Sleeping angel

I am tired out from shopping. Please don't disturb ok?

I do like watching Jo Ern sleep. Firstly, that's when she doesn't require any attention. And she does look adorable all KO-ed out!

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Sleeping routine: Wake up around 8am, morning nap around 11. Wake up for food and then afternoon nap. Sometimes evening nap too if environment not too noisy otherwise she will kaypohchee look around and we can forget about getting her to sleep. She can nap for 3-4 hours straight when at home, though at my parents' place naps are much shorter. Bedtime is when I sleep, around 10.30 or 11pm, which is actually rather late for a baby. Next year I resolve to sleep earlier and wake up earlier, and not be forever late for work. :)

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I oi-oi and don't disturb mummy

Xmas present

What a fantastic toy! Thank you Ah Koo and Ah Kim

Taste and see if yummy or not

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Hubby and I don't celebrate Christmas but my sis-in-law does. So Jo Ern got her very first Xmas present. I love it! It's so colourful and there are lots of things you can do with the components. Jo Ern... well she does prefer the box at the moment!

Legs work, check

What's in here? Maybe some toys for me

Long stringy things are always lots of fun

At long last, Jo Ern has finally gotten the hang of crawling. It's been about a month since she discovered she could MOVE. and this week she started moving decently fast. She's going places! Well, normally places she's NOT supposed to be. Heh. She gets this happy look on her face when she spots a target... why is that so often the remote control, a handphone, electrical wires, my book etc??

Well already

Yellow is my colour, maybe? What do you think?

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Finally this bout of sickness seems to be over (fingers crossed). After finishing the Augmentin antibiotic, she was fine for two days and then started having high fevers of 40C. Took her to the paedi again, who said we'd better do a blood test rather than keep stuffing her with antibiotics. To my horror, paedi later called to say Jo Ern must be admitted to a hospital. Apparently her white blood count and platelet levels were way above normal and further tests were urgently needed to find out what was wrong. Paedi suspected Kawasaki disease if not just a severe bacterial infection. Oh my poor baby!

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Went to the nearest hospital which happened to be a government one. They did another blood test and an x-ray. The blood test showed levels that weren't as high. Doc said those was fine for a baby and sent us back with another round of Augmentin. I was just happy to be able to take Jo Ern home! A private hospital would have admitted her already! But I was apprehensive - wondered if a government doc is good (definitely much cheaper than paedi). I was concerned that the fevers would return after THIS round of Augmentin.

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A week later... Augmentin finished... mummy anxiously checking forehead ALL the time...

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And now, ANOTHER week later, I think ok la, Jo Ern is all well again!

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Went out to 1U today after weeks of staying home. Good times are back. :)

The birth story

A cutie-pie to brighten up my days

Pre-op
Exited the Damansara toll smack into the morning jam. That made us late to the hospital, for such an important appointment too.

Day 1

Had the c-section. 2 needles, one for the drip and a spinal one for the local anaesthetic. I was scared of the spinal one as I thought it would be a huge needle (confused with the ones used for epidurals). Turned out it was less painful than the one for the drip. Had some nausea right after. Hubby came in all togged out in blue plastic gown and shower cap. I was happy to see him - however much I get annoyed with him, he is my rock during hard times.

Gynae had said the surgery would be 'a walk in the park'. It actually was! Shortly after, Jo Ern was delivered and whisked away for a quick clean. Then pedi brought her to us - I only had a glimpse of damp hair still matted with some blood. Gynae finished up - took a bit longer as he saw something at my ovary and did a biopsy. I was shivering violently from the cold towards the end.

Then it was back to the room. The nurse brought cleaned-up Jo Ern and I was quite at a loss how to hold this tiny baby! Tried to breastfeed, not sure how successfully.

Couldn't sleep well that night with a drip and catheter in place. Hubby slept on the sofa in the room.

