Our first holiday after Kaelyn's arrival

David and I love travelling and we used to travel overseas once or twice a year. We no longer enjoy this mobility now that our angel is here. Bringing her out for a few hours of shopping is already a challenge, I didnt even dare to think of bringing her overseas with us. Our girl is on breast milk but she does not like to latch on direct. So I had to lug my expressed milk in a cooler bag, hot water bottle and my pump machine whenever we bring her out. An afternoon out is like going for an overseas trip, in terms of the number of bags we have to carry.

We finally managed to get away as a family a few days back, just a week before I go back to work. Although it was only a 3D2N at Sentosa, I enjoy the trip very much. And it was really a great achievement. We decided on Sentosa (over the other alternatives like Bintan and Pulau Ubin) because if the little gal decides to make a big fuss, we are still able to "deposit" her with parents and enjoy the rest of the holiday as a couple. But thankfully, she was very well behaved throughout the trip..

Preparation : -

It took me 2 days to pack for the trip - milk bottles, detergent, cleaning sponge, hot water bottle, breast pump, cooler bag, sterilising tablets, diapers, baby's clothes, bibs, handkerchiefs, towels, blankets, beansprout pillow, hat, mittens, booties, baby carrier, toys, milk, baby bather etc etc..... Plus our clothes, swimming gear, track shoes etc etc... Gosh, by the time I get to the end of the list, I had 1 huge suitcase (which David and I used for our honeymoon to NZ for 9 days), 3 haversacks and 2 paper bags. I almost wanted to bring the play pen too! But good thing we found out Rasa Sentosa can provide a baby cot. Phew!

Kaelyn all dressed up for the trip

Day 1 : -
Checked into Rasa Sentosa in the early afternoon. We got a room with pool view so that if we have to stay in the hotel for whatever reason, we still have something to look at. Although the weather was not very good, we were able to go for a swim while the helper and Kaelyn stayed in the room and watched us from the balcony. Later in the evening, we watched the "Songs of the Sea" performance, a combination of musical fountain, laser and fireworks displays. Our gal was mesmerised by the performance and even 'sang' along out loud throughout. It was really funny.

The view from our room

Songs of the Sea musical fountain display and the souvenir shop

Day 2 : -
Travelled around on the beach tram. Kaelyn was complaining throughout because of the heat. Visited the Underwater world with Kaelyn asleep in my sarong. We decided to wake her up in the tunnel so that she can at least look at some fishes and take photos before we leave. We got upgraded to a room with seaview because we complained of the noise coming from the renovation works just above our poolview room.

A happy baby in her new baby cot
A family picture at the Underwater World

Views from our upgraded room

Day 3 : -
Papa brought Kaelyn for a walk along the beach and to look at monkeys and birds while Mama was busily pumping away. Then we all headed to the Dolphin lagoon for the pink dolphin performance. After that, it was home sweet home.

Watching the dolphin performance at the Dolphin Lagoon

Although most the time was spent on feeding Kaelyn, bathing her, waiting for her to wake up from her nap in the baby cot, and waiting for Mama to pump, it was nevertheless a good and enjoyable trip. In the past, we would have visited a lot more places but with Kaelyn around, I have significantly lowered my expectations. I told David before the trip that we should only target 1 attraction a day, which was what we have achieved. And the sea view was a bonus!

First solids

Kaelyn had her first taste of rice cereal at a week after she turned 4 months. I mixed a little rice cereal with my breast milk and tried feeding her with a spoon. Think she was not used to eating out of a spoon, so half of the cereal ended up on her bib and on the floor.... But I think she likes the new taste. Not too bad for a start.

First hair cut

I noticed that Kaelyn started dropping strands of hair around 4 months. Heard many people say that babies will start losing hair during this time. So I decided it was time for me to try my hand at being a barber! David refused to be my guinea pig the last time, so now's my chance!

Result of first attempt on 4 Dec 07, without using a baby comb. Still not short enough.
So the next day, I attempted the second time, this time using a baby comb. My skills are quite good right? I think she looks cuter and less cheeky after the haircut. I get many strangers cooing at her and commenting how cute she is. And following that, they will say "It's a boy right?"... ok, so her hair is now too short for a girl.

