Welcome to the world, little one!

I am now a grandmother. Little Wing Wing entered the world last Wednesday night, weighing in at a "whopping" 4 lbs 9 oz which I think is pretty good, considering she was 3 1/2 weeks early.

I think my blog is now going to be my "love letters" to her telling her about what is happening in her life so one day in the far distant future, she can look back at my memories of her.

Dear Wing Wing:

You were a power to be reconned with right from the start. Mummy thought her pregnancy would be just a normal pregnancy and she would continue to teach until pretty close to her due date which was March 14th - Mummy's 40th due date. You apparently had other ideas.

I learned about you in September after Mummy and Daddy were prepared to talk about you. I kept it quiet until they were ready to announce to the world that you were planning to make an appearance. Mummy was pretty tired, which she hadn't expected but beyond that, everything was pretty usual. 

Grandma and Grandpa C were pleased when they heard about you and Grandma started to make healthy soup for Mummy. 

And then, wham! In early November, Mummy didn't feel at all well and it didn't seem to be get better so Daddy took her to the hospital to get checked out. Unfortunately they went to the only hospital in Calgary that doesn't have an obstetrical ward so they told M&D to go to a different hospital the next day. They did and M was told that she had a blood clot on her lung which was why she didn't feel well. The doctors told her to take it easy and put her on blood thinners so she had to learn to inject them herself. 

M&D came to my house for Christmas dinner, along with Uncle Nathan and Auntie Carla. Auntie Julie and Uncle Bas live in the Netherlands so they didn't come and Uncle Michael only came for a few minutes because Aunt Meleana has health issues so didn't want to come. We had a good dinner and M&D took home the turkey carcass and then made some really good soup. I gave M&D a Christmas Ornament with you on it but you didn't have a name - you were a heart in Mummy's tummy. Miso and Chocobo are also on the ornament so it was all of your family as they were that day.

Aunt Joanne organized a baby shower for you on January but not every who was invited came. The entire world was almost 2 years into suffering from Covid. Anyone who had even a sniffle didn't come so the world was not as welcoming as it had been just 20 months earlier.

Somewhere along the way, Mummy was diagnosed with gestational diabetes so that meant that she had to take her blood sugar readings everyday and take insulin. Mummy got pretty good at giving herself needles. 

On January 31, Daddy started to feel sick and he took a Covid test and it showed that was what he had. He thinks he probably caught it at the gym. Mummy still felt okay so we went grocery shopping on Saturday but then on Sunday morning, Mummy started to feel sick and sure enough she also had Covid. Mummy and I were supposed to go out on Sunday but Mummy had to stay home so she could get better. 

On Monday, February 14th, M&D went to Mummy's ultrasound appointment. The technician said they needed to come back on Tuesday. The doctors were worried because you weren't gaining weight as quickly as they wanted - you were in the 10th percentile and there were concerns that the placenta wasn't feeding you properly. The doctors were prepared to have you born on Tuesday but Mummy had taken her blood thinners so the doctors told M&D to come back on Wednesday and to be prepared to have you that day. 

Daddy called me at lunch to say you were going to be born that afternoon. It turned out the hospital had a few emergencies so you you had to wait until after supper. You made your grand appearance at 7:10 pm that night. You weighed 4 lbs 9 ozs (2070 gr) which is pretty small. The nurses took you into NICU and took care of you there. 

M&D gave you your first name and Grandpa C chose your middle name. Daddy said Grandpa C had 4 boys' names and only 1 for a girl so that is how you became Wing Lum. Your first name is a strong English name and you will likely be the only one in your class on any given year.

M&D had to stay in Mummy's room and couldn't leave because the hospital needed to keep them away from other patients in case they infected anyone else. On day you will learn about how Covid pretty much changed the way the world operated for 2 years. The week your cousin Aria was born was pretty much the same week that the first person in Calgary was diagnosed and you were born as our government announced another attempt to cancel all precautions.  We will see how that goes.

Daddy called me on Friday and asked me to get some food for him and Mummy because they were hungry and weren't enjoying the hospital food so I got them some stuff and dropped it off. I also took them a teddy suit so they would have something for you to wear when you were ready to come home. M&D didn't know how long the hospital would want to keep you. The nurses did arrange for you to "meet" M&D via a phone "meeting" which made them pretty happy to see you face to face. You didn't really care but M&D really did. Daddy sent me a copy so I got to see your lovely little face.

On Friday, the nurses brought you into M&D's room and you got to meet your parents, skin to skin. That made them both very happy. You weren't too impressed having to work for your lunch after having had bottles in the NICU but Mummy has kept trying. 

On Saturday, M&D were told they could be discharged and take you home so hat made them pretty happy. They got home after 7:30 that night and settled into being parents.