Brave Natalie

Felt like I am the most negligent mummy in the world today.  Natalie was running through my cosmetic kit and I have totally forgotten about the danger of the brow shaper. I got distracted by Nathan who needed to use the toilet and the curious little girl went through my things and decided to remove the cover of the blade. This made a relative deep cut on the side of her pinky. 

The brave little soul did not cry. .. she meekly asked for help. And first thing she told me was "Dont worry mummy it's only a little pain.  I just need to wash away the blood. " My heart sank when i saw the wound! Her palm was filled with blood!  I placed her hand under water.  I got Chris to bring the iodine.  It stinged her. But she did not cry . In fact she said, "don't panic mummy. .. It's a bit pain but I am alright.  Just breathe. .." I was so impressed with her calmness.  She saw the fear in me and tried to take charge of the situation. 

Nathan too acted bravely and reminded himself not to play with sharp objects.  He kissed her jie jie and told her to rest well in order for the pain to go away. 

I am so grateful to Jehovah for the 2 wonderful and supportive little ones that he had blessed us with.  The negligent mummy would rather that she be hurt than to watch either of them suffer from sickness or pain. ^sob sob^

Refresher on caring for newborn

Needed a refresher and found this site. 

http://m.kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_center/newborn_care/guide_parents.html

..... brought my memory back on how to care for an infant.

Confinement ingredients

Found a site that provided the following list of confinement ingredients for new mothers and everyone else in the family:-

Abalone for its protein and vitamin E
Angelica (dang gui) to enhance blood circulation
Black fungus to cleanse the arteries
Black vinegar to purify the blood
Blueberries as they are rich in antioxidants
Chestnuts to invigorate and resolve irritability
Chicken to improve mood
Chinese wolfberry to nourish liver, kidneys and eyes
Dark-coloured beans for being rich in fibre and folate
Dried longan to promote restful sleep
Eucommia bark (du zhong) for the kidneys, sinews, and bones
Eggs to nourish the body and complexion
Fish, especially salmon, as a source of protein and Omega-3 fats
Lean beef as it is rich in iron, for energy
Low-fat dairy products as a source of calcium
Old ginger to warm the body
Polygonum (he shou wu) to prevent hair loss
Red dates to improve energy and calm the mind
Sesame oil for being rich in vitamin E, iron and calcium
Turmeric for its antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties

37 weeks

At 37 weeks and I could tell that the bump had shifted much lower today.  Baby seems less aggressive in terms of his movements, probably due to the lack of space.  I am worried about the umbilical cord getting around his neck...gynae said no use worrying about such things.  I have to focus on nesting and complete my work before delivery. 

I have one last Remuneration Committee paper on long term incentive share plans to draft before I can kick back and relax. Trying to delay this till next week since daddy is away in Jarkarta and i really don't want anyone else other than him to be in the delivery Ward.  Have asked my mum to be the back up just in case.. but she being a kan cheong spider kept asking me for driving directions and painted scenarios of how the taxis are hard to call at her area or worse if she is outside and how they may take her for a spin and ended up late at the hospital.  I think if I am the driver and given directions by her who is a nondriver..I may go mad with her instructions.  So yeah the chat turned into a mini argument but well she is now equipped with the hospital address and my ic no.  She may get there at around the same time as me ... I hope.  Farni thing is like all elderly folks she is more concerned about making sure that the baby don't end up in the wrong hands and play the role of a Guardian than cheerleader who will rara me on as I huff and puff over each contraction.  And yes I didn't even attempt to broach the subject on photo taking and how to use the SLR camera or the camera phone.  Guess everything has to be placed aside if baby decides to come when daddy is not around. .. keeping fingers crossed that I do not have to cross this Bridge anytime soon.

Yes so i will continue to keep the last paper aside until Chris gets home. .. Wouldn't want Natalie's scenario to repeat.... Since she came at 36 weeks on the first day of my annual leave where we were planned a short drive to Legends resort at JB for couple of nights stay as a solitude pair before the arrival of the baby. I even saw the gynae the day before to seek assurance since it was my first delivery.  Well things didn't end up as planned and we ended up taking the drive to the hospital instead. Glad that we were not stuck in JB or at the customs when my contractions happened. Doctor said baby could sense the body relaxing and wanted to come out and play.  Either way, natalie was the first baby who had to make her eat back her words despite her years of experience as a senior consultant. So yes we kinda left a deep impression and with Nathan doc took the Conservative mode.  Advised maternity leave at 38 weeks. Well again he didnt come till 41 weeks and 3 days... and had to be induced as a result!  Again... we have every right to " remove her 招牌"- exact words said by the gynae.

