A Little More To Life: December 2007

Its Belly Time

First time mummy put me on my belly... and I couldn't resist the ZZZ monster...

But today is also the first time I managed to turn my head while lying on my belly ;>

=p

Mummy caught me sticking out my tongue on camera...

Home alone

Yesterday was the first day I took care of baby entirely for the whole day. I was feeling jittery at first, but thank God everything turn out okay. Ethan was very co-operative the whole day, cause he no longer suffers from constipation. We took him to the PD the previous evening for follow-up. PD saw that he was straining to poo again and gave him babylax. He poo-ed so much that his drypers cannot hold the qty, it overflowed to his pants and blanket. It was very messy, and just when I was wiping him clean, he offered me "chrysanthemum tea". His urine wet his top and some even went to his face and ears lor. We had to give him bath at night.

So after the miracle babylax was administered and I gave him only breast milk and Friso Comfort the whole day, he poo-ed 3 times in the day. He was in good mood, shiok ~ no more constipation, and was easy to look after. He keep wanting to play or bao bao walk around, I had to eat bread in bed to combat my hunger while latching him.

At night, daddy suggests going to Orchard to see Xmas lightings and take photo with baby... and we realised how difficult it was to shop with baby around. Baby was very tired (cos he din sleep much in the day) and he did not sleep much in his stroller, keep looking around. We feel so guilty for bringing him out to such a crowded place, cos sleep is most important for his overall development at this age.

Me in my Capella Stroller

Mummy feeding me at Takashimaya Shopping Centre

Ethan's full month celebration

Haha... Ethan slept all the way through his full month party. He refused to sleep in the morning and early afternoon, but when it's time for his party (4 - 10pm) he slept very soundly, can't even wake him up except for feeds, then he'll fall back to sleep immediately. He woke up after the guests have all left and only with Daddy and Mummy around.

In a way this is good, cos we had friends' children who were so traumatised by full month celebration that they cried through the night, and their sleep schedule changed after the day. But since Ethan slept all the way throught, he is unaware of all the happenings and still remain the same the day after the event. Ha! Smart move! However, we did notice that his voice did change abit, become 'sai sai' when he cry. We wonder why... ??? He also start playing and sticking out his tongue abit (touch his lip only). Yesterday he looked at me and stick out his tongue 3 - 4 times consecutively. Hehe... so cute! He must have learned from Elvis gor gor (2 mths old), also loved sticking out his tongue.

Post full month celebration: We forgot to take out the cake, so got Ethan to pose with the cute snowman cake the following morning...

*yawn*

When can I eat the cake?

Malay Traditional Massage

Just had my first session of malay traditional massage yesterday morning. Painful siah... especially at the back of the knee, calf and sole!!! But the head massage and shoulder was very shiok. The scary part is she even 'cruck' my neck both sides... hehe... thank God everything still in tact tho. The massage ended with a super tight bind from my hip to lower ribs, somewhat like wearing a corset... like those Victorian time ang moh ladies... bind until cannot breathe. It feels good when I know this will help to contract the uterus, but it's a nightmare when I want to bend to pick up the baby. The thick cloth will compress the rib or sometimes go under the last rib, very uncomfortable and sore. So glad I will only be doing this for 4 days instead of the usual packages of 5-7 days, in fact thinking of doing this for another 2 days will do ;p but then not sure if can see any results.

Ethan's toes-ies

I love baby fingers and toes... they are so tiny, smooth and cute!

On 28 Nov

On 14 Nov

I just noticed that Ethan's big toes have grown longer, it used to be shorter than the 2nd toe, but now it is the same length. He has also gained much weight, he is now weighing 5.06kg as compared to his birth weight of 3.76kg. It makes me realise that Ethan is growing everyday, and we can easily miss out on cherishing these precious moment with him amidst our busy-ness.

Constipated ~ ~ ~ @

Poor Ethan couldn't poo for 3 days...

*Look at him straining to poo*

He was crying alot for the past 2 days when he couldn't poo at all, we keep seeing him straining, sometimes with tears in his eyes, but still nothing came out. Very poor thing. So we brought him to the PD this morning and wowla... after the PD injected some medicine in his anus within the next 1 min his green hard stool was out!!! It was such a joyous moment! But the 10 mins in the PD room costs us S$114... his stool is literally like gold to us!

