A reminder

As you can tell, this blog is pretty much dead. The time I get to blog is really limited and my time is mainly to focus on the updates of my girls and I do update their blogs whenever I can.

Anyhow, I just wanted to blog about what happened today.

In my line of work, I do meet up with my customers at least 50% of my time at work, at times more. And the people I deal with under my portfolio ranges from all sorts level, to the end-users of the services my company provides to the middle management as well.

And the interesting thing that can happen when I do meet with these people is when our conversations can digress to a personal level. Perhaps it has to do with my personality in that I am a friendly person and one of my strengths (and I admit at times can be a weakness too) is that when you do talk to me, I’ll somehow give you this vibe that I can be trusted. I have turned some very difficult clients into friendly ones in that they will become my friend instead (I’ve been invited to their personal events, etc which is why I dare say this!)

Don’t get me wrong, they will still give me a hard time if we fail to meet up to their expectations but after them throwing their frustrations to me and all, they will soften up and say that it’s nothing personal and it’s work. And I have totally accepted this as part of my working life.

Anyway, today, I met up with this just retired man whom I have met several times before but never gotten into a those discussions that touched our personal lives. After we discussed what needs to be discussed about work, I asked him some questions about the industry his company is in and somehow, we ended up talking about our personal lives.

In that conversation, I learnt that his only son and the youngest out of his 3 children passed away at the age of 10 about 5 years back. He didn’t want to tell me what his son died of but he mentioned that his son needed treatment towards the end of his life. His son was born healthy and achieved many things in his short span of his life that I ever did when I was 10. He was a Grade 5 piano player and a red belt tae kwon do player too. So when his son fell ill at around 9 years old, it was a huge shock to him and his family.

He had an advice for me as a mother with two young kids other than the fact that to always monitor closely whenever the kids have fever (as this was how it started with his son), is that to never ever take those close to you for granted. He said that after his son passed away, he realizes that it happens to everyone around you and it is a very common thing. We spent so much time at work or doing the things that you want that you tend to neglect the people right in front of your own eyes.

This advice is nothing new to me. We are all aware of this in one way or another but somehow, it gets forgotten especially when we are so busy trying to live our lives. It is when you lose someone or when you come across someone who has grieved so much that you are once again reminded of how you should be treating your loved ones.

My colleague whom I’ve known for 10 years, lost her husband last Monday at the age of 44 to a heart attack. They have 2 young kids at the age of 14 and 10. I was so disturbed by the fact that I could not sleep one of the nights and I cannot imagine how she is feeling. And because of this, I’m also once again reminded of how precious life can be and we should not be worrying ourselves to death about the things that we cannot control but on what we can actually do about it.

Life is short – do what you want out of your life but do not forget your loved ones and also yourself!

Boobs can be trained!

They really can be trained! LOL.

Since mid October, I have stopped pumping at work because :-

a) Haye Li is 1 year old already (she was approaching 1 then and I still had some supply left in the freezer which lasted for a few weeks after that)
b) My supply is decreasing big time
c) It takes too long to pump to get the quantity I want
d) I think I have achieved a whole lot pumping for a year! The fact that I lasted a year; something I thought I couldn’t pull through initially. So this is a huge achievement for me. *a big pat on my shoulders!*

I’m still breastfeeding the girl but only at nights, through the nights, mornings and weekends. I don’t know for how long more will I be doing this and I think I would let it just be, as long as the girl wants.

Back to the story…..the first two days of not pumping at work was kind of a discomfort for me. By 3-4pm, my boobs were really engorged. I had to just deal with the discomfort. The first day itself, when I was driving home that evening – I was getting desperate on how can I ease the discomfort. And all I could think of was Haye Li. So the second I entered the house, I asked for Haye Li and when I saw her, I went “Mummy is so happy to see you, you want nen-nen?” and she nodded her head yes. So I happily gave it to her but she only drank like halfway of one side and didn’t want anymore so I was still at a discomfort on the other side till it was her bedtime.

On the second day, same thing but it wasn’t as bad as the day before. By the third day, it was bearable and the rest of the week till now is a breeze. :D

But I have to admit, since then, my supply has decreased big time and I don’t get engorgements anymore. I also need to give Haye Li some formula in between weekends now when I feel that I do not have enough for her but she doesn’t drink much of formula when I’m around.

So this is the end of my pumping sessions – I am so happy! But there were 2 occasions I had to pump as I had a business dinner with a client and another time, Haye Li was really ill and didn’t drink much so I had to pump some milk out. But still, I am so happy that I don't have to pump anymore at work. :D

*I've got some more posts I want to update like my one and only time of expressing milk overseas and also the time I was so ill that I could not breastfeed as I was on strong medications. When I have the time...till then, stay tuned! :)

My experience with snatch thieves

This is my first time ever getting my handbag snatched from me and I want to share my experience with all. Now, on hindsight (although I’m still in shock), there are some key takeaways I have learnt from this.

Yesterday evening, I went into the day-care’s compound like any other normal day to pick my girls up. I was alone at that time in the compound. As I opened my car door to get down, I heard a motorbike but did not think anything of it as one of the parents do come in a motorbike to pick his girl up. As I got down, I realised my front passenger door was opened and when I looked, I saw a guy in a helmet grabbed my handbag and started running towards the gate. That few seconds I was totally stunned and then I realised I became a victim of a snatch thief.

Without thinking properly, I ran after him and shouted. When I got out of the gate, there was another guy on the motorbike further down waiting. And while I was shouting at them, the guy that took my bag got on the bike (they did turn back to look at me and even smiled!) and sped away.In all that anxiety, I managed to remember the motorbike number plate, BJK 3242.

As I am writing this, I am so grateful that both the bikers are not armed and also they did not attack me. I am also grateful on the fact that no one from the day-care saw this especially the kids. I’m even more grateful that I was alone and that my girls were not with me. But I am mentally and emotionally scarred (I could not sleep peacefully at all last night and even my toddler could not sleep well because she could sense the fear in me although she did not witness the incident).

Just to add that in the last 3.5 years that I have been in and out of the day-care, I have always left my car running with whatever belongings left in the car in the day-care’s compound. I have taken this act for granted.

