Jaime’s lunar birthday on the 5th of the 2nd month of the lunar calendar! We did a small celebration! She tasted her first Mee Sua! And we let her “抓周”, a Chinese tradition where the child picks an item on the first lunar birthday that symbolises her future. To our surprise, she chose… “葱”which means smart (the sound 聪明)… followed by the chicken drumstick, which we all expected! LOL… Good… she is going to be a smart girl!!! Clap Clap!!!
And we brought her to Kiddy Palace to buy herself a proper pair of shoes for her first birthday! She can really shop and tell you what she likes!
This is the final week of my maternity leave… My last few days with Jaime.
Though she is suffering a flu & having a bad cough… She still enjoys her tummy time.
Jaime: Hello Mummy!
Jaime: Reading on my tummy!
I realised that being a second time mummy does not necessary makes me more experience in handling kid.
There are just things that I have never encountered before with Jaelyn that I am experiencing now with Jaime. For instances, I have absolutely no idea how to counter the cradle cap that Jaime is having. I bought the Dentinox cradle cap shampoo that many mummies recommended. They said the cradle cap will fall off within a few days after washing with that shampoo. But after two weeks, the cradle cap is still there and it looks quite bad and don’t smell that good too. In the end, I use baby oil to massage on the cradle cap everyday 30min before bath and wash off with the cradle cap shampoo and viola! The cradle cap fell off within a few days.
Jaime also has eczema and I really hated it. After seeing pediatrician twice, applying the creams prescribed, it just doesn’t go off completely and it actually got worse when the weather is hot. (Singapore weather has been crazily hot and humid lately) So what did I do? I actually bathe Jaime using breast milk. It helps at least clear off the rashes on the face and keep the rash on the neck to minimal. The wonder of breast milk!
My cutie pie Jaime girl
I always wanted to spend quality time with Jaelyn especially now that Jaime is taking up most of my attention.
But with the freaking hot weather, going outdoor is really a no no for me. So last Sunday, after Jaime KO for her afternoon nap, I brought Jaelyn to Compasspoint Swensen for an ice-cream treat!
We had a short one hour together, eating fries with ice-cream & a machine car ride. Then we hurry home in case Jaime wake for feed and I turned down her request to shop for a story book… now I feel bad… I wanted to hurry home because of meimei… Wonder if that quality 1hr counts? Really not easy to be a mummy of 2.
It’s really not easy handling two kids.
Jaime is a baby and needs a lot of attention. Taking care of her is almost taking up all of my time. Feeding 2 hourly is tiring me out. On top of that, my very jealous Jaelyn is constantly fighting for attention as well.
Even bedtime is challenging. I have to “feed” Jaime to sleep and she can’t fall asleep when Jiejie is talking all the time. And Jaelyn refused to leave the room, saying “I want Mummy to sleep with me.” I felt so torn apart!
However, when Jaelyn is in a good mood, she can be very nice to meimei. Seeing my two girls together just bring a smile to my face.
After a long long wait, finally we received our family’s latest addition with great joy.
Chua Jing Yi Jamie, clocked in to earth on 9th March 2011 at 12:23
Mummy went on natural delivery WITHOUT epidural!!! And the whole delivery took about 4hours plus. I was warded in the morning at 8am with 5cm dilation. The nurse induced me at 8.45am. By 11.20am, I’m 8cm dilated with contraction far apart. My induction dosage was doubled and I went through hell for the next 45min before Jaime was out in 5 pushes.
Glad that the delivery went smoothly and Jaime forever reminds me of God’s faithfulness!
Finally…. we made it to week 37!
I’m just so thankful to God that we survived! I think it is really a miracle to go from week 30+2 to week 37 with 3cm dilation. My gynae was so sure that I will deliver early and baby is not going to make it to term. But we did it!
The last 7 weeks were not easy. Lying down daily and worrying constantly over the slightest blood stain, the slightest contraction & pain felt. I ate so much hoping that Jaime would put on some weight and then worried if I’m ever going to lose the extra weight I gained.
I pray all the time for her lungs & organs to be well developed, pray that her arms & limbs will be well formed, etc… Of course I also pray that she will be pretty & fair. Lately I pray that she will not have jaundice.
