it's year-end.. :)

I foresee that I wouldn't be able to do up any more posts right before the new year so this is one scheduled to published then.

It's another year in a minute's time.

Let's do a recall,
in 2010, I started a family, held my wedding banquet.
in 2011, I had the little one, Breast-fed him for 6months, and we bought a car.

If things goes smoothly,
for year 2012,
- we are going to get the keys to our flat and start renovation.
- celebrate Baby E's big 1.
- go for our honeymoon!

At work, I hope to at the least get my PMP certification. :)

These are my resolution. What are yours?

Lastly, Happy New Year!~
Hope you readers had a good 2011 and will have another blasting 2012! :)

first Christmas.

This is the first Christmas for baby E but we did nothing special.
Spent the eve and Christmas day itself at home with baby E.

We didn't get him any pressies too. Wanted to buy a toy for him but who knows it was spoilt and when I returned for an exchange, there was no more stock left and all I could do was a refund. :x

I'm looking forward to my first Birthday spent with him and his first CNY and his first birthday and so much more.

Time really flies.

Last night Hubby Lubby and I were having a casual chat and we talked about how long we have been together and it will be a good 5 years this coming January.

Can't believe it man, and my bestie is getting married in 2 weeks' time! Not only that, I do observe a number of my ex-school mates (be it primary, secondary, JC or Uni) getting married and some, are either pregnant or already have got kids. Inside me, I go like "oh-my, we are all grown up!".

The other day, Hubby Lubby's long time friend came and they reminisced the good old days where they joked about their parents daddy's name and Hubby Lubby actually said, 不知道以后我的孩子会不会取笑我们的名...

For this Christmas, I'm actually thankful for having my Hubby Lubby around. We were also saying, in this 5 years, the both of us started a family, got a kiddo, bought a car and a flat. Really accomplished. :)

puzzling me~

Merry Christmas.

I say this with a puzzling mind.
I can understand that you are not obliged to help but if you feel that you are not going to do that for me, just kindly tell me about it. No bad feelings because I can understand it.

But you left it things as it is, for me to 'discover' it by myself. It's a little disappointing and sad. Not because you didn't want to do it for me but you didn't let known to me, not even a hint. Or was leaving things as it is, a hint for me?

I have to admit, this incident is affecting me a little. Yes, I care, that's why I'm affected.
But why do I feel like I'm always the 'outsider' no matter how hard I try. Not that I try hard to become an 'insider and I know I can never be like 'it' or neither do I care about others' opinion of me, I just want to be informed of it. *I am not sure if you readers got what I meant to say but yea~ I'm not good at expressing myself.*

Anyway, I'm pretty sure time will heal this puzzling mind. I'm already feeling better as I end this post. :)

amazing me.

Sometimes I surprise myself a little...

PIL's helper returned for home visit for 2 weeks and without a helper, I think it natural and fair for all of us to chip in our time & effort to help out each other at home.

Today, for the first time in this household, I vacuumed and mopped the floor. Helped out in SIL's room too. I'm not boasting or praising myself (okie, maybe I want praises from the Hubby Lubby), not even saying this to 邀功, make good impressions or comparing effort. I'm just amazed that I actually wanted to do it, not for anyone but myself. I'm happy with helping out at home. :)

feverish. :x

Baby E just went for his 6months jab yesterday and is feeling a little feverish. :x It doesn't help that now he's teething and with this feverish feeling, he's getting a little moody. :x
Otherwise, he is doing good and and doctor says he's at the 50% percentile for his statistics.
He's weighing 7.8kg, 67cm tall and 41.5cm in head circumference. :)

Hope he gets better faster!

Oh, I decided to get him immune-d for Rotavirus which is a mouth-consumed medication instead of vaccination.

Sending Hubby Lubby to work then to Orchard to straighten my hair later. MS before that to do an exchange for an item we bought. :x

1st year Anniversary.

Nothing special for this year cos Hubby just started his work and we are tight on budget.
But we made good the time spent together, shopping & eating to our hearts' content. :)

Happy 1st Anniversary.

p/s: Hubby ordered a bouquet of flowers for me and he was supposed to receive it at the door but end up, I was the one receiving it myself in a messy hair state.

I'm thankful to MIL for helping out to take care of baby E while we have our couple time. :)

Baby E turns 6 months old! :)

Finally Baby E turns 6 months old!

At 6 months, he like to scream a lot, and on his walker, he can move sideways too, in addition to reversing. hehe.

He grabs every opportunity to flip and when on his tummy, he gets frustrated easily if he doesn't get the things he want/see in front of him. Then he wants to move forward but he just hasn't mastered the trade. Following he will cry for help. hehe.

Will be going for his 6months jab on Monday. :)

introducing solid.

Finally Baby E turns 6months old tomorrow and it's official that I'm going to start introducing solids to him.
Actually, he has already started on some ready-made/purchase-off-the-shelf purees when he was 5months old and 2 weeks ago, he started on home-made apple & carrot purees.

For an official start, I'm going to introduce rice or wheat cereal to him. I haven't decided yet.
After that, I intend to make him some vegetables puree, hope to cultivate the habit of eating vegetables in him (though I dislike veges).

Also going to gradually introduce stage 2 of infant formula milk to him since I am planning to stop breastfeeding/cut down on the number of times I express BM each day.

poor yet happier?

Somehow, I feel that we are happier on the poorer days.
Not that we are any richer now (though we are getting paid slightly better than before, we overspend most of the time), I feel we are less happy now.

two teeth...

Remember I wrote about baby E teething - Now he has got 2 budding teeth in this lower gum.

He's such a boy!

Brought him out to the June Mommies gathering on Saturday and I hope he has enjoyed himself. :)
A litle hiccup when finding the way to the gathering location and it doesn't help with a rushing-for-work-cum-impatient-hubby. So I had to walked up the hill all the way with a baby in tow. :x

I am a half-past six tour guide.

Yes, you read me right. Jonna has decided to stopover Singapore en route back to Denmark, after visiting her daughter in Australia, with her husband & youngest son Aron; so I did the honour of showing them around Singapore.

I think I have been a terribly bad guide cos I was late in picking them up!
Their flight was scheduled to arrive around 5.35am on Tuesday morning and I only got to the airport at 6.30am. :x
Initially the plan was to drive to pick them up but something went wrong with the car and we had to send it for repair on that very same day so I took a cab, which pretty much explains why I was late.

And I think for the whole trip, they have been revolving around Bugis because they had no time for Sentosa, Flyers & MBS.
Okay, first stop was Bugis because of the timing they arrived at. They couldn't check in to the hotel earlier and with the retail shops/hippo tour counters opening at a later timing means that I could only bring them to visit the Kwan Im Temple in Bugis.

At the temple, I explained to them how to draw/cast a lot and Jonna tried it and she got a good lot! :)
Then we went to the hawker center, sat down and took a quick bite. Well, not exactly a quick bite cos we actually sat down to have some teh & curry puff.

After that, brought them home to visit baby Ethan. I think baby E likes boys/men cos he smiles very happily when he sees Aron, even when all what Aron did was just to look at him & do nothing.

Subsequently, I brought them to have Roti Prata which Aron says it's the pancake. They like it alot and I'm glad they did. :) Also bought them the Chrysanthemum tea flowers for them to bring back since Jonna loves the tea.

Brought them to the hotel for check-in and I'm surprised how conveniently V-Hotel is located and how clean & new the hotel is.

My day ended with them as soon as I sent them to Suntec for the Hippo Tour cos I have to go home and express milk.

The original plan was to bring them to Lau Pa Sat to try out the satays & some local delights but they were too tired so we decided to call it a day after the Hippo Tour.

On their second/last day, we started off at 10am and off to Chinatown. I thought we would just stay a while since there's nothing much there but gosh, we spent the whole afternoon there... only left around 2plus, coming to 3pm.
That's because both Leif & Jonna bought a phone and Aron bought a PS3.
Since the guys are bored and to be fair, Jonna suggested to bring them to some electronics store and that would be Sim Lim. At Sim Lim, we actually found out that the PS3 is cheaper than Chinatown by 50bucks. To hell with the carrot-chopping shops. :x

The intended plan was to go to the Night Safari but due to shortage of time & tiredness, I bidded farewell to them at the AMK MRT station around 8pm. There they took the train to the airport and I took a cab home cos I need to express breast milk so I couldn't send them to the airport. :x

I am really happy to be seeing them again! and that they are looking forward to come to Singapore again. :)
This ends the 2 days stint as a tour guide but I would definitely welcome them back here again! :)

broke for December.

