Recap of an eventful week

27 May 2010 @ 9.34AM
The birth of my baby boy Ian Au Yi Hang (区奕航).

28 May 2010 @ noon
Being discharged from hospital together with Ian…home sweet home after a dreadful night in hospital.

29 May 2010 @ midnight & afternoon
Had fever up to 38+ degree Celcius twice due to breasts engorgement (no let down yet) and UTI. Didn’t take any medication as I was afraid it might go into breast milk but later advised by three different person (Dr Siew, Annie and a nurse relative) that panadol can be taken only when needed and it won’t affect the milk for the baby. If antibiotic is prescribed, it should be breast feeding safe.

31 May 2010 @ noon
Return to hospital for my checkup on wound and baby’s on jaundice. He was admitted right after blood test result was out. His jaundice level was relatively high at 16.1. It should not go beyond 14 and must stay below 12 to be ok to go home. I was admitted together with Ian because breast feeding was not yet established properly (no let down yet) and he rejects bottle teats.

1 June 2010 @ 9AM
Blood test was done at 6AM and Dr Siew called me up in the ward at 9AM telling me the jaundice level actually shoot up to 17!!! My heart sank! Called up husband and discussed what we should do and we decided I should go home to express milk for Ian while he needs to stay back in hospital to continue with the phototherapy treatment.

2 June 2010
Second blood test was taken and a nurse called me up breaking the good news to me Ian’s jaundice level has gone down to 12.3!!! THANK GOD!! I was in tears and woke husband up to break him the good news too! God is listening to our prayers. Dr Siew said Ian needs to be monitored for another day before he could be discharged and my duty is to express milk as much as possible and sent them to hospital twice the day.

3 June 2010 @ 5AM
Woke up at 5 to express milk and I haven’t get back to my sleep yet…I’m anxiously waiting for the phone call from the nurse….will keep you up to date!
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Recent update:
Ian’s jaundice level has dropped to 10.1!! Doctor said he can go home now *gleeeeee* thank God!

On the other hand, I need to remove my stitches today! A bit scary to think of it so just let it be la…I’ve already been through the most difficult phase so this is nothing if it really hurts a little (YES! It did sting when the string was being pulled out – OUCH!!!!).

Exactly one week has gone from the date of Cesarean, I’ve lost 7.5kgs! Another 5 kgs to go for me to reach my pre-pregnancy weight. Of course, the more I can get rid of the better (tee hee!)

On ANOTHER note, my confinement has been a chaos! Hahaha~ I’d been going in and out of the house endless of times wearing shorts & T-shirts, had 3 times bath including hair wash in the first week, washing endless of bottles and equipments for milk pump etc etc. Since the pediatrician strongly doesn’t encourage me to take wine and ginger when i’m breast feeding, i stopped. Basically, i’m just waiting to be “discharged” from the one-month confinement period.

Chloe at 18 months old

It has been 1 and half year since i gave birth to my girl, Chloe. And to that, she has never failed to amaze me over and over with her sharp observation and new trick performance every now and then. I realize she is a “problem-solver” as she loves to handle puzzles, figure out difficult (to her level) problem and look for the right solution (i.e. trying to figure out which is the right key in the bundle to open a door) and she’s very observant at what people are doing. She imitates right after you and that makes me really stress of being very careful what we do/say in front of her.

At home, she has her collection of toys and she has been “playing” with them since very young but those were all about biting and putting them into her mouth and creating mess for me to clean and tidy them up after she got tired of them. But recently (last night to be exact), she could recognize and identify ALL her shape sorters according to the shapes and colours without a miss!! I was in awe and i could feel my jaw dropped (literally) and my mind was completely blown away by her actions. She hugged the whole shape sorter’s “house” to me and requested me to open it for her. First I thought “Oh well, i’m going to have to tidy the mess up after you when you go to sleep later.” I opened it for her then i left her alone to play with it while i got the water boiled to make her milk before i tucked her into bed.