Then I nagged and nagged at my hubby to buy all the necessities for baby, to wash all the baby items and get her cot ready & all. I really tired him out. There were moments that we just got so frustrated with each other that we just don’t talk. But he is really a tremendous hubby & a great daddy! He is under so much stress, taking care of Jaelyn & me and putting up with my on-off nonsensical requests.
If you ask me now, I’m still not quite prepared for delivery yet but I really hope is anytime this week. I do not want to drag any longer. Hmm… shall see what my gynae will say at my next visit this coming Tuesday.
Picturing my boredom…
Time really flies… My princess is already 3 years old!
I wanted to have a fun party for my princess but it’s difficult to do that this year given my situation. I feel sorry for my little girl. But I really tried my best. I’m thankful enough to be home for her special day. Hope she can understand.
This is the first time Jaelyn gets to celebrate her birthday in school! As her birthday falls exactly on the 2nd day of CNY, so we celebrated her birthday earlier on 31st Jan 2011. She chose the Baby Bop’s cake herself!
Of course, given her love for Disney Princess, you can imagine how she has been bugging me for a Princess birthday cake. Firstly, it’s hard to get one and secondly, seriously not much online baker will bake on the 2nd day of CNY. Anyway, I ordered Swensens' ice-cream cake with Disney Princess design for her on her actual birthday.
It was a very impromptu birthday celebration because I just made it home a week before this big day. We wanted to keep it small as I needed bed rest most of the time and can’t have a big group. We have both our families and a few close friends to celebrate her birthday on 4th Feb 2011, her actual birthday. She really loves her Princess cake! It was a small celebration and she had a great time playing with her cousin, Gabriel and her favorite Auntie Grace and Auntie Fengyi.
I’m very grateful to our family members who make an effort to come celebrate with us for Jaelyn. And special thanks to Grace, Fengyi, Suzy, Chevy & Angela for popping by within such short notice. How can we live without family & friends?
29 Jan 2011
Today little Jaime is at week 32 and 6 days. Really thank God that we have come so far! Tomorrow is going to be week 33!!!
I was discharged from KK Hospital last Sunday. I didn’t request for it but the doctors just decided that I can go home and bed rest. Was given hospital leave till 31 Jan 11 and I need to go back for follow up on that same day.
I was rather nervous to get home. After all the scary possibilities of delivering early, not making to hospital in time… now I’m home. No daily CTG done, no hospital care got me a bit worried with the “what ifs”. Nonetheless, I feel that in time like this, all I can is really to trust God.
Went to see my private gynae on Tuesday. He read through my discharge report and still insisted that I was dilated 3cm and he said I don’t even have that cervical length anymore. (A even more depressing thing to hear).
Got home rather worried, then I decided that I am not going to trust all the different things I heard from the different doctors. I am just going to pray and trust God. That makes things so much easier. Its easier to have faith in God than to have faith in doctors!
Anyway, I’m still praying and believing that Jaime & I are going to make it! I don’t like the idea of delivering at week 34. I’m going for at least a week 37, even if its 00:00 on 1 March 2011. I’m so going to want Jaime to be a March baby, a little “Rabbit”!
I’m very touch by all the kind gestures shown to me by all my friends during this period of time. A friend in need is a friend indeed. I’m so touched by the love showered and grateful to know I have so many friends around me. You guys show me how real God is and keep my faith going. God is really so real and so good!
Now I live everyday day knowing it’s a day of hope and everyday passed is a day gained, a day blessed!!!
20 Jan 2011
Finally got connected to Wireless@SG!
Was transferred to the Class C ward on Sunday…. Initially I was really holding back my tears… I mean I have not stayed in anything lesser than a B ward. This is the first time. When I saw the ceiling fan, I almost fainted… But thank God, its not so bad after all and I’m already here for 5 days!
Today Jaime is 31 weeks and 4 days old. Wow… Previously I count my pregnancy by weeks, now I count by days…
Just a brief update. Doctors are keeping me here because of the short cervical length. They are going to update me about chance of going home on a daily basis, at least until baby is 34 weeks old. Their basis is that I might deliver at home and not make it in time to the hospital if the labor kicks in due to my current condition and plus this is a second pregnancy, which is usually faster. Doctor said I must have very low threshold for pain to quickly make it to the hospital upon the first labor pain. But the problem is, I can’t even tell a contraction! For my first pregnancy, I delivered within 5 hours, which is very fast already! So this one might be even faster! OH man!!! So they will keep me here at least until week 34.
