Waaaa!!!! I want milk!!!

Since few days back, if you pass through my house, you will hear a lots of "Waaaa..........." - baby crying sounds. Why? Almost every hour, Little Zhe Hao will wake up crying for milk. And then each time after passing motion, he will ask for milk also. When he cannot sleep, he asks for milk also, even during night time. I feel so tiring, just to feed him.

I have heard that baby boy eat more. I think this is true. Moreover Zhe Hao is slightly on the big size, so he needs more milk too. And recently, he likes to pull and tear towards the end of the feed. Even thought I have been putting on the cream, but still cannot escape for not having a sore nipple. Each time feeding him, is a pain to me. *sob sob....*

Sleeping with mommy

I think it is quite common that children always sleep with the mommy, instead with the daddy. When Lynn was still a baby, she would like to be breastfed to sleep. It's like her habit, must suck to sleep. If mommy was not around, she will suck her own thumb to sleep. Till now Lynn is already 2 years old, we still find it very hard to get rid of her thumb sucking habit. Due to this, whenever the mommy at home, Lynn sure want to sleep with the mommy. Daddy has no way able to get her to bed, unless mommy is not around.

After I stop breastfeeding Lynn, she still want me to accompany her to bed. I have to sleep next to her on the same bed, until she has fallen asleep. Then only I can leave the room and do my own things. I have tried to let her sleep by herself, but she will just cry or refuse to go to bed unless I go to bed with her. During the late pregnancy, my stomach was so big that I feel it is difficult for me to get up from the floor (Lynn is sleeping with us on the same room, but on her own single size mattress on the floor next to our bed), so I told her that mommy cannot sleep together with her. She compromise for few days, then she will start making noise and request me to sleep together with her on her mattress. I have been trying so hard to make her understand that she has grown up, she needs to learn to sleep by herself and not with mommy all the time. I guess she still a bit young to understand this. *sigh*

After deliver Hao, my perineum muscle was so pain that I can hardly move around. Definitely I will not sleep with Lynn on her mattress on the floor. As expected, she compromised for few days and then started making noise again. However we insisted that mommy cannot sleep with her. Getting her to bed was so difficult as we had to spend time explaining, comforting her and pursuit her to sleep. Now after 3 weeks, she never ask me to sleep with her on her mattress anymore (I hope she will not ask for it anymore. :p) but she will still insist me sleep with her at the same time. So it will be like she sleep on her own mattress on the floor, while I sleep on my own bed 'together' with her. Every night, I have to spend at least 30 minutes to 1 hour to get her to bed, before I can continue complete other things.

I really wish that very soon one day, she can sleep by herself. Looking forward for the day to come. :)

Zhe Hao - Day 23

Wow, time flies. So fast Zhe Hao is already 23 days old. Which also means that the confinement month will come to the end soon. :) I still remember the last confinement when I delivered Lynn, the time past so slow. However this time seems like very soon the confinement month will be over. :)

Even though we don't weight him, but we know that Zhe Hao has gained weight already. See, his face become much rounder now. And becoming more chubby too! I think he become longer too. I still remember how tiny Lynn was during her first month, compared to Zhe Hao. A bit worry Zhe Hao will outgrow those old clothes from Lynn very soon.

Soy Milk or Cow Milk?

Just now when my SIL come visiting, we talked about milk powder. The price of the milk powder has been increased tremendously since end of last year. The price has been increased few times and last month I heard there will be another round of increment also. Not sure if this has already incurred.

Lynn was fully breastfed until she was 10 months old. Since then, she was taking Nestle Naan 2. However her babysitter complained she has too many loose stools and not gaining wei
ght. So I have switched her to Isomil till now. Now she is 2 years old already, and with the high price of the milk powder, I'm actually thinking maybe switch her back to a cheaper cow milk brand. 1st brand that pop into my mind is Dumex (hehe, don't ask me why is Dumex). I think I will do some research before deciding what to give her.

Government hospital

Many people are sceptical about going to government hospital. As for me, I delivered both Lynn and Hao in the government hospital nearby my house - HUKM. Choosing HUKM firstly is because it is near my house, less than 30 minutes away, and the traffic going to the hospital is not heavy, compared to other parts of Cheras. I would not like to stuck in the jam on the way to hospital, worrying that I may not get it there on time to deliver the baby due to the traffic jam.


I'm not sure if I'm considered lucky or not. In both deliveries, I was having pleasant experience with all people from the O&G unit of the hospital. The doctors and the nurses are friendly and helpful.

