Confinement May 25, 2007
Posted by hunnybunz in yXuan.5 comments
Having problems with confinement nanny. In a nutshell, she is not very accommodating in terms of cooking for my family even though we had agreed earlier that she had to do so while my maid tended to all household chores and my two older boys. She was also not able to take care of Xuan at night because she couldn’t take the cold air but Xuan needed the air con when he was on phototherapy. I had been taking care of Xuan at night myself. We were thinking of asking her to leave this weekend but she asked to go on Thursday evening.
We pro-rated her pay but gave her an ang pow substantial to cover for her travelling expenses and compensate her for the opportunity cost. She was happy and so was I.
With the confinement nanny gone, the household quickly settled into a new routine. Xuan’s cot was shifted into our room where he has a little cosy corner for himself. We ordered confinement food. The portion was generous - enough for hubby and I. The kids helped themselves to the vegetables and occasionally, chicken and pork (cos they can’t take too much ginger, else too heaty!) We just needed to prepare another simple dish of steam fish, tofu or fry eggs for them.
Hubby or Kakakwill take the mid-night shift while I take the 3am shift. On good days, Xuan wakes up at 7am. Otherwise, he would poo twice during the night. Papa, who’s the pro in bathing babies, clean our little piggy before he goes to work.
Overall, we are coping well. We are happy seeing our little prince growing by the days.
Jaundice & HFMD May 22, 2007
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Xuan with Jaundice
Brought 4 days old Xuan to Dr Terence Tan on Monday for check up. He has jaundice. Bilirubin level is 14mg/dL. We din’t want to hospitalise him so we rented home the billibed for phototherapy. Rental of the bed is cheaper than hospital charges. ($245 for 3 days – from South Asia Bio Eng (65636228). Most important, I could tend to my little one and continue breastfeeding him at the comfort of our home.
The bed came this evening but Xuan simply refused to stay in it. He would yell, cry and struggle the moment he was put into it.
I was at my wits end. Finally, I lifted the bilibed out of the trolley and placed it onto my bed. I lied beside him, again freezing at akward postures and breastfed him to calm him. The whole night was spent like that – Baby cry – I feed – Baby Settled & Sleep – I Sleep! I was exhausted!
.
Hang with HFMD
Hang had ulcers in his throat since Friday and the pain was excruciating!The doctor said:
No need to go to school.
Can have ice-cream for meals everyday.
Can also drink Yakult and other cold drinks.
No need to drink milk and eat porridge.
Can stay in Kong Kong’s house.
And Guess what he is down with?
Hand-Foot-Mouth !!!
Birth Annoucement May 19, 2007
Posted by hunnybunz in yXuan.3 comments
Mummy and Baby discharged by noon.
All at home now.
Resting.
Bonding.
*****
Updates on baby Xuan
Oh boy! Its another BOY! We are blessed with 3 BOYS!
Baby Xuan was in the pink of health and thus pead, Dr Terence Tan gave us the green light for discharge. There were vital signs that we needed to monitor at home. Baby MUST pass urine and meconium within 24 hours. Otherwise we have to bring him back to the hospital.
Xuan has not been feeding well. He was sleepy all the time and when he did wake up for feeds, even with the nipple in his mouth, he did not suckle. Which made me very worried. Told myself not to lose faith, maintain confidence and keep praying, keep trying.
About 8pm, after almost a whole day of trying and coaxing, he finally started to suckle - I had to literally freeze at an akward position to ensure that the nipple stayed in his little mouth and not disrupt his feeding. Ouch! Aching back! I also pumped, squeezing and collecting every precious drop of colostrum. Manage to collect half oz which I fed him using a syringe after he unlatched.
And then he POOP! Yeah!
Updates on Mommy
I was not comfortable at TMC. Didn’t like the environment. Felt more at ease and comfortable at home where I could breastfeed with privacy. Still very tired. Need to rest, rest and rest.
