2 weeks of runny nose

Never did I expect that a normal cold with runny nose can drag for 2 long weeks. It started on 2 mondays back in school, took mc on Tuesday, hoping to recover real soon but in the end baby Caydence caught the virus. Instead of resting at home, we had to rush her to the pediatrician in the afternoon as she needs to get well before her vaccination on the following Thursday.

Her runny nose goes on and off while mine is perpetually like a leaking tap.

Might need to visit the doctor again soon. I'm sick and tired of it. And I certainly do not want Caydence to be sick again.

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Baby Caydence's first milestone

At 4 month 6 day, baby Caydence is able to flip over from her back to her tummy!

She has been pretty reluctant to try this "stance", despite our encouragement.

This afternoon, she was playing with her Dad when suddenly she just flipped over. Just like that. Well, it matches her character very much, she doesn't like to do things against her will.

I hope she will be this "不鸣则已，一鸣惊人“ in whatever she does in future.

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My last week of maternity leave

I'm gonna miss……

1) Missy Caydence's big, wide grin when I greet her "good morning, Caydence!".

2) Waking up (late) together with her. By late, I mean seeing the sun.

3) Taking my own sweet time to sleep at 11.30pm after coaxing her to sleep, expressing my milk and not having to worry I have to wake up early in the morning.

Though my darling girl drives me crazy at times, I still want to spend all my time with her.

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Grandma's first birthday with Missy Caydence

It's grandma's 56th birthday, the first time for Missy Caydence to celebrate with us.

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The 3 month old Caydence

As she enters into her third month on Earth, she is now able to sleep for 5-6 hours at night without waking up for milk. This is good news for me as I will get to sleep too, though I run the risk of engorgement.

She has also been salivating a lot, to the extent that everyone thought she's teething soon. Well, we don't know if it's in the process as there are babies who teeths as early as 4 month old.

She hasn't been drinking much either. In the day, she could drag up to 4-5 hours without milk and yet she only managed to down about 90ml. To think that before this, she is drinking 140ml. The feeding session always starts with her struggling, we are trying to pinpoint what could be the reason for her struggle, but to no avail.

We bought a playmat for her, and we are encouraging her to turn over everyday. She can only turn from her tummy to back currently.


I hope Caydence will continue to be strong, healthy and most importantly, happy!

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Testing

Test



Test

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The third 24 hours with Missy Caydence

4.30am: Missy Caydence woke up for her milk. Initial thought is to sleep with her till 5.30am before I get up to pump but she refused to sleep after milk. Got hubby to pat her to sleep while I go moo moo at 5.15am.
6am: Breakfast.
6.45am: Folded the cloth diapers. Clear cat cat's litter.
7am:Moo moo time (pump my milk though it's only 2 hrs interval so that I can sleep with Missy after that.)
7.30am: Went back to bed with Missy.
8.30am: Missy woke up, tried dream feeding her and yes! She drinks her milk with only a little struggle.
9am: Missy woke up.
9.15am: Bathing time!
9.30am: Playtime on her new playmat.
10am-12nn: Nap time!(Express my milk when she slept)
12.15pm: Milk time…didn't finish again.
12.30pm: Moo moo time
1pm: Shopping!
3pm: Back home. Missy was asleep throughout the shopping trip. =_=" Missy woke up when we reached home (great timing huh).
3-3.30pm: Playtime with Missy.
3.30pm: Missy started to cry hysterically. Thought she is hungry but no. Tried pacifying her until she fell asleep briefly in my arms. Put her in the rocker while I pump my milk.
4pm: After some coaxing, she finally drink her milk.
4.45-6.pm: Nap time.
5.30pm: Moo moo time…
6.45pm: Missy's nap time!
8pm: Missy's bathing time!
8.15pm: Feeding time (with the struggle again, sigh).
9pm: Daddy is home! Missy Caydence loves to play with her dad,she will always chuckle.
9.45pm: Missy started to get cranky as she is tired. Patted her and she fell asleep.
10pm: Change Missy into her pj. Went to bed with the dad while the mummy is still waiting for the laundry to be done and not forgetting the moo moo time.
11.15pm: Hang the laundry plus Moo moo time.