For Lynn, she was admitted twice due to jaundice. Each time they needed to take some blood to get the bilirubin reading. I remembered few times the blood was taken by some newbie doctor or trainee, where they are not experienced in taking the blood. Lynn was crying non-stop and loudly throughout the whole process and I fell so sorry for that. Luckily only 2-3 occasions and not all the time. Other time, there were some students around and we were being asked lots of questions about Lynn.

Due to her very high reading in the bilirubin level, she was given an appointment on ear test on her hearing when she was being discharged the second time. This is to ensure the high bilirubin did not affect her hearing. And we just need to pay very minimum amount for it. Well, I don't think if I sent her to the private hospital, we will getting this kind of treatment, or even if we did, it may be very costly.

Lynn's jaundice did not go away even after her full moon. She was then diagnosed with prolong jaundice and the hospital even performed an ultra-sound on her liver, to make sure her liver is not abnormal. And every 2 weeks, I was required to take Lynn back to hospital, to check her bilirubin reading, to make sure it was decreasing. They did all kind of test, to make sure she is healthy. So how can I say government hospital is not good?

For the second delivery, I needed to take the venofer. I was told that venofer treatment is not available in all hospital. And I believe if I go to the private hospital, it will be costly. However I just need to pay RM5 for each visit, and RM10 for the medication. Where else can I get this?

Check up after taking venofer

One week after finish taking the last venofer, I was requested to go back to the hospital for check up. This is to ensure my hemoglobin is at the normal reading level, after taking all the venofer.

So I went back to the hospital yesterday. Since I did not need to see the doctor, I did not need to wait long to get my blood test taken by the nurse from the lab. After that, I can go home already. The results will be ready on the next day. And I just need to make a call to check for my results.

I was told to call up in the afternoon of the following day after the blood was taken. So earlier this afternoon, I called up the number given by the nurse to check my blood test results. When I was told that the blood test results are okay, I feel a relief. I really do not want to take more venofer already. My hand still in pain even until today.

Lynn - becoming big sister

Lynn has been reacting positively towards the born of her little brother Hao. I'm glad that she has been showing her love to her little brother and feel proud of her.



During the confinement month, Lynn did not go to the babysitter. Instead she has been staying at home with me. See, she found a new way of playing with her little friend, Julie. She saw us swaddling Hao with the diaper cloth, so she trying to do the same to her friend, Julie. And she also trying to change diaper for Julie too! LoL

Zhe Hao - Day 12

Little Zhe Hao is 12 days old already! He got a little yellow, but he has been eating well (most of the times every 1-2 hours, sometimes about 2-3 hours though), and we take him for sun bathe every morning. So far we saw some improvement.

Little Zhe Hao likes to laugh. Each time after having milk, he will sure show his happy and laughing face. :)And he likes to shout too. Whenever he got wet diaper, he will sure open his mouth big and shout for a diaper change! :)

Venofer

Do you know what is Venofer?

• Venofer® (iron sucrose injection, USP) is a brown, sterile, aqueous complex of polynuclear iron (III)-hydroxide in sucrose for intravenous use.
• It contains no preservatives or dextran polysaccharides.
• Venofer® is indicated in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in non-dialysis dependent - chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD) patients receiving or not receiving an erythropoietin, and in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis dependent - chronic kidney disease (HDD-CKD) and (PDD-CKD) patients receiving an erythropoietin.

How do I know Venofer? Well, I almost fainted when walking to the toilet, on the evening of the day after delivering Hao. My blood pressure indicate normal. So the doctor did a blood test for me and found that I have insufficient blood. Normal reading is 11.0. During pregnancy, my reading was 9.9, slightly lower than the normal. However at that time the gynae said still fine as long as I keep on taking the iron supplement (which I did). And the latest blood test indicate my reading is only 7.9. In addition, they found my blood is quite thin/diluted also.

The option given to me is either getting blood transfusion (the fastest way), or get the venofer, the iron dripping. However due to there is limited intake per day, I have to undergo a total cumulative dose of 1,000 mg of iron, on 5 different occasions (on alternate day), on 200 mg slow IV injection each time.

Obviously I do not wish to go through a blood transfusion. No matter how, there is certain level of risk. Taking iron supplement needs to take very long time for me to reach the normal reading, so it is not recommended. So I have opted for taking the venofer. They gave me one drip before I discharge to go home. And then subsequently I have to come back to the hospital, for the rest of the 4 dripping sessions.

I'm not a kind of person that is scare of needle and injection. However after this one whole week of dripping, I'm afraid I may want to change my mind. They have to put the needle into my blood vein. The iron is straightaway flow into my blood stream and mix with my blood. And the needle is about 2 inches long. So it is quite a painful process. After the dripping finish, they will remove the needle and normally the blood vein will become swollen and remain painful for the next few days. So just imagine within this one week, I have to be poke 5 times for the dripping, 5 swollen blood vein, and both hands remain painful for few days. And on one occasion, after the nurse has put the dripping on, the solution does not flow into my blood vein. So she has to remove it and poke on another hand.