And yes, i came back to her jaw dropped! What was my baby doing?! Did my eyes play trick on me?! The amazement was simply too awesome to put into words. My nanny doesn’t teach her shape-sorting at her place so it’s like my past months’ effort to pitch her the idea how to sort the shapes accordingly all being worthwhile (over the night!). A gush of motherhood’s proud came rushing out and tears started to build up in my eyes. Overwhelmed and completely thrown over board! Suddenly i asked myself “Where has the baby who was gugu gaga-ing gone now?” She has grown older over the night. I shall miss the baby version of her and completely adore and appreciate every moment of her toddler version now on. I’m scared that i might miss out on her milestones development if i’m not paying attention to her for just one second.

Motherhood is a ride of roller coaster and i totally love it to bits!

I hope you enjoy the moment as much as i do ^_^

P/S:
1. On and off and depending on her mood, she can now say “How are you”, “I love you” and “I know..”. As for those “Hi”, “Bye-bye”, flying kiss, kiss daddy & mommy, keep calling “mami or mi” several times with her sweetest voice tone ever while staring straight into my eyes (these are old tricks that she uses to entertain us and to get away from her mischief!)

2. Somehow, i love her open & friendly attitude towards strangers and i keep saying she’s like an Australian! She waves or raised up her hand saying “Hi” to passerby and cars passing by. Sometimes, her friendliness really brings headache to the mom when she tries to make friends with other kids (whom the parents are not so open with the idea).

3. She’s very chatty! A chatterbox! But she still has a long way to go before one could really understand her ^_^

Separating

I’ve started to train Chloe to sleep on big bed since about a month ago when she reached 18 months old. Things can go hellish or angelic some nights. It’s just really not stable I would say. Either me or hubby will take turn to sleep with her as its only a queen sized bed and the other one will sleep in another linked room, being ready for any out of hand situation (I.e. Unstoppable and uncontrollable sudden cryings at night).

On hellish nights, I just have to keep reminding myself that she is still only a baby and it’s very normal for her to have nightmares (or is it not) and waking up not knowing where she belongs. When she is out of control of herself and with my super pregnant belly getting in the way, I just have to leave her to my dear angelic husband to keep myself sane. She just needs him to cuddle and comfort her when she cries like crazy then she would stop(I.e. Like tonight). He has his ways of cooling her down.

Of course there are some nights when she is ‘good’ and I can comfort her with just some pats at her back and she would fall back to her sleep.

I’m really counting my blessings because i am so blessed with a good husband and a good father to the children. I’ve heard a lot of complaints from some friends of mine that their husbands are not helping much with kiddy chores (either they are not or they cannot because it still depends on who the child is more sticky to) and some of them are just being ignorant in the house. God is good to me!

Chloe playing masak-masak in February 2010 (overdue post)

Looking Ahead: Signs & Symptoms of Labor [Source: pregnancy.org]

Listed below are several common signs and symptoms of approaching labor.

