Somewhere over the rainbow…

Baby Isabelle is Here!

My baby Isabelle arrived on 23 April 2006 (Sunday) at 8.28am. She weighted 2.9kg, and 49cm long. She’s on exclusive breastfeeding, and so far so good. The only “disadvantage” is she’s an owl! She sleeps like an baby during the day, and is very alert during the night. She wants us to carry her around at night until about 4 – 5 am. So hubby and I are walking around with panda eyes!

Justin likes his mei mei a lot, and can’t stop hugging and kissing her. Maybe Suzette’s suggestion works! Before that, I also “brainwashing” him a lot by telling him he’s going to be a koh koh, and mei mei needs him a lot. Mommy and daddy will still love him the same even if mei mei comes along. And I still spend time with him during the day when baby sleeps, so he still has mommy’s company.

One more thing, have to thank hubby too. We don’t have confinement lady, but he helps out a lot at night. Of coz, he told me he’ll play golf on Sundays, but I close one eye lah, since I can cope with the kids already.

We decided to keep her stem cell with StemLife this time. Just signed up in the afternoon, and popped already the next day! Luckily we got it done a day before, not so kelam kabut then.

Thanks for all the comments on the previous post. I was too occupied to log on. Got to go attend to them now. Ciao!

Week 39 Check Up

It’s raining this evening, and I was late for my appointment at my gynae’s clinic. I had an appointment with a representative from StemLife, she’s been expecting me since 5pm. Felt really bad about being late as hubby wanted to go with me this time. Most of the time, I went check up by myself. Since we haven’t seen baby’s face before, not even once, we hoped that we could curi tengok her face first before she pops. That’s why hubby insisted on going.

Hubby brought Justin along, he wanted Justin to see the baby as a preparation for welcoming her. There’re lots of preggies waiting for their turns, so we got time to listen the StemLife’s representative’s explanation. Basically, I know most of the things she said as I’ve check out their website and other related topics. Hubby wasn’t aware much as he’s too busy to check it out.

Justin was having a good time wandering at the clinic. He even tried to make friend with a cheh cheh, but that girl wasn’t interested. He kept touching and stroking her hands, but still there’s no respond. Poor boy, that must be his first “lemon” or rejection!

When it’s my turn for check up, Justin was doing fine but looked at my gynae without smiling. Then, when he asked me to lie down and expose my tummy for scanning, Justin broke into tears and screamed. He didn’t want the gynae to touch me! He seems like trying to protect me from the doc and was screaming out hard for him to stop. Ha! Ha!

Again, hubby got panic (he always does when Justin raises up a scene), and quickly carried him out from the clinic, leaving me lying there alone puzzled. Huh? No need to rush out so fast gua, then where got chance to see baby leh?

Well, I didn’t see baby’s face too, she’s engaged, and could only see the back of her head. Her head is really small, and doc said she’s not a big baby. If there’s no contraction within these few days, I might need to go for check up again next week.

Sigh! How I wish to speed things up too! No dilation yet, so disappointed. But there’s nothing much I can do now except waiting, waiting and waiting loh…

Can’t Wait to Pop

I’m not sure if I’m having a false alarm or Braxton Hicks contraction these few days. I feel some slight cramp, but it’s not painful. Really kan cheong about when will baby be coming out.

Frankly, I’d rather baby come out sooner than waiting anxiously like this. Of coz I’m fully aware of natural induction which can be done by me and hubby, *eyes rolling*, but I don’t think hubby is in the mood for it. So, it’s only a waiting game at the moment.

I’ll be going for a check up this evening, hopefully my ob-gynae will tell me that I’ll be in labour soon, really really can’t keep my butt still waiting for it.

After having this baby, I’ll probably wait for another few years before conceiving another one, if hubby and I agree on it. So, I plan to lose my pre-pregnancy weight and back to my normal weight before having Justin. I was 3 kg above my pre-pregnancy weight after having Justin for 8 months. Didn’t do much effort in losing it as I was too lazy to exercise, except for yoga. Yoga is good for reflexibility and relaxation, but not a faster way to regain my body shape.

