Family lunch

Ah Yi managed to clinch her job offer and decided to give us a yummy treat at Spagheddies. Haven't met her for a meal in such a long time. She was so anxious at taking picture with who else but ME!


Everyone's taking their own sweet time to place the orders. Actually it's because they're too excited to play with ME and take photos with ME.





Finally, the food arrived and everyone tucked in. Don't know what they ordered but from the sound of it, there seemed to be a lot of crayfish and lobsters!

In any case, I also can't have a share of whatever they're eating... So might as well snooze away!

My "un-glam' baby

Shaggyfish has an "anyhow" baby...

I have an "un-glam" (not glamourous) one. Just look at the positions she can sleep in.

But I guess it's a good thing that Karyn can be so "anyhow" too. It's easier to care for her; we can bring her anywhere, carry her anyhow and she can still enjoy her beauty sleep.



Brought her to school on Wednesday and she was sleeping in the MIM sling, all scrunched up. My colleagues who saw her all asked if she was comfortable sleeping in that position. To a third party, it may seem like she's in a very awkward position. But Karyn's snoring away... Haha!

Such a pity I didn't take any picture that day. But here's a much older picture of her in the sling...

Ah Ma's off day

It was Ah Ma's off day; she had gone for her sisters' gathering - a monthly ritual. Haha!

So Mummy's home "alone" to take care of Karyn. Well, "alone" because Daddy was actually working from home on that day. But alone in taking care of Karyn 'cos Daddy's always busy at his desk.

During one of Daddy's 5-minute break, he took these photos of Karyn drinking milk.

Irresistably Mine!

Karyn is 11 weeks old now and the last time we weighed her at home, she was approximately 5.5 kg.

She's just SOOooooo irresistable that every time we bring her to Ye Ye and Nai Nai's house, they always can't bear to see her leave.

And each time we bring her to Lao Gou's place, we have such a hard time getting her back. Everyone wants to have 'a piece of Karyn', so as to speak.

In fact, Lao Tionh told Mummy and Daddy to go home and leave Karyn there. Haha!

The other day when Yi Po came, Lin Yi Po said Karyn is, to quote her, "so beautiful!" and has "ren yuan" (that means, lovable/likeable by anyone and everyone who meets her).

Hmmm... I have to admit that is so. Every time we bring Karyn out shopping, she always attracts so many people - young and old, men and women, children and adults alike. We often have strangers lavishing compliments on her - "SO cute!", "SO sweet!", "SO guai (good girl)!" are just the common ones.

In fact, some times they find her so irresistable that they reach out their hands, wanting to caress her!

At such a tender age, she's already such an attention grabber; there are many people who actually have walked past us and still turn their heads round to take a second glance at her.

I thought only celebrities (or real beautiful or scantily-dressed) women get such HEAD-TURNING attention. Never knew babies have such power.

Karyn must be one of the rare few! Haha!

(Oh yes, I've just added another video in a back-dated blog (22 July 2006) titled "Karyn & her teddy bears". Do take a look!)

Sunday frenzy

Went to Lao Gou's house today after visiting Ye Ye and Nai Nai.

Look what Lao Gou bought for me!

Then I was placed in the Bumbo seat.. again...

Wonder why Mummy's SOoooo enthusiastic about the Bumbo today...

And then everyone's laughing away... I see a white light flashing away... What is that???

At last, Mummy rescued me from the hands of these hysterical Lao Gous...

Karyn finally got her Bumbo seat

After much sourcing on the SingaporeMotherhood forum, I finally managed to secure a yellow Bumbo seat from a lady seller by the name of "bargainhunter".

Her son always struggled to get out of the seat when she put him in. He was about 3 months plus at that time. Hence, she gave up using the seat and had kept it inside her store room for months before putting it up for sale.

It was a good bargain; paid $50 for it. The retail price is about $80. The seat is in very good condition, without any stains or marks.

We collected the seat on the way to Ye Ye and Nai Nai's house and immediately let Karyn try it out when we got there.

Her initial response to sitting in the Bumbo wasn't as enthusiastic as I was putting her into it. Haha! It was quite a tight fit initially, maybe 'cos it was her first time.

After squeezing her chunky thighs and heavy Pampers-laden bottom into it, she looked rather awkward. In fact, she looked constipated! Haha!


It took quite a bit of adjusting to make her feel comfortable.
Finally, after several re-adjustments, she seemed happy enough on the Bumbo.

Along the way, Daddy snapped away on his camera...

Right now, she can't sit on it for long as her neck is still not strong enough. So we just put her in the seat for a few minutes each day. Hopefully in another couple of months' time, her neck will strengthen and she can watch tv in it! Heehee...

Karyn goes shopping

Karyn went shopping with Mummy, Daddy and Ah Ma on Saturday. There was a Baby Fair at Takashimaya Square. It was the first time Ah Ma went to the fair so she was busy browsing and looking for things to buy for Karyn. After close to 2 hours, she bought a super sweet pink floral dress and two pairs of bootees. In fact, we got Karyn to try on several pairs before deciding on getting these two!