• Increased vaginal discharge – Usually clear mucous, but sometimes streaked or tinged with brown or pink. This is sometimes referred to as “bloody show”. This discharge may appear at the same time that contractions begin or a few days before. Your mucus plug, which has blocked the cervix throughout the pregnancy to protect your baby from infection, may loosen and be expelled. Any amount of vaginal bleeding should be reported to our doctors and nurses at once. Yes, I think so?
• Engagement – The baby’s movement into your pelvis in preparation for birth (also called “lightening” or “the baby dropping”). It can happen anywhere from a few weeks to a few hours before labor begins. You will find that it will be easier to breathe and heartburn may be lessened. But the additional pressure of your baby’s head on your bladder may make you need to urinate more frequently. This is definitely as doctor has had this ultrasound scan done one me yesterday and baby is already “very down there”. Why THANK YOU for all the pressure and pain in the pelvis! I’ve never had this pressure pain when Chloe was near the expected due date. I guess that’s why i had (chosen) the Caesarean at the first place.
• Weight Loss – As a result of changes in your hormone levels, you may lose 1 to 3 pounds in the week before labor begins. This is mostly a loss of fluid that has been held in your tissues. Don’t think i have loss any weight so far. I think i’ve gained some more because baby is getting heavier now.
• Backache – Dull, lower backache that may come and go. I’ve been having this all the time since early of 3rd trimester until now.
• Diarrhea, Indigestion, Nausea and Vomiting – You may experience one or more of these conditions before or at the beginning of labor, often accompanied by cramping. This is just your body’s way of responding to the labor process.Diarrhea (yes), others (nope, not a bit).
• Rupture of the Amniotic Membranes – The breaking of your “bag of water”. This may happen several hours before labor begins, but in most cases, the fluid-filled sac that surrounds your baby during pregnancy doesn’t rupture until later in the labor process. Discharge may be a continuous trickle or a gush of watery fluid from your vagina. If you are not already in the hospital when you rupture your membranes, notify your provider immediately to describe the time of rupture, the color and amount of fluid. Last time, i had this “exciting” experience with Chloe. I do hope that this time baby will stick to the schedule to arrive on the appointed full term date so that there’s no mess for me to clean up.
• Contractions – The most obvious sign of labor, but often confusing because irregular cramps of false labor pains occur. You may have experienced these “Braxton Hicks” or “practice” contractions throughout your pregnancy, but you will notice an increase in frequency and intensity in these last weeks before delivery. Your abdomen may feel like it is tightening or hardening. Some women have compared it to strong menstrual or intestinal cramps. Aww~I think this one is the most obvious sign i have so far that i did not have with Chloe. I’m pretty sure they’re not Braxton Hicks because the time interval in between these frequent contractions are about 5-10 mins apart and the intensity is getting stronger each day. Each contraction can last for about 20-30 secs. I read this somewhere else that this is regarded as 1st stage of labor where cervix is dilating to 3-4cm and sometimes, water might rupture or bloody show might occur.

There is officially 20 days to count down from now. *Cross fingers*

Finally…

No, not yet. The bun is still in the oven.

Hubby brought me to hospital for my fortnightly checkup this morning. Everything is good. On the ultrasound monitor, my placenta has shown evidence of ripening. Baby has reached the glamourous 2.6kgs and the amniotic liquor is still a little too much but it’s of no worries as advised by my gynae. She even told me if my baby is going to make his way out now there’s nothing to be worried about as the lungs themselves have reached maturity and are ready for the real world. But since i’ve chosen Caesarean, it’s good if baby stay intact and grow a little bigger so that he is easier to be taken care of after he is out. I am all very very relieved. Thank God we are in good hands.

She speaks our language! “NO!”

Too early for NO?

The wonders of detail scanning..

Baby no.2 officially reached gestation age of 20 weeks and 6 days on 27th Jan 2010 (yesterday), that is 5 months plus. As scheduled, i went to do my every-pregnancy-routined-detail-scan with a very capable (not to mention being smart and tall and well built, haha) doctor at Kuching Specialist Hospital. Thank God things go well with baby no.2 and by the end of the checking, the smart doctor gives my baby a 95% for being so well behaved and healthy! Doctor told me not to expect any doctor to give me any higher mark than that since no one can really “guarantees” how one will turn out to be. So, there, my baby scores the highest mark in the room. Being the only one in the room, that is.

Now, for those who doesn’t know what the detail scanning is about, i shall briefly go through the procedures with you all here. I shall emit the medical terms because, really, if i know them i wouldn’t be doing what i am doing right now. ^_^

First of all, it all starts with the checking of shape and size of the head skull and make sure the skin surrounding the head is developing well. Any openings will be considered abnormal. Then, the fluid, cerebrum and other little parts in the brain are checked for their existence and ensure they’re suffice in quantity (the ultrasound machine does the job really well!). Then, doctor ensures that ears are present and well developed. Move downward to the neck all the way to the end of the spinal cord (the backbones). This one is extremely important too to make sure there’s NO opening seen because if there is, anything in the body might be squeezed out or anything outside will go in so NO GOOD! And if really it happens, it is a major operation as well. So young pregnant mothers must ensure they take folic acid every single day throughout the pregnancy so that to minimize the chance of development of defected spinal cord and backbones. Doctor will then check the tummy of the baby to make sure all the organs stay intact and are present in correct positions, muscles to separate the diaphragm and the heart are developed, livers, stomach, blood flows in and out of the organs are all checked into very fine details. Heart is checked for all the 4 chambers and no opening between the wall of the chambers and that blood flows in and out of the 4 chambers have to be in the correct orders.

