Sunday cafe and shopping

8th Jan2012, Sunday.

afternoon we head out for tea at starbucks. thou i cannot take the noise and the space constraint cos we pushed in our pram into the small cafe at PS... we had to stand around to wait for our seats cos we were there to use up the vouchers bro gave gx and i for xmas! i hadnt eaten much cos i knew sweets and sandwiches were my choice... so we waited and a nice waitress got us our seats asking 2 men if they were done... see my cheeky baby R... she gets the thrills drinking water thats from her water bottle but served to her with ice in a starbucks glass makes her really happy! baby R chose the creme brulee in chocolate tart shell... she told gx she chose an egg tart! this was nice with many different flavours with all thee different elements!

my gal took over the camera and say she will take the shot for the apple cheesecake!

baby R didnt mind the noise... 

she loves the green straw and take bites of the dessert off the fork when gx feeds her!

baby A was napping but woke up half way... its prob too noisy for her!

our loot in the short 3 hours!

cny clothings and stuff for our gals

my new yummy find!

ex but nice!

pooh came for snack

6th Jan2012, Friday.

we had lots to eat for snack and baby R decided to invite pooh for tea!

baby R then joined baby A in the playarea... squeezing herself, making herself comfortable... 

Xmas Party 2011

24th Dec11, Saturday.

baby A's first xmas party!

baby R was so cranky and made me so mad at the start and lucky for her she got daddy who coax her!

unable to do much thus with baby R's help we prepared mashmellow platter for the potluck! we used a toothpick to make the mashmellow look like sweets!

tried to capture some sisterly shots but i managed to capture jus a few as baby R was cranky!

our only family pic taken at the party.... 

baby R loves it when we decorated the gingerbread man! she couldnt stop eating the mini m&ms and when she was done with the decorating she immediately sunk her teeth into the cookie and lucky we stopped her in time before the gingerbread man broke to get this shot! Thanks to Aunt A who helped me get these lovely GBMan and also organising 2011 xmas party! Love my aunt A's santarina's dress!

where's time gone?

today is the 1st day i put Kou Yok on my shoulders since given birth... but definitely it isnt the 1st time my shoulders ached... i told myself somehow thou the packet of plaster had been sitting on the shelf for weeks... i didnt used them cos i wanted to push myself to the very last minute to give in to these medicated help.... it was silly of me but i managed to tahan pretty long before i got them slap on this early afternoon... (i did get vicks and medicated tua na oil on the achy shoulders applied by Gx on some nites cos the weather is so terrible... the rain is a killer...)

WHERE is TIME?

it wasnt where was I ... i was always around but seriously with 2 kids - a 2 year old who is had all the attention to herself... now trying to get hold of herself esp after the terrible accident she encountered weeks ago... getting herself out of trouble isnt what my TERRIBLE 2 baby R can do.... she is always testing my patience... doing the NOT To DO... everytime after i scream at her... i cry.... she is so poor thing, a very stubborn little one but with such sweetness once she realise her mistakes... we hug and cry and hold each other dearly.... i know i shouldnt but my patience seems no where to be found when i am exhausted... then the baby... baby A in another 7 more days she will be 2months old... sleepless mode is on once the clock hits MN! Schedules is like 2am milk+ nappy change - back to bed 3am... 5am milk+nappy then i can be up and walking to the living room carrying her in my arms sitting on the sofa till 7am! put her back in bed 7ish and from then till 8ish baby A would be up for milk.... and thats the time i start milk pumping (reduced to once a day...sadly), thats also the time i read FB and emails, bottle washing, prep the kids to shower, fix up bottles to last the whole afternoon, feed the kids, make them nap, and catch a wink if possible (not more than an hour...) dump laundry in, fix bottles for nite, wash bottles and both kids somehow wakes up at the same time and its time to clean baby A first, shower baby R then feed baby R dinner, wait for gx to be home to have my dinner if not i grab whatever is there, if he's home i get to wash more bottles and porridge pots and dishes... if not i would at least get the dried laundry with baby R's help, get them to bed and grab a wink before MN strikes... 

