Aug babies gathering

Some pics at the gathering.

Went for a gathering on Sun with babies who were born in the same month as Kai.
It was rather crowded initially - we've had 45 adults and 20+ babies, and quite a number of toddlers. Brought both my darlings along and ZQ had a great time playing with the kitchen set and of course he found a thomas the train - his favourite.

Later, the host's little gal took it back and he was upset, trying to throw a tantrum and got a scolding from me. THen without me realising it, he took the toy from the girl and she ended up throwing a tantrum and threw down all the toys in her hand. She then started crying and I had to ask ZQ to return it to back to her and apologise. ZQ was quite ok to do that and shortly he did , and even apologised to the girl. That's what I really love about him, he's not too stubborn and selfish about sharing. He wants to play with it cos he loves Thomas the train but he understands that he has to share and he's alright to share. Glad that he is managable in this aspect.

Before we went out, I had made him wear this pants which is vv nice but he does not like to wear nice clothes, perhaps it's hot. He loves cheapo clothes which are thin. Then cleverly, before we came out, he told me he urinated on his pants (not that he cannot control but he wanted to change out of the pants). He came to me and said "mama, i urined. my pants are wet, pls change a new one" and i knew he was up to his tricks. Since it was not too wet, i asked my maid to air it and later before we went out to put on back again.

Just when we went downstairs, he told us he urinated on his pants again. However, later at my friend's house, he can tell me that he wants to urinate before he did. So I gathered that he really can GENG ..... haahha.

Family picture time

EBM

After the fever, the supply dip quite abit. I was proud to say I can manage a 300-400ml per session but now it's only 200+ to 300+. So sad ....... (as my little drama ZQ would say).

ZK started drinking EBM due to my fever which i did not wan to give the milk.
He seems to complain and struggle with it sometimes when he is drinking.

EBM is definitely not as tasty as BM, ir has a metallic taste.
Good thing is that he's helping to clear them from freezer ... i had 30+ packets andn now dip till 20+ ..... more space for new supply! hurray!! heheh.

Looking forward to the Aug Babies gathering

It's been a month since i posted.

Today we'll be going to a Aug Babies gathering, there's about 30+ adults and babies who's gonna be there. I bet the friend's house must be huge! At Tiong Bahru some more. hehe.

Looking forward for it ... am also bringing Quan along as there are some toddlers there. He can make some new friends.

Update. Went to the Mattel sale on Thu and had another bout of fever on my way home. The right side felt really engorged and painful, then after i drain it out at friend's office, I started shivering , trembling ..... it was quite a scary experience.

In fact, this is the 2nd time that it happened. Once i had it while with my hubby on a Fri then after i finished draining it, the same symptoms were there and i ended up at TMC who gave me paracetomal and then rested there, pump it out and then were advised to go home. This time, i am more informed and I went home instead of hospital.

makeover

ZQ's innovative

I've got a pump to pump balloon and few days ago, ZQ brought it out to play. During bath time today, I saw him taking a pail of water and he took a few pumps of the shower bath (maid was in the kitchen) and then he mixed it with the water. Next, he use the pump and pump into the water to make bubbles. It's so creative of him, haha. I wouldn't think of doing that. When i was monitoring him, i thought he wanted to use it as a water gun but instead he made bubbles with it.

Maid said that yesterday he already started doing that. Sometimes before he goes into the bath, he will say "Oh, i forget" ... then goes to look for some toys he wans to bring into the bathroom to play.

He's also vv loving towards his little brother. He will always kiss the baby from head to toe. Earlier, he kissed Didi's hands, tummy, legs and at one point, he kissed the diaper and he said "Mama, diaper is full" ... so funny.

ZQ knows how to get what he wants diplomatically

Today ZQ wanted to drink the YEO's packet chrysanthynam drink and the following conversation happened.

ZQ : Mama, can i drink this?
Me : No, darling, you are having a cough
ZQ : Me not coughing
Me : But doctor said u are coughing
ZQ : Mama, u drink this *He offered it to me instead ... so sweet rite?
Me : *reluctnatly --- Ok ....
ZQ : *Seeing me opening the packet drink, he said Mama, share with you
Me : Mama can share but are coughing?
ZQ : No
Me : So can you drink?
Me : No
ZQ : Mama, better to share
Me : Quan quan, u are coughing
ZQ : Mama, Little bit
*Pour little bit into the cup
ZQ : Mama, don't drink everything, save some for me.

This kid really finds ways to get his drink and he knows how to get what he wants. Eventually, he go a little bit of the drink.

ZQ "bullies" me

After ZQ's return from the hospital .... he seems to be more sticky to me. I guess he learnt that i'd give him the attention and want to continue having that attention even after he had come home.

While in hospital, since it was just him and me most of the time, i can entertain him all day long. He also watched alot of TV there as there's nothing much to do. Doc advised not to let him loiter around as he might catch other viruses since his immune system is weak at that point.

I never realise that Cartoon Network is such crappy channel. It has cartoons like Tom and Jerry, Pink panter which has scenes of them hitting each other and not getting hurt but for a 2.5 yr old, they'd prob learnt that it is ok to poke fun and "hurt" each other. Had to explain while in hospital to ZQ that this is bad behaviour. *sigh.

ZQ just woke up and first words he says "I wan to watch TV" - faintz. I said no, and he said "Little bit". Now he even knows how to negotiate.

My maid was telling me that whenever I am at home, ZQ would ask me to read him stories, play toys with him, watch TV with him, everything. But when i am not around, he behaves much better and is quite understanding when she has to look after the baby. He even eats his own meals at times without much problem.

ZK had grown to be so big and he laughs at his own fart

Met a friend at Giant the day before and he has 2 lovely daughters. They saw ZK and commented that he looks big and when he found out that he is already 7kg @ almost 3rd month only, he turned to tell his daughter, why u so small and light? U're only 8kg+ at 1 yr old. Hhahaa .... i din realised that ZK is that BIG.