These 3 days have not been easy for me, taking care of Missy Caydence alone. It can be too much to handle at times, especially when she cries for no reason (ok, there's a reason, just that I took a while to figure it out) or when she refused to sleep or has problem falling asleep. But the good part of it is I became more familiar with her routine. Just like today, I know she will need a nap around 10+ in the morning, so I tried to engage her in play as much as possible before she shows signs of tiredness. She fell asleep without much fussing. I knew she is not going to take her milk at 3hr interval, hence I let her have her nap and when she is slightly awakened at 12.15pm, she drank her milk with minimal fussing too.
I bet my mum will have a tough time too, taking care of Caydence alone when I return to work (but at least no moo moo time for her, haha). A mental note to myself that I will try to be home in the evening to take care of the Missy as well as taking care of her at night so that my mum can have a good rest.

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2nd 24 hrs with Missy Caydence

3.15am: Missy Caydence woke up for her milk.
3.30am: Moo moo time…
6am: Breakfast.
6.45am: Moo moo time (thought I could do it before the Missy wakes up for her milk.)
7am: Missy cried for milk, no choice, gotta stop the pump and feed her. Missy went back to la-la land after milk.
7.15am: Pumping continues.
7.30am: Folded the cloth diapers & clear cat cat's litter.
8am: Went back to bed with Missy Caydence.
9am: Missy woke up.
9.15am: Bathing time!
9.30am: Playtime on her new playmat.
10am: Milk time with the struggle again. Didn't finish her milk.
10.15am-1pm: Nap time!(Express my milk when she slept. I'm so thankful that she napped quite a while, I get to rest a little too! The time today passed pretty fast due to the long nap.)
1-2pm: Story time!
2pm: Missy dozed off. (Moo moo time)
3pm: Missy woke up. Brought her to the playground. She can't play yet but we tried the rocking horse. She enjoyed it.
3.45pm: Back home and she dozes off after a while.
5pm: Missy is supposed to drink her milk at 4pm but well an hour later but at least no struggle this time.
5.30pm: Moo moo time…
6.45pm: Missy's nap time!
7.30pm: Missy's bathing time!
8pm: Feeding time (with the struggle again, sigh).
9pm: Fell.asleep on Daddy's lap.
9.45pm: Woke up from her nap.
10pm: Change Missy into her pj.
11pm: Milk time. Daddy coaxing her to sleep.
11.15pm: Hang the laundry plus Moo moo time.

I change my pumping schedule today. Instead of following the 3 hrs interval strictly, I let Missy Caydence took the lead, i.e. I only express my milk when she falls asleep. Find that it is less stressful. Just 1 more day! Gambatte!!

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The first 24 hrs with Missy Caydence

Thought I will just jot down the happenings for these 3 days of 24 hrs with Missy Caydence.
4.30am: Missy Caydence woke up for her milk.
5am: My turn to express bm.
5.30am: Couldn't get to sleep due to hunger. Decided to have an early breakfast.
6am: Folded the cloth diapers as I'm afraid I might not have the time to do it after Missy Caydence wakes up.
6.30am: Went back to bed with Missy Caydence.
7.30am: Woke up to warm milk for her. But she didn't wake up until 9am.
8.30am: Moo moo time…
9-10.30am: Playtime!
10.30-12.00: Nap time!
1pm: Milk time (her timing for milk has not been regular lately)
1.30pm: Missy dozed off after her feed.
1.45pm: Moo moo time…
2.30pm: Missy woke up and started to be a little cranky. Only want to be carried.
3.30pm: Recognise her cries for milk. Fed her. She couldn't get to sleep due to her tummy discomfort. Carried her for a while. Finally slept at 4.30pm.
5pm: Moo moo time…
6.45pm: Missy woke up but recently her feeding session always start with a struggle. She will just refuse to eat, only after a few rounds of coaxing then will she drink her milk. Tired!
7.15pm: Missy's bathing time!
7.30pm: Moo moo time…while she fell asleep.
8pm: Grandpa & grandma came to entertain missy (finally a breather).
8.45pm: Daddy came home!
9.45pm: Feeding time (with the struggle again, sigh). Fell asleep after milk.
10pm: Change Missy into her pj.
The day has ended for the missy but not the momma.
10.30pm: Moo moo time
11pm: Drying the laundry.

I would usually hang the laundry before I express my milk as I want to ensure that the breasts are empty when I head to bed to minimise risk of engorgement but that would mean I will have 30min less of sleep.

