Mr. T is here!

So, I have always thought about starting a blog and my original intent was to do it around food and cooking (as I am a big fan of all the cooking/food blogs out there), but when baby T. decided to make his debut in the "real" world, I re-thought the food option (no time to be cooking and baking with a new baby around) and decide to do one about baby T. So, here it is. Tristin's playroom. Where C and I will post pics of little T. as he journeys through the first few years of his life (and maybe longer if we can manage to be diligent about the blog!). His first smile. His interactions with people. His adventures in the world outside of mommy's womb.


They say that once you give birth, you tend to forget a lot of things about the event, in particular, the pain. For someone who has a low tolerance for pain, the delivery wasn't as bad as I imagined. In my situation, I was induced a few weeks ahead of schedule (delivery date was supposed to be Oct 31st). The doctor was concerned that little T. wasn't growing at the rate he should be and wanted him out earlier than later (especially since I had reached full-term). Initially, I was concerned about the decision but after discussing it with my cousin (who is an OBGYN), I decided to embrace the early arrival and C. and I checked into the hospital on Friday morning at around 8am (10/12).

For the first few hours, I was given a tablet to soften the cervix and then after another few hours, once my cervix had softened, they put me on Pitocin (at around 3pm). By about 8pm, my water broke (I never knew how this happened or what this meant but I remember hearing a big popping sound and water gushing through my legs as though I couldn't stop peeing!) and soon thereafter, I experienced terrible contractions. By 9pm, I was desperate for epidural (which knowing my luck, was not working very well on my body!) and by 10:30pm, I was fully dilated. Most women take at least 16 hours to get fully dilated once they are in active labor but in my situation, it was only a few hours. Needless to say, my body was reacting to the acceleration of labor by not embracing the anesthesia and by making me vomit.

By the time I was fully dilated, I was ready to push and get little T. out as fast as possible. I recall my close friend N. telling me that pushing is usually a relief and she was right. Towards the end, all I wanted to do was push and doing so felt like the most natural thing to do. I started pushing a little after 11pm and by 11:43pm, little Tristin was born. I had pushed so hard (thanks to the encouragement of C., the nurses and Dr. Dupont), little blood vessels around my face had popped and I looked like a woman with a million freckles (basically, a freak).

At 11:43pm, on Friday October 12th, 2007, little Tristin Choi was born 5 pounds 2 ounces and 18 inches long. From the moment we saw him, C. and I couldn't believe that this little being was our own. All I remember is C. saying how cute he was (a father's bias) and gushing in a way that I have never seen him do. It was so tender and loving.