Key lessons learnt:

a) Sending and picking kids up, whether it’s at the day-care, school, extra classes, etc, we are easy targets for the snatch thieves as this is the time where we’re focused on the kids rather than our surroundings. DO NOT think that when you’re in the school’s or day care’s compound, you will be safe. These thieves are getting bolder by the day!

b) Same goes for handling kids at car park areas, please be extra alert!

c) Always look around you when you’re getting down from the car and the same goes for when you’re entering the car.

d) Please psycho yourself never ever to go chasing after the thieves. Seriously, I do not know what I was thinking when I chased after them on foot. It was on impulse and at that time, I was really angry and shocked. On hindsight now, this was a foolish thing to do. I am so grateful that they did not retaliate. It is okay to lose your belongings BUT not your LIFE!

Please be safe and alert always!

My de@rest mummy

It’s an interesting point to note that I’ve encountered a few of my friends asking me whether my mom is still alive. The first time I was asked this question, I was surprised (not offended) but after my friend explained it herself, I never really gave it much thought. This was during college time.

I think there was also a time in Uni that I was asked this question again. I also didn’t really give much thought in to this.

Several years ago in my current company, my colleague again asked me the same question. And just like the previous times, I was informed why she thinks that way. She said that in my conversations about my family, my father was always mentioned and not my mother. So in time, she got curious and had to ask if my mom is still around.

Yes, my mom is around, very much alive and kicking. In fact, she’s enjoying life to the max now with her Macbook & Oprah Winfrey shows.

And from the above, you can pretty much sum up that my life has been mostly influenced by my dad.

Lately, I have been thinking about this again and no doubt that my dad has always been the dominant one in my family, my mom also pretty much contributed for what I am today.

My mom is a cool cat. She’s not as dramatic as how my dad can be with his temperamental character but when she gets angry, boy, she really can yell at you (I’m guessing something she picked up from my late grandma). If you meet her, she would appear as a very neutral and calm lady. She can be a very friendly person when you strike the right conversation, if not, then she would be pretty much calm, observing you.

She was a full time mom in our early years; our food provider, our driver to and fro from school, tuition classes, etc. In my recollection of her in our earlier years, she was always there for us (not that my dad wasn't but he was mostly working then).

She attended our schools' activities, sports and concerts. I remember that my mom would be waiting with the other moms in our school hall to pick us from school. This is how she remembers some of my schoolmates till today .

She also disciplines us....with the cane. I remember I was always the one running round and round our dining table away from her. She would tell me to stop and that she wouldn't cane me but she always ended up caning me and my sister (my brother, being the youngest, got away the most with the canings). My sister and I would show off our cane marks on our legs to our friends in school the next day. This became the norm (not that we were beaten everyday but somehow the memories of these still linger on). I think the canings stopped when we got older before we hit our teens but not the shouting and nagging.

My mom is scared of cockroaches and she will scream and run when she sees one. And hence, yours truly is also just as scared of cockroaches and would do the same as my mom. My sister and brother also hates them but they're not as scared as I am - not too sure why on this. Maybe coz my mom and I share the same birthday. Yes, I was induced on her birthday (as I was late) and I came out right smack in the evening of her birthday, smelling like petai. Oh, this is also one of my favourite dishes now! She loves telling this petai story to everyone together with some other embarrassing stories which I shall not reveal here. But there is one story which she told me that I used to tell her not to die young and that if she does, I will sleep at her grave. Well mummy, you know what's the answer now. Not that I don't love you, but you know how scared I am of ghosts! :)

My mom became a mother at 21 years old when she gave birth to my sister (she was married at 20) and had me nearly 2 years later and then my brother less than 2 years after that. So she had 3 kids before she was 25. I'm not sure how she handled 3 kids alone at home but if I'm in her shoes now, I would be tearing my hair out (in fact, I'm just about to tear my hair out with my 2 girls and I'm not even a stay-at-home-mom!).

Being such a young mom and that she had a damn good figure then, even after 3 kids (something I didn't inherit except for her apple-bum shape), I had my fair share of compliments on how good my mom looks in school from my friends. When I was in secondary school, one of my classmates boasted to my other classmates how sexy my mom was (we bumped into her at the mall one day and my mom was wearing this figure-hugging bare back top). I've to admit she did have a sexy figure then. Now, she has put on some weight and she blamed it all on the crazy hormones she faced - at least she doesn't blame it on us 3 kids. :)

My mom did work when we got bigger till several years back. Now, she is a lady of leisure, mostly at home on her Macbook playing online games and on facebook or watching her all time favourite show, Oprah. If she's not at home, she is either busy travelling with my dad or entertaining friends with my dad or entertaining my niece and nephew. She also has her regular catch ups with her schoolmates now and then. I definitely envy her lifestyle now. :)

her profile picture at facebook, yup, it's her as a baby and she claims she's a better looking baby than her own kids and grandkids (indirectly blaming on our dad's genes!)

Below are pictures of us before I left for my tertiary studies

Mummy, I know I don't say or show this often but I do appreciate you and of course I do love you. For without you (and papa), I will definitely not be what I am today. And for that I thank you! Happy Mother's day!

And a happy Mother's day to all of you mummies out there too!

I'm still alive

Yes, I’m still here…thanks for the smses, calls, msn messages to check on how I’m doing since all three of our blogs haven’t been updated for some time. You know I do want to update them badly but as usual, time doesn’t permit me to. It’s the usual busy stuff at work and then after work, I’m tied up with the girls and weekends is just as hectic. Anyway, I’m also glad to know that we are missed if I happened to neglect the blogs. LOL.

I tell you, having two kids really takes most of your time and not just that, I don’t remember Rye Li growing so fast like how Haye Li is at the moment. The girl can crawl already!

Since I’m here, I want to update on where I last left off (so again, if you’re a guy reading this, don’t read further if you’re not into breastfeeding!) :D

Shortly after the previous post, while still in pain, I pumped out blood with my milk on one of the nights. After 2 oz of pink milk, I stopped. I threw the milk away coz I didn’t like the idea of freezing pink milk. I did allow her to suckle on still after that although it hurt so much. But I didn’t let her for the next 3 days on the effected side, only pumped so that my nipple could heal on its own. I didn’t expect the pain to linger around for so long, I think it lasted for more than 2 weeks but it was getting better at least. Now, I have cracked nipples on both sides. Yes, it still hurts (mildly if compared to the blocked ducts scenario) but my determination to see that this girl gets her breast milk till she is one year old still prevails.

Actually, I have been thinking about this; whether I want to stress myself out over breastfeeding. My stock in the freezer is depleting. I used to have as much as over 3 weeks of supply in there. But now, I only have about a week’s supply. I’m pumping lesser than what the girl consumes during day time and I know in time, my supply will not be enough for her.