Kaelyn is 4 months old!

Another month has wheezed past yet again. Kaelyn is now 4 months old!

At 4 months, she:

• is 6.1kg and 62cm long.

• does not like to lie on her back for long. She'll call out for us to prop her into a sitting or 'standing' position to view the world around her from a different perspective (also see pictures 2 posts before this).

• is now an 'expert' in rolling from her back to tummy (but not the other way round). We often find her on her tummy in the mornings when we wake up. When on her tummy, she seems to want to crawl, often pulling her knees inwards and raising her butt. But her arms are not strong enough yet.

• is able amuse herself by playing with her own fingers and toes, scratching her ears, pulling her hair and clothes etc.

• is able to reach out for objects with both hands when dangled in front of her. And very soon after, the objects will find their way into her mouth!

• likes to watch TV (oh dear!).

• can somewhat recognise voices and faces. She is now beginning to show preference for people. She used to smile at anyone who plays with her. But now, she'll yell when she's in the company of strangers or people she doesnt see often (that would include her Ye ye, Nai nai, Gong gong and Po po).

• is easily distracted by sights and sounds.

• sucks her left thumb, pacifier or my breast for comfort. Whichever she chooses will depend on her mood.

• makes lots of noises. When she's in a good mood, she'll laugh, babble and 'sing' very loudly, which amuses us all.

• is very disinterested in her milk. She can drink only 3 oz and refuse to drink anymore in the next 5 hours!
  

Her character and personality is beginning to show. And I am not too pleased with what I see. She is one impatient, demanding girl! She'll make a BIG fuss, yelling and screaming if she is being forced to do something she doesnt want to. When we feed her or try to make her sleep when she wants to play, her screams can be heard 2 blocks down... Even if we eventually give in to her demands, she'll continue her screams as if she were protesting against being forced earlier on. I hope this trait doesnt stick to her when she grows up!

Going back to work

Time really flies. I had thought that 5 months maternity leave would be a long time. But 4 months have passed in a flash, and I realised I have not cut my hair, gone to the dentist, exercised etc etc... So many things on my to do list are still undone. And I will be going back to work in 3 weeks time...

I have begun to dig up my work clothes, and realised that they still do not fit! My maternity clothes are too loose and big for me now. I am now neither her nor there. I either have to lose enough weight to fit into old clothes or buy new ones. I figured out the latter would be more practical. Ok, another item to add to my to-do list.

I am so not looking forward to going back to work. Not that I dont like the job. It's just that I have been away for so long, I cant imagine having to start all over again, having to warm up my engine and keeping up with what has happened during my absence. My accounting vocabulary has long been replaced by baby's vocabulary of 'milk-milk', 'pom pom', 'mickey mouse', 'peek-a-boo' etc; the accounting standards have been replaced by Book of ABCs, Red Riding Hood, Chicken Little; my mind is now filled with 'When's the baby's next feed', 'When's my next pumping session', 'Why's the baby screaming', 'Should I read Red Riding Hood or show her the ABC / 123 flash cards'... Gosh, I am so NOT ready for work!

I will also really really miss Kaelyn. I will miss giving her her daily morning bath, feeding her, playing with her, reading to her, bringing her down for walks in the playground, I will even miss her screams......

Kaelyn dear, will you miss Mama as much as Mama will miss you?

Our little ... terror?

When I first set up this blog when Kaelyn's still in my tummy, I named it 'Our little angel', hoping that our gal will be a sweet cutie pie. But it turns out that she is quite far from what I had hoped for. Now, David and I call her 'Little terror'. I agree that babies do have a right to cry as that is how they communicate. But to scream and shout at the top of her lungs when she is just tired, unhappy or hungry is not what I had in mind of a good little baby.

