Never say never...

When Isaac was still in my belly, i said a few 'nevers' such as - i will never let Isaac suck the pacifier, i will never let Isaac sleep in a sarong. Well, i relented to both the pacifier and the sarong just to ensure that the little fella can sleep well and sleep enough.

Isaac started the pacifier after his full-month celebrations and luckily he don't really like it that much and even spits it out when we try to put it in his mouth to make him sleep. And when he sucks on the pacifier, it really helps him to sleep and it's cute seeing him suck on it.

As for the sarong, Isaac slept in it for the first time yesterday and seemed to enjoy it. The journey to the sarong came a long way. Since birth, we've tried all ways and means to make Isaac sleep - without carrying, without swaying, without the sarong. But Isaac was the direct opposite! He wants to be carried, he wants to be swayed which meant that we have to spend most of our time carrying him so that he can sleep. He's also an active baby and seems to require less sleep as compared to the normal babies. The first question every morning is 'did he sleep?' So we finally decided to buy a sarong for him so that we can spare our arms the 'pain' from carrying the little fella. I was deciding between the normal sarong or a motorised sarong and decided to get a normal sarong coz i still remembered that my younger brother would only need to be rocked a while then he would sleep soundly. Hence, no need for a motorised sarong. But i was wrong!!! Isaac would fall asleep after a few rocks, then he will make noise after at most 10 mins and we would have to rock him again. Which means that i have to be positioned near the sarong while he is sleeping!! Not time-efficient!! Time for a motorised sarong! I will go get one over the weekend so that we can 'squeeze' more time for ourselves!

So, the moral of the story is - never say never. You never know when the never will be reversed:)

Diary of a 6-week old Mummy - Part 2

Isaac is not overweight!! This was the confirmation given by Isaac's paediatrician, Dr YY Yip, though he had gained 2kgs since birth and is now weighing 5.6 kg. He has also grown taller from 50cm at birth to 57 cm yesterday. His head circumference has also increased from 36.5cm to 41.5cm. Overall, he is growing up well and everything is ok.

The purpose for the visit to the doctor's was for his second dose of the Hep B jab. The jabbing process was so cutteee, though Chee Meng's heart ached when Dr Yip poked the needle into Isaac's thigh. Isaac was shaking his head ferociously from side to side when the needle went in, cried for a while, then quietened down and stared at Dr Yip. The whole process is so interesting (sorry, i'm quite a sadist huh?!) and the only regret we had was that we did not film down the jabbing process.. sigh... i should have brought the videocam along! But really, Isaac is really so funny! I think the image of him and the needle will remain as one of the cutest memories of Isaac.

After his jab, we went shopping at Takashimaya! I had to get some new nursing tops coz the ones i bought earlier (when i still had my big belly) was now too big and made it easy for me to overexpose myself! After buying the tops, Isaac was hungry and i went to the Taka breastfeeding room to feed him. He was feeding well, until i guess he felt he poo-pooed and was uncomfortable, that he spat out quite a large amount of milk all over himself and me. Didn't even have a chance to burp him. So i immediately SOS-ed my mum and my confinement auntie to come take over and change him. And wow, it was big business man..

After we changed him, we went for lunch at Angus Steak House! This is one of my favourite makan places since pregnancy and boy, i was so glad to be able to sit down at the restaurant to enjoy a good meal after delivery! It was really yummy! After lunch, we walked around for a bit and went to my parents' place so that Isaac can rest a bit. Of course, Isaac manja-ed everyone and wanted to be carried to sleep. And he rested on my mum's chest for a good 2 hours while i took a nap on the same bed i slept on during my pregnancy. We stayed at my parents' place till about 8pm before we headed home.

So, after a day of galivanting, the lessons are:

Lesson 1 - Extra clothings
It is a given that we bring extra sets of clothings for Isaac when we go out, but perhaps i should also bring an extra top when i go out and expect to feed him. When Isaac spat out milk, he left blots of milk all over my top and i went around Taka for a good half an hour with wet spots on my tee. Luckily we hid in the restaurant where the blots dried up after we completed our meals. Maybe i should also wear a bib when feeding him!! Haha!

Lesson 2 - Call for reinforcements
I felt quite helpless when Isaac spat out milk all over himself and started fidgeting and crying. Luckily i had my mum and my confinement auntie with me and i immediately called them to come and take over. At least i can pass Isaac to them for the clean-up while i go clean up myself. So, the moral of the story is - never attempt shopping without calling in mothers, aunties etc. At least for the beginning, until we get better at handling him.