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24/7 with the Missy

Momma is going to Genting for 3 days. This means I will be alone with baby Caydence 24/7 for the next 3 days. Despite the experience of weekend super mom, I'm still a little apprehensive. But well, I'm a Mummy now, I should and I know I can do it. :)

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July sigifies the end of ML

When Caydence was born, I was thinking that 16 weeks of maternity leave seems long, but in another 3 weeks plus, I will be heading back to work and it seems like I gave birth to her yesterday.
Human beings are always self-contradicting. When I first started my ML, I couldn't get used to being cooped up in the house, taking care of a baby. I couldn't wait to go back to work.
Now my ML is ending, I just want to spend more time with my baby, witnessing every little milestone she embarked on. I'm beginning to feel a little sad that I won't be able to.spend as much time with her as I had for the first 16 weeks of her life.
Due to a few reasons, I could not afford to take no pay leave. If not, I will take an additional 2 months of no pay leave so that I can be with Caydence for at least 6 months, fully breastfeeding her.
Well, life goes on. I supposed I will have to squeeze time out to accompany her.

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Happy 2 month old, Caydence!

Time flies. Caydence has grown from a little baby who does nothing other than eat, sleep, poop and pee to one whom will smile at you and goes "ahhh…errr" when you talk to her.

I still have the sleepless nights as she needs her feed every 3 hours, I had always wanted to find a way to let her sleep through the night but after researching, I think babies shouldn't be forced to sleep through the night, if she needs to eat then so be it. She will sleep through the night when she is ready. In fact, she has been delaying her feeding time herself...yesterday night was 5 1/2 hours before she woke up for milk. :)

Things will get better, I believe.

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Year-end holiday booked

This is Caydence at 1 month 26 days. She is growing well and putting on weight at alarming speed, like 100g every 2 days.

We will be bringing her for a holiday in December. She will be 8 month old by then and should be easier to bring her around. Looking forward to the trip! :) Meanwhile it's time to do research on things to note when bringing babies on holidays.

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June Holidays!

No overseas trip this holidays as baby Caydence is too young to travel. But at least daddy get to spend a little more time with Caydence and my mum can take a breather. :)

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The Mummy is tired

Yesterday night, Caydence had her last feed at 12 midnight and we patted her to sleep after the feed. Like I've mentioned, she will cry hysterically for her milk until the teat is stuffed into her mouth. Hence I will jumped out of the bed to warm the milk whenever she made the slightest movement so that when she's really hungry, she doesn't wake the whole world.

She woke up at around 3.30am for her 2nd feed yesterday night. She didn't finish the milk and I had to feed her the remaining milk after half an hour. After which she fell asleep and the Mummy got knocked out too.

When Caydence woke up at around 6.30am for her next feed, I woke up feeling confused. I suddenly forgot if she had already eaten. I sat in my bed for a good 1 minute, trying to recall the night's happenings.

I guess I'm really tired. But seeing her grow everyday (her weight is 5.2kg[birth was 3.09kg] and her length is 59cm[birth was 52cm] as of yesterday) and the development (she responds with her 'ahh' when we talk to her), everything is worth it.

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A great morning

Since Caydence is born, I'm being awaken with her cries (either for food or attention) every morning.

This morning, she has her last feed at 6am and after I'm done expressing, I joined her on the bed. She got a little snotty and I decided to put her on my chest. We slept.

At 8.30am, I was the one waking up first and seeing her still soundly asleep on my chest. I feel a sense of great bliss. :)

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Super Mom

Whenever the weekend comes around, my mama will be out (she does need some me-time after 5 crazy weekdays), hubby will be out at times too, I will feel like I'm a super mom, or maybe an octopus.

Of course, those moms with 2 or more kids might say I'm kicking up a big fuss here with only 1 puny baby to take care of.

Caydence has been cranky recently due to her phlegm. She can't eat well and her sleep is always disturbed. While I understand the reason behind her crankiness, it is sometimes too much to handle, even during weekdays when my mum and I are around.

She doesn't want to be carried st times and only want to be in the sitter, being rock...the moment we stop rocking, she cries. When she wants her milk, she wants it immediately, and it's really that immediate, she will be crying her lungs out until the milk is ready. When she got her milk and yet she couldn't drink fast due to her phlegm, she gets frustrated and start her crankiness again.

When her nappy is soiled, she demands it to be changed immediately by screaming, again. She will cry hysterically until the entire nappy changing session is complete. Oh, and not forgetting I have to express my milk every 3 hours, I had to find the most appropriate timing to "steal" that 30 minutes to express my milk. I feel a great sense of achievement whenever I managed to do it. If she's napping, I will pray hard that she sleep through, at least that half an hour, or I would have to place her on the sitter and rock her with my leg while I'm expressing and at the same time pray hard that she doesn't cry. When things don't go my way, I will have to suspend the process and attend to her.

