ashley turns 3 weeks!
there was no natural light because of the afternoon downpour, hence the pictures turned out so grainy. our little naughty gal is dressed in all-white today, and that's her in her cot not wanting to sleep after her feed. she's getting really spoilt in the day; she tends to only want to sleep in someone's arms and would start wailing if she's left in the cot! but perhaps it's also after a whole day of fussing that she's more of an angel at night - thank god. just one more week to her full month party, and that also marks THE END OF MY CONFINEMENT, woohoo! ok man, i need a quick solution for my dark eye rings!
scribbled at 5:11 pm
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there was no natural light because of the afternoon downpour, hence the pictures turned out so grainy. our little naughty gal is dressed in all-white today, and that's her in her cot not wanting to sleep after her feed. she's getting really spoilt in the day; she tends to only want to sleep in someone's arms and would start wailing if she's left in the cot! but perhaps it's also after a whole day of fussing that she's more of an angel at night - thank god. just one more week to her full month party, and that also marks THE END OF MY CONFINEMENT, woohoo! ok man, i need a quick solution for my dark eye rings!
Friday, November 27, 2009
more pics of the princess
mummy's taking pics of me again as i lie on her lap, feeling extremely satisfied after a full feed - 110ml! btw, i've been wearing lots of new clothes lately, this rompers is a present from aunty XP! ;-)
yay, it's a public holiday today, so daddy's home to help me bathe!
scribbled at 6:16 pm
.::.
mummy's taking pics of me again as i lie on her lap, feeling extremely satisfied after a full feed - 110ml! btw, i've been wearing lots of new clothes lately, this rompers is a present from aunty XP! ;-)
yay, it's a public holiday today, so daddy's home to help me bathe!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
mums are the best!
it was mummy's birthday on monday, and since we couldn't go out for a nice meal the fact that i'm still on confinement and we now have a baby terror to manage, we decided to order in pizza on sunday so that she gets a break from all the cooking and washing - at least for a day! the hubby also managed to sneak out to buy a cake in her favourite blackforest flavour. :-)
i think my mum has sacrificed alot the past few weeks; she has to give up her morning walks (used to be daily!) and pickle-ball game to take care of the baby and me. the amount of household chores is indeed tremendous, and i would say my mum is indeed super efficient to be able to do everything (and still monitor the stock market!) - cooking for the whole family (including special confinement food for me), cleaning of the house, doing the laundry (she wakes up at wee hours in the morning to do laundry 'cos there's just so much to wash), preparing my longan/red date tea and lemongrass/ginger bath, helping to feed/change/bathe the baby as much as she can ('cos i merely mentioned once that my forearm muscles were kinda aching), washing of the bottles and breast pump shields almost all the time ('cos i'm not supposed to touch water), etc. there's also the constant nagging for me to wear my socks and slippers, no washing of hands with cold water, and to try to sleep whenever i can (less facebook and blogging, haha!), etc. perhaps having a confinement lady is a better idea... well, to be considered when the next kiddo comes along!
baby ashley in a red babygap rompers (no more pink!) - i think she is full of funny expressions and poses for a 2-week old!
scribbled at 11:49 am
.::.
it was mummy's birthday on monday, and since we couldn't go out for a nice meal the fact that i'm still on confinement and we now have a baby terror to manage, we decided to order in pizza on sunday so that she gets a break from all the cooking and washing - at least for a day! the hubby also managed to sneak out to buy a cake in her favourite blackforest flavour. :-)
i think my mum has sacrificed alot the past few weeks; she has to give up her morning walks (used to be daily!) and pickle-ball game to take care of the baby and me. the amount of household chores is indeed tremendous, and i would say my mum is indeed super efficient to be able to do everything (and still monitor the stock market!) - cooking for the whole family (including special confinement food for me), cleaning of the house, doing the laundry (she wakes up at wee hours in the morning to do laundry 'cos there's just so much to wash), preparing my longan/red date tea and lemongrass/ginger bath, helping to feed/change/bathe the baby as much as she can ('cos i merely mentioned once that my forearm muscles were kinda aching), washing of the bottles and breast pump shields almost all the time ('cos i'm not supposed to touch water), etc. there's also the constant nagging for me to wear my socks and slippers, no washing of hands with cold water, and to try to sleep whenever i can (less facebook and blogging, haha!), etc. perhaps having a confinement lady is a better idea... well, to be considered when the next kiddo comes along!
