Mummy's Thoughts - Being a Mother of Two Now...

It's been a week since Shannon has arrived in our family and there definitely has been tons of adjustments all of us are going through and we expect there to be even more adjustments, going forward. From me being a mother of one to a mother of two and likewise for YJ. Even for Matt, he has to adjust from being an only child to an elder brother now.

I must say I have been proud of Matt so far, except for a small hiccup that took place 2 evenings ago. We were giving Matt his milk before bed time. As he was trying to clear space on the bed for himself to lie down, he flung a tub of California Baby Calendula cream and it accidentally hit Shannon on her forehead. She wailed in pain and I supposed everyone in the room was totally shocked. Although we all knew that Matt did not do it on purpose, we were mad at him and I think he knew that he had done something wrong too, as he didn't resist as he was sent off to bed immediately. We brought Shannon to the PD for a check the very next morning and he assured us that she is fine. Other than this, Matt has been very open to Shannon's addition to the family. He loves to lean against our bed to watch her. Whenever she cries, he will run into the room and watch over her. When we ask him to sayang Mei Mei, he will stroke her gently. He's even become my good helper, bringing me clean newborn diapers and throwing away the soiled ones into the bin.

As for me, it's been hectic dealing with two now, even though I do feel I seem to have a better grasp this time, being a second time mummy. With Matt settling down well at Sparkletots, it gives me more time to take care of Shannon. But I do feel that I have been spending less and less time with Matt. Usually I have to be the one putting Matt into bed every night, as his daddy always complain that Matt only wants me to put him into bed. Yesterday night, Matt woke up in the middle of the night, looking for Daddy instead. Well, a part of me felt terrible but then I guess this isn't such a bad thing after all. That Matt reduces his reliance on me and becomes closer to Daddy. I do hope that as we get through the stage of putting Shannon on a nice routine, I can get round to spending more time with Matt. That's why I say there have been and still will have tons of adjustments taking place... Sigh...

As for breastfeeding, I never thought there will be any problems at all for a second baby, given that breastfeeding had been a breeze for me during Matt's time where I actually breastfeed him until he was 13 months. But then, at Day 4 after my delivery, I panicked when I tried expressing and there simply isn't much milk. I didn't recall this happened during Matt's time. I have consulted with the PD and a lactation consultant, who both explained that this feeling of engorgement and no milk is normal at Day 3-5 and should subside. True enough, they were right as I did manage to latch on Shannon better and express more milk eventually. I guess, the breastfeeding experience for each baby is different and we shouldn't take it for granted. Definitely, I am glad things are working out well and I am able to total breast feed Shannon since her birth. When we got discharged from the hospital, she was 2.5kg (as compared to the birth weight of 2.64kg). When we weighed her again yesterday, she is now 2.6kg. So I guess she is starting to gain weight. Hopefully as she gets past the first 1-2 weeks and sleeps less, we can start her on a routine, which I have always advocated, it helps keep sanity for both Mummy and baby...

A Striking Resemblance???

Mummy dug out some of my old photos after several of Mummy's friends commented that Shannon looks a lot like me. Wat's your take on this?

Here's the photos that Mummy has used or will be using (for Shannon) for our passports. Once Shannon gets her name registered next week, we will need to apply for a passport and China visa for her to return to Shanghai with us...

A Big Brother...

Here's a first photo I have taken with Shannon. Mummy said that though I appeared to be still oblivious to Shannon's appearance when I first saw her at the hospital, I am growing to be more aware of her...

I actually watched quietly when I saw Mummy changing Shannon's diapers when she poo-pooed. I even learned to stroke her gently when I hear her cry. Now when Mummy ask me to "sayang" Mei Mei, I will go to her and stroke her gently.

Mummy's also very proud of me, as now, I don't cry and throw tantrums anymore when I get dropped off at Sparkletots and even at nursery in church when Daddy and Mummy goes for their church services.