*Happy Ethan after poo-ing twice in a day*

My last day of confinement

Yippee! Today is the last day of my confinement. Ethan is officially 1 month old tomorrow... here's some latest photos of him...

Our sunny boy in blue and white

Look at my new hat!

Just relaxing...

Playing with Gymini Super Deluxe Activity Gym that my Aunt bought for me!

Purple elephant is my favourite... but not for long... in 2 mins I'll cry for attention from the adults

Ooh... the pictures in the bible looks interesting...

Naughty daddy likes to take pictures of me... when I'm not looking

Confinement :-(

Confinement... is it really necessary?

I'm going green from this confinement thingy, this cannot that cannot. Cannot have daily shower, cannot shower with tap water but with black herbal water, cannot drink plain water, cannot on fan/aircon, must wear long pants, eat lots of ginger, dang gui, drink wine, drink bu yao jing and the list goes on... The worst is I'm breastfeeding and can't drink alcohol or eat dang gui, then will get chilled by both Mother & MIL for been kiasi... hai... I wonder is it really true that if I do/don't do all these I will suffer when I'm old? Abit fed up now, in fact, I think getting sufficient sleep/rest and eating healthy should be the key to full recovery and of course healthy habits for the rest of the life will ensure we are healthy when we are old mah. Don't think it is logical to associate all our future ailments to not doing a good confinement. Unfortunately, I'm sleep deprived and the confinement rule - no water, makes me dehydrated... red date drink is not thirst quenching.

Actually, I've already broken most of the confinement rules... ha! Seriously if I'm going to give birth a second time, I don't think I will observe confinement rules, but I might consider getting more help to take care of the housework ;p

Got Milk?

Taking care of a newborn is really very demanding. I've lost track of night and day, in fact the only difference is that it is more trying at night when I've just managed to catch abit of sleep and the baby starts wailing for milk. He wakes up and cries for milk every 2 hourly. The most challenging part is keeping awake when he seems to take ages to finish up his bottle. I can't imagine how I'll survive when we need to return to work.

Breastfeeding is another challenge. It is ironic how something so natural can be a challenge to modern day mommies. Everybody does breastfeeding in our grandma's days. It is only during our mom's generation that formula milk was introduced to replace mother's milk. Now all hospitals and magazines advocate breastfeeding, as it provides antibodies and all the required nutrients to nourish baby and protect him from infections. I really salute those mommies that do total breastfeeding since day 1, cause there's no milk for the first 3-4 days after baby is born. How do they handle a fragile and hungry baby that is constantly crying for milk? Heart pain leh. That's how I succumbed to formula milk at the hospital. Mistake! As I'm depriving my baby of the precious colostrum that provides the most antibodies to protect him. I only started breastfeeding on day 4 when the milk supply starts to come in, after much tears of feeling like an inadequate mom and pain of clearing the blocked ducts. Then again the baby has already been used to 60ml of formula milk per feed, he started crying after getting only 10-20ml from mommy. My MIL will heart pain and ask if I have enough milk? More stress to me leh. Today my supply (40-70ml every 4hrs or so) is still insufficient for my baby's demand (60-70ml every 2hrs), cos I'm not able to religiously pump every 2-3hours. Milk supply is based on supply and demand theory. More milk is produced if the breast is emptied frequently. Quite tough tho when baby cries every 2 hour, then I take 1/2 hour to feed/burp him, not to mention other miscellaneous tasks like change diaper/shower/sterlise bottles/play with him, eat my meals/go toilet/wash up/sleep, and of course find a place and opportunity to pump for 1/2 hour. Worst scenario is when he wakes up and cry when I'm halfway through :S Got once kancheong and toppled the expressed milk, so sad. I seldom do direct latch nowadays as I'm puzzled why after 45-60mins of latching he is still rooting for milk. Must be he know mommy's milk very precious, slowly savour and fall asleep in between, that's why he is not drinking enough (that's what I'll like to think... ha)

Now supply abit stagnant, think need to start taking more milk-producing food, seems to help increase my supply previously:

1. Oatmeal

2. Green papaya with fish bone soup (must take for consecutive 3 days): 200g of skinned, diced green unripe papaya simmer with fish bones and a few slices of ginger for 1-2hours, serve with a pinch of salt.

3. Fenugreek pills (take with caution, not sure if any side effect)

Other food that are known to increase milk supply:

4. Blessed thistle (take with caution, not sure if any side effect)

5. Motilium (medicine prescribed by doctor)

Labels: Got Milk?