I love hiding under the blanket !

Peek-ka-boo! I see you !

Mouth Wide Open

big bed... nice .... hur hur hur

Like sister, he likes to sleep on the bed and not the baby cot. =|

飞越迷雾 ... Breathe

Seeing the current haze in a different light ... 2 songs came into my mind:


歌曲：飞越迷雾
歌手：周华健
作词：厉曼婷
作曲：大泽誉志辛

没有花  蝶儿不知归路
不见月  星光也模糊
世间事  笼罩层层迷雾
恍惚间  听见有人哭
你迷了路  觉得人心不古
山高水低看不见来时路
你迷了路  爱恨悠悠忽忽
峰回路转逾走不出白云深处

飞越迷雾 把生命看清楚
明明白白掌握你的路
经过跋涉之后你总能够
拨云见日  重回到最初

不见爱  大海是串串泪珠
没有风  船儿谁来渡
世间人  夜来时阵阵孤独
黑暗中  你左盼右顾
你迷了路  觉得人心不古
山高水低看不见来时路
你迷了路  爱恨悠悠忽忽
峰回路转逾走不出白云深处

飞越迷雾 把生命看清楚
明明白白掌握你的路
经过跋涉之后你总能够
拨云见日 重回到最初

你迷了路  觉得人心不古
山高水低看不见来时路
你迷了路 爱恨悠悠忽忽
峰回路转逾走不出白云深处

飞越迷雾 把生命看清楚
明明白白掌握你的路
经过跋涉之后你总能够
拨云见日 重回到最初

飞越迷雾 把生命看清楚
明明白白掌握你的路
经过跋涉之后你总能够
拨云见日 重回到最初



Song: Breathe
Singer: Midge Ure
Written & Composed: Midge Ure
Producer: Richard Feldman

With every waking breath I breathe
I see what life has dealt to me
With every sadness I deny
I feel a chance inside me die

Give me a taste of something new
To touch to hold to pull me through
Send me a guiding light that shines
Across this darkened life of mine

Breathe some soul in me
Breathe your gift of love to me
Breathe life to lay 'fore me
Breathe to make me breathe

For every man who built a home
A paper promise for his own
He fights against an open flow
Of lies and failures, we all know

To those who have and who have not
How can you live with what you've got?
Give me a touch of something sure
I could be happy evermore

Breathe some soul in me
Breathe your gift of love to me
Breathe life to lay 'fore me
To see to make me breathe

Breathe your honesty
Breathe your innocence to me
Breathe your word and set me free
Breathe to make me breathe

This life prepares the strangest things
The dreams we dream of what life brings
The highest highs can turn around
To sow love's seeds on stony ground

Breathe
Breathe

Breathe some soul in me
Breathe your gift of love to me
Breathe life to lay 'fore me
To see to make me breathe

Breathe your honesty
Breathe your innocence to me
Breathe your word and set me free
Breathe to make me breathe


yr and myself have been staying in the air-con room most of the time now.
Seriously, I don't know when this haze will end but what I know is our life should not turn hazy because of it. hmm.

Confinement Lady II Review

Her background in brief:

• Malaysian, born in 1956 in KL, now stays in Pontian
• Has 4 children 
• Dialect: Foo-chow (Fu-zhou) but converse mostly in Cantonese and Mandarin
• Has vast experience in taking care of babies; speciality: taking care of twins 
• Good cook, used to help out dad in hawker stall
• had prior training in Mount Alvernia Hospital
• was working in an agency for 9 years prior to freelancing after getting more word of mouth services

=)

• understands benefits and woes of breastfeeding; able to massage to relieve engorgement ( she managed to squeeze as much milk out from my breast as the other using my Avent single electric breast pump within the same time frame, haa...)
• understands the frustration as a mother during confinement - sweating, breastfeeding, etc
• Excellent cook - knows all types confinement food and can mix and match ingredients well, cook according to your taste - not too salty or sweet; I got so sick of soup noodles for breakfast that she tried to change types of noodles and do her style of "rotti chennai" for me. 
• clean up the kitchen properly - mop the kitchen after cooking 
• sweep and mop the floor on alternate days 
• able to soothe the baby from crying; understand baby's temperament fast  
• did not take afternoon nap (actually I am quite ok with her taking short naps in afternoon but since she did not, I leave it to her); watch tv for 1-2 hours at night and then sleep around 11:00 pm (sometimes even earlier depending on situation) after the night feed
• prepare food at night for tomorrow (where necessary if she thinks she needs more preparation)
• takes initiative - refill water for washing hands, drinking (even refill with hot water if she deems too cold for usage in the morning); clear rubbish bins for toilets and kitchen everyday
• made small cotton balls from the big roll while watching tv to help save costs buying packets of ready-made ones
• hand wash baby (definite) and mummy (if small amount and the washing machine is not full) clothings 
• clean and tidy up the whole kitchen thoroughly the night before she left

=(

• very chatty - will yak non-stop sometimes about her past confinement experiences, her family etc...(lol, but at least I got my mum to entertain her; being someone who needs more personal spaces than others, I really suck at small talk when I am not in the mood, especially during sweaty confinement period, not to mention breast engorgement sometimes.) 
• feel that she can be quite manipulative and shamelessly proud of her capability sometimes.
• Doesn't look as pleasant as the previous - but I am ok, no point having someone who looks nice but  can't deliver up to your expectations. sometimes we just can't get best of both worlds.
• slack slightly towards the last week (sigh, being human beings ... I can't expect full 100%) 
• take my part time helper for granted and get her to help even when she can do herself
• not sure if she drank some of my vsop as she poured one cup to boil with chicken and herbs but the amount looks lesser than before. I asked casually why it was so little, she answered in an offended tone that the alcohol will evaporate and she can't drink since it will be extremely heaty for her. However, she complained to my mum that she was having ulcers the next few days. Big question mark here. 

