Retirement
4 weeks ago
Is Mommy FAT?
After 2 weeks, Mommy has only lost 5kg, shy of the 10kg Mommy lost when Mommy had Keziah. 8 more kg before Mommy return to my pre-pregnancy weight. Yes, now Mommy has good food and more rest with a confinement lady, not having to bath and busy myself with washing. All Mommy needs to do is to focus on breastfeeding, espressing to increase supply and manage the night wakings which are extremely tiring when the little one keeps waking for feeds and not wanting to go back to sleep after. He can be perpetually on the breasts for hours.
Then this afternoon, Mommy decided to weigh myself. Someone too decided to comment that she noticed Mommy was fat and that Mommy was eating alot. Mommy has no choice but to eat since Mommy is nursing and needs all the nourishment for the little didi. Isn't it good that Mommy can eat? Can't deny that there's much to go for Mommy's waist and hips but it's just upsetting to hear this! Or is Mommy eating too much that the stock of food is not enough for her and so the comment? Just yesterday when Daddy's grandma, Jia Jia, visited, she was still telling Mommy to eat more coz she is nursing.
Is Mommy really that FAT?
The state of Mommy 16 days after delivery..
Then this afternoon, Mommy decided to weigh myself. Someone too decided to comment that she noticed Mommy was fat and that Mommy was eating alot. Mommy has no choice but to eat since Mommy is nursing and needs all the nourishment for the little didi. Isn't it good that Mommy can eat? Can't deny that there's much to go for Mommy's waist and hips but it's just upsetting to hear this! Or is Mommy eating too much that the stock of food is not enough for her and so the comment? Just yesterday when Daddy's grandma, Jia Jia, visited, she was still telling Mommy to eat more coz she is nursing.
Is Mommy really that FAT?
The state of Mommy 16 days after delivery..
Crab for Keziah
For the first time today, Keziah has her hands and mouth on the crab!
The verdict? Yum Yum...
The verdict? Yum Yum...
15 days old...Smiles
Now Abel is more awake and started to smile and laugh in his dreams. Just look at the little one awakening and giving that dreamy smile after his feed and wonder who's looking at him...
Night reversal
My little darling boy has done it again!!!! Once again, last night, he was up from 11am to nearly 5am this time, not wanting to go back to bed after his feed. This seem to take place every alternate night and last night was the longest ever! His mouth would be searching for the breast as if he's really hungry after 5 minutes of unlatching. He had already fed on both sides and fallen asleep while feeding. CL helped to try pat him to sleep but his eyes were just wide opened. Every time thereafter, he would fall asleep after 5 minutes at the breast. He pooed and we changed him. Not sure if this was keeping him up. Finally, it wasn't till close to 5am that he decided to spare Mommy. Mommy suspected that he was simply treating the breast as a pacifier as it was not like that in the day. Or was it the aircon too cold - 24 deg? Mommy somehow was still perspiring like nobody's business that even the whole bed felt damp. Prayfully, he would recognise day and night soon and get some good sleep at night and not the day. Zonk Mommy...
When more is less....
Surprise surprise, CL told Mommy that she could eat ham and cheese which is a more nutritious snack than simple crackers and milo. Furthermore, nursing mommies do really need to eat a lot more for the additional 500 calories they burn without having to do a single exercise aside from breastfeeding the little one. Daddy on hearing this, bought Mommy her favourite ham and also the higher grade hearty wholemeal bread which Mommy loves but not fancied by the rest in the family who prefers the white. It must be the confinement month, that even family members also have a change of taste. Somehow 300g of ham, 1 loaf of hearty wholemeal and 1 loaf of white bread were finished in 3 days when Mommy only had 3 sandwiches made of 2 slices of bread, cheese and ham each. These stuff usually would take a week to finish. An interesting observation!
Dairy of Abel
Day 4 Home Sweet Home....
Wow, what's all these?
First Dip in the Pool...
Nice and comfy for a rest...
Day 5
The dainty sleeper making his stretch...
Still jaundiced. Have to be sunned whenever we could, i.e. either the 8-10am or 5-6pm sun, so that his delicate skin won't burn...
Day 6
Sound asleep and finally a sweet smile from the little one....
Day 7
Still sleepy with a different pose. Oh yes, he loves to have his hands out for stretches and waves them all over...
Dearest Daddy with his two lovely little ones..