So fortunate, babies nowadays even get to try on the products before they are bought... haha!

Thumb or pacifier

Mummies on the SingaporeMotherhood forum June MTB thread are discussing whether to let baby suck on thumb or pacifier.

It has been a dilemma for me too. Different people have been giving me different opinions. It wasn't until a few days ago that I finally made up my mind. To use the pacifier.

Here's a comparison chart that I've come up with for the mummies on SingaporeMotherhood forum. Hope it helps! :)

	Thumb	Pacifier/Soother
Recommended by GP / paediatrician	Yes; Individual’s opinion	Yes; Individual’s opinion
Hygiene	Highly unhygienic esp. when baby learns to sit and crawl, swipes dirt off surfaces & puts into mouth!	Not as unhygienic; Can be washed when dropped
Convenience	Highly convenient; Easy access as thumb is on baby’s hand, she can put into her mouth whenever and wherever	Not so convenient; Going out - if left at home, very troublesome to deal with agitated baby; Solution – buy a few (leave 1 at home, 1 at parents’/in-laws’ place, 1 in diaper bag)
Difficulty in weaning	Difficult when baby is addicted; See Convenience; Solution – apply bitter cream/gel (supposedly available from pharmacies) on thumb before baby zzz	Difficult when baby is addicted; Solution – naturally solved when baby is older and afraid of embarrassment; use ‘shame shame’ technique to discourage
Affects oral development	Yes, definitely if thumb sucking is prolonged (i.e. after 4 - 5 years old); see Difficulty in weaning	Can be prevented by using good pacifiers that promote good oral development e.g. NUK soothers

Internet articles:

www.keepkidshealthy.com/parenting_tips/pacifiers_thumb_sucking.html

www.keepkidshealthy.com/toddler/pacifier.html

health.yahoo.com/topic/parenting/behavior/article/healthwise/hw170185

www.daycareindex.com/thumb_sucking.asp

More pictures of Karyn

Such a coincidence that there was a belly dance performance at the Marina Square atrium. I had just started one session of belly dance class at Amore Fitness.

So we stopped to watch the performance. Hubby was bored. Hence, he started taking pictures of Karyn.

I want to sleep...

Take photo? Again?

I don't want to take anymore photos...

What's that on the ceiling?

Sofa advertisement?

Just look at this photo that Daddy had taken.

Doesn't it remind you of an advertisement for sofas? Hmmm... so is it Courts, Novena Furniture, or the high-end leather HTL?

Karyn is 2 months old!

Karyn is exactly 2 months old on the day this picture was taken - at the new Japanese restaurant in Marina Square, on Saturday, 5 Aug. Forgot the name of the restaurant already. Just remember the second word is "Sabo". The food's quite delectable. Shared a hamburger curry with rice, unagi bento and tempura masai with Hubby.

Went shopping after lunch.

Was tremendously disappointed after going into two shops that supposedly sell large sizes - Miss Selfridge & Topshop.

Found that I could fit into the tops but not the bottoms.

Used to be able to fit into a size 12.

Now, I can't even fit my elephant thigh into a size 14.

Size 16 pants can be put on but cannot be zipped up.

What have I got myself into?!?!?!

"Pregnancy has permanently deformed me..." I whined to Hubby.

"Come back 2 months later, darling," Hubby attempted to console me.

"Today's shopping trip is extra motivation for you to push yourself at the gym and your fitness classes."

Yah right, some consolation... Doesn't erase the fact that I've been deformed.

Gained a baby... lost my figure! SOB!

Finally, after much persistence, I managed to find a pair of jeans and a pair of black pants at Dorothy Perkins - size 18! Gosh!!!

Just look at my chubby cheeks in the picture... Sigh...

Gotta work triply hard at the gym now...

Grandparents' birthdays

Went to Noble House Tung Lok Restaurant for Ye Ye and Nai Nai's birthday celebration. Both of their birthdays fall in the month of August - Ye Ye's on 9 Aug (yes, same birthday as Singapore) and Nai Nai's on 4 Aug.

Karyn & her fishes

Karyn's favourite toy is the Fisher Price cot mobile which has 3 fishes suspended above her head when she sleeps in her cot.

Daddy has named two of the fishes Andy and Lisa and Mummy has named the third one Kelvin.

Karyn is so mesmerised by the fishes and simply adores talking to them.

Just watch the video (taken on 4 Aug 2006).

I'll be back

Have been VERY busy with sorting lots of things out, mentally, emotionally & physically - the messy house and household chores, career, personal life goals (short-term & long-term)... the list goes on.

Hence, haven't been able to afford the time to blog or post pictures of Karyn. In fact, am only half done with the sorting... There's really too much to think and work through. Haven't been taking pictures of Karyn for close to 2 weeks already...

Well, at least I've gotten a part time cleaning lady to come in once a week. That solves part of the house issue.

