Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Adam's Mummy



I recently just found out why Andy named our son Adam.
Apart from the obvious reason of "A" for boys and "V" for girls, it is also because...
ADAM = the first man on Earth (this one I already knew)
Adam therefore = Our first. First son, first grandchild. He is also first in our hearts.

Everything I do now is about him. Life is purposeful and beautiful :)

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Gen's 21st Bday - WHITE Party





I dont look like I just gave birth 6 wks ago, do I?




Last Sunday was Gen's 21st Birthday party at Bottle Tree Park.
We were honored to be invited to her WHITE Party a la Gossip Girls.
As usual, Baby A, though he has many white outfits, was best left to the care of my Aunt LY and parents while Andy & I attended the party ourselves.
We left after 2hours because I cant stop worrying about our lil one! Parentssss...
True enough when we reached my house to fetch him home, he was crying and cranky because it was an unfamiliar environment and he was looking for me.
He immediately hushed and fell asleep in my arms when I carried him and we made our way home feeling really maxed out - Andy, baby & I.
I have become his pacifier - he would sometimes put his mouth to my breast (with my clothes on) in public if he wants comfort or wants a feed. Even at home if he is not hungry sometimes I just let him latch on for comfort and he will fall asleep.
And I wonder how come I am perpetually tired??!?!

Over the weekend, Andy & I went to Orchard to do some quick shopping. Bought some clothes and lingerie for myself and also more GAP rompers and clothes for Baby A (we took advantage of the ongoing sales).
Luckily I dont have a daughter if not I will go bankrupt before you can even say "broke".
With a baby, being able to step out of the house without looking like a mad woman is in itself a luxury.
If you're able to go out and buy something nice for yourself, it's a real bonus and consider yourself alike striking lottery.

edit to add: This is Gen! photos stolen from her Facebook haha finally.
Still awaiting for group photo *drums fingers on table* :P


Thursday, July 2, 2009

Organic baby



Tristan-mommy recommended me this California Baby organic shampoo & bodywash.
I'm lucky to have a friend who is into organic stuff like me.
I love the essential oil smell and best of all, it is not drying. Previously I let Adam use J&J and it is so drying to his delicate skin.

It is expensive ($22.90 plus delivery $8 from Little Dreamers) but if you dont mind splurging on your little one, you can manage to get cheaper prices if you purchase online or join sprees with other Mommies on forums.

And I finally put him into those Marks & Spencer animal rompers and his new Osh Kosh rompers.

I love rompers because they are easy one-piece suits ie. more manageable than seperates.
Not to mention they are uber cute.
Disadvantages: once it is soiled you have to change the entire suit and they arent very easy to get in and out of if you have a crying struggling baby!

Favourite brands: Mothercare and Marks & Spencer for their excellent quality. Very soft cotton and embroidery are fabric-backed so will not scratch baby's skin.

P.S. Adam is only 6 weeks old now (1.5mths) yet he is already outgrowing his 3-6mos clothes!
Time to upgrade size again...

Monday, June 29, 2009

Baby Adam's Full Month Baby Showers Part I & II

Baby Shower Part I
Venue: at my mum's place
Buffet, Vinegar & ginger pork trotters and wine chicken


First thing in the morning, a staff from Tai Mao Bi centre came to shave Baby Adam's hair.


The toughest part was choosing the material and what to engrave on his brush!


Then Harry arrived to deliver the cakes.
The blue boxes were for the relatives. I like the pretty box and the personalised card with Adam's photo on it.


The pink ones for ancestor prayers.



After shuttling from our place to Adam's great-grandma's (Adam's zhor zhor because she is Nonya) place, we went back to my mum's for the final ancestor prayers.
This is the only photo I have of him that day.
Because I was simply too tired to take any photos.. My mum was playing mahjong the whole day and when she had to excuse herself Andy had to take over, which left me with little or no help.
And I had to look after the baby, entertain her mass of friends (90% of whom I dont know), serve them drinks and make sure everyone is fed, express BM every now and then... Oh my gosh it was a nightmare.
I told my mum I wont ever attend her gatherings again and YES I really mean it.



Baby Shower Part II
Venue: NSRCC unit number 39
Buffet, BBQ and Chris' cuppies!

Siling and Norman came early. I'm glad they did because I had so much to catch up with her. I packed some of Adam's newborn diapers and other pregnancy/baby stuff for her but when I have more time I will pack the rest. Can you tell she is already coming 5 mths preggy??


I know what you are thinking - I need to do something to my hair!
Do hair salons have breastfeeding-safe rebonding and color?





erm.. Check out the father & son expression!


Chris baked these cuppies even though she is taking a break from baking. That's totally so sweet of her! And they are really yummy., Towards the end of the night, several people tapao some home.




With Charmaine & Meena.


