Valencia Oranges

It had been so long since I last blogged that I’ve actually forgotten what my admin password is. It took me nearly 3 tries before I managed to get it right. It had been a hectic one month with me falling sick for nearly 33 days, followed by my dearest baby. I had never spent so much on the been to the doctors as many times as I had for the past one month. 4 trips trying to get myself better medicine each time and twice for my baby. It’s really no joke being sick. You feel like a battery that can never be recharged no matter how hard you try. It’s especially worst when the hubby had to work till so late every night on his events. Before I got married and having a baby, sleeping to me is a waste of time. I will rather finish a book or go shopping. I can never understand how some people can sleep their day away.

Now, 19 months into motherhood, I can fully understand. The hubby always ask me why I always look so listless and tired. I really can’t give an explanation why. Not that I do not know the reason, but I feel bad saying that it’s because I’ve been looking after our baby round the clock. I do not like the feeling of blaming Sheryl when it’s not her fault. But all the “sleeplessness ” has really taken a toll on my body. I used to be able to recover from flu in 3 days, 4 the max. Now I need 33 days. It’s really no joke when we slept at 9.30pm and I having to wake up at 12am to make sure that she is covered with blanket, 3am to make milk, 5am before I can get back to sleep, wake up at 6.30am to work, make her milk at 7am, leave the house at 7.30am to take bus, reached home at 7.45pm, a 10 min dinner with Sheryl on my lap most of the time and bathing her at 8.30pm. By this time, I’m nearly left with 10% of battery life. Not forgetting, after bathing her and before she sleep, I have to be her story teller and her playmate. And this cycle will repeat and repeat till I get a day off or two when she’s at my mum’s place.

People had told my my face look bloated and I really can’t understand why I continued to put on weight and look so puffy despite not able to sleep and eat well. I’m really clueless about this. People had been telling me how they had lost weight after taking care of their baby. I became shagged and sick instead. I really can’t understand how some mother can look so fresh everytime they go out. There are so much things to worried about. I worried about what Sheryl might be eating when I am at work, are the food fresh and warm? I wonder if she had her mid morning and afternoon naps, I wonder if there’s anyone making sure she’s not playing near the stairs, did anyone wash her up after her meals and did anyone noticed her soiled diapers? All these thoughts are running though my mind the whole day except when she is at my mum’s place. But unfortunately, she can’t be at my mum’s place all the time since my mum has a really bad back and my in laws are trying their best with so many children at home. I also know that the mother’s love to her child cannot be delegated. I can’t expect others to care as much as I care about Sheryl. So people, pls be kind on your words. I know I don’t look the best as before but I am really trying my best. 

To the hubby, I know you are tired from your work and I truely appreciate you trying your best to “off-load” some of my duties (but I was really pissed when you decided to go drinking and leave me alone with baby especially when she’s down with a fever!) . But I really need time to get fully recharged and although the chicken essence does help, they are not magic potion. I need time to “recover”. Aside from this, it’s another 11 days before we are off to Brisbane for the next 1.5 year. Hopefully things will get better! Hmm.. it had been so long since I had a nice and romantic dinner and evening with the hubby. I guess It’s not going to happen anytime soon till Sheryl is 3 when we are back from Brisbane?! 

More photos in my facebook!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He6NlTA0lQs

Sheryl Ang calling me??!! hehehe…

Aside from this, Missy Ang seems to be able to sleep thru the night without any feed since two days ago! I do hope this can continue so that darlin and myself can get more undisturbed sleep. I once heard some mummies and daddies are just so lucky to have their baby sleep thru the night at 4 mth old?!

Anyway, tried a new combi today. Spinach, carrot and minced chicken porridge for Sheryl. She polished off the whole bowl within 15 minutes and gave me a big big grin! It’s really things like this that makes me feel so happy and appreciated. Of cos, there are times when I feel so disappointed and angry when she refused to have her meals. Not at her but at myself. I often told myself that I should have cook something that tasted better and more nutritious. 

Now I know why my mum feels so happy whenever I finished off what she cooked!

random pics of my sis and baby,

I certainly do not like changes.

I was looking at some old pics in the lappy when I realised I’ve put on so much weight and aged so much these 2 years!

Back in 2007 before I got married…

This was me back in mid 2007. Dad just bought me the lappy and I was trying out the webcam.

NOW…


I guess the saying “Time and tide wait for no man” is really true.
However, I won’t complain much. Seeing how happy and healthy Sheryl is really makes my day!

It’s all worth it.

On another note, Miss Sheryl seems to be putting all sorts of things into her mouth. If you notice, within the frame of one minute she has managed to grab a box of herbal tea, my bank token and my handphone and putting them into her mouth! It’s time for me to start packing before she starts swallowing anything. Mr Ang will surely kill me.

Anyway, a poem to share.