Still have lots of junk waiting to be cleared out. Will post again when I can afford the time.

In the meantime, here's one more picture of Karyn - a personal favourite of mine.

Savour it and don't miss me while I'm not posting.

Karyn & her teddy bears

Karyn has 2 cots at home. 1 in her own room and 1 in Mummy's room.

There's a manual cot mobile with 4 oh-so-pretty teddy bears on the cot inside Mummy's room. Liwei Gu Gu bought it for Karyn when she was 1 month old.

Look at how Karyn plays with the teddy bears.

A walk in the park

Karyn's starting to develop a plethora of expressions that keep everyone - Mummy, Daddy, Ah Ma & Ah Gong, enthralled.

Here are some pictures taken while taking a morning walk in the neighbourhood.

Sleeping in her Peg Perego stroller. Her Daddy calls it her BMW.

Full of expressions

Daily exercise routine no. 2

Mummy read somewhere (can't remember if it's the Internet or some book) that from sometime around 4 to 5 weeks old, one can start putting the baby on her tummy to let her do some upper body exercise.

Ever since then, Mummy has added this to Karyn's daily exercise routine.

So every time Mummy puts Karyn on the bolster, she will automatically lift her head and chest and do mini push ups.

With the bolster supporting her, she will exert her whole body's strength and nudge herself forward.

Of course, she is always motivated when Mummy is by her side cheering her on.

"Crawl, Karyn, crawl."

Push... push...

"So clever, Karyn!"

Push... push... push..

Durian cravings - the sequel

Oh yes, speaking of durians, suddenly remember a conversation between Hubby, Karyn and I.

When Hubby knew that my mum was going to bring durians back on Sunday evening, here's what transpired.

Hubby: "Next time when Mummy eats durians, you and Daddy will run far far away, ok?"

Karyn: "Ge.. ge.."

Me: "No! Next time Mummy AND Karyn will eat durians TOGETHER. Daddy will run far far away!"

Karyn: "Ge.. ge.."

Well, you see, Hubby has a durian phobia.

He describes the smell of durian to be worse than the rubbish chute and even worse than vomit.

It's just too bad he's not a durian connoisseur.

"It's an acquired taste," I always tell him. "You don't know what you are missing in life..."

Don't you all durian lovers agree with me?

Durian cravings

Check out Karyn's reaction to her first real exposure to durians - outside Mummy's tummy...

While Karyn was still in Mummy's tummy, she had already 'tasted' durians. Not just once, but 4 times. Though 3 out of those 4 times were not the real fruit, but the processed version in the form of durian rolls from Angie The Choice.

Actually Mummy was afraid to put on too much weight and feared getting gestational diabetes which might result in a large baby. So she had to fight the constant durian craving that plagued her throughout the entire 3rd trimester.

What made it worse was Ah Ma and Ah Gong frequently goes to JB where there are cheap and good durians which they would buy back upon request. All Mummy had to do was to verbalise her wishes.

In such a tempting situation, Mummy had to exercise extremely high discipline and only indulged in the occasional durian roll, a couple of weeks apart, so as to spread out the calories.

Now that Karyn's finally out (at 2.99kg instead of the 3.1 kg that the gynae had predicted), Mummy finally has the chance to pig out on durians!

Karyn's daily exercise routine

Karyn has a daily exercise routine which she enjoys tremendously. In fact, she likes to show it off to everyone.

This routine started when Mummy discovered Karyn's potential when she was only about 3 weeks old.

When placed over the shoulder, she'll start to lift her head on her own.

Then I will start chanting, "lift your head... exercise your neck... so clever...!" over and over again.

And like a well-trained performer, or a big show-off, whichever way you prefer to describe Karyn, she'll start the routine on demand.

Once I prop her up on the shoulder and start chanting, she'll immediately respond by lifting her head off my shoulder and try to hold it up on her own.

Of course, at times she'll fall flat on her nose. Yup, that has happened countless times before. But Karyn's a courageous girl. She never cries when her nose is slammed on Mummy's shoulder. She'll try and try again to lift her head up.

So now that I have discovered this new ability of Karyn's, I've been putting her through this exercise routine every day.

In fact, she's so good at it now that she can hold her head up high for as long as 40 seconds. No joke! I've timed her before!

Greedy Karyn

New discovery about Karyn - she can smell the aroma of food when people are eating!

Yesterday afternoon, while Ah Ma and Mummy were having lunch, Karyn was sound asleep in her 'day bed', a few steps away from the dining table.

Halfway through lunch, she woke up.

She started making gurgling sounds, wanting to be carried. And we found her smacking her lips and sticking out her tongue.

So I picked her up and returned to the dining table to continue with my lunch, carrying her in my left arm.

To both Ah Ma's and my surprise, Karyn's lip-smacking and tongue-sticking-out intensified. She was getting more and more excited, wriggling in my arm and making louder gurgling sounds. And believe it or not, she kept turning her head towards the table of food!

It wasn't time for her feed yet, but she was showing signs of hunger...

