In the hospital

LiLi & Mason

He just reached up one time and grabbed the side of his bassinette! So cute!

Micah played a lot of a game on his phone while we were in the hospital during the down time

Here are the beautiful flowers our friend Beth & Jason had delivered to us

Here are a couple of nurses and one of the hospital staff in the nursery with Mason

Here's Mason in the hospital bassinette.




This was right before we left the hospital Thursday

Day 4

We came back to our apartment/hotel yesterday afternoon. Mason had not urinated very much so the pediatrician wanted to monitor him an extra night. When he finally did pee, his urine was very concentrated so she wanted to run a test on it. She ran three tests actually, and the third urination was normal. But, his urine did show an elevated white blood cell count so she sent it off for a culture. If there is an infection she is supposed to call us (I think tomorrow or the next day). Otherwise, we'll just go back for a visit with the pediatrician on Monday. Mason was a tad jaundiced yesterday when we checked out. So we're watching him for any increased yellow color. So far we think he's okay.
My milk supply still seems to be lacking and he possibly has a weak suck - he doesn't seem to get full enough. (maybe it's a combo)
All you mothers out there know that this first week is one of the most exhausting times of your life! I'm not experiencing any exception to that rule!! The nights are the hardest of course, because that's when your body is screaming for sleep. But I know this will not only pass quickly, but my body will adjust to the lack of sleep and hopefully Mason will get in a routine as well.
I'll try to download lots more photos and post some tomorrow. We've been getting a lot of cute ones!
Please lift up my Mom because she's had some stomach trouble. She leaves Tuesday and we want her to be able to make the most of her last couple days and be healthy for her trip back.

Picture from the hospital

Mason Update

We're still in the hospital but will probably check out later this afternoon. Mason had an ultrasound and his left kidney is still slightly dilated but it is also still considered a mild case. The urologist that our pediatrician consulted said that it would be fine to wait 3-6 months to do a follow up ultrasound to monitor whether the kidney's size had gone down to normal at that point. This what we expected and still seems to be a non-issue for the most part. Praise Father!

Another issue that came up was that Mason could have a rare blood condition that Micah and some of his family members have called Von Willibrands. For Micah, it is very mild and has never been a problem, but it means that his blood might not clot properly when cut or during surgery. For some reason this did not concern the doctors with Reister and he was circumcises at two days old. But with Mason they want to test him for the factor and the results take two weeks to get back. If we are still here (for passport/visa reasons), and the results are negative/mild, we'll go ahead and get him circumcised before we leave. Otherwise, we'll have to wait to a later date when we're back in Thailand again - like next January - to get it done. I feel sorry for him if he has to get it done when he's older because I know it would be more traumatic. Again, just another thing to lift up - ask for Father's perfect timing on this issue as well as our return to the Shining City.

Here is Reister and Mason - meeting for the first time!

Introducing Mason Turner Webb!

Mason was born at 6:10pm June 30th in Bangkok, Thailand
He weighed in at 7 pounds 3 ounces (3.25 kg) and was 20.4 inches (52 cm) long.
He is a precious little baby and a wonderful gift from our Father! We love him so much already and are so grateful for his arrival. The doctor didn't break my water until after 12 noon and finally around 5pm things started really happening and after pushing through two contractions at 6pm, he was born!
Reister loved him at first sight and said "baby, baby" and wanted to hold him. He and my mom are doing beautifully together and Reister has no problem going back to the room they're sharing when it's time to say goodbye to us.
Thanks so much for your prayers and praises on Mason's behalf! More pictures and updates to come!

Tomorrow!

