First smile & First train ride =)

My darling smiled at me yesterday in the morning, her first social smile.. something to remember =)

Today, she smiled at Daddy..

And also to remember, our first MRT ride back home... she was sleeping.. or trying hard to sleep..

Diapers

Wow, never thought that Motherhood can really make someone Auntie-like.. LOL.. I'm beginning to feel more and more Auntie already..

Now whenever I go out, I'll only look at baby stuffs-- mainly KIDDY PALACE.. I can stay in there for at least an hour if my hubby dont pull me out.. haha.. Whenever there is Robinsons or John Little, I'll head straight to the kids sections, the other departments somehow dont interest me anymore.. (maybe the household and bed sheet sections still do..)

Anyway, going to those places are not so Auntie-like.. Going to NTUC or other supermarkets make me feel like one.. I will head to the diapers section and see what brand has offers.. I'll take pictures and note down the price to keep for reference.. the Diapers I'll buy if its no more then $0.25/pc..

Now at the beginning stage, I'll buy whatever diaper on sale within my price range and let Inez try because I want to see which is the best for her. So far, here are those that was "tested" on her:

Pureen: Bought it during BB expo and there was sale.. I dont like it because its too thin. Yes, thin diapers is good and cooling in such humid weather here, but its thin to the extend of not being able to absorb much at all.. causing my LO's butt to be red.. DIAPER RASH!! ARghhh... the only thing i like about Pureen is the tape.. its like velco-type, can re-stick if i stick it wrongly.. (then after that I realised that all the diapers I bought can re-stick.. -_-")

Drypers: We bought the NB ones and NUH also uses the NB ones.. This is so-so.. comparable to Pureen but slightly better.. its also gives my LO diaper rash.. even diaper rash cream doesnt even work..duhz.. No more Drypers for me..

Petpet: Not bad.. Quite good.. Thin and DAMN CHEAP! Its about $0.17/pc. No diaper rash for her.. But the absorbency of the diaper is ok.. better then Drypers la.

Huggies: There are a few types.. I've tried the NB, Dry, Dry Comfort and Ultra.. the NB one gave my LO diaper rash. I almost gave up on Huggies..

Dry and Dry comfort is quite good.. good absorbency.. can be really heavy as compared to the rest of the diapers and its quite thin too..

Huggies Ultra is also good, very good absorbency and its clinically proven to prevent diaper rash.. It does work for Inez.. The only thing is that its quite thick.. so it could be a bit hot for her.. I'll stick to the Huggies if there is offer.. but if not, I'll continue using Petpet.. hehe

Actually, i always wanted to try Pampers because alot of super good reviews on it, but its kinda expensive even when there is offer.. And Mamy Poko.. I really love this brand, tried the samples and thought it is really good and very soft too. but its expensive too, even when on offer..

The next brand I wanna try on Inez is the Goo.n and Nepia.. Good reviews too.. hehehe..

Of course using diapers the WHOLE DAY, EVERYDAY will make me broke.. So in Tamp, my mum will use the traditional napkins.. Got maid so can wash everyday.. that of course prevented diaper rash as we got to change when she pee. That obviously cant hold at all. Only at night, we will change into diapers.. so that she and US can sleep better.. haha

At my own home, we used Moo Moo Kow.. those reusable cloth diapers that can be washed after each use. The absorbency is SUPERB! Comparable to the disposables. No diaper rash too! Each diaper comes with 2 inserts. 1 for NB, another is for bigger children. What I will do is that if she pee but no poo, I will change to another insert and this will allow me to make use of all the inserts I have, rather than leaving it hanging around and use only when she is older.. I really love those and would highly recommend people to buy that. The only drawback is that its actually quite expensive.. $30 a piece and you would need ALOT if you are planning to use it the whole time without disposables. But good investment as it can last you until 1 yr old, until she is potty trained. I think the time frame can cover the cost of the disposable diapers used ba..

I cant be bother to bring out the Moo Moo Kow diapers when we go out because you will still need to carry the dirty ones back to wash..It can really be heavy and bulky if its soaked with pee.. I will use disposables when I bring her out, more convenient.. So in the end, I'll still save $$ and also protecting the environment? Haa..