Her wriggling was getting more forceful and violent, her arms flailing about and she was starting to suck on her hand - that's the surest sign of her hunger.

Ah Ma had to gobble down the remaining of her lunch and rushed to make Karyn some milk.

Karyn was pacified only after she was given the bottle.

Ah Ma and Mummy concluded: Karyn "knows food when she smells it".

Haha...

Ah Gong's birthday

Today is Ah Gong's 56th birthday.

1st time celebrating it with Karyn - his 1st grandchild.

Whenever he is coming to visit Karyn, he would tell his friends that he's going to see the person who let him 'chen gong' (become 'successful'; actually it's become Ah 'Gong' - grandfather in chinese).

Haha! What a ingenious way of playing with words!

Positive + Positive = Super Positive

In Mathematics:
(+) & (-) = (-)
(-) & (-) = (+)
(+) & (+) = (+)

In Karyn's case, (+) & (+) = (+++)

What am I talking about?

Karyn's eyelashes, what else?

Everybody (relatives, friends, even hospital staff) gushed at the length of Karyn's eyelashes.

By infants' standards, I should think she 'exceeds expectations'.

And the reason for that...

Both Daddy and Mummy have long eyelashes. She must have inherited the good genes from us!

No need to use eyelash curler nor mascara next time!

Hence Mummy theorises...

Short + Short = Short
Long + Short = Long/Short
Long + Long = Super Long!

Errr... I mean eyelashes, not the other body part. In case some of you might be wondering... Haha!

Are you lonesome tonight?

Are You Lonesome Tonight? ~ Elvis Presley
(extracted)
Are you lonesome tonight
do you miss me tonight
Are you sorry we drifted apart
Does your memory stray to a bright sunny day
When I kissed you and called you sweetheart
Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare
Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there
Is your heart filled with pain, shall I come back again
Tell me dear, are you lonesome tonight

This dear daughter of mine... is scared of, guess what?

Yes! She's scared of loneliness.

She suffers from what I call, the 'Loneliness Phobia'.

Everytime we put her to bed in her cot, we have to switch on the radio - either Classical 92.4FM or Class 95.

She absolutely can't sleep well if her surroundings is silent. In fact, she thrives on noise. Yes. Can't believe it right?

The best illustration of that is the day of her baby shower.

There was at any one time, 20+ people in the house, all the way from noon till 5 p.m. And boy, were they noisy. The adults were eating and chatting, the TV was one, the children were playing...

And you know what? No prizes for the correct answer...

She slept through it all!

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, she's such a sound sleeper when in deep slumber that I think even an earthquake won't wake her up.

So the conclusion is, the rowdier the crowd, the louder the music or TV, the better Karyn sleeps!

Now, I've sidetracked. Back to Karyn's 'Loneliness Phobia'.

When she's not asleep, or tired of playing on her own, she demands to be carried.

She'll cry once or twice to see if anyone goes to carry her.

If nobody responses, her cries will get louder.

And if nobody goes to her still, she'll start to wail.

When finally we look in on her, she'll continue to wail until we pick her up and carry her. She's such an attention seeker.

But the thing is, there's almost always no tears when she is seeking attention.

That's how we differentiate her cries.

(If she's hunger, tears will be rolling down her tiny rosy cheeks by the third wail. I'll talk about hunger in another post some time later...)

OJT - bathing the baby

After weeks of observing Ah Ma at the bathing 'ritual', it's finally Mummy's turn to do it.

OJT (On-the-job-training) Session 1
Date: 3 Jul 2006
Time: 8.15 a.m.
Venue: Karyn's bedroom / Common toilet

Step 1:
Prepare the bath (Venue: Common toilet)
- Get ready bath water in the bath tub (test first, must be lukewarm)
- Put cotton pad (for cleaning eyes), wash cloth and baby bath liquid at the tub
- Put bath towel (for wrapping Karyn after the bath) next to the tub

Step 2:
Prepare the changing table (Venue: Karyn's bedrooom)
- lay a cloth nappy on the changing mat
- pick a set of clothes (blouse & shorts) and put it next to changing mat
- get ready all toiletries (nappy rash cream, Ru Yi oil, powder)

Step 3:
Undress the baby (Venue: Karyn's bedroom)
- put baby on changing mat
- remove mittens, booties, blouse and shorts (leave the diapers on in case she pees or poos)
- wrap baby with cloth nappy and bring baby to the tub

Step 4:
Pre-bath (Venue: Common toilet)
- unwrap baby's upper body (leave the lower body wrapped, esp. the diapers)
- wet the wash cloth and clean baby's tongue
- wet the cotton pad and clean baby's eyes
- rinse the wash cloth to clean baby's face and rinse her hair
- put 2 drops of baby bath liquid into the tub