We head to the hospital at 7am to start the induction. My doctor is going to break my water at 9am Bangkok time (9pm Texas time). What's your guess for when he'll actually arrive? Here are ours, my doctor's, my mom's and our friends:
Micah 4:17pm
Michelle 2:07pm (maybe it’s wishful thinking more than a guess!)
Dr. Nopadol 5:00pm
Mom 5:00pm (she guessed before she knew when the doctor’s guess was)
Beth 1:00pm
Jason 3:00pm

Hopefully we'll have something to post if we can get internet access in the hospital by sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening!! Yeah! Thanks so much in advance for your prayers! It's our desire that we can truly glorify our Father through the whole day tomorrow. We know meeting Mason will be such a joy!
Here's a picture from tonight - Micah was on his way for one last workout... I'm thinking I look about ready to have a baby!

Belly Shot Comparison

On Tuesday we went to a restaurant that has a Mexican buffet once a week. We went to this same restaurant several times in 2006 when we were in Bangkok to have Reister. Below on the left is this past week, on the right is from 2006. What do you think? About the same, bigger, smaller? Too bad the picture wasn't taken from the same angle in both pictures.

I think I was a little bigger with Reister... At least I felt bigger! I think the picture from this week is misleading - I don't think I really look as big as the pictures makes me look (Micah agrees) - but I guess if I look that big in the picture, there has to be some truth to it. This pregnancy - at least the second half of it - has really been pretty easy. I don't have that miserably uncomfortable feeling that I felt the last month with Reister. Mainly, I'm just ready to meet Mason and start the process of getting my normal body back. Having a big belly really does get in the way of a lot of everyday activities.

Lili, Swimming & Elmo underwear

We've been having a good time with LiLi (pronouced "Lee Lee") (my mom). We've been going out to eat, taking Reister to indoor play areas, shopping, swimming, and just hanging out in our apartment. Here's a picture of Reister and LiLi. Reister is wearing his cool new monkey shirt we found in a night market here.

LiLi brought Reister some big boy underwear that my grandmother (Bama) bought him - he's not ready to start potty training quite yet, but when he is, he'll be able to wear his super cool ELMO underwear!! He was pretty excited about them because he LOVES ELMO!

We have been going swimming - not every day, but at least every several days. Reister likes it a lot and is not afraid to jump in. For me, it feels really good to be in the water and swimming laps is about the only kind of exercise I still feel like doing. The pool in the picture is great for both laps and swimming around with Reister. Especially now that he has his cool life jacket! Micah took him down the slide at the one end a couple of times, but it was a little too much for Reister! (it kind of worried me because they came out so fast!)

When will Mason come?

That's the question of the day, but the answer most likely is June 30th. I had a doctor's appointment today and he checked me and I was only like 1 cm dilated. He said to come back in a week and he'd schedule me to come in and be induced on Monday June 30th. That should give us plenty of time for him to be born, get checked out as far as his kidney issue, circumcised, discharged from the hospital, and still have a little time together at "home" (our temporary apartment) with Mom before she has to leave to go back to Texas July 8th (my Dad's birthday!) Of course, it would be better if I went into labor naturally before the 30th. My doctor reminded me that labor could be a "long hard road" if I'm induced rather than waiting for it to happen naturally. I'm aware of that but that's one reason I'm going for the epidural as soon as I can get it. He's going to induce me by breaking my water and putting me on a pitocin drip, and as soon as I get to 4 or 5 cm, he said I can have the epidural.
So it's kind of fun to know that Mason will be here in a little over a week (if not before!)
We'll keep you updated! Please ask that we would continue to lean into Father and seek His face during this time of waiting and preparing for our second child!

Mason Kidney Update

We had what was probably our last ultrasound for Mason today. Praise the Father because his kidney was even a little bit smaller than last month (9mm). It was still considered mild hydronephrosis though, so we also met with a neonatologist to discuss the possible treatment for him once he is born. Basically, not much can be decided until he is actually born. The first step will be to do a renal (kidney) ultrasound before he and I are even discharged from the hospital. Probably not much will be done after that unless his condition has gotten worse. They will probably just continue to monitor it within his first year to see if it resolves itself. Thank you all so much for your prayers for him! Father has answered them and really allowed us to rely on Him through this.