My parents suggested bringing baby out for a walk last Friday. I thought it was a good idea, so off we went to Vivo City. Everything started off fine but as soon as we had bought out lunch and were ready to tuck in, Kaelyn started making noise. Then it turned into a cry, and then she started screaming away. I think everyone in the Food Court heard and was looking at our direction as I frantically tried to calm her down. I carried and rocked her, put her in my sarong, sang to her, tried to feed her etc etc. Nothing works! I had no choice but to whisk her out of the Food Court amidst stares from people I passed by. She finally calmed down when we were out of the Food Court. I guess she didnt like that place and screaming was her only way of protesting. The rest of the day was spent either feeding her, calming her when she started her nonsense again, or worrying when she will start yelling again...

I really hope this wont happen when David and I bring her to Sentosa for 3D 2N stay at Rasa Sentosa.

Kaelyn, can you promise Papa and Mama you will be an angel at Sentosa?

Kaelyn is 3 months old

Kaelyn turned 3 months old yesterday. Looking back at the past month, which has yet again zoomed by very quickly, she has developed quite a lot.

At 3 months, Kaelyn:

• is 5.8kg, and about 60cm long.

• sleeps for longer periods at night, usually from 11pm (after her last feed) to about 7 - 8am the next morning. Great for all of us!
  

• is able to stretch her feeding times. Now, she survives on 5 feeds a day and feeding interval can stretch up to 5 hours sometimes.

• makes various sounds like 'ah-guu', 'ahh', 'eh' etc. I even heard her said something like 'muh muh' once. Is she calling me? She also laughs out loud when we play with her.
• 

• recognises my voice. When I call out to her, she will turn towards my direction.

• can grasp objects when brought to her hand, but for a while only.
  

• can swing her hands at a toy to hit it.

• starts to drool and play with her saliva by blowing bubbles.
  

• able to roll from her back to her tummy, and lift her head 90 degrees

• is easily distracted. She drinks lesser nowadays because she will be curiously looking around instead of drinking her milk. It's a challenge feeding her now.
  

Kaelyn's entertainment

I am amazed by how Kaelyn (and I believe all babies) can be so preoccupied by toys dangling above her head. For 30 mins to an hour (at times), she can stare at them, wave her arms and legs in excitement and sometimes even squeal in delight. And this can happen everyday.

It first started off with a music mobile at her cot, a gift from my aunt. This is her entertainment when she wakes up in the morning and in the middle of the night (even if it is not moving), and when no one is free to attend to her.


Seeing how successful it was in entertaining her, we started to bring out the rocking chair (with toys hanging), and the play gyms.

This play gym, a gift from my cousins, is used when I rest in my bedroom and need to keep an eye on her at the same time. Only our king-sized bed is big enough to accommodate this.


I use this rocker during play time, and she doesnt want to be in a flat lying down position. Good for when I am in the living room reading the newpapers or watching TV. A gift from my colleagues.


Lastly, another playgym from friends. We just brought this out today and it works as well as the rest. Also used in the living room, in front of a separate baby rocker during play time.


Thanks to all who gave these as pressies to us. They have done a good job in entertaining Kaelyn so far. Our lives have been made more peaceful with them.

Our helper

Remember I had reservations on getting a helper? We had wanted to get a helper to mainly do the household chores as we didnt expect them to be able to cook proper meals and definitely not to take care of our precious little one.

Well, my Filipino maid has been with us for 1.5 months now, and I must say we are very pleased with her. Not only can she perform the household chores to our expectations, she can whip up 2 proper meals a day, and care for our baby.

Household chores
I think most maids are able to do general housework so I shant go into details.

Cooking
Initially, my mum-in-law and mum would show/teach her how to prepare some dishes. By the end of the week, she is able to cook a meal consisting of rice, 1 vege, 1 meat and 1 soup. Although the dishes are just simple fares, I am impressed that she is able to pick things up so quickly, and do a proper job at that. I think she can cook much better than me now!

Caring for baby
I must admit she is better at handling babies than I am at times. I think this is primarily because she loves kids, and also she has a 4 year old daughter. She's good at coaxing Kaelyn to sleep and playing with her. We ever left Kaelyn alone with her a few times while we zipped out for an hour or 2 to get our groceries. This is something which I never thought I'd do with other maids. But if it is for a longer period than this, I still have my reservations.

Of course there are times when she makes mistakes, but as long as she gets the job done and has the right attitude, we have no complaints. We find ourselves lucky to have her with us. Hope she stays this way for the next 2 years!