It's Christmas season and I guess the only one who benefited from it is Baby E. He just got his early Christmas gift. 300+ worth of baby stuff I bought from the Suntec baby fair this afternoon. :(

Actually most of the items are for his daily use, like teats, brushes (to clean his bottles), spoons, not exactly toys for him.

Bought a steamer cum blender today. Was thinking since he's going to start on solids soon so bought this machine to prepare food for him. :)

deal or no deal?

I recently saw on Groupon a hair grooming deal worth $210 selling at $65. This deal allows you to do either Hair Perming or Rebonding + Shiseido or L'Oreal Hair Treatment + Wash + Blow at this particular hair styling salon in Orchard.

Since I was planning to do hair rebonding, I went a step further and googled for reviews on this salon. My initial search didn't yield any helpful results, so I thought, since this deal was sold on more than one occasion previously and no one posted any negative comments, it should mean that the service/end-result from the salon should be satisfactory. So I went ahead and bought the deal.

Because this salon has 2 outlets located in Orchard, I decided to google on which is the better outlet to patronise. To my horror, I found some negative comments on the cached pages from this forum (I couldn't access this particular forum without having to register myself) and some entries are as recent as October this year.

It states that the salon staff will tell you they are using in-house products for rebonding and should the consumer wants to use Shiseido products, the latter would have to top up a $60. And the so-called 'treatment' is just leaving the conditioner on the hair.

Up to this point, I still find it acceptable to pay $125 (I think I would have topped up) for hair rebonding since the market price is about there or maybe more expensive and I am not really concerned about the treatment. Most importantly is the skill & service/attitude of the staff. To my disgust, not only was the service reported to be lousy, the salon charges another $35 for hair cut! In my previous experiences with hair rebonding, the hair cut is alway included as part of 'package' and no way would I want to pay extra for hair trimming! Moreover, another lady commented that she paid for the hair cut which was more like a trim.

Luckily another forummer mentioned about the refund policy Groupon has and I immediately sent them an email asking for refund. Thank god I can get my refund and I think I better go back to the hair salon I frequent. :)

amazing little one.

Baby E is really an amazing little one.
Every week when he returns from Mommy's place, he will have little surprises for me!

Sometimes I feel that he's growing up too slowly, other times I think it's too fast!

Previously, he will 'eat' the steering wheel of his walker but just last weekend, not only did he understood that he cannot 'eat' it (cos I will take it away from him; anyway I took it away when he 'ate' the steering wheel), he can turn the wheels too!

He still haven't learn how to crawl yet but he tries hard to push himself forward.
Now, if you put him in the vertical position (sleeping or just lying down on his back), you may soon find him in the horizontal position or moved up or down the mattress. Cute, isn't it?

He's now, a more patient little boy who can wait a little longer for his milk to be ready.

Just last weekend, he slept through 7 hours straight. I'm really proud of him! Fed him at 11+pm and put him to bed. Thought he will wake at 5+am (which is his usual waking hours all those weeks before) so I prepared his milk at 4+am but he didn't wake. So I prepared another serving of his milk at 6am and he only woke at 7.30am. He didn't fuss much for milk and waited quite patiently. I'm really amazed at his patience. :) I mean he hasn't drank milk for 7hours and he only fuss a little instead of his usual nasty impatient cries. The same thing happened the following night. :)

I'm missing him, even as I held him in my hands yesterday! :)

teething little man.

I think feel baby Eis teething's tooth bud.

Poked a finger into his little mouth and felt something in both his upper and lower gum; the feeling is more distinct on his lower gum.

Hopefully the teething process won't be hard for him. :)

baby E turns 5 months old! :)

A tad late for this post as Baby E turned 5 months old last Wednesday.
I spent the night over at mom's place and took the opportunity to take photos with him. Okie, the pictures ain't really sharp because I off-ed the flash light plus the camera is kinda old already.

Either my skills were lousy or that baby E isn't in the mood for pictures, I couldn't really capture something cute. :(

// will insert pictures here later

Realised that I don't really do a monthly summary of what he can do...
So at 5 months, Baby E:

1. can flip from lying on back to facing chest up. (02 Oct 2011)
2. likes to flip when lying down
3. enjoys his bathtime
4. can swim (22 Oct 2011)
5. can move side ways and reverse in his walker
6. can throw the rattle & teether away while in his walker
7. can hold his teether
8. can pass the teether from one hand to the other
9. can 'stand' straight & very steady on his feets while holding onto him
10. likes to 'stand' straight while holding onto him
11. likes to play with daddy A LOT! By this, I mean he can always break into laughter whenever Daddy's around!
12. can sleep on his own when he's in the mood
13. likes to play with his feet if you cover his feet with a napkin cloth when lying on his own (but he still don't know how to 'eat' the feet)
14. 'talks' alot
15. very 'talkative' before his bedtime or whenever he wants to sleep
16. likes to make a lot of bubbles using his saliva
17. salivates
18. enjoys looking at the fishes (it calms him down)
19. likes to eat his hand but will withdraw his hands when I say "Mommy says NONO"
20. eats his hand with squeaking sound (yummy & tasty hands)
21. knows how to signal / cry for carry
22. knows how to 'kiss' us by opening his mouth big big and coming towards our cheeks
23. sleeps more soundly if you hold his little hands/fingers while he sleeps
24. loves to go out
25. will make the 'I am eating something' action with his mouth & tongue
26. tried off-the-shelves puree and loves the carrot mixed pumpkin ones but dislike the apples and pears cos it's a little sour
27. tried sucking & likes the real apple & pear better
    
28. will raise his eye brow to '放电' to you
29. has grown to be a little bit more patient now (can wait a little bit longer before his milk is served to him)
30. tries to hold the milk bottle but cannot hold well & through his drinking session
    
31. is a understanding and brave boy. :)

Mommy and Daddy love you!


Little saga~
Brought little man to the PD last Friday though his usual PD is not around because my mommy unknowingly fed him egg (which is still too young for him) the day before and caused some allergic reactions. Luckily the reactions subsided and everything's back to normal. :)

My mom's feeling a little guilty but I know she didn't do it on purpose. Hopefully she gets over this incident soon. :)

Should I be happy?

Well, the plan wasn't what I've expected.
Shouldn't we do something more...

Maybe I should be happy...

the Genting trip

Last Thursday we made a decision to go Genting together with Hubby Lubby's family & colleagues, so we had to leave the little man behind with my parents.

Since Friday was my off day, I went to visit the little man and told him about the arrangement. He seems to understand yet was sad to see me go without taking him along. *pains my heart*

This understanding little man behaved himself and was really happy to see me on Tuesday. [We reached Singapore on Monday evening and I took another day off on Tuesday to spend some time with the little man.] Because I had to clean my hands & legs upon entering the house and did not carry him, he cried. It's really good to know he misses me! :)