Imagine I have to handle all these alone on weekends. Even if it's only for a few hours, it can be overwhelming. You can imagine how tire out I am when it is for the entire day.

On a side note, my mama says she had a difficult time looking after me when I was a baby. She commented that Caydence is worse than me!!! Karma!!!

And before I can end this post properly, the little terror is awake! Got to go!!!

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My first ever Mother's Day

This year it will be the start of celebrating Mother's Day. No, nothing planned for the special day this year. I'm simply too tired for anything.

One of the proudest thing I've done is to bring Caydence to this human world and having her calling me Mummy, not now of course...soon.

After having a child myself, I can empathize all mothers better, including my very own mum. She had spent loads of effort to take care of me when I'm young and now she still have to spend loads of effort taking care of the daughter's daughter, aka granddaughter.

So mothers are great! Grandmothers included!!!

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Caydence's visit to the PD

Called the PD this morning and managed to get a slot at 2.40pm. Turned out that Caydence has a,really bad case of wind in the tummy which caused her discomfort and to reflux at times. She also has phlegm and blocked nose which is causing her discomfort and difficulty to fall asleep. She need to take medication for the wind in the tummy, saline drop and Iliadin drop for the nose. We need to massage her to help rid the wind too. Let's hope that with all these interventions, she will feel better soon.

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It has been a month......

A tough month. Tougher than work, to me at least.

I experienced a super powerful emotions roller-coaster. From the initial excitement for bringing Caydence to this human world successfully, to the sadness and disappointment of not being able to breastfeed successfully and finally overcoming the negative feelings, to feeling tired from the night feeds, to feeling frustrated when the baby cries hysterically and yet as her mum I am unable to pacify her, to feeling super down and breakdown several times when Caydence was warded for jaundice during her 1 week review, to feeling happy when she had her baby shower which is a milestone for her as a-month-old baby, to feeling worried when initially her navel button would didn't seem to heal well to now that she has a lot of phelgm and could sleep well. She actually slept on my chest for almost the entire night, until my back really hurts, I had to put her on the bed and praying hard that she is not going to cry, thankfully she didn't.

I'm glad to have my mum with me. A lot of times, she is the one who managed to pacify Caydence and coax her to sleep. She takes care of Caydence several nights so that I could catch up on my sleep.

She has been so busy cooking and doing the laundry this entire month that she lost 4kg.

It will be another 3 months to spend time with baby Caydence before my maternity leave ends. I'd better cherish this period of time.

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Kicked the addiction

If there is one thing that's good about this confinement, it would be that I managed to kick the coffee addiction.

No cold turkey. No suppression of urge. Nothing! I just didn't think of having coffee at all! I supposed the mind is occupied with too many things that it has no time to think COFFEE.

The best part? I didn't have any headache too. :)

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The confinement rant

For the Chinese, it is believed that the women need to go through a confinement period of 30 (some people had 40) days. During this period, the women is supposed to build up the constitution of her body after going through labour.

The extreme cases can be without shower, not touching water for this period of time.

I did not follow that much of the "rules", and I'm getting a little frustrated being cooped up in the house. And guess what, this is only the 13th day.

The daily activities are quite routined.

Expressing milk (yes, am like a cow)

Feeding, Changing nappies, napping whenever the baby is sleeping so that I can be awake in the middle of the night for her feeds and sometimes, poop.

The lack of sleep is really getting worse. I'm feeling more tired as days goes by. To think that this is not ending anytime soon, sends shivers down my spine.

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A milestone of my life

It just occurred to me that I have yet to post the news of the arrival of my darling baby girl, Caydence on my blog! No choice, too busy adjusting to the lifestyle of a new mother. Carrying the baby, making milk, pumping milk, feeding, changing nappies, waking up several times in the middle of the night...the list goes on.

It becomes more challenging when I have a wound to nurse, a bulging tummy that I wish it will disappear immediately (of course it refused to budge). Had a couple of massage sessions, hopefully at the end of the day, I will see some results.

Enough said. As a new mother, I proudly present to you the finished piece of work I had been nurturing for the past 38 weeks.

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The March Hols

Finally it has arrived. Though the hubby is not around during the start of e hols, I'm glad he will be back on Monday evening.

