Expressions!

No, not the slimming centre :P

But a collection of my gal's various facial expressions!

prelude to the long weekend

I forgot, our weekend actually started on Thursday afternoon. We took the afternoon off to take some pics, and I was quite pleased with the photos, although I wish I am MUCH slimmer.


I picked some of my fav shots to share, so here they are!

Pensive

Energetic

Mesmerised

Cheeky

An exhausting weekend

What did we do over the weekend?

Friday - we went to the zoo. Reached there about 930am and there was a crowd at the entrance. Full of parents with their kids and well, it was rather a breeze to get in once I collected my membership card (thanks to a mummy, we managed to get our membership with a 10% discount). The zoo has really changed quite a fair bit since I last went with my nephew (about 4 years ago). We did the usual meandering around the various exhibits, before it got way too hot at 11am, and we took the tram. The only highlight, which my girl missed as she was fast asleep, was when we sat outside the orang utan exhibit and had our own breakfast (our cheap version of breakfast with the animals). From our view, we saw one orang utan dragged a heap of leaves on top of its head, while it snuggled into a crevice. Brilliant camouflage! Another decided to do some exercise, which included crossing it arms above its head and slapping itself. The same one used some leaves to wipe its backside and pee in front of us. Decided to head for the "Ampang Yong Tau Foo" for lunch, but the place was so packed (no parking lots at all!) so we headed to Casuarina curry instead. Had a quick lunch before proceeding home when I had to bake a cake for my Wilton Cake Decorating Class on Saturday.

Found out at dinner (after slaving over the damn tempura and trying to fry the stuff) that my helper was not feeling well. Think she ate something wrong during lunch and she had the vomitting, the stomachache and headaches. So had our dinner, got the hubby to send the helper to see the doctor, and I went to bed to Vanessa (who was already fast asleep). By the time they came home, I was too tired to make the icing for the cake, so I went to bed and set my alarm clock at 6am.

Saturday - woke up at 6am! Then I washed up the dishes from last night to clear some workspace in the kitchen. Started fixing the icing at 630am, and I am glad none of my neighbours complained cuz my Kenwood mixer makes one hell of a ruckus. By the time I was done sifting the icing sugar, I was staring at the clock in despair, wondering if I was going to make it! Anyway, I just did what I had to do, and I finally managed to finish icing the cake by 10am. Had a quick shower after I started cooking porridge in the rice cooker and it was off to the class. At the class, the other 2 classmates said my cake was nice and I was quite incredulous until I saw theirs. Well, it wasn't the same since I slather on a THICK layer of icing to hide all the defects (too numerous to name here). The class was fun, learnt some of the piping stuff, and tried to pipe roses but it was difficult. I am supposed to practise for the next class, so let's see how it goes :P

Came back, played with Vanessa a little, and I promptly conked out by 4pm. We had tempura leftovers and we cleared up all the porridge (with some help from Vanessa). Watched a little TV and went back to bed.

Sunday - woke up at 6am and headed for the Chinese doctor to get a queue number. My hands are feeling numb again and decided to check it out. When we came back, Vanessa just woke up, so we went out for breakfast at Bukit Timah Hawker Centre. Took a short nap then headed out to the Chinese doctor, waited for 1 hour before it was my turn. Usual tension at the shoulders, causing the nerves to bunch up. Wanted to do the "gua sha" but had to wait again, so I probably will return another day to get it done. Headed for to my mum's place with the cake that I decorated in class, with some cupcakes and leftover icing bags. The kids were having a ball of time hunting for Easter eggs in the garden, and as usual, some were unhappy that they had collected less eggs, didn't get the eggs they designed (they decorated the eggs earlier), but all ended well once we headed back in for the CHOCOLATE eggs. My gal collected her first Easter eggs! I think she enjoyed it although she doesn't have a clue what was happening! As a treat for the kids, who squabbled over the colour of jelly beans, I took out the cupcakes and let them decorate. They had fun, but guess who will end up eating the cakes - the adults or the bin I bet!

Now, my back is killing me and I am wondering if I should bake another cake. Promised my colleague to bake a cake for her so let see how "motivated" I am after dinner.

Back to the grind tomorrow, but it was a fun, although exhausting one, LOOOONNNGGGG weekend I will have in a while. There's another one coming up in May, but I have to work on that Saturday, so I am really looking forward to a nice long break (just 3 days, that's all I am asking for!) after all the weekends and deadlines I have to deal with till end of June, before the vicious cycle starts again in July.

Meet the Tarzaness!

My girl is not a michellin baby yet for her height, she's considered as a semi heavyweight.

As each week progresses, I find that she's straining my muscles, and I struggle to carry her with 1 arm for more than 3 minutes.

Then, I realise why she seems a little heavy for her size. See what she does for her daily exercise!

Psst: Remember that muscles are heavier than fats!

Am I Gifted?

Yes, I believe my girl is gifted - her skills in recognising what is food is amazing!

Today Vanessa attended a trial class at Growing Up Gifted, it's a playschool, not so much as a "intensive course" to make genius out of my girl. It's supposed to help them to explore their senses and improve their motor skills.

Anyway I had to work this morning, so the hubby brought her there with the helper. I managed to get off work early as my colleague very sweetly came earlier to cover my duty. I rushed there and thankfully I made it on time. Anyway I decided I was too hungry and tired to go through the first session of the class, so the hubby did the session with her. I peeked through the window and she seem to be having fun, listening to whatever was being said and staring at the other babies.

Then when I was my turn, I was a bit apprehensive because I was worried she would be cranky. Lo and behold, out came the bubbles and she clambered quickly to catch them! When they were long gone, she would still look up towards the ceiling waiting for more bubbles! Whenever they brought out a box of toys, she would clamber over quickly with the rest of the babies. She very much enjoyed herself, I must say...

I've bought some bubbles solution too, so maybe on Friday we can blow some bubbles for her to play!

No pics as no pics allowed in the classroom!

The Pee Collection

The PD called over the weekend and wanted us to submit another sample of her urine, as a certain bacteria has a very high count. As they can't be sure it's due to contamination (we collected the pee at home) so they just wanted to be sure and to treat it if necessary.

So I dutifully took the morning off yesterday and waited for the pee to be collected. I had reminded the helper to clean the area with soap before attaching the bag, so as to reduce the risk of contamination. *sigh* We failed 3 times! The first time she pooped, so everything went into the dustbin. The second time, the bag leaked, so we collected nothing. That was the last bag we had, so we had to drive down to the clinic and asked for more. Then we waited for the third time and she fell asleep on the bed. Unsuccessful again since the position was had to be somewhat upright for the collection. So I gave up and went to work.

Today we tried again, the first bag again leaked and the second round I was watching her like a hawk. I kept asking the helper and she kept saying no pee. Then I carried her for a little while, and I noticed her diapers were wet! So I yelled out and we quickly stripped her and thankfully, despite the bag having fallen off, we still had some pee left! So we transferred to the bottle, zoom down to the clinic and handed over. I am just crossing my fingers that the test will be OK, as I am paying about $70 for each test!

half tub full and more

Today the helper's offday, so I checked the last milk feed and amount before she went off.

I cooked instant porridge (the nestle ikan porridge) and added a small slice of threadfin. My gal loved it (I didn't - I thought the porridge tasted mushroomy) and finished 3/4 of the bowl. We had breakfast downstairs again, next to the BBQ pit. It's a nice cool breezy morning so we enjoyed it without any buzzing mosquitoes. The dogs were envious though, they were whining at the balcony (they have a direct view)! I think they got a little upset when we waved at them. *rofl*

We brought Vanessa to United Square today - wanted to bring her for a haircut at the Junior's League (I think) and she was quite good - will post a pic when I get it from the hubby. I also saw a ex-client and I got a shock. He used to be a crew cut-ed no nonsense uncle (check shirt and working pants) and now he has blond CURLS and wearing a tight tee with tight jeans (with a belt that has a huge buckle too!). I was too shocked to think "mid life crisis!" - I went straight in and asked, "what happened to you!!!!" Anyway apparently now he enjoys a healthy lifestyle because he had to go in for an operation, so he started working out. He looks good, so does his wife *thumbs up* Oh yes, as usual my girl charmed them with her coy giggles and smiles.

After her haircut (sporting pink highlights and hair glitter) we went to my mum's place for lunch - had to give the GUG trial class a miss as there was a birthday celebration scheduled today. Anyway my gal was THRILLED - so many things to play with, what's more the pinata were full of goodies. She was actually whining as her plastic was empty (she put her hand in to prove her point) when her cousins were busy filling up theirs. In the end, she got what she wanted, when they were all assessing their loot. She held to 2 gold coins tightly and refused to give it up. In the end, I brought her to wash her hands (and feet) before she was willing to let go of her coins.