Haven't seen him for a few days and he seems to have become more sensible. :)
~~~
The Genting Trip.
So we lost our hard-earned money to the owner of Casino de Genting. =p
But in the process, I learnt how to play the slot machines and found that it can be quite a good way to kill time in the Casino. :)

We also went to the theme park and took the rides. This time round, the weather was good so we didn't manage to take the flying coaster.

Without fail, my each trip to Genting would see me doing shopping at this fashion merchant, Paldini. Not sure of the branding status in Malaysia but each time I would sure find something there. This time round I bought a top and a bottom. :)

Also went to Poney, a children clothing merchant to buy the little man some clothes for the coming CNY. Though we have a Poney factory outlet near our place here in Singapore, we still couldn't resist and bought about ~MYR300 and became a member. Well, my first question was, can we use the card in Singapore and the answer is positive. Hopefully I can use it at the factory outlet here in BPP.

In my other round of shopping, I bought little man a Disney's Baby Einstein CD but he doesn't seem to enjoy it though~

okie, the Genting trip was pretty much fun and I managed to clear all my DL-ed movies on my Itouch.

wonderful weekend.

For the first time, I am driving our little passenger back from my mom's place to my in-laws'. Usually Hubby Lubby will be the one driving, with me carrying the little one seated in the rear passenger seat. However, dear dear was on day shift last Friday; the plan was to fetch huat zai home on Saturday but since mother-in-law was on leave on Friday and had offered to help pick up little huat zai together, I drove her over to my mom's and then back to Bt Panjang after picking up the little one.

I don't know why, I just saw him on Wednesday (Deevapali holies) and just merely 2 days, I'm already missing him. And everytime I see him, I feel like he has grown up a lot. Now he's already learnt to sleep on his own without swaddling and sleeping sideways.

I try to let him go without his mittens and booties (he shouldn't have them on at this age anyway but because he still scratches his face) now. He's like a little adult. My darling sweetie pie.

Mothe-in-law is away for the weekend so I'm all on my own to take care of little huat zai, including bathing him. I know I can be a slow coach in cleaning him but I just want to be really clean. I hate it when the helper says "mommy is so naughty hor, so slow/ make you cry...", etc... I mean you think I want it? He's my son, man!

As he grows day by day, my heart starts to miss him more and more. Hence I really enjoy the time spent with him. I don't mind climbing outta bed just to soothe him to sleep though there are times I would lazily wait and see if he really wakes.

Looking forward to the day where he can sleep with us on our bed so those disgusting ants won't be climbing all over him. :(

Looking forward to the day where we can bring him out to the zoo, kids' farm, movies, dates, meals and shop! I love you baby E. :)

okie I digressed. Anyway, a little episode came up during the weekend while we were at dear's ah ma's place which left me feeling 心脏无力. We had to leave baby E under her care for awhile while we go out to change dear dear's phone to iphone 4S. Before leaving, I gave her instructions to make milk in case baby is hungry. And when I returned, I learnt that she mistakenly added more 2xformula to water while making the milk and baby E finished the milk up. :( Well, I am not angry with her, I just blamed myself. Anyway, I find myself not being able to be angry with her for she also love baby E alot and definitely didn't do it on intent. In fact, I tried to hide my emotions so as to not overwhelm her with guilt. On the other hand, I think she's definitely got a scare from baby E's "hungry man = angry man" pattern because she actually called us for help. This is the first time she's caring for baby E alone without us and baby E is wailing aloud which leaves her pretty helpless. Little did she know, baby E needs to be pacified before he takes his milk even though he might be very hungry. She learnt it the hard way. I hope this incident doesn't scare her off. :)

Am very grateful that Hubby Lubby took charge to warm the milk and feed baby E in the wee hours so that I can sleep in a little longer. But I get really scared when he wakes up in baby E's cry for milk. Some how I think in the state of sleepiness, he's going to drop baby E or hurt him. This is the only time I rather have the helper come in and help.

Somehow I really love the way baby E 'listens' to me. I just love to see him smile while he's in his sleep, as if he knows I'm beside him and is smiling to me.

We decided to send him home earlier on Sunday so that dear dear could bring me out for a date. :) It's been a long long time since we go on a date! :)
He brought me to Far East Plaza where I got myself 2 cardigans and 1 top. Still a little disappointed cos I wanted to buy 4 cardigans, a few tops and one more bottom. Then we went to our dating place, Marina Square for dinner and a few games of arcade. :)

I love you, hubby! :)

p/s: just learnt a good news of my sweetie through my hubby and sweetie herself. I am really happy for her! :) Girl, you must really take good care of yourself k! :)

p/p/s: Saw Vel on Sunday when we send baby E home. Her tummy is getting bigger each time I see her. In another few months' time, baby E will have a new playmate and a whole new responsibility; that is, to help take care of his little cousin. :)

baby E's 1st swimming experience. :)

Have been toying with the idea of bringing baby E to baby spa; although it's said to be safe for babies from 0+months, I feel that it's safer to wait till his neck is stable and strong enough to support liao then bring him for one session.

So when I told his Er yi about this idea, she bought him a swimming suit.


I think it's really nice and thoughtful of my sister and now that baby E is 4 months+ old, we have decided to bring him to the baby spa! :)

Just nice, I have got this $10 discount voucher so a $33/~15mins session becomes $23. :)

Took some videos and pictures of him and I think he really enjoys it at the end of the day. ;)
Just woke up and into the water... abit upset.

Adapted to the environment and off he kicks and swims! :)

Posing for my sister to take his picture while I snapped a candid one.

He got really tired after the swim and was showing the moody/sleepy face while we do our shopping. :p

MC for 2 days.

Not too sure what's the exact cause; I reckon it's due to the valve affecting the pump suction and thus ineffectively expressing the milk, I'm experiencing infection again!

Didn't know I was having fever until I saw the GP.

The night when I was having shivers and feeling cold while having fever was like deja vu. I remember experiencing this in my first night after giving birth to baby E and also on his first month.

Anw, the doctore gave me 2days(yesterday and today) of mc without me requesting for it. I am really surprised cos usually company-affliated GPs don't give so many days of MC. Perhaps mine was really a bad case of mastitis. :(

baby E's 2nd walker. :)

Got him another walker so he can 'seat' in it when he comes home to ah-ma's place. :)
Below are pictures of baby E posing in his racer car.

baby E's lunar 4th month

Baby E turns 4months old today, according to the lunar calendar.
According to the chinese customs, today is the day the baby shall "kui cho"(in hokkien), loosely translated as "to eat meat" or "to eat food, other than just drinking milk".

So Dad & Mom helped to prepare the stuff... which includes the chicken head, drum stick, a string of biscuits, noodles and one more which I cannot remember what is it.
We let him have a taste of the abovementioned and I guess he likes the drumstick the most cos of the shape, texture and ease of 'licking'.

Besides eating, it's also the day he gets to seat in the walker officially. So from this day onwards, he can spend a little time daily in his walker. :)

We also took a little family protrait on that day. :)

Brother's Big Day! :)

Hey brother, congratulations on your wedding day! :)

I know it isn't easy to reach this day.. from the preparation and stuff...

You'll always be our dearest brother no matter what okie.

p/s: I know the chances of you reading this post is very slim, but still, I feel the need to clear certain things up here. I think there's some misunderstanding between you and R. If you really see this post and wanna talk about it, let me know okie. I'm most willing to help clear up the air. :)

p/p/s: I think I'm always the more neutral party. Just wanna add, Respect needs to be earn. One don't deserve my respect if he/she don't know how to reciprocate. Please understand that whatever we are doing or have done, it's for the sake of our dearest. :)

smart-looking baby E.

Today Baby E's aunt and grandma went shopping at Bukit Panjang Plaza and got him a shirt and shorts which is pretty smart looking and he will be wearing this to the dinner tomorrow. :)

A preview of his attire:

private date. ;)

Hubby Lubby brought me to JP to shop, as he promised. Though a short trip, I'm happy with the private time I have with him and thankful that my mother-in-law is around to help me look after baby E while we went on a date. :)

Bought 2 dresses for brother's wedding dinner. Aborted the idea of wearing the convertible dress cos I still need to pump once during the dinner. :x

brave baby

Baby E had his 2nd dose of 6-in-1 vaccination today. Again, like the previous time, he had 2 jabs, one each on his thighs.

He did cry a little when he got vaccinated by his PD but soon got over it. He was even smiling to his PD after the jabs. I think he's a cheerful, brave and strong boy. Way to go~ baby E! :)

The PD also praised him for being a cheerful boy. :)

baby E shopping for his clothes

Today, Hubby Lubby brought baby E, me, his mom and grandma to Jurong Point to shop.
The main objective for this shopping trip is to get clothes for baby E for my brother's wedding coming up this Saturday. :)
Actually I wanted to get him a suit cos I think that's very smart and proper wear for a wedding dinner and especially we are the hosting family, but baby E is too small for all the better-looking clothes selling at JP - the smallest fits age of one. Wanted to get a vest for him but it's too small and it's the last piece available, ended up with a denim jacket which his grandma (hubby lubby's mom) got for him. His lao-ma also got him a romper from Kiddy Palace.

Wanted to do my own shopping but it's kinda hard with a baby in tow so hubby lubby promised to bring me back to JP again on Wednesday. :)

Here's a pic of what his ah-ma got for him. abit not happy with trying the clothes...


Another picture of him trying out the walker at Kiddy Palace. :)

Baby E's 1st flip. :)

Baby E just did his first flip around 10.35pm! :)
And I'm proud to be the first and only one witnessing his first flip. :)

Introducing Formula Milk.

Under intense pressure to introduce formula milk to baby E, I finally gave the green light and allow mom to give him one feed of formula milk (FM) a day.

It is not an easy decision for me because I wanted baby E to be on total breastfeeding for at least 6months if my supply can meet his demand. But now, the issue is, whether to introduce FM to him when my supply can still meet his demand.

The go-ahead came in consideration of easing mom's job when it comes to preparing the night feed. Knowing baby E's temperament, he cries badly when he wants milk at night. Usually he would fidget prior to letting out the big cry. But sometimes, even myself, will miss this sign if one is too tired, only to realise when he lets out the cry. To prepare the milk (pouring thawed milk and warming it up) when he cries, especially at night, is very tensing. For me, if I'm lazy, I can sleep breastfeed him but my mom just couldn't do the same. I know it's not easy to jagar the housework, baby and get adequate rest at the same time.

Another concern of mine is that, my diet doesn't allow me to produce quality breast milk. As in, I don't really eat the nutritious stuff and I don't know if my supply are just foremilk (diluted milk which quench his thirst) or hindmilk (more concentrated which satisfy baby's hunger) and FM might have some other nutrition to supplement his diet.

Moreover, I'm not sure if he will take the FM well so introducing it earlier might reduce the chances of his rejection and if one day, my milk production suddenly stopped, he still have FM to fall back on.

Anyway, because of stress and hectic schedule, I can feel my supply decreasing. While I'm not willing to give up breastfeeding, I'm prepared for the day my supply stops.

