how Koreans like to strap laboring mothers down to "birthing tables" from my research on Korean birthing in hospitals... so out of the mouth of the laboring white girl came "Taylor, don't let them strap me down to the table!" Yes. I verified with Taylor later. I actually said it out loud. :/
Anyways, only a few minutes after the table change, I was pushing our what I thought to be baby girl out. Well... I told you I was hoping the doctor who decided I needed to know was wrong when he "spilled the beans." ... yeah, he was. Taylor asked if I wanted to know what we had... I kind of grinningly said yes as if he NEEDED to tell me. But then he said "boy" and I froze. What? Huh? Wait, are you kidding me?! He smiled and said that the first thing he saw was man parts... If you want the actual term he used, please consult Tay... and I was in total shock! A good kind of shock! I was a little nervous about this whole girl thing... but boys I can do! :) Plus... as usual, we still had not decided on a girl middle name and the boy name was all ready and waiting for him! God sure has a fun job, don't you think! I always think He comes up with the most creative ways to bless us!
Then they moved me to another bed and I was being moved back into another little room. No baby. I got to hold him a total of 25 seconds. This was hard for me. Taylor stayed with Henry while I was wheeled to the room.
Soon, I was transfered from there to what I thought was to be a private room... as they had told us when we were playing phone games at the beginning. Then, last minute, a nurse came and said "private rooms, all full." Okay, whatever, so I will have a roommate and I will get over it.
They stuck me in a wheel chair and rolled me through a maze of hallways and elevators and soon I was rolling into a room with not just one roommate, but four. Four roommates and their husbands on the floor next to them. The room was hot. I mean, floor heaters on, 4 inch window cracks, and no airconditioners or fans hot. I got nauseous almost immediately upon entry. Tay looked at me and pretty much asked off the bat if he could sleep in the car. I laughed and agreed... thinking to myself... maybe I can sneak out too.
After the nurse struggled to communicate with us (still not sure what all she said) we found out we would be able to feed and hold Hank in a few minutes and then I would be coming back here until the next feeding... without Hank. Sigh. To not have your baby when you are used to walking out the door and heading home with your babes only hours after birth.... not to mention watching the midwife process the baby in the meantime was a massively hard thing to have in comparison with the night so far. I had seen my baby for 25 seconds... and he had been in the world for almost 2 hours now.
Finally, Taylor went to go get him only to find out I was to walk down to go see him and feed. What?! Me, who just popped out an almost 10 pounder is supposed to stand up and walk down to see him? This was a little concerning to me considering all my previous experience was that I should stay off my feet as much as possible for the first few days. Hmmm. Oh well. So down we went. I finally got to hold my baby!!! Henry Aaron Lett.
He was such a cute looking little old man. Serously, looked like a new born old man! haha! But oh so sweet. I could have stayed in the room with him and stared at him all night, but eventually they kicked us both out of the nursing station... with no baby. Taylor and I both had a really hard time leaving without either of us there to stay with him. Really hard.
So back to the room. Taylor walked me up and then headed to the car due to the ridiculously hot room and I was there... lying on my back with the sounds of the room rushing through my ears.
You know those crazy sleep soundtracks that have recordings of mating jungle frogs and screaching birds? The ones that are supposed to let you fall asleep to the "sounds of nature"?! Yep... I lay there thinking that this room's soundtrack would make a funny prank version of those. I'll try to explain it as best as I can, but you really had to have been there to truly understand what I suffered that night. First off, you should know that all the other women in the room had a c-section and were therefore on drugs. Apparently really strong ones. The three gals on my left all made random moaning sounds through out the night. Two of the 8 people on my left (remember that husbands were on the floors next to them) were snoring out of sync. The girl directly to my left was talking in her sleep all night. As to what she was constantly chattering about, I have no clue, but it got pretty intense there for a while.
Now... the couple on my right... oh man. I think they alone would have been sufficient to make one want their own IV of goodies. So the lady apparently had just come out of surgery since she was awake when I first got there. Then the nurse hooked her up to a bag of something neon yellow... which with the lighting in the room looked neon green with the lights off and all I could think of was the toxic ooze from teenage mutant nunja turtles. Anyways, she was on the neon drip and that is when it started up with her. She fell asleep and immediately started up with a light moaning. A CONSTANT light moaning. Then it progressed to a moan mixed with sleep talk about a cute baby (I picked up on at least that much) and then she progressed to a hybrid mix of moaning, sleep talking and snoring all intermingled with a regular flail or two of her arms... which cause the bed to sound like crumpling newspapers.