The placenta, the adequacy of liquor/amniotic fluid, blood flows in and out of the placenta through the umbilical cords, position of the placenta are all to be checked. Then, all the limbs are scanned for well development and doctor will measure the femur length (the thigh bone) to estimate the size and weight of the baby and from it, to plot on the growth chart whether or not the baby is under-developed or advance in the development thus doctor can predict (from the chart), by the time of labor, how big and heavy the baby will be. To me, these are all too amazing. I learn so much just from the scan. As for my baby no.2, the physical development is advanced by 1 week! =P Doctor predicted that if i continue my eating regime and lifestyle until labor, i’m gonna have another 3.4++kgs baby!! Another heavy and long baby to be expected. Hahah!

Baby’s face is then checked for two eye sockets, nose bridge, two nostrils, upper and lower lips (make sure no cleft lip presents). After all the scanning done in black and white, he then let me see the baby in 4D (in sepia color tone and the baby is moving at the same time) on the monitor. It’s all so clear and vivid in front of my eyes. He also took some 3D “photos” for me to keep in my album. Awww~I can’t wait to see my baby no.2 now, well, not now. Hopefully in another 17 weeks when it’s the time.

Of course, the whole detail scan learning process is too much for me to grasp just within 45 minutes and i’m gonna miss some of the things he told me. He told me something about “no notching found” and that means blood flows from my body to the placenta (should be the placenta if i’m not wrong) are good! That means baby is getting enough nutrients to grow and grow and GROW! Happy big baby.

I’m all too glad now to be sure that my baby is healthy (and happy..i know because of the kicks all the time). And doctor also said that since he can give 95% normal and healthy to baby at this time, the baby will NOT become abnormal after i go home or anytime up until delivery. The baby has developed everything he/she needs to have and from now on, he/she will just grow in size for that healthy chubby fats to fit in.

Mommy, daddy and jie jie wait for you, my dear. Stay healthy and happy and keep those kicks coming in! ^_^

Update on 13th month (pre-toddler)

Someone told me my girl doesn’t look like a baby anymore and more like a little growing young lady. Of course. Even myself I don’t regard her as little baby too.

Being a 13 month pre-toddler, it’s a lot of fun to be around her since her actions and baby talks can really crack me up laughing rolling on the floor. She brings so much joy to my family. Of course, there are times that she drives my nerves to the cliff when she cannot sit still in her high chair for meals, tried to poke her lil fingers into sockets, push the air-con remote control/TV remote buttons on and off, poke her fingers into any of dents on sofa/floors/cabinets, knock herself against wooden cot, lost balance from crawling and hit her forehead on the floor and/or fell off from coffee table. She might need a baby helmet?

I’m calling her explorer. She ventures into new experience everyday. She doesn’t prefer her vibrant-colored toys. She loves remote controls, mobile phones and anything that is meant for adult usage. She doesn’t like to be left alone. She loves to check out where we are (crawl and cruise – holding on to walls and furnitures, into each room until she finds us). She calls out for ‘mama’ when she couldn’t find me/when i leave her by herself for some time. She likes to check out on our black dogs too. She has so much fun when she’s tickled by me! That cracks her up immediately. She gives the cheeky smiles, exposing all her 8 teeth on the front row. Not forgetting to mention how she LURVES outings! If she sees anyone heading to the door in nice outfit, she would speed-crawl as fast as you  couldn’t imagine she’s only 13 months of age. If she’s not meant for the outing, just bring her for a tour in the house and she will come back satisfied to let you go. Then, she’s willing to wave bye bye and blow flying kiss to you.

