Boy Meets Moon (Happy 1 Month Birthday!)

Isaac's one month birthday gift was a lunar eclipse-- that's going to be a hard one to top.

It's easier to catch such astronomical wonders when you're up at odd hours of the night. When we were up feeding him at 5 am on August 28th, Dan noticed a sliver of a moon above the Empire State building. We saw the full moon earlier that night, so thought that it was just shrouded by clouds.

We found out later it was a total lunar eclipse which we just happened to witness.



Anyway, as we look back at the pictures of the past few weeks, we observe:
1) our boy is filling out- look at those cheeks!
2) he looks less like an alien, though he was a cute alien
3) we can't help but stare at him
4) we obsesssively take pictures of him

Check out his faces:


Since the last post, Isaac has:
1) taken his first tub bath (see slide show below)
2) started lifting his neck more (have video, will try to insert)
3) started taking breast milk from a bottle (yeah, Dan can help with feeding!)
4) successfully peed on both his parents and his pediatrician
5) gained almost 2 pounds (that's like Su gaining 30 pounds)
6) started vocalizing (we catch his voice once in a while amidst the chirps and grunts)

Below is the slide show of Isaac in action, places he's been, people he's seen....enjoy!

Two weeks!

Isaac's first two weeks have passed by in a blur of feeds, diaper changes, and naps. We've enjoyed watching him adjust to life out of the womb. Over the two weeks, he's lost his umbilical cord, gotten his first bath, learned the power of his lungs, and has basically been a constant source of marvel for his parents. It will be interesting what memories stand out to us when we think back at these first days with our son. We hope these slideshows will provide a glimpse into our life with Isaac.
-To see captions to the pictures, click on the slideshow above; you will also get a larger pic.
-If you don't have Flash player, you can find the pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/suwang8/IsaacSSecondWeek




Here are some other cute photos:

The naming of Isaac Xavier Dean Chen

Isaac means "he laughs" in Hebrew. Isaac was promised by God to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. Abraham laughed when God told him this would happen. His name is a reminder for us to live by faith and God's promises, and not just by the things that we understand. Abraham also was willing to sacrifice Isaac when God asked him to, though in the end God provided a ram for him to sacrifice. P.S. During our first visit to church on Roosevelt Island with Isaac on August 12th, the message was all about faith and the story of Abraham and Isaac (Hebrews 11)!

Xavier was Dan's godfather's name. His godfather was a French diplomat to the UN. He lived in New York City, but had extended "family" all over the world. When Dan was little, Xavier brought the Chen family to Haiti, a memory Dan holds dear. Dan loves this name, and Su has come to love it as well. In Basque, Xavier means "new house" as in a "new home" for the Lord. St. Francis Xavier was one of the first missionaries to East Asia.

(Contrary to what some of you have surmised, "Xavier" was not inspired by the professor in X-Men, though Dan does love X-Men.)

Dean represents Isaac's Chinese name, 定安 or "dìng ān". "Dìng" is part of "ān dìng" means "stable" "settled" or "calm and orderly." "An" is the word for "peace." We condensed the name into an Americanized version (and to prevent our son from having 5 words in his name).

Isaac's First Week

Photo Album from Isaac's First Week


This is Isaac's first pediatrician visit, by Dr Katherine Grimm, who paid us a home visit. Dr Grimm is the pediatrician for Roosevelt Island.

The Arrival of Isaac

A week ago today, our son Isaac arrived into the world. This is our blog celebrating him and the friends and family that have been so loving and supportive.

This was the morning before we went to the hospital... Su is hard at work on Isaac's scrapbook, even after beginning contractions for several hours. Production of the scrapbook is definitely on hold!

Last minute packing of supplies. Note yellow Nalgene bottle that was used 24/7 through the hospital stay for keeping nice cold ice water, as well as Starbucks straws, some reading materials (not actually read), and lots of vitamin water (mostly consumed)

Driving to the hospital. The car service came pretty quickly and traffic was nice and quick at 9am on a Saturday morning.

At the hospital, our doula, Deb, met with us. She was great and so attentive and helpful throughout everything. From helping to make sure that Su was laboring effectively to helping to watch health monitors while we napped to even working as part of our self-service hospital care (during the early/mid parts of labor), she made everything much easier.

These are the monitors that they have in the hospital. The top line represents Isaac's heart rate and the bottom represents Su's contractions. About 50 minutes into the pushing, during the final phase of labor, the doctors noticed that Isaac's heartrate was dropping more than they were comfortable with, and we were presented with the options of either going for a C-section or a forceps delivery. Not a very hard choice.

Su was hurried into the operating room, and just about when Dan arrived, this little guy was held up for all to see!

First family picture

After 3 hours, we were admitted into our patient room in the maternity ward. Dad spending some time with Isaac, with Roosevelt Island in the background. We spent 5 days and 4 nights here.




Our recovery was definitely made easier by great people like the nurses and friends who stopped on by to encourage us.

Grandpa and Grandma Chen at the hospital to bring the family home

Su and Isaac as we get ready to leave.

Buckled in and ready for the adventure to begin