Gastric attacks... and the potential cure

I was hit by a series of severe gastric attacks since 3 weeks ago. I dont know how and why I get them. I never had gastric before and my diet is mainly fish and vegetables. I think I have eaten more fish in the past 3 months than I had in the whole of last year!

The first attack came suddenly about 3 weeks ago. The stomach pain was quite bad but it subsided after a while. I thought nothing much of it but David suggested I see a doctor. The doctor told me it was colic (I thought only babies get colic!) and gave me some mixture.

The second attack came a few days later, in the middle of the night. It was so unbearable that David took me to a 24 hour clinic, and the doctor gave me a jab for wind. We suggested to the doctor whether it could be gastric cos the previous medicine for colic didnt help. The doc gave me medicines for both gastric and wind. I think the doctor is a newbie as he doesnt look like he knows what's wrong with me, and yet he made me $100 poorer. And worse still, I couldnt sleep the whole of that night as the pain persisted.

It got so bad in the morning that David had to send me to Changi General Hospital's A&E. The doctor there told me it was gastric and prescribed 4 types of medicines. The medicine helped but I still got occasional pains, especially at night. These pains greatly affected my milk supply.

3 days ago, a potential cure was in sight. David bought a supplement from GNC called 'AbsorbAid', which the staff there said would help gastric problems. And true enough, for the last 3 days the pain did not come back. I am keeping my fingers crossed... Seems like 3 doctors cant match up to 1 GNC staff!

The mathematics of breastfeeding

If I hadnt chosen to breast feed Kaelyn, I guess I would have breezed through motherhood and really enjoy my 5 months maternity leave (ha, like real). But since I have decided to go down this path due to all its benefits (contains all the required nutrition for baby, bonding, blah blah....), I'd very much like to get it right and make it less tiring and 'painful' for me..

I've gotten the latch on to work and the supply seems to be sufficient for the time being, but I am beginning to have doubts today. So far, so good. But I cant seem to figure out the mathematics of it:

Equation 1: Amt expressed w/o latch on - Amt expressed after latch on = Amt baby drank

I usually express about 4oz without latch on. Managed to get about 1oz after feeding. That would mean she only drank 3oz right? But it cant be cos that would not be sufficient for her to go through to her next feed. I usually give her 4 - 4.5oz via bottle to last for the same duration.

Equation 2: Amount expressed = Amount available for baby to drink if latch on

Sometimes I only manage to express 3.5oz when Kaelyn's needs 4.5oz. That would mean my supply is insufficient to meet her needs right? But when I latch her on, she manages to get by until the next feeding and I can even express perhaps 0.5 - 1oz.

Equation 3: Amt of time taken to finish 4oz via bottle = Amt of time taken to drink 4oz via bf

Kaelyn usually takes 20 - 30 mins to finish her bottle. But via direct breastfeed, the timings can range from just 15 mins on 1 breast to 30mins each on both breasts! How can that be?? Does it mean that both times the amount she drank are the same, depending on how hungry and sleepy she is? But that's way too wide a gap..

The equations above dont seem to be right. Maybe Theresa is right, I cant put my accounting cap on for this. But if babies feed more efficiently on the breasts than on bottles, then how do I explain the hour-long feeding sessions with Kaelyn?

Still trying to figure out how breastfeeding works.. Perhaps my supply is really not sufficient for her? Perhaps my pump is not efficient enough? Perhaps she was having a growth spurt? Perhaps she fell asleep and was just using my breast as a pacifier? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.....

One big milestone

Something exciting happened yesterday. Kaelyn rolled over from her back to her tummy on her own! I thought this would only happen end of 3rd month or in the 4th month, but she did it in Week 10 (2 months and 1 week).

We were at a friend's place when this happened. I was so excited when I saw Kaelyn's achievement that I ran out to tell David of the good news. A few of my friends didnt quite understand why I was so excited over this seemingly small matter. But to a first time mother, this is really great big news!

From now on, we have to be careful where we place Kaelyn in case she decides to perform the 'stunt' again.