Step 5:
Actual bathing (Venue: Common toilet)
- remove diapers (beware of leaking poo and sudden pee!)
- dap baby's chest with water (to let baby transit from dry to wet environment)
- slowly lower baby's buttocks into the tub (support baby's back firmly with one arm)
- wash baby's upper body with wash cloth (take note to clean between all the joints, i.e. front of neck, armpits, inside elbows, between the fingers)
- gently transfer baby's chest onto another arm to wash her back (take note to clean back of neck)
- gently lift her up and clean her buttocks with other hand
- gently transfer her onto her back again and wash her lower body (take note to clean behind the knees, feet, groin area and lastly the genital area)
- lay out the bath towel on your knee
- scoop baby out from tub, place on knee and quickly wrap her up with bath towel

Step 6:
Dress the baby (Venue: Karyn's bedroom)
- put baby on changing mat
- quickly wipe her dry without removing bath towel
- pull bath towel down to expose only upper body
- apply powder (crane of neck, behind neck, armpits, inside elbows, chest, back)
- put on blouse (put left arm thru sleeve, lift her back off mat, put right arm thru sleeve and button up)
- remove bath towel and quickly place diapers under her buttocks (beware of sudden pee or poo!)
- put 2 drops of Ru Yi oil on your palms and rub them together until palms are warm
- put your palms onto baby's tummy for 3 - 5 secs
- repeat the procedure another time
- apply nappy rash cream all around her buttocks
- fasten the diapers
- put on her shorts, mittens and booties
- carry baby upright for a while in case she needs to burp (tend to have wind after bath) then put her back to bed

Step 7:
Clearing up (Venue: Karyn's bedroom/Common toilet)
- keep away nappy rash cream, Ru Yi oil, powder
- pick up soiled clothes and put into baby laundry in toilet to soak
- throw away soiled cotton pad
- rinse wash cloth and put into baby laundry to soak
- pour away bath water, rinse tub and put it away

End product: A satisfied and contented baby!

Actually, I didn't do all the steps on my own. Only did steps 2 to 6.

Ah Ma helped to prepare the bath and the clearing up.

Well, it was my first attempt, what did you expect? Hehe...

In time to come, I'll need to do everything myself. Meanwhile, I'll accept all the help I can get.

Slumber Land

This dear daughter of mine, once she is in deep slumber, nothing can wake her up. No amount of cajoling, tickling, shoving we do is able to awaken her.

She ALWAYS dozes off even before she finishes her milk. In an effort to wake her, we have tried and tested many methods - playing with her, tickling her chin, her cheeks, moving her hands and legs, changing our positions so that she gets jolted, even gently shaking her.

But all attempts are futile. Like the Titanic song "and my heart, will go on and on...", Karyn just "sleeps on and on...".

Check out her various sleeping positions.

My personal favourite is the one in which her whole body is slanted to one side, not aligned with her nappy "pillow" (see top right hand corner picture).

Actually we always put her straightly perpendicular to the pillow. And she'll start off sleeping straight. But in no time at all, after numerous stretching (particularly her arms and legs), she always ends up slanted. Worst of all, she can even slant all the way until her body is parallel to the pillow.

Such a pity I haven't got a chance to take a picture of that yet. Wait till I do. And I'll post it up. Hehe...

Super Dad

In Smallville, there's a Super Man...

In Choa Chu Kang Crescent, there's a Super Dad...

And that person is none other than... Karyn's Daddy!

In just 2 weeks, Daddy has learnt and mastered the art of feeding Karyn.

After much practice over the 1st week, Daddy is now able to carry Karyn with ease. Not just that, he can feed her on his own without Mummy or Ah Ma standing by. In the past, either Ah Ma or Mummy has to be beside him throughout the whole feeding time, in case Karyn regurgitates milk and Daddy would panic. Now, Mummy can go to the toilet and leave Daddy to feed Karyn on his own.

In fact, he is sooo good at it that he knows exactly when and how Karyn needs to be burped.

And he can respond promptly by changing her position - patting her back while sitting her up, while putting her head on his shoulder, holding her head up high while supporting her backside - all the essential manoeuvres in burping a baby.

A round of applause for Daddy!

Photo crazy

I've been so obsessed with taking photographs of Karyn, wanting to capture every smile, every twitch of the eyebrow, every yawn, every expression that she makes.

She's just so cute, adorable, irresistable... She makes my life complete.

Struggling with confinement... 2 more weeks to go

The Chinese believe that the postpartum period is very crucial for new mothers. So earlier during my pregnancy, I thought I was quite prepared for this so-called confinement (imprisonment?) period. I was sure my mum would want me to observe the traditional practices of the confinement.

I had engaged the services of a confinement lady through an agency; we call her Auntie.

Never had I expected the initial days after Karyn was discharged from hospital to be such a chaos. I thought I had everything ready and prepared for Karyn's arrival since my 8th month of pregnancy. But I was wrong.

In the early days, everyone (Mum, Dad, Hubby) were running around making countless trips over several days, to the market, supermarket, provision shops buying pails, buckets, basins, containers for milk bottles, towels, electric airpots, etc etc etc. As we were establishing the confinement household and routines, we didn't know what we lacked until we wanted to use it.