It doesn’t help that I think she’s a little allergic to dairy products as I noticed if I consume too much of diary stuff, she has some kind of rash. I wanted to introduce her soy milk instead with her rice cereal to test her but Dr. Koe, the pediatrician cum lactation consultant said that rice cereal on its own is just fine. When I complaint to her my dilemma (sore and cracked nipples plus the fact that Haye Li wakes up so frequent at night), she just said “what to do, a mother’s job is never easy!”.

With Rye Li, I introduced formula earlier as I needed the assurance that I have a backup if my breastfeeding fails so when it was time for her solids, I had no problems mixing it with formula. Now with Haye Li, I’m stuck whether to introduce milk formula or soy milk. At least I’m glad I managed to breastfeed her 100% till she’s 6 months (it was like 90% breast milk with Rye Li when she was 6 months old).

Over the weekend, I didn’t mix my expressed breast milk (EBM) with her rice cereal as the daycare will not be doing this. So I just wanted to mix sure that Haye Li gets the bland taste of rice cereal first on its own. I will be adding on my EBM to her cereals over the weekends after this. I think I will just go get the rice cereal with soymilk to test her in a few weeks time to give her the variety before we introduce to real porridge from 7 months onwards.

I was also asked why I want to torture myself (with the pain) constantly. Firstly, it’s more of an obligation since I managed to do the same with Rye Li although the circumstances then seems much easier. Secondly, I’m thinking to myself that if I can do it then, I can also do it now. Thirdly, when I just feel like giving up and want to introduce her formula (be it cow’s or soy milk), I realized how expensive these are and so I go back to my ‘just-stick-it-through-as-long-as-i-can’ mode. And finally, it does feel good to have your baby cuddled up to you while she’s nursing (although it can be a pain when she uses you as a pacifier!).

Don’t congratulate me yet as I still don’t know how long will this last – I seriously hate pumping and glad that I’m not pumping 5 times a day like how I was with Rye Li (I don’t pump over weekends at all) but still, it is just as tiring having to wake up several times in the night to nurse this girl. Anyway, one day at a time.

In pain, again!

If you’re a guy reading this, let me forewarned you first that this post is not for you. You would not want to be turned off when looking at women’s boobs after this – LOL! Yes, I’m going into details of breastfeeding again. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

I’m having blocked ducts again. Second time since I had Haye Li. At least it’s not mastitis with the fever but the pain, unfortunately is very much the same. Damn painful!

It started with a sore nipple and I didn’t think anything of it as I get this on and off. Seriously, if you ever see how Haye Li drinks from the bottle, you would definitely make a comment. And I would reply “imagine when she drinks off me!”. Yes, she treats me the same, which I am kind of used to it with the discomfort now and then. So when the soreness came, and then the blocked ducts, I thought it would just be for a day or so but it has been 5 days and I’m still in pain! Sob Sob!

The soreness came to a blister like and milk was trapped in it, which eventually led to hardened patches on my boobs. Out of desperation and I didn’t have the time to go see Dr. Koe, I took it into my own hands and had to burst the blister with a sterilized needle, many, many times. And when I’m nursing or pumping, the pain was a nightmare! How I wish we can actually numb the boob while nursing. Even when I’m not nursing, it still hurts as I got trapped milk in there.

Now, I don’t have hardened patches anymore but it still hurts when I’m nursing. And my nipple is still sore. Since this is my second time with Haye Li, I’m really questioning myself how long do I want to do this. It’s definitely the way she latches on. If it happens for the third time again, I think I may just stop breastfeeding altogether.

I am stressed this week – a mixture of my rushed juggling role as a working mom and a full time mom after work. And with hubby away for work, with the lesser supply of my expressed milk and with the blocked ducts, it made it worst, and the pain that came with it. See what a ‘mess’ I am now that I can't even type proper sentences anymore. Hah!

Another thing to add, Haye Li’s gotten into latching on me most of the time while she sleeps lately. You can say she’s using me as a pacifier but she is really drinking when the milk comes. During daytime over the weekends, she won’t let go at all while she sleeps so I’m literary stuck with her and can’t do anything else. My boss was telling me if I can’t seem to finish some of my overdue work, I can do it at home and I will give her the stare and tell her how my life is at home. I have no time at all to squeeze work in and even if I do, I don’t want to as I can’t concentrate with a crying baby every half hour or so. Even when I get the chance to blog, I’ll get interrupted by Rye Li or Haye Li now and then and I will leave my stuff hanging there and I tend to forget what I wanted to say or miss out some other relevant points. So you can imagine if I do my work at home while attending to them!

Back to breastfeeding, it’s tougher with Haye Li and it’s challenging me in the face whether I want to do this till she’s a year old. Ah….I will bite the bullet for now (again) and see if I can withstand the pain if ever I have this again…I sure hope it doesn’t come round again!

Happy Moo Moo Year!

I so feel like a cow alright. :)

Firstly, how appropriate that I’m breastfeeding which also means I’m pumping and hence, what a cow I am. My life now is ensuring I’m producing enough milk for Haye Li (who is still 100% on breastmilk) and since I’ve started work towards end of December last year, it has not been easy! Compared to Rye Li’s time, my job then was a desk-bound one and I could at least pump twice at the office at a scheduled time.

With the current job, I have to see my clients at their office at times. And since I’ve been back to work, I had tried to minimize this as much as I could. But of course, it being the nature of my job, it is tough to avoid seeing my clients altogether. So, for those appointments and meetings I needed to attend to so far, I have tried my best to work around my pumping schedule. This is the 9th week I’ve been back at work and there have been those occasional few times which I only managed to pump once during working hours.

It does get to me as in I feel frustrated, especially when I’ve been trying my hardest to build up my supply even while I was on maternity. And to make up for the ‘lost’ time, I also pump in the middle of the nights when Haye Li gets up for milk.

When I started work, it was really tough on me to get up to pump at the same time while nursing her (yes, I’ve mastered nursing her and pumping at the same time so I don’t waste so much time – something I didn’t do with Rye Li). I was so tired from the lack of sleep that I skipped the in-the-middle-of-the-nights pumping sessions in the first 2 weeks. Then when it got hectic at work and this also affected the quantity of my supply, I started the pumping again, only to affect the quality of my sleep. But I have no choice, I need to get my supply going. As of to date, I think I have nearly 2 weeks supply in the freezer. However, I don’t know how long would this last though.

Also, since I have been absent from Haye Li during daytimes, this girl wants to latch on immediately she hears me when I get back from work. Lately, she only wants me when we get back home from the daycare – she will be crying at the top of her lungs while I rush to shower to get myself ready for her. This girl can really latch on, her longest time so far was over an hour! She is sleeping and at the same time drinking. So you can pretty much get the idea what my life is about after work and it gets worst when Rye Li also wants my attention at the same time – usually when her papa is away for business.