Third baby with Doctor Watt and she gave me 5 days of mc following the long cny holidays for bad pelvic pain- symphysis pubis dysfunction as I had experience acute pain at pubic area due to weight and pressure on gap between the pelvic bones. Didnt even have to see her physically for it .. called up the clinic in the morning and asked if my helper could  pick up the mc on behalf and tada! I got the extra 5 days of extended  PH! What a great bonus! The additional respite necessary to rush out the over due stack of piled up research and preparation for baby's arrival. It also gave me time to catch up with my 2 lovely children and not forgetting my Korean drama too!

Estimated weight of baby this week- 2.6kg

I am a star

One of those impromptu stuff that kids do to remind us adults of how cute and adorable they are. ...

Today Nathan stood by the window pane after I picked them up from school and declared.. That he is s star.

Nathan:" You put your hand on the sofa and leg here.... and move side ways .... and become a star!"

What a happy little star!

Natalie's birthday

We are again reminded of how quickly the time past with each birthday celebration.  Natalie is now officially 6 years old! And next year she'll be in primary 1! Can't imagine where the time had disappeared?  Felt like I had missed the entire phase of her growing up! Looking at her photos from birth to the current responsible, mature little girl, I can't be more blessed with her existence!  As the eldest sibling,  she sets a great example at home for her brother and shows kindness to people around her.  Lovely as ever as she gains knowledge and learns to care for her younger siblings who can be very demanding at times.  Although fights are not unusual, I know she tried her best to give in  before resorting to physical retaliation as didi is constantly testing his limits at the "terrible 3 stage".

At school the teachers will always sing praises of her whenever we visit her class.  This year she is taught by Ms Preti (pretty). She misses her ex-teachers, especially  王老师  but adapted well in k2. She is selected to be the class monitress and this meant a chance to speak up more as she manage the order of the class.  I am glad the teacher recognises her potential and provides  her the opportunity to hone her leadership quality. 

As a strong organiser she planned her birthday theme and helped with the packing of the goodie back.  Since it's the cny and she wanted a frozen cake, daddy came up with a combination theme ie Eastern Freeze! We used cny bags to bag the party favours which includes pineapple tarts,  egg rolls,  wang wang, sweets and gold coin chocolates and of course her favourite kinder surprise eggs! She didn't want to give out balloons to each child this year but asked for a big helium frozen balloon as centrepiece instead.  Nathan and papa were in-charged of picking up the balloons.  And of course he too did not forget to select one for himself. . A teenage mutant ninja turtle balloon.

On the day itself she was dressed as Elsa and was asked to stand at the front of the assembly.  The kids sang happy birthday to her and she returned her Thanks with a solo piece of "twinkle twinkle little stars". I was so impressed that she simply stood there and sang to the entire cohort. What a great sport!

A private cake cutting session was arranged at 0930 and Nathan assisted with the distribution of the goodie bags. Both the kids had a jolly good time that day and we ended the day on a high with loads of fun at kidzamaze!

36 weeks

Survived cny without surprises.  Baby is still packing on the weight and gynae estimated his weight to be 2.5kg at this stage.  He gained another 0.5kg over the last 2 weeks.  My weight is now 67kg. Overall I've put on about 10kg.

At 36 weeks 4 days baby is shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during his nine-month amniotic bath. According to babycentre site,  baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium that will form the contents of his first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, baby will be considered "early term." (Full-term is 39 to 40 weeks. Babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term, 41 weeks is late term, and those born after 42 are post-term.)

As for the rest of the family, Chris will be out of town from Wed to Fri.  Hope baby will wait for daddy to be home and not pop this week!

Gong gong will be seeing a urologist today.  I hope he will get some relief thereafter and condition improves. He has been tortured every night with sleep depravation and with another grandchild there may be more disturbances in the night.

