Today of 3 years ago...

Warning: This is a very long post. When I was writing this, I amazed by myself that how much detail that I still can remember.

Today is Lynn's birthday. She turns three today. My mom told me, my late grandmother told her that birthday, is a day to remember your mom as she gave birth to you on that day. So today, I am going to write about the birth story of Lynn here (since I had not started blogging back then), while me still can remember all the details in my mind. :)

Lynn's due date was 25 May 2006. Since she’s our first baby, we knew nothing about baby and childbirth. Hubby and I went to attend a pre-natal class, recommended by a friend. It costs us RM400 ++, for 6 sessions x 2 hours for each session (the price increased to > RM600 in the following year). It looks costly but worth going. The pre-natal class covered from pregnancy, to detailed childbirth process, breastfeeding and taking care of newborn. She’s also a lactation consultant. So I get to clear some doubts about breastfeeding from her.

When I went for the routine check up at Week 38, the gynae told me I would deliver at any time. I already have packed the bag to the hospital, getting myself ready for the arrival of the baby. Feeling excited and nervous too. Even though I have learnt about the childbirth, but still it’s first time for me. Everyday I will tell the baby, be good girl when she comes out. Don’t let mommy in pain for too long, don’t be naughty, and come out smoothly. :) Just few months before that, 2 friends of mine had to go for last minute C-sec, as the baby was distress during the delivery process and poo-poo while still inside mommy’s womb. I do not want this happen to me.

May 16, 2006 (Tuesday)
2.30am – I woke up from stomach ache. I went to the toilet.  Thought may have eaten something not clean. The pain did not go away. Suddenly, this thought come into my mind – am I having contraction pain? I checked the interval – regular pain at every 5 minutes. Yes, five minutes apart. Alright, so yes it was a contraction pain.

I was kind of worry – is 5 minutes apart too close for stage 1? Am I going to reach stage 2 very fast? Should I wake up hubby now? I quickly go to check all the reading materials that I have – printed from internet, from the pre-natal class, parenting magazine etc, and confirmed that 5 minutes interval is normal for stage 1. I decided not to wake up hubby. People said normally first baby would have longer labour process. I would not want hubby to be sleepy and tired when reaching the time I need his support.

5 minutes interval, seems long and fast – feel the pain last very long and soon after some rest, another contraction pain come again. I went down stair (so that I won’t wake up hubby), and try to find the best position during contraction pain. I tried sitting on the floor with head resting on the sofa, lying down sideway, sitting on the sofa with lots of cushion to support the back, walking etc. And the best position for me – walking. And the worst position? Lying on the back. (Which made me feel so bad while in the hospital as I had to lie down on the bed?)

I was feeling very hungry, looking for some food to replenish my energy. Unfortunately, no food available at home. :( Found some biscuit, but not appetizing to me. I also cooked the Chinese herb tea (十三太保) that my mom bought for me (not say I believe or not believe in it, just try to be good daughter since my mom had bought it for me). It took 3 hours to cook that.
5.30am – The Chinese herb tea was done. I went to take a hot bath, clean my body and my hair. First sight of some blood but water bag still no broke. After coming out from bath, I woke up hubby. Telling him that his daughter want to come out today. :)

Still feeling very hungry. I was very tempted to have a bowl of hot porridge for breakfast. However, at the sane time, I was also worrying that the baby maybe coming out soon. My instinct told me that I should just go to hospital. Maybe I should not take the Chinese herb tea with empty stomach? I throw out everything outside the house, just before I get into the car.

7am (4.5 hours after contraction started) – We off to go to the hospital. As it was a working day, slightly slow traffic but no traffic jam. I sat on a pillow, to avoid dirty the car if the water bag broke. And on the way, I kept on telling the baby, don’t come out first, mommy had not reached the hospital yet. :P

7.30am reached the hospital. After registration, the normal blood pressure and urine test etc, at 8am the nurse put the belt over my stomach to check the baby heart beat and contraction. Waited for quite some time for the gynae to come down to check on me. Was told that the gynae was engaged. Hubby was not allowed to be there. He was waiting for me outside the waiting hall. Still the water bag did not break. And I could feel the contraction become more and more intense, and the pain becoming more and more unbearable.

Finally after a long wait, the gynae came. Wow, I was shocked to hear that I was already 8-9cm dilated! He told me that the baby would come out within 1 hour. When I was pushed into the labour ward, I looked at the clock – close to 9am. Still the water bag did not break. And I could feel the baby had started to ‘push’ herself out.
It was a very small labour ward and cold. The wall clock was facing me directly so I could check the time easily. Hubby went to register himself so that he could come into the labour ward with me. There were two mid wives inside the labour ward. One of them broke the water bag for me in my next contraction. Still no sight of hubby yet. And they kept telling me not to push yet. (Kind of difficult, as during that time each contraction I could feel the baby was ‘pushing’ herself out.) I asked for sitting more upright so that easier for me to push, and hoping that I would feel less pain. No anaesthetic, no oxygen tank was given. However I did not ask for it too (my mind was focus on get the baby out). And no time for me to do so too.