Breast feeding experiences

Most mother's dream is to breastfeed exclusively until she starts working.. It's actually the special bonding time between you and BB. But I wasnt able to latch BB on properly until I went home. My nipples cracked and bled in the hospital. Was really afraid to latch her on when it was feeding time. I managed to get the hang of it when I went back home, but was really too tired to be woken up every 2 hours, even at night, and latch her on for 45mins - 1 hour. It really wasnt easy especially the milk hasnt come in yet plus the stitches below hurts when you move too much..

We introduced the bottle and supplemented with formula so that I can rest more during the confinement (and my nipples as well). I also began to express my milk so that my family can actually give her while im busy or sleeping. As time goes by, she was fully bottle fed and does not want to latch on anymore.

In my opinion, Nipple confusion is not the word to use at all. BB is clever, she is not confused at all, she recognizes my nipple and bottle teats.. Just that she takes a few seconds to know how to suckle. But the thing is, the flow of the bottle teats is much faster (she is really an impatient girl) then my breast, so she doesnt want to latch on anymore. She only took my breast as a snack/appetizer/dessert source, never a main course

Was really quite affected by it initially. I went online to search for ways to latch her back on and came across this forum where all mummies are exclusively bottle feeding from the start due to many reasons..

One of them posted: "Its doesnt matter how you feed, as long as breast milk is given, baby will still benefit from it". I thought it was quite true, so I gave up the idea. I will try to latch her on, but if she screams and rejects, I'll always have a bottle to standby.

So now, BB is already 1.5 mths and growing well.. hehe.. already 5kg and 55cm..

I only realized later that BB is taking alot of milk as the feeds went up almost every day.. She's already taking 120ml per feed now. the milk I expressed wasnt enough for her at all. I desperately search for ways to increase the supply and started to pump diligently.

Initially, I only managed to pump like 10-20ml each time when she was already taking 60ml.. So every 2-3 hours in the day, i will express.. at night, I will set my alarm at about 4 hours. It was super tiring.. I also took fenugreek, got my mum to cook fish and papaya soup (which doesnt work for me by the way, and it made my milk smells fishy.. yucks!).. Finally my hard work paid off.. I can now pump 80- 120ml each time and still trying to increase it until I hit 200ml and maintain it there.. Seeing my little one being able to benefit from my breast milk really makes me happier too =)

My mother in law gave me a fish call "orh he" (direct translation would be black fish) which is call Mullet, really helped me in my milk supply too.. so my mum cooked for me every 2 days. Its quite nice actually because there's alot of meat and quite cheap too.. like $5 for 2 big fishes? haha..

Little Inez

Sweet dreams

Labour Story

Our little Inez is out to see the world on the 3rd May 2011.. Cute little girl is already 5 weeks old.. time really flies.. I still clearly remember the day my water bag broke.. felt like it was like yesterday..

On the 2nd May, Hub and I were planning to meet Fred and HQ for steamboat at Bugis but Fred fell sick, so the plan was canceled. We ended up meeting Hub's Dad and Bro for dinner at Two Chef @ Commonwealth as his mum and sis went to HK.. Two Chef has the BEST butter pork by the way.. Yummy! Glad I had it before I gave birth. kakaka

Anyway, after dinner, we went to the Opposition Rally (Cant be bothered to remember the name of the party as our place got walked- over) held at the open space area beside Commonwealth MRT and went home shortly after..

When we reached home, I felt abit weird "down there", it was abit hard to explain the feeling..but now come to think of it, i think it was the "lightening".. At about 10pm, Hub said that he was tired and went into the room to sleep, while i was in the living room, using my com.. I was about to take something (till now I really cant remember what I wanted to do) so I got up from the sofa.. I then felt a "pop" in my stomach and water kept flowing non stop. I thought it was pee but no ammonia smell, then I realized it was my water bag. In my heart, the first thing I thought was: "Heng ah, Im at home, not outside!" haha.. It would be damn embarrassing if the bag were to break when Im outside because its really ALOT. Some people experienced trickles, mine is a GUSH!