Anyway, I did an ultrasound cervical scan again yesterday. This time round the cervical length is 1.4cm (compared to previously 0.7 to 0.9cm). I’m really happy! It’s like a miracle to me. I was just praying to God before the scan that it might seems silly but if I can think of it, God can do exceedingly abundantly above what I ask or imagine. So I asked God to lengthen the cervical length! Haha… and true enough the length improves. The sonographer explained to me that the cervix is very dynamic, it contracts and expands. So if there is no contraction, the cervical length might actually loosen a bit. Anyway, let’s just hope it will be better and better and who knows? I might be able to go home after week 34 and have a chance to deliver in a private hospital??? (Hope!)
I really hope that I can at least deliver at a private hospital. Firstly, I think it’s not comfortable to be at a C ward after delivery. Secondly, government hospitals give the BCG at the left hand while private give it at the buttock (nicer for girl). Thirdly, I also realized the people here are wheeled back to the bed in a wheelchair after delivery. I really feel “OUCH” for them. I mean I was wheeled to my ward in a bed after delivering Jaelyn. I cannot imagine getting off the delivery bed to get into the wheelchair and then from the wheelchair back to the bed again after delivery. Oh man, we are so pampered in our private hospital. Lastly, I’ve seen too many mothers bottle feed their babies here. I don’t really like it. I want to breastfeed my baby as soon as possible after the delivery.
But anyway, whether to deliver at which hospital also depends on when Jaime is coming out. Will I be stable enough to discharge after week 34 and then make it to a private hospital for delivery. And also I’m not sure if my stay at KK till then would have depleted my Medisave.
Well, putting all the “whether anot” and “what ifs”, I just want to keep having faith to believe for the best!
And I want to thank all my family and friends who make time to visit me and keep me company during this long hospital stay. You guys make a difference in my life! Love you so much!
Jaelyn is taking her nap & I’ve decided to steal some time off to do a quick blog entry…
Time really shows no mercy, in a blink of an eye, we are now approaching the end of 2010 in just a month time.
Looking back, 2010 has really been an adventurous year, almost too overwhelming for me.
My life took a great turning point in April 2010. I left a comfortable job to pursue for something more. It changes every course of my journey. I took two months to finally get a new job. Not exactly what I wanted (I wanted to work in the town area but ended up in an industrial area) but it was an experience of a lifetime. I’m got the position of an Accountant in a local listed company. On my first week of work, to my horror of horror, the turnover in this company was worst than audit firm. Then I realised this company pays miserable variable bonus, which I finally understood why the HR refused to comment on this when I asked. Besides that, the processes in this company was shockingly backward. I was so traumatized by the fact that I have to manually sign off hundreds of journals and the proposal to make a self inking stamp was rejected because it costs slightly more than $20. OMG!
I really would have left to find a better job if not for the second major change that took place in my life. For the past 1 year, we have been trying for no.2 but no avail. We kind of aborted the idea when I quitted my job in April. We didn’t give much thought to it and really, without any effort at all. Then to our great surprise, we hit the jackpot with one strike.
Following this was the suffering of morning sickness… It was tough! Tougher this round when I still have to take care of my active two year old!
So, I hang on to my job, counting down to my delivery every single day.
After I passed the first trimester, we decided it’s time for Jaelyn to start school, which was postponed from June to September due to me switching job.
It wasn’t easy getting her to adapt to school. I remembered on the third day of school, I literately cry my way home because I felt so heart pain to see her crying when I left. I couldn’t stay long with her in the school because I was feeling nauseous all the time. It was really a struggle for her and for us. Initially we allowed her to stay over at my mum’s place every weekend. But it turned out that she will cry and wail and refused to come home because she doesn’t want to go school. ARgh… Sorry mum, but I have to stop her from staying over if I really want her to adapt to school fast.
It took us slightly more than 2 weeks for Jaelyn to adapt to school, though she will still cry in the morning when I drop her off every morning. We were glad to send her to school. Her English improved and she can express herself so much more these days. Almost find her too talkative at times.
