Maydelyn's update

Little M turned 1 month old on 1 April.

Over 4 weeks of confinement care and rest, mummy recuperated and Lil M progressed in growth.

Her updates at 1 month :
- weight increased to 4.6kg
- longer waking hours, sometimes to 2 hours at a stretch
- able to turn her head from left to right
- look at close objects and able to see eye to eye with us.
- poo every day and longest stretch is once in 2 days.

My confinement was a breeze. I already psycho-ed myself to accept my CL as she is. I don't want a stressful confinement like I did with Amber and changed 3 confinement ladies. This current CL is not without fault but nobody's perfect and constantly remind myself to **breath in ... breath out** whenever something doesn't go my way. After all, confinement is only 28 days. I'll tell her if I don't like her doing things her way (like rinsing baby's bottle with hot water and reusing them in the middle of the night) and she's been accommodating to my wishes and demands. Before she left, I asked for a night off to watch Ip Man at the cinemas with Amber and hubs. She sent me off with an early dinner and told me to 'let loose' a bit before the real hard work comes in when she leaves. Overall, she's a good CL and I wished I had known her earlier when I had Amber. Amber loved her to bits too, she was a great help with Amber's chinese homework. I cried when she left, so did Amber. We promised to pay her a visit at Bentong when Lil M is bigger and more travel friendly.

We had a hard time settling her to bed when the CL left. She whined all night, not because she wanted to play but she was just whining with her eyes closed.  The lightbulb idea came after second night on our own, we remembered swaddling Amber as a baby and we did the same to M.  Hubs has the honour of bundling her like an ikan bakar and that did the trick.  She whined less and slept better, despite crying for milk every 3 hours. She is, afterall, an infant....

We hosted a small luncheon to celebrate her one month. Family and close friends were invited to join us in our joyous occasion. Lil M behaved well, slept mostly through lunch despite the sound and commotion.

I did not do much planning for the party and left it to Barb - my crafty friend to spruce up the place for me. She made buntings for the restaurant :

Joanna of Confections made these lovely cupcakes for Lil M and they were snapped up as soon as it was served :

Lil M's full moon party was also a reunion and gathering for my family members, friends and relatives.  Indeed a joyous occasion for all of us.

She slept like a baby but woke up when the guests left and I present her.. Lil M at 1 month old , with the 'smug' look :

Happy Full Moon M. Stay healthy always, there's a whole big adventure ahead of you.

xoxoxooxoxo

Welcome Maydelyn - Her Birth Story

Baby May arrived safely early March.

She was induced at 39 weeks as scheduled. The few weeks prior to her arrival, I was homebound and in bed most of the time. Having survived 2 falls without any danger to baby, doctor and hubs decided it's better for me to stay home and rest.

I was getting impatient and DJW (my dr) asked if I'd like to induce her at week 38, a very safe week considering her size and growth but I wanted to experience a natural labour called and gave her another week but as it is, she's still not ready by week 39 and we proceeded with induce as planned

An early morning for me, scrubbing myself clean especially my hair, bracing for the awful confinement days ahead. We sent Amber to school, told her to wait for us to call but to go ahead with her day as usual and Papa will come and fetch her once mei mei is born.

We had breakfast at McD, a double one as I was hungry !!!

Checked in to the hospital, got paperwork done.. a whole stack.. (authorizing hospital to dispose the placenta, authorizing injections, paed and vaccination for Baby M, etc etc). Hubs left to run some errands while I did my stuff.

Enema-ed and then put on oxytocin drips and strapped on the tummy with 2 monitors - fetal heart rate and contractions.

Contractions started soon but mild. I reminded the midwife numerous times that I wanted an epidurial and PLEASE DO NOT FORGET !! ..I think she got a bit irritated with me and the epidural part ;)  I didn't mind bearing a bit of pain till epidurial but the midwife said since you already wanted it.. why not get it in soon. She checked on the anesthetist available..She's midwife #2 (I had 3 different midwifes attending to me, due to the change of shifts).

DrS came and injected in the epi while I was sitting down. Hubs was holding the big elephant    me from front and made sure I was steady. The monitor straps made my belly very itchy and I keep scratching my belly and the monitor would go out of place and I'll have to call the nurses again.. it went on and on all morning..

Epidural wasn't meant to be a painful or scary jab, I only had to be very still during the initial injection and then later.. I could feel chill all over and it was time to relax and wait.

An hour later, I felt a lot of wetness under me. It could be my water bag breaking but Midwife#2 said.. no. it's just 'hind water' .. whatever that means... but shortly after, DJW came to see me and checked.. 4 cm dilated.. and confirmed it's water bag leaking.. she manually poked the water bag and broke it further, I could feel more water gushing and good, I know labor will begin soon

Unlike Amber's birth.. I was allowed to eat while waiting for labor  Hubs bought me coffee and donuts and I had some hospital food too but I felt horrible after taking the soy milk. I began to feel chilly and wanted to throw up. Fever sets in and I was given panadols and oxygen mask to breath and relax.