Due to SYF, the aesthetics CCA teachers would all be busy with practice sessions this hols.

But I'm glad I would be able to at least have a few days waking up naturally (自然醒).

Going to prepare the lesson plan and necessary materials for the lesson study meeting today so that I can spend some time with hubby when he is back. :)

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2012 birthday

Somehow this year's birthday is different. One, I'm breeding a life within me and am looking forward to her arrival. Come February 2013, I will have an additional family member to celebrate with me.

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An emotional morning

It's the last day of my HOD at work today. After slogging herself for 39 years, finally she can take a good break. The school held a special assembly for her this morning. Who would have thought that it would be emotional instead of heartwarming? Sigh...

Most of the teachers couldn't contain our emotions and had tears in our eyes. Even the Principal cried. Maybe that's the reason why she refused to give a speech when we approached her. It turned out that the main lead is stronger than all of us, I supposed she has seen much more than us and thus why she can control her emotions better than us.

Another round of surprise for her this afternoon. Our P got a Bentley to drive her round the school to bid farewell.

Visit to the dentist

Went to the dentist today after checking with e gynae that it's safe to have an extraction when 7 month pregnant.

The dentist told me it was the wisdom tooth at the top right that has decayed and broke.

He told me he will do a manual extraction,should the tooth breaks (as it can be quite brittle) during the process,we will need to go through an operation to get the remaining tooth out.

After discussing with hubby,we decided to go with it. I must say kudos to the dentist. He used just the right amount of anesthesia (the numbness goes off in half an hour),before he extracts my tooth,I could feel that he did something to loosen the tooth from the gum,the extraction process is quick. Guess what? It only costs me $80!

This is the 2nd wisdom tooth this dentist has removed for me through normal extraction.

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Officially handicapped

Seems like it is not really a good year for me....I am plagued with this pain in my left wrist and thumb and it is worsening by the day. The best part? My right hand is feeling the soreness due to the over compensating for the left hand.

I can't apply any medication as I am in my third trimester. Hopefully my gynae can give me a solution next wednesday.

Can't help but to rant

Called a parent this morning.

This pupil repeatedly not handing in his work despite serious warning from me. Imagine a piece of work that is supposed to be handed in last Thursday, till today, I did not receive anything from him despite warning and reminding him everyday. When asked where is his work today, he told me he forget to bring. An instinct told me to search his bag, true enough, the exercise book is in his bag, everything undone.

What makes me even angrier was when I called his mum. The reply from his mum was (translated from Mandarin), "I checked with him if he has homework everyday, but he will always tell me he has no homework. Teacher, feel free to punish him."

Sometimes, I really cannot understand parents. You checked with your kid and when he said no homework, you will just take his word for it??? As a parent, you will understand your kid's character and behaviour. If he is a responsible kid all along, then of course, you can take his word for it. As a parent, don't you check your children's bag, especially if your kid is still in the lower primary?

The best part is when you told me to punish your kid. I feel like telling you, "Hey! Shouldn't you be taking the responsibility to discipline your OWN kid when the teacher feedback that your kid did not do the assigned work and he lied about it???" If this pupil is my child, I would have apologised to the teacher and assured the teacher that I will take things in hand after school today.

What is the world coming to??? *ROARSSSSS*

Happy Lunar New Year!

It's always like that.Before the cny,i will be looking forward to it,like a little child. But when it's finally here,you'd realise that there isn't anything that special after all.Haiz! Human!

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Start of school

*Yawn*

Had difficulty waking up this morning, I suppose it will take a week or so before we can get used to waking up at 5.15am again.

First day of school and I am looking forward to CNY public holiday...muahaha...

Almost everything is new this year.

For the first time, I am taking P3, P5 Foundation and P2 Bridging.
For the first time, I am taking 2 classes of P1 music (plus 1 class of P2 music which I have done so in 2009).
For the first time, I am having 30 pupils in my P3 class (it has been less than 30 since 2009)
For the first time, I have to set 2 papers each (P3 and P5 Foundation) for Term Test 1 and SA2.

A lot to get used to, a lot to learn. Just as well, as I am sick of taking P2 and P6.

Happy 2012

The last of 2011 was spent on mahjong, which is the same as 2010, if I remember correctly.

It will be a very different year for 2012 as hubby & I are entering the next stage of our life soon...we look forward to the arrival of our baby girl.

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