Isaac "Wanpaku" Lee

Dear Friends and Loved Ones,

Well today was quite a day at the hospital. We arrived late after a crazy day at our respective jobs to discover that Isaac officially hit the 1kg mark! Yeah, Isaac! He weighed in at 1,016 grams. Today was also Isaac's 33rd gestational week. Happy birthday, son!

It appears that all of the good news got Isaac even more excited than his mommy and daddy as he was a nonstop wanpaku all during our visit! (Wanpaku is japanese for rascal). Notwithstanding being really really frustrated that his head was too heavy to lift, Isaac kept trying to pick up his head and move forward with his arms and legs. In fact, on several occasions, he kept arching his lower back and bottom into the air while extending his legs (sorry upper torso wasn't cooperating) and he almost looked like a cat stretching (he was on his tummy again all during the visit). A couple of times, he sort of tried jumping like a frog off of his hind quarters! We were so shocked by all of this we weren't quite sure it was actually happening. Throughout it all, he seemed determined to pull his ventilation tube out!!! The nurses were scampering trying to figure out how to calm him down and keep him from pulling on anything.


Fortunately, Isaac finally tired himself out. opened his eyes for a bit to see if we were still around and crashed into a deep deep sleep. he looked so much lankier today than we are accustomed to. I think it is largely because they put him in "low rider" diapers today so that he sort of looked like he had "plumber's butt"! It was really funny. I'm sure it is our imagination but he body looked so much longer than usual.

Through it all, seeing him moving around so much and pulling at his tubes, we couldn't help but think that he must be getting so sick and tired of the incubator thing!!! We couldn't agree more. Hopefully, he'll keep fighting and his determination and His grace will continue to help him resist infections or complications and will ensure a swift recovery from surgery.


In any event, I think Sonia and I really needed an exciting day with Isaac. We've both been missing Rachel a lot. We are in the process of moving and finding a new spot for Rachel's ashes and keepsakes brought a rush of emotions and memories back. At the same time, I think it is hard for Sonia not to remember that fateful morning when she was on our bed reluctant to move as she felt something was terribly wrong every time we are back in the bedroom. Hopefully, the new place will help a little without diminishing how special our daughter was and is to us.

We will meet with Isaac's heart surgeon tomorrow to confirm his surgery date. He seems to be breathing ok (in fact, they inserted a bigger breathing tube today which may be one reason Isaac was so active).

As we got ready to leave, we noticed that another tiny baby girl was having a very hard time. She's been in the NICU for a few days now. It appeared that both her mommy and daddy along with several extended family members were there with her which usually means that things are not looking promising. We really felt so awkward suddenly - emotionally caught between an amazing hour with Isaac and his progress and the vivid memories of our time with Rachel in her incubator just a few feet away from where this Japanese family had gathered. We don't even know their names but we hope to see them again first to apologize for not realizing fast enough that they were trying to spend perhaps their last few precious moments with their baby girl (we were a little noisy because of Isaac's rambunctiousness) and to express our sympathies for their loss.

Blessings,

Jong