Our Lil’ One

Yet another visit to the doctor…ever since his arrival, he has been visiting doctors…maybe..there was no cause for alarm…but then again..being 1st time parents, we just want to be doubly sure…that he is alrite.

Since his 3rd week, he has his 1st visit to doc for his nose..I was paranoid…for he kept sneezing..about 6-7 times within a span of 10 minutes…it got me worried…and so off we go to our GP. Being ignorant..I was told that it is just babies’ normal reflexes…ah..chay…so I left it alone..

Then no long after he began to experience colic..BUT this time I was not being paranoid cos all the symptoms which he was experiencing is similar to the ones as mentioned in books and on the Internet. So off again to see another GP…(recommended by my mum’s friend)…
Poor Kayden was indeed diagnosed with colic..so he was given anti-gas medication and some probiotics. As for me, I got to watch my diet..since I am breastfeeding…sianz…ah…It was really frustrating and unbearable in the beginning..but now…I am getting used to it. During our visit, the doc weighed Kayden and to my surprise…he weighs about 4.8kg, as of 3 Feb 2009.

Now I am getting used to his colic problem, but it becomes a hassel when it recurr in the middle of the nite…this explains why my “pandan eyes” is getting more n more prominent. NOW…his nose problem is getting worse…it became stuffy/congested to the extend that …it gets worse as the night progresses..It really saddens us when we see him crying frantically away..and gasping for air…and feeling helpless. Double whamy!…Depsite using the aspirator and nasal decongestant (which I can’t use more than 5-7 days)..

I have got no choice but to bring him to see a paed this time, although we know for sure..its parts of infant growing up phases..(only for some not all..due to a narrower nasal passage way). Fortunately, there is one opposite Sembawang MRT Station and we don’t have to go back to Mt A for the paed which he used to see. So on 17 Feb 2009, the both of us brought him to the paed to get his condition diagnose. True to our expectations there is nothing much to be done for his stuffy nose…poor thing. For he is too young for any decongestants…
So the paed only did an irrigation for his nose..to flush out all the mucous remnants…the worse part is to see him struggling and crying away…in misery as the paed trys to remove the remnants from his nose…heartache…
So there is nothing much to be done…except to give him..saline drop…and my many many many…more nites of misery too….(besides his)
But we are glad to find out that he is growing….(putting on weight)..he now weighs…about 5.6kg and measures about 67cm.

Next week, his 2nd dose of Hep B jab…I wonder how will he react…?

Kayden’s 1st V-Day or rather our 1st V-Day with the latest addition in our lives ~ Kayden, was a simple and rather uncertain one (for Kelvin) affair.

Coincidentally, I have to attend to my gynae appointment on this day. Our V-Day celebration started from there.

It was the first time for the both of us to bring Kayden to Orchard (some more on Saturday..well I got no choice..no babysitter). I mean it was a totally different experience cos now I no longer carry him in my tummy like I used to (shopping for me after every gynae visit) . Alot of things to take into consideration..like where is the nursing room lah…and where is less..I would say more challenging…!

Brought the pram and my sarong sling, although my intuition tells me that the latter is a better option to manoevour in the crowd. True enough and so so so happen..of all the days…there are so many construction works (roads) going on along the way to my gynae’s clinic…BIANGZ…which really caught us off guard…! Bo bian lor…got to use the sling..n saved the pram for use during dining..

The gynae check was alrite…gianed a bit of weight..but glad that its back to my pre-pregnancy weight ler…I guessed is all my eating-like-nobody’s- business way of eating..that got me into the weight gained…*sigh*..must bf more..

Finally, Kayden get to meet Dr Ong again…since the day he was delivered! We managed to take a couple of photographs before we leave the clinic.

After the visit, we decided to have our V-Day celebration (aiyah…so called lah, anyway we need to eat our lunch too mah…rite?) at Bakerzin, Paragon.

