gentry miyoko nakano joined our family tuesday, september 18, 2018.
we went to the hopsital for a scheduled induction, but it turned out i was already in labor, contracting every three minutes and dilating quickly. i had no idea. the medical staff started pitocin, gave me an epidural and told me to push. she was born at 4:39 p.m., after pushing through four contractions.
push, breathe, check iso.
after a few hours of labor, a good epidural and a little bit of pitocin, i grabbed my camera (okay, my husband handed it to me), and started snapping. i mean pushing. well, actually, both.
i wanted so badly to document the delivery of my first baby girl, but the labor was too hard, the pushing lasted way too long and my camera didn’t leave my hospital bag the entire stay. this time though, thanks to an incredible medical staff and the ease of a second labor, my camera got some exercise — and i was able to capture some of these incredible moments, bringing our tiny girl earthside.
after scouring the internet for the perfect play kitchen that looked exactly how i (i mean, mila) wanted, and discovering that i just can’t justify spending nearly a thousand dollars for the beautiful ones from pottery barn… i decided to give an ikea dutkig a major upgrade, and OMG we are so happy with the final results.
there quite a few blogs and insta posts that show all the cool ways you can hack this kiddo kitchen. i got a lot of inspiration from this apartment therapy roundup of other DIYs. but in the end, i copied a little here and there from different kitchens and this is what we ended up with.
on the ten year anniversary of their first date, lauren and trav walked down the aisle to a small group of their very favorite people playing here comes the bride on kazoos. what in the entire world could be better than that?!
so fun taking photos of these two and this wild wedding. giant horse statue, kazoos, a freaking gorgeous 1960s super model as a bride. it was perfect.
here are some of my favorite moments.
during my pregnancy with mila, i was so happy because i only had one or two migraines the entire time. it was wonderful. especially because the prescription medication i take when i get migraines is not deemed safe during pregnancy.
this pregnancy, however, has been completely different. starting around week 15, i have been plagued with frequent migraines and terrible headaches that last as many as five days straight.
thankfully, being married to a neurologist has some perks and i was able to get an appointment with one of georgetown university hospital’s headache specialists — a doctor with a two year wait list. she shared some pregnancy safe tips with me to survive the headaches and migraines and i thought i would share them here in case anyone else is dealing with the same thing.
Continue reading how i’m dealing with migraines during pregnancy
we are obsessed with medjool dates right now. especially mila. she eats them like candy, which totally makes sense because they taste like candy. we even keep a bag of them in our diaper bag for her (okay, and for me). and i’ve really been craving scones lately. like, make-them-twice-a-week craving them. i started out just glazing them in honey. then i moved on to spreading dates over the top. this weekend i baked them inside and now i think this is my new favorite food.
how many jelly cats are enough for two baby cousins? let us know when you find out because three bunnies + a lamb and these two littles still didn’t have enough!
cami, hong and poh came to visit from california a few weeks ago and o m g i cannot wait until we are all close enough for mila and poh to play together every day! okay, so they didn’t play so much as swipe each other’s bunnies a million times and spend a whole lot of time staring at bubbles and eating snacks. but we all loved watching them!
when your dad is in medical residency, the hours at work are long and the time at home feels so short.
steven is a neurology resident, nearing the end of his pgy3. one more year to go and then two years of fellowship and then, i think, is a light at the end of the tunnel. but right now, the 12-hour shifts that turn into 15-hour shifts, the overnights and the pager that has become part of his body and is always beep-beep-beeeeping feels like it will never end.
it means i solo mom a lot.
from the moment you woke up to the second you fell asleep, we had the best day with you today, mila. i’m writing this so i always remember just how precious and special today was.
an ode to our number one boy on this national puppy day — mochi, we love ya!
even when you need a bath
even when you pull too hard on walks
even when you get mud all over the house
even when i have to trim your nails
even when you make mouth noises all night
even when you poop five times on one walk
because…
food | life | baby
food | life | baby
chef meets girl 