i am so tired but i am staying as strong as i can for many reasons... i need to be a better mum. i need to be more independent but now i still surviving with help from mil with my laundry hanging, preping baby R's lunch and she shops for my 2 babies on diapers and milk powder and some of my stuff... i am thankful. i am basically trapped at home from mon-fri... only out to see mum on Sat and so far Sundays are spent home to clear up stuff... but i have planned shopping trips to use up the vouchers we received from Baby A's full mth party, getting the gals new stuff that they need and also shopping for gx and my clothings for CNY... i am looking for basic stuff... nothing fanciful for myself since i am home always... so looking forward to retail therapy and looking forward to xmas... feasting on turkey! also there are 2 wedding coming up and i am not sure if baby A is coming along but i sure hope to look good on these 2 occasion to break away from my daily routine... i dun mean look like super model or really dressing up fancifully... but jus to be away from my  shorts and tee days.... not sure what i can fit into yet but i have planned for the gals for all the dec occasions...

i want to thank Dap and Wendy for their listening ears... appreciate the time given to me... i am thankful. Irene, i miss you very much! thou i am hardly on FB to chat thru the day with you, i am keeping up with your happy life via your blog... Shanice, i am also back to reading your blog while i pump in the morning... alot of adjustments to make, disagreements to swallow, little notes of thanks to my mum and aunts for their support thru the grey weeks i went thru... i still need my blog... i wish i can post more often but i shant be greedy...

the biggest happy event for November was held on 7th Nov... baby A's full month party which was almost canned because there was sadness over baby R's freak accident but it was decided that we held one for my side and for our friends... cos we didnt want to short change baby A... gx and i wanted to be fair to our newborn... alot of last minute touches like the stickers on the blackboard, cutting out alicia's name, that wasnt planned and i rushed out most of these details on the eve of the party... somehow before that i didnt have time to get my hands on it, no energy cos baby R's recovery was my focus... but i gave baby A's party final push adding things i didnt plan and esp on the day itself, setting up within 30mins was made possible with great help from my family members esp aunt A and nesa, things jus fall into place. at least i got to do something i like and esp for my gal's party...  its nothing huge and super fantastic but it made me happy to create my own dessert table within my means... 

sadly for our 2nd baby, i didnt take as many photos for baby A compared to when i had baby R... but i make it a point to do at least a session of photography for baby A and with her sis on popo's bed every Sat... and its been fun to get shots with my gals on the bed... i need a new external drive cos the one we have is filled and i have no time to delete whats unwanted and dangerously i have many photos unloaded yet... we were supposed to get one last Sunday but the rain spoilt our plans... i need a new lappy... more than an ipad but for our gal to keep baby R down when i have my hands busy with baby A.... seems like GX might invest in one as our little family's xmas present...

this was the very 1st session i had with the gals on baby A's actual full month

i am getting better with my time management, anger management still need adjustment... body ache management needs a knead soon.... but this won't go away even after a session of relieve... baby R is recovering well... praying hard the lines will go away but only time can tell and its gog to take 6months to see whats the result going to be like... applying aloe vera and sunscreen religiously for her... i need to shower baby A more attention then feed her, change her nappy and put her to bed.... afraid baby R gets jealous and also its takes more time to put baby R to calm down thus i cut short my bonding time with baby A... need to work on alot of things... more changes when new year comes... baby R will be starting school... meantime, i need to breathe and get back to my routine... this has been a nice little break. hope i can post at least once a week if not at least once a month... 

back to fixing bottles...

