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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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!

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*

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

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

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! :)

Fruit of our labour

Mini Andy is out!
It was 4am on 17 May 2009 Sunday. I woke up drenched in cold and slimy fluids. Anxiously, I quickly woke Andy.
Andy: Are you sure your waters broke? Can smell it to see if it's not pee?
Me *sniff sniff* : No hon it's not pee. It got no smell and there's a pool! My waters really broke!
Then Andy got nervous and jumped up. He was supposed to help grab a towel but stood at my cupboard looking into space.
Fed up, I decided to climb out of bed and stagger to the toilet, but every action triggered more water to gush and leak out. Yikes!

(Actually, there was a slight embarrassing incident just the other night a week prior to this... Here's what happened...)
I woke up to pee but realised my shorts and undies were soaked.. In a panic I woke Andy up saying my waters broke.
Andy: Huh? your waters broke? *looks at me* Cannot be... if your waters broke it cant be so little.
Me: Oh you think I wet the bed?
Andy: Yah could be.
I changed out of my shorts and we got back to sleep. The next few days, Andy wouldnt stop teasing me about my "waters broke". How was I supposed to know pregnancy can make me incontinent!
Yeah... and you'd think husbands should be more supportive of their wives during pregnancy.

So anyways, this time my WATERS REALLY BROKE so we packed up, took a shower and went to the hospital.
It was 4.35AM and I felt my 1st contraction. That hurt ALOT! I winced and grabbed Andy's shorts and let out a small scream.
When we reached hospital at 5AM, my contractions were getting more and more frequent and increasingly PAINFUL!
Nurse did a last ultrasound on me to see if Baby is really still breech. Unfortunately - YES. No chance of delivering naturally.
In between the contraction, I got onto the bed and the nurses checked to see how far I've progressed.
To everyone's surprise, I was already 4cm dilated! Almost halfway there.
The nurse announced to everyone in the room that she can feel Baby's leg at my cervix already!!
So they called Dr Don and said he has to come soon to perform the Emergency C-section on me.

After that, it was all a blur. I only remembered being wheeled about in a trolley, the OT was damn cold, I was shivering and damn scared, Andy was told to wait at the holding area for Baby,
Dr Don and the Anesthetist came dressed in scrubs looking all professional and important, I felt pain in all directions - from the IV needles to the contractions.
And then, it was over! Baby A is out!
Too fast and too furious! I didnt even know what happened next... Only, I was showed pictures of Baby A taken by Daddy Andy.



Wet and slimy and fresh from the oven




Eh, can stop fussing over me already? *scratch head*




Pale and tired me with a sleeping Adam.


Daddy carrying Adam for the 1st time.


Daddy also very tired and looks scared Hahaha


My Mum told Adam when he was still in my tummy that she wouldnt spoil him, but when he came out the first person to smother him is her. Tsk.


Trying hard to refrain from pinching him.


My Dad, beaming.


My brother JJ and his Gf Liping. She's the best candidate to be Nanny because she is so patient and totally adores Adam.


They bought Adam this cow outfit.




The fruit of my labour...

My sweet little girl

Alice after a nice cold bath on a hot humid Friday noon. I sprinkled some Kodomo baby powder on her and she smells so nice.
I turned on the fan for her and she is sleeping soundly like a baby.
I love to smell her toe-sies. They have this unique musky smell which may sound gross but I like. Hee..

By the way, can you see her teeth? I wonder why Shelties cannot seem to close their mouths fully. Maybe that's why they love to bark bark BARK as well?? Many teeth = very chatty.

Bean Husk pillow Project

This little project called our Bean Husk Pillow Project has been ongoing for several months now.
The parties involved in this project are: Mum, Aunty LY, Grandma and I (the least involved :P)

Mum went to the tow-gay seller in our market to collect the husks.
Grandma was in-charge of the sieving and sorting process which is MOST TEDIOUS of all!
The husks come with bits of the leftover beans and other "unwanted particles" so she painstakingly sieved through all of them.

The husks went through stringent sorting, selection and sunning processes and are immaculate. End result? Beautiful sun-dried bean husks!


You will also need a funnel and cup.


I bought pillow and bolster from Kiddypalace, removed all the stuffings inside.

Cut a small little opening on a corner of the pillow and pour bean husks inside.

Our QC Officer busy with her biggest project of the year.

So cute! Though she is getting demented and asks me the same questions everytime I'm home (like "How many months maternity leave do you have?") but I still love my Grandma! :D

Same process for the baby bolster.

The finished products:

One beannie pillow like this easily cost you $20 (our total cost is only $9 for the materials) but it's not about the $$.
It's about doing things with your beloveds that no amount of money can buy.

