The beginning of Motherhood

Entering into the 3rd week of motherhood and I am still trying to get the hang of it with surrounding everything abt Estelle. Luckily with the help of the confinement lady I am able to take a nap or so, blogging, clearing office emails, etc. Most impt I do not need to worry abt my meals. Its a luxury for this 1 mth confinement period. Cant imagine life after the confinement lady left. I have to admit that I am abit worried to be home alone with Estelle as a first time mother. But again, its all in the mind.. I guess will just have to go with the flow and I will sail thru smoothly.. For the time being, I will learn as much as I could from the confinement lady and had told her that from next week onwards I will be 'in full' force to take care of Estelle so as to get myself prepared.

As a mother, expressing milk is 1 of the major task and its 1 of the tedious task for me cause I am low in supply!! I had been trying to drink more liquid and soup, rest more and increasing the frequency of pumping to every 2hrs, get someone to unclog the milk ducts, but everything was in vain.. Moreover, the frequent pumping makes me sore. Even the pump had wear off within 2 weeks and I gotta get a new pump for 'heavy usage'.. but still supply didnt increase. Desperately, I seek help from the lactation consultant at TMC yesterday. They recommended me to take Fenugreek to boast the supply. Currently had seen a slight increase, hopefully over the next few days I will have enough supply to meet Estelle's demand.. Breastfeeding is exhausting and needs alots of patience especially dealing with low supply.. It is so stressful and sad.. Hopefully, my goal of total breastfeeding shall succeed in days to come.. Wish me luck!

Here's some photo of Estelle over the weeks. Newly born photos are already uploaded on the facebook..

Cupfeeding

'Dont disturb me' look

'I want milk' signal

With Dr Beh

Pretty in Pink

'Huh' look

Yawn

My Pride, My Proud - Estelle Yee

3.15am, 27 June 2010 (Sunday), 37weeks and 5 days pregnant, mild contraction creeps in. The contraction gradually becomes regular and more intense with every hour passed. Ard 9.30am bloody show begins to appear and at 10plus we made our way to the hospital.

Upon admitted, the mid wife had checked that the opening is about 2cm so we have to wait in the labour ward for the gynae. Before the gynae arrives the pain was so intense that I requested for Entonox The gynae arrives at 2pm plus and again checked the opening, this time rd was abt 3cm. He suggested to speed up the labour by inducing and breaking the water bag. The given estimated time of delivery was 7-8pm in the evening.

Once labour was induced the pain became unbearable that again I requested for another pain relief - Pethidine. Its an injection that will help to relief partial labour pain for 4-6 hrs. Within half an hour, the nurses told Andy that I am ready for delivery. At that time, I was high and drowsy by breathing in Entonox that I couldnt concentrate on my thoughts and breathing but could only hear voices.

In the delivery ward, Andy kept reminding me to control and concentrate on my breathing while I gripped tightly onto his hands. I could hear the nurses telling Andy that I am doing very well and determined moreover considering its my first birth.

While waiting for the gynae to come, the urge of pushing was so strong that I kept pushing. The moment the gynae arrives, he was just in time to catch the baby while I pushed out. Thereafter Andy cuts the umbilical cord and the gynae delivers the placenta and stitching up. As the deliver was too fast, the gynae didnt have the time to do a cut and estelle was forced thru leaving a tear about 0.5-1cm away fr the anus. While the gynae was stitching, estelle was brought for measurement and cleaning. Shortly, we are brought to the ward.

After being discharged for 2 days, I had a taste of motherhood by facing the 'ong ah, ong ah' song every 2-3 hrs or so, changing diapers, breastfeeding, etc. While Andy plays with her after work.

Life shall nv be the same again with the arrival of estelle.. It will be even better cause we are the ACE Family!! Andy, Cassandra, Estelle.