Lazy

I realized that with the arrival of Bb Rae, I hardly write on my blog. I am too lazy to do anything after doing all the cooking, washing, feeding, putting Bb to sleep etc. And during her nap/ sleep, I will be busy doing laundry or folding her clothes etc, and if I really ve any free time, i would rather sit on the sofa and do nothing as I am really drained out ....... Maybe I still need some time to get used to being a SAHM! Once I am used to this new role, I should be able to manage myself and Bb better (which I hope asap)!

Shopping

Ever since being a mum, I hardly go shopping as I am home most of the time to care for Bb Rae, even if I do during the weekend when RY brings us out, the department that I'd go is the baby section for diapers, baby food and fresh produce section to get fishes, poultry, eggs, cheese and yogurt for Bb Rae. I don't visit the adult clothes, jewelry, or shoes section anymore, this is so different from last time prior to the arrival of baby! If I do look at clothes, it ll be baby clothes for my darling girl. I think I should not be so obsessed with baby stuff, I should shop something for myself when we are in USA!

She is back to 50th Percentile!

This morning we went to the clinic to consult the PD about the rashes which developed on BB Rae's chin. The doc advised that the rashes could be just irritants caused by her dripping saliva and not too much of a concern and told us to keep her clean and also proscribed a very mild Bb safe cream for the affected area. We also get some Bb travel medication as we will be bringing her to USA in end Aug. Yes, we are bringing our Bb with us on a long haul trip for 2 weeks! I was delighted that the weight reading showed that she is 7.16kg, height 71 cm and head circumference 42.5cm! I was really happy as she is back to 50th percentile! I hope my Bb will continue to eat, sleep, play, poo & pee well! This is a simple wish of a Mother!

Feeding my 7 months old Bb Rae

3 weeks ago, we brought Bb to her PD to check on her overall well being and also have a 2nd dose of pneumococcal jab. I was shocked to see her lost 200g of weight instead of gaining, but she did grow 2cm taller. I ve been feeding her cereal, fruits and veg puree and the Dr said those are not enough and we should start feeding her protein diet to build her muscle. My poor baby dropped to 10th percentile from the previous 50th in terms of weight reading. Actually Bb had been very active in crawling and jumping in her Jumperoo, so she may ve burnt a lot of energy. Since 3 weeks ago, I ve been cooking porridge with fish or minced pork for Bb. I hope she will gain sufficient weight and also build more muscle. The next PD visit will be Sept and hopefully Bb Rae can put on more weight and grow wellM

Feeding 6 Months Old BB Rae

I ve started Bb Rae with semi solid since she was 5+ months old. I started with white rice cereal mix with my breast milk and she enjoyed very much. When she turned 6 months, I started to give her home made puree like broccoli with potatoes, sweet potatoes with carrot, pumpkin with sweet corn. I also give her fresh fruits like papaya, banana, pear, apple, avocado, golden kiwi, orange. I had tried giving her home cooked porridge but she doesn't seem to enjoy. Now I d feed her puree for lunch, 2 teaspoon of cereal and fresh fruits for dinner. My bb still prefers milk than solid, so the portion I give her is pretty small as she still latch on for milk 6 to 7 times a day. I was shocked when 1 mommy friend told me that she fed her 4 months old bb commercial cheesecake, yummy yogurt sold from counter, yakult etc. She is aware of the high sugar content but she thinks the goodness of those food outlay the bads. Don't she realized these r processed food high in sugar and other addictives which may be bad for bb internal organs like liver, kidney, digestive system etc as they r newly formed? Also bb may get addicted to sweet or salty taste and as they grow they may yearn for more sugar or salt and turn into a fussy eater! No I didn't confront this mommy as I think she is an adult and a Mother herself, so she can decide what is best for her own bb. She is responsible for her action, be it Good or Bad! If bb ever gets sick, we all know who will suffer!!

I am back on my health!

It took me 7 days to recover from the Rotavirus attack! I am glad to be back on my health to be able to care for my Princess Rae! This rotavirus is really potent and as a adult, it took me so long to recover, I wonder what will happen to bb if she ever gets it ....... But lucky Bb Rae had her rotavirus vaccination completed since 2 months ago. I hope I won't get sick again as I don't wish to neglect my bb anymore.