Day 8
Has he changed?
Day 9
Oh just look at his long sleek fingers and his nails are really long. Mommy has to trim his nails soon...
It's time for bath but he's still in dreamland...
Time to get talking...
Resting in his bouncer while Mommy starts her massage to ease some aches...
Day 10
Lovely Keziah doting her little brother and ever so happy to give didi a hug and a kiss...
Day 11 More awake after being a 'sleeping babe' for awhile. Actually for the past few days, Abel been really a lovely child in the day, sleeping after his feed for 2-3hrs at times but dear Mommy had a hard time in the night when he's either up every 2hr for feed or simply don't want to leave Mommy's bosom from 11pm - 3 am in the morning. It can be rather tiring when he's having a reversal of sleeping pattern.
Wow, what's all these?
First Dip in the Pool...
Nice and comfy for a rest...
Day 5
The dainty sleeper making his stretch...
Still jaundiced. Have to be sunned whenever we could, i.e. either the 8-10am or 5-6pm sun, so that his delicate skin won't burn...
Day 6
Sound asleep and finally a sweet smile from the little one....
Day 7
Still sleepy with a different pose. Oh yes, he loves to have his hands out for stretches and waves them all over...
Dearest Daddy with his two lovely little ones..
Day 8
Has he changed?
Day 9
Oh just look at his long sleek fingers and his nails are really long. Mommy has to trim his nails soon...
It's time for bath but he's still in dreamland...
Time to get talking...
Resting in his bouncer while Mommy starts her massage to ease some aches...
Day 10
Lovely Keziah doting her little brother and ever so happy to give didi a hug and a kiss...
Day 11 More awake after being a 'sleeping babe' for awhile. Actually for the past few days, Abel been really a lovely child in the day, sleeping after his feed for 2-3hrs at times but dear Mommy had a hard time in the night when he's either up every 2hr for feed or simply don't want to leave Mommy's bosom from 11pm - 3 am in the morning. It can be rather tiring when he's having a reversal of sleeping pattern.
Confinement and Mood Swings
This time round, we have gotten a confinement lady to help me out with the confinement period. I must really thank my friend, Yunn Tyan, for her recommendation. Firstly, good nutritious food to feed the hungry nursing Mommy, rest for Mommy as CL does all the washing and cleaning and that of bb as well, help to coax bb after feeding and especially so for the night feeds of the little one who seems to have night reversal where he is more awake in the night beginning 11.30pm. Mommy could take a snooze while CL try to put him back to his cot before the next feed which can be anywhere in the next 30min to 1.5hr at night. She also prepares some light supper like Milo with biscuits to top up Mommy's energy level in the middle of the night. That saying, CL is not perfect. She can sometimes forget to sterilise Mommy's pump and bottles.
Mommy also gets to spend some time with Keziah, having a CL to tend to bb. Interestingly, Keziah seems to like CL too. Every evening when she is back from Grandma's place, Nei Nei would simply bring her up to Mommy's room and leave her there after cleaning up while Nei Nei goes around her own business till milk time or Daddy's back to tend to Keziah. Meanwhile, Mommy will be busy nursing didi and Keziah would be kept occupied awhile by CL.
Despite so, Mommy seems to have some mild mood swings the past 2 days, with high sensitivity to things. It started out on Monday night. Mommy really wanted to spend some time with Daddy who is often busy caring for Keziah while Mommy rested and fed Abel. She stayed up and waited for Daddy who was home late at 8.30pm due to work. So Mommy sat down with Daddy for dinner for a chat. However, Daddy was busy sms-ing to make business with his photography to earn some milk powder money. Mommy was rather irritated and especially so, when Daddy didn't really react when she left the table shortly to rest in bed. Emotional Mommy started tearing in her room and sending Daddy sms in the night she couldn't sleep to make Daddy realise what Mommy's feeling. Things got better.
Next day, it was gynae visit. Mommy had to go alone coz Daddy was working. Naturally Mommy wanted to be home early so as to nurse Abel. So she asked the always nice nurse at the clinic how long was the wait. Perhaps, it wasn't appropriate to have popped the question in front of other patients who had also waited for a long time due to gynae having a delivery and Mommy having arrived later as the clinic had called to pospone the appointment. However, nurse replied rather harshly, "The other patients have waited for a long time. You should have nursed ur baby before coming." Tears started rolling down again. Lonely and yet received such treatment. Mommy tried to dry up and when she went in, she realised the nurse had actually scheduled her earlier and had to respond in that manner so as to put on a show before other patients who had been there earlier.