Day 2

Drip and catheter were removed. When I stood up to walk to the toilet OMG... the PAIN! Nurse said it was the stitches stretching. If doc hadn't advised me to walk more for faster healing, I'd have immediately lay down for fear of injuring something! Pain was only there when I stood up though, and it got better as the day wore on.

Day 3

Pedi said Jo Ern had jaundice and had to stay at least another 2 days. I decided to stay on as well. In a way, that was a good thing as my abdominal muscles was still sore and the motorised bed was very useful when getting up.

Suspected my boobs were harder than normal that night.

Day 4

Milk supply definitely in and I was in discomfort from the engorgement. I'd been quite worried if I'd been at home! At the hospital it was easy to get advice from gynae/midwife/nurses. Another plus from extending my stay.
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Day 5

Discharged. Bill was quite scary... Went to my parents' house for my one-month confinement. Jo Ern pooped and I had to call for my mum. Hehe. I had no idea how to operate a diaper!

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After a week, took Jo Ern to the pedi for a check-up. I actually enjoyed going out for that trip. Until pedi said her jaundice levels were bad and she had to be admitted. It was heart-wrenching leaving my tiny baby at the hospital. And worse to reach home to see her baby things and not have her there.

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Eventually all the jaundice was tested to be merely breastmilk jaundice. And she's been with me every single night since. :)

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OK what else... oh, I was back to normal weight at the end of my 2-month maternity leave. :) To sum up, the c-section was easy and healing was fast. BUT... I didn't expect the scar to be this thick and in an inconvenient location. I can feel it when I lie on my tummy. If I had known, maybe I'd have tried natural delivery. Still, in hindsight that's easy to say!

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A good friend of mine asked if having a baby was worth it. I will say, oh definitely YES.

My pregnancy story

A month before the arrival of little Jo Ern!

Because I want to remember. Heh.

I'd conceived about 2 years before but that one didn't end well. So this time I was very cautious about letting anyone outside family know. Later it was difficult to bring up the subject (can't be saying 'BTW I'm pregnant' out of the blue!). I went for a 2-week business trip when 3 months pregnant - nobody knew, so I didn't get any special treatment regarding seats, toilets etc. Luckily my colleague was gentleman enough to help hoist my luggage around. I vomitted once after too much orange juice, and luckily again it was after work so the client wasn't alarmed.

Pregnancy... was comparatively good. I only started wearing maternity clothes after 5 months. A colleague asked me how many months I was and was so surprised when I said SIX. The discomforts of pregnancy also only started around then.

What bothered me most was being hot. The aircon in the room was always on, and I'd drag a chair to sit right in front of it. Sometimes without a shirt on, to hubby's consternation. :) Second would be carpal tunnel syndrome. The tingling in my fingers was so bad it sometimes kept me up at night. I had to forcefully make my hands do what I wanted them to, and dropped things all the time. Third would be the metallic taste in my mouth. I'd be eating all the time trying to cover the taste. *blekk*

Best thing was... no stretchmarks! I have bad skin and I only applied cream occasionally (since I read they don't really help), but somehow... none!

Birth plan

A large fibroid was right on the baby exit route. Gynae said I could try a natural birth, though there was a high chance baby would get stuck at the fibroid. Then a c-section would have to be done. I decided to dispense with the maybes and jump straight for a c-section.

So, c-sect scheduled 2 weeks before due date. A fortnight less of being pregnant? Great! And I loved planning towards a specific date rather than having to wait and wonder. I went to the dentist, banks and whatnot. And lots of nice meals with hubby. :)

Next... the birth story.

'Toys'

I see kiddie toys priced at well over 3 digits which I suppose I will buy one day. For now, she's perfectly happy with these 'toys'. And my parents' place has some real hand-me-down toys, of course.

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I like this blue cover toy

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And this white sauceplate toy. The black one beside me is also not bad
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Mummy's bag always has toys inside
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One of my favourites... plastic bag toy! This one has chestnuts inside
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Caution: Baby must always be supervised when playing with plastic bag toy. Chestnuts are no-nos, supervise very closely and remove all once baby puts one into mouth. If must snap photo first, QUICKLY snap.