He's a lovely boy - just like his brother ZQ. He's smile with his eyes closed when he hears me, prob smell me. I am glad that he is quite a managable baby, just like ZQ.

He's so funny too. Once, he farted and he was alarmed, frightened by his fart that he started crying. We all had a good laugh cos it was so funny. Then when i told him not to be frightened by his own "PI" .... he smiled. Another time, he also farted and he gave a loud laugh ... sounds quite adult ... it was vv funny too.

So my little King of PI smiles and laughs at his own fart.

Fever

Took ZQ out of CC last Fri as they were having a Halloween party in CC. I dun quite like the idea of him learning to "Trick or Treat" as I do not agree to the origin of Halloween either. Despite doing that, he had already learnt the word "Trick or Treat" ... cos he said that once when he was home over the weekend.

During the weekend, he caught fever up to 41 degress. Sent him to see a GP, KKH emergency outpatiend and finally on Tue, he was admitted to TMC for 2 days. It's a good thing I had bought insurance on hospitalisation for him and I can claim. Cost me a bomb for that 2 nites stay plus the few outpatient and followup.

Last evening, it was my turn. ZQ had since recovered after he got admitted but had phelgm due to his cough. As I am returning to work on Wed, I decided to go for a nite's out with hubby.
Sad thing is while waiting for hubby, my breast got engorged and it was painful despite me having pumped at 6pm and again at around 7pm. After i pumped at 7pm, i started feeling cold and trembled, shaking quite badly. In the end, we ended up at TMC again.

They administered panadol and I oso rented a pump to empty the milk - took 2 hours there pumping but it seemed stuck. Fever eventually went down and I was given antibiotics to continue at home.

Fever still persisted until this morning. Now i wonder if I can go out after work if I dun fullly empty the milk .... will this episode happen again? it was quite a scary experience.

Family pics in Sept

Comparison between #1-ZQ Vs #2-ZK

ZQ - deeper dimples though both have and bigger eyes

ZK - more hair and curly and more chubby!

Makeover on my birthday

Went for a makeover recently - my first makeover in fact ..... so sua ku rite?
I guess when one gets older, you want to look younger and nicer? to keep the good memories of how u used to look like. Well, I am on maternity leave and since I have the time, I have a free makeover voucher and I am meeting hubby for my birthday dinner that day, why not? It turned out pretty good :)

These are all the shots I chose .... they are good at getting you to buy the pics. Heng i only like not too many of them ;)

ZK's DPT jab

Brought ZK for the Hep B + DPT first jab yesterday. He was happily sleeping and only woke up when it was his turn, literally. So we had to give him milk, thank goodness he was on bottle feeding, else how to bf and have the PD check him rite?

The PD is vv gentle and rather through, spoke quite a bit with her. She even gave him the jab while he was drinking his milk. The brave baby only gave a loud wail and stopped once it's done. He also did not develop any fever. Thank God.

This morning i developed a slight flu n was sneezing away. Din end up going for Karen son's birthday ..... rather disappointed cos was looking forward to bring zQ there. Slept most part of the day except waking to pump - din even take my lunch.
Ate biscuits (Hup SEng) - hope they are not affected by the melamine milk scare ..... to date, Julie biscuits which i was eating prior to this is now in the list.

ZQ also drank Dutch lady packet milk and vomitted yesterday ..... not sure if it's related but the milk is surely not good anymore though it's way ahead of the expiry date. We ordered them through the CC, gotta feedback to them as i remmeber he also vomitted recently when he drank another packet - though not serious but it caused him to vomit, bad enough.

ZK at 2 months old

Don't you think he looks handsome? *ahem, all babies looks most adorable to their parents. He surely looks skinnier than lying down. He's now at 6kg @ 8-9 weeks. Pretty long by now, my own measurement was about 60cm ... dunno accurate not. Be bringing him for the Hep B + DPT jab at the PD.

PDs are so exp but then polyclinics had increased their price and it's not really that much difference, prob another $100+ for the 3 jabs. Furthermore, the queue is really long, the doc seeing him will be an MO (pretty inexperience ones sometimes).... might as well let him see a more professional one for now till he is at least 6 months' old, after his 3rd DPT jab.

Spending more $$ on ZK than ZQ ..... why? cos i have a more stable job this time. Feels bad that he has to inherit big brother's clothes, things so I buy more of other luxurious items which are not necessity - eg toys, music CDs ...

ZK's SMILE

ZK is now 8 weeks and he is now 6kg. Heavy and chubby. See his double chin?

Swimming pool @ Seng Kang Sports Complex

Brought ZQ to the new swimming pool on my own. Since ZQ's birth, I had not brought him out on my own too many times since we have a helper and often, she would come along. SOmewhat I found it tiring to bring him out myself cos he is so energetic! Can't catch up with him sometimes.

Hubby had gone earlier to swim first and then would join us after he is done with his own swimming. It was a good strategy to go later to meet him. Hence, i brought ZQ there to find hubby. THe place was buzzing with laughters from children, talking from adults ... and it looks like a mini Wild Wild Wet .... furthermore the entry is only $2. It's wonderful for a public pool - first of its kind in Singapore. ZQ had so much fun there and yes, we'd bring him there again next week.

He's kinda scared of water, swimming now. i find him not too adventurous in terms of exploring the water sports and also in his experimenting of food. He's better with learning languages, remembering stories, etc.

At his stage now, he's really fun. Every other day, there'll be something new and interesting about him - no wonder, hubby is "favouring" him more than the new born ZK. As he said in his own words that ZQ is exciting as he is different every stage and it's refreshing. As for ZK, it's something that he had seen before, hence not as interesting. Furthermore, now ZK is not exactly responding much as yet, so it takes patience to wait and see him smiling. Hubby talks to him but before he starts to smile, hubby walks away to do something else - no wonder he has not gotten much chance to see his #2 smiling. I hope he does not develop obvious favourtism for his ZQ but I can see that he loves ZQ very much and I am glad that he is appreciating and enjoying his son so much.