That evening, Nei nei brought Keziah back and cleaned her but she had to leave for some class. Keziah was left with Mommy who was nursing didi and CL. Keziah somehow was very sticky to Nei Nei and when she realised Nei nei was going to leave her, she started calling out. She held CL by hand and pulled her to the door to go downstairs. Her cries for Nei nei was really so heartbreaking and so sad, sounding like a lost child. Daddy wasn't home yet and Mommy could understand as his work is relatively heavy recently and there was much to be done. Mommy once again couldn't help but teared again coz she couldn't do much as she was still breastfeeding didi.
OK, hopefully all the hormones will normalise by now. Though this confinement has been rather pleasant, the emotional changes somehow still got on to Mommy.
Mommy also gets to spend some time with Keziah, having a CL to tend to bb. Interestingly, Keziah seems to like CL too. Every evening when she is back from Grandma's place, Nei Nei would simply bring her up to Mommy's room and leave her there after cleaning up while Nei Nei goes around her own business till milk time or Daddy's back to tend to Keziah. Meanwhile, Mommy will be busy nursing didi and Keziah would be kept occupied awhile by CL.
Despite so, Mommy seems to have some mild mood swings the past 2 days, with high sensitivity to things. It started out on Monday night. Mommy really wanted to spend some time with Daddy who is often busy caring for Keziah while Mommy rested and fed Abel. She stayed up and waited for Daddy who was home late at 8.30pm due to work. So Mommy sat down with Daddy for dinner for a chat. However, Daddy was busy sms-ing to make business with his photography to earn some milk powder money. Mommy was rather irritated and especially so, when Daddy didn't really react when she left the table shortly to rest in bed. Emotional Mommy started tearing in her room and sending Daddy sms in the night she couldn't sleep to make Daddy realise what Mommy's feeling. Things got better.
Next day, it was gynae visit. Mommy had to go alone coz Daddy was working. Naturally Mommy wanted to be home early so as to nurse Abel. So she asked the always nice nurse at the clinic how long was the wait. Perhaps, it wasn't appropriate to have popped the question in front of other patients who had also waited for a long time due to gynae having a delivery and Mommy having arrived later as the clinic had called to pospone the appointment. However, nurse replied rather harshly, "The other patients have waited for a long time. You should have nursed ur baby before coming." Tears started rolling down again. Lonely and yet received such treatment. Mommy tried to dry up and when she went in, she realised the nurse had actually scheduled her earlier and had to respond in that manner so as to put on a show before other patients who had been there earlier.
That evening, Nei nei brought Keziah back and cleaned her but she had to leave for some class. Keziah was left with Mommy who was nursing didi and CL. Keziah somehow was very sticky to Nei Nei and when she realised Nei nei was going to leave her, she started calling out. She held CL by hand and pulled her to the door to go downstairs. Her cries for Nei nei was really so heartbreaking and so sad, sounding like a lost child. Daddy wasn't home yet and Mommy could understand as his work is relatively heavy recently and there was much to be done. Mommy once again couldn't help but teared again coz she couldn't do much as she was still breastfeeding didi.
OK, hopefully all the hormones will normalise by now. Though this confinement has been rather pleasant, the emotional changes somehow still got on to Mommy.
Interesting Conversation With Keziah
Daddy has the important role of putting Keziah to sleep ever since Baby Abel was born. Daddy got to make up songs to sing to Keziah sometimes as Keziah got bored of the bed time songs we sing to her.
We missed him for three days as Daddy and Mummy was away in Hospital with the arrival of Abel and how Keziah grew.
This is a conversation Daddy had with Keziah before bedtime today....
As usual Daddy would be singing to her...
"If you want to see Turtle,
you ask Nei Nei (Grandmum) to give Ah Tai (Great Grandmum) a call.
And if Ah Tai is at home,
we'll get Nei Nei to drive us there.
And if Nei Nei has the car,
She'll drive us there to see Ah Tai's Turtle,
And we'll have fun seeing Ah Tai's big turtle."
Suddenly out of nowhere, Keziah just shouted "BUS.... TAXI"
D: "if Nei Nei don't have car.. then we take Bus and Taxi.."