Finally, I saw hubby coming in to the labour ward. Then the mid wife told me, I can push in the next contraction (Oh what a relief to hear that). Soon when the next contraction came, I pushed. Well, was not trained how to push but somehow you just know how to do it. :) In total, after one short and one long push, I could feel the baby was ‘sliding’ out from my body.

My feeling seeing the baby out – Amazing, amazing, and amazing. A new life was born. And I could not believe that I had done it. It was a very touching moment. My eyes were filled with tears actually. It was like – so magical. I looked at the wall clock in front of me – closed to 9.30am. From first contraction pain until baby was born – 7 hours.

After the baby was born, they wrapped her in a towel, and put her on the baby cubicle next to me. Still not over for me yet. They gave me a jap on my thigh, so that the placenta would come out faster. Then the stitching. Gosh, it was even more pain than giving birth! The mid wife told me that anaesthetic was given to me and there were in total three layers that she needed to stitch, being the outer layer is the most pain one. Oh yes hubby was being required to wait outside after the baby was out.

I doubt the anaesthetic was working. The whole stitching lasted more than 30 minutes. It was even more unbearable than the contraction pain. Finally the stitches were done. I was given a hot drink and some biscuit to eat, before I get to hold my newborn.

I still could not believe that I had delivered a baby. :) They had cleaned and weighted her – 2.67kg. Holding her in my arm, admiring her face, soon she cried looking for my breast. The nurse taught me how to breastfeed her. She did not suck for too long. Very soon, she fell asleep.

My collection

 

This is my latest collection – none other than the breast milk for Hao. I have been collecting the milk since Hao was one month old. During that time, Hao had been eating a lot and I had not started working yet, so I get to stock up quite a bit. After starting work, due to stress and pressure, my supply had dropped. Yet I still able to stock up some during weekend (Hao sleep through the night most of the time, so I pump out the extra in the morning after feeding Hao). 

For all the frozen milk, I labelled it with date and the serving size. I have 21 bottles in total – 15 9oz bottle, 2 5oz bottle and 4 4oz bottle. In order not to invest more in buying milk bottles and to save space, I bought the milk storage bag instead. Until today, I have used up one box of 125 liners (8oz size) and now using the second box.

When I go to work, I will give mixture of frozen and expressed BM to the caretaker. I tried not to keep the frozen milk for more than 2 months. As frozen milk does not taste as good as fresh and expressed BM, I have a fear that Hao may reject it after he turns 1 year old when he has exposed to more and more solid food. Right now, I’m trying very hard to clear as much frozen milk as possible, while he is still taking it. Moreover after starting him with the semi solids few months back, my supply has been dropping. I’m still expressing milk during office hour when I could not directly feed him. Therefore, the milk supply in the freezer is reducing slowly, under my control.

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Family outing @ Aman Rimba

End of last month, the playschool that Lynn is attending had organized a family outing to Aman Rimba at Janda Baik, which nestled in the hills of Pahang. Children from the playschool were free of charge, but the parents had to pay for the transportation. They chartered a school bus for the parents and the children. There were few parents drove there themselves.

We gathered in the playschool at 9am and departed around 9.30am. It took us about 1 hour to reach Janda Baik. The bus could not access Aman Rimba directly. Therefore, we had to walk about 400m from the main road. The parents who drove there, helped to transport the children to Aman Rimba. Thanks to Hao, I get to ride the car also as it was too sunny to carry the baby to walk all the way in. Poor hubby had to walk himself.

Aman Rimba is a private estate. Its design and architecture has been heavily influenced by the yesteryears of Malaysia. Capturing the aura of "kampung life", with its artistic impressions and natural highlights, while fusing the convenience of modern amenities, Aman Rimba is the priceless masterpiece of its authors, Sabri and Norwati.

Aman Rimba was designed primarily to be a private sanctuary for family and friends of the Sabris. Every corner features a story to be told through years of personalized creation, offering a homely aura. It encompasses three acres of fruit orchard in a natural forest environment.

Various activities are available – swimming pool that overlooks the freshwater lake; boat ride at the freshwater lake that you get to enjoy exotic birds like swans and a variety of ducks and fishes; multi purpose court; refreshing dip at the cool mountain stream which flows calmly over large boulders and rocks; or relaxing yourself at the “Sireh” house, a traditional Malaysian village house constructed entirely of wood that is very cooling and just nice for the hot weather of that day.