Why the title then? A lesson learnt. I always assumed that baby should have more water to splash in the tub, and that I shouldn't deprive her of that. Today, the tub was 5/6 full, and she had difficulty in balancing in the tub. In fact, she lost her balance a few times (even with me holding her) and the last time, she must have swallowed some water and she cried. She's fine, but still - a lesson learnt in child safety. Half tub should be just nice for her to keep her balance and yet enjoy herself.

Dinner for her was porridge (finally decided to grind the remaining tub of brown rice) cooked with chicken stock, threadfin, and some "xiao bai cai". Yummy! Next week would be "stocking" time - will be trying out my new 7 litre stockpot!

A real teaser ...

I did mention my girl is a real cheeky monkey right?

Now that we have turned her car seat to front facing (she has surpassed the 9kg mark) it's easier for her to see me when I turned to the back.

She has this habit of teasing me. She will be happily sucking on her pacifier, and then she would call out to get my attention (the helper usually sits with her at the back). She would then take the pacifier out and then hand it to me. So I'll take it away and pretend to suck on it when I turned to the front. She would then make noises and demand for her pacifier back by stretching her hand out. I would then pass it back to her and face to the front again. She would then call out to me again, hold out the pacifier to me and then return the pacificer back to her mouth when I stretched out my hand. Again I turn to the front, she calls out to me, and .... you get the idea anyway. Annoyed that she's teasing me? Not when she's grinning away and occasionally snorting when giggling.

Oh, and my helper told me that baby signalled to her for milk today. So I am right, that particular version of hers is a sign for milk!

Mummy's Mood: Strutting like a peacock.

Just one night ...

To figure out if we could manage my girl alone if we decided to go away on a trip, we thought that a night stay at one of the local hotel would be a good tryout.

We had the perfect excuse, to celebrate the hubby's birthday. I found a family package and so we decided to try it out. Well, the hotel stay was 1 thing - the service expectations were not met. But most importantly, we did have a nice room/ tiolet. The bed, it was so ultra springy that when my hubby turned on his side, I was awoken up by his movement. Thankfully my gal slept through it all.

It didn't start well. She was initially ok with the room, and we had some toys to distract her. However, the moment we drew the blackout curtains so that the darkness would lull her to sleep, she started crying - NONSTOP, for 30 minutes. Nothing could stop her and she cling on to me like a koala bear. Even a visit to the loo had her slinged against me.

In the end, we decided to go out - had to use the build-a-bear vouchers than came with the package anyway. So off we went, the pram only worked for a little while and she was mostly in the sling or carried by the hubby. The first stop was of course build-a-bear shop and she finally showed some interest in a blue bear (all of them had the same tags, but she only showed interest in that blue bear's tag) but eventually we choise a brown bear which was made of velvety's material. Wanted it soft and squishy, but it was still a little hard to my liking. We choose a ballerina outfit that came complete with the shoes and a "ear" piece - with a decent price tag (I had a little heartattack when I saw the price tags). We will probably go back again when she's older to appreciate the bear and does the dress me up dress me down thingy.

Went for a light dinner (since we already had tea at the hotel - she was bouncing to the live music!) after wandering in ToyRus and started to head back to the hotel - with lots of aprehension. I asked the hubby if we should send her back to my mum's place where our helper was staying for the night. He shrugged and said to adopt a wait and see approach. I decided a quick stop to give her some milk, hoping she would fall asleep on the way back to the hotel - but it didn't work. However, I was pleasantly surprised that she had her own version of signing "milk" which I tried signing to her.

She was wide awake when we reach the room and she was ready to cry the moment I sat on the bed (she was still in the sling!). I was dreading the possiblity of sending her back, since my family would brand me a failure! I went over to the couch and pointed out the traffic on Sheares Bridge to her. She was amused enough to warm up quickly and I could bring her over to the bed. She rolled around a little and I was quite pleased that she was finally OK with the room. I was thinking if I should changed her diaper since that might arouse her from her sleepy state, when she suddenly sat up, and stared at me with a shocked expression. I guessed correctly she pooped and did the necessary things. She was quite contented for me to rub her tummy and to clean her up. I also managed to change her into her jammies, which on hindsight was a bit warm for the room. The material is only slightly thicker than her other rompers and we had set the aircon to 10 degrees and on fan speed 3. I'm not killing Earth, it's just that the air circulation of the room is so bad, the cold spot is the couch area!

She continued to roll on the bed for a while more, giggling, SNORTING and smiling, then she suddenly stopped. We peered at her (we were lying on her sides and just watching her roll about) and she was fast asleep. I looked at the clock and it was WAY past her bedtime of 8pm - 11:22pm! I couldn't washed up her bottles since she was still not in deep sleep yet. She screamed in her sleep a couple of times, but was quickly soothed and back to sleep. She was OK for the rest of the night except when we reduce the fan speed to 1, and it got too warm for her (even the hubby kicked off the blanket - he was earlier clothed in his clothes and bathrobe, before huddling under the blanket).

Her breakfast? Wow, seafood porridge (fish and prawns I believe), rice with tofu and miso soup, mashed banana with yoghurt, glutinous rice and some bread. She was happily chomping down everything, and burping out loud TWICE inbetween the food.

I then took a bath with her (it was horrible on the first day, she refused to have her bath, so we quickly just splashed her and then dressed her) and she enjoyed it so much that she didn't want to get out! She cried a little when the hubby took over the dressing bit while I showered. We had a little accident before her naptime - I accidentally clipped her finger when I was putting the cover back on the milk bottle. It must had been very painful, cuz her cry came out like 10 seconds after her face went red and all scrunched up! I patted her to sooth her and she promptly fell asleep. She slept for 1.5 hours while we watched Bourne Ultimatum (part of the package - 1movie!) - ya, through all the sounds from the TV. She woked up 5 minutes after the movie ended, so it was just nice as we had also finished packing.

It was a good experience - I had my fair share of doubts that I could make it, and she clinged to me like a koala and eventually having a good time before sleeping made me believe that I can take care of my girl (sorry for the clipped finger). It was not to say, I did it all on my own. The hubby helped too, even though my gal was screaming her head off whenever he tried to carry her. It must had been hard for him too, but he did a great job! He could manage her better than I can - the crying really gets me, and he has more faith in us as parents that I do.

Oh, Happy birthday dearie! I think we could try a 2 night stay sometime soon *hint hint: my birthday is coming soon!*

The first straw ...

My girl officially can drink from a straw! She's now happily sipping from her Pigeon bottle. The only problem is, she forgets to close her lips before attempting to swallow, so we gets splashes of water from time to time. Otherwise, she's doing a brilliant job!

The cleaning fervour ...

Perhaps my girl has been watcing my helper cleaning the place once too often ...

After she got past her initial fixation of eating tissue paper, she will now take a piece from the tissue box or the wet wipes pack, and then happily start to wipe the table (if she's supporting herself on it) or the floor, as she merrily zips across the floor on all fours (well 3, since her hand is busy cleaning the floor at the same time).

I hope she grows up to like housework - cuz I don't ;P It means I can cook, bake and dirty the kitchen and she can clean the kitchen after me and more!

Muahahaha

To market, to market with a piglet ...

Well, since my girl was born in the year of the Pig, technically she's a piglet!

Anyway, I had been meaning to post this for some time, but it kept slipping my mind (the last case of serious forgetfulness, I FORGOT TO ATTEND MY COOKIES DECORATING CLASS! *SOB* and the fees were paid for already!).

I usually bring Vanessa to the wet market when I do my marketing and my hubby always wondered why - it's noisy, wet and I would be just buying things right?

This particular day that I brought her along, it was the Saturday before the CNY. The fishmonger in this market for some reason starts late, about 830am or so. So by the time I had finished shopping for the veggies, pork and chicken, I went over the fishmonger. We were waiting around his stall as they were still unloading his goods. Since I was carrying my girl, she had the same level of view of the action as me.

As the crowd begins to grow, some aunties started to crowd in front of us. It blocked her view and she did not hesitate to gently "beat" the person in front to show her displeasure. I was like "OH!!! BABY YOU CANNOT BEAT PEOPLE!!!" So as it went, I started moving further towards the back of crowd. The ironical thing was that I wanted the prawns which were already on display. The aunties were just waiting for the fish and in order to grab the good ones, they nudge their way to the front and park themselves there.

In my desperation (I really only wanted the prawns!), I yelled from the back "1kg of prawns! $12!" Unfortunately the fishmonger was busy discussing with the folks upfront about the stock he had for the day. So I tried again and this aunty in front of me went, "Aiyoh, so poor thing, marketing with the baby! Ok I help you!" She barged to the front, got the attention of the fishmonger, got the 1 kg of prawns for me, and collected the money on the fishmonger's behalf. I thanked her (I was so grateful!) and then we gather the rest of our purchase and headed home.

So bringing baby to the market isn't such a bad thing afterall!

Gong xi gong xi!

Update 1: The PD called the next day and said her kidneys looked good - no sign of scarring from the previous episode of UTI! *Yipee!*

Update 2: She now has 8 teeth! and from the looks of it, likely to be 12 teeth soon!