Updates on the Bunz
Hang has been really looking forward to the arrival of the little one. He has been asking when he could see his lil brother since the time my water bag leaked. His Papa picked him from school before coming to the hospital. He’s such a lovely brother. While Papa was busy settling the hospital payment, he went to a gift shop, spent some time to choose a bear with great care and bought it for his lil brother.
Xiang is excited about the new addition to our family but the lil one is more like a new ‘toy’ to him. He’s curious and really funny. When Xuan passed meconium, his testicles were covered with the greenish poo and Xiang went, “Didi has a penis and BROCCOLI !” When I breastfeed, he asked, “Mummy, WHY? Why put BUTTON (refering to my nipple) into baby’s mouth. Be careful, ok!”
Birth Story of Xuan May 18, 2007
Posted by hunnybunz in Pregnancy & Childbirth, yXuan.add a comment
16th May6pm : Just before dinner, I felt a small warm gush of water. My water bag started to leak. But NO contractions. Called hubby. D day?
7pm: Took a hot shower and activities continued as per usual. Did flash cards with Xiang. Coached Hang on Math and English. More water leaked out continuously. Dad cancelled all his plans and come over to help tuck the boys in bed.
Still NO contractions!
9pm : Hubby came home from work. More water leaked out but still NO contractions. We decided to head to the hospital to make sure that everything is OK. Did last minute packing. Pray the rosary.
11pm : Went over to my parents place to take camera battery and ended up having supper there.
11:45: Reached TMC. CTG showed minor contractions. VE showed that cervix not dilated yet!
12:30pm: Spoke to Dr Paul Tseng over the phone. Decided to go home and wait instead of staying in the hospital.
17th May
6:30 am : Slept but not well. Still NO contractions. Baby moving alright. Will see Dr Paul later.
Feeling anxious.
Why did my water bag leaked? Did I do anything wrong?
Am I going to get the birth I’ve envisioned?
Will I need to be induced? Emergency C-section?
Is this another sign that the baby may not be healthy?
7 am: The boys woke up and the household sprang to life with them doing the Hookey-Pookey dance early in the morning before fighting, as the little one sprayed urine on his big brother! Now, they are having breakfast and squabbling over whose ‘pau’ is bigger! Moments like these, I felt so blessed to be a mom and experience the simple joy of motherhood. Moments like this is what I needed most at this crucial moment.
8:30am : Showered. Panic a lil’ cos can’t feel baby’s movement. A lil’ emotional too. Hubby was very reassuring. Made me laughed, as usual. He always make me laugh and relax when I am angry, anxious, sad … It’s marvelous to have someone so calm and comforting at times like this.
9:00am: Reached Dr Paul’s office. Did CTG. Baby heart beats OK. Movement very active. I was given 2 options 1)Induce immediately 2)Wait till 6pm and if NO contractions, then induce.
Hubby actually could remember the pros and cons of induction from our Hypnobirthing course. I was impressed. The usually decisive me could not decide, so hubby made the decision, “Since we have wanted an all natural birth, drug free birth from the very beginning, we will stick to the plan and wait.”
11am : Quick lunch with hubby. Hubby sent me home and headed back to work.
12pm : I went back to school to tie some loose ends. Have an hour of leisure lunch (again!) with colleagues.
3pm : Sis came over to help out with the boys.
5pm : Boys went over to parents place leaving me some quiet time by myself. Hot shower, belly lift, nipple stimulation – you name it, I’ve tried it but still NO contractions! One more hour to ‘dead line’. Looks like I have to be induced. Still hoping for a drug free birth.
Thanks everyone for keeping us in your prayers. Will update soon.
*****
8pm: Reached TMC. I was handed a hospital gown but told the nurse as stated in my birth plan, I would like to wear my own clothes. She insisted that it’s SOP until a more senior nurse took over, went through my birth plan and after reassuring me that they will ’stick’ to my birth plan as much as possible, ushered me to the delivery suite. I was given Room 7, with shower facilities, a table lamp and a CD player. They even brought the birth ball over from Rm 6 for me. Overall, the nurses were very nice and accommodating. Excellent service. Started the Pitocin drip. High in spirit. Joked and laughed with hubby.
