Random Thoughts/ Musings

1. Sleeping

My hubby had been very surprised by my sleeping habits since we had #1. Basically, from a heavy duty sleeper who requires a MINIMUM of 8 hours of sleep plus a minimum of 30 minutes of light dozing in bed before I finally wake up, it was an eye opener to him that I could survive on 4 hours of sleep daily when I had to pump.

Now, our sleeping habits are totally reversed. He's the heavy duty sleeper (however, he can survive on less than 8 hours of sleep, just that once he's sleeping, he's totally knocked out) and I'm the light sleeper. I get awaken even by lightning (yup, NOT thunder), and the slightest turn or cough by #1 sets me on "eyes wide open" mode. Now that I'm pumping for #2 at night at 4 hours interval (not direct latch - hear me out!), it gives me a little more than 6 hours of interrupted sleep. Basically I finish feeding at 9 to 10pm, I will get to sleep by 11:30pm (after 30 minutes of sleep inducing music and provided #1 doesn't wake up from her sleep for cuddling), then I will wake up at 1:30am to pump. It takes 30 minutes to finish pumping, but I will take another 2 hours to fall asleep (listening to the snore symphony isn't exactly going to induce me to sleep) and then I'll wake up again at 5am to pump or direct latch, if the timing coincides with the feed time. By 7am I'm wide awake (if I get to fall asleep by 6am) as hubby has to go to work and #1 has to wake up for milk feed and going to CC. Afternoon I get to nap another 1 hour or so. Direct latching at night gives me less than 4 hours of sleep, since he will wake every 2 to 3 hours for a feed, and it takes 30 mins for a feed, and another 1 hour to fall asleep. With this pump/ latch arrangement, I feel slightly better, since I have a bit more of sleep.

The upside about not being able to sleep though, I get to watch how #1 and the hubby sleeps. #1 rearranges her sleeping position every 30 minutes, and if I'm lucky, I'll get her head butts and the hubby is the unlucky one with her feet on his face/ head (not that he is aware though). Occasionally I'll watch how they slowly rearrange their sleeping positions to share a pillow or how she snuggles up to the space at the neck. Occasionally I have been surprised by #1 when she comes charging at me with her arms wide stretched (eyes closed) and then hug me to sleep. It somehow makes it slightly more worthwhile to lose some sleep!

2. Obsession with Milk

Strange thing about this time round, I'm only slightly obsessed with how much milk I have/ can pump out. As long as there's enough in the fridge for #2's 2 night feed and some extra for #1, I'm happy. I'll worry about the pump and store in fridge/ freezer when it comes to the time to go back to work. Also, I'm a PIS convert. My goodness, it's so much easier than a single electric pump. For extra $$ invested in a PIS is well worth the time and sleep saved! For me, it's money saved because I borrowed the PIS motor from a friend and I got brand new parts (including tubing) which came up to about $100 or so.

3. Eating

I've spent over $2K on chinese herbs, and since the 12th day of the confinement, I'm been having on a nightly basis (rotating): chicken with dom, chicken with martell, chicken with danggui, chicken with dong chong cao and chicken with pao shen (wild). All this is in addition to the soups I have for dinner, which includes black bean with pork ribs soup, chicken with dang gui and chicken with ginseng. Thankfully I'm not putting on a lot of weight yet - it just helps me to replenish my energy and "qi" according to the confinement lady. This time round, the cooking is much more suited to my taste buds (different CL) so I'm eating a bit more happily. At least now I am aware where I can get good chinese herbs and not being ripped off, and I am diligently trying to commit to memory some of the recipes (but given my brains, I'll forget in a day or 2). The CL also gave me some recipes which are suitable for the hubby (not everything I take is suitable for him!). The CL also made "ngoh hiang" yesterday which I was happily gobbling down ... it's a treat since a) I'm not allowed to eat outside food b) most of the confinement food is ginger/ garlic based.

4. Multi-Tasking

Yesterday, being a mummy to 2 kids gave a whole new meaning to multi-tasking. I was feeding #2 when #1 came in wailing (sleepy and hungry = super cranky) so I got the maid to scoop rice and add the pigeon instant food. She refused for anyone to feed her but me, so with one hand crading #2 head, the other hand was used to scoop rice to feed her (the poor confinement lady had to hold the bowl for me). #1's down with a cough so she's been home for the past 2 days, and this is the 3rd day running. Almost every day, she looks out from the bedroom and points to the swimming pool. It's just too bad she's been coughing badly and the weather is not favourable for her to swim (too windy or raining). Hopefully she recovers soon so I can bring her to the wading pool soon. For swimming, she has to make a date with the hubby :P She's also a bit cranky since she doesn't have playmates and frankly speaking, bored at home. But she's still very sweet, she was helping the maid to change the bedsheets earlier and helping me to do small tasks.

I'm not sure if I could love 2 kids equally, but #1 definitely is more loved as of now. We will see how #2 fares when he turns 2 in 2 years time!