Update 3: My girl had a few first - 1) Her first ever buffet (samplings included the baked red snapper and mango ice cream) 2) Of course, her first ever Chinese New Year! She was relatively good - happiest when she was waving byebye to the relatives. She did a mega poop when I went to visit my aunt, so I hurried into the house and told them I'll do the kums later, gotta clear this pile of gold first! She wasn't very cooperative, twisting and turning. In the process, her socks got gold plated as well, so a whole lot went into my wet bag, which was inverted inside out since it was used as a diaper changing mat!

Pics? *sigh* We didn't get really good ones, but it's OK. I'll take some again soon. Meanwhile, enjoy this few pics!

I don't want to photographed!

Please please let me off, I promise to be good.

Fine! Take all pictures you want! *sulk*

The tears and the smiles

My girl was thankfully very cooperative with her mealtimes today, so we could max her feed for her solids and milk before she had to abstain from all food and liquid.

The clinic people had the same problem as the people at the hospital, they said it was hard to find the veins on her pudgy hands. *sigh* But anyway, let just say they did it, and it was very traumatic for me - I was crying and wringing my hands to her symphony of wails (my hubby was assisting the doctor). Towards the end, I went in to carry her so that they could finish taping up the temporary splint. We brought her to "shopping" at the minimart and she soon stop crying. Later we had a "very hot"walk to Botanica Gardens, and she went back to the clinic in good spirits. She was so smiley that even the technician was asking "Why are you so happy, baby? My reply was "that's because she doesn't know what you are going to do to her next!"

To cut it short, it went OK, and we are now waiting for the results to be sent to her PD. Once that is done, we will wait for her PD to let us know if her kidneys has been scarred or not *cross fingers*

It's been a very traumatic day for me - so much so that I am tired, but my mind is wide awake. I wish I could do more to help my girl, but I am proud that she's such a strong girl. Much much stronger than her mummy, because after she woke up, she seem to have forgotten what she went through today and was her usual sunshine self. That is something I have to learn from her - to move on.

the coming DMSA scan

My girl will be going for her DMSA scan tomorrow (for more information on DMSA scan, please refer to here). I'm a bit apprehensive and I'm starting to get butterflies in my tummy.

The mere thought of them having to insert an intravenous (IV) catheter into her little hand is making me cringe in horror and discomfort. I think my helper will be doubly traumatised since she was alone with her in the hospital when they had to do the same thing (we were home packing up things necessary for the admission). I can already imagine her wails, and the 2 hour seperation from the time they insert and the time they sedate and do the scan - that would probably be the worst as since she will be trying to rip if off and crying in discomfort.

All the worst scenarios keep flitting through my head (I shall not mention them) and it's not a pleasant thing to have to go through such things when she's so young. I'm a PESSIMIST, so I guess it makes it doubly worse for me - I can hardly think any happy thoughts.

Perhaps, as my ever optimist hubby says, I worry too much.

Just one of those little things others do ...

to make me happy!

I had emailed previously to this famous crystal company, asking if they would consider having baby gift memberships, that the membership could be dated to the birth or the month of the birth of the baby.

Within 2 days, they replied, saying that they would consider it and asked for my girl's membership details. After I replied, I forgot about it as I was very busy at work.

Then today, I checked my email and they replied me that they had dated my girl's membership to her DOB!

Ecstatic? Ya! Why? Because such a famous big crystal company is willing to cater to requests from one of their millions of members. It made me really happy the way they responded - because I didn't asked for my girl's membership to be backdated, but for in case, if I decided to have another kid. So for Vanessa's membership to be dated her DOB, it is a bonus to me.

It sure feels good, I'm going to print out that email and save it for her 21st birthday!

The certification process ...

of being parents ...

And don't laugh at others, especially the hubby, because what goes round comes round.

Today's my helper's 2nd day off and we didn't really communicate on it, so I had already packed my schedule for today - facial in the morning, following by baking in the afternoon. My helper agreed to look after my gal until my hubby's back from sending me to the place, so my hubby would be on his own till I'm back from my facial.

As my sweetiepie was ZzzZing with me last night (wow, she slept from 9pm till this morning 7:45am - with 2 feeds at 11pm and 6am) so I napped a little to catch up on the lost sleep (well I was pretty entertained by what she did in her sleep - like holding her leg up high in the air) after getting the hubby to hand her over to my helper. I had barely closed my eyes when I heard loud exclamations and laughter from my maid. My hubby stomped into the bedroom and whined," She peed all over me!" I was a bit confused, but he continued," and she was wearing her diaper! And she also pooped! I don't know how it leaked!" How I laughed! And how I paid for it later.

Fast forward, I had finished baking for the day at my mum's house. My girl was ultra good - took her milk and food without fuss and she let her daddy pat her to slumberland. So after clearing up, we headed home. I was commenting to my hubby she's doing her poop job again in the car, and I was distracted by something. Then I turned at look back at her sweet angelic face, and I screamed, "OH NO!!!" Her poop was leaking from her rompers! So I quickly grabbed some tissue paper and stuff at the leakage. When we got home, I quickly wrestled her romper off and to my horror of horrors, a lump fell out from the romper. When I finally removed her diaper off, that big mess and stench ... not to mention, she had some of the poop smeared on her back when I took off her romper. So she had to be soaped and showered, and while my hubby held her in her towel, I ran the bath water to give her a bath. Thankfully in the middle of the bath, my helper came back and she help dressed my girl after I was done with her bath.

So lesson learnt? Never laugh at the hubby, no matter what the baby does to him. Because, you never know what the baby will do to you.

I think we are ready for a solo trip (3 of us) - but let's have a trial run first.

Close to my heart ....

literally ...

Over the weekend, my girl was napping and the helper was doing some housework - so I decided to nap with my girl in case she got up and fussed.

True enough, she woke up some ten minutes later. BUT she looked at me smiled so sweetly! I tried to pat her back to sleep but she was trying to get up and climb on her blanket which was between us. I realised shortly she wanted to come over to me so I picked her up and placed her on my chest. She happily laid her head down and was contented to try to dig her fingers into my nose and mouth. She was still sleepy so I just entertained her while patting her back. She fell asleep after 5 minutes but she was still tossing abit. Let just say her position wasn't very comfortable and my arms were aching from trying to hold her in position (lest she rolls off me and onto the floor!). Eventually she settled down enough for me to change my position so that she was sleeping on my side instead. By that time my tee was WET and clammy from her drool!

It made me so warm and ozzy inside when she smiled at me. It wasn't her usual cheeky smile, but one that was "I am so pleased and happy to see you".

What did I do right for her to smile so sweetly at me and wanting to sleep with me?

Having her I guess :)

Record broken!

For the longest time, Vanessa takes about 125ml to 150ml of milk at anytime. Periodically she would finish 180ml but that was really very rare.

Today, she she finished 210ml! I am wondering if she's going through another growth spurt. She's weighing in at 8.9kg (according to my hello kitty weighing scale) so give another 2 to 3 weeks, we would be able to turn her child seat to face the front (according to the manual, the child seat can only face front once the child is 9kg and above.

[How she's drinking: 210ml will last her about 4 hours or so. She had one feed at 2pm, then at 5 plus, she had some porridge. She then proceed to finish 180ml at 6:30pm and 145ml at 8pm.]

In another 2 days time, Vanessa will be 9 months old. Wow ... time flies, doesn't it, and she'll be 1 in 3 months time! [Note to self: TIME TO START PLANNING HER PARTY!]

She still cannot say "ma ma" unlike Emily, but it's not really a big deal I guess. Each child progress at their own speed. Emily crawled later than Vanessa, but now she's raring to walk!

Tomorrow's back to work, I will miss my sweetie pie for sure =(

To the park, to the park, we go!

For the past 2 days, I've been trying to motivate myself to lose some weight, and to get out of the house!

So for the past mornings, we've been bringing Vanessa to visit the parks. We went to the Bukit Batok Nature Park yesterday morning (so near our palce yet we never venture there before ;P) and today, we went to the Botanica Gardens. We wanted to check out the Children's Garden but it's closed on Mondays.

[Food for thought - read only if you are interested in some bitchy musing:
Nope, we weren't the only parents who were met with locked gates. At least we realised it's closed on mondays, there were some folks who were still waiting patiently for the gates to open (it was close to 10am and the garden is opened at 8am - go figure). Not only that, I overheard some parents telling their kids to pray about it, that some other places would be opened for them to visit. Really, I don't think God would be very pleased to be an excuse for bad planning on the parent's part.]

I would say the Botanica Gardens was a much better workout - pushing the stroller up the Red Brick Path *pant* but we had fun ... Vanessa fell asleep while we were on the Red Brick Path, so we had a brunch break - had some food at the Les Amis Cafe. It was good, but the price was .... think $7.50 for 4 pancakes which were 10cm in diameter, and they added a little bit of strawberries to it. Nevertheless, it was yummy - I think I saw a strawberry buttermilk pancakes recipe somewhere.