baby ashley in a red babygap rompers (no more pink!) - i think she is full of funny expressions and poses for a 2-week old!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
vaughn kor kor
the tans came over for a visit this afternoon with baby vaughn who had his full month party yesterday, it's a pity we couldn't join in the fun! vaughn has really grown a fair bit since we last saw him at the hospital, his thighs are so much chubbier as compared to ashley's who seemed to be putting on only on her tummy! check out the two proud daddies... and baby ashley is obviously having fun with her daddy. :-)
scribbled at 7:25 pm
.::.
the tans came over for a visit this afternoon with baby vaughn who had his full month party yesterday, it's a pity we couldn't join in the fun! vaughn has really grown a fair bit since we last saw him at the hospital, his thighs are so much chubbier as compared to ashley's who seemed to be putting on only on her tummy! check out the two proud daddies... and baby ashley is obviously having fun with her daddy. :-)
she's two weeks old!
uncle keith bought her a musical mobile one week ago, and we finally had time to set it up yesterday. musical mobiles are meant for infant visual/sound stimulation, which is important for their brain development, but i noticed that ashley is not quite excited over it, perhaps she is still unable to be able to focus on objects. it'll probably take another couple of weeks.
"At birth, your baby sees only in black and white and shades of gray. Nerve cells in their retina and brain that control vision are not fully developed. Also, a newborn infant's eyes don't have the ability to accommodate (focus on near objects). So don't be concerned if your baby doesn't seem to be "focusing" on objects, including your face. It just takes time. Despite these visual limitations, studies show that within a few days after birth, infants prefer looking at an image of their mother's face to that of a stranger. Researchers believe this preference depends on large, high-contrast stimuli, like the boundary of the mother's hairline to her face."
these are just some shots i took of her this morning after her shower - looking clean and fresh huh! my mum noticed that she actually has a small dimple on one side (i think the left cheek), however, she doesn't smile enough now for me to capture a shot of that, i just got to keep trying! btw, xp, she's wearing what you brought back for her from bangkok!
scribbled at 11:25 am
.::.
uncle keith bought her a musical mobile one week ago, and we finally had time to set it up yesterday. musical mobiles are meant for infant visual/sound stimulation, which is important for their brain development, but i noticed that ashley is not quite excited over it, perhaps she is still unable to be able to focus on objects. it'll probably take another couple of weeks.
"At birth, your baby sees only in black and white and shades of gray. Nerve cells in their retina and brain that control vision are not fully developed. Also, a newborn infant's eyes don't have the ability to accommodate (focus on near objects). So don't be concerned if your baby doesn't seem to be "focusing" on objects, including your face. It just takes time. Despite these visual limitations, studies show that within a few days after birth, infants prefer looking at an image of their mother's face to that of a stranger. Researchers believe this preference depends on large, high-contrast stimuli, like the boundary of the mother's hairline to her face."
these are just some shots i took of her this morning after her shower - looking clean and fresh huh! my mum noticed that she actually has a small dimple on one side (i think the left cheek), however, she doesn't smile enough now for me to capture a shot of that, i just got to keep trying! btw, xp, she's wearing what you brought back for her from bangkok!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
10 days old (as of yesterday)
that's her when she's well-fed yet don't want to go sleep.
scribbled at 2:03 pm
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that's her when she's well-fed yet don't want to go sleep.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
i surrender. yah, right!
ashley hates being swaddled like most newborns, in fact, she will kick off any blanket covering when she wakes up for her feed. trust me, she only looks like a peaceful baby when she's aleep; any other time is hell - we're always busy calming her down that we have few nice shots of her being awake. oh yah, it seems that her favourite sleeping position is the "i surrender" pose... but it's seems that it's always daddy&mummy that have to give in to her demands!
scribbled at 9:13 pm
.::.
ashley hates being swaddled like most newborns, in fact, she will kick off any blanket covering when she wakes up for her feed. trust me, she only looks like a peaceful baby when she's aleep; any other time is hell - we're always busy calming her down that we have few nice shots of her being awake. oh yah, it seems that her favourite sleeping position is the "i surrender" pose... but it's seems that it's always daddy&mummy that have to give in to her demands!
