Mozzie Free

Oh, Hi!!

Have a good weekend and stay away from mozzies!

Laughter

Bubbles laughed last night.

She has always smiled and gurgled.

Last night she laughed a genuine laugh for an extended period of time. I made a funny noise and she responded with a hearty "Hur Hur". I made another sound, and again I got a "Hur Hur", as she lifted up her little chin towards me.

This laughing conversation went on for quite a while, amusing Roboman and I.

Such simple joys a baby brings!

2 months check

Bubbles went for her 2 months PD check today.

Given that I have heard many comments like "Are you (over)feeding her formula?", "Is she only 2 months old? I thought she's 5", "She's really GROWN!" etc etc. I asked the Doc if she was too fat.

She said a big NO and asked "Haven't you seen really fat babies?"

Heh

At 5.9kg and 57cm, Bubbles is at the 97 percentile for both weight and height. The good Doc said that fully breastfed babies who eat and sleep well tend to grow a lot in the first couple of months, and then their physical growth will taper off later on.

She also said we're really lucky that Bubbles is already sleeping through the night! And me the silly mummy was asking how to get her to sleep longer =P

My good little big bubs!

Just thinking

I have many thoughts running through my mind right now as I count down to the end of my maternity leave.

My life changed 2 months ago. I am now a mother. I have a new body (shape). I'm married to a father. I have a daughter. I have parents who are grandparents. I have new responsibilities.

Spent some time reflecting on Psalm 91 today.

What will the future hold? Only God knows. And in Him I shall trust...

... as I enjoy my smiley little bub

(wearing a cap her great grandaunt knitted for her)

A day in my (current) life

Taking a break from posting photos of Bubbles all over :)

I really should be taking a nap now but am sneaking in this post. Looking at this blog which has morphed into a baby-centric one, it has become apparent that my life has changed.

Although other non-baby things have been happening - almost losing my diamond ear stud at the hairdresser's, trying out new recipes with my helper, making new style corsages, and dining at new places - when it comes to penning down some thoughts in the limited time that I have, baby rules.

So I thought I would share (for anyone who is interested in mummydom) what a day in my life is like right now, with a 2-month old. The times here are rough estimates as Bubbles is not a robot!

7am: Bubbles wakes up for her morning feed. I am usually still the super sleepy non-morning grouch, so feeding will take place as I lie down. Roboman would at this time also be up and getting ready for work. He would, by habit, check the little notebook next to me to see if I had a bad night (ie. Bubbles waking up in the middle of it). If she slept through, he would mumble something to her along the lines of her being a good baby. Then with a kiss, I will bid him goodbye and wish him a blessed day. After Bubbles' feed, I would burp her, and we would both lie in bed trying to wake up properly.

8am: While Bubbles is still half asleep, I would have my breakfast, which will include a mug of Ensure milk and 3 pills - Probiotics, Calcium, and Fish Oil. Then, depending on my mood, I would ask my helper to prepare a fried egg, fish/pork rice congee, or cereal (Kellogs Special K!) with yoghurt.

8.30am: Bubbles' Bath Time! This is one of her favourite times of her day. I would clean her face and mouth, give her a little hairwash, and a nice bath. Then, my freshly bathed and changed baby will be brought to her Play Area. I will play a CD for her - a different one everyday. So far we have done a variety of jazz, classicals, Chinese pop, baby lullabies, Christmas songs, and even Filipino hits (my helper's). If I didn't wake up for breakfast earlier, I would have my breakfast as she plays on her own. If not, then I will play and read to her. She's now a little chatterbox - and loves it when I 'converse' with her. She will respond with a variety of sounds and knowing looks, and when she gets excited she will wrinkle her nose, raise up her knees, and give a little laugh - terribly cute!

9.00am: Diaper change and feed time again! My milkbar opens. (I've noticed that she tends to get hungrier earlier after a bath). After burping and playing with her a little while more, I will put her down for her morning nap. Ok the process is often a little more complicated than this, as she will be tired but still want to play, resulting in some fussiness. When she does fall asleep though, I will do my chores like take a shower, go on the internet or download photos of her from our cameras. If my mum is around (she comes by pretty often), I will use the time to run errands - post a letter, buy groceries (twice a week - one time to the wet market, and another time to the supermarket), deliver presents, get a haircut, get my nails done etc etc.

12noon: Diaper change and feed time! The flow of feed-play-sleep for Bubbles happens again, afterwhich I will have a quick lunch. After eating, I'll whip out the pump and do my first pump of the day. I decided to time a pumping session around lunch time in preparation for going back to work. Sighs. Not a pleasant thought, but a necessary one to plan for!