Okie, I missed out that important milestone of watching him drink FM because mom 'test-drive' in the afternoon (26-Sep) while I was at work. So the feedback is, he took the FM quite well. No rejection. I was half happy and sad. Happy because he didn't reject, sad because he accepted the FM readily. Contradicting huh~

Another note: Baby E is increasing his feed from 3oz to 3.5oz, or sometimes 4oz. 3oz can no longer satisfy him. :D Finally he is drinking like other babies. :)

Oh, and I'm really happy that the first person he saw when he woke up today is ME! :)
Can see he is really happy and surprised too. Even more happy when I latched him. The only sad part was when I told him I was going to leave for work and he cried, so my sister carried him and let him send me to the door. Darling pie. He's so sweet with his actions. :)
Love him to the max. xoxo.

failure.

I failed as a mom. Baby E, I'm truly sorry for all that has happened.

Weak. I don't get the unconditional support from you, like the way I did to you. Maybe I'm just not good enough to deserve it.

Emo-ing~

God bless me to survive September. Totally not my month.

Baby's E 3rd Month

a family picture on his third month. :)
Time flies. :)

half the September.

I hate to say this but September is really not a good month for me although Dad's and my besties' birthday fall within this month.

I was supposed to start work on the 5th but due to Baby E's last medical review on his phelgmy cough condition, I had to postpone and start work on a Tuesday.

Then I was informed by my mom sometime around the mid-week that I have to apply for leave on the following Tuesday, which is the 13th, for Brother's wedding prep. Due to the wedding preps and appointments, Baby E stayed with us through Monday and I had to apply for Monday's leave at the very last minute which I think I'd be pretty much pissed off if I were my boss.

Came the 13th, a really bad and busy day for all of us.
It was supposed to be brother's Guo Da Li's day, we received news of my grand-aunt's passing. Due to the upcoming wedding of Brother, both my parents couldn't attend the wake.
Also on that day, I brought baby Ethan to his PD as his skin condition is worsening.
Glad that I made the right decision to get Dad to send us down and wait for Hubby Lubby to pick us up after he's done with helping brother with his Guo Da Li stuff. It turns out that Baby E is suffering from eczema and having secondary infection.
As usual, the PD couldn't identify the actual cause as there are a few possibilities like my diet or hereditary skin allergy. Like the usual as well, he would say Daddy is blessed as Baby E is a very cute and cheerful baby. He said, we adults have a lot of facade but babies, this is their true self/personality. He also complimented Hubby for handling the baby very well. :)
At nearly 3months (he have turned 3mths according to the lunar calendar and will be turning 3mths tomorrow), the PD says his neck support is very steady already but I would still wait for him to turn 4months old before putting him on a walker or bringing him to baby spa.
An update on his eczema - according to my mom, baby E's skin condition is healing and improving. *phew*

On that evening, I went to the wake to help out for a while before returning back to home for dinner.

And on the next day, I woke up to realise my freezer door wasn't closed properly and great, some of the breastmilk were thawing already! I have to quickly transport them to my mom's place and throw some of the milk away. *what a waste and heart pain*

This pretty much sums up half the September for me.

---
Oh, before I forget to blog down this event.
The hungry ghost month finally ended and we found time to visit ah ma with baby E on Saturday, 10th. Baby E is really blessed to have so many people dote on him. His lao-ma prepared the yao lan for him so that he can lie in there whenever we visit. We spent the whole afternoon with his lao-ma and his "em-po" visited. Dad and mom also dropped by to invite ah-ma to brother's wedding. :)

Baby E's 1st Mid-Autumn Festival

Baby E is celebrating his first Mid-Autmun Festival today; though he's not staying with us for the night, I managed to''play" the lantern with him before we made our way back after sending him to my mom's.

Can't remember if I have mentioned it, Baby E has recovered from his cough but still having occasional 'snorting' sound during sleeping time in air-con room.
Just as we are happy with his progress, new symptom sets in. :(
His neck and underarm area looks burning red.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm a good mom. I cannot control what happens and it seems that all these happened because I didn't take good care of him.
Or maybe I can control but I didn't put in effort. I mean, I have the right to decide how my baby should be handled but hack, I do not wish to entertain the questions that comes along with the decision. :(
Sometimes I feel so caught in between. When things happens to the baby, everyone is concern. I appreciate the fact and understand their anxiety but I do not wish to play the 'blaming' game. What's the point of pointing fingers? I mean no one explicitly pointed fingers but some how I could feel the implication behind the words. Yes, someone is playing this fingers-pointing game (though I am not sure if the person did it on purpose) and I don't like it because no one wants bad things to happen. Then I also have to entertain the 'roti prata' words. Sigh~ Okie, I am just not firm enough.

Actually I feel bad for my mom some times, to have to tolerate me and all the shitty implications. Sorry mom and thanks for being there for me, always.

I wish my house could be ready sooner...

I think I should learn to bath baby E soon. I mean I did try but sigh~ I think I should go and buy the baby support for bath time tml.
I really love taking care of him although it's really tiring to have to take care of him and janga the pump schedule.

Initially planned to take half day off today but I know the daddy won't be able to take care of the little one alone so at the eleventh hour I smsed my boss and requested to extend my leave to a full day. Kinda sorry that I have to do this to him at the very last minute. :(

p/s: Happy birthday to one of my besties. Hugs. :)

movie date.

Hubby Lubby gave me a surprise by bringing me to a movie date. Loves.
We caught "crazy stupid love" at GV Yishun.

I just love how he pampers me. hugs.

Baby E's another 1st...

Okie, I have missed out on blogging quite a few events here and I think I shall make up for it now.

So we returned to the PD's on last Thursday (1st Sep) and then Baby E got his first shopping experience. In the past we would only shuttle him between my parents', my in-laws', kevin's grandma's and the clinic or TMC; that day, we brought him to Marina Square after his review. I guessed he enjoyed the trip very much cos there weren't much fuss except when he wants to be fed and at one point, he was smiling so much!
Wanted to take the train home also, making it another of his 1st, but unknown to me initially, there was the computer fair at Suntec, thus the train was jammed pack at 4plus. We were already at the train platform when I decided to abort the plan and took a taxi back instead. Hence, he only had his 1st experience at the train station and on the train platform. :)

Dad's birthday falls on the 2nd (Happy Birthday Dad!) and we celebrated in advance on the Hari Raya Public Holiday. Huat zai was supposed to join us but plans changed and he was left under my MIL's care. So he missed out on the 1st birthday celebration dinner. However, he eventually got the chance to attend yet another dinner, Jenny's wedding dinner on the 3rd Sep. He was quite well-behaved and sleepy most of the time. Again, he's only awake during feeding time and going back home time. :x

Then today, after his last review, we went to Bishan J8 for lunch and short shopping trip. :)

note to self: Baby E had his first haircut (not including the ceremonious cut on his full month) on the 24 Aug due to his dandruff problem, which is common for babies between 1-3months. :)

p/s: he's weighing 6.095kg at 2months&2weeks. :)

busy bee, busy me.

Finally Baby E's PD decided to put him to some treatment for his ever-worsening cough and blocked nose problem. It is also discovered that he has got some ear infection.

Have brought him to the PD last Thursday and this morning for review. Though things are better, we still have to undergo the same treatment for another 3days; we have to return to the clinic for yet another review on Thursday again.

Have plans to go shopping and meeting up with my sweeties but all were cancelled as I have to spend more time helping my mom to take care of my sweetie pie. :(

Haven't even plan for my return to work and to think that I'm starting work next week! My gosh, can't believe it. Time flies.

Need to go Vivo shopping soon! :)

sick me.

Probably due to the busy schedule on Baby E's vaccination day, I got dehydrated and fell sick. Suspended my milk factory since then and am going to resume production later. Although I was told by the GP it's theoretically safe to breastfeed with the medication she prescribed, I'm still skeptical and not risking it.

Have quarantined myself from Baby E too. Poor me, have to stand far far away, when I visited him on Sunday. Worst, I broke a promise to him. I wonder if he's angry with me... Told him on Friday that I would visit him the following day but because I fell sick so suddenly, I couldn't visit him at all. :x

I hope he understands why I broke my promise.

Returning back to work in about 10-12days' time. I wonder how things will be then...
Need to express milk in office.. not sure if it's feasible also... :x

Baby E's vaccination.

So he had his first dose of vaccination since his discharge from hospital. It was helluva painful for him as he cried till his whole face turned red. My heart broke and all I could do is, carry&hug him close to my heart, sayang him and keep saying "mummy yang yang".
He is sucha sweetie pie.


Some stats update:
Baby Ethan is weighing 5.792kg; measuring 58.5cm tall and 38cm on the head circumference. :)
And for mommy, 2.7kg more to pre-pregnancy weight. :)

Baby E's 2 months old! :)

Time flies. Baby E is one month older. :)

See, he's grown bigger! :)

And lastly, a family picture with a sleepy baby! :)

Baby E has grown up!

Suddenly, I feel he has grown longer (or should I say, taller) overnight!

Really waiting for the day where he can sleep with us on our bed. :)

Will be taking him to his PD for his 6in1 vaccination this Thursday. Will know his exact height then...

Baby E updates.

As of 6th of August, Baby E weighs 5.730kg. Got this figure when we visited his PD for the suspected cold and cough problem. Turns out, it's due to reflux which is common in 1-3months old babies. Was prescribed some medication which baby E hates to the max. :x

While it is painful to hear and see him wail at the taste of his medicine, I still have to do it and feed him to make him feel better. :x

He's definitely better as in the reflux is gone but he's still coughing and sneezing away; some times using his mouth to breath. It hurts to see him like that.

Anw, at baby E's 1st week, he was already weighing 4+kg (I didn't remember the exact figure) and at about 3weeks (6 Jul 2011), he was weighing ~5.4kg. :)

Also, his baby wailing sound (orh-eh orh-eh) is gone. Now he knows how to make more sounds. :)

sad. :(

just tried on my pre-pregnancy clothes and guess what. I can only fit 2 tops and barely fit into one jeans (which is a bit loose for me then).

The rest, back to the wardrobe. I can't fit my work skirts as well. Upset.

Time to buy new clothes. I need new shoes too. :x

Of the Hubby and the Baby.

Today Hubby Lubby did something; although it didn't go as he planned, still I'm very touched and glad for his actions and thoughts.
In fact, I feel bad when he blames himself for not being able to give me a surprise. :x

Next, the little kiddo is a little sick and his PD is not on duty for Fridays so poor kiddo has to wait till Saturday before he gets the proper treatment. My heart melts with each cough and sneeze he makes.

This two men of my life just makes me tears uncontrollably. :(

There are 101 things I need to do and I just couldn't find time and energy to do it. Might consider going on full 16 weeks maternity leave then. Shall take one step at a time and see how things goes. :x

Baby Ethan's massage sessions. :)

As with my post-natal massage session, it came with 2 free massage session for the little kiddo and it is usually done in the last 2 massage sessions.