Discharged and Charging

Everything is good and we settled payment, got our things packed and ready to go.... SHoPPing! The lactation consultant who came by to see me earlier that day, i think she is 2nd to Mrs Wong who is the head of the parentcraft centre! Even if she is not 2nd in charge, she is very experience and very motherly! Her name is lilian and she told me she remember seeing me before and when i told her i was attending her prep talk for new parents from the wards to attend, i was in her class 2 years ago. My problem was i didnt have the right size for my bra and it isnt giving me the support i needed and the milk veins? not sure the term to use are kinda block up and lumps making my breast very hard... so she massaged with pressure on my chest and i had to breathe in and out to ease the pain! but after she did it and taught me how to massage, the next thing she told me is to get a bigger and better support bra. So directly from TMC we head United Sq to get the Medela pump parts that we needed to replace and got new bras. then we popped by sis' place to picked up the dishes mum prep for my lunch!

Once home, i had to practice the massage cos it was still painful and latching baby A on was tough... then when baby A managed to sleep, i took some time to see my gal and really baby R isnt baby anymore... suddenly a day not seeing her at all, she didnt come by on the eve cos mil and i agreed that she should try to nap in the afternoon and to be prepared to receive her lit sis with better sleep... baby R seems so big gal suddenly! she looked taller, bigger in size and somehow more sensible when she is in the mood and of cos she did throw tantrum here and there , very eager to be part of what we were doing with baby A... getting in the way all the time... poor gal jus trying very hard to be a good sister cos she is told Not to touch her feet, not to stand over the cot to see baby A.... hard to balance it out at times but we have to tell her there are certain things she can't do!

Glad the books i ordered are here! i gave baby R her 1st book to reward her for being a good sister! Her favourite story she watches on the dvd - Harod and his purple crayon! Baby R eyes' beamed in delight to receive the book and she gave me a kiss on my lips to thank me. the down part of the whole day is Gx! Once home, we had to unpack the bags and cos we werent really ready before baby A came cos we were suppose to have the weekends to tie up the loose ends and i had another 3 weekdays to work things out... everything changed and we had so much to do... cos we needed to adjust things in the room to create space for more things.... GX was mean when i can't recall where the things he was asking for were... when i remembered wrongly he was mad at me and i got really pissed i walked out of the room!

My mil calmed me down and she went to tell Gx to do the same and i was so upset esp when mum called to see how we were doing... i teared. so fed up with Gx who seriously has more rest than i did in the hospital cos once i breastfeed at 4am i am kind of awake and its difficult for me to get back into sleep mode... i did calm down and packed the things out of the bags instead of being in the same room as him... didnt want to make things worse cos baby A cries pretty loud to inform us her needs... we did talked nicely to each other...

Coming to baby A... She is loud! she sure hops like a bunny! Joking! but when we placed her to change her soiled diaper, she cries till her face is red and she is loud! she moves further and further up from where she was place thats why i said she hops! Tried to feed her latched on and she was causing me pain but i didnt want her to cry further so i bear with the pain... Jiejie was so sweet to Jiayou for her little sis!

I had an earlier snack-dinner cos i was really hungry i had mum's black vinegar pig trotters with some rice! I simply love mum's pig trotters! was glad mum got this prep cos i was so hungry and this was superb! Mum was suppose to pop by with later dinner but i got gx to go over to sis' place instead to take the shower trolley! so i didnt get to see mum at all but i didnt want her to take the trouble to travel to and fro...

when fil and gx came home with packet dinner and my homecooked delights from mum, i told gx to have his fill first. He was so smart not to packet his dinner cos knowing my mum would prep too much and i wot be able to finish... i stayed in the room to rest while baby A was in her cot sleeping... then i heard baby R's voice very loudly she exclaimed :

I must take care of Mimi! I need to ask her to take dinner!

i sat up on the bed and the door opened, seeing my dear baby R coming towards me, i teared. daddy followed baby R and said I knew you sure cry one! he wanted to make sure i know what baby R said... Gx told baby R to let me rest first and took her out but baby R kept running back to check to see if i was doing fine in the room and of cos she checked on her baby sis too!

