Your first month

Hi Lucas,

I can't believe it's been 1 month and 2 days since we first welcomed you into the world. Time is flying by and each day I notice your little personality peeking through and changes to your features. I want to capture these early newborn moments as I know how fleeting it is.

Week 2

Week 3

Month 1

Week 1 - your homecoming and photo shoot

Hi baby,

Your dad will tell you that I'm a bit obsessed with taking photos. It's no surprise then that my son would have a well-documented life with lots of videos and photos. Lucky for us, you're a natural poser with very expressive hands that often send Daddy and I into fits of laughter as you look like you are deliberately posing. Don't believe me? Have a look at these photos:

Day 6 - held by Daddy

Day 8 - being held by Daddy

Day 10 - being fed by Grandma

Our hospital stay

Hello Lucas,

We spent 5 nights at the Mater hospital after you were born, it was such a great place for me and Daddy to learn the basics on how to look after you. Considering Daddy had never held a baby before, there was a lot to learn! Surprisingly, Daddy picked up all the skills very quickly. Actually for the first few days, Daddy changed all your nappies and gave you your first bath. I was still recovering from the caesarian section and couldn't get out of bed easily.

Here are some photos of Daddy in action:

Day 2 - getting changed and burped

Day 3 - getting taught how to bathe you

All fresh after a bath

Our labour story

Hello Lucas,

Here is the story of how you came into this world. It's a story that was a lot more dramatic than we would have liked, or even expected, but the important thing is we were both fine after the labour. So now that I have assured you, here is the course of events while it is still fresh in my mind.

Mummy's water broke on Sunday afternoon on February 17th but I wasn't really sure it was my water breaking because it was just a trickle. Daddy and I had dinner at Five Dock with your Grandparents, Mandy and Trevor. Our last meal with you still in my belly was a yummy seafood feast :)

That night I couldn't get to sleep. I kept waking up checking if more of my water was breaking and wondering whether every twinge I felt were contractions. Luckily I was able to pass the time playing a silly game called Candy Crush (that incidentally, both Daddy and Auntie Mandy were also addicted to!).  I drifted in and out of sleep and woke up at 5am to a huge gush of water breaking. I knew that I had to call the hospital but it was still too early, so I waited til 7am before calling the Mater. At this time, I still didn't feel any regular contractions. When I called the hospital, I was expecting the midwife to say we should wait a bit longer until I felt regular contractions. Instead, the midwife told me we had to get to the hospital right away due to the risk of infection since my water had broken yesterday afternoon.  I went upstairs to wake Daddy up and have never seen Daddy jump out of bed so quickly!

Week 39 (a belated post for our last week with you in my belly)

Hello my sweetie,

It feels a bit funny to be writing this post as I had you at 39weeks + 1 day. Since I had already taken a bump photo on the Sunday readiness for this post, I thought it would be a nice way to finish this bump series with one last photo of you still in my belly. I'll then follow this post with your labour story and our first week with you.

Here's a video I took of you moving around in my belly at 38 weeks + 5 days, so glad I took this video because you were delivered a couple of days later!

Week 39 bump

How far along? Week 39. You're the size of a watermelon (only now that you are born, we know you definitely were not that big at 39 weeks!)
Measurements: 70kg with a belly circumference of 102cm
Symptoms: The whole week I had trouble sleeping, in hindsight I wish I had slept more because now that you are here, I only catch a few hours of sleep at a time.
Obsessively researching: Can't remember now though Daddy and I got addicted to watching a korean drama on the weekend (though I'm sure Daddy will deny that he got addicted, haha)

Week 38 (2 more weeks to go...!)

Happy Year of the Snake baby!

We spent new year's day with Grandma and Grandpa Banh and your Auntie Mandy taking family photos at Eden Gardens and at our nearby park - it was a lot of fun though I think Daddy was tired of all the posing, he's obviously not used to it like the Banh family are! haha. I'd like to make it a family tradition to take family photos every Chinese new year, it will be a lovely way to document the years. I also got to use my new SLR camera and tripod, can't wait to use it more when you arrive!

Oh we also took some underwater maternity photos! It was a pretty funny effort, let's say it's very hard to pose underwater. I looked like a puffer fish trying to hold my breath! Your Auntie Mandy and Uncle Trevor were very patient taking photo after photo. Daddy was the props person and did a good job - when he wasn't laughing in the background.

Our weekly Dr appointment was ok, though I found out you've disengaged, which I was really disappointed about because you've been engaged since month 7 and suddenly you decide to move up my belly! Dr Morris said it's quite normal and nothing to be concerned about though it does mean you will be staying put in my belly for a little while longer. As of last Tuesday, you were 2.9kg so they are estimating your weight to be 3.5kg at 40 weeks, let's see how accurate they are!

Here are some family and maternity pics from yesterday:

Family photo

Mummy and Daddy at Eden Gardens

At Boronia Park with the crochet blanket Grandma made

Another family pic

38 week belly!

How far along? Week 38. You're the size of a pumpkin.
Measurements: 70.7kg- gained back the 2kg I lost last week - and swelling back up again with the heat.
Symptoms: I just noticed the funniest thing tonight while I was writing this post - my belly button has popped out! It's sooo weird! haha. My back is still really sore and only feels better when I sit on the exercise ball. I don't know whether it's the anxiety since we're getting closer to your due date, or maybe you're getting bigger and squeezing my bladder but I've been waking up the last few nights to go to the bathroom rather than sleeping through. It's not too bad though since I'm not working and can sleep in.
Obsessively researching: Househunting and interior decorating. Daddy and I saw a house we liked on the weekend, let's see what happens..!

Week 37 (full term, baby!)

Hi sweetie,

You've now hit 37 weeks, which is momentous because it means you're now considered "full term" and it will be safe for you to pop out anytime now. This was the motivation we needed to finally put together your cot today. Well, Daddy did all the hard work (accompanied with lots of complaining about how hard it was to put together, haha)

So this week was more baby prep - washed all your clothes, blankets and sheets. I also made more candles for thank you gifts and finalised my birth plan after seeing the dr for our weekly visit. Our appointment went well, Dr says everything is going great and he estimates you'll be about 3.3kg when you're born.

Thankfully the weather has cooled down this week, there was actually a thunderstorm warning on Friday which is a huge change from the heat wave 2 weeks ago! The cooler weather has meant I'm not swelling up as much. I actually lost 2kg since last week, I think it was mainly water weight. Unfortunately because of the thunderstorms, Daddy and I couldn't do our maternity photo session yesterday. We might do it in a couple of days but it depends on whether Daddy can take an afternoon off from work. Otherwise, I would quite like to take a family session after you're born. I decided to pamper myself in readiness for the maternity session and actually got lash extensions, which Daddy has been teasing me about for the last few days because he thinks my lash extensions look really scary, haha! What do you think?

Lash extensions

Week 37 bump

How far along? Week 37. You're the size of a wintermelon.
Measurements: 68.6kg- can't believe I lost 2kg since last week! My belly before breakfast was 102cm.
Symptoms: A very sore back, I think because of your position.
Obsessively researching: More amazon shopping