ZQ will say things like
1. "I can manage" when we try to help him on certain things.
2. When asked about something he does not want, he'll say "No, thank you" and he'll politely say "Thank you mama".
3. Sometimes when he sees me in pain, whether caused by him or not, he'll say "Sorry .... mama .... " and comes over to sayang me.
4. When baby cries, he'll get excited and shout "Baby crying .... mama, baby crying .... ".
5. When he returns from school, he'll asks "Where's my baby?" and he always wan to "See my baby". when we carry baby up, he will say " I wan my baby" ....
6. He loves to sayang DiDi. He'll hug him, kiss him on his lips! *i faintz cos he has cough sometimes.
7. When he is gonna cough, he'll turn away and walk to a corner and then cough before he comes back near the baby.

On the -ve side, he had learnt the word "Stupid" .... asked him who taught tat, he said "One grandma" .... so funny.

At this stage, he loves to listen to "Clifford" stories. He can even memorise the story. SOmetimes i wonder if he can read but i think it's becos he memorised the story. When mymaid tries to take short cut and skip a page, he'll know and tell her "No, it's wrong ....."

He's really an adorable and understanding kid .... love him lots! especially he is such a darling and takes care of his little brother, not demanding too much of my attention and this makes it easier.

Baby favours

Went back to office to distribute baby favours on Monday. Decided to give something different from the normal cakes, Ang Gu Kue and eggs. Some of my colleagues simply loves it! It is vv nice as it comes with a bear, an one serving hot chocolate and a mini pretzel together with a personalised card .... i had done my own design and then got them to use my design instead of theirs and it turned out really nice. Had ordered another package of it, mainly foodstuff but did not keep one for myself.



Spent the entire day (almost) in office, going around to catch up with colleagues and sending out the baby favours. ZK enjoyed himself so much when 3 lady collegues from the Admin dept carried him and played with him. He laughed so heartily that I was surprised. He kept smiling and giving mega big smiles to them when they spoke to him, play with him. Made me realised that I haven't been doing that much myself and he's grown to actually respond. I only know that he smiles when I speak to him or talk about him with my helper. Now he is more alert and can see you eye to eye and moves along when u move away.

They kept praising him that he is vv clever and that he is able to respond so well, despite being only a 7 weeks old. My roommate also commented the same thing. Dunch know if it's becos he is drinking breastmilk? better development. hehee. So far, I am proud to say that he is still on total breast milk. So different from ZQ who only had so little of it. Now I am trying to make up for it by giving him some of it if he wants to drink cos ZQ recognises the different taste - sometimes he protests against it.

ZQ knows which floor we stay in

ZQ has a good memory.

He can remember stories I read to him before he sleeps and when he was younger, he can remember songs very well too. Had even taught him Faye Wong's "MING YUE JI SHI YOU, BA JIU WEN QING TIAN .... " one of the famous poems.

Once, i wanted to test if kids at their age has good memory and I taught him to count from 1-10 in Malay ... "Satu, Dua, Tiga .." and after only a couple of times within a span of 2 days, he remembers it. It's quite amazing but yes, they do learn and absorb vv fast at this age.

Yesterday, i was out and I told the van driver to call my house phone when they reached so my helper can go down to pick him up. The home phone did not work as it was not placed properly. Then she brought my son to the lift and asked which floor he lives in. ZQ managed to tell her which floor and she brought him up ..... now we are also trying to teach him our hp nos so that he can get someone to call us when he gets lost. Of course i am not teaching him to use the phone to dial as yet. hahhaa.

Baby thank you e-card

ZK first month celebration

Been busy celebrating ZK's first month and my birthday. Have not gotten time to post any pics as yet.

ZK's first month celebration was rather successful. I had invited 50 over guests to my place as half of my initial guests could not make it ... combined my 2 days celebration into one. Hubby was asking, "How do u squeeze 50 guests in this place of ours?". Well, we managed. As guests do not come all at one time, it was ok in the end. Hee, can do such gatherings in future ... then again, what other occassions do we invite so many people? Another baby? hahaa ... not for now.

Made an e-card invite for the celebration and I thought it's quite nice. Shall post it up ;)

I ordered from NEO Gardens and had good comments from the guests. The most memorable part of the celebration was before we cut the cake, hubby wanted to take a picture for baby with the cake. Guess what he did? He placed baby on the hard glass table top next to the cake and baby started crying! Terrible.

Ordered some favours for ZK's first month and will be distributing to frens and colleagues as a token of appreciation for their joining in our celebration of ZK's birth. It should be nicer than the traditional Ang Ku Kue, egg and cake. It has personalised announcement card (I sent in my own design and requested them to produce it accordingly) and has it printed on the bottle, etc. QUite cool isn't? Have not seen the real thing as it will be delivered tomorrow. Hope it's a nice little token.

More pics of ZK

Family pic time!

Joy of "breastfeeding"

Little did I know about the joy of breastfeeding, rather, sound of pumping.

The sound of the milk that drips into the bottle, as it increases, the sound of it spraying into the bottles ..... it gives such sense of achievement. As I watch the bottles gets filled up, it feels good that finally I am producing milk .... milk that gives antibodies and nutrients to my baby. For the excess milk, I can even give it to #1, ZQ who had missed out on it last round. ZQ was mainly on formula milk (FM) and I had produced so little breastmilk (BM) that every drop of milk was like a drop of blood .... so precious.

As I had failed in breastfeeding with my #1, I did not bear much hope of succeeding this round but I tried to find all other avenues to help improved my breastfeeding efforts. I bought a nursing pillow so that it helps in positioning the baby for breastfeeding (I feel that this is one of the greatest challenge) ... afterwhich is getting the baby to suckle (this will depend greatly on the baby). I had also invested in a good pump - Ameda, a dual electric pump, which is important because a dual pump will cut the time spent in emptying the excess milk by half!