Why I had earlier on mentioned that Kelvin was uncertain…cos he felt uneasy bringing Kayden out..worried this and that…no wonder he is getting more n more grey hair…worried for nothing…he couldn’t even enjoy the dessert which I have ordered..*sigh* ..Anyway after our lunch, it was time for Kayden to have his lunch..so off we go to the nursing room…

After his lunch, we headed off to Taka to look for my nursing top and maybe Kayden’s stuff. I managed to buy a nursing top from Thyme Maternity (they are are having 20% sales!) and before we left the place, we saw some educational pieces at the cashier counter..so we ended up buying two of it. One is a flip booklet with many shapes/colours/patterns/prepositions/numbers, and the other is Baby Einstein’s Baby Mozart…they are meant for 3mths and above..kiasu hor..?

Tried the flip booklet on Kayden already, apparently I think he is still too young for it…his attention is not there…I read to him the colours…he just reply with a YAWN..! Or he is just not interested…? *sigh*.. crowded for dinning lah….(Aiyoh Sat. where got not crowded one…rite..?)

Kayden's Full Month Celebration.."Thank You" Card

I must confess..this is another retrospect blog..cos it’s way passed Kayden’s full month. He is almost into his 2nd month…

Kayden celebrated his Full Month on 17th Jan 2009 (Sat), a few days earlier; supposedly it should be on 19th/20th Jan 2009.

As part of the Full Month celebration﹐arrangement has been made a day before to shave off his newborn hair. The purpose of this ceremony signifies 出人頭地 and a brand new start. Granduncle has the honour of shaving his hair. By right, besides the hair the eyebrows needs to be shaved off too, but by left…his mummy (so is Kelvin and my in-laws), urs truly, is very reluctant to allow that to happen. But my mum insisted that is a MUST thing..

U can say it was the first painful decision I had to make for him, somehow I felt rather guilty. But on the other hand, he is “balding”..patches of hair here n there…so might as well shave it off and let the new hair grow again.

He was really struggling..initially…but…see the subsequent photos..soon..he has succumbed to reality…and…(scroll down)

The Day I loose My Newborn Hair...Granduncle doing the honour

Reluctant to get that shave..

Sulking face..

In the midst of struggling but almost asleep..

Fallen asleep already

He has FALLEN ASLEEP!…

There goes his newborn hair

There ..his newborn hair…so “sayang”…so as not to waste it…I think most probably, I am going to make them into his first 胎毛筆!

This is his new look from now on….BOTAK!

On the day of the celebration itself, my mum gave Kayden a gold anklet and wear it on for him, before offering prayers to our ancestors.

Jia Jia putting on the gold anklet

Offering prayers to ancestors (Part of the full month celebration's tradition)

So much so for the ritual, in the evening we headed to Mangrove Cafe @ The Keppel Club for the buffet dinner.

Before we unanimously decide on the place to hold the celebration, there were ideas of having 3 separate celebrations..which Kelvin and I are totally against the idea..it’s such a hassel! The baby will be so stressed and so am I.
Finally, we decided that the club will be a good place to hold the celebration, cos it’s spacious enough and great seaview with the gentle breeze, the place where we are going to hold the buffet has a kitchen and so no worries no insufficient supply of food (unlike if u cater from a caterer..u finished the food and that’s it! ); the kitchen will replenish once the food is running low..so why not? BUT the only draw back…its a bit out of the way…not accessible. And so…the celebration was decided to be held at The Keppel Club.

Full Celebration Dinner @ The Keppel Club ~ Mangrove Cafe

The sumptious buffet spread

Mistake No. 1 :
I just realised one thing…I BROUGHT MY CAMERA but I have forgotten to take photos of my guests..who had attended the function!!!!! Arggghh…..I am sooooo sorry…

Mistake No. 2:
I also brought along the guest book which I have made for the occasion….but again…I HAVE FORGOTTEN all about it….

I am so overwhelmed by the whole affair…busy with welcoming guests…and nitty gritty stuff…I have forgotten the above…..argghh….