Lesson 3 - Consider extending the services of the confinement nanny
Luckily, we were able to extend the service of our confinement auntie for another month, which meant that we could still have an easy time while out shopping. As mentioned in my earlier postings, i was really lucky to have such a good confinement auntie who is pro-breastfeeding, neat, communicates well, loves babies and generally supportive. She is also a very good cook and tries to cook different dishes using the same ingredients (well, the ingredients for confinement food is quite standard). There were many days where the dishes she came up with surprised both Chee Meng and myself and we finished every single piece of meat/vegetable! Another reason why i extended her stint was so that we could fit Isaac into a more stable pattern before i take over full-time as well as to have more rest. Of course, i worry if Isaac would be too attached to her but then again, i have my secret weapon - breastfeeding!!! Haha!!

Cheers to more shopping!!

Diary of a 6 week-old mummy - Part 1

Time really flies... Isaac is already 5 weeks old. Chee Meng and I had been reflecting on our parenthood journey these few days, especially after Isaac's full-month celebrations. How it was a miracle that Isaac is with us, how cute Isaac looked, how interesting his various expressions. Chee Meng told me that he could not forget the fateful morning of 18 Jan when i had spotting and how his heart 'fell' to his feet when i came out of the bathroom telling him 'we have to go to Dr Chew's... I'm bleeding'. He still shudders when he think of it. Well, after a roller-coaster of an experience, Isaac is finally with us.

The past 6 weeks has been a good learning journey for me and Chee Meng - from deciphering what Isaac's cries meant, to worrying about why the little fella is not sleeping at night. Luckily, my confinement nanny has been very kind in teaching us what Isaac's 'patterns' and pecularities are. Like how he always poo-poo in the night, how he will fidget and cry about half an hour after feeds before he is willing to go to sleep and most importantly, the entire process of bathing and dressing up little Isaac.

Lesson 1 - Sleeping
My idea of a newborn baby is that he will sleep and sleep and sleep... but not!!! Isaac is quite an active baby and sleeps quite little in my opinion! He sleeps only about 3-4 hours from 12mn to 6am, and for about 10+ hours from 6am - 12mn.. And, the best part is - he wants to be carried all the time. This is a thing about breastfed babies... they want to be cuddled more than formula-fed babies. When Isaac first came home, we made sure we didn't carry him more than required during feedings and to let him learn to sleep 'independently'. But well, the little fella is not quite cooperative and has this very 'sorrowful' cry if we just leave him alone. So no choice, we carry him hoping that we can put him back to bed after he is sound asleep. But no! He will cooperate for a good 5 minutes and then wail for people to carry him. So we pick him up again. All in the hope that he will sleep well and not have panda eyes (which he did for a few mornings when he did not sleep well at night). I even went to check with his paediatrician on the 'KPI/best practice' for the no. of hours a baby should sleep. His paediatrician told me there's no fixed pattern - as long as the baby is putting on weight, seems happy and pees/poos normally. Which Isaac does. Which brings us to the next lesson....

Lesson 2 - Feedings
As per my earlier postings, we supplemented breastmilk with formula milk on the 2nd day after Isaac is born coz he was restless even after breastfeeding. Don't know if he has a good appetite or what, but he was already drinking 4 ounces (120ml) when he was a month-old. And, when we tried weighing him yesterday (ie, weight when we carried him minus our own weight).. the scales show that he is creeping into the 6kg range!! I think that he's overweight!! I shall see what his doctor says when we see him tomorrow.. Hopefully it is not too much of a problem!! Look at these photos and you know what i mean... very cute, very chubby but err.. not too good leh. I don't want Isaac to be an 'Ah Pui'!

Cute hor? But a bit tooo chubby i think.. but then again, i'm chubby too!!
Haha!!

Watch this space for more news about our little precious!

More pictures of Isaac!

Isaac when he was 3 weeks' old:


Isaac in his 'sunshine' sleeveless outfits - look at his 'muscles'!





Daddy carrying his little precious:

Isaac is one month old!!

Yay! I survived my 30-day confinement and celebrated my 'release' as well as Isaac's full-month on 9 Oct, 11 Oct and 12 Oct. Time really flies and it's great to see Isaac growing each day. Many friends reminded us to document Isaac's growing milestones as he will change each day. Well, the pictures we took from the day Isaac was born till now really showed how much he has grown and changed. He looked exactly like Chee Meng (many said the he was an 'ang ku kueh' mould like Chee Meng) when he was born and now he bears some resemblance to me (ahem, especially my fat cheeks lor..).

Well, this is a picture of Isaac when he was more than a week old. But look further down and you'll see the difference!