My sister dropped by Labor Ward 2, she thought baby M was already out and I wondered how she got into the my labor room as I only authorized hubs to be present and no one else (that's another paper I signed too).. it's good to have her to chit chat while waiting for my labor to progress. She saw that I was very alert and not looking-like-going-to-be-in-labor-soon.. and she left soon after. I told midwife # 2 I could feel CONTRACTIONS and wanted an epidural top up..

She was reluctant and went.. eh... there's no childbirth without pain la.. DANG !!  I remember I felt nothing when I had Amber but I know this was different. I could feel heaviness pushing down and I could feel PAIN !!

Luckily Midwife #2 completed her shift and Midwife #3 came.. she's a dear and topped up my epidurial... without much questions asked...

Then the waiting for active labour begins. We were getting impatient, phone calls from family members asking about baby's arrival and Amber kept calling me and hubs.. when can I go to the hospital ?????

Further check revealed bb's head has not fully descended yet. I can push but it will take a lot of effort to push baby out. DJW advised to wait a little longer..

tick-tock-tick-tock.. late evening came...

at those waiting moments.. I was on whatsapp with my dear friends... they kept me sane and going, waiting for the crucial moment. When they hear no response from me, they knew action was about to begin......

tick-tock-tick-tock... waited for 2 hour, still not full descended. DJW ordered to push in 15 minutes time.
Hubs and Midwife #3 helped me to push.. I think we did around 15 minutes of pushing and DJW was called in for the final push..

One last big push... Baby M was out. She did not cry and hubs was very worried. She let out a small cry . ngekk-ngekk when they whacked her buttock at hubs request. However she scored apgar 8 and 10

I was in tears.. holding my dear baby, greeting her for the first time. Her angelic looks, red lips and chubby cheeks. I will not forget that moment, holding her for the first time.  I cannot hold back my tears.

Baby M,, you have a whole adventure ahead of you and you will always have Papa, Mama and Amber cheh-cheh with you.

Love you always..

Amber
Papa
Mama

Getting ready

I've been on home rest for 3 weeks now. Nothing to do.. bored to the bits. Actually.. .lots to do but physically unable to do much without panting or worrying about the big tummy in front of me.

My helper's been a gem. She's cleared the baby room for me. We've set up a new Graco pack and play - a gift from fellow moms and also a day bed for whoevers-taking-care-of-baby.  I want to station baby downstairs during confinement and after.   Baby M has another cot upstairs (Amber's previous) and that's only for night sleep.

Her bottles been sterilized, air dried and stacked up in Amber's Avent sterilizer. Still in good working condition, all I had to do was de-calcify with citric acid bought from Daiso.

Her clothes are washed and stacked up in the cupboard. I'll let the CL choose her clothes to wear.

We plan to start her on disposable diapers + cloth diaper (just in case she has very sensitive skin).

I've rolled out a big box of cotton balls to wipe Baby M's precious butts

I'll just use Johnson baby soap bar to bath her. Less intrusive than baby baths and this time, no more guiness stout or whatsoever.

We'll have our Eubos and Oilatum on standby .. just in case she has sensitive skin like Amber.

I hope my months of diligently taking probiotics will help in reducing her chances of atopic dermatitis.

Mmmmm... can't wait to smell Baby M..  can't wait.. can't wait !!!!

All set

The hospital bag's ready since before CNY and I've repacked it 2 days ago.

Hope I've not missed out anything ...

For myself, I've packed :

-toiletries survival kit  (creams, face wash, toothbrush)

-2 change of clothings

-towels

-mini towels

-disposable sanitaries and undies

For baby M, she has :

-3-4 change of clothing, mostly Amber's

-receiving blanket. .. same one that Amber used

-hats, mittens, booties and cloth for wrapping navel

-disposable diapers

For hubs, he has : 

- Starbucks tumbler.. to fill up his coffee and I'm sure both of us will be needing it much. RM2 saved with each purchase

If all goes well as planned, Amber might room in with us and I'll have to pack another bag for her - sleeping bag, change of clothing, pyjamas, snacks etc.

I'm pleased with the hospital I'll be checking into as there's ample food choices for hubs, me and Amber. I don't look forward to hospital menu and I can always send hubs down to pick up a donut or bread for me :D

Week 38

Baby is not here yet. Fully engaged but no signs of early delivery , not as we've expected.

Baby's development :

Head fully engaged, facing down/backwards - the best position for delivery
Estimated weight of 3.5 - 3.6kg
Head circumference didn't change, therefore weight gain went to fats on her body

Mummy has not put on any weight. Weight remains the same as 3-4 visits ago. Urine - normal. Blood pressure - Normal

Physical - Not very normal !!! Baby's weight pressing on my pubic nerves makes walking very difficult. I feel like a walking pendulum, ready to be swayed left or right and due to my clumsiness, home rest for me till D Day.