When i had dinner, baby R kept coming to see how i am still... we didnt managed to get baby R to bed at her usual time cos gx and i were busy cleaning baby A up for the 1st time on our own without the nurses... baby A poo quite a few times thru the afternoon till nite and when i told mum this morning, she told us its becos baby A is on breastmilk which is easy for baby to digest thus more poo! Mum is sure an expert after staying with baby nephew L who's fully on breastmilk!

it was tough to put our 2 gals in the same room at the same time trying to make them sleep! baby R is now used to sleep in the dark and only in the dark she would behave and get restless cos she can't see a thing and if we ignore and pretend to be sleeping, baby R would eventually rest for the nite... but on the other hand, baby A is used to the lights in the nursery! she comes into the hospital room i also have to on the lights to feed her if not she would struggle and will cry if the lights werent on! So i told gx to take baby R and make her sleep while i carried baby A out in the living room to sway her to sleep...

walked back to the pitched dark room... i heard snores... when my eyes adjusted to the darkness, i see a hand waving... i switched on the lights and i see baby R sitting up waving at me while daddy was snoring away! so i changed with daddy, i took over in the room and managed to make baby R close her eyes and that was almost 12mn... and i somehow slept too and only when gx came into the room with baby A... i woke up to do my next expressing...

The expressed milk came in handy cos gx helped me feed baby A while i could continue to rest for the nite... i am thankful to gx who helped me out even thou his temper and tone was sickening... he still tried his best to support me...

Today we charged on, starting the morning with sunning baby A cos she has jaudice. baby R was wondering what we were doing and after we explained to her, i asked daddy to help take a pic but instead, baby R went to take the camera with mil's help and both of them took a shot for baby A and me! Gx and i were working as fast as we could with changing baby A... cos once she starts crying, she wont stop till she is completely cleaned up and swaddled! It was also easy to guess whats upsetting her so much... after knowing the facts that breastfed babies poo much more!

Today Daddy and Mummy bath baby A for the 1st time, she started crying and daddy said beside not liking her soiled diapers, baby A doesnt like it when she doesnt have clothes on! But once we got her into the water, she was all calm and enjoyed the splashes... but once out of the tub! Charged went gx and i!

today as a reward and to cheer baby R, trying to show her my attention, i got her to put on the fluffy purple skirt mil got for her and i got her to pose for me to catch some shots! she was happy being a little ballerina posing and jumping high for me to snap away! Received my parcel of sock and clothings i ordered before giving birth... showed baby R the socks i bought for her to wear to school and there were 3 pairs for her to use when she sleeps... she loved it and gave me a kiss on my lips to thank me on her own! but this little cranky gal didnt want to nap and got herself so tired before she doze off...

on the hand i have been expressing milk thru the day and haven latched baby on at all... hope this works cos its actually NO pain for me and faster way to satisfy her hunger without struggle but gx was worried about the flow... not being fed as many times in the hosital, i actually drank less and not constantly... whenever i can drink, i drink alot at one shot... not sure if this affects the volume of the milk... will have to ask for help if volume doesnt increase... cos baby's now taking 30-40ml but in time to come she would need more!

I know i should be resting... but somehow, i really want bits and pieces of my day to be recorded! loaded the pics as i typed but i am running out of time to load them up... will try my best to so something... but to me text now is the best memories cos pics i can always post but cracking my brains to remember days of activities = IMPOSSIBLE! so i hope to be able to keep up with my updates as much as possible!

had porkchops, potato and gingery orange tangy fish fillet for lunch.... mum said she would pop by earlier with my dinner and i can't wait to see her and of cos have my yummy dinner... feels so good to be pampered by my mum... her cooking is precious esp at this point of my life... mum did so much for me... so did my mil...

my mil showered my with support, helping me with the clear up and with our things like the hampers baskets taking over the coffeetable she told me to leave those till we are free to clear them... she didnt mind at all the whole living room in a mess filled with our things... she had to wait till baby R slept in the nite, she started doing her laundry.... Also my sil purposely took a day off from work to stay home to help look after baby R and help my mil watch baby R while she does some cleaning up in the house before we returned! I appreciate all the help at home... i am very blessed...

i gota go prep myself a cup of hot red date tea my mum brewed and drink up all the rest of the fish & papaya soup and go express my next round of milk for baby A before she wakes up... Gx is napping with baby R now and he needs to recharge for the nite duty... i am very thankful.