Not long after she fell into sweet dreams, her husband dozed off and OH... MY... WORD.... this guy was sawing logs. I don't think I have ever heard someone snore as loud as he did. My bed was only about a foot from his little trundle bed and the entire right side of my bed was vibrating with each wave. I was miserable. I stared at the clock wondering when Taylor would come through the door with the good news that they had called us to come feed Hank. Hours passed and all I could think of was the verse about praying for your enemies. It was that bad. So I prayed for them. I prayed for me. I prayed that the Lord would keep me from hurting any and or all of the noise machines. I prayed for sanity. I prayed for sleep... I prayed a lot that night. God was probably fairly entertained. It was after I "prayed for my enemies" that I began to think how fun it would be to record the room sounds and give it as prank sleep soundtracts for friends for birthdays and Christmas. :) Perhaps I was a bit dilerious by then.
Finally, Tay walked through the door and I don't think I ever hopped out of bed so fast in my life. I was out the door before he couls say we got a call!
Now, because this post is getting rather long and because I have other things to do than just sit at the computer all day to tell you how funny it was (in retrospect) to stay in a Korean hospital, I will have to let you go for now and continue the saga at a later time. I hope you enjoy the story so far... cause it aint over yet. :)
LL
Discloser: Please forgive any and all spelling errors as I am not fully recovered from the trama of the events stated above. I leave you with pictures.
So Monday, the 26th, I had an appoinment. I knew the doctor was going to talk to me about inducing based on her reaction the week before and the fact that I had had some contractions the previous week with nothing to follow it up. Sure enough, I walked in much to her surprise... still pregnant and no action. I told her that Taylor and I were interested in induction only if we could do it all natural. She also wanted to try a natural method before medicinal. A point for the doctor! :) So she agreed to "stripping the membranes." Google it if you are interested... I am not going into details. (You are welcome guys)
So I went home from my 3pm appointment hoping for the best. Sure enough, by the time we got home ( after our 45 minute drive) I was starting to have contractions. They were really far apart so I decided to eat and lay down to take it easy until later. Glad I did. Around 8 they got fast and furious... I mean out of no where they were 5 minutes apart! Bam. I was in labor. We were rushing out the door and making phone calls along the drive.
Once we got to the hospital, I was a little less nervous in thinking there would surely be some English speakers. I was wrong. Oh so wrong. Anxiety rose as I had to labor via phone... I ended up calling one of our church leaders and his wife (who is Korean) and she was able to translate all our requests and answer all our questions. I was so thankful to have an interpretter at that point that it didn't matter that I was having to talk to people through contractions. Soon though, the phone had to be passed as I hit the "every two minutes hard and heavy stage." I hate contractions. I mean I love them because they get the baby out... but I hate them.
So push time came... this was the only word the nurse on duty knew. "Pushi" "Pushi" .... "No pushi." Yeesh. How does a gal get so lucky?!
Praise the Lord, we had friends in Daegu, who were so willing to ditch their parents who were in town visiting, to come take Corin so Taylor could be with me during this stressful time... otherwise... well, let's not think about me having to have done that alone. They moved me from one bed to the next. I went through 3 beds during labor and delivery... then back to another bed. Then to a wheel chair... then to another bed! Yeesh. Laundry must be outrageous at this hospital.
Anyways... I was in the "pushi" stage when they tried to transfer me to this strage table out of the 1950's that had massive box lights over head and had leg holster thingys. It was a little scary. I was in a crazy amount of labor pain, and there was no way I was getting on that table. Taylor and nurses ended up lifting me onto it and I immediately found myself recalling reading about how Koreans like to strap laboring mothers down to "birthing tables" from my research on Korean birthing in hospitals... so out of the mouth of the laboring white girl came "Taylor, don't let them strap me down to the table!" Yes. I verified with Taylor later. I actually said it out loud. :/
Anyways, only a few minutes after the table change, I was pushing our what I thought to be baby girl out. Well... I told you I was hoping the doctor who decided I needed to know was wrong when he "spilled the beans." ... yeah, he was. Taylor asked if I wanted to know what we had... I kind of grinningly said yes as if he NEEDED to tell me. But then he said "boy" and I froze. What? Huh? Wait, are you kidding me?! He smiled and said that the first thing he saw was man parts... If you want the actual term he used, please consult Tay... and I was in total shock! A good kind of shock! I was a little nervous about this whole girl thing... but boys I can do! :) Plus... as usual, we still had not decided on a girl middle name and the boy name was all ready and waiting for him! God sure has a fun job, don't you think! I always think He comes up with the most creative ways to bless us!