I know Vanessa enjoyed the walks - she was kicking non-stop in her stroller! Just thinking which park to visit tomorrow!

If you are happy ...

When my girl is happy or pleased, she doesn't just show it with her usual sweet smile. She now happily waves her right leg in the air, or hang it over the stroller and kicks happily. Well, as long she doesn't kicks me, I'm happy!

Falling ill ...

First was my sweetheart, who had the runs 8 to 10 times day. As she didn't have any fever or any other symptoms, I decided to adopt the wait and see approach. When she had runs 4 times at night, we went straight to the PD and as I guessed correctly, the usual PD is on leave. Even the nurse concurred with me, it seems that Vanessa falls ill every time the PD goes on leave. Nothing unusual, only her intestines were rumbling. So we did the stool test just to eliminate the possibility of salmonella (the thingy that's been going around). The PD said it's probably just a viral infection (again) and of course, the guilt sets in once again since I've almost stopped breastfeeding (just a miserable 80ml of expressed breastmilk a day if I'm lucky).

Then the hubby came down with diarrhoea, vomitting and fever. He's down with gastric flu.

Then now I'm not feeling all the best either - tummy's feeling queasy, been visiting the loo but no loose stools. Been feeling the urge to hurl too (not a remote chance that I'm preggie) so I decided to skip dinner tonight. Finally got around to taking my mulit-vits, so forced every one to take a dose to prevent any further illness over this WONDERFUL FESTIVE SEASON. It's Christmas, for goodness sake, and the only chance I get to take leave and spend time at home before facing the onslaught of emails and phonecalls in January. It's unfortunate that it's also the festive season for the flu bug too. *sigh*

I want to enjoy my time off to sleep with my girl, not isolating her from me or the hubby just because we are sick. It's just so da*n ironical that we get to spend time at home, AWAY from her.

I survived!

on my helper's first day off.

My girl was very well behaved today, since I brought her shopping for a few hours at Takashimaya. We survived her poop fest, she slept on her daddy's shoulders twice without the need for a pacifier, she helped her daddy to choose the colour of a shirt, etc.

I thought it was really going to be REAL BAD, but surprisingly, she didn't wail for my helper - she only cried for her feed, and then cried because she was sleepy. She was quite happy with me feeding, bathing, changing, and patting her to sleep.

I think I passed the motherhood test =)

The sweetest of all ... Thy name is Revenge

Remember how I used to whine about my girl prefering the Daddy instead of the Mummy? How she coos at him and gives him the sweetest smile of all? How green-eyed I was when she happily dives into his arms?

It's MY time now ... now it's MUMMY'S TIME! And it is sweet, oh such sweet revenge with a vengeance.

My girl wants ME, and if she gets plucked out from my arms unwillingly, she will wriggle and squirm. And if I turn to leave both of them, out comes the "WAIL". Now she dives into my arms happily and gives me the sweetest smiles.

Oh, and she loves to secretly vomit on the Daddy ... which he doesn't realise until she's gurgling happily in my arms.

*sigh happily*

Feeling alive ...

It's been a long while I actually took a bus home (yes I know I'm pampered). Usually I'm drive, I get a lift or basically just hail a cab. Today the inspiration just struck me - I mean, it's a free ride to "almost" home anyway. Besides. the weather is simply lovely. So why not?

On the way back, I was doing the scene watching bit, then it suddenly struck me - Geez, how long has it been since I actually felt like an individual, that I feel alive and actually feel happy about it?

I was watching the trees and plants by the roadside swaying in the strong breeze, coupled by the beautiful golden hue of the sunset, and I realised what I have been missing, all this while, couped up in my office, my home, and even my marriage.

I actually miss the feeling of freedom, the scent of breeze, the rustling of the trees, the warmth of the sun. Too much time spent couped up in the office, too much time couped up at home, and too much time couped up in a relationship. It just wonderful to have a breather - a mere 5 minutes walk was all it took to make me HAPPY to be alive. And happy to strut back to the grind of work, home and marriage committments and ... into the arms of my sweetie pie :)

In one day ...

She's officially 8 months old and she has started playing with her saliva.

No, not the mad abstract artist who smears her saliva over the leather couch with her hands or feet (whichever that hasn't been restrained). She already did that a few weeks back.

She's doing the "let's blow bubbles (or rather saliva)" routine. She just STARTED it today only.

I'm glad I didn't miss it :)

Turning 8 ...

In 1 day time, my sweetiepie will be 8 months old.

How time really flies! I was looking at this beanie cushion she used to sleep on when she was 1 month old (the beanie cushion hugs around her from head to toe, so she's very cushy and secure). Now, probably it's just big enough to be her pillow ;P Too bad I don't have a before and after picture!

Her top 2 teeth is out, so she has now a total of 4 teeth.

She now wants to drink water from a cup, so she has her own pink hello kitty cup I got from Daiso for $2.

She's a lot more vocal now - if anyone walks out from the room she's in, she'll protest. Not because that person is her favourite, but because they are "going out" to the "FUN outside world".

She will protest too, when sometimes I am busy with my things and don't pay her attention. Or, when I stand in front of her but don't offer to carry her. She'll protest because she WANTS me.

Now, that's just sweet sweet motherhood.

The guilt and perils of motherhood

A brief summary of what has happened (strangely 2 of my previous post prior to this went missing)

1. She had a fever persistently over 2 days, and we had another scare when the urine dip stick came back positive for bacteria
2. She was on stronger antibotics since she was suspected to have UTI again
3. Fever came down and I thought I could do with a little break - so I went out for dinner with my colleagues and left baby with hubby and helper.
4. Came back at 10pm and her fever was above 39 (highest was 39.7). Worse still, she was vomitting (I heard her gacking).
5. Rang the PD emergency line, but not avail. The operator advised us to bring her in to the A & E.
6. I had a real bad tummy ache just then, so my hubby and helper rushed to A & E, while I did my business. Then hailed a cab and rushed down.
7. I ran through the door and my poor baby was staring at me forlornly from the consultation room. She wanted me! So I carried her while we waited in another consultation room (for fever patients only) we were ushered in.
8. Doc *hmmm* and decided she needs to be warded for observation and tests, since it's not a good sign that she's been running a fever for 3 days.
9. Tears rolled down while waiting for the room. No 1 bedder available! So I asked if we could have a 2 bedder that was unoccupied to convert into a 1 bedder. Managed to get one *phew*
10. After settling in, I went back with my hubby (helper with baby) to get all the stuff - baby's pillow, clothes, toys, food, tioletries, our clothes, tioletries, etc. Basically we had like 5 bags of stuff.
11. Reached the hospital at 2am. Helper was crying because baby was crying - the tubing for the drip was put in while we were away. Had to comfort both.
12. Settled in for the night - I slept with baby in the cot and my helper in the other bed.
13. Baby hated all the medicine, and by morning, as long as the door was opened, she would jumped and stare at whoever came into the room. If it's the nurse or doctor, she would start fussing. She would cry as long as they touched her.
14. It got REALLY bad. She refused to eat her food unless I ate some in front of her - including all her favourite jar food and biscuits!
15. The worst was when they had to inject the antibotics - the timer would be set for 20 minutes, and we had to try distract her - we ended up allowing her to chew on all the tags/ labels on the toys and blankie. It actually worked.
16. 2 night of sleeplessness! On the 2nd night, she was so fussy, I ended up letting her sleep on my chest, while I sat up. Another position had her sleeping on my tummy/ arms so I had to bend my knees to support her. My whole body was aching the next day!
17. Fever finally subsided to 37-ish so we finally could go home.
18. Concluded not UTI, not rota virus *phew*
19. Panicked again when she started having rashes all over her body - face, back. legs, etc.
20. Rang the PD again and they said it means she had a viral fever, which explained the other non-symptoms and the tiny red dots which appears once the fever subsides.

And all this while I am planning to stop breastfeeding - I've cut down to 2 pump sessions each time and the stress (including work stress) now means I am producing barely enough for 2 feeds a day.

How do I feel about trying to stop breastfeeding? Guilty.
How do I feel about enjoying a dinner with my colleagues? Guilty.
How do I feel about being a mother? Lousy.

*sigh*

Check out my Slide Show!

The Making of a Glamourous Princess

Hahaha I couldn't stop laughing at this picture when my brother sent it over. She's so FUNNY and cute.

Anyway this poor girl is down with chicken pox and this 2 coming weeks IS PEAK AT WORK FOR ME! *argh*

as promised!

New photos of my girl that is ....

Enjoy!

Isn't she the sweetest baby ... *cooochi coochi!*

out for lunch

Today was one of those rare days we ventured out for lunch with Vanessa without our helper. We managed fine and I managed to coax her to sleep (finally!) without a pacifier *strut* I wasn't going to risk her flinging her pacificer on the hapless crowds walking below the bridge! So we (or rather I) managed to eat my dessert in peace and chit chat with the other couple we were out with.