So I had my final 2 massage sessions yesterday and today. At first, I was a little apprehensive on baby Ethan's reaction. However, I realised he enjoys the sessions, especially the tummy time and being swaddled after that because he always falls sweetly asleep after being swaddled tightly at the end of the session. :)

Time to google on how to let baby Ethan do tummy time. :)

Another 31 more days...

...then I will be back to work. :(

I don't understand why my days are always packed. There are so many things that I need to do...
1 - I haven't complete my massage sessions yet.
2 - Need to tell mom how to prepare the papaya fish-head soup for me.
3 - I have not prepare & send out the gift intended for Jonna.
4 - I need to sort out my wardrobe and do some personal shopping (for clothes, shoes and facial care).

Am gonna schedule a day or two to sort out my wardrobe and do some personal shopping, in preparation for my return to work.

Speaking about shopping, we went to the Isetan Baby Fair and Taka Baby Fair today. The items sold at the Taka Baby Fair is almost the same as the one held earlier this year.
At the Isetan Fair, the most worth-for-money purchase we made was the pigeon brand tops for huat zai. You know what, most of his clothes we bought for him are outsizing him; some of which he haven't even worn it once. :x
I don't know why but the bill from both purchases at Isetan & Taka totalled up to $180+ too.. just like the first time I went to the Taka Fair.
Basically for this shopping trip, we bought him some clothes for home wear, wet wipes with hard-cover, Avent size 3 teats, nursing cover, HUGGIES pampers, plastic sheets for baby, breast pads and cotton wool.

my milk supply.

My blocked ducts finally cleared with the completion of the antibiotics prescribed by the GP. However, I do notice a decrease in my milk supply especially the boob that was previously blocked. :x

In the first 2 weeks when huat zai was born, I will need to express my BM once every 1.5-2hours. Later, I got lazy and kept to the 3hourly pump schedule. Recently, due to running some errands, gatherings, outings and catching up on my sleep, I started pumping like 4-6hours interval. I guess another factor affecting my milk supply is due to this inconsistent pump schedule.

Maybe it's because I am not latching huat zai on like previously. Now, he's mostly on bottle-feeding with one breast-feed per day. Latching the baby does help to stimulate milk supply as the experts say demand = supply. No latch = no demand?

Or perhaps I am not taking in enough fluid. Now I am forcing myself to drink more water.

Hopefully the supply will come back soon. I really hope to keep him on breast milk for as long as I can. :)
Am getting used to the routine of pump - wash - sterilise - pump - wash - sterilise.

Each day, I just love him a little bit more than the day before. <3

little pleasures.

Feeding baby and holding him to sleep. Smelling him. Sayang-ing him.
He smiled at me when I said I was going to carry him to sleep.

All these little pleasures warms my heart. :)

over the days.

Well, I don't know if I had the so-called "mastitis" but I do know that I have lumpy breast due to poor drainage of milk. This whole episode is really draining my energy away but I'm enduring because I really wished to BF huat zai for as long as I can.

Still breaking out in cold sweat these few nights but feeling slightly better after taking the anitbiotics and painkillers though the lumps didn't go away... :(

I am hoping it can clear away on it's own and meanwhile, I am advised to keep a cheerful outlook on things as my mood will affect the supply and condition of the infection. :x

Other than that, I managed to make 2 trips out, once to kiddy palace to stock up baby's supplies and another, to a movie date with Hubby Lubby & family.

We caught Donnie Yen's latest movie "Wu Xia" earlier at Vivo Gold Class. I would say the movie is slow in getting to the climax and just as I was expecting more (of Donnie's gungfu action), the whole show just spiraled downwards. :(

Today I broke down again in front of Hubby Lubby due to all the situations that we are facing but I'm glad that he took it in stride and calmed me down instead. I just loved the way he pampers me. I also told him that I know he's concern about me but right now, I really need him to be supportive of my decisions and actions, and to which, he did. I know it's really hard on him that we can't go for long hours date without a pump session in between or a good long sleep at night but hubby lubby, just hang on for a while more, once we pass the crucial period, everything will be alright k! :)

Loves!

the plan.

So we still didn't fetch huat zai home today though we did visit him before our TMC visit.

Managed to settle a few stuff today; like calling the Medela Service Centre to enquire yet at the same time, see if they can offer any advice to the situation of weak suction. I'm glad that I called before sending the pump down to their service centre at Toh Guan. The lady in charge of servicing told me it might be due to a broken membrane and true enough, the membrane of my pump gave way 2days back and it miracously "revived" after I changed the membrane with the spare ones that came together with the set. After having this lesson learnt, I quickly log on-line (cheaper to get it online) and got myself more spare membranes just in case it breaks down again. Weak suction of the pump can also cause blocked ducts cos the pumps are not able to "empty" the BM so it is really important to have a working pump for BF-ing moms, or at least, for me. :)

Then I called Lilian again, telling her about my fever and blocked ducts; and we arranged for a meeting at Parentcraft in the afternoon. I always like going to Parentcraft cos that would mean getting a quick fix for my breast. :x She managed to clear most of the blocked ones except for one that's really stubborn. It did soften a bit but still require constant massaging and because she had other cases to attend to and I, too, have other errands to run, we just leave it to me to massage & monitor.

Following the TMC visit, we went to the Alexandra area to take a look at Hubby Lubby's car as he sent in his car for maintenance today before returning to Bt Panjang area for dinner. Also managed to pick up some glass milk bottles to store the EBM from one of the June mommies who stopped BF-ing. :)

Discussed with Hubby Lubby on the plan of taking care of huat zai. We've decided to leave huat zai under my mom's care and bring him back on weekends due to certain issues and I believe it would also be better as both huat zai and my mom can adapt to this lifestyle once I return to work. But the tricky thing is, lunar 7th month is coming and that would mean huat zai would not be able to return home for the entire month and this is worrying out his ah-ma as she will not be able to see him physically for the whole month. :x Need to work out some solutions for this...

Baby Ethan's ONE Month! :)

To all my dear friends and relatives, thank you for attending baby Ethan's baby shower yesterday! I really appreciate your presence and iIt was great to have you guys celebrate this joyous occasion with us! My apologies if there's any 招待不周的地方 and I really hope we can all catch up again soon (probably this time with baby E in tow). :) And baby E is finally one month old now! :)

So we celebrated Baby E's one month at the Goldkist chalet along East Coast Park yesterday! :)

Because we knew the guests were going to stay til late, I got my mom to bring little Ethan back home first and was supposed to fetch him home today. But (yes, unexpected things always happens) due to the celebration yesterday, I couldn't get a clean place to express my BM, I suffered from engorgement (gotta hand-express to temporary relief the pain) and subsequently a blocked duct which led to fever. So Hubby Lubby advised against bringing the little one back while I take the time to recouperate. The plan is to bring him back tomorrow.

There are 101 things I would like to do... sending my pump for check (the suction seems to get weaker and weaker), returning to TMC - Lilian to help me clear the blocked duct. It's kinda painful and I can't seems to fully empty my breast after each pump. :x But what's more important then having huat zai by my side (though I can't run these errands with him in tow)? :)

p/s: I just realised we forgotten to take a family picture with huat zai on both his birthdays.. :(

my little achievement. :)

Though I still don't know how to bath the little one, I single-handedly changed him today. It's not easy cos he was wearing a romper and it sure takes some effort to change him. :)

Also changed his diapers cos he poo-ed badly but with the help of our domestic helper this time cos he was kicking and crying for cleanliness. :) Still, I'm impressed by myself. :)

I think it is these alone times that I can trained up myself. :)

Happy lunar birth month, Ethan!

Today is baby Ethan's lunar birth-month!
Also marks the day that I can have a proper shower! ;)

For this day, we also cut a tiny tweeny bit of his hair. Going to cut his nails too. Soon he will have to take off his mittens and booties so as to develop his sense of touch and feel! :)

Before that, I'll need to go and buy him a pair of baby nail clippers cos I didn't buy this the last time. :p

After his baby shower on Saturday, we'll then bring him home till I start work then put him under my mom's care. :)

Another two more days!

We'll be celebrating baby Ethan's full month in another 2 more days! I'm elated because my boy is turning one month. Besides that, the underlying implications -- my confinement days are coming to an end soon! I don't have to abide by those stupid rules already! However there are certain things I'll continue to observe till end of days but with less strict adherence. It will be things like normal shower on top of wiping the body with herbal water, eating the sesame oil cooked food if possible and drinking normal plain water in addition to the red dates water.

In preparation for this day, I have actually planned for a few appointments, namely a facial treatment to make up to my never existent facial regime during this confinement period and a good professional hair wash. I know this may gross some of you out but I managed to adhere to the rule of not washing hair since the birth of Ethan till the day before yesterday! Can't stand the oiliness and decided to visit the saloon earlier than planned (planned to visit today).

Speaking of confinement, I feel that it's really impossible to be confined at home for the whole of the month cos I find myself stepping out of the house for gynae checkup, baby checkups, seeing baby's doc for his mucus problem, visiting parentcraft for my blocked ducts problem and going out to stock up some of baby's supplies with Hubby Lubby.

More on my visit to parentcraft: I returned to TMC yesterday (13th July) to see Lilian regarding my blocked ducts. She managed to cleared it for me and told me it's all about massaging it. I admit I have been lazy at massaging cos of the mess created when the breasts leak due to massaging. Other than showing me, yet again, the correct techniques of massaging, she also told me it's time to change baby's teats to a bigger size and I can increase the feed amount for baby Ethan after telling her the problem of baby Ethan waking for milk every 1.5hrs interval. She explains this is because the current one is too small that's why he gets tired from drinking and falls asleep and wakes up more often for feeds.
Back home, I tried to feed baby Ethan with a bigger hole size teats but it seems that he's still unable to finish the recommended feed amount. :( I wonder what's the problem and I think I'll consult Lilian again on this.

p/s: I realized I didn't blogged about huat zai's trip to his PD regarding his mucus problem. Just last week, we find that Ethan has got problem breathing; as if something is blocking his nose. At first we thought he is having runny nose thus the blockage. After a visit to his PD, we found out that it's his dried up mucus aka 'pi sai'. The PD then introduced a liquid spray to me for softening his mucus and taught me how to remove them from the nose. So far, baby Ethan has been quite cooperative when I told him I wanted to help him remove his 虫虫.
To be honest, except for his feeding schedule and impatience for milk, he has been quite a 听话乖巧的孩子. :)

back home. :)

In view of Hubby Lubby's aunt visitation (she came specially from Thailand), we decided to move home for the weekend. :)

In preparation for this stay, we have to move quite a number of stuff, which includes the pump, steriliser, warmer and bottles; not forgetting the clothes...

Huat zai is adapting well to the change in place and I hope he will adapt well at night too. Hopefully he won't wake up in the middle of the night for feeds, like last night. He actually stayed up from 2am to 5.30am in the morning.