our baby ashley
okay, i know some of you have been waiting to hear more about the labour process, and see more pictures, but we have been so drained the past one week. things have settled down slightly (i hope i'm not jinxing myself here!); at least she has already formed a certain routine - sleeping for three consecutive hours, giving daddy&mummy a chance to catch a wink.
as for the labour process, here it goes:
3am (on 8 nov) - awoken when i started to feel strange cramps in my tummy (bearable type of pain)! i'm one of those lucky few that don't suffer from menses cramps, so this is quite a strange feeling. BUT is it finally here?!? or could it be a false alarm? woken up (the very sleepy but kan cheong) daddy, and we started to time the interval between the "contractions", and realised that they are occurring every six minutes!!! DAMN, the doc said to go to the hospital when contractions occur every five minutes! but since they are relatively painless, i decided that we should monitor it a while more.
about 330 to 345am - confirmed that the "contractions" are of a regular interval, and decided that we should go straight to the hospital! i had a quick shower (very importantly is to wash my hair, knowing i won't have the chance to do this for the next few days at least!), and zoomed off to the hospital.
reached hospital at about 430am, and was brought to the observation ward. the nurse checked and told me that i was already 3cm dilated, and confirmed that i am in labour! daddy was then instructed to do the hospital admission, while the nurse stuffed up something into my anus to flush out my rectum (so that i don't poo during labour) - eeks! contractions also became more intense at this point - OUCH! i put the breathing techniques taught during yoga class into practice, and i do think they work!
i was only brought to the delivery ward at about 7-plus where there's a mini tv and nice comfy chair - i think it's meant for the companion, but daddy obviously wasn't fated to enjoy all these. oh, and more importantly, it's only in the delivery ward that you have the laughing gas canister! the nurse explained to me the different types of pain relief - laughing gas (a mix of oxygen and nitrous oxide), thigh jab and spinal epidural jab... the nurse kept asking if i needed pain relief whenever she came by (read: not very encouraging), so eventually i gave in to the laughing gas. i felt less pain (maybe about 30% less?), but it does take alot of effort to breathe in and out during the contractions, especially when the contraction intervals are so short.
doc came at about 8-plus to do a check - and i was still only about 4-5cm dilated, i expected more after the pain. since dilation for first-time labour is usually about 1cm/hour, she predicted that i will only be 10cm dilated in another six hours, which means baby should be born around 2pm - OH MY GOD, another six hours of pain. doc also burst my water bag at this point of time to hasten the process, and put me on a sugar drip to give me energy. from then on, the contractions became even more intense, and by 10-plus i was actually already 7cm dilated, woohoo! but the problem also started here - ashley poo-ed and that's a sign that the baby is in distress and that could be dangerous. the nurse turned off the nitrous oxide in the laughing gas, leaving behind only pure oxygen (i think to calm the baby down), but this also means there is NO PAIN RELIEF now! thank god, she turned on the nitrous oxide after a few minutes, and from here onwards, everything seemed to happen very quickly - i could feel the need to push (ok, it may sound crude, but it's like the feeling that you want to pass motion, just more intense)... and by pushing you actually relieve the pain. the nurse called for the doc, and she came down almost immediately... i actually saw her put on her surgery gown, and i think it just took another two pushes before baby ashley shot out! AT 11:20 AM! yes, she literally shot out of me, haha, apparently i pushed too hard! PHEWWWWW. after that it's just the delivery of the placenta (see pic - eeks), the removal of blood clots, and the cleaning up - all in a couple of minutes.
that's the whole labour experience... i'm glad i made it without epidural (and daddy came out injury-free). :-) somehow i think the breathing techniques and perhaps even the raspberry leaf tea (more intense contractions to shorten labour) worked for me! if i have taken epidural, it would definitely have slowed down the pushing process, and if ashley had been in greater distress at that time, i might even end up having to go through caesarean section, something which i have always wanted to avoid at all cost.
here are the pictures taken by daddy while mummy was being cleaned up.
scribbled at 5:43 pm
.::.