But maybe by taking care of an active toddler and a baby, I’ll be busier and will lose weight faster. Can’t wait to pop and get back to my old body soon!

Throwing Tantrums

I’m not sure if Justin begins to sense that he’s going to have a sister soon, or he’s just going thru a phrase where he’s super-duper irritated when things are not going his way. He’s getting angry more frequently than usual.

When he’s angry, he’ll scream out loud, then cry while holding his breath until his lips and face turn black. He used to do this a lot since he’s a newborn, and my MIL blames it on me taking too much cili padi while expecting him.

Now, he’s still doing it, but it’s getting longer to soothe him to take his breath again, comparing to the time when he’s younger. I’ll normally carry him and ask him to breathe in a calm voice so he won’t be getting more angry. When he finally takes his breath in, he’ll slowly cry out loud and his face will slowly turns red again.

Whenever he’s showing his anger this way, I’m the only one who can pacify him to breathe normally again in a few seconds. If I’m not around, MIL will be very panic and that makes Justin takes longer to gain his breathing. I’ve told MIL, my mum, maid, and hubby how to handle him, but I’m still the one who can console him.

I have no idea when he’ll get over this, but MIL wishes that he’ll get over it sooner if not she said she’s going to get a heart attack!

Funny Looks

Xin Yi taught Justin to poke his fingers in his nose, and now Justin loves doing it. Even if everyone tells him he looks ugly and disgusting, he still enjoys the attention he gets.

So I started to keep quiet and grab his funny looks today, without telling him to stop doing it. Lets see how long will he take to forget about this funny imitation.

I think Justin and hubby are going to hate me for placing this ugly photo on blog. But to me he’s cute, the pose maybe ugly, but he still looks cute.

Swimming

Hubby insisted on bringing Justin for a swim, despite of his running nose. Man, they just don’t know how to take care of kids… But I let him bring him anyway as it’s been months since his last swim and there’s no water supply at home for bathing.

Well, Justin was doing fine at first, and standing by the pool waiting for hubby to get changed. But the over-friendly man at the registration counter approached him and Justin was terribly scared of stranger. He cried out by the pool. We tried to pacify him, but he was still crying. Hubby took him for a shower, and that was another mistake. Justin hates shower, so he cries even louder.

I think hubby’s a bit panic and he quickly brought Justin to the baby pool and jumped in with him. Now, my crying Justin became a hysterical toddler who’s screaming like hell! Sigh! It was so embarrassing and I kesian seeing him like that. I asked hubby to bring him to me, he obviously got scared and couldn’t control himself. We sat by the pool, and I fed him a musli bar. After eating, hubby took him for a walk around the pool. Justin began to enjoy himself and started smiling again, but still refused to go into the pool.

I suggested that hubby and I sat by the pool, and kicked the water with our legs. We kept persuading Justin to join us, but he walked away, “pretended” to admire the scenery, while peeping on what hubby and I were doing. Then, he slowly walked towards us and sat down beside me. We helped him to put his legs down, and kicked the water. He’s beginning to have fun playing and splashing the water, so I asked him if he’d like to “walk” on the water with daddy’s help. He nodded, so hubby brought him walking and running across the pool, and lowered his body until the water reached Justin’s chest. He had lots of fun then, and I was so relieved! I thought he has forgotten about the fun of playing in the pool after so long.

Then, he asked to come out from the pool. We agreed to him as he’s having a running nose. Poor boy, hubby took him for a shower and he began screaming again. I think if we’re going for a swim next time, I’d rather bring him home for a bathe. At least he won’t associate swimming with the shower, and feels terribly scare about the experience.

Another Baby’s Coming

Got a phone call from my brother when I was back in Penang. From his voice, I knew something big had happenned. He asked for my mum and told her that they’re expecting a baby, confirmed through a test kit. They are still yet to see a gynae for a proper check up, and I told them they should. Or at least get some folic acid and multivitamin as supplements now.