Having done all that, I had also bought Milk producing herbs tea and a kind of herb called Fenugreek which helps lactating mothers to produce more milk - well, I am proud to say that to date, I had not open my bottle of fenugreek as yet.

Most importantly I had prepared myself mentally that I WANT TO PRODUCE MORE MILK! Hence, during my final stage of pregnancy, colostrum already started to produce. Even on the 2nd day at the hospital, I managed to squeeze out 50ml of milk which I even took a picture of - haha, so proud u know.

Til this morning, I had produced a record high of 260ml in a pumping session. What do I do with so much milk when ZK is only consuming 100ml per feed.

Sadly, I must say that I've enjoyed pumping more than direct latching the baby cos he still drinks 100ml regardless of how long I had latched him on! Latching on - he fusses, cries, struggles and now having gotten used to the bottle - he feels the slow flow on direct latching and becomes impatient. Hence, I had decided I'll do exclusive pumping and let someone else do the bottle feeding.

I hope that without the latching and with exclusive pumping, the milk supply will not dip. Now I must say that it is too late to get back to direct latching as ZK had already learnt that he can get milk without having to suckle too hard ... and compared to direct latching, he does not need to put in so much efforts.

It does not matter so long he gets the breastmilk and that I am comfortable in what I am doing - relax ... so I can produce suffient milk.

First outing with ZQ after my delivery

Went to Pasir Park with hubby and ZQ. ZQ really enjoyed himself alot and was laughing when I showed him the pictures and videos of him playing Pasir Ris Park. Now he knows how to request to go there again.

ZQ knows how to please

ZQ really knows how to please his daddy.
He drew some lines on the paper and ran over to tell daddy "I drew something special for you". Asked him what it is, he said it's the train .. it goes Choo choo choo ...
Daddy then asked him to add some more colors and he replie "No, thank you".
His other favourite phrase is "Stop it Papa" "Stop it Mama" "Stop it Auntie" .. he learnt that in his CC and now he uses it with us when we tried to stop him from misbehaving and he will say "So sad ..... " when we really discipline him. Next second, he'll be jumping with joy and I wonder if he is good at acting. *Sigh.

He's quite funny. The way he answers sounds vv much like an adult but then it could be all 2.5 yr olds are answering in this manner.

Sometimes he will say "I tell u something" .....
Other times he will pull your head near to him and say "Spell my name.."
Now he knows his daddy and mommy's name and i am teaching him to remember my mobile number. Hope it's a good thing .. not sure if it will backfire and he might end up calling me often next time. Let's see.

ZK one month old pictures

Make a Smilebox photobook

ZK is 1 month old

ZK is 1 month old today. Was planning for a dinner session with some relatives but becos my FIL cannot make it, we had to postpone it. Dunno when but hubby is arranging it.

From birth of 3.65kg, ZK had now grown to be about 5 kg. I was surprised cos i always thought he was only 4 kg. It was calculation mistake. Now he drinks 100-120ml every 2-2.5hours, that's alot for a baby only 4 weeks. Furthermore, it's vv SIONG to wake up every 2 hours to feed him. Each time it will take at least 1 hour and if my #1 is at home eg. Weekends, then we really don't have time. Though confinement is ending soon but i don't see myself going out alot .. i still need alot of rest.

ZQ is getting abit more unmanagable cos he sees me home alot and i give him more time since the maid has to take care of ZK at times, hence i have to come in to take over certain things. Maid finds that she cannot manage him. She will give in to him when he cries and makes a din ... so she will give him biscuits(chocolate kind), etc which I myself do not give to ZQ cos he develops cough easily. He had been coughing for a while and on and off, it comes back for few weeks. having gone through so long to have his cough recovered, of course i am upset that she gives him rubbish food and he might develop cough again.

Scrape Book Trial

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

My Baby ZK

Update on ZK - week 3

Just gotten this collage done up and I tot I'd post it here :)

He's so cute .. i was taking pictures for him and told him .... "Darling, smile ..." and he actually did .. a couple of times.

He's quite a "clean" boy .... always like his diaper dry and clean. Even when there's one pee, he feels it, he'd cry until we change him. Diaper ... a rather costly thing.

He's drinking 90ml for every 2-2.5 hourly .... it's quite a lot for his age but then he's born quite a big size boy ... so perhaps he needs more. Thank God that this time round my supply is able to meet his demand and even have excess that I can give to my #1, ZQ.

Initially, ZQ was enjoying it until he decided that he dun wan the "special" milk and want the normal milk (Formula) ... hence, now we can only give it to him in the wee hours when he is still sleepy. Well, firstly it can help me save $$ and hopefully if it's not the frozen breast milk, then it has the antibodies that comes with it. Hopefully it can also help to boost ZQ's immune system.

Don't you love his million dollar smile?

ZQ is the sweetest boy and a good brother

This morning, i was still half asleep when ZQ came into my room to tell me he is going to school. Next, he hugged me and gave me a goodbye kiss and seeing that I am still sleeping, he said "Mama, don't go down" to tell me that I do not need to accompany him down to the school bus. He's such a sweet boy.

Last nite when I put him to sleep, I told him firmly that once he finishes his milk, he MUST sleep and really, within 5 mins, he fell asleep. Quite glad that he din insist on more milk -which he usually do. He is drinking alot of milk esp at nite and esp for a toddler of his age. I thought they should be cutting down on milk feeds? But he is not eating properly for his dinner and still vv choosy .... don;'t want meat, vege, fish .. in fact , everything except white rice. Faintz.

ZQ is also coping well with his new didi, ZK. He will say softly "Baby ..... so cute .... " while touching baby's legs, toes. I feel he will be a very caring GorGor to his little brother.

For little ZK, he seems to like to be carried and cries when we put him down. So now, i told maid not to rock him if possible. However, ZK is still managable cos once he "falls asleep", we will put him down.