I'm very sick!

I am really sick! This is the 1st time I fall sick since last June. 3 days ago I woke up with a heavy head and painful joint, I knew I had fever but I still try my best to complete the daily baby caring routine and drink as much water as I can to cool the body down. RY took half day off to relieve me from bb caring so that I can rest, he wanted to bring me to doctor but I refused as I am breast feeding and don't think I'd take any medication. By evening, my condition got worst, I started to vomit and too frail to eat or drink. I slept thru the night while RY attend to baby. The next morning, my fever subsided but I had diarrhea. I was very stubborn and refused to go to doc as I thought my body will self heal by passing out the toxins. My stomach was also churning with pain. I still ve fever on and off. By evening, the diarrhea was really bad that despite taking lomotil, it still didn't stop the diarrhea. I finally gave up and went to the doc. The doc suspected that I might ve rotavirus infection since it's like an epidemic in SG recently. He has a few patients who suffered the same as me and need to be hospitalized since normal antibiotic didnt work. I was told to go to hospital if the jab and other medication he gave me didn't stop my diarrhea the next day. I was still having mild diarrhea yesterday and RY wanted to admit me to hospital, again I refused as I need to care for my bb as I ve no help. I tried my best to rest and hydrate myself, hoping that the body will heal faster. Today is the 4th day and I sincerely hope that I'd recover well. This rotavirus is really potent, I ve lost 3kg within 3 days. The body just shut down and refused any intake of food, so I didn't eat or drink much but still diarrhea >20 times within a day. I feel really sorry for my bb that i can't attend to her fully and my milk production has significantly reduced and she not drinking enough. I am very upset and angry with myself that I fell so ill, I am everything to my baby and yet I am helpless sitting there just watching her cry as I was too weak to carry or pacify her. I must get well soon for my baby! My poor husband has to care for her on my behalf. A SAHM's (with no helper) fear is to fall sick!

Welcome to Motherhood

I'd like to welcome my friend to Motherhood! I am very happy for a friend whom I get to know thru this blog of mine that she had delivered a healthy baby girl on 22 April 2012! Just like myself, she had struggled with fertility issue for some time before this pregnancy. There are many success stories around us and I sincerely urged the many pregger hopeful out there not to give up. God listens to our sincere prayer and will grant us our wish! Just need to be patient! I am happy to make new friends thru my blog and hope that many of you will join me in this journey of Motherhood soon!

Baby Rae at 5 months 18 days old

Last Fri,we brought bb to the clinic for her last 6 in 1 vaccination jab. I was very pleased to see her measurement scale being 66cm tall and 6.7kg heavy! By right she is supposed to have her prenumocuccal jab too but we decided to defer that jab to next month for fear of high fever side effect. We did both jabs in March and resulted in fever reading of 38.5'c. She did develop fever last Fri afternoon but not that high, it was about 38'c. Despite running at a fever, she was still as playful!

Teething

My 5 months old baby is teething! She has been waking up in the middle of the night for comfort nursing. Previously, she was able to sleep thru from 10pm to 8am. Last week she also had slight fever due to teething too. I can see 2 white enamel popping out from her upper gum. I hope all her discomfort will be gone very soon and she can sleep thru the night till next morning!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today, 13 May 2012, is my First Mother's Day celebration with RY and Baby Rae! The morning was started with a surprised gift from RY, it's a choco banana cake delivered from Operation Smile! 2 weeks ago, RY ordered a cake from Project Operation Smike as my Mother's Day gift. This is very meaningful as we get to do charity while savoring the yummy cake! In the evening 5pm, RY took us to Botanic Garden to attend to a open air concert by SSO. While we enjoyed to the nice classical pieces, BB Rae fell asleep. We left the concert at 6.45pm to rush to mum's place for steam boat dinner. It was an enjoyable day since I get to spend it with my loved ones! I am looking forward to next year's Mother's Day since baby Rae will be 16 months old then!