9:30pm : Dimmed the lights. Prayed the Rosary.
10pm: Not having continuous fetal monitoring helped. I was not strapped up and was able to find a comfortable position to rest. Beginning to feel some contractions. Hubby played the Rainbow Relaxation CD. I’ve been practicing hard. At one point the subconscious mind took over the breathing when the contractions came and I was able to drift into very deep relaxation and experienced distortion of time. Before I knew it, 2 hours slipped passed.
18th May
12am: As stated in my birth plan, I wanted minimal VE but was informed by nurse that Dr Paul Tseng wanted to know how much I had progressed. That VE was my tumbling block! I was only 2cm dilated! And thus the nurse increased the dosage of Pitocin. The intensity of the contractions took a great leap and I was thrown into the ‘deep end of the pool’, as Ginny has described.
12:30am : The contractions came very strong. I sat and swayed on the birth ball with hubby supporting me from the back giving me light touch massage. He was also very encouraging. The warm rice socks helped but not for long.
1am : I could hardly cope with the pain. Hubby tried to encourage me, “You are doing very well … Good … Concentrate on your breathing … You are not far from the end … ” HELLO!!! NOT FAR!!?? I AM ONLY 2CM DILATED. WHO ARE YOU KIDDING!!!!!
Told hubby that this whole thing did not make sense. Why should I try to cope with the pain? I just wanted to get this over and done with and carry on with life!
That was when hubby, seeing me in such great agony, asked, “So how? You want Epidural?” I kept quiet.
1:20 am: I could not longer concentrate on my breathing and counting. Hubby advised a VE to see how far I’ve progressed. 3cm dilated! I requested for Epidural. I completely lost control! Curled up like a ball. The Ethonox did not help at all. I was moaning – something which I did not do for my previous 2 births!
2am : The drug took effect. I was so tired, I fell asleep. Hubby too. It’s been 2 days since labour started.
3am : Suddenly woke from my sleep by a strong sensation to push. Called for the nurse. VE – fully dilated. Dr Paul was informed. For the past nine months, we feared that baby will be affected HED. We shared this fear with Dr Paul and the moment he saw me, he gave a reassuring smile and said, “I see lots of hair.” We could hardly hold back or tears of joy as we heaved a sigh of relieve.
Instead of pushing, I breathe out my baby as learned in our hypnobirthing class. No episotomy. Minimal tear. Only 1 stitch.
New addition to our family.
Though I did not achieve the drug free birth that I’ve envisioned, I managed to put into practice lots of stuff from the hypnobirthing course. The delay in administration of drugs helped. I was back at the ward at about 4:30amand was able to walk to the bathroom to unrine at 6:30am. I asked for early discharged and was home by 1pm.
Hubby and I enjoyed the hypnobirthing course. It was the time we spent together preparing for birth and the commitment we pledged to support each other, that matters. He played an active role throughout the last stage of my pregnancy and during birth and together we made many informed decisions.
*****
Our Birth Plan
We took the hypnobirthing course from Ginny, Four Trimester
Idle Days May 16, 2007
Posted by hunnybunz in Pregnancy & Childbirth.add a comment
I’ve been in the idle mood and really pampering myself recently.
In the evening, I would burn some candles with Lavender, and take a long hot steaming shower, scrubbing myself down with fragrance soap (which I bought a good variety from Marks & Spencer and Body Shop – my favourite being the Lemongrass Ginger) and soft music playing at the background. Since it’s been scorching hot in the afternoon, I would sun my towel as I love the dry crispy feel of the soft towel on my skin.
After dinner, I would make myself a cup of warm Chamomile and sit by the study, sipping my tea and enjoying the sunset with the company of the boys.
At night, I would laze in bed, burn some aromatherapy oil and candles, set against the picturesque view of the city and occassionally enjoying the cold breeze, preparing myself for birth. With the Comfort Zone music playing, I would practice my breathing, do Kegels, self- hypnosis and read.
And just before slumber, hubby will pamper me with a good massage.
My idle days.
Birth is near.