And Now, Mummy is a PROUD Mother of TWO...

My little sister, Shannon, finally arrived on August 18, 2009 at 1821 hours. Mummy's birth story is simply so short and sweet as the entire process from the point where pain and contractions started to the arrival of little Shannon, it only took 5.5 hours. This is really "chickenfeet" compared to my delivery, since Mummy was in pain for 5 hours at home before she made it to the hospital and then it took another almost 15 hours for me to arrive...

Here's Mummy's birth story...

At close to 1PM, contractions started, about 8-12 minutes apart. As it took a long time from the time contractions started to my delivery, Mummy had thought that she needn’t hurry to the hospital. So she slowly packed the last few items she need in her hospital bag and took a bath first. She also called the nurse at Dr Chan’s who suggested that she gets herself monitored at the clinic first. By the time Mummy had her contractions monitored at 415PM at Dr Chan's, her contractions were 5 minutes apart and she was already 6cm dilated. Mummy was admitted into the hospital immediately. It was fortunate for Mummy 'cos she made it in time for epidural. If she had been dilated for more than 6cm, it would be too late for epidural. Thank goodness... At 6PM, Mummy was 9cm dilated and the midwife had asked Mummy to start pushing. At 2 pushes, Mummy’s waterbag broke. Dr Chan arrived at 605PM. After 2 pushes, Mei Mei was delivered at 621PM.

Here's some photos taken at the hospital...

The Moment is Coming, Time to Pack Mummy's Hospital Bag...

Mummy went to Dr Chan for her weekly checkup earlier this afternoon. After doing an ultrasound for Mummy, Dr Chan said that Mei Mei is engaged. Based on me, he thinks Mummy still have about 1 week to go, or it could be anytime from now onwards. The other tell tale sign is whilst Mei Mei actually grew 200g heavier (she is about 2.74kg now), Mummy lost 700g from last week. Definitely, this was very well complimented by Dr Chan, since he is so concerned about weight gain all the time. So to date, Mummy put on about 10.5kg, much less than the 12kg that she put on when she was expecting me. Mummy could also feel more frequent contractions although it hasn't reached the stage whereby there are contractions every 5 minutes.

So it's probably time to pack Mummy's hospital bag. The last time, Mummy packed tons of stuff based on a hospital list that were circulating around the mummies. Guess what? She ended up not using anything in the bag at all. So this time, Mummy thinks she won't bother to bring anything much except for herself into the hospital. Haha... Of course, the most important things to bring is my present for Mei Mei - a nice teddy bear, to show her my welcome of her into the family. Mummy says Mei Mei has a present for me too, and I will definitely be very thrilled about it. That leaves me scratching my head, thinking what it is...

Of course, let's not forget about Daddy... He has booked his flight to come back to Singapore this Saturday. So Mei Mei got to hang on until Daddy arrives. The last time when Mummy gave birth to me, Daddy was only back one day before. Hopefully Daddy is able to perform the same "stunt" again... We are keeping our fingers crossed...

Mummy's Thoughts...

It's been a long time since I posted my thoughts on Matt's blog. I guess nowadays, I am always so busy running after Matt. He's really been the joy of my life, especially after a hard day's work in the office, although very often, I think he tires me out more taking care of him (or should I say running after him...) than working on a complex accounting issue at work.

In preparation for his little sister's arrival in the next 1-2 weeks (most likely), we have decided to enroll him into a childcare centre @ Sparkletots. As you can see from previous posts on the blog, he is trying to adapt to the place and I was allowed to stay with him for the 1st three days. He's been really clingy these days. At times I just wonder what is causing that. As my mum would always say, he probably knows a little sister is coming to "fight" with him for Mummy's attention. Of course, whenever my mum says that, I will always correct her and not let her speak into Matt's life. I also wonder whether it is an environment / weather change, cos this happened the last time we returned to Singapore in April as well, but the moment we were back in Shanghai, he was very much back to his old self. This really leaves me scratching my head for answers. Nevertheless, I can tell he is settling down and of course, his grandparents here in Singapore love having him around.