I wanted to do some grocery shopping after lunch but her sleepfest was cut short by the loud thunder *sigh* so we headed home instead. She was quite good on the way home - just drinking her milk and watching the rain pelt against the window. I don't think I could have managed if she was wailing her lungs out!

Thank you, sweetie ...

What a happy day!

Vanessa is sure in a good mood today ... she's been doing the "SUNSHINE BEAM!" the entire day, even now!

I guess some things helped : -

1. she had a nice, LONG sleep - from 10 pm last night till 7 am this morning. It helped that she was sleepy through both her feeds, and just went straight back to slumberland after she spat out the teat.

2. she had a yummy and nutricious breakfast, lovingly cooked by moi. I got up to cook millet porridge for her, even though I really wanted to crawl back to the bed and zZzzZzz. Added her favourite side dish, which was sweet potatoes - she didn't quite finish all, but my dogs sure lapped up every bit that was left!

3. she got to go shopping at her favourite place - Daiso! I was happy too, since I had been wanting to make a trip to Daiso for quite some time. Bought some foodstuff as well as Christmas-y stuff (couldn't quite resist it - they were making announcements about it!). Got a cute reindeer headband for her too - she simply loves it!

Happy? You bet ...

Oooo Vanessa is jealous!

Well, it sure feels good!

Kaitlyn is the latest addition to my family, and she's the third golden piglet for this year!
She was fast asleep in my arms (didn't want to sleep on the bed) and I was trying to entertain my baby (who was being carried by my helper) at the same time.

My sweetheart let loose her inner green eyed monster and decided that mummy was being mean to her. So, I became invisible to her and she deliberately ignored me. How can it be? Oh yes man!

For example, she would turn her head in various directions when being carried. So I called her from behind, and her head didn't turn but she look straight ahead, even for a few minutes!

Later when I showed her the baby, she tried to pull away my fingers. She even pouted at me! She did show her displeasure to me on the way home. Basically, I became invisible. She refused to look at me or if she did, she refused to smile at me.

Anyway I paid back my dues, she made me carry her for at least 1 hour while she happily zzzzzZZzzZzz-ed away.

Hell hath known no fury like a baby scorned ;P

Ooops I did it again!

hehe ... on purpose though - this must be the thoughts of my sweetheart.

I read somewhere that babies have an acute sense of smell, thus they can smell the source of milk even a few feet away. I think my girl is putting this sense to another use - something similar to what my doggies do, that is, marking her territory.

She seems to be very fond of leaving some vomit on my hubby - so we can see the remnants of avocado, pumpkin or milk curds on his tee shirt after he has carried her. This morning, she left a big patch on his bermudas. Last night, she left 1 patch on my left arm, 1 patch on my right arm and 1 patch on my left shoulder. And ... she does it with glee - you can almost see that "evil" in her cheeky grin.

Ah well, as long as I'm marked hers, I'm fine with it - better than her not claiming to be my daughter. Gimme more!

Psst: I finally managed to capture that 2 teeth sticking out from her gums - will post it once I've fiz the picture up. The new camera is really doing a fantastic job! I love it!

an Ode to Poppy

I remember how

tall and strong you are;

I remember how

you terrorize me;

I remember how

you left 2 bitemarks on my arm.

 

But ...

 

I remember how

obedient you can be;

I remember how

loving you can be;

I remember how

you just wanted to be petted.

 

RIP, Poppy.

Trouble never comes without an accomplice

It's one thing after the other.

L got diagnosed with cancer and has to return to Manila for treatment. That leaves Cheyne in a bind, where is he going to go? He cannot stay indefinitely in a kennel.

Poppy had breathing difficulties, and found to have a growth in his throat. He underwent surgery on Wednesday - that cost my brother $2K alone, not including the "hospital stay".

Now, Rascal has a stone in his bladder, which accounts for his bloody urine. He's scheduled for an operation this coming Monday, which will cost me about $1K.

Poor dogs, Poor us ... I just hope I can strike toto (first prize!!!!) this monday, then it would help to cover the cost of the treatment for all.

*sianz*

MCUG and all ...

We brought her down for the MCUG test today - poor thing, hungry and thristy... no food or water since 6am. Then they sedated her, which made her even more cranky since she's sleepy and hungry and thristy. The procedure was pretty fast - over in less than 30 minutes! My girl was apparently very cooperative - just did what she had to do and to get out.

Then she got her jab (the 6-in-1) by another PD since her regular one had to attend an emergency case. Too cut a long story short, she wasn't pleased with this PD at all.

Then at 9pm, the PD called with the results of the MCUG test. Good news, no operation needed. Bad news, she has Grade 2 VUR, which means her reflux reaches her kidneys. Well, at least we can manage her problem since we now know it. She would be on antibiotics for at least 1 year, and we'll see how it goes from there.

Just so very tired now ... I'll write more when I'm in the right frame of mind.

The very last few straws ...

that breaks the camel's back figuratively ...

 

I've been having blocked ducts and plugged ducts for the entire week - so imagine my pain and the frustration at spending 1/4 of the day pumping away just because a few ducts refuse to copperate.

 

I've even rushed down to my PD's office to beg for a few syringes because the usual haunt didn't have stock and the other place I bought is the wrong brand (trust me, the brand DOES matter). I've also been to a lactation consultant for help. Well, that solved 1 problem, but a few others blocked  ducts came up as well, and now I'm battling this really stubborn plugged ducts.

 

I'm just so tired from all these, that I am serious comtemplating to give up breastfeeding for good. My girl refuses to latch on now, she even pushes me away! I can only console myself that she's teething so she doesn't want to hurt me by treating my breasts as a teething tool.

 

I've tried all kinds of tools that I shall not mention here, and I've even tried using baby's oil to soften the "plugged duct" to no avail. I will probably visit another lactation consultant 1 more time and if it doesn't work, I'm throwing in the towel. I'm really too tired to go on. I want to spend time playing with my baby, not desperately trying to clear ducts.

 

I've been neglecting my sweethear due to the increased time in pumping, so much so that she complained loudly when she saw me. She was being carried by the daddy and she more than readily hopped into my arms when I offered to carry her. She quietened down immediately and slump on my shoulder. The feeling ... wonderfully sweet ... after being so ultra miserably tired and suffering from that constant pulsing pain in the chest.

 

Even my dogs complained about the lack of attention. The boy doggie yelped so loudly one morning behind my back (I was getting ready to go to work) that I thought my husband stepped on his paws accidentally. My hubby claimed that he didn't even touch him at all! All this while, the dog looked so sad, with the ears flattened down and the poor suffering paw hanging up in the air. So my hubby checked his paws and there was no cut. The dog got up, still with the poor suffering paw held up from the offending ground. I was thinking what's wrong with him when the girl doggie came bouncing in and immediately the pain in that paw was forgotten. HE WAS FAKING IT! My goodness ;P

 

Anyway back to the original topic - yes I'm considering to give it up for good. I've done my best and it's just too bad that one breast isn't cooperating at all. However, even though my girl doesn't want to latch on anymore, there's this lingering sadness ... whenever I think that I wouldn't be breastfeeding anymore ...
 

Pop goes the tooth!

Yup! My girl has officially "teethed" and has a tiny white enamel peeking out from her lower gum!

Wow, and she's not even 6 months old yet :P There goes my plan for relatching her on =(

In a short span of time ...

How my sweetheart has changed in a short span of time ... All I want to do is to hug her close and smell her hair, kiss her little fingers and coo to her ...

Who does Vanessa look like?

So I guess this settles it for now ...

A boost to the faltering ego

My ego and self-esteem as a mother have been suffering blows since I've been constantly compared to my helper and how my sweetheart prefers my helper over me. Super irritating but a huge blow to my confidence - so please remember not to do it to your friends or siblings. Unfortunately nothing I can do to shut some of these "well meaning" people up.

It doesn't help that my girl plays the invisible mummy game these days, looking everywhere but my direction. And to rub salt to the wound, she would coo to her daddy and gurgle sweetly at my family when they carry her or play with her.

Work's been tiring so sometimes I conk off once I reached home, so contact time with her is almost zero ...

 

Then ....

On Wednesday I think, she's already fast asleep and I'm tucking into my dinner (9 plus) when I heard her screaming away. I went into the room and my helper was trying to calm her down. We guessed she probably had a nightmare so she's crying very hard. I offered to carry her and pick her up from my helper's arms. The moment she was on my shoulder she stopped crying! I went "WOW" secretly to myself and after 1 min she was fast asleep. So I tucked her into her cot, and she never stirred.

Then I came home late one night again (Friday) and she was fussing away (hubby carrying her) so I took over. After a while she went limp but was still awake - so i guessed she was already sleepy. I carried her, gently swaying while watching TV and after 30 mins, she dozed off without a single compiaint! I sat down and carried her for another 20 mins before the call of the nature was directed to me.