Brand New Little Daughter
~ by Linda Lee Elrod ~

…her equally happy parents.

Baby acting smart..haahaa

The first three pics were taken last month…Did she change?

 
Baby making a mess after waking up

 
Baby trying to mimic my expression! Naughty girl!

With my mummy, her po po. The last of her swimming sessions. The tub’s getting too small!

The two of them love nua-ing  in bed

Baby and darlin shopping at Marina Sq while I attended a wedding luncheon. I must say darlin did a good job looking after baby!

@Thomson TSC. I find this shot hilarious! Good that Joe managed to capture bb getting pek chek 

Taken at Uncle Leong Seafood at AMK. Celebrated Yee Hon’s birthday. Pics taken by Joe’s new cam! Good cam!

Look how much baby changed! The first pic was taken during her first swimming sessions and the other the last session.

How time flies….

2 Missing posts. I don’t understand how the posts just went missing. The thought of having to rewrite everything simply annoys me. Luckily after some ’searching’ thru the archive, I found the post. The timestamp on the post were all wrong. How did it happen?! However, all the pics were gone and I had to relink them. Argh..hope it won’t happen again. What a waste of my time!

Anyway, brought baby to have her 4th month injection (2nd dose of DTP) yesterday. Seems that baby knew the injection was coming. She was screaming as soon as she saw the doctor. Perviously, when we visited the doctor, we never have this problem. Hmmm…

Something for me to remember,

During birth 
Weight : 3.48kg
Length : 50cm
Head Cir: 36cm

1st month
Weight : 4.76kg
Length : 59cm
Head Cir : 38cm

2nd month
Weight : 5.7kg
Length : not measured
Head : not measured

3rd month
Weight : 6.32kg
Length : 63.5cm
Head : 41.5cm

4th month
Weight : 6.72kg
Length : not measured
Head : not measured

Not much weight gain there…:(

On another note, I realised I haven’t post any pic of my botak baby.

Ok I know..I look like a complete auntie with my messy hair and my “too loose’ specs…

It’s the 3rd day of 2009 already and I realised I hadn’t made any resolution!

hmm..anyway, let me look back at 2008. 2008 was a very different year for me. I got married (ok..I know that was dec 2007!) and become Mrs Ang. I gave birth to Sheryl in November 2008. I changed job. To be fair, I do like my previous job alot but I simply couldn’t stand the long hours and my 2 superiors. One only know how to talk and the other one is worse. However, giving birth to Sheryl was a great experience and it somehow change my priorities in life. I guess baby and hubby is on the top of the list now. I no longer had the urge to splurge and i don’t mind staying at home just to talk and sing to baby. If given a choice, I will definitely choose to be a stay at home mum. There’s so many things that we mother and daughter can do together. However, given the current economy situation, I guess it’s wiser for me to continue working to save for a rainy day.

Ok, so what’s for 2009? .. I hope..

1. Baby, darlin and all my loved ones to be healthy
2. A smooth sailing career for darlin
3. Pay rise
4. Darlin to spend more time with baby and myself
5. Darlin and me can own a property

Of course there’s a heap of things that I  to wantwish for but I shan’t be greedy.  These five will do, really.

 We have decided. 5th Nov 2008 shall be the date.

2am - Checked in to Delivery Suite at KKH with darlin
3am - Nurse arranged me to be in one of the room and checked my temperature, bp and most importantly bb’s heartbeat. Inserted a pressary to start the induction. Pain score was still zero as I felt no contraction and thus was wheeled back to the ward.
4am - The contractions started and I tried to bear with it thinking that it will be over soon. It starts off like really bad menses cramp and soon I was curling up. Called the nurse and was wheeled back to delivery suite. Was given pentidine in the thigh. I was about 2cm dilated.
10am - Wow, I knocked out till around 10am. Woke up for breakfast but I was not in the mood for anything. Darlin finished my breakkie. haha…By then I was 3cm dilated. Siao liao.. I was told that the dilation is about 1 cm per hour. In some case, the cervix won’t even get dilated and a 2nd or 3rd dose might be required. I did a mental calculation and figured I might have to wait till 5pm to get fully dilated. At this point, I could also felt my mucos plug coming out. Dr Han came in and broke my waterbag. The whole bed was nearly flooded!
11am - Darlin left me for home to pack up the house and moved some furniture. The moving of furniture was put off until my pregnancy since the old folks believe that no shifting of furniture is allow when I’m around. At the same time, the Dr and nurse offered me the option of epidural. Being the “no pain tolerance” me, I immediately agreed. I salute those mum who can survive delivery without epidural. My contraction is now 4 to 5 cm. Good progress the doctor says.
12pm – I managed to relax a while after the epidural. I was getting impatient and kept myself occupied by watching the USA election on the TV. Dr Han comes in and informed me that by the time the American announced their elected president, I will be ready to give birth! Haha….Dilation is now 6 to 7 cm. The midwife starts preparing the apparatus.
1pm – The midwife checked my dilation. Wow it’s now 8 to 9cm! Midwife Linda says I’m ready and she gave a call to darlin. I overheard their conversation and I reckoned darlin is already along Bukit Timah Road.
1.30pm – I heard darlin’s footstep! What a relief when I saw darlin. The midwife instructed darlin to help support my head and neck and 1…2….3….PUSH! I must have used the wrong techniques to push. My face was all red but baby doesn’t seems to be coming down!
2pm – Dr Han came in and tried asking me to push. I was exhausted. At 2.15pm Dr Han gave a warning. He gave me 5 more min cos baby’s heartbeat was dropping from 150bpm to 120bpm. This must have gave darlin a big scare! I tried pushing with all my might but somehow the epidural seems to numb my legs so much that I don’t feel the baby coming out at all. Dr Han told me he has to use the forcep to “giak” the baby out since I seems to have to have no more strength to push. That was the longest 5 min of my life. With one big breath, I gave a big big push. Finally at close to 2.40pm, the medical team congratulated darlin and me and I could hear our baby crying. That was a huge relief! I asked De Han confirm it’s a girl right? Haha.. He showed me the baby and the what follows I can vaguely remember. I just remember Dr Han stitching away and I was very very sleepy.