engorged

Last nite after i was done with the entry, mum popped by to bringus after-dinner snack... my poor mum isnt feeling very well but she cooked meesua for us, gx and me. the smell of the soup filled my room and the warmth of the bowl of the homemade snack - fish and kidney messua was very yummy... gx enjoyed this bowl of meesua watching the ending of Sister Keeper... which i tried not to watch... taking peeks at time but i didnt want to cry or feel sad so i tried not to watch...

after the meesua, i wasnt done... mum still had another bowl of soup for me. She had specially brewed it for me once she left the hospital, hit home, she worked on my next meal. i am very thankful to my mum and her love, concern, worried about my health, providing me the best so i can recover well thru the food she prepares for me.

Gx was suppose to send her home then head back with all the basket of chicken essense and birdnest we received thru the day... but the nurse pushed the baby in and mum didnt want me without support in the room and she sneaked away... taking cab on her own... baby did latched on well but when i changed sides, she went on it for awhile and broke into a super loud cry! We got the nurse to settle her cos she won't try again and won't stop crying... This little one, doesnt like it dark in the room but lights were on... She doesnt like the room too cold... but she was in for quite awhile... She doesnt like to be in soiled diapers at all - so that could be the reason!

So when baby went back to the nursery to be under the blue lighting... gx head home to see our baby R and to unload stuff.... called home at 10.30pm, baby R said she was eating pear... i told her no fruits at such late hours... cos i didnt want her to have tummy ache! Told her to sleep early cos i will be heading home tomolo and she said Yes mimi... She used to shout Yes mimi but since baby A came along she mellowed down to hear what i say to her... miss seeing her cheerful face but not the rascal behaviour... fingers X!

I was glad i managed to get Gx before he left the house cos i was lying in bed in pain! my breasts felt so engorged and i told him no way i can wait till getting home to express the milk! still i couldnt wait for him to be bac in the hospital, i called for the nurse. She suggested lending me the electric pump they have to express the milk to relieve my pain... i was so relieved to hear that. Gx came in and was surprise to see me expressing and baby came in not after him. so i fed baby A the side i hadnt express and then instead of latching her the other side, the nurse helped me feed her with the milk i had jus expressed.

Got another empty bottle from the nurses cos i was still so engorged and i managed to pump out another 30ml after the 25ml i first gave the nurse! still i feel so hard after expressing that i arranged with the nurse that i want to see the lactation consultant before i leave the hospital! i had difficulty sleeping cos the breast felt so hard still and painful. woke up a couple of time thou baby was going be fed with the milk i expressed... couldnt help worrying if she had enough and by 4am+ woken up by the heavy downpour, feeling so engorged, i pressed the bell for the nurse and the bottle came for me to express and i managed to express another 30ml, feeling relieved for awhile and then again so painful and the breast felt so hard i couldnt lie down cos somehow lying down made it really unbearable.... so i started typing.

Happy i have better milkflow than my 1st round but i am now worried if i had expressed too late and leading to some problems of engorgement... sure hope jaudice is reduced and baby can head home with us... also before we head home later, it was good gx brought the pumps here cos last nite i got a container from the nurse that we need to pay for and also a box of tablets to sterlise the pumps that hadnt been used for 2 years... then we realise the shield for pump i used isnt good and need a replacement! the pump we bought over from my fren B was much newer thou it was 1 or 2 years older than my set cos she hardly used it and she got herself a dual pump and i was glad to be the owner of her single pump to make my a pair now!

hope the consultation will solve me engorged problem... gog home soon in another few hours... told the nurses that came in thru the night and jus this wee morning, the many thanks i had to express to them cos they are all so sweet... so calm, so willing to do their part to make our stay comfortable and so pampered with their help. I need to be grateful to Gx for allowing me to have such treatment after giving birth staying on the level 5 premium single like before even thou he now shoulders the payment fully by himself... for this level we had to top up more and also its charging alittle more than 2 years ago... not sure of the nurses on other level but seeing some familiar nurses we had 2 years ago and some remembered us and also new nurses, i am grateful to all the help we were given. told the nurses they will be badly missed the moment i step out of the hospital...