And as for work, it has been crazy. Hence the non-blogging for me lately. I don’t have time anymore for myself – as at times I also do bring the work home which usually I can’t do much as I’ll be attending to the girls.

This year Chinese New Year wasn’t a good one – we were at Pangkor and the girls were sick. It started with Haye Li and then Rye Li and then me and then hubby as well. We had to cut short our holidays (we skipped Camerons after Pangkor) because of the girls. We all have recovered except for Rye Li who is still coughing badly and on antibiotics now.

I am physically and mentally tired – seriously, I feel like a cow! Well, I guess the cows also have their decent rest but I definitely don’t. Now I tell people who wants a big change in their life is to have kids…not one but many! This will definitely be a wake-up call alright. LOL.

Due to the limited time I have – this blog will take the backseat for a while. I will update the girls’ progress now and then when I can on their blogs as this is main priority – they grow so fast!. As much as I would love to glorify or bitch about my life (which is therapeutic at times), I feel I really need to prioritize what is important now. But I’m sure I will blog when I can squeeze in the time. Haha…you all take care now!

5 years anniversary

We’ve been married for 5 years already! And dated for 9 and half years. I can’t believe it has been that long. LOL

So how did we celebrate it? With the girls of course. We had Bubba Gump at the Curve, the only baby-friendly place we like to hang out at. And most of the time, I was standing, mostly to soothe Haye Li and also the table at the booth we were sitting was too close to my body and hence, I can’t put Haye Li in front of me.

Hubby attended to Rye Li who was pretty well behaved (also made me wish Haye Li is at that age so we all can have a decent meal…haha!).

Haye Li did a mega ‘bomb’ and I was too lazy to take her to the baby changing room as it would mean I’ve to walk a fair bit so I changed her at our booth. Luckily, it didn’t smell that bad and that our booth was at the main entrance of the restaurant.

It wasn’t a romantic meal of course (although we had some nice live music from outside) and that I would have preferred Japanese instead of all the fried stuff. What do you expect with 2 young kids?! LOL. But still we have always wanted to try out the place and I must say it is not as bad as I thought it would be. Their Clam Chowder is good but don’t try their Shrimp Heaven though which was a huge disappointment considering the fact that they’re known for serving Shrimps.

I would still go back there to try their non-shrimp stuff and I would want to sink my teeth into their Chocolate Chip Cookie sundae again. Even Rye Li love it….well, she loves anything with ice cream! Yum-yum!

Happy Anniversary Tauke! I wonder when we will get to celebrate without the girls. ;)

Men are really from Mars!

I have yet to read the infamous book but I feel men are really from Mars! I just don’t get it.

I just don’t get it. How can a father sleep soundly through the cries of his child?

I just don’t get it. How can a father sleep peacefully when his toddler roams freely around the house while he’s sleeping?

I just don’t get it. How can a father not be worried when his child is not eating well and doesn’t force her to finish her food?

I just don’t get it. How can a father just let his child do whatever she wants throughout the day and not remember that she needs a bath or to eat at a specific time?

I just don’t get it. How can a father be so insensitive to his wife’s needs especially when she is showing signs of going insane?

I just don’t get it. How can a father feed his kids junk food, thinking that it can replace their proper meals?

I just don’t get it. How can a father think that it is alright for the kids not to wash their hands after they’ve been through playing out of the house or at the playground?

No wonder most kids prefer their father over their mother when it comes to play time! And thank god there is such a thing as mother’s day! Too bad there is also father’s day! :D

Not feeling Christmassy

This is the first time we’re not doing our Christmas tradition and it does feel weird. Christmas to me has always been at Grandma’s house as far back as I can remember. This has been our tradition. Now with both Grandpa and Grandma gone, our Christmas feels ‘dead’ too.

We kept Grandma’s place and my uncle will be staying on there. So we did some renovation and it was suppose to be completed on time for Christmas but it wasn’t and hence, we didn’t get our Christmas.

So everyone celebrated Christmas in the own way. We had dinner on Christmas eve with our immediate family at a restaurant and on Christmas day, we celebrated at home ourselves. Hubby cooked (roasted pork loin and ribs) our dinner. His brother, wife and their friend came over for dinner. My sister and her kids came over early to play with Rye Li and I guess the kids had the most fun.

Now that Christmas has come and gone, I still feel somewhat cheated of it. I’m glad Rye Li at least had her fun. Hopefully next year’s would be back to normal, well, not so normal as it would never be the same anymore without my grandparents. At least we still have the rest of the family and the house. And Haye Li would be able to enjoy Christmas by then too.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

What is it like having 2 kids?

I have been asked many times lately how has been so far with two kids. Well, it is definitely tiring as your energy is spread out over 2 kids now. Before Haye Li came along, I was worried as to how am I going to divide my attention between them two and also would I love Haye Li as much as I love Rye Li. I guess this question is common among us moms who are expecting no. 2.

You just go with the flow when both kids want your attention at the same time and yes, it does drive you up the wall too especially when you’re so tired. I did have these stressful times and I’m glad I could manage it well most of the time. They were a few times that I had to attend to the baby first and later have to explained to an unhappy toddler. And they were also a few times where I let the baby cried it out while I attend to the toddler.

As for loving them both, I have to say I do love Haye Li equally as much but I do feel that the love for them both is kind of different in a way. I mean, Rye Li is my Rye Li and Haye Li is my Haye Li. They’re both different and I would probably learn more about Haye Li in due time – now I’m only learning through what I’ve observed in the last 6 weeks.

Just don’t ask me the question who would I save first if both are in danger – I hate this kind of questions as I do not have the answer and I will never will. I just pray I don’t have to face this kind of situation in real life, ever!

As much as I’m really exhausted with 2 kids now, I have no regrets having no.2. In fact, having her has brought me back to memory lane when I had Rye Li. I’m so thankful that I could go through it all again, those memorable times of course. Like playing and singing to a newborn. Rye Li grew so fast and now, I’m going through it all over again with Haye Li. I get to dress her up again in those cute outfits and shoes (especially since Rye Li had so many!).

I’m not sure if I can get some quality time with Haye Li alone especially when I return to work since I can’t show too much attention to her in front of Rye Li. Perhaps when hubby takes Rye Li out over the weekends which she enjoys so much. *this is also a hint to hubby!* LOL

Confinement’s over – bring out the champagne!