Other than bathing & changing the baby and more training in cleaning his poo-poo (cos he has got strong legs making powerful kicks), I am more or less okie with taking care of him alone. Let's hope my wound gets better and I can quickly learn how to bath and change him soon. :)

Baby Ethan's milestone: Bottle-feeding

During my last visit to TMC, I met Lilian and she advised me to start introducing bottles to the little one when he's 3.5weeks old.
Wanted very much to follow her advise to start bottle feed from next Monday onwards but the hourly waking to milk at night is driving my mom and I nuts. Thus, after much contemplation, I started bottle feeding yesterday, 6th of July when he's officially 3 weeks old (I reckon a few days don't make much difference), because by bottle feeding then only can I gauge his drinking capacity and manage his feeding schedule.
Anyway, because it was the first time and with him feeding on demand now, it was hard to gauge when he'll be hungry. So he caught us off guard by letting out a cry for milk, it was then I started warming my EBM. Even before the milk's warmed, I found myself breast feeding him instead cos mom says it's not very good to let babies cry for so long. Luckily, I managed to bottle feed him 30ml of milk. The same thing happened subsequently; however this time round I didn't manage to bottle feed him so that bottle of milk went wasted.. Because it was late into the night already so we decided to latch him on during the night feeds and then try bottle feeding again this morning.
Baby Ethan didn't take the bottle readily this morning, it was after a while then he accepted the bottle. Just bottle fed him for the 3rd time today and I think he is taking it pretty well; hopefully he doesn't get nipple confusion and will still latch on.

p/s: now he knows how to make bubbles... :)

Loss for words...

Am feeling not so right now.
I know the reasons behind yet I just couldn't put it in words.
And this meant that even if I want to talk about it or share with someone, I don't even know how to pour my hearts out. :x

I really hate myself for tearing the wound and slow recovery of it now. The slow progress is really impeding my mobility! Not forgetting the confinement. There's so much to do yet I'm being confined. There are certain errands I can ask my family to help run but it's just frustrating to know you are always troubling them.

In the earlier post, I mentioned that we are facing some issues with huat zai's baby shower venue but now all's settled after making a trip down personally with Hubby Lubby. Couldn't stay out for long to run other errands cos huat zai is crying for milk back home (he'll only start bottle feeding on EBM next Monday). Now with the venue settled, we still have other logistical issues to look into. :x

Felt like crying my heart out now but during these 2+ weeks of confinement I've cried so much. The elders told me that mothers shouldn't cry during the confinement period cos next time eyesight will fail on us when we age but I suspect my eyesight is starting to fail already. :(

Baby Ethan's crying; time for milk again!

baby woes...

The little one has been keeping me busy these days and I hardly have the time to blog.

Just to update a little on baby Ethan:
- His umbilical cord finally dropped off on the 27th.
- After our attempts to do the "um,um" (pooing) sound when he does his big business, he now also will make sounds when he trying to poo.
- He still cries furiously for milk whenever he is hungry. Now means now; he has no patience to wait. :(

Things ain't going smoothly for me recently.
First is the ripping of my wound. Went back for the post-natal gynae check one week after the birth of baby Ethan and doc said I've been moving around too much and thus causing the wound to not heal properly. And I had my 2nd round of 2 stitches. Because of this, I decided to postpone my post-natal massage sessions. :(
Then wound have been painful on & off till now.

2nd is baby Ethan's admission for jaundice. Glad that he's fine now.

3rd is my milk supply. Baby Ethan is on total breastfeeding now. Just few days ago (on 30th June), I started to feel a lump on my breast. I supposed that's caused by a blocked duct. Tried massaging and doing a warm compression, but it doesn't seem to help. And I started to realise my milk supply is decreasing and the lump getting more painful. :(
Will resume my post-natal massage tomorrow and hopefully the massage lady can do something to help me, otherwise, I will have to return to TMC and ask Lilian for help. :x

Fourthly is the venue for baby Ethan's Full Month celebration. While we thought we have found a suitable venue, made plans and informed all our friends, I was bombed by the news that our booking is tentative and all rooms are fully booked! How great! I don't know what happens next... still waiting for the management's call...
and the cakes & vouchers distribution is also another problem.

I'm going crazy soon!

visuals of little Ethan :)

Pictures taken on 27th.



and on the day of his discharge from the chalet, 23rd.

Baby Ethan's chalet stay

Brought him for his first checkup upon discharge on Tuesday and doctor told us his jaundice level above the safety level (level 10) and that we would either need to admit him to the hospital for photo-therapy or rent the equipment back home to do-it-ourselves.

The pros of the former option is, it only take 2 days cos the machine at the hospitals can 'sun' the baby from both sides and that there is professional care available. The downside is, I can't breast-feed him, so he gotta rely on formula milk (FM) for these 2 days.

As for the latter option, it will take 5days since it's only sunning from one side but he can be fed breast milk (BM) on demand.

Eventually we decided on the former cos it's faster to get his jaundice level down to 10 and it's simply going to be tiring on us should we rent the machine home.

Checked him into TMC immediately after the appointment so he's now staying in 'chalet', potentially making a lot of new friends, in 'Hawaii'.

Meanwhile, I have decided to bring him my expressed BM (EBM) and get the hospital to supplement with FM should the supply fails to meet his demand. ;)

Am not worried cos I know jaundice is normal for babies but I think he'll miss us I'm missing him...

Arrival of Baby Ethan! :)

This post is a little late but we are pleased to announce the arrival of our bundle of joy & love, Ethan Goh on 16th June 2011, weighing 3.895kg. :)

And this is my really lengthy Birth Story :)

15th June:
11am - Gynae checked and told me 2cm dilated. Was 1-2cm dilated on the previous VE and so he asked me to admit to TMC on at night at 10.30pm. Feeling very sore and "suan" down there and minor contractions after the VE all the way til 5plus in the evening.
(Went to Guan Yin Temple @Bugis to offer prayers after the check and had Pizza Hut at home around 4pm.)
4.30pm - some blood discharge which I suppose its due to the VE together with irregular contractions and suan-ness down there. MIL and hubby gan jiong so we admitted ourselves right away.
In between admission til gynae check, contractions come and go.
11+pm - Gynae came by to check. Ask me to go to labour ward the next morning at 7.30am. About 2-3cm dilated.

16th June:
6am - Had my last Mac breakie before confinement starts.
7am - Walked into the labour ward on my own together with hubby and nurse.
7.30am - Nurse shaved me and inserted the enema to poo. Doc came while I was in toilet so missed me.
8.30am - Doc returned and did a VE, still 2-3cm dilated. Unknown to me cos i didn't dare to peek at what he was doing cos VE was painful (later the nurse told me during my semi-conscious state), doc burst my waterbag and put me on drip. Doc told hubby by 12noon we shld be able to see "something" so I was happily anticipating without knowing the pain is yet to come!
8.40am - Nurse asked about pain relief and I told her I don't want any esp epidural.
Thereafter, the pain intensified and I was the only one whining in the labour ward.
10+am - Agreed to use laughing gas. Didn't want to use cos heard that its not much help. Still whining because of the pain and feeling tired. Nurse suggested the pethidine jab. I agreed to it after ensuring that it wasn't epidural (cos semi-conscious state). The jab made me feel more tired and can only whine when the contractions max. Keep asking when doc will come and check and if I'm really for birth cos the contractions interval getting closer and closer.
In sleepy state so time unknown - A nurse came and did VE, told me I was only 4cm dilated. I broke down and told my hubby I wanted epidural. Mil and hubby is against it due to the possible side effects and advised C-Section instead. I refused. This went on for I don't know how long... as I was drifting in and out of the sleepiness...(in between, i kept feeling wanting to shit and kept whining about it) then I heard a voice. My gynae. He came and checked. Announced I was ~8cm dilated. Great!
Wheeled to the delivery suite shortly after.
Saw the clock was 2.30pm when I was there. only 2 nurses was there to tell me to push when the contractions come.
After 3-5cycles of push, my husband said he saw sthg... but I was tired and felt my leg was about to cramp. Since gynae not in yet, nurse told me not to push and relax in the subsequent contractions.
Gynae arrived, we started pushing again.
After the 2nd to 3rd cycle of push, baby is out. :)

Went to weigh the baby, realised it's 3.895kg instead of the estimation of 3.3kg given by gynae. Faints. Was told the tear/cut is huge due to the huge baby. :)

That's how I did it without epidural for a normal assisted delivery. :)

Lucky gynae decided at week38, we shld do it.. otherwise, can't imagine what happens if I wait till week40. :)

Lastly, our family picture!


p/s: milk flow is coming and I experience my first ever fever due to engorgement. :x
---
For the Little One and For the Mommy

maternity leave.

It's really a mixture of feelings when it comes to application of maternity leave; part of me wanted to apply for it as late as possible so that I can have more time with the little one after he's born but the other part of me is concerned that the baby may pop anytime *though I don't feel that the little one wants to come out this soon*.

Anyway, Hubby Lubby have been encouraging me to clear my leave as soon as possible and finally, we managed to agree on a date, that is, next Monday, 20th June. And I have officially applied for it! Because it is HR's policy to clear the 1st 8 weeks in one whole block, my confirmed leave will be from 20-Jun to 14-Aug. Probably after confinement, then I will decide on my extended maternity leave. :)

It sure feels weird to be announcing to the whole world that I'll be on maternity leave. :x

father-in-law's birthday celebration! :)

After the gynae check and visit to PC show at Suntec, we dropped by the Guan Yin Temple at Bugis to pray. Then we went to this fortune teller Hubby Lubby always wanted to go to.

Without further info, this old man tells you the character of any persons given that we only tell him the name. I'm impressed. :) But the session ended pretty fast cos it was time for them to close shop for the day.

So we went home to meet up with the rest before proceeding to the dinner venue to celebrate father-in-law's birthday with his colleagues.

It was a high and fun time indeed cos they bottled up one Cordon Bleu and a few bottles of red wine.

Then on Saturday, it's more of a leisure time for me with my MJ kakis. They jio-ed me for home-cooked dinner followed by a game of MJ. :)
Just love the time spent with them! :)

Now preparing to go for yet another birthday dinner with hubby lubby's family and relatives. :)

Another Milestone: Week 37!

Finally it's week 37! The baby is officially full term and is ready to be due anytime! :)

Went for the check up earlier in the afternoon and gynae is shocked when he told me the baby weighs ~3.3kg NOW! *wide eyes*
So, the baby has gain 1.1kg and the mommy has ~1+kg weighing 66+kg now!
Gynae added that I must reduce my food intake if I wanted to go for natural delivery.
He didn't say much except for I'm 1-2cm dilated but baby's not engaged yet.

Am going to see him on Wednesday again.

Hubby Lubby kept asking me to start my maternity leave next week but I'm reluctant cos I really wanted more time to be with the little one after he's out. Too bad, hubby lubby cannot understand and kept 'threatening' me saying if I were to go into labour in office, he won't have time to react... I hate him for saying this.
I don't know why but I feel that the little one is not ready to be out yet leh...
I don't experience contractions or whatsoever..