 

On Tuesday night I decided to play peek-a-boo with her and she giggled every single time the cloth was taken away with a flourish ... My heart was a puddle after that :P

 

This afternoon I let her nap with me (the hubby was redesignated to the floor again) and she slept so nicely ... for almost 3 hours! She would stir occasionally, open her eyes, look at me, smile sweetly then her eyes are closed again.

 

Thankfully my girl remembers to give me a little break now and then ... and I feel so much better as a mother ... all the more ready to grovel to her every whim and fancy ...
 

Food Fest

Nay, not for me. I was just telling this friend that I had totally no motivation to make anything at all (to bake or to cook) when I realised that, I do!

Not the usual cakes, cookies, dishes from recipes books but just simply mushy stuff for my little sweetheart.

I've made sweet potatoes, pumpkin and banana for her so far - I have yet to get hold of avocados.

It's not that difficult, but just the preparatory work can be quite tedious. After steaming, it's mashing, then straining, then cubing, then freezing. I've finally gotten hold of a new steel strainer, so it should be much easier to strain the food than with my plastic one.

I also find myself reading the superbabyfood book and other internet sources on what else I can prepare for my girl. The coming weekend I probably will make apple and pear puree for her, maybe peach too if I can get hold of some good ones. The dearth of good avocados is just driving me nuts.

I will probably buy some rusk biscuits for her, if I cannot find a suitable recipe. It's just so much fun to make for someone who is excited about the mush being served.

However, just a tiny complaint - she's showing more attention to her dad again *grrr*

Vanessa is 5 months old

The days seem to be crawling - the mountains of work, the lack of sleep, and suddenly, Vanessa is 5 months old.

To mark her "monthday", she had pumpkin puree which she enjoyed. She also had a taste of my blackdate mooncake - she just plonk forward and gave it a wet kiss when I showed it to her. To further "celebrate" her growing up, she had her next 6-in-1 jab :P Previously, she didn't really cry when she had her jab but this time ... wow ... was she furious ...

The hubby reported that when she had her first jab, she cried to indicate it was painful. Then when she was jabbed a second time, she was furious! It's was like "I already told you it's painful! Why did you jab me a second time!" It took a while to soothe her and the poor darling had tears rolling down her cheeks.

She's now playing the "invisible mummy" game ... she will look left, look right, look up, look down, but just not at me. I am not sure why she is angry with me - but *sigh* I am doing the best I can. Now that work has return to the sane level (but I still have some difficulty in coping with the new portfolio since I'm still doing part of the old portfolio) I can "afford" to take my leave - I still have some 18 days for the rest of the year, so I guess I could take 1/2 day of leave each week so that I could hopefully spend a little bit more time with her (more often than not, I end up conking out the entire afternoon).

She's still just as cute - I could had never imagine my baby being so sweet and cuddly, and the warmth that oozes out from the pit of my heart - no wonder the hubby is jealous ;P

Anyway since now my peak of the peaks is over, I'll have a little more time blogging about her and hopefully, to post up some of her pics soon!

False Alarm

Yesterday morning my cutiepie started having a mild temperature of low 37... so we decided as a precaution, to give her a dose of the fever medication. I was worried ever since I knew about VUR and another case of UTI so fast = bad news.

I called home in the late morning to check on her fever and it seems to be going up. I then called and bugged the clinic since her fever was on the rise and if the last lab test showed her in the clear. Only upon my third call and my girl fever in the low 38 did they say to bring her down. *sigh* I was in the midst of pumping milk and well, that didn't do much good to my supply so I stopped trying to stress myself and then tried to rush home. In the car, to my horror, the empty fuel tank warning light was on and it means I have to make a stop to the petrol station! *argh*

I called back to my mum's house and luckily my mum was in. So She helped me to send my girl and helper to the clinic while I rushed to get the tank filled and then to the clinic. I grabbed the first parking lot I came across and then ran up the slope (can hear my pump gear in my bag making a lot of noise!). My mum arrived just before me so thankfully I wasn't too late.

I checked my girl's temperature and it's now 38.4 so we slap on the fever pack on her forehead. The clinic also give her a dose of the fever medication upon our request and the PD's OK so that helped a bit. As we had to get her urine tested, we have to tape this bag to her and while we were preparing for it, she peed! so our chance missed and she was refusing to drink water or milk, we were wondering how long we had to wait ...

Anyway, my girl was very good and within 45 minutes we had a bag nicely filled and then it was sent to the lab for testing. In the meantime, while waiting for the test results, we saw the PD and he confirm again - not teething and generally she seems ok. He said could be a few things such as fake measles or dengue - so to watch out for the various symptoms.

Later the hubby came to join us, and finally the results came back - not UTI *phew* but the PD did urge us to consider the MCUG test again just to elminate the possibility. So we dutifully booked a date for her MCUG test as well as a date for her to be back to do another round of urine test.

Thankfully her fever came down this late morning so we are still observing ... not sure what's wrong with her, but hopefully nothing is wrong ...

Being a mother ... is ... not easy ...

Not a wee problem

As some of you know by now, my girl came down with UTI.

What I had expected to be a routine followup turned into one of mother's nightmare.

Why? When the first PD called and explain that it could be due to reflux and a MCUG test will probably be ordered, I got super confused - I had assume reflux = reflux after feeding, and I couldn't see the connection.

Then during the followup appointment, my PD (who was on leave last week) explained that some 30% of babies who have UTI before their first birthday are likely to be having vesicoureteric reflux.

What is vesicoureteric reflux?

Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is the condition in which urine travels backward from the bladder toward the kidney and may affect one or both ureters.

In most children, reflux is a birth defect and is caused by an abnormal attachment between the ureter and bladder with a short, ineffective flap valve. In some children, an infrequent urination pattern may cause reflux to occur.

When the "flap valve" malfunctions and allows urine to flow backward, bacteria from the bladder easily enters the kidney. A child with reflux is more likely to develop a kidney infection (pyelonephritis) that can cause kidney damage. More severe reflux is associated with greater kidney damage. When urine backflow is more severe, the ureters and kidneys become large and distorted. Although reflux can have these serious medical consequences, it is a "silent" abnormality, that is, reflux does not cause pain, discomfort or problems with urination.

Please refer to here for more information.

There are 5 grades to this - Grade 1 to 3 are usually not so serious, and can be treated with a long term daily dosage of anit-biotics for a few years, before the valves mature on their own. For Grade 4 & 5, it usually means a surgery to repair the valves are required.

The horror story was related by my PD, who told us why he would recommend us to do the MCUG test to rule out the above, or if present, to "fix" it.

He had to attend to an emergency case in which this boy almost drowned and they managed to save him. However, they noted his recovery was somewhat slow and he wasn't responding as well as they had expected. His blood pressure was a shocking 180+ over 100+ and they concluded he had a stroke. A brain scan revealed that it was so and they had to check for the cause of the high blood pressure. They subsequently found that the boy had 1 damage kidney and the other kidney was beyond repair.

He had grade 5 vesicoureteric reflux and it wasn't detected - he had frequent UTIs and the parents just bought anti-biotics off the black market and self-medicate. As a result, their boy almost died and today half of his body is still paralysed.

Scary? You betcha.

So what's this MCUG test? (Source is here)

Micturating Cystourethrogram (MCUG)
or 'Wee Wee Test'

This test is done to give us information about your bladder. This is the bag inside the body where urine from the kidneys is stored until it is emptied out when you go to the toilet.

The test involves passing a small tube into the bladder. The x-ray contrast, which is used to take pictures of the bladder, is run in through this tube.

After the x-ray nurse/doctor has washed between your legs/ s/he will insert a small tube, called a catheter, into the bladder. A local anaesthetic jelly is used to lubricate the catheter, which is held in place with a piece of sticky tape.

The doctor or radiographer will run warm x-ray contrast through the tube and into the bladder. After a short while when the bladder is full your child will pass urine around the tube and the tube will slide out. X-ray pictures are taken while the bladder fills up and during emptying.


Parent Points
The test takes about 30 minutes. Your child will be given a warm liquid, (X-ray contrast) via a tube into the bladder. This is done to show the bladder and urethra (its outlet tube), and to see if urine goes backwards from the bladder (reflux), or if there is a blockage.

I just feel so uncomfortable about the test - I probably need more time to recover from the "trauma" than my girl. Anyway we need to let the PD know if we want the test in 5 weeks time. I'll prob take a few days off just to make sure she is OK. *sigh*

And now it's my turn ...

to fall sick. I am now nursing a sore throat and a slight fever - so basically am stuffing myself with water and herbal drinks. It's not that bad except I feel a bit off balance (head feels heavy on the left side only). It's as if my body is telling me - ok you don't want blocked ducts? then fine, in exchange i give you this fever and sore throat... in exchange for pumping for 2 hours and still end up in agony, well, it seems like a fair exchange!