Recently, she picks up dancing from nanny’s place. The older toddler there might be the one to teach her dancing or it’s from the kids programs that she learns it from. She claps her hands and then sways her body to one side and she opens and closes her palms with her hands raised. Occasionally, she will raise her hands high up above her head and do the palms thingy. She’s just so adorable and it’s amazing how she picks things up so quickly from what she observes. They are so very entertaining. And sometimes, she uses the tricks to draw our attention when we are busy with something else. How cheeky!

By 13 month, she’s proudly a 11.7kg young lady. She still has her dosages of formula at 7oz and she eats her porridge, cereals, multigrain breakfast, biscuits, and anything she’s allowed to eat when we bring her out. Most of the nights, she wakes up around 4.30am to milk while other nights, she can just sleep through til 8.30 in the morning. I’m very happy with her development so far and i do hope that she’ll start to walk soon so that bringing her to outings will be an easier task. Let’s hope she can start walking by next month? Hehe  ; )

Oh yeah! Recently, my mother in law started her on brushing her 8 little teeth! ^_^

P/S: Don’t be cheated by the look. She only loves to chew on the brush (soft latex pointy ends for the soft gums) and chuckles out loud because it’s so ticklish!

Too young to learn?

Babies are so scary at times. Scarily brilliant! Thank God for the brilliant babies.

Chloe is almost 11 months old now. She has mastered her skills so professionally that she can lie, then sit up straight without the worries of falling backward anytime, get herself up by reaching her hands out to hold on to furniture edges (I found that her cot is the safest place for her to learn the standing up skill) and TAADAA! stand up. Then she’ll lean her tummy against the sofa edges to support herself so that she can free the hands to play her toy toy placed on the sofa. We didn’t put the toys on the sofa on purpose to encourage her standing up. We just woke up one day, amazed to find a standing baby in front of us. Haha. So, every night, i’ll grab a piece of cloth to wipe the living room’s floor sparkling clean and make sure the entire floor contains no hazardous small items to swallow or choke her or stuck up into her nose or ears or whatever-that-is-so-scary-to-think-of-now.

And thanks to my mother in law, reminding me that i’ll have MORE chores to do when she can walk by herself. I’ll have to follow even more closely behind her.

Her mastered skills include clap hands (she does that when she wants something from you/when she’s happy/when she hears the words “Clap clap” from anyone/when she wants milk so desperately..and i don’t get this the last one) and she sways her head from left to right when i say “No”. Somehow, i do think that she understands the connection between “No” and “head-swaying action” but she has yet to grasp the theory to abide with the command. Sometimes she does obey and when i compliment her “Good girl”, she’ll be over the cloud. She’s a very happy baby except when she needs to go to sleep at night and when she’s hungry. She just hate sleeping! She wants to play, explore and having us to accompany her by her side, she’s more than willing to do anything to give us a smile on our faces.

On the naughty side, she needs to learn to give and take. She has started to know how to give and take an item from us but when it comes to playing toys, she can ride in her walker to knock the little boy over at my nanny’s place. She snatches the toys on his hands away and flee to a corner to chew on the toy. I have no idea where she learns that from but i guess, at her phase, she doesn’t really know the effect of knocking someone over and causing pain on someone. Gradually, she will be taught (by the stern mom) how to play nicely with other friends and appreciate the gesture of sharing with others.

Recently, i’ve just started her on how to pray to God. I will say “Let’s pray. Open the palms big big and slowly move the two palms near each other. Then, the 5 fingers give another 5 fingers hug hug. Then, close the eyes and say Amen!’

First attempt to show her this, she stared at me blankly with her pupils enlarged. After i finished Amen, she gave me a big smile. ahhaha. But, at least, she paid full attention to me. The next few times i said “Let’s pray”, she immediately stopped what she was doing and paid attention to what i did and i just kept repeating the whole thing again and again. I’ll give her time to plant that into her mind. By God’s grace, she’ll learn that it’s praying to God when she grows up to understand things happening around her. It will benefit her in the long run ^_^

Babies are just amazing.