Update on ZQ - 2.5 years old

ZQ is now 2.5 years old and he is about 16kg @ 90+ cm .. din measure his height but alot of people commented that he looks like a 3 or 4 yr old kid. Well, his mature looks I must credit to his father ... haha.

He has made great improvements in terms of his speech and ability to communicate. Some of his favourite phrases are :-

"That's a good story" - whenever I finish reading a book, he used to say "The End" ... now he will say "That's a good story". It's interesting to hear cos I never teach him that and I gather it's prob the childcare.

"I'm so sad" - ZQ is a sensitive boy and when we scold him or punish him, he will run to me or to my domestic helper and say "I'm so sad .....". We'd then ask him what happened and he tries to articulate that papa or mama is not happy with him and angry with him.

"Angry" - He learnt that from CC and he will say "Angry" with his arms folded. So funny.

Since he returned from my mother in law's place (due to his chicken pox) , I felt that he had grown up suddenly. Not just in terms of his weight, size but his speech, mannerism and alot more. No wonder there's a song that say "One night grow up" (translated from the mandarin song from Fish Leong).

He's been quite understanding and will look at baby and say "Baby .. so cute" "Baby crying". Since he is having a cough now, I told him to stay away from baby and to turn away or walk away when he is going to cough and to cover his mouth. He understood and will walk away whenever he is going to cough. Such a dear and I must say that he is rather mature and understanding for his age. He has a vv good nature and I believe that they are born with it.

I hope to give him more time once baby's routines are more established.

ZK's jaundice is on the downward trend

Hurray! ZK's jaundice is on the downward trend. Yesterday's checkup, his level went down to 183 ... a drop of 20 points is quite good. Need to go back for another review and if it falls further, then ZK can be "discharged" from going back for blood test.

Now I have to start working on his first month celebration. I did not do it for #1 - ZQ cos i was not coping well with the first time round and hence, no time and energy to do it. This time, I am managing better and with help from my domestic helper, things are much better now.

Gotta start sourcing for caterer and decide on who to invite , etc. Alot of work to be done!

ZK's jaundice level had improved

Brought ZK for blood test today and his level is now 218. Converting to TMC's level, it is to divide by 17, hence it is a level of 12.8 Doc had verified that ZK's jaundice level is ok but still requires monitoring and have to go back in 2 days' time for another blood test and 4 days' time for another detailed blood test. Here's goes another confinement when i am never confined at home - always busy running around to bring the boy for blood test, review checkups.

For ZQ, when we discover his jaundice, it was at level 400 and shot up to 420 when he was admitted to KKH 2 years ago. That would mean TMC's level of 24-25! It was a terrible experience, hence, anytime I'd prefer ZK to admit hospital or do home theraphy than to leave it to chance for jaundice to drop naturally. When we discovered that, ZQ was already above the danger level and the doc told me to rush him to KKH and dun even think of going home to pack the bag .. he then quickly called KKH to prepare the maximum lights available to shine ZQ. I was there during the 3 days and I could not stay over, it was a toturous experience. ZQ had to be put on drip and totally naked (not even the diapers) ... it was a painful sight and rather traumatising for a first time mother.

This time round I am more prepared for it and can handle it better. When I heard that ZK has to be admitted, I was rather glad they discover it earlier .... but when i went to the PD, when he told me it shot up from 9.3 to 16.9, i fear that history repeats itself ... felt like fainting for a second and wasn;t thinking straight. Anwyay, i rented the machine home and did a 3 day photo therapy for him and though i did not have much rest, it did not matter.

I just pray that it continue to go down. Really, I am not sure if it's linked to ginger. Last round I did not eat much ginger and ZQ had it bad .... this time round, i did eat a little (perhaps some dishes unknown to me) cos hubby in his goodwill, told my maid to cook dishes with ginger to help me pass out the wind but he forgot that it might cause jaundice to go up. Though I kept telling him i cannot eat ginger but i still find them in the food cos he did not tell my maid to stop putting ginger. Anyway, gynae also does not believe that ginger plays a part in breastmilk jaundice.

So much for today .... already vv tired after coming home from the blood test. Think I'd better watch what i eat these few days/weeks.

Comparison between ZQ & ZK

Managed to dig out ZQ's birth pics ..... somewhat i feel that ZK looks very much like GorGor. Here goes ...... the left pics are ZQ and the right pics are ZK.

Both of them are delivered on the 39th week but their weight differs by almost 700grams. Can tell that ZK is a little chubbier and more reddish. ZQ does look a little yellow already. However, ZQ was discharged without phototheraphy ... but ZK's level was 11.9, so he stayed a day more in hospital. Few days later, went to PD and the level shot up to 16.3 or 16.9, hence had to do home theraphy.

ZQ has lesser hair than ZK and ZK has nicer lips. Their eeyes are quite the same and both have 2 dimples - thank goodness, otherwise ZK will be wondering why mama is so unfair : ) Apart from ZK's nice hair, he has relatively long fingers and legs, toes, feet. Can learn to play piano in the future .

ZK's jaundice had gone up

Brought ZQ to PD review on day 7 and it had gone up to 16.9 ... my heart sank when i heard it. Yes, I do think he is kinda yellow but din expect it to be that high. It's not dangerous yet (like ZQ's) but the thought of having jaundice and had to either admit him or DIY home photo theraphy was really not what i was expecting.

After PD appt, I went to see my gynae to take out my stitches. It was a smooth process ... in fact, he just snipped on both sides and next he said, "It's done". Wow ... did not expect to be so fast cos last gynae used black string and he had to "pull" it out ... felt some discomfort .. but this time it was painless. New gynae - Dr Adrian Tan from TMC even took out a fybroid of 3.5cm from me =-- that alone would have costed me thousands of dollar to do a fybroid operation and now he did it as part of the operation- he said he oso dunno how to charge, the most it's only a few hundred. Thanks to Dr Adrian Tan. He really made my delivery C-section process smooth. I even chatted with him and the anasthetist (spelling?) throughout the operation.