~~~
Then after the checkup, we went to Suntec for the PC show to get a computer. Signed off yet again another instalment plan for the next 12months. I'm again tight on my purse..
I don't know why I keep falling into the vicious cycle.
I feel the need to "shout" it out here.. cos I'm not sure if anyone understands... and I don't wish to put pressure on anyone.
In Dec, it was about the wedding bills.
In Jan, CNY expenses.
In Feb, car expenses.
In Mar, all the baby fair bills.
In Apr&May, credit card bills & travel expenses.
In Jun, unemployment woes with expenses and all the birthday celebrations.
Coming July is the baby shower expenses, together with credit card bills and baby expenses...
You see, when I managed to clear the bills in March, I thought the next few months could be a little more relieved, more bills always chalked up and I can't control them.
I'm not blaming because he's also trying his best but I always end up paying for the shortfall. I'm tired already. I hope things will be better. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision. I should have put a limit to it. Maybe I shall observe and if things don't improve, I'll do something about it.

Thinking of it makes me depressed but he always say "boat reach bridge head will be straight" (literally translated from Chinese, meaning everything will fall into place in the end). I hope so.

Father-in-law's celebration later. :) Update again.

Btw, we met a very nice security guard at Suntec. Kudos to his kind consideration! :)

jinx. :x

We went to the carpark this morning to discover our car being scratched!
It's not those oh-the-car-beside-you-open-the-door-too-near-thus-being-scratched mark but it's those I-purposely-use-keys-to-scratch marks.