okay, i know some of you have been waiting to hear more about the labour process, and see more pictures, but we have been so drained the past one week. things have settled down slightly (i hope i'm not jinxing myself here!); at least she has already formed a certain routine - sleeping for three consecutive hours, giving daddy&mummy a chance to catch a wink.
as for the labour process, here it goes:
3am (on 8 nov) - awoken when i started to feel strange cramps in my tummy (bearable type of pain)! i'm one of those lucky few that don't suffer from menses cramps, so this is quite a strange feeling. BUT is it finally here?!? or could it be a false alarm? woken up (the very sleepy but kan cheong) daddy, and we started to time the interval between the "contractions", and realised that they are occurring every six minutes!!! DAMN, the doc said to go to the hospital when contractions occur every five minutes! but since they are relatively painless, i decided that we should monitor it a while more.
about 330 to 345am - confirmed that the "contractions" are of a regular interval, and decided that we should go straight to the hospital! i had a quick shower (very importantly is to wash my hair, knowing i won't have the chance to do this for the next few days at least!), and zoomed off to the hospital.
reached hospital at about 430am, and was brought to the observation ward. the nurse checked and told me that i was already 3cm dilated, and confirmed that i am in labour! daddy was then instructed to do the hospital admission, while the nurse stuffed up something into my anus to flush out my rectum (so that i don't poo during labour) - eeks! contractions also became more intense at this point - OUCH! i put the breathing techniques taught during yoga class into practice, and i do think they work!
i was only brought to the delivery ward at about 7-plus where there's a mini tv and nice comfy chair - i think it's meant for the companion, but daddy obviously wasn't fated to enjoy all these. oh, and more importantly, it's only in the delivery ward that you have the laughing gas canister! the nurse explained to me the different types of pain relief - laughing gas (a mix of oxygen and nitrous oxide), thigh jab and spinal epidural jab... the nurse kept asking if i needed pain relief whenever she came by (read: not very encouraging), so eventually i gave in to the laughing gas. i felt less pain (maybe about 30% less?), but it does take alot of effort to breathe in and out during the contractions, especially when the contraction intervals are so short.
doc came at about 8-plus to do a check - and i was still only about 4-5cm dilated, i expected more after the pain. since dilation for first-time labour is usually about 1cm/hour, she predicted that i will only be 10cm dilated in another six hours, which means baby should be born around 2pm - OH MY GOD, another six hours of pain. doc also burst my water bag at this point of time to hasten the process, and put me on a sugar drip to give me energy. from then on, the contractions became even more intense, and by 10-plus i was actually already 7cm dilated, woohoo! but the problem also started here - ashley poo-ed and that's a sign that the baby is in distress and that could be dangerous. the nurse turned off the nitrous oxide in the laughing gas, leaving behind only pure oxygen (i think to calm the baby down), but this also means there is NO PAIN RELIEF now! thank god, she turned on the nitrous oxide after a few minutes, and from here onwards, everything seemed to happen very quickly - i could feel the need to push (ok, it may sound crude, but it's like the feeling that you want to pass motion, just more intense)... and by pushing you actually relieve the pain. the nurse called for the doc, and she came down almost immediately... i actually saw her put on her surgery gown, and i think it just took another two pushes before baby ashley shot out! AT 11:20 AM! yes, she literally shot out of me, haha, apparently i pushed too hard! PHEWWWWW. after that it's just the delivery of the placenta (see pic - eeks), the removal of blood clots, and the cleaning up - all in a couple of minutes.
that's the whole labour experience... i'm glad i made it without epidural (and daddy came out injury-free). :-) somehow i think the breathing techniques and perhaps even the raspberry leaf tea (more intense contractions to shorten labour) worked for me! if i have taken epidural, it would definitely have slowed down the pushing process, and if ashley had been in greater distress at that time, i might even end up having to go through caesarean section, something which i have always wanted to avoid at all cost.
here are the pictures taken by daddy while mummy was being cleaned up.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
pupsik baby sling
i've been trying to find a second-hand pupsik baby sling from singaporemotherhood forum, but they are kind of popular and are usually sold out pretty fast! finally spotted one this morning, hopefully it's still available! it's selling at $25/$27 (including postage), which is pretty decent considering a brand new one costs $45.90, plus it's supposedly washed once but unused.
scribbled at 12:24 pm
.::.
i've been trying to find a second-hand pupsik baby sling from singaporemotherhood forum, but they are kind of popular and are usually sold out pretty fast! finally spotted one this morning, hopefully it's still available! it's selling at $25/$27 (including postage), which is pretty decent considering a brand new one costs $45.90, plus it's supposedly washed once but unused.