Finally now 5 sessions of the dripping are done. Next week I need to go back hospital to take another blood test, to see my reading after the venofer treatment. Well, I hope the results will be good. I do not wish to get more venofer treatment.

Little Zhe Hao

Name: Tang Zhe Hao

Born at: 29 June 2008 (8 days earlier)

Weight: 3.67kg (1 kg more than his sister Lynn)

Head: 35cm (5cm bigger than his sister Lynn)

Length:52.5cm (2.5cm longer than his sister Lynn)

Finally... here come the big day!

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. However I didn't really get a good sleep. Baby was pressing at my perineum, causing much pain, even when I'm not walking. I wonder how can I go to work on Monday.

Usually I will go to the market on Sunday morning. However due to the pain, I have decided to stay home. Hubby was cooking breakfast for all of us. I was sitting at the sofa, watching the tv together with Lynn while waiting for the breakfast to be served. Suddenly I feel some pain on the stomach and my lower back. My first instinct was am I having a contraction? The pain seems familiar - almost the same kind of contraction pain that I was having with Lynn. I waited for the next pain to come, and looked at the clock. It was 9.30am.

The next pain come at 9.35am, and then at 9.40am - 5 minutes interval - exactly the same as Lynn's. Hubby looked at me when I tried to hold on the pain when it come. The contraction is not that bad, but the lower back pain (that come with the contraction) is unbearable.

After the breakfast, I went to the toilet. And this time I saw the mucus plug has come off. So the baby wanted to come out today. Good boy, he seems to know that I have finally completed my task on hand on Friday, submitted the tax on Saturday, and now it's the day for him to come!

I told hubby about the contraction. We both decided we should go to hospital now. I took a shower. (It took me quite a while, due to the frequent contraction). Called my mom to help take care of Lynn for the day (luckily she was not working on that day) and quickly packed some clothes for Lynn. By then, it was already close to 12pm when we leave the house, 2.5 hours after contraction started.

I went to register myself at the hospital. After some checking, I was pushed to the labour room at 1pm. At that time, the cervix was 7cm opened. I need to wait till it fully dilated at 10cm. Mom still not here yet. So hubby cant come into the labour room with me, as he has to take care of Lynn outside.

Similar to last delivery, my water bag didn't break by itself. So the doctor has to break the water bag. After that, it is just a waiting time. I was looking at the clock, it was past 1.30pm, but still no sign of hubby yet. The nurse has put a drip on my left wrist as I cant take any food at the moment. I was trying to tell myself to relax when the contraction come.

Finally hubby came in around 2pm. The contraction started getting stronger. The cervix now is 8cm dilated. However doctor said it's still not the time yet. Have to wait for about 1 hour more for the cervix to fully dilated. Oh... still an hour more to go. The contraction was getting stronger and stronger. Finally, it reached a point where I can feel the baby is pushing out and this is very difficult to hold back. The doctor came in and gave signal for me to push in the next contraction.

I remembered it was 4 pushes altogether (I only needed to push twice for Lynn to come out) - 1 short and 3 very long push. Finally I can feel the baby is out. What a relief. Yes, it's a baby boy! The baby was in blue-ish red, then I heard a loud baby cry. It was closed to 2.30pm.

Pregnancy check up - Week 38

Went for another check up at June 24. During these 2 weeks, I really watch out what am I eating, and reduce the amount of food intake. It was difficult. Imagine you are feeling hungry and yet you cannot eat too much. My boss took all of us for a good lunch on the occasion of office relocation. However I cannot eat as much as I wanted, due to the doctor's advice. Oh looking at those mouth-watering dishes but can only take a small amount is really a torture.

Finally I feel a bit relief, when I was being told that my weight remained the same as 2 weeks back. And baby has just gained 0.1 kg to 3.1kg. Phew! Doctor also mentioned baby's head already engaged (that's the reason causing me feeling pain when walking) and baby is ready to come out at anytime. Well, recently I have been telling the baby, that he knows his true birthday, he knows what is the best time to come out, the best position etc. Most important is both of us will be safe. Now I'm just waiting for the big day. At the mean time, I need to settle some of the things in work before the arrival of the big day.

Pregnancy check up - 9th month

Went for the 9th month check up on June 10. Oh my god, I have gained 3kg in total! And baby is now weight at 3kg!

Well, don't ask me why. Basically I didn't really eat a lot and is already avoiding taking too much carbohydrates and take more protein. Doctor warned me to keep an eye of my diet so that baby won't go too big. As I still have 4 weeks to go for full term. Sigh....