Anyway, welcome to the world, Sheryl Ang Jia Xuan.

Week 1 to 3 : Normal. CNY Period!
Week 4 : Experienced implantation bleeding
Week 5 : Missed menses. Tested, result positive. Went to Gynae, Dr HC HAN at ‘The Private Suite’ at KKH. Doctor advise not to lift heavy goods and stay stress free. No pineapple, coconut and cold water. Appetite started to decrease. Start disliking food that I’ve njoyed before (exp, mushroom, fish etc…). Slight spotting. Supplement given : Folic Acid 5mg, Vit B6 and Dydrogestron 10mg (An tai yao?)
Week 6 : Still no appetite. Went for 2nd appt with Dr Han. Slight spotting from previous week was in fact old blood. Saw baby heart beating. Blinking light on the machine. Baby was 6w4d, measuring 7.5mm. Edd 14th Nov 2008. No morning sickness. However, felt sick int he stomach almost at 5.30pm everyday.
Week 7& 8 : Still no appetite. Went Japan for honeymoon. Was so tired throughout the trip. Felt so cold at Disney Sea! Darlin comtemplating buying bibs but he asked me..so “Mickey or Minnie?”. hehehe…
Week 9 : Appetite slightly better. Heavy discharge from week 7 onwards.
Week 11 : Went to Dr Han for check up. The baby head, hands and legs can be seen! So cute!
Week 12 : Went to do the routine Fetal Screening. I guess most pregnant ladies had went thru this. Didn’t know that I have to keep my bladder full before the screening. Ended up having to dunk a bottle of water after seeing the doc. Went in for the 2nd time and again, baby is notti and kept tossing around and hence I have to wait for the bladder to be fuller in order for the doc to see a clearer pic. Went in to see the doc the 3rd time and doc assess if baby is healthy by measuring the nuchal translucency and also to check the presence of the nasal nose. Doc Kenneth Kwek did an assessment and everything seems alright. Low risk and rate was 1 in 2000. Did the blood test and combined result was 1 in 1675. We are both glad that the result looks good. By the way, baby is 5.5 cm long. hehehe..
Week 14 : Went to Dr Han for the monthly check up. Baby is now 9.1cm. However, bb very lazy and was all curled up in a ball. Only managed to see the bb spine clearly and the heart ppumping at 160 per min. Doc advised to have more meat as the BP is a tad low.
Week 18 : For another round of scanning. According to the sonagrapher, this is to make sure that all of bb’s vital organs are working well. Had a glimpse of bb’s face, feet, heart and even the internal organs. the wonders of technology!The sonagrapher mentioned that evertything looks alright and …. bb is a girl! Darlin says bb looks has his pointed face! mo
Week 20 : Leg cramp! I was screaming away in the morning. The pain is unbearable.
Week 23 : Saw Dr Han again. Informed Dr about the constipation problem. Given Lactus to be eaten on the evening. Hopefully the prob will go away. Baby is getting bigger. We saw bb’s cute butt and legs kicking thru the ultrasound machine. hehe… However, I was advised by doc that I have gained too much weight since last check up. 3kg!! So have to cut down on carbs and sweet stuff..
Week 27 : I gained only 300g! So cutting down on rice and no ice-cream does help! hehe…Everything looks okay at the ultrasound machine. Since i’ve going towards the 30th to 40th week. I will be seeing Dr Han every 3 weeks instead of 4. On another note, baby fair was on at Taka. Went and shopped with mummy and mummy bought so many clothings for bb! hehehe…
Week 30 : Gained 1.3kg. oops… must be the occasional brownies and ice-cream I’ve been feeding baby. Baby is about 2kg now! I informed Dr Han that I still had a slight yellowish/greenish discharge and he did two swab test. That cost darlin almost $80! I thought yeast infection is common among pregnant mum. In this case, the hospital must have earned alot. Dr Han didn’t even informed me the price before he do it leh! haha.. But I guess, at the back of his head he must be thinking, if you are seeing doc at The Private Suite, you should be able to afford lah. haha..Got a call two days later. Nothing serious, it is in fact yeast infection and I was told to insert the Isoconazole ovule for 7 days! Eh, each pill cost around $8 leh!! Argh!! On another note, KKH reminded us that it’s time to pay to secure a bed. Estimated bill size was $3180 to $4450 for a Single bedded Class Ward (Senior Consultant). Part of it can be deducted from the Medisave Maternity Package though (phew!). I guess all these cannot be saved lah.. And single bedded ward also means that darlin will be with me throughout the stay!