40 weeks as of today!
few weeks ago, i would have expected the little one to be out by now - but today's the estimated due date and there is little signs of impending labour! as of yesterday, she was much lower, and was estimated to be about 3.2kg with crown circumference of 34cm (supposedly not THAT big so should not have problems going for natural deliver - thank god. and doc also mentioned before that my hips are wide enough for her, hah!). there's also enough amniotic fluid to last till 41 weeks but doc is keen to medically induce her next monday if she doesn't come out by the weekend, and if all goes well, she should be born by tuesday - which is 10 nov 2009.
well, of course it's still better to get her to come out naturally, because induced labour contractions are known to be MORE painful (as if there isn't enough pain to start with!), and there's always a certain amount of risk involved. well, there are also several widely published methods to induce labour naturally - (1) walking, climbing stairs and doing squats - highly recommended by the doc, so that the baby's head puts pressure on the pelvic floor and cervix, encouraging it to open; (2) spicy food though i'm not sure why; (3) certain herbs - i'm taking raspberry leaf tea but it is more to help produce stronger contractions during labour to shorten the process! and of course, (4) sex!!! the semen supposedly contains prostaglandins which help to ripen the cervix.
okay, i shall go make myself a cup of raspberry leaf tea now.
scribbled at 9:15 am
.::.
few weeks ago, i would have expected the little one to be out by now - but today's the estimated due date and there is little signs of impending labour! as of yesterday, she was much lower, and was estimated to be about 3.2kg with crown circumference of 34cm (supposedly not THAT big so should not have problems going for natural deliver - thank god. and doc also mentioned before that my hips are wide enough for her, hah!). there's also enough amniotic fluid to last till 41 weeks but doc is keen to medically induce her next monday if she doesn't come out by the weekend, and if all goes well, she should be born by tuesday - which is 10 nov 2009.
well, of course it's still better to get her to come out naturally, because induced labour contractions are known to be MORE painful (as if there isn't enough pain to start with!), and there's always a certain amount of risk involved. well, there are also several widely published methods to induce labour naturally - (1) walking, climbing stairs and doing squats - highly recommended by the doc, so that the baby's head puts pressure on the pelvic floor and cervix, encouraging it to open; (2) spicy food though i'm not sure why; (3) certain herbs - i'm taking raspberry leaf tea but it is more to help produce stronger contractions during labour to shorten the process! and of course, (4) sex!!! the semen supposedly contains prostaglandins which help to ripen the cervix.
okay, i shall go make myself a cup of raspberry leaf tea now.
Monday, November 02, 2009
her little home at grandma's place
since i'll be staying at my mum's for at least the entire confinement period, we needed to set up another cot here for the little kiddo. this cot was actually given to us by an ex-neighbour before they shifted away, and this happened even before i was pregnant - my mum must have predicted she would have some use for it sooner or later! well, it's quite a sturdy cot and we saved a couple of hundreds. :-) my dad and the hubby assembled it about two weeks back, and we finally got down making her bed last night - looks like we're ALL SET!
scribbled at 12:27 pm
.::.
since i'll be staying at my mum's for at least the entire confinement period, we needed to set up another cot here for the little kiddo. this cot was actually given to us by an ex-neighbour before they shifted away, and this happened even before i was pregnant - my mum must have predicted she would have some use for it sooner or later! well, it's quite a sturdy cot and we saved a couple of hundreds. :-) my dad and the hubby assembled it about two weeks back, and we finally got down making her bed last night - looks like we're ALL SET!
Sunday, November 01, 2009
preparing for confinement
taken from here:
In the olden days, the month immediately after delivery is considered a time that we've to really take care of ourselves and is call confinement period. This is because during this period the mother's physiological and mentally changes. Traditional Chinese, Malays, and even some Europeans nowadays believe than when we take good of ourselves during these period, we will be healthier when we’re old.