I then shouted out to Hub, telling him that my water bag broke.. his first reaction? "Wa lau.. just when I was about to sleep???" -_-""

I when to take a nice shower, slowly packed my bag and the damn water kept flowing non stop into my maternity pad that I had to change at least 2, just to absorb it.. My maternity pad is those super super thick one.. (Pureen brand) and changing it means its super soaked..

I packed my bag wit all those last minute stuff and called NUH to check myself in before I went there. They told me to check in when I felt the pain, so I slowly pack all my stuff and then I've got nothing to do liao.. I cant even sit down because when I stand up, the water will gush out.. so we called a cab and reached the hospital in 8 mins and I was already lying on the bed in the delivery suite at 11.30.. They checked to see if its real labour because my contraction haven started.. They did all the necessary test and once they confirmed it was labour and 4cm dilated, they told me to change into the hospital robe..

The nurses and the Doctor in charge at that time came in and out the room.. at about 1 plus, my back started to ache.. Then it felt worse as time goes by. the nurse was asking me if I felt the contractions, I said no.. but my back really ached.. The CTG scan did show that I have contractions but I didnt felt it.. The nurse told me maybe is because the BB's head is pressing against the nerves on the spine, that was why i felt the aches.. They asked if I wanted to take epidural, I said yes because Dr Chua told me to take it in case I cant take the pain and my blood pressure will shoot up.. So they took my blood to do a test to see if I cant take epi due to my blood pressure.. The ache got much worse and frequent, so waiting for the damn bloody blood test to come out was like a torture to me.. and not to mention with the CTG thingy on my tummy and the drip on my hands limited my movements.. made me felt even worse..

Finally at 2+, the anesthetist came and said that Im ok to take epi.. he then SLOWLY explained the side effects and procedures of the jab.. In my heart, I really wanted to scold him and tell him to talk faster but I endure.. and the ache made me couldnt talk.. He was asking me if I felt the contractions, I said no, but my back aches BIG time.. He said that if its back ache, usually epi doesnt help.. I was like -_-"".. wah lao!! imagine my feeling then?

Anyway, he gave the jab.. It was quite painful when he jab the needle in and the position i was sitting felt weird. The stupid back ache came when he jab and was told NOT to move a slightest bit..torture man.. It was done and almost immediately, the aching was gone.. Thank God man..

I was told to sleep so that I will have the energy to push but with the BP machine taking my BP every 20 mins, nurses and doctors coming in now and then, how to sleep? It made me even more tired when I slept and being woken up by either of them..

At 4am, I was told that I was 8cm dilated and at 6am, I was already 10cm dilated. But because BB head is still high up, Shes not ready to come out.. They lowered the epi so that I can feel a little of the contraction..So at about 8, the nurses came in and told me to start pushing to try try.. I did try my best to push but nothing happened. Just when the nurses told me to rest, Dr Chua came in.. She told me to try again..it was realy difficult to push i think partly also because of the wrong muscle used. Haha.. Anyway, 4 midwifes came to help.. 2 helped me pushed my tummy, and 2 supporting my leg while Dr Chua snipped below and finally delivered BB. I took about 1 hour plus to push because i just couldnt push for so long.. Hub said that he saw BB's hair already when i pushed but went back in when i breathe out. All the midwives and Dr Chua were like: "just a little more!!"

But after Dr Chua snipped, it was really much easier and BB came out after 2nd or 3rd push..I can seriously feel the snipping and there was abit of pain.. When BB came out, I felt relived and was too tired to carry her for long..no tears from me (which i though i would have), just felt tired and happy she was finally out..

When I thought it was over and that I can finally rest, Dr Chua told me to push again for the placenta.. then after that, she need to stitch the area up. That was really painful.. I felt weird tugs and contractions at the anus area.. causing me to close my legs together unintentionally. Dr Chua had to give me ALL the painkillers I could use, like the laughing gas, increasing the epi, a jab on my thigh, some pills inserted into the anus.. but I still felt the pain. She said if I still feel the pain, she would need to send me to the OT to do the stitching already.. In my mind, I was like: "Oh no!! $$ again!!" So I endured until it was over..

Haha.. the painkiller took effect all the way until the next day that I dont have to take any oral painkillers for that day.. but abit late la..

I only realised that the backache is actually the contractions.. lol.. duhz..