So some thoughts about the little one in my tummy... I guess this pregnancy really went past so fast, that suddenly I realise, I am able to deliver very soon. This little girl is definitely more active in my stomach than Matt, moving so much at all times of the day. Of course, Dr Chan have shown me lots of ultrasound pictures of her and he's really funny. Always tell me my baby girl has lots of hair (which isn't bad, of course). At my last check up last Thursday, the little one weighed about 2.5kg. Well, I guess a bit small as compared to the average but certainly comparable to Matt at the same stage. A lot of people were astonished at the size of my tummy when I tell them that I am able to deliver soon in the next 1-2 weeks. I guess, the little one really hide herself well and obviously, I am thrilled as that means easier weight loss after delivery. To date, I put on about 11kg and I hope to stay at that. Dr Chan gave me a hard time after I put on 2kg in 2 weeks when I first came back to Singapore. It's the last lap and let's hope it finishes quickly (ie a short and fast delivery)...

Third Day @ Sparkletots...

It's the third day @ Sparkletots and things are getting better, although I am still relatively sticking onto Mummy. But somehow after following the schedule for 3 days now, Mummy seems to think that they feed us too much. There is breakfast at 830AM, lunch at 11AM and then milk at 1230PM before we nap. Then when we wake up around 3PM, there is afternoon snack again. My appetite seems to be really good, at times asking for additional helpings. Mummy's worried I will end up eating too much. Maybe it's time to cut my milk intake then.

Here's a playdough session...

Here's a Dora session after lunch to settle us in before our afternoon nap.

Look what I am doing, trying to climb across to the other side where infant care is. Guess what I saw to prompt me to do this??? I saw CARS...

Second Day @ Sparkletots...

It was my second day @ Sparkletots today. I made a real good start by walking on my own all the way to and fro Sparkletots. It was also a better day.

Here's a session whereby the teachers taught on sea creatures. They actually brought live crabs into class. I actually held one crab (of course, it is tied up!), but Mummy did not manage to capture that shot.

Here's a colouring of another sea creature - a fish...

During the play session, Mummy thinks I was being naughty, cos I had collected all the cars and refused to let other kids play with them.

We had a gym session later this afternoon and I learnt to balance myself whilst walking along a narrow bench.

Today, I even had the chance to feed myself today during lunch and tea time, after seeing other kids in class feed themselves. I had spaghetti and apple for lunch. The spaghetti is so yummy that I helped myself to another helping. Considering it was my first day trying to feed myself, Mummy thinks I have done a very good job...

I managed to take a nap after lunch @ Sparkletots...

First Day @ Sparkletots...

It was a first day for me @ Sparkletots... My big day... First day in school cum childcare... Appears that everyone's concerned as Mummy kept receiving calls from Daddy, 婆婆, 姨姨 etc how I was doing. As expected, I was really sticky to Mummy (I have been since I came back to Singapore, since this is a new environment for me...) Mummy had to stay with me the entire session. It was a reasonably good start though. I was tired out by 11AM and when all the other kids in my group were having lunch, I had konked out. Mummy had to carry me for a 10 minute walk home.

Here's me having breakfast with the other kids @ Sparkletots...

Here's me having a fun time building blocks...

But alas, I started throwing tantrums and Mummy had to bring me to the glass door entrance so that I can see the passing by vehicles...

Mummy's Bloom Shots...

It's been something that Mummy has been wanting to do, since she knew she was expecting my little Mei Mei... Finally, she did it this morning... Since Daddy isn't around, Mummy thought she would bring me. Alas, I was more interested in the toys that Uncle David (today's photographer from Foto-U) has in his studio and only managed to take a few.

However, Uncle David managed to capture my "glutton" expressions... Hahaha... Obviously I was more interested in having my morning snacks than doing a photo shoot...