So there were so many occasions when we thought we had everything and then suddenly realise that something was lacking. So off Hubby (or Mum or Mum and Dad) would go, on another shopping 'spree' again.

It was very exhausting for everybody, even myself (when I'm supposed to be resting in bed most of the time). It was really a very trying period during the first 2 weeks of confinement. Many things were out of my control which I hate. My life was a battle every day.

There were power struggles with both Mum and Auntie (both of whom are at my place 24/7) who have their own ways of doing things which I couldn't adapt to. But when I voiced out, they kept putting on the pressure on me, citing endless examples of the negative consequences that some women whom they know suffered for not following the confinement practices.

Then another big problem was the breastfeeding. For some reason, my milk supply never really increased to an amount sufficient for Karyn. Plus she was not latching on properly. So she was always hungry.

Very reluctantly, I had to forgo my total breastfeeding plan and relented to feeding her formula milk. I crumbled under both the women's pressure and gave up cup feeding after one try. They started giving Karyn formula milk using bottles. My total breastfeeding plan was completely shattered. So was my heart.

Despite the pain (emotional and physical - due to sore nipples), I soldiered on and persevered on expressing breast milk for Karyn. At the very least, even of I cannot breastfeed her direct, at least she is still taking breast milk. That's all that matters to me, I couldn't ask for anything more at that time.

Fortunately, Karyn didn't have nipple confusion and refuse to latch on (perhaps because she's using NUK bottles and teats which are specially designed simulate as closely as possible the shape of the breastfeeding nipple and likewise make baby work hard). After a couple of days, Karyn managed to latch on properly. That was my greatest relief!

So now I'm combining all methods - latching, expressing, bottle feeding and supplementing with formula milk.

That few days in the beginning, I cried a lot. Everything was out of my control. I felt like both my life and Karyn's were run by these two women. The baby didn't even belong to them. Why are they making the decisions???

"Don't wash your hair. Wear pants at night. Wear a sweater. Don't switch on the fan. Eat your food while it's (scalding!) hot. Always wash your hands with boiled water. Don't touch tap water. Don't drink plain water. Finish up all your food. Don't feed the baby unless she screams at the top of her lungs. Don't carry her too often or it will become a bad habit. " The list is endless.

In the first few days, I had rashes on my neck, tummy and thighs. I was hot, bothered and frustrated. I hated every single bit of these mindless practices, some of which made a little bit of sense though most don't at all.

Furthermore, the confinement nanny is also very lazy, stubborn and has attitude problem.

Every time Mum asks her to cook a different dish which I have not eaten before, she would claim that she doesn't know how to cook it. Lame excuse. And she had not followed instructions - letting Karyn wear pampers when I've specifically told her to use cloth nappies in the day time - trying to skive so she didn't have to wash so many nappies.

On the rare two/three days that Mum was not around, she would skive and cook only 2 dishes for me instead of three for each meal. And she would not cook the tonic soup for supper either.

Worst of all, my baby was always hungry 'cos the confinement nanny didn't have the patience to feed her until she finishes her milk (which can take up to more than half an hour sometimes).

On top of the problems with the nanny, Mum would keep on complaining to me about her, and telling me lots of stuff about other people's practices which in a way adds on to my frustrations and stress. And to add to that, some of our beliefs about taking care of baby are different, so it's inevitable that we would argue over certain issues.

Having to bear with the episiotomy pain, after labour pains, sore nipples and breastfeeding pains were already bad enough (I was popping painkillers the entire two weeks), I still had to put up with all these nonsense. I really thought I was going crazy.

Thankfully, soon enough, by the end of the 2nd week, things started to slowly fall into place. My episiotomy got better, I eventually got used to some of the pains, routines were established, some compromises were made, and I gradually adapted to "life in prison".

Though there are still some disagreements here and there, over issues like taking care of the baby, at least life is more bearable now.

Lessons learnt - If I ever have a second baby,

1) I won't want to engage a confinement nanny. At most, I'll just order confinement food from the catering company.

2) As much as I appreciate having Mum to help take care of Karyn while I try to get some rest, I won't have Mum stay over to take care of me and baby full time. She can come over as and when she likes, but not stay at my place 24/7.

I think only when these two conditions are met will I be able to get through having another baby.

Karyn's developmental milestone - 2 weeks

Barely 2 weeks old, Karyn has grown by leaps and bounds.

When we first brought her back from the hospital, she was just a helpless baby who could only communicate by crying. Whenever she was hungry, uncomfortable because of soiled diapers or too much wind in her tummy, she would cry. And her cries sounded like a kitten meowing. We found it soooo cute and adorable.

One of our favourite pastime is to put our faces up close to hers and sniff her; she always smells soooo good - the typical baby smell that makes you want to hug and kiss her.

As we watch Karyn grow day by day, we keep making new discoveries about her.

1) By 1 week plus, she can turn her head from side to side while lying on her back.