K: "Uhm" indicating Yes... (She still cannot use the word Yes properly)
D: "Take taxi need money"
K: "NOPE" Chukle.....
D: "Daddy no money... who have money?"
K: "Oh Poh (Grand Auntie)"
D: "Where?"
K: "Bag Bag"
D: "Opps.. how you know?"
K: Laughing away...
Well to think that kids don't know anything... :) At least she's know who has the money.. :P
We missed him for three days as Daddy and Mummy was away in Hospital with the arrival of Abel and how Keziah grew.
This is a conversation Daddy had with Keziah before bedtime today....
As usual Daddy would be singing to her...
"If you want to see Turtle,
you ask Nei Nei (Grandmum) to give Ah Tai (Great Grandmum) a call.
And if Ah Tai is at home,
we'll get Nei Nei to drive us there.
And if Nei Nei has the car,
She'll drive us there to see Ah Tai's Turtle,
And we'll have fun seeing Ah Tai's big turtle."
Suddenly out of nowhere, Keziah just shouted "BUS.... TAXI"
D: "if Nei Nei don't have car.. then we take Bus and Taxi.."
K: "Uhm" indicating Yes... (She still cannot use the word Yes properly)
D: "Take taxi need money"
K: "NOPE" Chukle.....
D: "Daddy no money... who have money?"
K: "Oh Poh (Grand Auntie)"
D: "Where?"
K: "Bag Bag"
D: "Opps.. how you know?"
K: Laughing away...
Well to think that kids don't know anything... :) At least she's know who has the money.. :P
K's growing so fast..
Somehow after 2 days away from home in the hospital, Mommy realised how much Keziah has grown. She suddenly was able to do so much that Mommy was all in awe. She was able to pick up words that we said. Remembered the first thing that really caught Mommy was when she said, "Mama, eat". She's forming her phrases and using words with sense. She's prompt to respond "ready" when we asked if she was. She is such an adorable sister to her little brother, ever so excited to see him and touch him and even immitating his cries to tell Mommy and DAddy that he's crying. She would so love to hug her little brother, though Mommy and Daddy wonder if she was a little too hard in her attempts. Mommy actually felt bad at having to 'push' her away for fear of hurting the little boy who is so small and fragile.
Baby Abel's born!
Baby Abel was born TODAY, at a time we least expected...
Yes yes, I was very unexpected myself as our visit to gynae just yesterday, Sat, baby still not engaged yet and neither was I dilated. No show, no cramps, no water break.
Guess what, at 2 am this morning about 3 hrs after I went to bed, I had contractions which I thought was bad tummy ache coz the day before eating rubbish food. Go toilet nothing. Went back to bed tossed and turn and the cramps in the lower abdomen kept coming at closer interval. Woke Daddy up but we thought just sleep abit more coz it might be a false alarm.
3 am Felt it was really contraction and was at interval about 5 min so woke up and packed hospital bag. Daddy showered and I washed up. Had a milo and headed for hospital after waking ILs up to take care of Keziah who was thankfully still sleeping.
4 am At TMC observation room and got hooked on CTG. Contracting and cervix was already 4-5cm dilated. Haha..so funny registry also thought it might be a false alarm and asked Daddy to not to register and wait in the waiting rm for something like 20min. Nurse who was tending to me came out and asked Daddy why he still not registered. Meanwhile, I cleared my bowels and went straight to delivery suite where I waited some time before Daddy came to join me.
About 6 am gyne came to burst the waterbag and the contraction seemed to get more intense. Asked for the gas. About 6.30am, I had too much gas until "giddy" and somehow lost in space as the pain was coming in intense spurts. Time to push...and I was screaming my head off as the gas wore off. After two to three pushes, baby was out at 0701am.
Here's our little one...
Yes yes, I was very unexpected myself as our visit to gynae just yesterday, Sat, baby still not engaged yet and neither was I dilated. No show, no cramps, no water break.
Guess what, at 2 am this morning about 3 hrs after I went to bed, I had contractions which I thought was bad tummy ache coz the day before eating rubbish food. Go toilet nothing. Went back to bed tossed and turn and the cramps in the lower abdomen kept coming at closer interval. Woke Daddy up but we thought just sleep abit more coz it might be a false alarm.