Mommy & Baby Yoga

We started our 1st Mommy & Baby Yoga yesterday 4 May! I had wanted to practice yoga with Baby Rae, so I ve been busy researching for one which suits my timing and budget. I was lucky to find one which only cost SGD10 per class and only required 4 sets of moms and babes to form a class. I managed to gather few friends to form a class of our own. We signed up for 4 classes in May and shall see if we wanna continue in June after the 4 classes. I practiced yoga during pre Preggy days and when I was pregnant with Baby Rae, I was also doing simple yoga posture to relieve some muscle tension. But I stopped after childbirth as I was too tired and lazy from the daily child care routine. Doing yoga with baby is pretty fun! Both of us gets to exercise and play at the same time! It's good to have some interactive activity with baby to have fund together. My baby was worn out after the class that she had a 2.5 hours afternoon nap yesterday! Usually she only takes cat nap of about half hour in the afternoon. This morning when I woke up, I could feel the aching muscle due to the stretching and lifting since most if the time we need to carry baby to complete a posture. I am looking forward to next Fri lesson to learn new tricks! I hope baby Rae feels the same .....

Baby Rae is 4 Months Old!

Today 21 April 2012, Baby Rae is 4 months old!
Time flies huh!
One of the tradition to mark this important milestone is to pray to the 床头婆婆，Goddess of the Children (the Chinese believes that there is a fairy godmother who takes care of the young children). When Baby was a month old in Jan, we did the praying too.
The next time to pray will be during the 7 moon, I.e. Hungry ghost festival.
We had a pot of cooked rice and mee sua as the offering for the praying.

Later in the evening, we will get a chicken drumstick for baby to lick to fulfill one of the myth which is to ensure bb has enough to eat as she grows up.

A Breast Feeding Mom's Fear

Baby Rae is a total breast feed baby from birth till now at 3 months old.
I d like to BF her as long as I can, min 6 months.

My worst fear as a BF mom is milk reduction and baby not having enough to eat.
Each visit to the baby's clinic, I will be very anxious to know about her weight as I am afraid that she is not growing due to not eating enough.

I am trying my best to produce more milk.
TMC lactation consultant had advised me to take Fenugreek as supplement to boast my milk supply.
On top of that, need to drink more soup, eat and rest well in order to produce more milk.

I hope I can produce sufficient milk for my baby precious.

Baby Rae is Growing Well!

My baby is growing pretty well!

She is 12 weeks 1 day old, her height is 62cm and weigh 5.3kg.
Last month 8 Feb, she was 53cm and 4.6kg.

Her birth weight was 2.9kg and 49cm tall.
Isn't it amazing!

Vaccination

BB Rae had her first 6 in 1 jab this morning at the Polyclinic.
She also had her pneumomucocal jab and rotavirus vaccine too.

The jabs needle are really long for a baby.
When the nurse jabbed her, she broke into a loud cry instantly.
Poor baby, she was jabbed twice as I told the nurse to give her pneumomucal jab at the same time.

As we left home at 7.40am, we didn't bathe her till we got home after the jab at about 10am.
She had her milk then slept for 2 hours and is now drinking her milk.

According to the nurse, the jabs may cause fever so we need to monitor closely, once the body temp reached 37.5'c or more, panadol to be given.

I shall monitor bb closely.

Belated Full Month Celebration

My precious bb is 12 weeks and 1 day old today!
Last Saturday 17 Mar, we had a belated full moon party for her in KL since we didn't have any in January due to CNY.

We departed SG to Ipoh on 14 Mar Wed morning 6am and arrive Ipoh at about 12 noon.
I breast fed BB Rae during the long drive and she slept most of the time, so was pretty easy.
PIL were really happy to see bb, they prepared diapers, play pan, baby cot for her.

On Thursday 15 Mar morning 8.30am, we brought BB Rae to the MY birth registry to apply her MY citizenship.
BB Rae is born a Singaporean but we think it may be beneficial for her to have dual citizenship now as I may need to leave her with PIL should I decided to start work.
We gotta wait for 6 months to know the outcome of our citizenship application.