Yippie, it’s over! Or is it?!

Well, the confinement part is but the next challenging one is handling a toddler with a newborn which is on-going till the newborn isn’t newborn anymore, I guess. And then that would be another new challenge altogether.

Anyway, back to the confinement first. I’ve done myself proud with only washing my hair 3 times this round (I washed my hair 5 times during Rye Li’s). Now, I’m only waiting for the right time to chop off my hair – I’ve been dying to cut it real short throughout the pregnancy but only withstand it as I need to tie it up during the confinement.

This time also didn’t feel as bad as the last as I wasn’t really confined, having to send Rye Li to and fro from the daycare and also there were that few times where I had to pick my urut lady up from the commuter station.

I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs as well during this confinement but I won’t go into the details for fear of offending anyone. I’ve already ‘blasted’ what I wanted to say in previous posts and I shall leave it as it is.

So what did we do for the full moon? Well, just like Rye Li’s, we distributed full moon packages (forgot to take pictures of it) to friends and relatives on Friday. On Saturday, we had our family over for some food at home and since we had so much leftovers, we also invited some friends except that only one family could turn up due to the last minute invitation. Hehe.

Ok, now the challenging part. I didn’t really get to do my work throughout this one month, only managing some emails now and then. I still owe a fair bit to my clients. I thought I would have some time during the day time but unfortunately (or maybe fortunate) that Haye Li is a more demanding baby than her sister. She needs to be carried around daytime and weirdly enough, she will sleep on her own evening onwards. And there is no way I will work at nights as I don’t get enough sleep already and I can’t really sleep daytime with a demanding baby.

So where is this leading to? Well, I’m really thankful that I have the daycare to send Rye Li to daytime throughout the weekdays and I only have her at nights and weekends. And this is also enough to send me up the wall handling a toddler and a baby at the same time. It is worst when hubby is not around!

I’m also grateful for having a maid this time. She’s not the perfect maid, she has her own flaws but at least she does the cleaning around the house and that means a lot to me too.

I cannot imagine having to go back to office in 4 weeks time – not sure how will I cope then. I’m more worried as to whether I can keep up with the milk supply for Haye Li. I am determined to also breastfeed her for at least a year just like Rye Li but with me having to see clients out of office will be a challenge for me. I will see where this will lead me to when I return to office.

I’m also worried with the way hubby travels, whether I can cope with two kids or not. I know there’s the maid but the thing is, I don’t let her handle the kids. I do let her with some stuff for Rye Li, if she lets her but definitely not the baby. No thanks to her weak health too (she has been sick 3 times with us so far and this is her 5th month!). And she has this dry cough that has not gone away since day 1 when we picked her up. Not sure if we will still have her after next month or not as I will need to take her for another x-ray checkup. If her x-ray shows negative, I can have the option of changing her with the agent but hubby did remind me that I will have to start all over again with the new maid and we don’t know whether we can trust her also. At least this one, I can trust her to a certain extent. Oh well, we will also see how it goes next month.

Hubby is away this whole week, for 6 nights and this is one of the longest so far with us having two kids. Rye Li took it quite badly as she has grown closer to her papa during my pregnancy with Haye Li and also ever since Haye Li came out. The first night, I really had to attend to her and let’s put it this way, while I was nursing Haye Li, I was also feeding Rye Li her dinner! She was really cranky then and only wanted me and no one else.

So, I am wondering how I will cope handling 2 kids when I go back to work but knowing us women, nothing is impossible when we’re faced with challenges alone. I sure hope so! :D

A breastfeeding moment

I have to blog about this….since Haye Li is still small although she has put on some weight, none of the mittens we have can really fit her so most of the times she go mitten-less.

So when I was nursing her just now on my left boob, I just let her be while I was watching TV. When I looked down on her, her left hand was against her upper cheek and she was showing me the finger! I just burst out in laughter and wished my camera was with me then.

This kinda made my day coz it made me laugh….something I really need these days!

Who is it that has given birth in the house?!!!

Please don't ask me!

Everyone in the house behaves as if they have given birth and they get much more sleep than I do!

There, I just need to get that out! Another 6 days to go and I'm out of the house!

Mastitis updates

Because the lumps are not going away and it still hurts while nursing and breastfeeding, I went to see the infamous Dr. Koe this morning and I was really impressed with her. I’ve heard about her over 3 years ago but never needed to see her till today. All this while, I thought she was only a Lactation Consultant but I found out this morning online that she’s a Pediatrician cum Lactation Consultant. I was thinking of going alone after dropping Rye Li off the daycare but when I found out she was also a Paed, I brought along Haye Li and MIL.

And it was a good thing I brought Haye Li as not only my visitation is under her name but Dr. Koe corrected on how I’ve been breastfeeding Haye Li all this while. She is so patient and really spent her time with us. Think we spent a good 45 minutes with her and she only charged me RM81 (which RM56 was my antibiotics and I also had a eye drop for the girl’s eye discharge which she had since she was born). So much cheaper than SJMC I must say! I’m thinking now of bringing the girls to her for their jabs but if any emergencies of flu and fever, SJMC is still nearer to our place.

I felt good walking out from Dr Koe’s clinic, as if I’ve achieved something. I must recommend for any moms who are not confident in breastfeeding to see her, something I regretted not doing with Rye Li!

I’m going to digress a bit….on the way to my car from the clinic, we passed several coffee shops with many hawker outlets and I had good whiffed of Char Kuey Teow (Fried Flat noodles) and it smelled damn good! I don’t fancy this at all during normal times but I guess this is what 3 weeks of confinement does to you! I know what I will be looking for in a week’s time! :D

Blocked ducts + Fever = Mastitis = Pain!

Breastfeeding, can it get any better?!

Two days ago, I experienced some blocked ducts on my left and it was painful nursing Haye Li or while pumping but I continued anyway as I need to empty it in order to get better. Then at night, I started having fever. This is a first time for me. I've experienced blocked ducts with Rye Li before but never fever.

I didn't dare take Panadol then so I was having fever through the night while suffered in pain when nursing Haye Li. Morning came and my fever was 39.3 degrees and I felt I better do something about the fever. Thanks to my friend, who also experienced Mastitis before, told me that I could take panadol and I did.

I also called my doctor and I remembered that he was away for a seminar this week so I spoke to his senior nurse who advised me if the fever didn't go away after taking panadol in the morning, I should go in and see a doctor. By noon, my fever broke and so I didn't bother going into the hospital. But when the panadol wore off, it came back and so I took panadol again.