We received many gifts again from generous friends and relatives :)












I dared not invite too many of my own friends this time because I was worried that it would be a nightmare again like at my mum's. But thankfully my MIL was around the whole time to help me carry, feed and burp Adam so I could have some time to sit down and catch up with the guests.
We didnt have to delegate anyone to help us this time, Andy's relatives volunteered their help in cleaning, washing, BBQing, carrying all the hampers and presents home (including a car seat!)

Baby Adam says a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who turned up.
I really appreciate your presence at our bundle of joy's party and have to apologise for not being a good host.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

A nice little dinner

Yesterday Andy & I decided to go on a date - just the 2 of us to a nice dinner like old times.It feels good to be away from the mundane-ness once in a while.
He made reservations at Azur Restaurant at T3 which was great because we were supposed to go for dinner there on the Sunday which I gave birth and now I finally have a chance to try the food there!






It was sucha surprise that Charmaine and her family + KW also came at the same time for dinner :P
We had a fab time catching up randomly and I feel so happy that I still have an existent social life after a baby HAHA

This weekend: Adam's 2nd baby shower
Next weekend: Chocolate buffet with the girls and Gen's 21st birthday bash

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Some random updates while I have time

About the dogs:
Mavy loves the baby as always. He licked his ears and feet yesterday but Baby Adam decided he didnt like it and he cried out loud. Poor Mavy. Hahaha
Alice has taken to eating Adam's soiled diapers from the bin. Maybe the digested remains of breast milk curds is the cure she's been looking for all these years. Eeew. Stupid dog.

About breastfeeding:
We've cleared out the freezer compartment of the refrigerator to store my "inventory".
These are what I've been pumping out after every latch-on feed and through-out the night.
Initially I used the 80ml Medela bottles which my Mum gave me from KKH.
Not alot initially...

But after my supply increased (and so did Baby Adam's demand), the 80ml bottles were no longer enough, so I bought milk bags from Chris' contact which could store up to 250ml (refer to below pic). Bravo!

My BF routine now is to latch him on as much as possible because I really dont want to give him FM. It's tiring as hell because after latching I still pump out the excess for inventory but thankfully Andy and MIL helps with the last bedtime feed so I can sleep early and take over the night feeds. Sometimes he wakes every 2 hours to feed, on good days he only wakes up once at 4am which isnt too bad.

About the little man:
We received so many MANY gifts for his 1st shower at my Mum's, and I have to say, some are really useful.
Like this Disney Baby infant pillow with breathable pinholes and a "dent" in the centre to mould infant's head.


And the many clothes which fit just nicely now even though the sizes state 3-6M and he is only 1.5mths.
As a result? He is wearing all the nice nice Disney Baby and Mothercare rompers at home.

And I really do miss his hair...
Cant wait for the Tai Mao Bi centre to call us for collection of his Calligraphy brush!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

About an 8yr old Shed-land sheepdog

Alice's skin problem crept up again and this time I spent $400 on her vet bills - which is driving me crazy.
I had spent $400 to run some blood tests for her, which turned out to be Normal. No raised white cells. RBCs ok. No hormone problems either.
"Normal" are not good news at all - because it just means we have yet to find out the root problem of her skin problems all these years.
The last time I brought her was the week before I gave birth. And now after my confinement.
Dont tell me I have to bring her to the vet every other month. I will go crazy man.

It takes a really strong person to be able to deal with 2 dogs (an ill one amongst the 2), and a baby to boot.
Dont get me wrong. I am not a strong person at all. These are the times when I feel like giving Alice away because it's just too stressful for me to deal with a baby and then her.
And it's not even about the money. It's about having to force-feed her 4 types of medicines (steroids, antibiotics, anti-histamines) twice a day which she will keep spitting out and I have to keep forcing it back down.
It's about having to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesnt steal any junk from the bin which will aggrevate her skin problem.
It's about having to catch her scratching 200x a day and scold her and get her to stop it.
It's about having to go around picking up her balls of fur and mopping up her flakes of dandruff.

All these while juggling a screaming wailing infant, while breastfeeding topless, while changing nappies and soiled diapers, while dealing with colic and regurgitation.
Feeding time: every 3hours. In between the 3 hours: try to cat-nap, and fit in all the above activities plus eat/shit/bathe/breathe/live.

And I wonder what happens when the baby is old enough to crawl and decides that her dandruff and fur are edible.

Maybe she needs to go to a home which is patient and kind enough to see her through her skin problem and all the what-nots associated with it.
A home that doesnt have crawling babies. A home which will take in an 8yr old dog.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Temptation

It's the Great Singapore Sale once again and I'm itching to do some massive shopping.
I'm in dire need of new clothes and so does Baby Adam.
I think he needs Baby Gap, Baby ZARA and Mothercare.

Hopefully I can steal some time away to do some shopping in town. Just one day, alone. Without any distractions so I can concentrate fully on the important task of s.h.o.p.p.i.n.g.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Baby Fair 06 June 09

Andy & I dumped left our lil' one with his parents while we went to Expo for the Baby Fair.
It was crowded but not too much going on.
There were Mums & Babes booth, Medela and AVENT booths, Huggies booth and various others.
We only bought diapers, some basic baby tees and rompers, more NUK bottles and orthodontic teats, and a rocker which was a gift from Grandpa Tan.