Then they moved me to another bed and I was being moved back into another little room. No baby. I got to hold him a total of 25 seconds. This was hard for me. Taylor stayed with Henry while I was wheeled to the room.
Soon, I was transfered from there to what I thought was to be a private room... as they had told us when we were playing phone games at the beginning. Then, last minute, a nurse came and said "private rooms, all full." Okay, whatever, so I will have a roommate and I will get over it.
They stuck me in a wheel chair and rolled me through a maze of hallways and elevators and soon I was rolling into a room with not just one roommate, but four. Four roommates and their husbands on the floor next to them. The room was hot. I mean, floor heaters on, 4 inch window cracks, and no airconditioners or fans hot. I got nauseous almost immediately upon entry. Tay looked at me and pretty much asked off the bat if he could sleep in the car. I laughed and agreed... thinking to myself... maybe I can sneak out too.
After the nurse struggled to communicate with us (still not sure what all she said) we found out we would be able to feed and hold Hank in a few minutes and then I would be coming back here until the next feeding... without Hank. Sigh. To not have your baby when you are used to walking out the door and heading home with your babes only hours after birth.... not to mention watching the midwife process the baby in the meantime was a massively hard thing to have in comparison with the night so far. I had seen my baby for 25 seconds... and he had been in the world for almost 2 hours now.
Finally, Taylor went to go get him only to find out I was to walk down to go see him and feed. What?! Me, who just popped out an almost 10 pounder is supposed to stand up and walk down to see him? This was a little concerning to me considering all my previous experience was that I should stay off my feet as much as possible for the first few days. Hmmm. Oh well. So down we went. I finally got to hold my baby!!! Henry Aaron Lett.
He was such a cute looking little old man. Serously, looked like a new born old man! haha! But oh so sweet. I could have stayed in the room with him and stared at him all night, but eventually they kicked us both out of the nursing station... with no baby. Taylor and I both had a really hard time leaving without either of us there to stay with him. Really hard.
So back to the room. Taylor walked me up and then headed to the car due to the ridiculously hot room and I was there... lying on my back with the sounds of the room rushing through my ears.
You know those crazy sleep soundtracks that have recordings of mating jungle frogs and screaching birds? The ones that are supposed to let you fall asleep to the "sounds of nature"?! Yep... I lay there thinking that this room's soundtrack would make a funny prank version of those. I'll try to explain it as best as I can, but you really had to have been there to truly understand what I suffered that night. First off, you should know that all the other women in the room had a c-section and were therefore on drugs. Apparently really strong ones. The three gals on my left all made random moaning sounds through out the night. Two of the 8 people on my left (remember that husbands were on the floors next to them) were snoring out of sync. The girl directly to my left was talking in her sleep all night. As to what she was constantly chattering about, I have no clue, but it got pretty intense there for a while.
Now... the couple on my right... oh man. I think they alone would have been sufficient to make one want their own IV of goodies. So the lady apparently had just come out of surgery since she was awake when I first got there. Then the nurse hooked her up to a bag of something neon yellow... which with the lighting in the room looked neon green with the lights off and all I could think of was the toxic ooze from teenage mutant nunja turtles. Anyways, she was on the neon drip and that is when it started up with her. She fell asleep and immediately started up with a light moaning. A CONSTANT light moaning. Then it progressed to a moan mixed with sleep talk about a cute baby (I picked up on at least that much) and then she progressed to a hybrid mix of moaning, sleep talking and snoring all intermingled with a regular flail or two of her arms... which cause the bed to sound like crumpling newspapers.