Last day of confinement, it's time to slog again......

So here I go again: Daily Routine

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Happy First Month yr !

yr lazing & stretching on the cl's lap:
hey mum, don't I look cute in this new outfit?

We didn't hold a 1st month bash cos we were all so tired and hub was down with Dengue. So we only had a mini immediate family gathering at my mil's place and my mil did the praying ceremony for yr to mark his first month. 

yr, please don't blame us ok, I know we did one for sister but we will make up to you with a big one ok? 

Roller Coaster Week

It has been a roller coaster ride for me for the past week:

• yr's bottom is still red despite applying creams prescribed by the PD. He is using Neoderm and Desitin cream (the blue packaging, and then followed by the strongest - purple packaging but still remain reddish) My gal uses Drapolene cream and is completely fine with it. It was suggested by the cl that it's better to use the cloth diapers. Imagine we have to change his cloth diapers every time he peed and pooed. Of course now the cl changes but once she leaves, either I have to be the super woman or use disposable diapers and kept throwing them with every slight tinge of poo in it as yr's bottom is very sensitive. 
• yr's jaundice level has stabilised but is still around the mid range level. doc said is ok, just needs to go for another check next week. I am still feeling uncomfortable with this. 
• hub was down with Dengue and when he was on his way to recovery, he was hit by severe rashes (don't know what kind of rash- just big patches and super itchy and the cause). Went down to Mt Alvernia A&E in the middle of the night and was given a jab. Puke shortly after the jab. 
• got chided by hub even for the slightest thing and I can't speak to him unless really necessary. Guess both of us are just stressed.
• yr's appetite increases - gotta breast feed him longer and I just feel so worn out just by breast feeding him.
• feels yx is not too attached to me anymore after staying in my mil place since my delivery, kindda depressing but i know this is just a passing phase. She is ok with her little bro but still display some jealously when we fuss over him when he cries. 

Crazy. I need some "me" time. Perhaps I should consider bottle feed (with my breast milk) instead of latching on. 

..........................

Jaundice Results

Level as at 4 June 2013: 11.60 =(

Doc advise us to alternate breast milk with powder.

Sigh. My girl didn't latch on well due to my csect wound (and partially my fault - due to my incompetence in getting her latch on) and this time, with experience, my boy is latching on well and enjoys breast milk BUT now I have to alternate with milk powder due to jaundice. What an irony.

Now my boy looks a little chao da (due to the daily "sun-tanning") which makes me even more frustrated!! >.<

yr down with jaundice =(

1. 20 May: 8.2 - initial test result
2. 22 May: 6.5 - after phototherapy
3. 27 May: 17.4 - admitted immediately to hospital for 2 days  (phototherapy + on ebm and similac formula alternatively)
4. 28 May: 9.9 - not low enough to be discharged
5. 29 May: 9.2 - discharged but need to do another test next week

I reckon it's daddy's blood group (O+) that is causing this base on the following observations:

• yx's blood group which is the same as mine (A+) did not have jaundice, neither did myself nor my bro who is also in the same blood group.
• My elder niece who has the same blood group as her dad (ie. my hub's bro) also suffered the same.

Then again, the above observations does not fit into the "Risk Factors for Pathologic Jaundice"

Doc suspect is "breast milk jaundice" since:

• he is on total breastfeeding 
• he is not a pre-term baby 

There is a third type of jaundice called late-onset, or breastmilk jaundice. This type of jaundice shows up during the second week of life, and peaks around the tenth day or later. It affects a very small percentage of infants (between 2% and 3%, depending on how you define ” jaundiced” – usually a level of 5-10mg/dl). The bilirubin count can remain elevated for weeks or even months, but will eventually level out at adult levels of 1mg/dl. The diagnosis is usually made in a healthy, thriving infant, and only after all the pathologic causes of jaundice have been ruled out. Often, this type of jaundice runs in families, and breastfed siblings are likely to be jaundiced as well. No one is sure why this type of jaundice occurs, but there seems to be something in some mother’s milk that increases the reabsorption of bilirubin, or decreases the liver processing of bilirubin. When the baby is temporarily given formula, either as a substitute for, or along with mother’s milk, the levels drop quickly, rising again as the baby returns to total breastfeeding. Even though we are not sure of the cause, what is important to remember in cases of late-onset jaundice is that the baby is not harmed in any way by continued breastfeeding. There has never been a case of kernicterus associated with this type of jaundice, or any detrimental after effects. Because we know the well-documented benefits of breastfeeding, the baby should not be denied the advantages of human milk, given the fact that the slightly elevated bilirubin levels will soon return to normal levels without any intervention. Once pathologic causes are ruled out, nursing should continue. Sometimes babies are taken off the breast for 24-48 hours just to make the diagnosis of breast-milk jaundice, though this is seldom necessary. If your health care provider wants to go this route, and the levels drop significantly, then breastfeeding should be resumed.- Source: link

So my guess is somehow right - perhaps due to the blood that runs in my hub's family, the blood is resisting some substance in the breastmilk that prevents bilirubin from breaking down. 

Ok, anything bad = dad's the cause; anything good = mum's the hero! =D

What we are doing now to reduce jaundice level:

1. Doc's instructions - sun baby 9am and 5pm daily, 10 mins per session (to cover baby's eyes with handkerchief or the special eye band from hospital)
2. Traditional method (by confinement lady and mil) - bathe baby with ng kee ( available in medicated halls) twice a day

Hopefully everything goes well. I can't wait for next Tuesday to know the jaundice level. Confinement lady said he looks better now, but I need some proof from the doc. urgh.