Baby Adam in his new rocker and wearing his new Dinosaur tee



Mavy loves Adam so...



In a week's time it will be Adam's Full Month prayers.
The people from Hua Xia will be coming to our place first thing in the morning to shave his hair make them into a calligraphy brush.
Then there'll be the red eggs and ang ku kuehs and prayers to our ancestors.
My mum will be throwing the 1st of Adam's 2 Full Month showers at her place and I'm so counting down to next Sunday!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Nappy rash and milk rash (baby pimples)

Last week, Adam had a horrid horrid nappy rash that wouldnt go away even after applying some mild steroid from Dr Lilian's combined with Drapolene nappy rash cream.
My mum - once again - came to save the day with a tube of this amazing product:

Cavilon Barrier cream


I've only used it on my adult patients before and didnt know it is mild enough to be used on babies as well. But it works wonders. The next day, the angry red bumps on Adam's bum-bum were gone and his bum never looked so good before.
This is truly an amazing God-send product but it is mighty expensive and is only available in hospital pharmacies.
Needless to say, we threw Drapolene away and never looked back.

Today, it suddenly dawned on me that Adam has an outbreak of pimples - this time on his face not his bum.
It used to be only a few dots on his cheeks which I never thought highly about, but today somehow I just noticed his forehead, cheeks and corners of his eyes were sprouting pimples!
I did a quick search on the internet which says it is normal and could be due to hormones especially in breastfed babies.
However, the red dots all over his face are indeed worrysome for Mummy me.
Andy went out to buy Sebamed Baby Special Healing Cream and I also found this review on the internet by a fellow Mummy on her blog:
http://jazzmint.net/blog/?p=59


I've decided to give this cream a try and hopefully Adam's pimples will go away. *fingers crossed*

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

My beloved boys




Dr Lilian (Adam's PD) remarked that Adam is so active, babies at his age (few days old) usually feed and sleep but Adam has his periods of active wakefulness.
I wonder if he's got my active genes?

And also one more thing I noticed - the dogs have been acting all wierd lately.
Alice doesnt finish her food anymore, always eating only half bowl.. and Mavy refuses to go potty in the toilets anymore. He prefers to go potty in our corridor and I wonder why??
Is it because he can smell Adam in the toilet? He bathes in the toilet and his clothes are also washed there.. Maybe that's why Mavy doesnt wana dirty the toilets? Hmmmm

Monday, May 25, 2009

Countdown to Freedom

This whole confinement thing is killing me. I wonder what's the point when I am already going out - brought Adam to his Paediatrician twice, went to my gynae for wound review and stitch removal.




I want to go Chocolate buffet at Fullerton with my girls!
And I was supposed to go for my Brazilian wax on the day Adam decided to see the world.
So many things to do/buy, so little time!

The only way to keep sane being confined at home is do some online shopping heh heh..

I'm thinking of buying this infant car seat from Maxi-Cosi for Adam to use after his Full Month so poor Daddy doesnt have to sit alone in the front like a chauffeur.





The pink version is really cool! How I wish I have a girl!



And this sling from Moms In Mind which I intend to get also.. Comes in 100% cotton, satin and silk.


We've also received quite a number of gifts from generous and well-meaning relatives and friends (Charmaine, Meena, Jenny, Pal):
- Baby Ace fully reclineable stroller
- Baby Disney playgym
- Shears baby boy gift sets
- AVENT BPA-free bottles which are really what I was crazy about during my pregnancy
- tonics and birds nest for me
- lots of angpaos from the great-grandma and uncles/aunties.

Thank you everyone for the lovely thoughts and useful gifts. Cant wait for my confinement to be over!
Another 20 days to F.R.E.E.D.O.M.... :P

Thursday, May 21, 2009

A little update on the little one.

Daddy after changing Adam's nappy


The dogs are always hanging around Adam's cot. When he wails, Mavy will act flustered and keep looking at me as if to say "Quick Mum! The baby's crying!" hahaha


Received a lovely little parcel on the day we came home from hospital. It's a really thoughtful gift from my dear friend in Aussie... She knitted the booties herself! I'm impressed! She's really good with her hands. You can see all the stuff she makes, plus her 2 bubs HERE. :)


Enjoying a nap after a feed



So far I've been enjoying motherhood, getting to know my newborn and settling into a routine.
Despite my initial fears, I am currently giving Adam total breast milk.

TBM = Total breast milk
BM = Breast milk
BF = Breastfeed
FM = Formula milk

Thanks to Meena for recommending Fenugreek, and all my other yummy mummy friends (namely J in Aust m/o Rach & Josh, Chris m/o Nat, Shannon m/o Tristan) who are constantly giving me great advice on BF, caring for a baby etc.
It's wonderful to have all of you kind hearted mummies as friends!

Okays time to logoff. Ciao! :)