Well, we celebrated Isaac's full-month celebrations over 3 days - the haircut & prayer session on 9 Oct, a buffet dinner for my relatives and my dad's friends on 11 Oct and another high-tea buffet for Chee Meng's relatives and our colleagues on 12 Oct.

We were told that Isaac has to wear a new outfit from head to toe on 9 Oct to commemorate his 'official' full-month. So, we got Isaac to wear a red/white striped romper i bought from the UK 6 years ago (yes! that's how long we waited for Isaac to join us!). And he looked so cute in it!!



The first stop we made on 9 Oct was to a hair salon for a haircut. My dad told me not to shave Isaac botak and insisted that we only do a small snip at the back of his head. So that was what we did. And Isaac was fidgeting throughout the cut but luckily everything went on smoothly!



Isaac wore lots of new outfits on the 2 days of celebrations - an orange romper on 11 Oct and a blue romper on 12 Oct. And he looked so cute in both of them!! I will post more pictures of Isaac in his various outfits in my next posting!


And, here's a cheeky picture of Isaac to end off this posting! Watch out for my next posting where i'll post more pictures of our precious Isaac!

Reflections of a new mummy - The Breastfeeding Journey

I'm a 1.5 week old mummy and i'm happy to report that the breastfeeding journey has been ok thus far. Isaac started suckling at my breast a few hours after birth, and i laid him on my side with the help of the nurse. The act of moving to the left and right sides were a bit painful especially after the c-section, but i perservered and it was bearable subsequently. And i was delighted when Isaac suckled immediately when put to the breast, and i sure hoped he was getting the pre-milk aka colostrum, which contains a host of antibodies:) And i continued to breastfeed Isaac throughout my stay at the hospital, though i'm not sure how much milk he got out of it.

Well, you always have this ideal picture of how breastfeeding should be - that the milk will come in soon enough to feed your hungry baby and everything will be hunky-dory. But reality sets in - on the 2nd night (12 Sep), Isaac felt restless, was crying and kept searching for my breast despite being put to my breasts for 20 minutes each. My mum told me that Isaac is hungry and suggested that i supplement my breastfeeding with formula. We also checked with the nurse who said that the baby is probably hungry. So, we made the decision to give him formula (Nan 1). Isaac slept like a baby after that. And we all felt reassured. Then when my mum went home, at around 9plus, Isaac regurgitated milk when Chee Meng was carrying him which sent Chee Meng into a frenzy. Being a first-time parent, Chee Meng kept worrying if he was okay and if Isaac spat out milk coz he did not carry him properly. He ran straight out of the room and sought the nurses' help and one of the nursing sister ran to take over Isaac from his arms immediately. Being first-time parents, we were so worried so much so that i regretted giving him formula. Chee Meng went back to the nursery 10 minutes later to check if Isaac is ok.. and Chee Meng told me subsequently that Isaac just looked at him from his cot and seemed ok. Maybe Isaac was thinking "Daddy, i only spat out some milk, which is normal... why are you so worried?". Well, hopefully:)

I checked with Isaac's paediatrician, Dr YY Yip, the next morning after he checked Isaac about him regurgitating milk after formula and also sought advice from him if i did the right thing by giving him formula. Dr Yip said that it's normal for babies to regurgitate some bit of milk after feeding. As for starting Isaac on formula, Dr Yip said that it's ok to give formula otherwise the baby would be hungry and restless and may develop jaundice if he continues to stay hungry as his body would then break down the protein in his body to fulfill his needs. I felt reassured and less guilty after Dr Yip's explanation. And Isaac continued to be fed formula if he is still restless after breastfeeding. I also took the opportunity to take a rest on the third night by asking the nurses to feed him formula if he is hungry and boy, it was the best 8 hour sleep i had after delivery. I felt recharged and revitalised coz i slept less than 10 hours in 3 days after my c-section.

The decision not to breastfeed that night also caused my nipple to become a bit dry (or maybe it was already dry prior to that:)) I also had a little bit of bleeding on my left nipple and the nurse asked me to buy Medela's PureLan to apply. The nurse also wheeled in a breastpump to see if my milk has arrived. Upon pumping, there were a few droplets of milk which the nurse used to soothe my dry nipple. But i could still see dry scaps around the nipple which meant that anymore suckling by Isaac would aggravate it. Well, this is the first reality check and set-back to my breastfeeding journey.