Venturing out with Kaelyn

David was on leave 2 days last week and we had some plans on how to spend those days. We wanted to bring Kaelyn out to the Botanic gardens on one of the days but it was raining. So we made a trip down to Plaza Singapura instead. I would say it was a successful attempt in bringing the little one out. I was initially afraid she would wail throughout but surprisingly she didnt! However, we spent quite some time locating the nursing room and feeding her. We also had people coming up to comment on how cute she is and asking whether she's Japanese! I think it was the cap she wore that made her look like one. We even managed to have lunch and dinner out, and did some shopping.

A day in Kaelyn's life.. and mine as well

It has been 8.5 weeks since I delivered Kaelyn. Time really flies. When I look back at how I have spent my last 2 months, I realised I have only been bathing, feeding, changing nappies for our little princess. Whatever spare time in between will be spent bathing and feeding myself and sleeping. Occasionally I do have the luxury of checking my emails and posting blogs. Also, the only times I step out of the house is to go for my checkups, bring Kaelyn to the clinic, go to parents' homes...

It sounds very boring here, but time just whizzed by before I could really feel it. This is how we spend our day:

• Between 6 and 8 am: Awaken by Kaelyn's cries. She's either hungry (which is the most likely reason), really wet and wanting a change of nappies, or just calling someone over to talk to her.
• By 9am: She would have been fed. Plays for around half to one hour. This is the best time to bring out the flash cards and teach her whatever I want.
  
• Bathes between 9 - 10am. Offer her gripe water and some warm water.
• 10 - 11 am: She may nap for a short while. This is when I can catch up on my sleep - but usually not long.
• 10.30 - 11.30am: 2nd feed 3 hours after the first. After which is lunch time for me.
• By 12 noon: Kaelyn is supposed to have her lunchtime nap of 2 hours but she always cannot get past an hour. My maid and I would have to take turns either talking to her or carrying her around the house.
• 1.30 - 2.30pm: 3rd feed.
• 2.30 - 4.30pm: I try to put her to sleep again since she didnt have enough of her lunchtime nap. Sometimes she can sleep for as long as 2.5 hours, but most times, she just managed half an hour at most. So will have to either play with her, talk to her or carry her around to appease the princess.
  
• By 5pm: 4th feed.
• By 6pm: Clean her and change her clothes.
  
• By 8pm: 5th feed. This and the subsequent feeds are the most difficult as she would struggle and bawl at the feedings. She'll have lots of wind in her stomach. So most of the nights are spent struggling to calm her down.
• By 11pm: The last feed of the daytime.
• In the night between 12 and 6am: She'll wake up once for a feed, no fixed timing.
• The time she wakes up for the midnight feed will determine her wake up time in the morning.
  

And then the cycle starts again......

This routine is really far from ideal. I'm still trying out variations of Gina Ford's routine in her book 'The new contented little baby book'. Hopefully I can get something to work for Kaelyn, even if we bring her out.

Kaelyn's developments

Kaelyn is growing so fast each day and I really have to keep track of her growth in case I miss out on anything. So far, I have noticed the following changes when she moved from month 1 to month 2:

• She no longer wants to be swaddled. In the initial weeks, swaddling is very comforting to her but now, she finds it too restrictive as she likes to swing her arms and legs.

• Her cries are different. I almost can differentiate the hunger cry, calling for attention cry and uncomfortable cry. In the first month, all the cries sounded similar - actually they were all screams.

• She likes to look towards her left.

• She smiles and laughs when you play with her. Sometimes she even makes noises other than crying, like 'ahh', 'eh' etc.
  

• She swings her arms and legs when playing. Sometimes she'll move her limbs and whole body as she laughs. Shows that she's really happy!

• Her hands found their way into her mouth. Initially I thought that was a signal for hunger, but realised she would also do that as and when she feels like it.

• She seems to know when you scolds her. She'll quieten down and look at you for a while. But then continue her screaming again!

• She loves to bathe. In the first few weeks, she yelled throughout her bath. But now she enjoys kicking and splashing around such that it is getting difficult to hold her down.

• She is getting quite strong. When you hold her in an uncomfortable position, she'll struggle and kick so hard you are almost wrestling with her!