3 am Felt it was really contraction and was at interval about 5 min so woke up and packed hospital bag. Daddy showered and I washed up. Had a milo and headed for hospital after waking ILs up to take care of Keziah who was thankfully still sleeping.
4 am At TMC observation room and got hooked on CTG. Contracting and cervix was already 4-5cm dilated. Haha..so funny registry also thought it might be a false alarm and asked Daddy to not to register and wait in the waiting rm for something like 20min. Nurse who was tending to me came out and asked Daddy why he still not registered. Meanwhile, I cleared my bowels and went straight to delivery suite where I waited some time before Daddy came to join me.
About 6 am gyne came to burst the waterbag and the contraction seemed to get more intense. Asked for the gas. About 6.30am, I had too much gas until "giddy" and somehow lost in space as the pain was coming in intense spurts. Time to push...and I was screaming my head off as the gas wore off. After two to three pushes, baby was out at 0701am.
Here's our little one...
Strawberries...my favourite
Keziah simply loves her fruits and especially so, for strawberries. She would be willing to share with you any fruit with strawberries being an exception. Let's see if Daddy's gets a treat from Keziah..
A good start to a good year!
First of all, a very happy new year to all those who read my blog....
We started off the new year with a family dinner to celebrate Nei Nei's birthday. We booked a table at a resturant at Odeon Towers late morning and enjoyed the food there. Nei Nei wanted to have Pekin Duck so the family will be the ideal size to finish the duck. The food was yum yum... two thumbs up! :)
Here's me enjoying the prawn cracker with daddy.
After lunch, Keziah went back home to have a nap. Look at her smily face, enjoying her favourite fruit... Strawberries... from Korea.. look at her sweet smile...
You can take a picture of me... BUT YOU CANNOT TAKE MY STRAWBERRIES!
Daddy and mummy brought Keziah out in the afternoon, wanting to go to West Coast Park to retrace the track I walked during my initial stages of walking. The park was packed and so was the car park. We couldn't find a parking place. Daddy suggested we visit Kent Ridge Park instead.
It's a nice and breezy day and the park was very shady and cool. It's such a nice day to go out and stroll in the park.
See I brought along my bicycle.
The view on the Canopy walk was simply great! I can even see Marriot Hotel from the Canopy Walk
Giving daddy a hand at pushing.
All Smiles... Enjoying the run and the extra space.
A picture with mummy at the lookout point. Look at the great view.
Mummy's giving some simple science lesson to Keziah. Introducing her to the pine trees and asking her to touch the "special" leaves.
A nice souvenir for keeps.
We then went to check out the Mac that Auntie Natalie talked about in her blog. Auntie Nat if you're looking at this blog, did we get the right Mac you were talking about?
Drinking my favourite drink.
Checking out the nice playground.
The outdoor playground.
Mummy and daddy love the alfreso concept of this Mac and there's a nice outdoor playgound for the little ones to play. If they're bored, they can feed the many tortises in the pond.
Sun tanning
Who can resist taking a picture with Ronanld Macdonald.
Well... Keziah can now say "Donald" indicating MacDonald.. :) Well Done Keziah.. Keep it up!
We started off the new year with a family dinner to celebrate Nei Nei's birthday. We booked a table at a resturant at Odeon Towers late morning and enjoyed the food there. Nei Nei wanted to have Pekin Duck so the family will be the ideal size to finish the duck. The food was yum yum... two thumbs up! :)
After lunch, Keziah went back home to have a nap. Look at her smily face, enjoying her favourite fruit... Strawberries... from Korea.. look at her sweet smile...
Daddy and mummy brought Keziah out in the afternoon, wanting to go to West Coast Park to retrace the track I walked during my initial stages of walking. The park was packed and so was the car park. We couldn't find a parking place. Daddy suggested we visit Kent Ridge Park instead.
It's a nice and breezy day and the park was very shady and cool. It's such a nice day to go out and stroll in the park.
We then went to check out the Mac that Auntie Natalie talked about in her blog. Auntie Nat if you're looking at this blog, did we get the right Mac you were talking about?
Mummy and daddy love the alfreso concept of this Mac and there's a nice outdoor playgound for the little ones to play. If they're bored, they can feed the many tortises in the pond.
Well... Keziah can now say "Donald" indicating MacDonald.. :) Well Done Keziah.. Keep it up!