How do I know? Initially I thought was the former though the marks on driver's side are pretty deep and long. But I discovered the slightly shallower marks at the passenger's side. Both are long enough which extends from the front doors to the boot area.

Hm.. can't help but feeling abit guilty. It wouldn't have happened if not for me.
If he hadn't come and fetch me from my maiden home, we wouldn't have parked at the lot.
We became the victim cos the cars next to us left pretty early. And we were thinking, probably school-going students or bo-liao teenagers did the job. Very upset. I hope they have their own retribution!

~~~
Going to meet the little one soon and birthday celebrations thereafter! :)

happy birthday hubby lubby! xoxo. :D

happy birthday hubby lubby!

Today's is MrGoh's birthday and I took a day off to 'celebrate' this special day with him. :D
Well, it's his first birthday we are celebrating together as Husband & Wife.
But too bad, no pressies for him cos I really couldn't think of what he needs (he has got a new wallet & watch...) and I am so heavily preggie that I could hardly move or think of what to shop. :x

So for this year, his pressie will be the little one. :)

I like the quality time we spent together. He never fails to make me laugh. :)

Besides treating him to a simple lunch, I managed to squeeze some time in between to get my thick mane thinned. *now I think the fringe looks weird* :)

happy birthday Mom! :)

I had 3 consecutive leg cramps on the same spot last night and it was hell for me! :x
Woke up with painful calves, causing me to limp wherever I go.

It was so painful that I have to seat while showering! so I decided to take the day off. :x
But it got better in the day and we also took the opportunity to make a trip to the bank. :)

Today's mom's birthday! Happy birthday to her! :D

advance Mom's birthday & Father's Day!

In view of the fact that Hubby Lubby's dad's birthday is on the 11th and that my delivery date is still an unknown (though we do have an EDD), we decided to celebrate Father's Day together with Mom's birthday last evening. :)

Hubby Lubby suggested to bring the family to Yan Palace at Hong Lim Complex since we can have a room to ourselves and sing to our dad&mom's heart's content.

Although they were told that we could sing in the room, they obviously weren't prepared and impressed until they reached & experience for themselves. Mom was behaving like an excited kid & though dad was sick and claimed he could not sing, both the dad&mom were hogging on to the microphone and blasting the music as though no one else were in the restaurant. *though I quite agree that his voice weren't in his best condition*

We finally laid our hands to the mic during the 4th or 5th course of the dinner. Thereafter, everyone managed to sing at least one song. :D

I am happy that both dad&mom and the whole family enjoyed the food (except the fish) and the singing experience. :) Even Vel says she would bring her in-laws to the restaurant for dinner since it's quite worth the money for the food & experience. :)



Loves. :)
~~~
Prior to the dinner, Hubby Lubby and I drove up to expo for the Motherhood Fair. Although I expect some of the same-old stores having their retail booth, I was looking out for something specific this time. The baby cot fitted sheets and Pigeon wipes. But sad to say, I didn't find the fitted sheets and only returned with the wipes. :)
Then we headed over to the John Little Mega Expo Sale at Hall4, bought mostly stuff for Hubby Lubby, only chocolate biscuits for myself and we spent about SGD140 at John Little itself. O_o

But I love the quality time we spend together.

Was supposed to visit Expo on Saturday but Hubby Lubby changed his mind last minute and I had to re-schedule my Sunday noon hair appointment just to go Expo. Was supposed to trim my hair before I go into labour. My hair is just too thick for the weather now. :x

dinners.

Last evening, Hubby Lubby and I met up our MJ kakis for dinner.
It was rather impromptu, started off with a FB post by Casie who said that she's bored.
Then the discussion eventually transpired into a steamboat dinner at a restaurant along Sembawang Road. :)

The 4 women with their partners. Had laughter and joy. :)
It is always great to tok-cock with them regardless of the venue, be it at the MJ table or not. The never-ending rubbish and jeering at each other or their other half. That's why I enjoy being with them.

Another impromptu decision we made was to head to Mrs Wee's place for MJ! Yah, now my sweetie addresses herself as Mrs Wee.
~~~
The night before, I met up with 姑娘 for a simple catching up dinner where she shares her proposal story and bling-bling. Wah, the diamond is really big and I kinda like the setting; it's a 5-prong setting, more stable for big diamonds. :)

Then surprising found coconuts at the Cold Storage. Bought one home and got hubby lubby to help prepare for me to drink. :)
~~~

Just before the dinner last evening, I was quite pissed. Shall not elaborate further in this joyous post but I thought I should share that the trip home before the steamboat dinner saw me drinking another coconut juice again. Mommy dearest bought 2 for me but I only drank one since I drank one on Wednesday night already. I just love her! :)

Counting down~ :)

Finally June is here. The much-anticipated month of the year!

If the little decides to be good and pop on the EDD, we'll have another 30days to go! :)

Can't wait for my next appointment on the 10th.

It's a love-hate situation for the month of June.
Many birthdays celebrations (= broke) yet the little one is popping this month too.
:)

the baby cot.

Introducing the baby cot that we bought during the March Takashimaya Baby Fair.

*sorry no pictures of the actual cot cos I forgot my camera when I went home on Sunday*

(According to the leaflet)
Rocio by Bonbebe, a classic and elegant 4 IN 1 Cot Bed with gently curbing ends, solid and sturdy, made from Russian Pine with a natural finish. It can be used as a Baby Cot, Play Pen, Sofa Bed and Junior Starter Bed.



Features:
- Convenient on-handed-drop side mechanism
- Durable teething rails on both sides to protect your baby’s delicate teeth and gums
- 4 positions height adjustable mattress base to allow easy access to your child as they grow from newborns to approximately 5 years old
- Easily convertible into a junior starter bed when, ensuring that the elegant piece of furniture lasts for many years
- Made in accordance to USA safety standard
- All in one: Babycot/ Playpen/ Sofa bed/ Junior starter bed
- Able to withstand weight of 50kg
- Made of quality Russian Pine wood
- 2 x bed rails and Junior Starter bed leg board included

Measurement:
- Outer: 1350 x 770 x 1160mm
- Inter: 1300 x 710 x 1160mm
- Weight: 22kg
One year limited warranty against manufacturing defect

It comes with FREE:
- 1 piece 3" Fibrelux Mattress, worth $139.00
- 5 piece Bedding Set, worth $69.00
- Munchkin Diaper Change Organiser, worth $59.90
- Sunshine Kid's Change & Go Mat, worth $23.90
- Petit Terraillon Thermometer, worth $20.90
- Delivery & Assembly
U.P: $811.70
Promotional price @ $399.00

I guess this offer is a much better one than the one that will be offered in the upcoming June Motherhood fair @ Expo. The upcoming one offer is priced at $499 with freebies like the Fibrelux mattress, 12pc 100% cotton bedding set, musical mobile (which we already got one) and an Evenflo soft baby carrier.

Anyway, I wasn't home (cannot be at home also due to pregnancy myths) on Saturday (28th May) when the delivery guys came and set up the cot plus delivery of the freebies. It was after the guys left that mom decided to check out the freebies and found out there were some discoloration on the change&go mat.

So I gave them a call earlier this morning and was told that this is a common 'problem' throughout the whole shipment they got which is why they indicated "not exchangeable" specifically for this item on the PO/DO. Also enquired if it is safe for the young ones, the lady who took the phone said it should not a problem. When I further queried that if those selling in the market (by this distributor) also has this 'problem', she mentioned that they are not selling this anymore (at this moment) due to some customers' nonacceptance of the 'condition' and that she won't know if they will be ordering another batch of this particular item.

And so, that concluded our conversation -- it is not exchangeable with the whole batch of this shipment facing the same problem and that we just have to bare with it and it is safe with young ones using it. :x