DJW agreed on inducing the baby since mommy already having a difficult time and baby will weigh even more if I wait till Wk 40.

The dates been set.. to induce at Wk39 + 1 day. Unless baby comes sooner, we'll meet baby M by end of this week.

We've chosen a name but in the meantime, Baby M, she is :D

Chor4

Every year without fail, we'll make a trip to my Aunt's (father's sister and mother's brother) house on the 4th day of Chinese New Year.

This aunt, we're particularly close to. She's my dad's sister and she's married to my mother's brother.... and so that makes us very relatively close.

She cooks the best henghua noodle with mushrooms, pork, oyster and fu chuk. She'll also dish out some curry chicken, hakka char yoke, braised mushroom and fried chicken. The ambience at her house is really tong tong chiang feel.. all our relatives gathering, eating and yakking away.

Aunt sent me an sms invitation to her house on Chor4 and I've replied... with our without sms, our Chor4 is booked at your house :D

We also get to meet some of our uncles and aunties (that we only meet once a year) at her house. The 'higher authorities' will have their own chit chat corners whilst we, middle aged and the younger ones have our own group.

Thank you Aunt for maintaining the Chor4 tradition and we will be there next year, the year after  and thereafter.....

Kumquats

Lap Chun is the start of spring and with reasonings, the year of Snake would when Spring begins and not on the first of Chinese New Year.

This year, lap chun begins on 4 Feb 2013, before the start of Lunar New Year. To welcome lap chun, we'll buy a new pot of plant/flower and also bank in some money to our bank account --- that's also to signify 'money flowing into bank account' all year round too.

We've had 'kat chai' for the past few years and I've planted them to the ground for better growth.

This year, I wanted a kumquat plant. Looks similiar but the fruits are elongated with very thick rind and hardly any flesh. Kumquats  makes wonderful jams  and candies and if it's sweet, it's very tangy to eat too.

Unfortunately, we hunted around our area and only one nursery had kumquat. This wasn't a very good year for kumquats and therefore not many nursery is selling it. There was only 2 pots left and we chose one that was acceptable looking.

I spruced it up a bit with ribbon curls and it looks very fancy in my patio :

Can't wait to root it to my garden, prune and snip away and wait for more edible fruits to bear.

Kumquat jam, kumquat soda.... so many things I wanna do with the kumquats !!!

CNY Decorations

I did not do much baking this year apart from a round of pineapple tarts and chocolate chips. Can't do much without my tummy jabbing the edge of the table and it's almost impossible to bend and take out a tray from the event.

I was homebound as per doctor's orders on the last wk preceeding CNY. Did some paper crafts with ideas from www.chinesenewyearlanterns.blogspot.com.

Flower lanterns..  I love making these and I made a couple more for my sister and fathers. On nights I could not sleep ,, I was stapling away in the toilet !!!  -- - so as not to wake up hubs and Amber.

I kept 4 lanterns for our house and hung it down the stairway like this : 

We filled up our vases with some fake peonies and cherry blossoms :

and a few more ding ding dang dangs here and there... the house was filled with tong tong chiang mood. :D

Today's Chap Goh Mei , I think we'll let the decors hang around for a couple of weeks or until my confinements over before we pull it down.

The Man Cooks

Am so proud of him. After 11 years of marriage, he finally got his hands dirty and cooked a storm.

We held our annual CNY gathering at home with the inlaws and he's agreed to cook, 2 items - roast pork and lap mei fan. 

I briefed him on the instructions and he came up with tadaaaa.......

Lap Mei Fan...a big big portion to be shared, mixed and tossed by all : 

We added chinese wine sausage, liver sausage and waxed duck. I forgot to buy 'lap yuk' but it still taste just as good.

He made a piece de resistance  SIEW YUK !!!

Not bad eh ???  Now, we have an official pork roaster at home. hahhahahhahaha.... Well done and clap clap clap.

He, who's afraid of knives and choppers and can never cut an onion up, even chopped up the roast pork to bite size pieces as I was resting upstairs

I'm very happy with his efforts and he's promised to whip up more delish dish for me.. Finally... I can 'tharn' a bit...

Mandarin Orange Marmalade

I got rid of our mandarin oranges before Chap Goh Mei... yayyy !!!!

I was afraid that I may pop anytime and hubs has been hinting he missed the jams I make very much. Once you have your own homemade jam, those store bought don't quite cut it. Full of sugar and jelly like and there's nothing like thick cut marmalade on a warm toast with a light spread of butter.

I followed the same Billy Law's recipe I did last year. Could not put the link in here as loading his page takes ages.  Actually I followed the method and the rest are just estimation. Cooking time depends on the thickness required and adjust sugar accordingly.

I made 6 jars in total and it's just enough to last us a year. I sterilize the bottles and they keep well. Sorry.. not enough to go round for friends this year. ;D