Sunshine days ahead May 4, 2007
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Xiang who was already coughing, is down with bronchitis and tonsillitis. His spleen and lungs are swollen and infected. His fever fluctuates. It pains me to see him trying to breathe through all the mucous and phlegm. But he is in the best spirit despite being sick and that lifts up my spirit too.
He’s such a joy to be with, often entertaining us with his endless antics. (We’ve kept the ‘leash’!)
He is getting more vocal ever since he attended school. His favourite phrases, “Why?”, “So Funny, right?”, “Wat you doin?”, “Gor Gor always bully me!”, “Why you kiss me?”, “Don’t do like dat, OK!”, “Me oso, me oso want to go”.
Hang is better behaved this week knowing that I am tired and unwell taking care of his little brother. He did so many sweet things too. He received a $50 ang pow for his birthday. He spent part of it on a gift for himself and bought his little brother a present with the remaining sum.
It melts my heart to see the little one hugged and kissed his big brother and said, “Thank you, Gor Gor” These are the really rare times the boys don’t fight!
When it was raining heavily, Hang called and said, “Mummy, drive safely OK – its raining heavily!” and just yesterday, when his grandpa caught a lizard, he said “Don’t kill it. God made animals you know – even before human. So we must love animals.” Awww … (and for a moment, I was thinking … did God make really animals first or human first!?)
But this evening, when he won me at an IQ game, he had to say, “Papa taught me these tricks you know, he’s so smart, right! He’s the smartest!”
(Hrmph!)
Visited the gynae last week. The week before baby’s head was down – ready for birth. Now the naughty little decides for sit upright again. Sigh … And looks like, I will be carrying this little one to full term – 40 solid weeks!
Looks like the storm is blowing over.
Just need to hang on a lil’ more.
Sunshine days ahead.
Birthday Parties May 4, 2007
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TODAY’S PARENTS April (p34 – 39)
Party Time! Planning a kiddie birthday bash
- Cover Page -
Recently, a mother shared her experience with holding her three-year-old’s carefully orchestrated birthday party, for 40 people, no less. Goodie bags were bought, an entertainer was hired and the garden was nicely set up when it poured. “We had to squeeze everyone into the house, imagine that!” she said. But no matter, her son enjoyed the occasion and the effort and cost (a four figure sum) was well worth it. Holding a birthday party for a child can take many forms. You can hire a party planner or do it yourself. Have a simple meal of sausages and cupcakes or a more elaborated gourmet repast; throw in teddy bear making, a yoga class with special ‘birthday’ poses or a farm tour, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination as shown in our story Its Your Party
- Editor’s note -
It’s Your Party!
Birthday bashes for children come in all shapes and sizes, limited only by imagination, time and resourcefulness. Janice Chuah scouts around for ideas to suit different needs.
- Introduction, p34 -
*****
Wrote this article last year and it only got published this year! (And I have yet to receive my pay cheque!!) Anyway, as many already knew, most of the articles I wrote stems from my personal experiences. Planning Hang’s party year after year (we had organised budget party, extravaganza as well as the most recent hassle free one), had spurred me to put together all resources to aid other parents in this quest of throwing a bash for their little princes and princesses.
Enjoy!
Masterpiece May 4, 2007
Posted by hunnybunz in Education, yHang.1 comment so far
Last week, Hang drew a picture of his ‘greedy’ little brother who drools over fries. He has been attending art lessons for a good half year now. Actually, the main reason for sending him for lessons is to keep him away from the television every Saturday morning. Turned out that our boy does have some aptitude for art after all!
To encourage him, I display his masterpieces in the playroom. Used blue tack to attach his work on the wall but they kept dropping.
Da dem!
Our display board.
This is what I did. Bought some light mounting boards from POPULAR. Secured the boards onto the walls with 3M tapes (those used for clothes hangers) which can hold the weight without damaging the walls. Pasted the plastic pockets (thick ones, not the flimsy ones) onto the mounting board using double sided tapes. Simply slips the children’s work into the pockets and replace them as often, hassle free.
hunnybunz