3pm: Diaper change and feed time. Followed again by a shorter play time and nap. This is when I have my tea. I need all the extra calories these days and get hungry ever so often! So tea is usually quite substantial - pasta, congee or beehoon/macaroni soup - leftovers from previous meals. Then it is once again pump time.

6pm: Diaper change and feed time. This is when Bubbles stays awake for longer - usually long enough till Roboman comes home. If the weather is good, I sometimes take her out in her stroller or in my Baby Bjorn for a walk. At dinner, we will 'sit' her at the table with us. A nice rocker/highchair hand-me-down does that nicely for us. She usually enjoys this and would babble to us as she surveys her surroundings from higher ground.

8pm: This is when her cluster feeding starts, where she will demand to be fed every hour. I will change her diapers and latch her on, then Roboman and I will take turns to converse and play with her. Bubbles tends to be very 'conversational' during this time. Roboman will have all sorts of conversations with her, and the little one will respond accordingly, with accompanying facial expressions and body movements to make her points understood :)

9pm: Roboman attempts to give Bubbles the bottle after another diaper change. I usually prepare a bottle of 150ml of expressed breastmilk for her. Sadly, her protests against this has become fiercer and fiercer these days :( I usually stay out of the room when this takes place, and cry along with her :(

10.30-12midnight (Depends on how long the bottle protests takes): Diaper change and final latch-on feed for the day. When she falls asleep, I will do my final pump to empty my boobs before going to bed. Depending on how much milk she took from the bottle, she will sleep mostly through the night. We usually get 5-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep. If she drank very little bottled milk, then at around 3am she will wake and demand to be fed, and will usually suckle while half-asleep.

So there - this is what a usual weekday is like for me. I squeeze in naps, craft work, computer work and housework/cooking supervision when Bubbles sleeps. Basically, "me time" happens only when she is snoozing.

It has been mostly good though. I'm enjoying my dear baby very much!

At Play

Bubbles is a morning person (unlike her mummy). She's the chirpiest after her morning bath and thoroughly enjoys her playtime, with or without her mummy around!

Talking to her Mr Lion friend.
Oops, I drooled a little, Mummy!

With Mini Lion :)

Lost in her own playgym world...

My little sausage roll

How can I bear going back to work leaving this little one behind?

:(

Relaxing...

Bubbles is now really fun to play with. She responds to people talking to her with different gurgly noises.

She is experimenting with her voice and I get a thrill from identifying new sounds she makes each day :) Some are soft and gentle, others are loud and boisterous. Each one comes with accompanying facial expressions.

It is hard to photograph or video record her though. Many times when I whip out a camera, she stares at it and often shuts up in awe!

Being Ill

So I woke up yesterday feeling unusually tired. My boobs also felt full and painful. Thinking it was because of engorgement, I went to pump after delivering my morning feed. Unfortunately the pain persisted even after the pump, and I started to get the chills.

Soon, I realised that I was running a temperature and my boobs began to feel even more painful. I immediately called an SOS to my mum, asking her to come over to care for Bubbles so that I could see a doctor.

Thank God for mums - mine cancelled her facial appointment to rush over. She arrived seeing me shivering under a duvet.

The doctor's diagnosis proved my suspicions right. I have been given a 5-day dose of antibiotics. My immediate concern was whether I could continue breastfeeding, and my doctor assured me that I could.

Still, I am now pumping 4 hours after I take an antibiotic pill and throwing that batch of milk away. (I have been told that after 4 hours, stuff in the stomach gets into the rest of the body's system) So less of it gets into her. I am not sure how much that would help, and it is painful seeing the milk go down the drain, but for her I have been doing it.

Mastitis

Am feverish now :(

Mothering an infant is full of challenges!

Night Bird

One night this week, Bubbles had her usual last feed at about 11pm. Strangely, she didn't fall asleep after having her milk. Instead, she was wide awake and babbling. She wanted to play!

I obliged as I thought perhaps she hadn't had enough milk to last through the night. At 1am however, she was still very alert. I latched her on again, but she still remained wide awake after drinking.

To cut a long story short, she was up till 6am! (Guess who else had to stay awake)

Thinking back of her day. I figured out why:

Sleeping on the tummy!

As I ascertained that her neck is strong enough, I tried that day to let her nap on her tummy. I was so happy that she slept much sounder and longer. I rejoiced that I didn't have to soothe her when she startled, and thought 'Yay' more time to do my own stuff.