2) She likes to exercise her neck and by the middle of the 2nd week, she is able to lift her neck
up on her own while being carried on the shoulder.

3) Her cries are getting louder and fiercer, especially when she is hungry. Not the timid little
kitten anymore...

4) She has learnt to recognise the people who feed her milk, especially Mummy, Ah Ma, the
confinement nanny and Daddy (in that sequence of exposure and preference; Mummy first
because its yummy breast milk!)

5) Her first tears were seen on 18 June when she was wailing for her milk. Before that, all her
cries were tearless ones.

6) She is getting stronger by the day as can be seen by the amount and force of kickboxing that
she does while crying for milk and when her diapers are being changed.

Sometimes she's so forceful that we have to use force to pin her hands down while trying to
put the bottle into her mouth. It's always a battle during diaper changing as the confinement
nanny struggles to fasten her diapers while she lunges into her karate kicks.

At night, when the nanny picks her up for her night feeds, her head is always lying a few inches away from the nappy-pillow. Goes to show that she's been moving through the night and the amount of strength she exerts.

8) She has started to seek attention by fidgeting and making noises when she cannot go to sleep
on her own. Once carried in the arms, she slowly drifts off to zzz.

Those are only the first few milestones in Karyn's development. More to go...

Happy Fathers' Day!

When I was pregnant, my colleague gave birth a few days before Mothers' Day, just in time to celebrate with her.

So that made me wonder if Karyn would arrive in time to celebrate Fathers' Day (18 June). Her due date was supposed to be 19 June.

We didn't expect her to arrive so early. She was born 2 weeks earlier than her expected due date.

Makings of a martial arts expert?

So irresistable!

Shh... don't tell anyone

Isn't she beautiful? She's my baby

Sleeping - Karyn's favourite activity.

Watching her as she sleep, sometimes I cannot help but wonder, "She's soooo cute... Can't believe she's mine."

"Newborns sleep an average of 16 to 18 hours a day, and all babies need plenty of shut-eye." www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babysleep/7742.html

Severe jaundice

On the third day, we were supposed to be discharged from hospital. But Karyn was tested to have quite severe jaundice. Her bilirubin level was 12.6, way too high above the safe level 10. So she had to remain in hospital and be under light therapy.

I was so saddened by this news and cried for so long. I didn't want to go home without our baby. Plus I couldn't breastfeed her on demand if we were to go home. I wanted Karyn to be on total breast feeding, that means not to give her any water, formula milk nor feed her by the bottle. So we decided to extend our stay by one day and await the second blood test the next day.

The next morning, we were so anxious while waiting for the blood test results. To our dismay, Karyn's bilirubin level had only fallen by 0.5 to 12.1, still too high to be discharged.

Mummy and Daddy were too bored staying in the hospital with nothing to do. So we decided to discharge and go home, returning every couple of hours to the hospital to breastfeed Karyn.

It was a very tough decision as it meant no breast milk during night time as I needed to rest and couldn't possibly run to and fro between home and hospital throughout the night. Daddy would also be too exhausted making so many trips in the day to sustain throughout the night.

Finally, after much emotional and psychological struggle, we made the decision of letting the nursery staff feed Karyn formula milk at night and I would rush back EARLY in the morning to breastfeed her.

So on Thursday, we were totally exhausted by the shuttling and on Friday morning, we rushed back to the hospital at 8 a.m. so that Karyn wouldn't be given too many feeds of formula milk. Fortunately, to our ecstasy, she passed her second blood test (borderline 10.4) and we could bring her home. Yay!!!

Karyn at 2 days old

Daddy is so enthusiastic about Karyn that he's picking up baby skills very rapidly!

He has never held a baby in his arms before Karyn's arrival. Yet now, by the second day day, he can do it already, though somewhat awkwardly, in my opinion.

Well, who wouldn't be? Considering the fact that it's his first day of practice, I certainly think Daddy's doing great! Just look at how serene Karyn is in his arms - big, warm and secure.

Karyn Yong Xin Ying arrives!

Baby Karyn arrived on 5 June 2006. These pictures were taken in the first few minutes after birth when Karyn was put on my tummy while still in the delivery suite. It's said to be a very important time for mother and baby bonding. Karyn was so alert and had her eyes opened wide all throughout the 30 or so minute, looking at me intently as I spoke to her. Whenever Daddy speaks, she would tilt her head towards his direction and her eyes would search for his face.

Frustrations of a pregnant woman due to give birth anytime now

All these episodes of false alarms are driving me crazy. Without fail, I'll be getting the familiar cramps EVERY DAY. Sometimes they're so intense it feels like true labour. And yet, they ALWAYS seem to subside after some time. Real labour pains are supposed to get more and more intense...

Every time I get a cramp, I'll start wondering "if this is the one". Then I'll try to time the contractions, which is quite difficult as I can't really tell when they contractions really start and when they end. Sometimes, it just feels like one LONG contraction that doesn't end for 5 mins or more. In fact, I'd even started noting down the timing of contractions in a small notepad. More often than not, I'd find myself wondering if that little twinge is a contraction or not, and then end up not recording it.