Now i hope that his jaundice will go down to a safe level by tomorrow.

My #2 - ZK's pic

Delivered ZK on 20/08/2008 and he weights a good 3.655kg @ 51cm. Relatively heavy and long boy. The c-section operation went well and now I am already moving quite well and not much pain ... ZK got discharged one day later than me as he had jaundice level of 11.9 ... not too high but good to go under the photolight.

The Big Day welcoming birth of my #2

Today's the BIG day! Gonna go to hospital to deliver my #2 via C-section. Feeling excited i guess.

Finally the day has arrived after much changes. Initial date was 18/08/08, then changed to 08/08/08 then finally 20/08/08. Hhaa, seldom people change their scheduled C-section date so often but well, we've got to be comfortable with the arrangements rite? I've changed my gynae last minute too cos i felt he was rather unprofessional and $$ faced. Glad to have gone to another gynae who had given me a MUCH MUCH better user experience - never know till I switched like 1.5 months ago.

Now I wonder ....
- How will the op go?
- Will I have side effects of Epi?
- Will baby be healthy and easy to manage?
- Will baby look more like me or hubby?
- How much will my tummy shrink from current 44 inches (yes! it's a record high of 44 inches)

Now i can only pray that God will bless us with a healthy, cute, easy to take care baby and for myself, that I'll recover fast and well from the operation. Also, on how ZQ gonna react to his new brother - pray all things go well.

It's a start of a new motherhood journey and gonna adapt to a new life once again.

ZQ at Wild Wild Wet in June

These pics were taken 2 months back and as I had no time to do up the collage, it's been delayed till now. I guess this is to compensate ZQ before arrival of #2 and he gets lesser time with me.

ZQ loves to play with his "gugu" and since she is still a "little kid" herself, they get along really fine ;)

Don't you simply love his smile? He has these 2 lovely dimples which he inherited from hubby and me. Since we both have dimples, I cannot claim credit that that's my trait. ZQ looks very much like daddy but as I had always said "More handsome cos he has my genes too". Now I wonder how #2 will look like? more like me or hubby again? My guess - more like hubby since his family line has vv strong genes ..... one look and u can tell that they are from the same family. My family genes? vv weak - cos my sister's kid looks like her hubby, my brother's kids look like his wife. I hope that good genes other than looks will go to my sons.

Some thoughts

A friend called and said another friend had been warded into ICU and perhaps we want to pay our last visit, in case she goes home with the Lord as her situation does not look positive. In normal circumstance, I would rush down immediately to visit but this time, I hesitated. As I am going to deliver next week, I am not too sure if I can cope with seeing this friend in her current state of health cos I heard that she had lost alot of weight and the sight of her might affect me emotionally.

I must admit that I had been quite emotional during this last stage of pregnancy and with recent ZQ getting chicken pox, imagining the possible risk to baby should he get chicken pox. My recent "minor" car accident where a taxi bang into my colleague's car and I had a rude shock out of it. Worst, I realised how "unprofessional" my gynae was (he was on holiday and when i called him upon advise by his nurse, first words he said "I'm on holiday, can you call my nurse" .... but it was the nurse who told me to call him) .... anyway, that's another story and bottomline : I changed gynae at this last stage of my pregnancy and getting the new gynae to deliver me.

Other things aside, I still have not decided if I'd visit her .... I don't know what to say ... will I start crying? Seems that she had lost alot of weight and she is skinny to start with. Sometimes just thinking of things would make me cry and even movies too ... I don't know.

Sometimes I'd tell my hubby that if anything happens to me during my childbirth, I had already made all the preparations for the family. People say why say such things cos we tend to believe that we'd live to hundred and one .... but we never know when the time comes for us to go. It's better to make the preparations so that the family is ready (not for the loss) but other aspects. This will help to reduce their stress of having to cope with the pain of the loss of a loved one and to handle so many other admin issues. It's called planning.

Planning is good but things will go out of hand too as it's never as planned. I planned so much to prepare ZQ for the arrival for #2 and things seems to go well - who'd know that he caught chicken pox? I wonder, of all times, why now? Now he's gonna miss the arrival of his didi and by the time he comes back, how'd he react with having to share mommy's love and time with another little baby? I planned for him to say "Welcome baby" to his brother, to make balloons for him, to buy a little cake for him .... but now? it has to all delay. Nonetheless, most importantly is the good health of the baby.

Life changes so fast, we have to be quick to adapt, to make decisions to change quickly to cope with the situations. Sometimes it's tiring - what's the best decision? which is the best option? Can we take the best option? sometimes not due to circumstance we're in.

So much for my rattling .... gotta start thinking about +ve things .... baby's gonna be out soon and yes, there are lots of reading up and planning to do ... breastfeeding, handling baby, growth of baby, etc, etc. Being a mother is a 24 hour job! Cheers to all mothers.

ZQ's CC made him a card

Went down to ZQ's CC to pay school fees and chat with the teacher and update approximately when ZQ can start going school. She then passed me a card the classmates made for him. Oh, it's so sweet of them.

ZQ is still on the "Mama, bye bye" mode and i get to speak to him for less than 10 seconds. Other mommies told me that this is the stage of their life that they have vv short span and don't really talk too much on the phone.

Have another week to go before my scheduled C-sect and now trying to enjoy my freedom (without ZQ) and also to rest before baby #2 comes. Been feeling quite tired this week .... though I had taken days to rest and over the National Day. Probably due to the last stage of pregnancy i guess. Shall not waste this opportunity which I've not had since ZQ came into this world. Hubby and I are also trying to enjoy these moments together - quite a rare opportunity.

With #2 coming out, it'll be a while before we can leave the 2 boys at in law's place and have our nites' out.