At the mean time, I still fed Haye Li with the affected boob (which was excrutiating painful!) and used hot towel on it while massaging it as well (thanks to my friend's advice). Evening came and my fever came back but nursing or pumping wasn't as painful as in the morning. But I had new lumps. In the middle of the night, I was still having low grade fever but I didn't take panadol and decide to only take it in the morning if there is still fever.

My fever is gone for the moment but the lumps are still there. It still hurts to nurse or pump and also while massaging but it wasn't as painful as the first time. I will still take panadol later as I'm having a big headache too, probably from all the sweat from the breakout of the fever. My appetite has worsen and I asked MIL to cook some soup today so I can replenish on the liquids lost. Also, the quantity of milk from the affected boob as totally worsen and takes like forever to have a let-down. I'm wondering when will it get back to normal as I need to resume my stock-keeping.

I'm hoping the fever doesn't return and that the lumps will be gone soon as I would hate to start taking antibiotics for it. Also, going to the doctors now when hubby is not around is really troublesome. But of course if it doesn't get better by tomorrow, I will have to go see a lactation doctor and would probably bring Haye Li and MIL with me.

This experience really questioned me whether I want to continue with breastfeeding or not as I've not experienced such pain before and fever too. But I need to persevere as I need to think of Haye Li's well-being more than anything - I will definitely remind her of this experience when she's old enough to understand.

Breastfeeding

This post is dedicated to both of my daughters. As much as I love you both so much, I need you two to know how much your mummy went through just to breastfeed the both of you! And it’s a good thing too that you two are females as you both will go through it one day too. :D

I have to admit that both my daughters are hopeless when it comes to breastfeeding them. Let’s start with Rye Li first.

Rye Li was immediately brought to me after she was cleaned up when I just delivered her. I was surprised as to how she knows how to latch on immediately and she managed to suckle one side for about 10 minutes before she was brought away.

I only got to attempt at breastfeeding her like 6 hours later after that and it was a struggle already as she prefers sleeping most of the time. The nurse and I had to find ways to wake her up, at times it worked but most times it didn’t. The two nights at the hospital saw me waking her up for feeds most of the time. And it was the same at home too.

Although Rye Li latches on well, my nipples were still sore and soon the engorgement came in and I suffered as this girl only drinks like 2-5 minutes before dozing off. No matter how much effort was made to wake her for more milk, this girl never awoke from slumber land. And this led to the beginning of my pumping journey. After every time she drinks off me, I need to continue with pumping or else I would suffer from the engorgement.

In the beginning, and for several months after that, every time she latched on, I would squeal in silence as it hurt a lot.

For the record, I never knew what it was like to have my breast emptied by a baby as Rye Li never drank more than 10 minutes of me throughout her 1 year breastfeeding journey. At least I’m glad she never treated me like a pacifier (probably due to the fact that she sucks her thumb from 4-5 months old till today).

Oh yes, I was telling everybody then how she treated me like a ‘straw’. Once she latched on, she would drink a little, then let go, and then drink again, and then let go as if she knew the ‘straw’ was there all the time at her convenience. This was why I never breastfed her in public! Also, you can imagine how messy it was when my breasts are full and she let’s go during her feeds. There were times I really wanted to smack her hard for her bad sucking habits (which I’m convinced it also led to her bad eating habits till today!) but since she was a little innocent baby then, I just couldn’t find myself to and suffered in silence!

Because Rye Li doesn’t finish her milk of me, we always brought out the expressed breast milk (EBM) out with us when we go out. And we have to work around my pumping schedule so it took forever for us to get ready to go out as not only we need to feed her before we leave, we have to get her stuff ready and I also have to pump. So our outings were not for very long too, the most 5 – 6 hours or so as I needed to come back home to pump again. Those days, I envied moms who conveniently pull up their bra just to feed their babies in public as they don’t need to bring out so many stuff with them or rush back to pump.

Rye Li also doesn’t like frozen EBM. I guess it was my fault that I didn’t train her early with it and mostly gave her fresh EBM. And I struggled keeping up with the supply as we can’t store fresh EBM for long compared to frozen ones. In the end, I threw away a lot of frozen EBM. I did use them to mix with fresh ones and also to make her cereals but there were a lot in the freezer and I couldn’t use all of them. From this experience, I vowed to train my next baby early on frozen EBM so that I won’t be so stressed out on keeping up with supply.

Now that Haye Li has come along, I was praying hard that her drinking habits are way better than her sister’s. This is somewhat true but still, I also find her hopeless like her sister!

At the delivery room, it took some time for Haye Li to latch on me. She was more keh poh chi (busybody) with her surroundings than to latch on. After coaxing her like several minutes or so, she finally latched on and I got her to suckle off both breasts too for like half hour before she was taken away from me.

When it was time to feed her again at the hospital, this girl didn’t really latch on properly and when I started to correct her, she got so furious and started screaming (she is way louder than her sister!). I guess it is my fault for not correcting her from the start so again, I suffered.

When we got home, my nipples were already sore and cracked and by the 3rd night home, both my nipples were bleeding. My first time as I didn’t get this from Rye Li. So I suffered that few days till it healed by itself and till today, my nipples are still sore. At least it is not cracked anymore.

Haye Li definitely drinks more than Rye Li and at least when she sleeps on them, she is still sucking. At the hospital, I was wondering whether she was actually drinking or treating my like a pacifier as I couldn’t hear the swallowing sounds from her. But now, I can so I know she is still drinking in her sleep until she will totally let it go herself. However, just like her sister, she also doesn’t finish off. Well, she could finish off one breast but when I put her on the other, she is already dead asleep.

So my pumping is more to empty the other breast and also so that I can start storing them up. I’m too lazy now to pump in the middle of the nights (second time breastfeeding doesn’t give you that painful engorgements) but I think I have to start soon as not only I need to keep up with supply, this girl is becoming like her sister in that she is drinking 5-10 minutes before dozing off and hence, she is waking up like every hour or every one and a half hour. After my confinement is over, I will start giving her EBM in the bottle through the nights so she will drink more and sleep longer. Only thing is that I will need to pump after giving her the EBM.

There have been several occasions where she has drank for half an hour and I was able to have her to drink off both breasts, something I didn’t achieve with Rye Li. But lately, she is drinking like 5 minutes and then let go and don’t want anymore. But when I put her down, she cries for milk. This girl is definitely more demanding than her sister.