Not long after she fell into sweet dreams, her husband dozed off and OH... MY... WORD.... this guy was sawing logs. I don't think I have ever heard someone snore as loud as he did. My bed was only about a foot from his little trundle bed and the entire right side of my bed was vibrating with each wave. I was miserable. I stared at the clock wondering when Taylor would come through the door with the good news that they had called us to come feed Hank. Hours passed and all I could think of was the verse about praying for your enemies. It was that bad. So I prayed for them. I prayed for me. I prayed that the Lord would keep me from hurting any and or all of the noise machines. I prayed for sanity. I prayed for sleep... I prayed a lot that night. God was probably fairly entertained. It was after I "prayed for my enemies" that I began to think how fun it would be to record the room sounds and give it as prank sleep soundtracts for friends for birthdays and Christmas. :) Perhaps I was a bit dilerious by then.
Finally, Tay walked through the door and I don't think I ever hopped out of bed so fast in my life. I was out the door before he couls say we got a call!
Now, because this post is getting rather long and because I have other things to do than just sit at the computer all day to tell you how funny it was (in retrospect) to stay in a Korean hospital, I will have to let you go for now and continue the saga at a later time. I hope you enjoy the story so far... cause it aint over yet. :)
LL
Discloser: Please forgive any and all spelling errors as I am not fully recovered from the trama of the events stated above. I leave you with pictures.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
The Letts come to town... eeerrr country. :)
This month has been a bit of a whirlwind. It seems like we have been running around a lot more as of late. Between weekly doctor visits for baby bump, church, and family visiting, this month has been flying by.
The latest update on Bumpy is that the doctor thinks the due date will be before Oct.1 and last week she said Bumpy is already almost the same size and weight as the boys were... so I think we are getting close!
Tay's parents and little sister came out for a 10 day visit. Taylor and I subjected the Letts to all sorts of Korean food, from kimchi jiggae(spicy red pepper and cabbage soup with tofu and pork) to hoddeok (sweet rice flour pancake/ fried and stuffed with brown sugar, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and more yumminess). Natalie was not too impressed with most of it, but she was quite the trooper and tried just about everything! Ray and Kate were pretty good sports, though I would have to say that Ray ate the widest variety and the most at all the meals.
We hit some hot spots in Busan after staying the night at a Beach front hotel off Gwangalli Beach. We tried to walk the Jagalchi fish market, but only the street vendors were open as it was Chuseok... Korean Thanksgiving. We then headed over to Nampodong where we ate yummy lunch and our favorite street sweet.. hoddeok. :) We proceeded to do a little window and street-side shopping where Natalie stocked up on socks galore. ( A must do in Nampo)
We went for several walks in our countryside rice patties, they hiked in Yeongsan, visited a nearby temple and did a little more shopping in town. We also visited Masan/Changwon for a dose of Korean McDonalds and the only one adventurous enough to try the bulgogi burger was Ray... way to go Ray! :) Then we did a little more shopping and got Natalie a good Konglish shirt and picked up a few other gifts. Of course we intorduced them to our beloved Home Plus and they were able to get a few goodies for other people there.
We also were able to stay a night just outside of Daegu at a BEAUTIFUL cabin that backed up to a mountain. Kate and I stayed behind to take in the scenery from our back porch as the others went off exploring that evening. In the morning hours, they had some fun in the mountain stream while Kate and I again enjoyed the fresh air and gorgeous views that we were blessed with from our porch. Morning quiet times are pretty much amazing with that view! (May have to invest in a mountain-side cabin home.)Taylor and I are already trying to figure out how many more times we can take advantage of those cabins before we leave Korea!
We managed to squeeze in a trip to a Bulgogi restaurant way out in the gorgeous countryside.
Afterwards we went to nearby Changwon for a look-see at the historical museum which included relics of the past as well as famous Korean burial tombs.
This might have been a mistake though, because for the rest of the Letts' visit, my poor little baby bump was likened to a burial tomb. Stinkers. (If you look at the pictures of the tombs, you might be inclined to do the same... I suggest you don't though. I have the power to withhold pics of said soon to be vacated tomb resident!) :P
By the end of the trip, the girls were all in pretty bad shape... kind of funny, kind of not. Natalie had bruised her tailbone by sliding down a rock which apparently was not made for sliding, Kate was having hip issues (which I am sure our rock-like bed did not help) and I was, well I was dealing with the joys of being nine months pregnant. So the three of us hobbled, wobbled and groaned as we sat down in an effort to get comfy. The traditional Korean floor tables, at which we ate for most of the restaurant outings, were definitely giving us some problems!
