A dream come true

 

Even though my pregnancy started with over ten weeks of progesterone shots to the upper thighs,

I don’t think my symptoms were as nearly severe as my friends and others I knew going through the

same thing. I could still find plenty to complain about, and I sure did, but objectively, I enjoyed a fairly

easy pregnancy when it came to physical burdens.

In early March 2024, Andrew and I experienced the devastating loss of a friend. Out of respect for the family’s privacy, I will not describe what happened - but have acknowledged it here because it was a stark reminder of how precious our time on earth and with the people we love is, and a hard lesson in not taking things and people for granted. Our friend was loved by many, and she loved so many that she had to leave behind - for now. 

So I did not take this pregnancy and this child for granted. I wanted to celebrate everything about this child, even before the day she and I would meet. We threw a Taylor Swift themed baby shower in preparation for her arrival. I rented a cute outdoor space at Cloer Family Vineyards, set up some Taylor Swift themed decor and friendship bracelet stations, and asked everyone to dress up like their favorite era. My sister, Lauren, also set up a flower-crown station and we enjoyed charcuterie and brunchy things and sparkly pink drinks. My friends and family flooded us with gifts for our Swifie-to-be including Swiftie books, scarves, and onesies. It was a beautiful celebration with family and friends from many eras of my life.

We decorated her nursery with more time and attention we had given to any other room in the house. We had wallpaper with forest creatures installed. Andrew hung up floating shelves for stuffed animals, books, and pictures. We bought new furniture - a lounger and a dresser. We hung up pictures of animals under the moon and in the snow. It is still the most beautiful room in the house. 

I started having pretty consistent contractions at the beginning of my third trimester. They didn’t hurt, but they were so frequent and regular on all of my stress tests. Even though my placenta was at the front of my belly, she was constantly wiggling or creating a consistent drumbeat with her constant hiccuping. My intuition was that our daughter would arrive before her expected due date.

As we waited, Andrew and I continued to vacillate between different names. We started with a very long list on the Notes app and slowly crossed names off. However, that list never got shorter than eight names and every few days, one of us would pitch one of the names and the other would pitch another name and we’d never get anywhere.

I don’t know how we ultimately picked “Diana.” I had always been set on “Artemis,” the Greek goddess of the hunt and the moon. I couldn’t get Andrew to agree to that name, but when the name “Diana” became a top contender in the last month, I was excited. “Diana” was the Roman equivalent of the goddess, Artemis, and I loved having such an empowering name for my daughter. “Diana” was also not on any of the most popular baby name lists, and I wanted to avoid those names if possible - even though I liked many of them. 

Diana’s middle name, “Yuhua,” came together much more easily. 유화 or “Yuhwha” was the Korean willow goddess who, as the mother of the first king of Goguryeo, is known for her resilience, wisdom, and her enduring spirit. 玥華/华 or “Yuehua” means pearl blossom or magnificent pearl in Chinese. The Chinese name’s interpretation is also associated with courage, energy, wisdom, and good luck.  We mixed the English spellings of the Korean and Chinese names to create “Yuhua,” which would honor both of her backgrounds. 

We had one false alarm the week before I actually gave birth. After a babymoon at the Umstead Inn, I had started experiencing some painful cramping on the way home. We grabbed our hospital bags and made our first practice run to the hospital. When we got there, they confirmed that I was not actually in labor, so they sent us home. Of course, that made me wonder how I’d know if I was actually in labor, given that my contractions had been regular for awhile.

Luckily, I never had to guess. A little over a week later at 4:30am, I woke up, felt something change in my body, ran to the bathroom, and my water broke. We took our time gathering our things and heading to the hospital, and I even made us turn back while we were halfway there because I realized I forgot my driver’s license. We arrived at the hospital, promptly got my epidural at 6:30am, and spent the day eating jello and watching the Olympics and the closing ceremony - which seemed like a triumphant omen for the birth of our daughter. My labor didn’t start in earnest until about 2:00pm. I pushed and often felt like I wasn’t making much progress. There was a time when ten people were in the room, and I didn’t know it at the time, but they may have expected a C-section. But the kind nurse and the patient doctor didn’t give up on me, and our girl eventually made her entrance. 

Diana Yuhua Wong was born on August 11, 2024 at 4:00pm to what Andrew claims was questionable Taylor Swift music. Everything was a blur, but I remembered it felt surreal to hold this sweet, cheesy girl against my chest. She was small and delicate with alert, brown eyes and the prettiest nose. She would stick out her tongue, even when relaxed. She was beautiful and our dream come true.