Losing touch with ZQ

Been only 5 days since I have not seen ZQ personally due to his chicken pox but it seems like a long time. He seems quite happy staying at MIL place but I feel I am losing touch with him.

For the initial days when I call, he will excitedly come to the phone and say "mama ..., mama .... " in a vv sweet and nice tone. Now he has gotten accustomed to staying there without any rules and regulations, he is happy with that no control.
These 2 days, he will pick the phone and say a few words then hang up. Today it was ultimate, he will pick up the phone (which he loves to) and then utter "Bye bye" and hang up the phone. I am upset - just want to talk to him a little and hear his voice that's all.

I had heard in the background in the early few days telling him to say "Bye bye" and now it seems that he has gotten that message. So mean of that person and I know who it is.

We tried once to use the webcam with my SIL to see each other which I think it's a wonderful technology ..... so tried to do it again but my SIL had messed up his laptop (again) and now the video does not work on their side. ZQ can see us but I cannot see him. U know how agonising it is not to see your son??????

On top of that, he is now not even really interested to talk to me on the phone. Each time I call, my MIL will say that he is sleeping, bathing, watching TV, playing toys ..... and I don't get to talk to him.

Had to tell my maid to call me every few hours so I can hear him but she forgets. She told me ZQ was sleeping that time .... but, she is not clever to call me and put him on the phone when he wakes up? Upset with her too.

I really feel I am out of control here. The good habits and routines I had trained my son in and he listens, he understands and knows .... now will all be history.

At my MIL place, he watches alot of TV and sleeps vv late. They will say "Your son ah ... likes to watch so much TV" ... but they did not be firm with him and they don't know how. I hope that these 2-3 weeks at her place will not cause long term damage to his good habits ... but I have no choice here.

Just hope for the best.

The family potraits - part 2

It's tough to get ZQ to stand in front of the pillar as he prefers to be the photographer, so we can only try to capture him as best possible.

See how he struggles ......

ZQ is such an adorable boy. He's a cheerful and active boy and generally quite ok to manage. Of course, a toddler has their own whimes and fancies but he's quite a mature and understanding kid - for a 2 yr old+.

So sweet of him to come and give mama a big love hug.
Missing him quite abit since he is now at MIL place and I cannot hug him and kiss him ... have to wait till he has fully recovered from his chicken poxie.

Simply love the great charming smile of his. His 2 lovely dimples makes my day and the way he calls "Mama". No wonder they say a kid can cause a parent's heart to melt. I truly understand that.

The family potraits - part 1

It's been a long while since we took some nice pics together. It ususally is ZQ and hubby or me and ZQ - Hubby and me? who's gonna be our photographer. Guess where we took these pics? It's down at the void-deck. The government has recently repainted the estate and I asked hubby to use the nicely painted wall as backdrop. It looks quite nice, doesn't it?



Few more pics with my dear hubby. Almost like studio shots but of course not as professional but well, good enough for my standards. Afterall, these are ways to save $$ in such economy, isn't?



My pregnant belly .... so huge. Only at week 37+, I am already 43 inches .... wonder how many more inches to go before I deliver after week 38. Initially planned to deliver on 080808 but cos it's only 37w and few days, it was not a good idea. Had to give up that slot and book another date 2 weeks later.

Now that ZQ is down with chicken pox, on hindsight, it is a better idea. Had already segregated him to MIL place and heard that he is now starting to recover and of course, the most infectious period.

Cannot visit him lest hubby gets infected and bad for #2. Hence, we use the high tech webcam to see him. Comes with limitation of course, cos MIL struggles to turn it on and SIL is out most of the time. Try to make do with whatever resources we have.

Mommy and ZQ

Don't normally get a good pic with ZQ cos I am the better photographer ... haaa.
Don't get a good family pic either cos ZQ now wants to the photographer instead of the model.
Don't mean not to put hubby's pic cos not many nice ones as I've always ended up taking ZQ's pic and hubby is not exactly keen to take pics .. though I think he looks nice, rather i take nice pics of him ... but well, not vice versa.
Here one pic I really like ...

My tummy - 43 inches

Almost delivering .... last round I've achieved only 40 inch of waist ... and now it's 43 inches. Guess the tummy is stretched and lose. For a petite me, alot of pple had asked if I am delivering twins .... furthermore, my #2 is not that big .. but will be as compared to ZQ.

It seems there are alot of water inside .... like round 1, my tummy was like 5 months pregnant after i delivered. Frens who came visit wondered if I had delivered. I had to point to my son's cot and say, "that's my son, this is my tummy" .. haha

Balloons for my dear ZQ during his poxie days

Just learnt a new hobby - Balloon sculpting. It's a 1.5 hours session and we managed to sculpt quite a few balloons shapes - dog, girraffe, heart shapre, flower, bee, etc ... it's fun!

I guess this comes in timely cos ZQ is now away and I can make balloons for him since I cannot be there to care for him. Had already asked hubby to send him 3 first and tomorrow I'll bring down a few more .. else he becomes bored with it. He likes balloons.

Here's what I've made.

I hope he'll enjoy it. Never know how much I can miss my son. This is the first time he is gonna be away from me. No choice as he's infectious and I cannot afford to take any remote chance of me getting chicken pox (again - if my antibody is not sufficient) and passing it to my unborn child - arriving in another 1.5 weeks' time. Seeing so much (cannot count liaoz) chicken poxes on his face, body and back makes me so sad .... oredi cried a few times.  Thought I had already given him the jab but I actually overlooked it. Due to my ignorance, I did not realise that it was an additional jab - or I did think he had taken that jab.

ZQ - mama loves you and sorry that I had overlooked your chicken pox jab ... i thought it was part of the package for immunisation.

ZQ is down with Chicken Pox

Found out last evening that ZQ had been down with ChickenPox, confirmed by the doc.

Stressed. #2 is coming out in 2 weeks' time and ZQ is down, he'll be at his recovery stage and it's the most crucial and contagious.