My hubby went through a rough patch too. Supposed to start a new higher paying job in October, just to find out one week before the start date that the whole plan did not progress as it should be. Nevertheless, we are glad that he still holds a job though there was no increment and his workplace has moved further from Punggol.
So now, we battle everyday to come home early. Hubby got to reach home by 6pm to fetch my girl and I tried to reach home before 7pm to have dinner together.
It was tiring….
With the anticipation of another new family member means more things to think about and more finances needed.
Seriously do not know how to handle when no.2 comes along, the sending and fetching of kids, blah blah blah..
It is really a year full of transitions for us. Above all, I just really want to be thankful to God for giving me strength to last each day, to face the many challenges along the way. And I really miss my church friends.
Today marked the 14th day of my chicken pox!
Had a conversation with my mum this morning, confirmed that I’m no longer contagious as most of the lesion has scabbed over and many have fallen, leaving just brown spots waiting to be healed. The complete healing however, will take about a month.
Anyway, my mum urged me to quickly bring Jaelyn for the vaccine. I vaguely remembered she has taken the vaccine but was told by the nurse (ICAC) that it was not recorded in the Health Booklet. (We used to see Dr. Y. Y Yip at SBCC but now he has a new clinic at ICAC, both at Gleneagles) The nurse from SBCC is helpful to help me check Jaelyn’s medical record of all her vaccinations and confirmed that she has taken chicken pox vaccine together with MMR injection on 18 July 2009. However, that was recorded in her health booklet and I really cannot remember how many vaccinations she has taken and did she miss any. The nurse at ICAC said I can request for SBCC to give me a certificate to prove that Jaelyn has completed her necessary vaccination at their clinic, which is something that I would require when Jaelyn goes to Primary One. (Hmm… something new I learnt today)
I still don’t feel very comfortable so I decided to search through the receipts I have kept to verify the date that the nurse gave me. (to think that I kept this kind of receipt right?) And dang dang!!!
She has taken the CHICKEN POX VACCINATION!!! I’m super excited! I’m fetching my princess home!!! I changed the bed sheet for two bedrooms, wipe all her toys & our furniture using Dettol, my hubby helped me to mop the floor with Dettol too! And I’m going to buy Dettol air spray to disinfect the “air” in our house! I’m all ready to welcome my girl back tomorrow!
And I’ve also planned to go for service today after all the chores! Since I can go out, I must go to City Harvest Church for our weekly service! This has been a very tremendous week for our church family. We are in the limelight (press) again, and this time the greatest hit ever. Today (Saturday) is the day in the week that the whole church family most looked forward to since the news broke out on Monday, 31 May 2010 right after Asia Conference 2010.
I’m extremely excited to be able to make it for the service!
Really glad that we not only make it for service, but also for the pre-service prayer meeting. (Took a picture because we seldom get to attend service together when Jaelyn is around as someone needs to be with her at the playgroup) The service was great. There’s an atmosphere of love and unity and strong presence of the love of God. I’m proud to be part of the City Harvest family, so proud that our church members are all standing strong and tall! The video clip by Pastor Phil Pringles brought me to tears, his love for us and his believing in us meant so much in this tough time. Pastor Derek shared a short word but that is enough because we all know that the church members all came prepared to fight this fight of faith together, we are well taught and trained to pray & seek the Lord for encouragement, vision & revelation. I know the main purpose we showed up today is to show that we support the church and we love our Pastor! This church has taught us well that we do not build our faith on men but we build our altar on God. What will happen to City Harvest Church? Let me answer you, we will be stronger and we will emerge victoriously!
After service, we have a great time of fellowship with our cell group, eating fabulous food at a restaurant at Bedok! I’m sure going to bring my parents there soon!
Following, my hubby & me spent some quality time together, go dating! We went for a movie at Downtown East, watching Prince of Persia! It was a great movie with fantastic ending! Definitely worth watching with a great message of pureness of heart and importance of family. Oh… and I sinned a little having Magnum Gold ice-cream! Double wow wow!
And yes, I remembered to buy the Dettol air spray before the start of the movie. I have a great day today! It’s wonderful to be out and breathing after 14 days of home quarantine.
To end off, I just want to say, “ Love God, live life & love living!”