This girl also has started treating me like a ‘straw’ and I’m wondering are all babies like this or just mine are like this? If mine are like this, I would think it’s from hubby’s genes as I knew I’m a very good eater when I was young while he was a fussy eater! :D

She doesn’t open her mouth big to latch on, just her pouty lips so she’s literally ‘sipping’ of my ‘straws’ and it also hurts each time she latches on and I will still squeal in silence. During Rye Li’s time, I usually went “ow, ow, ow” but now I don’t as Rye Li is mostly around me when I nurse Haye Li and I wouldn’t want her to think that Haye Li is hurting me.

Anyway, I’m praying that Haye Li gets better at drinking off me as I would hate to work around my pumping schedule over the weekends again.

Motherhood, you just have to love it don’t you?! But my stance is still clear, after going through what a woman should go through, I still want to be a boy in my next life! :D

Being confined

It’s been nearly 2 weeks and how has it been so far? Hot, hot and hot! I need a hair wash again only having to wash it on Saturday. I’ve managed to last 10 days this time round. I wanted to try 12 days but I just couldn’t as I felt there was a mini zoo in my hair already! With Rye Li, I only managed 8 days so this is a better attempt. LOL.

During the first week, I was alone with the maid mostly while Rye Li was at the daycare and hubby at work. Yes, he had to work that week as he has a new boss that just came in. Initially, he was supposed to take the week off since his parents couldn’t come till last weekend. They were in Medan for a holiday booked earlier and we didn’t want them to forego it just for me.

My food was well taken care off by my parents as well as hubby over the first weekend. I had packets of frozen vinegar pork leg in the freezer as a standby if hubby couldn’t cook for me.

Hubby had to be away for a night in the first week and I had to send Rye Li to the daycare for one and a half days. He asked me to leave her at home but there was no way I wanted her to as I don’t think I can cope with 2 of them alone at home. The maid? Well, she was with me and she had the flu again so having her to take care of Rye Li was also not an option and has never been. Lucky for me, Haye Li slept all the way to and fro in the car. Even when the in-laws are in town, I will still send Rye Li to the daycare when hubby is travelling except that I won’t be bringing Haye Li with us.

I’ve started pumping (will do a separate post on my 2nd breastfeeding journey when I can) so MIL could feed Haye Li if needed.

I’ve also started my urut (malay: massage) and it hurts like hell! I don’t like the oily stuff and after each session, I really have to wipe myself down. The lady was nice and patient enough to allow me to nurse Haye Li in between the sessions. During Rye Li’s time, my MIL would be feeding Rye Li with my expressed milk then. She will do this with Haye Li next week onwards when I continue my urut.

It does help having a maid as she does the washing, cleaning the house and all. I realize this time that I don’t think I will get to dress Haye Li in all the baby clothes I got (I received more hand-me-downs) as the maid washes them Only thing about my maid is that I don’t allow her to handle Haye Li so it has all been me since Day 1.

Not only I nurse her, I change and bathe her too. It has been manageable so far and now that my in-laws are here, I’m still doing this. At least I can have them to oversee Haye Li when I need to go to the toilet, etc instead of depending on the maid.

This confinement doesn’t feel as bad as the previous one so far (guess coz I’ve been going out but only to send Rye Li to and fro to the daycare) but I’m still counting to the days where I don’t have to follow the confinement stuff anymore. I do so want my ice cream! LOL but I will probably wait till very much later since I’m breastfeeding and I’m not sure whether this girl will be colicky like her sister or not. I sure hope not!

Another 16 days to go!

Haye Li's birth story

And all that planning for nothing. LOL.

So, she did listen to me after all….Initially, I did tell her to come out 23rd onwards and to be in between 2.5 – 3 kgs. And she came out on 23rd October 2008 morning at 2.75kgs.

Ironically, the night before, we had dinner at Rye Li’s Godfather’s parent’s place. The day before Rye Li was born, we had lunch with them too. That day after my last checkup with my doc, we were invited over to their place for dinner and the aunty was saying “you come over for dinner, sure your baby come out tomorrow!” which of course, I didn’t want as I wasn’t ready yet. Who knew then, that it would come out to be true! :)

After dinner, we reached home at 10 plus. I had my shower, washed my hair (I wash my hair everyday!) and went to bed. I couldn’t really sleep so I was playing with a game on my mobile. Finally slept about 12 plus.

I got up at 4am as I was experiencing painful period cramps again. I didn’t really think that it was IT as I have been having this for the last 4 weeks now. Then, Rye Li asked for milk and I made it for her. So happened hubby couldn’t sleep too and he was awake. Told him about my cramps and he went back to bed. About 4-30am, I decided to get up to pee.

I noticed a slight discharge, yellowish greenish type which I didn’t think twice about it as I get a lot of discharge during my pregnancies. After I peed, I realized that there were some more discharge and I looked down to notice it was pinklsh and sensed that this could be IT. Got hubby to wake up and he asked how sure I was, then there was some slight bloodish discharge which I told him it was a “show”. I started to panic (again) as I haven’t finished my work yet and I was really looking forward to my days off! Got the look from hubby and then I changed ‘frequency’ and said I’m not sure where to put Rye Li and the maid!

Anyway, I got the maid up to pack Rye Li’s stuff while I went and shower again (yes, I need to wash my hair even though I washed it like 6 hours previously!). Hubby went and got the car ready and we didn’t wake Rye Li up till it was time to leave the house.

I actually felt like poo-ing when the “show” came but I didn’t dare as I knew this is one of the signs of baby coming out. But I wasn’t having any contractions yet.

We left the house at 5am and I called my mom on the way to the hospital. Usually, she would be awake by this time for her morning walks but she didn’t pick her phone up. Called my sister’s maid (my sister and my parents stay at the same condo) and she was awake, asked her to go wake my mom up as I wanted my mom to come meet us at the hospital to pick the girl and maid up. My parent’s place is nearby the hospital and I was telling hubby since I’m not having any contractions (actually, I wasn’t sure what I was feeling then were contractions, or from the urge to poo or from the period cramps) and it was bearable, we should just drop Rye Li and the maid off my sister’s place.

I got my sister’s maid to come down and get the girl. I was surprised how calm Rye Li was throughout the whole thing – we explained to her what was happening and that once her mei-mei is out, papa will come pick her up to see us. She did show her sulky face but she didn’t cry or anything and willingly went to my sister’s maid (of course, I packed her doll along and some M & M’s and I told her this too!). I was worried about her the whole time till the last half hour of me giving birth that day. I have to say that Rye Li was my focused most of the time of my labour.