I had just sent my #1 to my MIL place and already missing him. Called him and he is so cute over the phone .... My MIL say dun talk to him lest he misses me ... so upset. I told her that he's ok and will not kick a fuss so i spoke to him for a while - dunno what she trying to do. Then next, I heard her wanting to give him raisins but he has a cough and she kept asking him to put down the phone ... so irritating.

I keep telling ZQ to pass the phone to her but he dun quite understand and keeps talking to me in his toddler language. I dunno if i can tahan not to see him for 2 weeks under my MIL's care and maybe longer cos baby gonna be out and #1 is at his recovering stage. Feeling sad that he's gonna miss the most special moment which I had prepared him for ... even taught him to say "Welcome baby", make balloons, buy a cake to welcome his didi. The house feels so empty without him .... and it's only 2 hours he's away. Guess I have to pretend he is in school.

Never knew how important ZQ had become in my life cos he's always around. But yes, every single about him worries me .... it's just being a mother. I'd jump up at nite at the slightest noise he makes and check on him .. fren said I am high-strung and need to unwind before #2 arrives.

On the other hand, my hubby's so happy ... immediately suggested bringing me out for nice dinner tonite he says, since baby not at home. He's glad cos son had become first priority to me and maybe he feels neglected. *Oops. Shall have a good time out tonite - relieve the stress and give him some attention before #2 comes out and he gets lesser.

Planned Delivery date for #2

My EDD is supposed to be on 26 Aug and I am now into my 36th week and baby is 2.8kg. First planned C-sect date was 18 Aug

2nd planned C-sect date is 080808, 8pm - Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. Week 37+. Due to term ends, wanted to go earlier cos can go back earlier for work as they are shorthanded.

3rd planned C-sect date is 200808. It's 39th week and it's safer and better for the baby's lung development.

Now it's another 3 weeks before due and mytummy is already 43 inches .... so far weight gain is only 9 kg (minus 2).

ZQ's a mature and sweet boy

Been busy with my pregnancy n not posted .... shall do a short one here.

Din realised how ZQ had grown. He's a sensible and mature boy.
Things that he does :-
1. He massages me (tap me on my back cos I'm having backache from my pregnancy)
2. He pours a cup of warm water for me from the thermoflask I put in my room and one for his papa too.
3. He will come into the room and sees us sleeping and he will quietly wlak out of the room and closes the door. So understanding.
4. When I am in pain, he will come and sayang me.

There are many more things which is so sweet about him and he's really fun too.
Will post more as I find time and remembers them.

Back aches starts .....

To date, I am into my 32 weeks of pregnancy and I had gained only a total of 7.5kg (including 2 kg I had lost).
Current weight = Previous weight - 2kg(lost during 1st trimester) + 5.5kg.

This 2nd pregnancy I had not gained much but my tummy is growing vv big. I was at 42 inches when I delivered ZQ but now, I have another 1.5 months more to go before my scheduled delivery date and my waist is already 42 inches.

Back pain sets in and I've to wake up couple of times each nite. Feeling guilty that I may not have time for ZQ, I try my best to do what I can for him now - knowing that the attention will be split with #2 in August. However, this may not be the best option cos if he is used to having more attention from me, then come August, he might feel more strained without it. Worst, it has made me so alert that I wake at every sound that comes from him and will go check on him. Not getting enough sleep though. Guess I have to learn to let go more and leave things to my helper and hubby.

Almost another 2 months from my EDD

I cannot imagine that in 2 months' time, I am gonna be a 2nd time mother. It's a blessing from God that I've gotten preggie again quite quickly and now am expecting another little mickey this year. ZQ is already now 28 months. A relative big size boy for his age as he is often mistaken as a 3 year old and above. He is still a little baby to me - always my baby. :) He is now in a phase whereby he absorbs things really fast. He can learn Rhymes, Chinese Ryhmes(Er Ger) in matter of days. He has relatively good memory and can remember songs well and even sings to the correct tune. I guess children at his age are really capable of that. This morning I managed to get a relatively good pic with him. Nowadays, he wants to control alot of things ... always saying "I wan". When I attempt to take pictures of him, he will say, "I wan see, I wan see" and makes it extremely challenging to take pics for him. He also likes to make funny cheeky face when we take pictures. Here's proof.

Day at the zoo - May08

Family went to the zoo. ZQ's third visit to the zoo and he is happy playing at the children playground and getting himself wet. Brought our new domestic helper and it's her first time there despite being in Singapore for 3 yrs. Her ex-employer does not bring her nor their own kids out to such places. She enjoyed herself too and also taken quite a few photos for her.

ZQ loves this swing at the zoo. His first try and he can swing by himself but we told him to hold on tight. A few times he tried the stunt to come down and almost fell - quite dangerous. Below also has him making faces - cheeky face. An enjoyable outing. ZQ slept for a short while during the penguin show .... by the time the show ended, he woke up! haha. Missing the most impt part of it.

Haircut @ the professional

This is ZQ's first haircut @ the professional. Previous disastrous haircuts were either by MIL or ex-maid. I am glad I finally did it. Just look at the difference. His old haircut does not make him look boyish at all. In fact, alot of people mistaken him as a girl, calling him meimei and I had to correct them. Now, I think it's hard to mistake him as a girl right? Of course the hair looks better after mommy's trimming.

Brought him for a professional cut. He has had his share of crying and wailing and we had to use alot of sweets to calm him down to get this decent haircut. Both hubby and I think it looks a bit too BENGISH for him so I had to do abit of trimming.

Final product - after going through mommy's magic hands. I think he looks much better after the slight trimming. So boyish now .... no longer can be mistaken as a girl anymore.

A happy mom.

ZQ's 2 year old birthday

It's been 2 months since his birthday and I am only finding time now to update his pic. See how he is enjoying his piece of cake, sitting on the birthday seat : )