Braxton hicks & birth list

First day of CNY and I am feeling a general tightness around the base of my bump.  Pain was consistent but didnt last for a consistent duration to qualify as contraction.  Suppose it's braxton hicks .... I have forgotten how contractions felt. May just be the violent kicks that were executed by his somersault stunts.

Tonnes of work are waiting for me.  Hopefully I get to finish it before baby's arrival.  If he arrives today.... It will mean that Natalie and him will share the same birth date. 

Got the birth bag list done up since it could be anytime from this week onwards. The family can't wait to see him!

35 weeks

At 35 weeks, the baby now weighs about 2 kg. Doctor Watt mentioned that this may be the largest baby of the 3 if he is brought to full term. Natalie was 2.94 at 36 weeks and she said she could have been huge too if she hadn't come early. No wonder I felt like such a giant who had no place to hide and one who stomp into meetings with huffs and puffs though I tried hard to sneak in and not let my presence felt. It got worse at 3rd trimester as I put on about 18kg in total.

When i had Nathan i was big too and weight gained was more on me than on him. Although I was expecting a boy I was large all over, people could see me waddling from afar. What's more I hurt my pelvic as I suffered a slip and the pain kind of permeates since early days of my third pregnancy.

This pregnancy I have put on about 10kg todate.  Average women would have put on between 11kg and 13.6kg and at this stage the weight gain would have hit its peak. Even the belly button has got bigger and mine has popped outward since early days... serves as the doorbell between dad and the kiddos.

Majority of the weight seems to be in the tummy.  Not sure if it's because of the fact that I am having a son.. The shape of the bump is alot more sharper and people told me that they couldn't tell that I was pregnant from the back. 

Natanael is quite an active baby who loves to do somersaults in my tummy.  His elbows tends to protrude from my stomach when he stretches and squirms about. He has a higher tendency to get hiccups. .. not sure why the frequency is more frequent than the other 2.. was it due to the invasive tests? 

From the exterior, i could tell that the my belly stretches thinner and thinner each day. As I am kinda fair.. The vessels are quite obvious in the area surrounding the bump. Bodily pain around  pelvic and especially the pubic bone aches really badly whenever I shift or change my posture... Particularly when I am lying down the pressure is unbearable and each morning I had to slowly crawl out of bed. Shifting from left to right is such a daunting task. Sometimes I feel so crushed by baby but as the rest of the kids are sleeping on my left I simply don't have any room to move.  Lest getting up. Chris has to help support me out of bed every morning.  Without him as the crutch I think I will continue to lie there for at least half an hour and never get to work on time.

I am starting to feel breathless and heart burn  / indigestion feels like the norm now that the top of my uterus is up under the ribs. I can't walk as fast now and each step comes with great agony.  Doc Watt asked if I felt contraction already...Sometimes I can't quite make out the difference between pain and contractions from braxton hicks. It just feels like your body is cramping and holding everything in together.  Doc checked the cervix length and confirmed that I have another few weeks to go.  Hopefully,  kiddo won't come during cny so I can at least catch up with my beauty sleep.

Well i am still undecided on his chinese name yet.  Will need more time to think.... ☺

Gifts of encouragement

To get Nathan to wake up each morning you'll need the following recipes:-

A million tonnes of patience;

A billion kisses to nurse the separation anxiety;

A zillion persuasions to chide him into showering and stop the whining which ends up with daddy screaming at him to stop. 

Well, this routine slowly evolves as days past.. and we didn't want it to turn into a screaming habit between daddy and son. 

So I invented a game. Game of who wakes up earlier to shower and complete their breakfast on time without agitating daddy.  

And the winner gets a prize at the end of the week.

Guess what it worked!  

Nathan got himself a transformer toy and jiejie the supporter who plays a big role in persuading didi to complete the tasks gets a complimentary present as well. 

Good job babies!

Artworks

At 3 years old, Attached was Nathan's version of the swimming pool.  He drew the family having a good time at the pool and we we were all stretching our hands apart and floating in the waters.

Loves his technique as he uses quite a fair bit of strength to ensure that all the whites on the paper were covered.

Natalie loves to draw princesses and castles since young and at 5 years old, the theme hasn't quite changed but with added variations with explanatory notes and details to depict a story.