She slept very well on Friday night, either that or I was too conked out to hear her little whines on and off. I only woke up once or twice to switch her to another pillow (presumeably it was getting too warm for her) and pat her to sleep. We both enjoy 5 1/2 hours of very minimally interrupted sleep, so needless so say, she woke up beaming.

Last night with my fever and increasingly painful throat, I gave up the idea and so I had uninterrupted sleep for 7 hours in a stretch. Woke up with a tight throat (not to mention very sore) but the pump session must still go on. Surprisingly I finished in 30 minutes time (total 240ml - been a long while since I hit this volume) and I could enjoy my girl a little then I headed back to bed. Next thing I know, it's almost noon time already!

Hopefully tomorrow we won't have to wait too long to see the PD. If I feel better, I will head back to work since I can vividly imagine the pile of emails waiting to be answered. Hopefully after next week, I could take a day off to rest a little and spend some time with my cutiepie.

The Cheeky Girl

My girl is getting ever so cheeky.

To all IT professionals, my girl is just the one for you. Today we were having a little conversation (she's in a super good mood this morning after zzZzz-ing away for 5.5 hours with me) when she suddenly uttered this phrase "HELLO WORLD". I was bowled over ... of course it wasn't the exact words, but her sounds were so close to it (more like "ah-wo-were")! I guessed she is her daddy's daughter after all - like father like daughter!

She's also very smart - she keeps tracks who's been spending time with her and who has to do payback. She picked on her daddy today ... she gave him her sweetest smiles and gurgle at him for a little while then she started it .... "AIRRRRRRRRRR" she started complaining (basically ordering him to stand up and walk around) so I caught her cue and told the hubby she wanted to be on the shoulder ... well she wasn't quite satisfied with that position and continued her "AIRRRRRRRR" on and off to get him moving around! Then I walked past them and asked "You bullying papa is it?" She poke her second finger upwards and gave me a cheeky grin. Then, she promptly went "AIRRRRRRRR' again *rofl*

She has also mastered the basic techniques of grasping items - last night she was dozing off and sucking on her pacifier. Her hand slowly crept up to her face and then started fiddling with her pacifier. Suddenly she just drew out the pacifier with a flourish *TADAH* (with her arm flinging to the side) Now she is practising to putting in and out out her mouth her pacifier.

She also enjoys doing sit-ups now (not interested in flipping anymore!) so I will hold her hands and she pulls herself up a little then I'll further pull her into a sitting position ... she seems to enjoy this new "play time" haha ... she seems very pleased with herself for a moment and then proceed to lick my hands!

Hmmmm ... well worth the lack of sleep and the frustration of dealing with block ducts (yup they are still plaguing me) ... especially when I get to take a deep whiff of her head when I reach home ....

A teething problem ... resolved for now ...

Sometimes, a mother really has to trust her gut instincts ...

My girl temperature went over 38 degrees and I decided to bring her in to the PD - just to rule out viral infection, flu or even UTI.

Went in at 9:15am and I was no. 23 on the list ;P anyway my PD was on leave and so we saw his colleague instead. We were quite lucky - we saw her at about 10:30am or so ... and after I explained my concerns, she did a check on my girl - her gums, etc etc etc and she agreed with me there doesn't seem to be any obvious cause (no she's not teething!) so to do a urine test, and if it's negative for UTI, we will do a blood test to rule out dengue fever.

So we had a bag taped to her groin, and then the nurse said to hold her upright or sitting down. *grr* it should be try to hold her facing downwards! She did pee quite fast but most of it leaked to the diapers and we had this teeny weeny bit of urine just enough to do the strip test and the lab test. Otherwise we would have to hang around for another hour or so!

Anyway the strip test confirmed it's UTI - so she's given antibotics to take in addition to the panadol syrup which we are giving already ...

by the time we reach home it was almost 2pm, and I had to rush to pump while the maid took care of Vanessa ... then it was to the computer to clear some work... by the time I finished, it was time to go out to do a bit of grocery shopping for dinner.

Exhausted? You bet - after finish cooking dinner, I pumped again and just as I was about to shower, the hubby called. No cab, no bus, no nothing. To complicate things, my handphones didn't ring or recieve any SMS. Lucky we had a house phone! So I drove to his office and pick him up - came back had dinner and my long deserved shower. I conked out promptly by 10pm.

This morning I woke up at 4am to pump. By the time I ended, it was 6am and I was in the shower, trying my darnest to clear this extremely stubborn plugged duct. Eventually I surrendered and cleared up the stuff. Then I went to check on my girl, she just fell asleep after her feed, so I took over from my maid and my sweetie pie slept nicely in my arms, then on my chest ... we both had a nice nap together ... when she woke up, she was in a super good mood! Best of all, her fever was gone. What a relief ...

Work was busy - we had a meeting in the morning but I left early so I could pump. Nope, the duct is EXTREMELY stubborn. I rushed home after work, gobbled down my dinner while my girl was entertaining my family (extremely friendly today) and then rushed home. Eventually I did managed to clear the duct, but only while in the shower (the hot towel method never really work for me, the next best thing was just to stand in the hot shower and trying to clear with the syringe at the same time).

Now it's 10pm, and yes it's bed time for me soon. Will need to get up at 3am to pump again ... my timing is so super messed up =(

Oh, my poor little baby ...

A teething problem ...

My sweetie pie is running a low temperature since Thursday ... I thought so, but no one seem to believe me until I waved to them the thermometer with the temp reading. It's not very high ... 37.9 degree was the highest but it was enough to make her a bit cranky ... So we've been observing and giving her a dose of panadol now and then when it goes up ...

We called the PD's office this morning and asked if we should bring her down or just to a GP. They said she's most likely teething!

I peered at her gums, but I don't seem to detect any swollen gums ... her appetite is definitely off, so we have reduced her feed to 125ml and she's still not finishing it.

Last night she was sleeping with me, and she got up at 11pm for her feed - I got the maid to send her back to my room when she's done and although she "whined" a little in her sleep (a little patting and cooing and carrying didn't hurt) and we had a good night sleep till 6am! I got quite a shock too ... because my last pump was at 8pm. I had to carry her over to the maid, and it hurt so badly. I had to do a dual pump too, I couldn't take the "want to burst anytime" feeling. I'm not going to risk that tonight, so I'll have a quick pump again at 12 midnight (last pump was at 9pm) then I'll cuddle her over to my bed ...

It's not easy, since I'm already lacking sleep during the workdays ... but I wouldn't want to miss kissing my girl's hands and hugging her to sleep ... especially when she's growing so fast ... teething already!

Flipping Good Times!

Yay! She can do it as she has demonstrated to her proud parents!!!

Vanessa's First Foods - Purple Goo!

Vanessa's taking to solids very well =) Her first food - purple sweet potatoes! Yummy!

*grrrr*

1) My crazy neighbour is singing in his "operatic" voice again - it irritates the hell out of me cuz he thinks he's so damn good when he is not! Can you imagine, he singing in full blast, when he walks around the area at 9 plus PM - this is noise pollution!

2) Been trying to upload my girl's videos to YouTube but no go ... it just won't work! Just connecting, connecting, connecting .... *ARGHHHHH*

3) I'm sleepy, cranky, and I am waiting for 11 pm so I can have my last pump, scoop up my gal and zoom to dreamland!

Anyway just a pic of her to satisfy your cravings ...

Spending $$ again ...

Let me see ...

I just bought off the web (Bulk Purchases from a Forum)
1. 4 slings (for me, my sil and my sis) (Average $30 per sling)
2. Baby cubes - to store the minute quantities of the home prepared food (see here) ($8 per tray)
3. 2 Aromatherapy pillows for my gal to sleep better ($14 per pillow)
4. Some organic baby products (California Baby products and Gaia products) ($$$$$$ :P)

The baby cubes will be very useful when I need to batch process the next food item for my girl - will be much less messy than my ice tray and then it won't have to compete for "space" with my ice cubes ... and I like the Gaia Skin Soothing Lotion (smells so niceeee). Am trying California baby for the first time - so hopefully my girl likes it =)

Baby food

In case you are wondering which book I'm reading - it's this:



Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron







Some reviews did complain that since the author is a vegetarian, she is bias against feeding children meat. So decide for yourself.

I like it for the fact that I can make my own baby food, which would otherwise be available commercially (Gerber's, etc). With all the food scares recently, really, I rather spend a little time to make the food for her, than to buy it readily off the shelves.

Flip-a-baby

She was trying to flipped earlier this evening (for me) and she did a flip so beautifully with her elbows tucked in correctly to support her when she's on her tummy. She was so pleased with herself - she went "yay! yay! yay!" and smiled happily.

Too bad I didn't capture it with my camera ...

Vanessa is 4 months old!

Wow, it's been more than 2 weeks since I last blog and Vanessa is already 4 months old (and 1 day).

I've been really busy at work - trying to complete my work on time and scheduling my pump sessions in between and flying home early enough to catch her before she sleeps.