Mistake No. 3:
This is the cake favour which we had ordered for our guests. Before I remembered to take a photo of the full set of favour…the ang gu kuehs, glutinous rice and red eggs were gone!…

I must say I am very particular about choosing cake for my guests…and so happened that I was not in the mood to go on searching..perhaps I am too tired and so I just chose this particular cake house when I came across its brochure in the anten-natal class goodies pack. To our surprise, it tasted much better than Pine’s Garden, which we had initially intended to order from. Heng..ah…

The cake favour for the guests

Besides, being cheaper than Pine Garden’s, it also throw in a “Thank U” card with Kayden’s photo on it! On top of that, they gave us a discount too! I must say their service was prompt and good.

The Cute Baby Plastic Decor On top of the Cake

The Chocolate Almond Cake with its missing Ang Ku Kuehs, Glutionous Rice and Red Egg

I must say the chocolate almond cake taste much better than what I had expected. Not too sweet..and they don’t stinge on the chocolate..(I mean for the price that we are paying).

I must say it was nice that the whole celebration ended on a right note, everything was smooth sailing…and all thanks to my father-in-law who has helped to make arrangements for the buffet dinner.

We would also like to thank all the guests who has set aside their precious Sat nite just to attend Kayden’s Full month celebration! Thank U very much for the gifts and well wishes too.

The following was the favour which I had chosen and ordered for my colleagues…I guess they are sick of the same old Bengawan Solo voucher..and the traditional cakes (with ang gu kuehs and red eggs), so I have decided to get something different for them, while keeping some of the tradition. Cake and eggs still there…but its chocolate eggs wrapped in gold and silver foil and small cake  from Swee Secrets, which they can munch it during tea break..and finish it up, not too big…Best of all they get to keep the lil bear, as a momento..after the food is gone.

The favour for my colleagues

I like the chocolate macademia nuts cake from Sweet Secret..it is rich and flavoursome!..By the way, I love cakes..be it baking or eating..them.

Hahahah…sorry for not updating this blog for so long..busy..and too tired to do so..are the reasons.

I know…it’s seems a long time since Lil’ Kayden arrived, but I thought it will still be memorable..to blog it..down..for Lil’ Kayden’s future reference.

It took me sometime to recollect the happenings so…here is the lengthy..report. Apologies for the lengthy report.

Friday ~ 19 Dec 2008

08:30 hrs – 11:00 hrs

As usual everyday at work I am trying my best to clear whatever work I have on hand to the best of my ability. To make things worst, earlier on I was informed by one of my bosses that there will be a renovation going on in our office in mid Jan 2009, but I kept delaying the packing of my stuff

11:00 hrs – 15:00 hrs (1 hr lunch break)

…but don’t know what struck me and my inner voice tells me to do the packing…(I guess its my never-failed-me-intuition at work bah).

Got two big boxes and went on clearing my stuff and to my amazement and the rest of colleagues, it only took me 3 hours to clear the mess on my table…(considering I got a lot of la-sup..hahah). It was so heartening to see so many of my colleagues offered their help. After clearing the mess, it appeared as if I am resigning already..hahah..why not..I may decide to quit after sitting at home for too long. Suddenly, I felt tightening around my tummy..and thought I have hurt my Lil’ One..and was into labour..nah..I think it was another episode of Braxton Hicks..dismissed it altogether.

18:00 hrs – 20:30 hrs

Took a lot of barangs home with me, after work we headed to Toa Payoh for our dinner. I had wanted a nice dinner (I mean an expensive one) and told Kelvin that we can have an early X’mas dinner, but was turned down and so we ended up at BK. After dinner, we were contemplating whether to do some more shopping for our Lil’ One but as I am feeling rather tired and not in the best of my mood, we decided to head home for an early rest.