On Friday 16 Mar, we departed Ipoh for KL at about 10.30am.
We stayed with BIL.
We brought bath tub, pails, bouncing net to his place as he is a bachelor living alone in a 2 story house.
In the evening, we went to SIL place to ve dinner together.
The 3 girls were very happy to see bb Rae, they spent the whole Saturday morning preparing handmade cards, gift wrapped toys, clothes etc for bb Rae,

BB Rae's belated full moon party was organized in SIL's condo clubhouse.
A luxurious buffet dinner was catered.
We had more then 60 guests.
The party ended at about 10.30pm and BB Rae fell asleep on our way back to BIL's place.

The next day, Sunday, we had dim sum brunch before driving back to Ipoh.
We spent another 2 days in Ipoh before driving home yesterday, Wed 21 Mar.

Deprived of Sleep

I am very sleepy and constantly lack of sleep!
Why?
Because of my Baby Rae!
I had not slept well since week 37 of my pregnancy due to the backache, pressing tummy, anxiety of child birth.
After baby is born, I have yet to get a continuous sleep greater then 3 hours due to night feeds.
Yes, I had a confinement nanny to have me during the 1st month upon child birth, but as I only gave breast milk via latch on (with no bottle feeding), I gotta wake up to feed baby personally.
Her last feed for the night is 9pm, then next feed at 3am, 6am, 9am, followed by 2 hourly feed till 9pm at night and the same routine the next day!
When she sleeps, I can't sleep as I gotta express milk from my engorged breast.
Now when the confinement nanny is gone, I am caring for her alone, so I gotta be alert and keep a watchful eyes over her in fear of SIDS!

I am sleepy ...... When can I ve a good sleep?

No, don't get me wrong, I don't regret being a Mother as I know all these (baby, sleepless nights, flabby tummy, dark eye circles, puffy eyes, engorged breast, baby cries, no time for doing own leisure reading or other activities, always rushing to finish the meal quick to care for baby, frequent diaper changing, constant worry if baby drinks/ sleeps/ poos& pees enough etc) come in a package calls "Motherhood" but it also gives you a bonus packet known as "happiness with laughters"!

Happy V Day 2012!

I ve been busy caring and feeding Baby Rae and didn't realized it was Valentines Day yesterday until RY gave me a bouquet of roses and wish me Happy V Day!
I was surprised that he still gave me flowers.
I ve heard from friends that their husband stopped giving them flowers with the arrival of babies.
I'm not sure if he will persist but certainly hope that he does .......
Even though I am a mature adult and a mother, deep in my heart there is still the girlish part of me who wants to receive flowers from my man.

Breast Feeding

I have always wanted to do breast feeding to my babies as I am aware of the benefits of Mother's milk to her baby.
As much as I hope to breast feed, I understand that it may not necessary mean that I can produce any or sufficient milk to feed my hungry baby. Also not all baby can latch or suckle successfully.
During my pregnancy, I kept telling my baby "mummy loves you and will breast feed you to give you the best from me. Mummy will produce lots of milk for you so that you will not be hungry".
I guess this self conditioning could have helped in my breast milk productions.

In about week 36, my gynae taught me simple breast massage technique to induce milk production. I started to produce colostrum in the following week.
I think it was a blessing that Baby Rae was able to latch on to suckle well when she was newly born.
I can still remember vividly when the nurse bring Baby Rae to me for feeding, I merely held her to my breast and she opened her mouth wide to start to suckle.
It was a very thrilling moment to see a tiny baby feeding for food!
At that moment, I was the happiest and satisfying mum with my bundle of joy in my arm!
But being a new born, she tend to fall asleep easily as it required a lot of strength to suck
the colostrum/ milk out.
So I had to constantly wake her up by touching her cheek.
I was feeding her 4 hourly and the nurse would bring her to me as I chose exclusive breast feeding.

My milk supply kicks in on the 2nd day after child birth.
I started to have engorged breast on the 3rd night.
Fortunately the lactation consultant came to my rescue on the next day,Saturday morning, before I discharged in the afternoon.
She massaged my breast to relief the engorgement and also applied cold cabbage leaves on my breasts. She also advised me to latch baby on frequently and expressed the milk diligently using a breast pump.
When I came home, I did as instructed and in few days time, no more engorgement!

As at today, I am still breast feeding Baby Rae exclusively for 9 feeds per day and am glad that she is growing well!
I hope to be able to breast feed her for at least 6 months.
Wish me luck!