And for the past few nights, I've been waking up SO MANY times to go to the loo. And during every visit, I'd pry my tired eyes open to check for that elusive "show" that's supposed to accompany true labour. And every time, I'd go back to bed, disappointed.

All these events have been wearing me out, especially when I don't get proper sleep at night.

Am getting so tired and sick of the anticipation... In fact, had a rather strong contraction that I thought lasted more than a minute just now. But then, as usual, it went away. And nothing more after that...

Come out whenever you want, Karyn. Mummy can't be bothered now.

Every contraction shall be treated as FALSE ALARM unless proven otherwise.

Karyn, when are you coming out?

This is my 37th week of pregnancy now and Karyn is considered full term already. That means "baby is developmentally ready to handle life outside the womb. (Babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 weeks are post-term.) Your baby probably weighs a little over 6 pounds at this point and measures between 19 and 20 inches, head to heel."

I can't wait for Karyn to make her appearance. This past few weeks has been quite tough, with the increasing weight, increasing sleepless nights and increasing fatigue. In fact, I've been quite worried about Dr. Tseng's estimation that Karyn is weighing in at 3.1 kg. That seems to be quite big for her gestational age. Am afraid that if she doesn't come out soon, she's gonna gain more weight and spoil the likelihood of getting the natural birth that we want.

So on Monday evening when we went to see Dr. Tseng again, we asked him about the possibility of self inducing labour and he was dead against the idea. Said it would increase the risk of prolonged labour and even possibility of Caesarean!

Hence, we asked him to do a scan. He didn't have one done the previous week and gave the estimation of her weight. What was it based on? His own experience? Not too reliable, isn't it?

Before the scan, when I had my routine measurements of weight and blood pressure, I was flabbergasted to find out that I had put on 1.4 kg! In a matter of 4 days! MY GOSH! How could that have happened?!?!

Anyway, during the scan, Dr. Tseng took the measurements of Karyn's head and so on and told us that according to the scan, she weighs in at 3.0 kg. Whew! That's more like it, at least it's not more than 3 kg. Somehow, that 100 g makes a difference to me.

Another good news was, Karyn's is engaged already! According to Dr. Tseng, she's 2/5 engaged and 3/5 palpable. Looks like all the coaxing we've done over the past few nights have worked! Every night before we sleep, we kept stroking her in the downwards motion and telling her to move down.

Hmm.. if Karyn hasn't put on weight for the past 4 days, then where has all the 1.4 kg gone to? I think it must have been water retention...

Just look at my swollen feet.... Sigh...

If only what they say is true, that if your feet start to swell up, it means labour is approaching...

Karyn's new toy

Create a soothing underwater environment for baby’s crib with this ocean-themed remote-control mobile! A dancing light pattern of bubbles, fish and swirls projects from the mobile onto the ceiling, and the light softly glows – ideal for calming baby in her crib at night. Soothing lullabies and ocean sounds play as fishy friends float gently overhead. The remote control means mom or dad can stop or start the mobile’s motion with the click of a button. And inside the crib, baby has something to press, too – a squishy pad “fishbowl”! Then as baby grows, the ocean mobile converts from crib to dresser top use, so sweet dreams can continue right into the toddler years! Requires 2 “AA” & 4 “D" alkaline batteries (not included).

We had wanted to buy this Fisher Price Ocean Wonders musical mobile for some time already. We first spotted it at Tom & Stephanie in West Mall. It cost $79.90. That's quite expensive for a toy that can last only a couple of months, considering that once Karyn gets older and stronger, she might pull and lug the whole mobile down.

So we decided to wait for the Great Singapore Sale. On the second day of GSS, we immediately went to West Mall again to look for the mobile but to no avail. There were no more left! Some other people had beat us to it! We were so disappointed.

Then on Sunday afternoon, it suddenly occurred to me that there's another branch of Tom & Stephanie at the building beside Lot 1. So we headed there immediately after lunch. And lo and behold! We finally saw what we've been searching for!

There it was, sitting on the shelf. But there was no discount... The only sale was for members only. Members get 20% discount. Well, too bad. We thought the mobile was too pretty to give up on. We had gone shopping for a mobile for the past few weekends and only this one caught our eyes. The others either had colours that were too gaudy or the soft toys too weird- or cheap-looking.

So finally, we bought it and Hubby immediately installed it onto Karyn's cot once we got home. We tried out the various features and were very satisfied with the product.

Four ways to soothe & entertain:

1. Music


2. Music with fishy friends “swimming” overhead


3. Music, swimming fishy friends & projected ceiling light show


4. Ceiling light show with bubbles, fish & swirls

• Power/volume control and remote control features


• Fishy friends float & turn as they “swim”


• 5 lullabies & ocean sounds


• Ceiling light show entertains baby


• Mobile easily converts from crib to dresser top use


• Soft fabric textures