Being a Mother

After having a taste of motherhood, I must agree that all mothers are so wei da.. I cant imagine how olden days ppl can take care of so many children plus they need to do household chores..

I had been trying to juggle between doing household chores and taking care of estelle alone during my maternity leave. I guess kids back those days are easier to take care compared to kids these days. Kids these days are so smart.. There bound to be a day that estelle will outspoke me and may even talk back like we did to our parents. *Sad*

The initial stage while taking care of Estelle after the confinement lady left was overwhelming. Home alone with Estelle puts me on panic attacks and post pregnancy blues.. Although Andy had kept telling me that I am doing well, I just cant convinced myself that I am plus taking care of an infant seems like a guessing game (since they dun know how to talk) brought down my morale.

As time passed, I learnt that taking care of an infant needs to go easy. Being too paranoid will impose unnecessary stress. The PD had also brought up my morale when he says Estelle is doing well and catching up with others thou she had started small.. She had gain almost 2x her birth weight at 2mths which most babies do at 3 mths.. *Happy*

Although tired, all efforts seems gradually paid off.. I took a longer route (2 mths) than others to establish my milk supply but I had finally achieved to put Estelle on total breastfeeding.. Estelle had also been trained to sleep thru out the night at 2 mths.. Most importantly she seems to acknowledge the efforts with smiles and responses.. No wonder ppl says your heart will melt when u see your baby smiles. So first time mothers out there, hang on as your efforts will be paid off too!

And before who knows.. I am going back to work soon.. I had not rest well yet!! Luckily, now I managed to catch up some breath and learn driving while Estelle is in infant care. Infant care teachers had compliment that she is a good girl, even the cleaner also told me.. haha.. luckily no complaints.. She really is my little angel..

* I am a proud Mother of Estelle * :P

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.

My First Pregnancy Journal - Third Trimester

At 36.5 weeks now, I began to missed my old self. Moving ard without a hitch, get my hair done irregardless whether rebonding, curling or dying, painted nails, wearing high heels, eating sashimi, crabs, drunken prawns and of course the slimmer version of me..

At this advanced stage, sleeping had become a challenge with more frequent toilet trips and the cracking plus aching of pelvic bone when tossing and turning. There goes the 'oooosss and ahhsss' when lying, getting out of bed or after prolong sitting. Often I always joke with my colleagues that I need to warm up my engine before I can start walking or rather waddle. Such discomfort was due to 'lightening' whereby the baby head had dropped down and engage into the pelvis.

See.. pregnancy comes with a huge price to pay and a long list of complaints for that 40 weeks, so husbands out there cherish, love and be more patient to ur wives for they had made sacrifices.. While for those mothers to be, hang on there as time files and remb to control ur emotions and temper. First time mothers remb to read up so u will know what u r going thru. Childbirth class is a gd option for practical aspect.

I guess I will also missed the baby kicks and squirming after giving birth. Giving life is such a miracle, when a fertilised embryo develops to alive kicking baby.. But giving life is only the beginning, the tedious part will be the upbringing of the child. Its an ART.

The generation y kids are witty, outspoken, loud, daring, I.T savvy. However, those beautiful personalities like being humble, initiative, enduring hardship, well manners seems to be missing in them. They are well packaged on the outside but fragile inside. Blame it on the changing environment?

Well at least for me, I will try to implant these basic values and morals to my next generation. I am more of a hands on person and prefer to start from grd zero so that I can equip with more skills and knowledge. Also am a strong believer of moral and being well mannered is above academic.

Of course academic is so impt these days, that often ppl had associated it with wealth. The better u excel in studies, the more u earn. We cant deny the fact that those well academic started off better and much more easier. But think again, there r alot of cases that well educated ppl are blinded by greed which brings them down. Thus, such cases still voice down to our basic values and morals. Y in those kampong days, neighbours do not need to close the doors and not worrying theft? Think...

Anyway, back to pregnancy.. A full term pregnancy is considered from 37weeks to 40 weeks. Hopefully, as the time arrives I can give birth without the help of epidural. Wish me a smooth delivery.. I am ready, are you with me?