It was overall a fun vacation filled with lasting memories. I am really glad Ray, Kate and Nat got to come out and experience a little bit of Korea.
I won't lie though, while it was great having them here, I was kind of glad to get back to a quiet house and sleeping in my own bed. (Grandparents and Aunts sure do know how to wind up a 4 year old!) Speaking of Four year old... Corin got his birthday present early from the Lett family. He got his very first baseball mit and is pretty much obsessed with it! He has played with it day in and day out since unwrapping it. Thanks Grandma Katy-bob, Grrrrandpapa, and Aunt Natawie!
I will leave you with a pic of three generations of Lett men! :)
LL
Monday, August 22, 2011
Summertime in the ROK
As most of you probably already know, the Letts just finished up three weeks of vacation. What did we do, you ask? Well, we mostly enjoyed relaxing at home together and watching lots of movies and eating lots of ice cream bars! :) When we weren't busy relaxing in our airconditioned room, we were taking day trips here and there. We visited friends, spent a couple days at the beach, attended a fishing festival, and we went to a couple going away parties for friends headed back to the States. It was good to have time together as a family. Corin loved having dad home for such a long period of time.
Taylor just started back to work Monday and Corin about lost it when he left that morning. He was quite upset and constantly asked when Tay would be coming home.
While I enjoy vacation time, it is always nice to get back to a daily routine and have the house in order once again. I felt like I was living in a constantly exploding home for the past three weeks.... as if I could not keep up with the daily wear and tear the house endured. So, while I am saddened that Tay has to be back at work all day, I am glad to be back in control of the daily duties.
Monday I reached 35 weeks pregnant and am counting down the weeks now until little Lett arrives. We are getting pretty excited about all that is happening in the next month. The Letts... as in Tay's parents and little sister, will be visiting us in about two weeks!!!! It should be a lot of fun playing tour guides yet again. It has been a year and a half since Taylor has seen any family, well, other than skyping Coops. After their ten day visit, there will be a week or so before my mom arrives in time to help with birthday preparations for both Corin and the little one! I am hoping this baby doesn't decide to hunker down as long as Owen did past the expected due date. My birth prediction date is October 4th at the moment, though we will see how close I get to guessing correctly! :)
Corin is constantly growing and becoming more imaginative. He is quite the little entertainer. He has also become quite the engineer with his legos. He constructs some pretty ornate vehicles and replicas of various vehicles he has spotted on our drives to and from Busan. The other day he made a crane that looked very similar to the ones in the shipping yards we pass on our way to church.
The weather has been rainy and cool this past week, which is a total relief after the sweat dripping weather we have had prior to. I know, I know... it's hot in Texas... but it's Texas. (Home of the bi-polar weather patterns.) Korea seems to have fairly distinguished seasons. I think I prefer having 4 seasons rather than 2. :)
Ihope to get some pictures up soon, not that I took a ton over our vacation, but I will post what I've got at some point in the near future. :)
LL
Taylor just started back to work Monday and Corin about lost it when he left that morning. He was quite upset and constantly asked when Tay would be coming home.
While I enjoy vacation time, it is always nice to get back to a daily routine and have the house in order once again. I felt like I was living in a constantly exploding home for the past three weeks.... as if I could not keep up with the daily wear and tear the house endured. So, while I am saddened that Tay has to be back at work all day, I am glad to be back in control of the daily duties.
Monday I reached 35 weeks pregnant and am counting down the weeks now until little Lett arrives. We are getting pretty excited about all that is happening in the next month. The Letts... as in Tay's parents and little sister, will be visiting us in about two weeks!!!! It should be a lot of fun playing tour guides yet again. It has been a year and a half since Taylor has seen any family, well, other than skyping Coops. After their ten day visit, there will be a week or so before my mom arrives in time to help with birthday preparations for both Corin and the little one! I am hoping this baby doesn't decide to hunker down as long as Owen did past the expected due date. My birth prediction date is October 4th at the moment, though we will see how close I get to guessing correctly! :)
Corin is constantly growing and becoming more imaginative. He is quite the little entertainer. He has also become quite the engineer with his legos. He constructs some pretty ornate vehicles and replicas of various vehicles he has spotted on our drives to and from Busan. The other day he made a crane that looked very similar to the ones in the shipping yards we pass on our way to church.