German almost Oct Feast

Tuesday nite, Gx was gog to be late... he have entertainment session for work so i was jus lucky enough to have German Sausage for dinner! I was looking for my honey mustard but failed to find them last Friday but in the end i decided to try this German Mustard in a long tube. 

It says its medium hot... but it wasnt really maybe i am jus too stuffed up with my blocked nose to taste anything right! cos the sausages i could only taste salty nothing else... i sure hope i get well way before the op!

RACHEL cake for tea

my proud little gal showed off her the cake she decorated to her grandparents.

A simple but pretty nice soft sponge cream cake for tea on Monday!

Cousin L's Smurfy Birthday Luncheon

love the smurf signages and bet these 2 were the kids favourite - milo and pasta!

Dessert - i didnt try the petite pastries cos i ate the yummy hazelnut cake but i had 2 bowls of pulot hitam!

skipped the ice-cream but baby R sure had that - 2 scoops!

there wass hainese beef noodles, laska and baby R's favourite SATAY!

pretty cute the way they named the soup - cream of smurfrooms but it wasnt the kind of wild mushroom soup, couldnt really taste mushroom but more like chicken soup with mushrooms in it... thou i loved to have the bread bun, i didn't... skipped the rojak too, cos i was watched and told too many cooling element in that dish for me... Udon was both Cousin L&L's favourite, baby R learnt to eat Udon from them. The curry i skipped at lunch cos i was afraid to dirty my tee but i was lucky to be given a box of it for dinner!

it was good that the dishes i didnt try at the party was given to me, packed home in boxes ready for dinner!  the chicken chop was pretty good! glad i had a second chance to eat them with the salmon which i like very much too! I totally skipped the broccoli, not that i dun like this veg jus that its cooked with crabmeat sauce... 

the carbonara sauce wasnt really good, it was again somehow more like chicken soup! then i can't tell if the tomato base was better cos i didnt take any... so what i had most thru the lunch was TEMPURA! i snacked on the prawns and tempura veg like carrots and eggplant alot!

it was good that i had my laska early and i wasnt in a frantic mood to eat that soupy noodle that might stain my tee! also it was good that we showered our gal, got her started on eating 1st cos she takes longer to eat her food compared to her older yiyis and she won't have the heart to sit thru the meal if she sees them done! i went about to serve my 2 swimming babies who were prob hungry with yummy stuff and daddy is getting so good with serving our dear gal and i have to admit he has got more patience than i do when we are outside!

it was good to see my Cousin K to come for the party! he's a doc so his time is very precious and i was happy to see him thou we didnt get to chat much that day cos i was incharged of looking after my gal while GX drank with Uncle and all the boy cousins! TT wish you were here! 

Aunt O told me lucky i told her the shop to go to for the smurf stuff cos many other party shops she went to haven imported any smurf decor but there wasnt many items available as i had told her cos it was mostly snapped up! Then Aunt O wanted to get each child at the party a soft toy smurf to bring home but it was unable when she even called up the distributor, they said they were out of stock!

drink, drank, drunk session begins till the end of the party...

baby R loves the smurf cup and lipgloss she received! I was lucky to have Cousin L who helped me scoop ice-cream for my dear gal keeping her busy and happy! When i asked baby R how's the ice-cream, see how she grinned! She was also sweet to give me a spoonful to try! 

the very pretty smurfy cake!

its very pretty to see all the kids in the house in Smurf tee and i was the only adult wearing it!

after the candles were blown, to keep baby R away from the playground cos it was burning hot at 1pm...i tempted her with balloons... but to avoid the balloons being burst by the ceiling fan, we had to bear with the heat under the tentage!

thanks to Aunt O for the smurfy tops! 

thanks to Cousin A who came along to babysit the kids with me!

Cousin L had already started opening his present with his friends help at the party!