My First Pregnancy Journal - Second Trimester

"2nd trimester is the honeymoon period", says most mothers.

I totally agreed.. I sailed thru the 2nd trimester with a breeze apart from heartburn, indigestion and aching, which are still bearable.

Heartburn and indigestion started of in the early stages of 2nd trimester. The feeling of heatburn was terrible as it seems like heart attack. The heart will start to pump very hard and there will be difficulty in breathing. The remedy - Gaviscon. Alternatively, natural remedies like avoid spicy food, chocolates, acidic food and have smaller frequent meals can be adopted.

Most of the time during the 2nd trimester, I will spend my time lying on the bed as my bum and back tends to ache alot.. Andy often jokes that he is going to get a wheelchair for me so that I can move ard easily. Anyway, my gynae had advised me not to move and walk alot as I had low placenta. Too much movement may cause the placenta to deattach from the uterus and bleed easily.

I think the most 'miracle' experience in this trimester is to feel the baby kicks. Initally, its fluttering sensation. As the baby grows, these feeling will turn to full blown kicks and samuersaults. Am starting to count and monitor the frequency of the kicks to ensure the well being of the baby. Studies had shown that babies should at least kick 10 times in every 2hrs.
Dont be surprise they actually got hipcups too and can be determine by the way of their kicks.

As I enter into the early stages of 3rd trimester now, I am getting clumsier & heavier as the baby is putting weight fast. My energy level starts to falls too.. Luckily, we had did most of the shopping during the Baby fairs in March.. So now we are only left with decorating the baby room and packing those baby stuffs..

2more months to go and I will be on maternity leave.. oh.. and tomorrow we will be starting our childbirth education course.. hopefully we can absorb like a sponge with all the knowledge impart, practically..

GoGo Tiger - Roaring Year Ahead

Oh boy.. I am definitely in the holiday mood already, cant wait for CNY.. Despite the fact that we gotta give red packets this year.. but why bother since its only an yearly joyous ocassion.. Not to forget spring cleaning too.. and yes, even am preggy I am not spared (dont think I got the privilege to shake leg at home and do nothing hor, Andy always go the hard way and nv spoil his loved ones).. This is one similar characteristics we have..

So our 'poor' baby girl gotta learn and grow up in the hard way.. but she sure got a doting grandparents(my parents) whom had bought her clothes and even a 24k tiger year display ornament already.

Back to CNY, am going to indulge to those new year goodies this year without guilt(*cross finger* hopefully can shred those fats after pregnancy) since am already 'auntie-in-the-making'. No Figure, No looks. Sigh.. What a price to pay!!

Besides food, love those CNY songs that bring out the festive mood and I will sing along plus dance to the groove. As baby has develop hearing, hopes that she can hear and enjoys as much as I do..

Alright ppl.. wishing u in advance:

Happy CNY.. Happy Holidays..Have a roaring year ahead

GONG XI FAI CAI!!

My First Pregnancy Journal - First Trimester

Am breaking the silence for the first time to mark the 3months taboo..The past 3 months had been dreadful and terrible..

The first trimester was never easy and I am glad that I had been through it..I used to think that I had quite high tolerance level till morning sickness hit me real hard.. The sickness followed me through day and night which makes me unable to concentrate on what I am doing and lost interest, patience in everything.

I guess it was written all over my face that some of my close colleagues realized that something was wrong.. and yes.. those mothers got it right..

At some point of time during this 3 months, I really felt like giving up.. I felt so sick, so uncomfortable. It was worsen when I developed fever and enzema..The itch was killing..There was too much for me to take it.. and this got me thinking.. Why the birth rate is getting lower despite much effort by the govt.
1. Responsibility & Commitment - There's alot to give up once you decided to bring life.. time, enjoyment, freedom, leisure, etc. Basically, the baby come first. Alot of young parents had transferred this responsibility to their parents
2. Financial - Bringing up a child needs alot of $$ especially if they constantly fall sick. Its definitely a long term investment.