21:00 hrs – 23:10 hrs

As usual nothing much..watched my TV programmes and had my shower. After drying my hair, I’ve decided to lie down on my bed to read one of the baking books borrowed from the library. As I was lying down on my right, I could vividly hear a small “thud” sound coming from within.., but again I dismissed it and didn’t think much of it. The next thing I felt was fluid gushing out from down under and thought to myself…”AM I INCONTINENCE..?” ….so I decided to go to the toilet..but as I was getting myself out of the bed…the fluid is gushing out a bit more each time as I move…I KNEW THEN the WATER BAG has BURST! So we got the things we want n yesh…that’s including my chow chow…HAHAHA…this is one thing I couldn’t leave without when I go to any foreign place to stay over (that includes all my oversea trips..I am not kidding)

23 45hrs ~ 18 32 hrs (20 Dec 2008 – Saturday evening)

We reached Mt Alvernia hospital at around 23 45 hrs and immediately we made our way to the delivery suite. The place was especially peaceful and cosy at that hour of the nite..with all the Christmas décor…Thank god that everything was smooth sailing from the moment we reached the hospital. We met a very helpful nurse and she checked us in to Delivery Room 3, while she contacted my gynae and another sister to look after me.

The delivery suite

Before we could familiarize with the place, a sister came along and made me change in the delivery gown…so bare..! Well.. who cares..? I was then made to lie on the bed..to keep the amniotic fluid from flowing out…Surprisingly, Kelvin managing fine…not as bad as I have imagined to be…while I was semi bed-ridden..he made his way to register our admission.

All Set!

Semi Bed Ridden

Plain Pork Porridge n Milo C..

From the moment we arrived at the hospital ..it was a plain waiting game…with some bearable moments of contraction pains…every now and then ..which I could hardly sleep throughout the nite.

Until the next morning..at around 10 + when there was still not much dilation..only 2 CM! ..My gynae decided that I be put on drip to aid the dilation..and within ½ hr of the drip I could feel constant contractions…with each one more painful than the last…I managed to tahan for another 2hrs before I put up the white flag….! Ain’t I stupid and stubborn enough to wait for 2 hrs…I should have ask for it the moment I was on drip…I guess I just want to see what is my pain threshold like..bah.

The initial dilation was slow…after 4 hrs I managed to dilate another 4CM ONLY!..But suddenly at around 4+ miracle just seem to happen..the dilation became 8cm! While waiting for my gynae to arrive…there were several episodes of scary moments…where Lil’ One’s heartbeat was very slow…As I am on epidural and lying on my left side most of the time, I felt very very numb..so requested to turn over to the right..but each time I am on that side…Lil’ One’s heartbeat…began to slow…down…lower n lower with time. The sister told me she suspected that the umbilical cord is “strangling” him when I am lying on my right…that reduces his oxygen supply..and thus the slow heart and diminishing heartbeat. Eventually, I can only lie on my left side..with the aid of oxygen supply, until Lil’ One is due for delivery.

Me and my drips and oxygen supply..the final lap!

Boy …was my gynae…experienced..the moment he came and check on my dilation..he could gave us a precise time…when he is going to start the delivery..I could still remember he told us…be prepared by 17 40hrs…! I was skeptical lah…and true enough by that time, everything…was ready that includes my epidural..it wear offs and Lil’ One in there…At one point when there was not much progress, my gynae was telling me…”if the Lil’ One is not out ..we got to push u to the OT…for C-section..”
Wah…really 一言驚醒夢中人leh…I tried as hard as I might…and with the “die-die-also-must-push-him-out” attitude we managed to get him out by 18 32 hrs! I am glad that the process took less than an hr…

The moment he was out..I could see that the umbilical cord was around his neck…that was a close shave! Thank god…everything was fine.

Kayden's First Cry

All swaddled up!

Our First Meet Up..

My first full meal..the following morning

All cleaned up...

Our room

My confinement meal

Kelvin's meal...tastier than mine..although mine was gd

Jia Jia (Grandma in Khek) carrying Lil' Kayden

Well, everyone who has given birth…told me…the moment u see ur Lil’ One…all ur labour pain will diminish… Aye…I don’t think so…leh..and seriously I wasn’t really that emotional yet…as in tearing for joy. Most prob the fatigue has superseded all the joy. When Lil’ One was in my arms…all I could say to him was…”Hi..Kayden..”..I think Kelvin is happier and more emotional than I am..well..I guess..it’s all natural bah..afterall he witnessed the whole labour process (minus the gory part).

Welcome to our company – Lil’ Kayden!

All dressed to go home!