This isn't going to be in chronological order of events - I'll just ramble off the events as I remember it:

Flip-Over:

1. Last sunday (29th July), she did her first-assisted flip over. I held her leg and after much huff and puff, she managed to flip over.
2. On friday morning (3rd August), she proudly demostrated to her parents her first flip by herself without any assistance (the maid claims she did twice by herself on the day before but since I didn't see it, it didn't quite count!).

Bonding with Vanessa:

1. Last friday the office had a function so she arrived just before dinner time at the hotel to 'check in for the night'. Since I was pumping and it was way past her feedtime (she didn't want to feed though), so I nursed her for a shortwhile and then asked the maid to bottlefeed. She didn't want to! For the very first time, she rejected the bottle for my breasts! In fact, after she returned to my arms, she rooted so I let her suckle until she was contented - it made me turned up for the dinner so late that I only managed to grab a plate of food before the hotel staff eagerly pounced to clear up the buffet table. Even if they had cleared the buffet by the time I arrive, I wouldn't had mind.
2. Also, she slept with me on the bed, so I tended to her until it was 4am, and I passed her to my maid as I still had some meetings to attend to in the morning.
3. On Saturday, the hubby got relegated to sleep on the floor. Not because of some domestic dispute but so that Vanessa can sleep comfortably on the bed. She woke up a few times, but I managed to put her back to sleep - which included me sleeping in a sitting position with her sleeping on my chest. I managed to last till about 3am, then she wanted her feed so I handed her back to my maid. I was supposed to go back to get her but I conked out for the rest of the night ;P
4. Last night, I was quite worried because she basically almost slept the entire Friday away. By the time I brought her into my room (after pumping), it was 11pm and her feed was suppose to be at 12 midnight. Anyway, she ZzZZzZ-ed till 1 am then complained. So I carried her over to the maid, prepared the formula feed and went back to nap for 30 minutes while she was fed. This time, I set the alarm for ring in 30 minutes time, so I went over to fetch her back to sleep. She slept quite well, except a few times when she woke up fussing. I guessed correctly she wanted to burp, so she went back to dreamland happily after she was burped. By the time we woke up next, it was 6am! Anyway we changed her nappy (no poo poo even though she gassed me quite a few times earlier) then I brought her back to bed and I got my pump gear ready. Then I turned to look at her, she was holding her new comforter and smiling so sweetly at me. So I got the hubby up, shifted her to the centre of the bed, so that he could play with her.
5. Tonight we shall see how she will sleep. I noticed that whenever she has something new - new mattress, cot, bumper, pillow, comforter, whatever, she sleeps very well in it (like breaking in the item!).

Her first solids:

1. Er, not quite yet. I've been reading the super baby food book given by my Sis-in-law and it seems like the choices of first solids are: banana, avocado, sweet potato and commercial rice cereal.
2. I managed to hunt down organic sweet potatoes (4 small ones that cost $4!), steamed it, pureed it, strained it and it's now sitting in my fridge / freezer. I have 2 portions for tomorrow and Monday morning - 1 teaspoon each, and we shall see how she takes to it. I have a feeding spoon somewhere, so just need to dig for it.
3. No pictures of it since it's just purple mush (we do have purple sweet potatoes, just like there's blue potato and blue corn).

Bad Mummy!:

1. Went home later by an hour or so one day after work, and she was already fast asleep when I reached. So I started on my dinner, then she stirred a little (she was asleep in the sling) so the maid walked over with her. She opened her eyes and looked at me. I smiled at her but she just glared at me and closed her eyes. I knew I was in for it!
2. Next morning, I got it from her. She was very happy to have her Daddy carrying her (bias! he was even later than me!) but the moment she saw me she started making unhappy noises. Usually she's quite happy to lie next to me and watch me pump for a little while. That morning, the moment she was put on the pillow next to me, she complained immediately and basically was quiet once she wasn't near me! Geez ... OK I got the message out and clear!
3. So that day, I knocked off just 15 minutes late and then zoomed home ... I reached home and she was just fussing to sleep. The moment she saw me she stopped and she didn't complain about me carrying her. She allowed me to carry her for almost 30 minutes without any complaints! She didn't sleep but seem to be enjoying my presence. After that, she even entertained my Aunt a little while more, then she slept. The morning after, back to normal, she smiled at me again and we continued our morning ritual. *sigh*

I'll post up the pictures and videos once I get around to downloading it.

*gasp*

My girl is in a hurry to grow ... she just cleaned out 160ml (that's 5.5 oz)! and her last feed was only 145ml 2 hours ago!

At the rate she is going, my milk supply is hardly going to be enough for her! I just took out 1 pack of my FBM and starting thawing it. The only good thing is that each of my FBM is 160ml - so it makes it easy to defrost and to bottle each time.

I am still gaping at the empty bottle ....

Other than eating, sleeping and crying ...

Vanessa is enjoying a brand new hobby ... dancing! and oh, she's officially starting on the 140ml feed ;P

Growing too fast ...

Vanessa is faring quite well after her jab. other than being a little cranky due to the heat, she only had a slight temperature twice.

She also had 2 patches of rashes, but since I couldn't lay my hands on the Avent "Magic Cream", I bought Gaia Soothing Skin Lotion instead, and it worked very well - 1 patch is gone and the other seems to be healing very well.

She also upped her quota - chugging down 145ml of milk once, to our disbelief. She had 125ml and then cried for more ... so I gingerly poured another 40ml for her to take and she had 20ml and promptly spat out the teat. For now, she seems to hover between 110ml to 125ml - when she starts to drain the 125ml dry, that's when all the Avent 125ml bottles goes into storage (I have 7 of them) and the 260ml comes into play.

She's also preferring to sleep on her tummy and last night, she only woke up twice for milk (from 10pm to 7am) which is quite a feat since she will usually wake up at 10pm, 1am & 4am before her next feed 7am. I just hope she will start sleeping through the night soon!

For the last week, I didn't have much time to spend with her - when she's awake, I'm pumping milk or fast asleep. When I'm awake. she's fast asleep. I had been ZzzZZzzZ away by 9 pm almost every night - just very exhausted from work and the lack of sleep. My pump cycle had to adjust accordingly if I couldn't wake up at 11pm to pump - waking up at 4 am to pump instead and then trying to grab another hour of sleep before it's time to wake up for work. Thankfully there's the weekend to do a little catching up on, but it's just too short.

I'm planning to buy a mattress so that I can sleep on the floor with her during the weekends. She's beginning to want to flip, so I guess it's safer for us to sleep on the floor instead.

I'm also planning to go for the next family photoshoot by end of the month, before she outgrows the "Me" tee I bought her. I bought some other clothes for her - sizing 12 to 18 months but I doubt she can fit in at that age! So We've been clearing out the smaller clothes and digging out all the clothes we thought she will take ages to fit in (how very wrong!) and packing her wardrobe accordingly.

At 3 months and 2 days old ...

My little sweetheart is now weighing in at 6.3kg and has grown to 62cm long/ tall. Wow, so I wasn't wrong when I said she was growing by leaps and bound!

The PD gave her a clean bill of health and progress, as the parents, we are happy and relieved. She also took in 2 jabs of vaccine and recieved another orally. How is she doing? Sluggish and tired and not taking in much milk, but so far no fever yet. She seems to be ok, but will have to keep an eye on her. I've taken leave for tomorrow to watch over her, so hopefully everything goes well *fingers crossed*

Vanessa is 3 months old!

How time flies, she's already 3 months old and she's grown so much - exactly by how much I'll find out this coming Thursday when we bring her for her next jab.

I'm now busy with work - the pace is picking up and I'm trying to cope with the flow. I still have so many new things to pick up and I hope I can do a good job. Not a matter concerning rice bowl, but the personal satisfaction of having done well in my job. Which brings me to my other full-time "job" as a mummy.

How am I faring? I think so far so good - I've learnt not to get upset when she cries. I'll let her cry it out while trying to soothe her, compared to a few weeks back when I'll just break down. I've learnt new tricks to try to entertain her - old songs come trickling to my brain cells as I sing to her. I'm just glad she likes my singing, I am tone deaf by the way!

How is my girl faring? Oh, she's growing by leaps and bounds, and she amazes me with her vocab. On a few occasions, she has made sounds that are so appropriate that we cannot help but be amazed by her - just too bad for my hubby he missed it all.

Example 1, I was carrying her when my maid came to show me a ropeburn on her finger, telling me how my naughty dog jerked the leash when my tiny one said, "HAR?"

Example 2 (this one I'll probably remember it for life), my maid was carrying her and I said to her, "Mummy's at home because I'm not feeling well, but tommorrow Mummy has to go back to work the whole day ok?" Her response? "UH-OH!" I'm wondering if it's too many ICQ beeps on my PC when she was nestling in my tummy.

I'm so afraid I'll miss so many more of her little moments, but I'm sure she will reserve some very special ones for her mummy...