Alright, here's my findings or rather complaints for the first trimester:

Week 1-4
- Slight pain in stomach
- Dizzy
- Mild Headache
- Sore Bust

Week 5-12
- Morning sickness
- Sore Bust
- Backache
- Pain on left side of the bum
- Frequent urination
- Heartburn/indigestion = sleepless nights

Birthday

Andy and my birthday are only 10 days apart.. Both of us falls in the Virgo horoscope. But we both dont seems to have similarity in terms of character.

So I went to google on the characteristics of Virgo..

The Virgin

August 23 to September 23

Traditional Virgo Traits.....

Modest and shy

Meticulous and reliable

Practical and diligent

Intelligent and analytical

On the dark side....

Fussy and a worrier

Overcritical and harsh

Perfectionist and conservative

and I had identify the character by colours:

Red-Andy

Pink-Cass

Yellow-Both

See out of so many traits we only have 3 similar.. ok thats a little study on both of us..

Had celebrated Andy's birthday by organising BBQ with some of his close friends at my mum's place.. Didnt have time to take photos because i am his 'maria' on that day, busy serving SIR.. hehe..

For his birthday present, I bought him a Mont Blanc pen

While for me, we just went out for a simple dinner and my birthay present is a Burberry Bluelabel bag..

I would like to take this opportunity to thank a group of sweet colleagues who bought me ntuc vouchers, flowers and treated me for lunchie..and to all whom had given us your wishes and blessing on our birthdays..

I guess the most memorable wishes to me came from Team 4 colleagues who sang me Birthday song while in the lift and my mum who also sang me Birthday song thru my mobile while i am on the way to work.. ;P

Surprise Surprise

Went to Baby Tristan 1yr birthday party at Pasir Ris chalet yesterday. I guess its the 'hip' place to have parties there, as almost every unit are celebrating babies/children birthday.

Downdown east has changed quite abit ever since my last visit abt 2 yrs ago. But too bad didnt managed to racke the whole place due to time constraint.

While having our dinner, one of my auntie took out a chinese newspaper and show us these:

For those who had visited us, does it rings a bell?

Yeah, its our humble flat. Surprise surprise..

Months ago, Northwest hired a professional photographer to take shoots of our flat as they are publishing a magazine to publicise their works. To our surprise before they launch the magazine, our flat is already in the papers.

I immediately called our Interior designer jokingly asked for commission, since they had used these pics to do an advertisement for their 3days promotion. In return, we earned a free meal instead..better than nothing la, wahaha..

We have to admit thumbs up for the service of our ID, Sylvia from Northwest. Even thou, our flat had completed renovation 8 mths ago, whenever, we called her to rectify some problems or defect she will still follow thru and check whether is everything ok after the rectification. This after service is very important. Unlike some other companies after the work is completed and paid, you couldnt get them to rectify even they had promised a DLP earlier.

Anyone who need renovation, can visit their 5room showflat at Tradehub, Boonlay Way, look for Sylvia and 'bao' our name.. or get her contact fr us, should have discount ba.

*Sylvia if u r seeing this.. since we so friend can extend our DLP since its going to due soon.. hehe..

Happy 44th Birthday, Singapore

Unity is the key to success, called out PM Lee in the National day message. Indeed, the economic may seems to be stabilised but the outlook seems cloudy..

But it definitely doesnt dampen the Singaporean spirits to celebrate the nation's birthday.. What's more its public holiday on Monday!! Woohoo.. alots of Singaporeans must had taken this opportunity to go for a short getaway.

For Andy and me, we passed our day by spring cleaning the house and playing Facebook.. We had recently hooked up on the games in FB ever since Andy got his new laptop (when i had to use his old laptop '_').

I was too engrossed with playg FB today that i forgot to say the pledge at 8.22pm with all the Singaporeans.. I promised that i will recite the pledge even if i am out leh..OMG..Forgive me Singapore.. hehe.. I luv u, Singapore..my country, my homeland..

Singapore had came so far, thanks MM Lee for your great vision and leadership. May u stay pink in health, Mr Lee..

Enjoy ur holidays ppl, time for bed. Tml will be a busy day.. going yum cha, do some office work and cook Claypot rice for dinner.. See thats the reason y we are getting fatter!!