By the time we got to the hospital was about 5-45am or so. They checked me first for contractions on the CTG thingy and only when they realized I was having contractions (which wasn’t that obvious to me as it was like light period cramps), that they allow us to register. Usually, they said that they will send people home if there were no contractions. Anyway, they checked me ‘there’ and said I was 4cm dilated already and since it was my second time, it should be fast around 10-11am.

I was contemplating whether to take epidural or not but since it was early morning again like Rye Li’s and I wasn’t sure whether I would also dilate just as fast this time round, I felt that it would be a waste if I took the epidural and there won’t be any effect on me. So I decided not to. Even the midwife was against me taking it since they guarantee that it would be very fast for me and that it would be a waste of money. The midwives were really the old school thinking type, they are older than my mom!

After clearing my bowels and all, I went to the delivery ward. It was around 6-30am now and the contractions were still bearable (every 5 mins or so) but I asked for panthedine. The jab at my bum was really painful (and I still got a bruise from it till now) and several minutes later, I felt really tired and sleepy.

I tried to rest in between the contractions and chatted a little with hubby. I refused to take the gas yet although it was given to me. And all the time I kept looking up at the time. The midwives (second shift by this time) didn’t even check me there again and only told me that if I feel the urge to poo, to inform them.

By 8-20am, the contractions got intense and lasted longer. After the 3rd one or so, I started taking the gas and told hubby to tell the midwives to check me as I also felt the urge to poo. One of them came in and told me that my doctor was on the way and that he would check me. I think she realize that I was really in pain that she said she would check me. She took her own sweet time getting the gloves on and all.

The last half hour, my eyes were shut tight as I was already in pain and I was focusing on my breathing through the gas mask. I wasn’t even talking but there were so many stuff and words going through my head and most of them were cursing at those around me. As she took so long just to check me, I was cursing her for this. I knew it was just several minutes or perhaps seconds but to me then, it felt like hours! When she checked me, I heard her said that I was 7-8cm dilated already and said to wait for my doctor and this was where I started cursing my doctor too especially when the contractions became unbearable!

One of the midwives was guiding me to breathe through the gas mask and I listened to her over 90% of the time (the balance was when I just went with the flow of the pain). All this time, my left hand was holding on to hubby’s hand and I really squeezed his hands when the pain got unbearable. I didn’t really scream this time but grunted (with clenched teeth) quite loudly when it was painful and I felt the effects of the gas and perhaps panthedine through my head. I also heard the midwife said that she could see the membranes already.

I was really drowsy and because the whole scene reminded me of Rye Li’s birth, I became emotional too and was sobbing towards the end. You can call it self pity or whatever, but I was just going on with the flow and cursing my doctor at the same time as there were no signs of him and I already felt like pushing. In the end, I remembered my colleague’s wife who just delivered a week before me didn’t have her doctor in time too when her baby came out and it dawned on me that I could also have my baby without my doctor! Just as I was going to push (while hearing the midwife said to wait for my doctor), I heard my doctor’s voice. I think he came in several minutes before Haye Li came out.

I think he took some time to change too (I’m not sure as my eyes were shut) but whatever it was, I was already pushing which I didn’t know I was and then I heard my doctor said “don’t push” which caught me off guard. I didn’t know Haye Li was out already and I was sobbing still in between. Haye Li’s cries could be heard throughout, definitely much more than her sister’s. The effects of the panthedine were still there and some of the events were a blur to me but I could hear the conversations going on with the midwives, my doctor and hubby. This also I found irritating (I’m guessing due to me being drowsy) and I really wanted to ask them to shut up but of course I didn’t. Only coz I was too groggy already…LOL.

The taking out of the placenta was also painful to me and so was the ‘cleaning’ me part. I didn’t talk at all throughout the whole thing, in fact, I didn’t even talk to my doctor till I saw him later that evening. When he left, the midwives just let me be and brought Haye Li to me for breastfeeding. I managed to be with her for like half hour or so before being transferred to my room. I was still groggy from the whole thing and was not in the mood to talk unlike Rye Li’s when I felt so energetic after she came out. So I’m guessing it’s got to do with the panthedine.

Now, thinking back, everything went very fast although the half hour of pain felt like a lifetime then. I know I’m considered very lucky already and I have been asked by many to have no. 3 since it was so easy for me. Well, I’m still traumatized by the whole thing and not forgetting the aftermath of it which I will blog about it when I can.

So in summary, on 23rd October 2008;

4 plus am – had a show
5 -45am – admitted to hospital
6am – contractions with 4 cm dilation
6-30am – entered delivery ward, had panthedine with contractions about every 5 mins
8-20am – contractions more intense and longer, started using the gas mask, 7-8cm dilated
8-50am – Haye Li is out

This round of labour took me about 4 hours or so since the “show” with real pain of half hour. No epidural which still amazes me that I survived another round of labour pain. No, please don’t ask when is no. 3 coming along. Now is not a good time for that question!

Ok, can't force her out on 28th October 2008

I'm officially on leave as at today but still doing work from home when I can as I'm owing some stuff to my clients.

Saw my doc this morning to obtain my medical leave and since I was there, I thought I might as well see him for a checkup instead of having to wait so long on a Saturday. So was going through with him again whether we can set a date for 28th and he said that he's not free on 28th or 29th as he got 2 surgeries to attend to. Of course, if Baby H comes out naturally on her own before that or around those 2 days, then too bad for him. So he said he won't do a finger check till I see him on 29th morning to see if I can be induced on 30th instead.

So much for a nice number of 28th....unless she comes out naturally on her own. ;)

Interestingly, I lost a kg too since last Saturday. So it was water retention after all...haha. And I'm home now eating ice cream (since the girl is at the daycare), hubby thinks just because I lost a kg doesn't mean I can eat whatever I want to. LOL. Am thinking whether I can do a Baskin Robbin's ice cream fondue before Baby H comes out and while no. 1 is at the daycare. She's been quite sensitive to ice cream lately. Each time I give her some, she will start coughing so I can only indulge in this when she's not around. :)

Anyway, I'm still not convinced that Baby H will be late coz the cramps are getting worst lately. And that I can't walk well without being in pain or discomfort. Hubby brought up just now at the clinic that Rye Li's delivery was so easy and fast that I'm expecting the same too for this round. And then I thought of the fact that I was overdue (and I'm the second child) and hubby was late too (he's also the second child). Maybe it runs in the family...

I think Baby H thinks I'm one confused mummy coz initially I told her don't come out until 23rd onwards and then this moved on to 24th (for a baby scorpio) and now 28th (so that I can go back to work 5th Jan instead of last week of December). She probably just want to remain snugly in there than dealing with a confused mummy. :)