We were discharged from the hospital on 15 Sep and prior to my discharge, i had asked my mum to help me prepare a tin of Nan 1 so that i can feed Isaac in case he gets hungry. And as my confinement nanny only arrived at 4pm that day, we had to handle Isaac on our own for about 3 hours. Isaac obviously enjoyed the car ride very very much that he continued to sleep way past his feeding time - for almost 5 hours!! Hence, we decided that we had to wake him up for milk and i made him formula. And being a first time inexperienced mummy, i even overdosed on formula!! But luckily the nanny came soon after and took over! Phew!! I'm also very lucky to have a very good nanny who encourages me to breastfeed and always telling me that breastmilk is the best!

Breastfeeding really takes a lot of perserverance and determination and i must admit that there were times when i was so tired that i really felt like giving up and just give Isaac formula. But luckily, the nanny also encourages me to continue on and that breastmilk is good for the baby. And when i'm tired, she'll take over the feeding with formula so that i can rest and a good sleep really does wonders. I really appreciate her support in the breastfeeding journey.

Well, 1.5 weeks into mummyhood, my breastmilk is steadily increasing and i'm able to pump about 1.5 ounce of milk even after feeding Isaac. I hope the milk will come flowing, or perhaps even overflowing soon, so that we can stop feeding him formula and let Isaac be a totally breastfed baby! Another positive thing about breastfeeding - it allows me to bond with Isaac!!

Yes, breastmilk and breastfeeding is the best!

Reflections of a new mummy - The Pregnancy Journey...

Isaac has a really strong neck! He turns around quite a bit during feeds!

Time really flies.. i'm a one-week old mummy! Exactly one week ago, Isaac was born. I still remember the fear and anxiety i had over the c-section the night before the operation, the excitement when Isaac was born, the satisfaction when Isaac suckled at my breast that same afternoon and the moment when Isaac opened his eyes and greeted Chee Meng's colleagues and my parents. And now, it's been a week.

I've been thinking about my pregnancy journey these few days. I still recall the excitement we had when I tested positive when using the pregnancy test kit on 14 Jan (one day before my birthday!) and when Dr Chew confirmed my pregnany on my birthday -15 Jan!! We were supposed to go to Hong Kong on 17 Jan and Dr Chew advised us to postpone the trip if there was no absolute necessity for us to proceed. We decided to take his advice and postpone the trip to March. And luckily we postponed it coz i discovered i was bleeding on 18 Jan and went to see Dr Chew immediately. We were both scared as it reminded us of a similar experience 5 years ago, when i bled and suffered a blighted ovum eventually (sag present but no foetus). So, we were sort of prepared for the worst while on our way to Dr Chew's clinic. Dr Chew ordered me to be admitted to hospital for complete rest-in-bed and i was not allowed to even walk to the toilet. Everything was done in bed. I had to stay in the hospital for 3 days and was allowed to discharge on the condition that I continue to lay in bed at home and to minimise any movement. We decided that it was best for me to stay at my parents' place so that my meals would be taken care of (instead of at home where i've no food supply..). And it was also where i spent the rest of my pregnancy at. I was also given hospitalisation leave for 8 weeks, and had to go back to Dr Chew's clinic for jabs to stabilise the womb twice weekly until i was 12 weeks pregnant. It was a trying time for us, and Chee Meng would ask if there was any bleeding whenever i go to the toilet. And luckily, the pregnancy stabilised. However, i was losing weight as i did not have any appetite and Chee Meng was worried every time my weight dropped when i had my check-up at Dr Chew's. But with God's blessings, my parents' love and care, and the well wishes from our friends and colleagues, everything went well and i went back to work when i was 13 weeks pregnant.

The 2nd and 3rd trimester was a breeze and quite enjoyable. Though i must confess that i still have a fear of bleeding whenever i go to the toilet especially in the first few weeks of my 2nd trimester. I'm glad things went well and i was gaining weight and my pregnancy proceeded smoothly. Every visit to Dr Chew's was exciting for us - as we are able to see little Isaac in my tummy and at times, making interesting movements. I still recall fondly that he was sucking his little thumb during one of the scan conducted in the 13th week. Or covering his face during one of the scans. I also enjoyed the movements and stunts when Isaac was in my tummy - and how he would respond to my mum's call for him to do 'Breakdance'. I was also quite disciplined throughout my pregnancy - i did not touch any cold drinks, no coffee, no tea - and only drank warm water and hot drinks. But i got a little impatient towards the end of my pregnancy and could not wait for Isaac to join us.

And about the delivery process - my ideal delivery was via natural delivery without epidural and how i would hold Isaac across my belly after delivery. But as updated in my earlier post, i opted for a c-section under general anesthesia and i only managed to see Isaac about 3 hours after he was born, as they had to warm him up in the nursery first before he could be sent to our room. And when they sent him into the room, all the discomfort from the operation disappeared.

Our little prince has finally arrived!!