The doctor measured Mason in several other areas, showing him to be pretty much around the 37-38 week size. My mom arrives here to Bangkok Thursday night (Thursday morning CST). Please pray that Mason will be born at least a week before she has to leave on July 8th. Of course she wants to meet him, but we are also really hoping to have her help with Reister during the labor and delivery.

Here's a shot of Mason's nose and lips - can you tell? I think he's got a cute nose and nice full lips!

Who's your favorite golfer?

Bangkok Week 1

Well, we've been keeping ourselves busy, and attempting to stay cool (i.e. stay inside or in the pool) in the Bangkok heat.

There are several indoor play areas for kids, some allow Reister in, some don't (because he's not tall enough) This one below in Siam Paragon allowed Reister in and you can see Micah's legs on the left. They had a blast!

This was another night, when we met up with some friends whose daughter is a little older than Reister. They were instant friends and also played in an inside play area (at Central World Mall). Here they are in a little truck:

Here they are "dancing" at the restaurant we ate at before hand.

Here's Reister's swimming outfit - we got this cool Speedo life jacket at the Toys R Us in Hong Kong last week. Sometimes he'll wear the ring with it, other times he refuses. He loves swimming!

We have some cable channels in our room including Star Sports and Asia ESPN. Reister likes to watch golf and tennis with Micah. Here they are watching the US Open together this morning. I'll try to post a video soon of Reister saying "Tiger Woods". Oh, when he watches tennis, he busts out laughing every time one of the players serves. For some reason, he finds that really entertaining, and in turn, entertains us!

Here's where we've been bathing Reister since right now our room doesn't have a tub. We tried to get him to take a shower but he didn't want to - don't think he's quite ready for all that water in his eyes. And you get to see an up to date belly shot of me. I'm at 37 weeks +

Hong Kong parks!

Hong Kong has great parks - with great playgrounds! Reister LOVED getting to play on the playscapes and he especially loves SLIDES! Here he is playing with Micah on the playscapes at Kowloon Park.

Hong Kong

Micah did a lot of this while exploring Hong Kong:

It was still handy to have the stroller, but obviously there were lots of stairs that he had to carry Reister in his stroller up or down... what a good sport Micah was! (I can't help any more b/c I'm carrying our second child!)

Here's Micah and Reister on the sidewalk in a busy area of Hong Kong.

Here's Reister in a place we stopped that had some toys. He enjoyed playing with these puppets along with several other toys they had there.

This was in a mall that we went to that was essentially four malls in one. It had a HUGE Toys R Us and California Pizza Kitchen (we went to both). You can see HK in the background as well as the harbor.

This was a hotel (maybe the most famous one in Hong Kong) close to the mall I just mentioned. We didn't go in but thought the fountain was a pretty spot for a picture. Both of these family pics were taken by our friend that is from Hong Kong that we got to meet up with while we were there (We miss you Amy!)

Thursday night we got to go to our friends' home for dinner. They lived in a place with this awesome view.

This is Reister with our friends' son. Reister instantly loved him and kept following him around saying "Ge Ge" (big brother). Ge Ge was sweet enough to play with Reister a lot while we were there for dinner.

Yay for fast internet that allows me to post as many pictures as I want! I'll do a couple more posts so as not to put too many on one post!

In Bangkok

Hi Everyone - This will be a boring post (no pictures). I just wanted to say that we made it to Bangkok. We spent five days in Hong Kong on our way here (getting our Thai visas) and had a really good time exploring the city, seeing some friends and eating good food. Also Reister got to play on some great playgrounds and swim once. Our travels to Hong Kong and then onto Bangkok went pretty smoothly, the only big thing that happened was that Reister's poopy diaper leaked all over him and Micah on the flight to Bangkok. Fortunately they both had extra clothes! That was the second time that's happened (to Micah) on the plane! We're glad to be here in Thailand but it certainly is HOT! A nice reminder of our Texas roots where I'm sure it's pretty steamy as well! I'm going to get some good pictures put together to post from our time in Hong Kong. So stay tuned...