Even Andy's mum complimented that they are very nicely done. Feel so proud of my Grandma, Aunty LY and Mum.
I love my family so much and want Baby A to grow up in an environment filled with lots of love and family togetherness :)

D-Day 20 May??

My mum went to calculate the auspicious date for Baby A's arrival and so far, a good date would be 20 May.
That's exactly ONE WEEK from today.
I feel like I still have so many things to do, so little time!

- Bring Alice to vet for clearance and to top up her prescription diet + any medications to prepare for my month of Confinement. My confinement = dogs' confinement.

- Have to arrange for Cot to be delivered earlier. (Arranged delivery date is 23 May)

- Go for my Brazilian wax

- Attend Siling & Norman's wedding this Friday 15 May.

More importantly, Andy is still extremely busy with the shifting of his warehouse from Pasir Panjang to Changi.
Who ask my dear Hubby to be so charitable, letting the car forum guys store car parts in his warehouse FOC... now he gotta call the guys up to take back their exhaust pipes, sports seats, original parts ....*rolls eyes*
Plus all the goods, forklifts etc gotta go to Changi.

I hope that he will be able to finish all the shifting by this weekend, so that next week he will have time for Baby A's arrival.
I want him to be around as much as possible and be involved as much as possible.


Baby, Daddy & Mummy cant wait to cuddle you!

9 Layer Kueh Lapis

I've been craving to eat this my entire pregnancy, and for the past 9 months I didnt eat a single piece of this. Not many shops selling this anymore and it is fast becoming extinct.

Finally today, Andy's mum bought them for me. I'm so happy!
I savoured it, peeling layer by layer off and eating it.

I'm really easy to please :)

Week 37 Antenatal checkup

Went for my checkup with Gugu (let's call her Aunt LY from now on) accompanying me.
For the 1st time she got to see Baby A "live" hahaha, and get first hand news from the man himself - Dr Don.
Andy tried his best to rush over in time, but when he reached our appt was just about to be over. But it's Ok. Because I know how much he wants to be there.

Baby A is still breech.
I've been told to pick a date for Caesarian section since it is unlikely that he will engage.
This means, Baby A can come out anytime within these 2-3 weeks. He wont be coming out on the 1st week of June afterall (his EDD is 4 June) because that week, Dr Don is going on leave and he cant be around to perform the operation on me.

I've emailed Singapore Cord Blood Bank to express my interest in donating Baby A's cord blood, and will be meeting up with them on Thursday to fill in the necessary paperwork.
Feel so happy that Baby A can be a donor and do good deeds the moment he is born.
I think instilling in a child good morals and values are much more important than paper qualifications.
For those Mummies-to-be who are interested in donating your infant's cord blood, you can go to the SCBB link above and email them.


We also finally bought a breast pump. We took a good several months to decide "to buy or not to buy yet?"; "which brand" etc. I guess Breast Pumps are very personal because each Mummy gives a varying opinion of each brand.
In the end, I chose AVENT because the steam steriliser Charmaine gave us, and our milk bottles are from AVENT.

Andy & I tried it when we assembled the pump and he was quite excited about using it Hahaha
He was learning how to latch it on correctly and how to use it the right way.
The end result? My nipples were sore and red. Didnt know it is quite painful to express BM.
But that also means - Hubby did it! LOL He successfully learned how to use a breast pump.
I'm so proud of him for being a hands-on Daddy.
There is no milk flowing out now of course. We just wanted to make sure it was working properly.


The next thing I need to do is to pick an auspicious date for Baby A's arrival and go for a nice Brazilian wax. *nervous and anxious*

Busy monday

Busy, crazy Monday.

List of things to do:
1- Change bedsheets and clean up the room

2- Meet Mum and my Aussie relatives at Kallang Bahru at 5pm.
I'm not looking forward to this meetup because first of all, I'm forced to go by Mum. She says that once I pop I will not have the chance to meetup with my Aussie relatives for the near future.
Mum (via SMS): You wana take MRT down to Toa Payoh to meet me then we take a bus to Kallang Bahru?
Me: No I dont want to climb up and down the bus with my heavy and huge watermelon just tell me what time to meet and the address. From Tampines I go to Kallang is nearer.

Honestly what on Earth is my Mum thinking? Has she been abducted by aliens?!

3- After Kallang Bahru, take cab to Woodlands for my Week 37 review.
Andy cant make it due to his busy work schedule so my Gugu (favouritest aunt, Dad's sister) is going with me to the appt instead.
After that, Andy will come and fetch me.

4- Meet a MummySG forum member on our way back because I am buying something from her.

Damn busy day man.