Week 31 : Between the the last and this week baby seems to have a growth spurt! haha.. I can feel the very distinct kicks from bb especially just below my rib cage (where her legs are). Sometimes in the night, I can almost feel my whole tummy vibrating.. so strong that when darlin put his hand over my tummy, he can feel it too. Bb..bb..what’s in your mind whole day?
Week 32 : Dr Han says that bb is now almost 2.4kg! Fat bb! haha… Average size is around 2.1kg according to him. Bb estimated delivery date has been bought forward by a week and will be around 3.6kg to 3.8kg when delivered. For myself, I’ve gained 10kg so far and doc says it’s still within normal range. However, a not so good news, I developed piles . I know it’s common during pregnancy, it is not life threatening but it’s extremely unpleasant.
Week 33 : Went back to Dr Han. The pain was unbearable. He referred me to TTSH A&E. Went to the A&E but the doc on duty don’t think that a surgery is recommended. Instead he suggested that he will push the ‘thing’ back into the rectum. My gosh. I still shivered at the thought. It was extremely painful. I was shaking and grabbing the side of the hospital bed when he did it. I think the whole process took about 3 min but it feels like 30min. The doc says just take it as a preparation for childbirth. Gosh I don’t want to go thru it again. By the way, baby is about 2.6kg! She put on 0.2kg in just about 5 days!!!
Week 35 : Saw Dr Han again. Not much complaint except about my leg swell prob. He mentioned it’s normal and I will feel better if I pop up my legs with pillow before I sleep. My mum told me the same thing too. Hope the swell will go down soon. My ankle feels so thick! Dr Han also measured my aminotic fiuld and he mentioned I have a good amount of that. So he don’t expect any induced labour. By the way, baby is about 2.7kg! hehe..
Week 37 : Changed to a Saturday appt. Gosh. The Private Suite is so packed on weekend. Told Dr Han that I often felt breathless and a bit light headed after going to the toilet. My limbs also get tired easily. He says all these are normal cos of water retention and the weight on my tummy. Checked bb. Bb has engaged and I might give birth by the next two weeks. As usual, bb gained weight and is now 3kg. Fat bb! haha.. For myself, I’ve gained 14kg since the start! On another note, the stretch marks on my tummy are so darn itchy!
Week 38 : Dr Han checked for dilation and NO dilation at all. Anyway, I thought it will be painful but not so painful la! I’m been scaring myself. haha.. Baby is approx 3.3kg and I ask doc when can I give birth. Dr gave me the option of induction and say I can admit myself anytime when I feel like it. I ..was like er…. I am in quite a delimma actually. Of cos I would want the normal way of feeling contraction and my waterbag burst and then proceed from there BUT what if bb gets too big and I can’t deliver??? At this rate, bb is gonna be 4kg by the time I am in 40th week. Will bb be too cramped inside? What if bb gets too big and I have to go for c-sect last min? Hmm..troubled! On another note, I’ve gained less then 200g since last week.    

Yesterday was shopping day and shooping with mummy is always the best! I need not pay a single cent! And yea, got the 3 bottles of OPI at 9 bucks each from Lifei. Saw Dawn too! Her stomach is getting bigger! Wow..I can’t wait to see baby Ethan!

I was really active till Saturday evening when i meet the boys, Joseph and Gavin for Sushi. Had an hour plus worth of sushi and decided to head down to Clarke Quay to meet up with Anthony and darlin (who was there to attend a banquet) for drinks at the said cafe. The boys went crazy over the various flavors of Margarita and drinking them as though they were fruit juices. I have to get the photos from Gavin. The guys were crazy! haha..I ended up dead drunk the last time I thought I was sipping juices.

Anyway darlin and I didn’t take too many pic cos they were more interested in drowning themselves with the margarita! haha..