Too bad they’re staying with my SIL’s nanny who’s very conservative. She told them it’s not necessary to check until a few months later. Huh? Why wait so long? I thought the first 12 weeks is very critical for fetus development, so better start eating healthily, get appropriate supplements, and confirm it’s not ectopic pregnancy. They didn’t plan for it, and according to my brother, the baby was conceived in Athens when they went for honeymoon last month. I still advised them to go for a check up as normally we’re more tired if having vacation with a tour, the body condition is not optimum.

Well, I offered them my books and info I’ve collected since hubby and I planned for having Justin. I hope SIL really reads and prepares herself for this pregnancy. Until now, there’re still lots of mothers who just get pregnant and give birth without getting themselves equiped. They just practise what’s been told by their old folks. I know some pantang are true and should be followed, but some are really non-scientific and may harm both mother and baby.

Like any breastfeeding supporters, I suggested that she reads up about breastfeeding too. But I know it’s not going to be easy for her to do it. Her old nanny who’d brought her up will not agree to it. My mum also advised her to breastfeed, but well, the decision is on her. Mum also felt that it’s better not to interfere too much as it might create unnecessary conflict later.

So, hopefully she’ll have a smooth pregnancy and a healthy baby!

P/S: Thanks for the info on stem cell collection. I was away and unable to read the comments for the past days. Thanks for all the replies!

Good News from Gynae

Went to see my gynae after work this evening. It’s not my appointment today, but since I’ll be back to Penang for a few days, I thought may as well get an early check up first before leaving.

From the scanning, I could see that baby’s already turned head down, and the placenta is not blocking the birth canal anymore. I’m really glad that the placenta has finally “moved” up and not blocking the way. My gynae asked if I’m going for natural birth, and I clearly told him that I’ll definitely go for it! Really scare of going for caesarean, even if it’s really common these days.

I forgot to ask him to estimate the baby’s weight. But the head circumference is slightly small to date, but he said there’s nothing to worry about. He told me big head doesn’t mean baby is smart and vice versa. True or not I have no idea, as long as baby’s healthy, I can go for natural birth, I’m more than happy!

Before leaving the clinic, a sales rep from Stem Life approached me and persuaded me to store the stem cells of my baby. I didn’t store it for Justin because I thought it’s not necessary as there’s not history of those disorders which claimed can be cured by stem cells in both my and hubby’s families. BTW, the cost is not cheap, and still have to pay an annual charge for as long as the cells are stored.

Any bloggers who store it? Can share or not?

Cheaper Sushi at Sushi King

My friend told me that Sushi King’s sushi are only RM2 per plate these few days. We went to Jusco’s sushi king last night, but due to the crowd, and with Justin and her 2 young kids along, it’s not a good idea queuing up with the crowd. We went elsewhere for dinner instead.

Today, we tried again for lunch. I didn’t bring Justin along as hubby’s busy at work. Better let him stay at home if the the afternoon crowd was as crazy as the night before. Well, the queue was long again, but we didn’t have to wait too long. Most of the diners are in working clothes, so I think they came during limited lunch hour.

I saw my ex-colleagues, about 3 tables of them, what a co-incidence. Managed to chit-chat while waiting for the sushi si hu to prepare the sushi. When the sushi were placed on the track, it only took a few minutes to be taken by the diners. Very scary! The 3 si hu were making sushi like no tomorrow, they just couldn’t stop.

We could enjoy our lunch this time as only my friend brought along her 1 year old who still can’t walk yet. He just sat still beside his mum, very good boy. If Justin’s coming along, I doubt he’ll sit that long as we really munch the sushi like we’ve been starving for years! We took about 30 plates of sushi and 3 set meals. “Gerng” or not?

My SIL asked MIL not to cook dinner tomorrow, so our whole family will go for sushi again. Hopefully we managed to get the tables before the kids make a fuss of waiting at the queue. So, sushi lovers, tomorrow is the last day of cheap sushi, GO GET SOME!