After a brief introduction by the guess relation, we were free to enjoy ourselves. First thing that attracted the kids was no other than the swimming pool. Same for Lynn. She was bugging me to let her go to the pool. I found that it was hard to say no to her looking at most other kids were in the pool even though I was reluctant to let her dip into the pool when the clock was closed to 12pm!  It was so hot. Luckily, I brought the sunscreen along.

 

While I was with Lynn at the swimming pool, hubby brought Hao for a walk to the mountain stream.

This is their Outdoor bathroom, where the walls are made from bamboo. Amenities such as Aromatherapy shower gel, hair shampoo, hair conditioner and body lotion are well prepared for the guests. Noticed the water is coming out from bamboo too.

 

The “Sireh” house features an expansive living area, complete with television, daybeds and pantry. It  has a separate bedroom houses a four-poster queen sized bed with attached bathroom.

We packed some hotdog, snack and fruit juice for our lunch. Hao was so tired that he fell asleep on my lap after taking his milk. Lynn definitely enjoyed herself there. A boy always looked for her to play with until his mother asking the teacher is Lynn his little girl friend. Hahahaha! We left the place at 3pm. It was a good trip. We all had a good time. It was nice to forget about the work and spend the day with the kids. Thanks to the playschool for organizing such event for us.

Hao @ 10 months

2 more months, Hao will turn 1 year old. We have not decided how to celebrate his birthday yet. When I brought him for his hospital appointment, his weight was 9.3kg. His progress so far: -

• Can sit firmly without support. Can sit on a stool too Can crawl at much faster speed. Sometimes he will crawl with four limbs on the floor, but sometimes he will crawl with palms and knee on the ground.
  Able to pull himself up.
• Very playful. Single little noise will get his attention. Will say mum mum or nen nen when he see us eating, to tell us that he wants to eat too!
• Know how to play peekaboo with us. When we say “chak” he will cover his eyes with his small hand and then open it and with big smile on his face. :)
• He has 4 teeth now! 2 from the bottom and 2 from the top. All 4 teeth come out at the same time. Drink his water from sipping cup. But not very good at it. Get choked easily.
• Become more and more attach to me. Always ask me to carry him.
• Still on fully breast milk.
• Likes to play ball and also objects that can make sound.
• Very active baby. It’s tiring to carry him as he will move non-stop.
• He has 4 teeth now! 2 from the bottom and 2 from the top. All 4 teeth come out at the same time.Know how to play peekaboo with us. When we say “chak” he will cover his eyes with his small hand and then open it and with big smile on his face. :)
• Likes to play ball and also objects that can make sound.
• Refused to be alone. Always look for someone to play with.

The last day

Yesterday during work, I was thinking of the boy all the time in the office. After work, we quickly went to pick him up. I got a cold shoulder and long face from the babysitter. She was not looking at me and not talking to me. Apparently, she was still angry with me. Well I did nothing wrong. When I was looking for babysitter I had already told her that the baby is on fully breast milk and if she think she can’t support that, please do not accept to take care my child!

Next week I’m going to send Hao to parents’ house and then in the month of May, Hao is going to the playschool together with Lynn. I had talked to the person in-charge of the playschool. I can send him over next month (they are limiting to 5 babies only and Hao will be the 4th one). After the incident, I don’t trust this babysitter anymore. Sending Hao to her will only make me worry. Moreover, now she is showing long face to me, how do I know will she harm the baby to release her anger to me? I do not want to take any risk. However, giving me a choice I would like to end the relationship with the babysitter in a better way. She maybe thinking that she is good and experience in taking care of children but I’m sorry aunty you are not good at all in our eyes.

Lynn was lucky. She was blessed with a very good babysitter when she was a baby. Until today, we still maintain good relationship with that lady. We know all her children and grand children. Her grandchildren are Lynn’s playmate. Unfortunately, Hao did not come on the right timing. The aunty needs to take care of her own granddaughter who was born 3 months after Hao. She alone could not take care 2 babies at the same time. That is why I could not send Hao to her. But she helped to take care Hao until the granddaughter was born. She’s a very nice lady, and has been supportive to breastfeeding.

The playschool has been established for more than 30 years. They are ok with Hao on breast milk. It is a better environment too. Hao will get the opportunity to learn from other kids. This should help for his growth. However on the bad side, is maybe he will pick up some bad habit from the older kids too. Well there’s always good and bad. We just have to keep an eye on them and correct them if they are doing something not right or not good.

4/28:

Went to the babysitter's house to collect Hao's things after work. I also gave her some branded and pricey chocolate, as an appreciation to her for taking care Hao all this while. Even though I may not agree with her on everything, but to me these are separate issues. Finally, a smile from her - I guess she did not expect I will say thank you to her. Well, I'm a person who likes good ending. :)