According to ancient Chinese text, women who follow the traditions taboos (pantang) during this period are said to be 'doing the month' when the new mothers and her baby are practically confined to their room. Some practice 30 days to 40 days for their confinement period. It is probably from here that the word "confinement" is coined.
The practice of not bathing and washing hair in the old days are understandable because in ancient China everyone has very long hair and it takes a longer time to dry the hair after washing. In addition, most of the old houses are draughty so it is easy to catch a chill whether during confinement or not. Our mothers and grandmothers swear that if we bathe during the confinement month you will develop joint pains in your old age. However, the bath water must be boiled and infused with water from boiled herbs. Somewhere over the years someone introduced the tradition of bathing with a whole concoction of herbs in the water such as lemongrass, ginger and some other herbs.
If the newly delivered mother uses up all her energy with strenuous work and is over tired, she will not be able to produce sufficient milk for her baby. Remember, in the old days all babies are exclusively breast fed. Also it takes about 6 - 8 weeks for the body to return to its pre-pregnant state therefore the confinement is to ensure that the mothers properly recovers from the stress of childbirth.
from left -
(1) a confinement recipe book! my mum will be doing all the cooking during my confinement period; she must be worried she'll run out of ideas of what to cook. i'm kind of looking forward to the pork trotters in black vinegar and red wine chicken!
(2) lemongrass and ginger - to be boiled for bathing - yes, i'm allowed to bathe! in fact, my mum thinks it's crazy not to! there's still loads of other herbs and stuff in the fridge like dried longans, red dates, black fungus, encommiae bark (du zhong, supposedly good for the backaches) and what-have-you...
(3) DOM, black vinegar, etc - for cooking. mark&pauline - thanks in advance for the DOM! (oh, and the nursing cover and customised rompers!)
(4) glutinous rice - this is what we had for lunch today, not actually for in preparation for confinement, but mum's experimenting with this dish so that she can prepare it for the kiddo's first month!
scribbled at 4:11 pm
.::.
taken from here:
In the olden days, the month immediately after delivery is considered a time that we've to really take care of ourselves and is call confinement period. This is because during this period the mother's physiological and mentally changes. Traditional Chinese, Malays, and even some Europeans nowadays believe than when we take good of ourselves during these period, we will be healthier when we’re old.
According to ancient Chinese text, women who follow the traditions taboos (pantang) during this period are said to be 'doing the month' when the new mothers and her baby are practically confined to their room. Some practice 30 days to 40 days for their confinement period. It is probably from here that the word "confinement" is coined.
The practice of not bathing and washing hair in the old days are understandable because in ancient China everyone has very long hair and it takes a longer time to dry the hair after washing. In addition, most of the old houses are draughty so it is easy to catch a chill whether during confinement or not. Our mothers and grandmothers swear that if we bathe during the confinement month you will develop joint pains in your old age. However, the bath water must be boiled and infused with water from boiled herbs. Somewhere over the years someone introduced the tradition of bathing with a whole concoction of herbs in the water such as lemongrass, ginger and some other herbs.
If the newly delivered mother uses up all her energy with strenuous work and is over tired, she will not be able to produce sufficient milk for her baby. Remember, in the old days all babies are exclusively breast fed. Also it takes about 6 - 8 weeks for the body to return to its pre-pregnant state therefore the confinement is to ensure that the mothers properly recovers from the stress of childbirth.
from left -
(1) a confinement recipe book! my mum will be doing all the cooking during my confinement period; she must be worried she'll run out of ideas of what to cook. i'm kind of looking forward to the pork trotters in black vinegar and red wine chicken!
(2) lemongrass and ginger - to be boiled for bathing - yes, i'm allowed to bathe! in fact, my mum thinks it's crazy not to! there's still loads of other herbs and stuff in the fridge like dried longans, red dates, black fungus, encommiae bark (du zhong, supposedly good for the backaches) and what-have-you...
(3) DOM, black vinegar, etc - for cooking. mark&pauline - thanks in advance for the DOM! (oh, and the nursing cover and customised rompers!)
(4) glutinous rice - this is what we had for lunch today, not actually for in preparation for confinement, but mum's experimenting with this dish so that she can prepare it for the kiddo's first month!