The weather has been rainy and cool this past week, which is a total relief after the sweat dripping weather we have had prior to. I know, I know... it's hot in Texas... but it's Texas. (Home of the bi-polar weather patterns.) Korea seems to have fairly distinguished seasons. I think I prefer having 4 seasons rather than 2. :)
Ihope to get some pictures up soon, not that I took a ton over our vacation, but I will post what I've got at some point in the near future. :)
LL
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
It's beginning to look a lot like... July.
Wheeeeewwweee. Things are warming up quickly here in the ROK. This past weekend was especially brutal as we went to an evening baseball game in Daegu with our friends, the Boys. Greg and Gabi graciously took us into thier home and fed us, watered us, and then took us to a ballgame! Go Lotte Giants! Of course, this was a game between our two big rival cities... Daegu (Samsung Lions) vs Busan (Lotte Giants) I won't mention who won as it is a sensitive subject for the Boys... who LOST! :) Anyways. That morning, before we left for the game, the guys headed to a nearby hiking area complete with river for cooling down in. Corin of course DOMINATED the water! :) Here are a couple shots of the guys doing what guys do best...
And here is a couple shots from the sweltering baseball game...
And now it is time for...
Corinisms!!!!
So things Corin has said and or done in the past month, which trust me this is NOT a complete list!
Funny things:
1. Corin can now write his name... both forwards and backwards!
2. Corin can also draw people in realistic stances. (When asked why his Corin only had one arm, his reply was:" Well mommy, I I am waving and I only wave with one arm." Aha. I see. I too only wave with one arm, so this makes perfect sense.)
3. Corin and I are creating a Biblical History timeline around his room using Bible coloring pages. So far, we have only gotten through creation, but forward we go!
4. Corin adores standing at the back window to say long loving goodbyes in the mornings when daddy leaves for work and LOVES greeting him curbside when he comes back home!
5. Corin thinks he's a cheetah about 59% of the time.
6. Corin is immune to freezing cold water and loves to play in it be at the beach, the river or in a tiny tub of water in our back wetroom.
7. Corin is highly allergic to some forms of bugbites and his eye tends to swell to triple the size when bitten on the eyelid by said mysterious bug.
8. Corin thinks every bug is his best friend.
9. Corin's name for every bug, plant, animal, or unknown person: Larry. (Kind of my fault... I got tired of coming up with and remembering names for each new "friend" and so Larry became my staple... and Corin's too!)
10. Corin loves to watch Superbook. (Bible story cartoon from 80's or 90's)
Funny things Corin has said:
1. While talking to grandma about why they had to get rid of one of their dogs that nipped his cousin Austin, Corin seemed to put his Biblical knowledge into play and told Grandma Maynard that " If that dog tried to bite Austin, I would throw it into the fiery furnace!" (Too much veggietales perhaps? Hmm. We had to explain that he was not Nebakanezer.)
2. Corin loves to sing and was busting out some Lacrae lyrics the other day as he roamed about the house singing repeatedly, "I'm a snitch man, I'm a snitch man!"
3. Corin is a diligent littel prayer partner for the staff at Kid's Camp this week. We have been praying at dinner time for people we were assigned to as prayer partners as well as the rest of staff and campers. Corin loves praying for Superman, Kimo, Strider, Coondog, Lois Lane and Fizz right along with us! :)
4. Some of the most hilarious conversations happen in the car while we are driving to church, but I can;t ever really rememeber the specifics... I hope to catch him on video in the next couple pf weeks to document for him how much of a chatterbox he was at age three. Yeesh that kid can talk!!! :) He also has quite humorous conversations while in his room during "quiet time."
5. Corin is going through a forced laugh phase. It is quite loud and obnoxious... we are working with him to tone it down a bit and or drop it all together, but he likes to be in on the jokes with the adults and his mental capacity for understanding some jokes just has not yet developed... poor guy, he is trying to grow up so fast. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)