Little did I realise that more (and better) sleep in the day could result in such an energetic night baby.

Thankfully, we managed to reverse the situation the next day by keeping her awake a lot more in daylight!

The Bottle

This is a bottle of expressed breastmilk (EBM) that Bubbles refused to drink last night :(

150ml gone to waste! (Mothers who do this will know what this feels like)

Bubbles has always preferred latching on (me) for her feeds. From the start, we occasionally gave her the bottle so that she can get used to it. Then, about 2 weeks ago, we started her on one bottle everyday, fed at night by her Daddy. She would protest but still drink, and then insist on latching on after, even if for a short while.

Last night though, she screamed murder when Roboman tried to feed her. She screamed and writhed so violently that we thought she was hurting somewhere. So we changed her diaper to a different brand, and checked her for any causes of distress.

In the end, helpless with a screaming baby in our hands, I decided to latch her on. What do you know, she suckled so blissfully, as if the ruckus just before that never happened.

As a friend puts it, I'm going to have a very boobful social life if this continues! Eep

Play Area!

Since she crossed over to her 2nd month, Bubbles has been staying awake more often. I decided then to set up a play area for her, since we have not done up her nursery.

I made it comfortable and colourful. New toys are introduced to her every few days. She is already starting to show favourites.

Now, she is able to amuse herself for about 10-15 minutes (on a full stomach and clean diapers) with no adult interaction. I am careful to respond quickly to her when she 'calls' for attention though. She's quite reasonable and will show her appreciation when someone comes to her by smiling :)

Grobag!

A pretty one sent to me by Aunty Stella :)

See how it allows my arms freedom of movement!

Flash (Name)cards

What can you do with old namecards?

Turn them into flashcards of course!

Bubbles may be too early for this, but it was fun making them.

She does seem to like the red triangle!

Tummy Time!

@ 6 weeks 1 day old

"Look Ma, I got my cheeks off the ground!"

Favourite New Toy

Enjoying her musical book of nursery rhymes with daddy.

Snot Buster

I probably spoke too early about Bubbles sleeping through the night.

At around 3am these few nights, she would wake up uncomfortable. Her breathing would sound difficult, and you can tell that she has a blocked nose.

Poor Bubs would wriggle and make pitiful noises. Her eyes would be closed and she would swing her arms around, occasionally making a swipe at her nose and mouth. Once in a while, she would let out a little small sniffly cry.

The paediatrician gave us a nasal spray and a nose sucker. The poor girl screamed her head off the one time we used the spray. After all, it is kind of yucky to have something sprayed up your nose when you are half awake in the middle of the night. Now, I just use the nose sucker to try to get out any loose snot.
Hopefully she gets out of this phase soon. We've already resorted to having the air-conditioner automatically turned off in the middle of the night, and once even letting her sleep in her little rocker chair. The reclining position seems to help her breathing. Poor baby :(

I too, want uninterrupted sleep again.

The Light

She is like a little plant.

She enjoys looking towards light.

Be it from mummy and daddy's big bed...

...or from the little rocker chair inherited from Little Missy...

The Dinner Date

Roboman and I were given a chance to go on a dinner date.

The parents offered (with much pleasure on their part), to babysit Bubbles for one evening.

They came over the night before, and I orientated them to all the gadgets they might have to use. Things like the steam steriliser, the bottle warmer and the various types of bottles and teats. I showed them where my expressed breastmilk is stored, and gave instructions about how much and when to feed.

They were also shown which diapers to use (some are now too small), and where diaper changing neccessities are kept.

On the evening of the dinner date, Bubbles woke up late for her feed. We 4 adults were hanging around waiting for her to wake up, as I planned to feed her before leaving. Our reservation was for 7pm, and our little girl woke up at 6.30pm! I went ahead to latch her on anyway, then passing her to her grandparents for a diaper change as I took the opportunity to dress up.

I put on my contact lenses, patted on some make-up, and wore a pretty top that I couldn't have worn with a nursing bra.

At the door, I decided to wear a pair of 4 inch heels. Boy did it feel good after not wearing heels for a couple of months! I actually felt pretty and didn't smell of milk.

It was a lovely dinner - good food and time alone with the husband with no interruptions. Except for interruptions of the mind! I couldn't help but keep thinking of how Bubbles was doing, and perhaps spoke of her once too often during dinner. I guess that's what it means to be a mother!