Bathing Jo Ern

Presenting.... a bedraggled wet rat

I finally bathed Jo Ern by myself! At 7 months... heh. And I still wouldn't have if hubby hadn't gone to Nepal for a week. Anyway it's a lot easier now that she can sit. I was obviously too 'kancheong' to take photos the first time. But the poor little one looked so bedraggled and sad I had to take some pictures subsequent times!

STILL sick, and mummy's down

Aiya the baby had fever again last night. This bout of illness stubbornly refuses to end, sigh. Oh neglected to mention that I've been sick myself for two weeks now. Hubby is coughing too, luckily not as badly.

I reached the end of my previous assignment so had to prepare handover, and get ready for the new assignment. So far so bad... sigh again. The client site is in the heart of busy KL and traffic is horrendous. The carpark is quite a distance away. There is no fridge in the office and I worry that the milk I'm pumping isn't cold enough by the time I get it home. The client blocks lots of internet sites like email and facebook. Blogspot isn't blocked, but whatever I do is on a big screen which is basically on display to anyone with the cramped seating there. It's only been 2 days and I haven't even gotten to speed with the work yet, and here I am with a litany of complaints. Arggh. Maybe things will improve. Somehow.

Anyway, thinking of little Jo Ern always cheers me up! Here's a video of her just doing her thing.

Still sick

Poor me is still sick

Jo Ern still has fever. The last 3 days were cycles of high temperature, fever medicine, temperature, medicine. Went to the pediatrician this morning (the previous visit was to a GP at the 24-hour medical centre). I learned quite a bit:

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1. Don't give fever medicine for temperatures below 38C. The body generates this heat to fight off germs.

2. After 2 days, if the germs are not killed off, normally other complications will develop. Jo Ern now has an ear infection, cough and runny nose.

3. No need to panic that fever will cause brain damage. That only happens at 41.5C.

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Maybe Jo Ern will have recovered by now if we had followed the correct procedure. Ah well, we live and learn.

Sick today

Today I got fever. Please do not disturb.

Found little Jo Ern very warm early this morning. :( It's the first time she's had a fever and I was slightly panicky when the thermometer read 37.8C.

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One thing amused me this morning at the medical centre. Hubby asked me to carry Jo Ern so he could fill in the registration. Almost immediately, he turned to me and asked me to fill it in instead. Coz the first column 'NAMA' got him stumped. He said he was about to fill in "Porcupine"... hahaha!

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Although Jo Ern's hair no longer sticks up like a porcupine, she's still her papa's little Porcupine!

Glamour photo

Well, sort of. Tried to use photoscape to blur and whatnot. Post it here anyway la.

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Jo Ern smiles a lot these days. I don't catch them on film much though. Either she changes to a fascinated stare when the camera comes out, or looks at me wanting to be carried, or (mainly) I am just too slow!

Hands work, check

Jo Ern is getting dexterous these days. Within seconds her little hands grab and stuff things into her mouth. This new skill, coupled with the shorter time she will sit still, makes going out to dinner quite challenging. I'm thinking we should sometimes just pack the food and eat at home!

Grab plate

Shake plate. **we quickly remove plate from her in case she breaks it**


Grab and bite sauce plate **we quickly remove sauce plate**

Hubby: Jo Ern, cannot grab anything on the table ok?

Jo Ern: OK papa, I bite my own blanket only

10 secs later: Grab placemat. Hubby:.....*speechless*

Genting trip 3

Love this view from our window!
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Was in Genting for the Deepavali weekend. This place is like hubby's private playground! They offered a Maxim's suite again this time. Good also since I can't do the activities I used to like - watch movies, swim, relax. Luckily I can still go for nice meals though they are at risk of being cut short if Jo Ern is cranky.

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I am on holiday again

Speaking of cranky, Jo Ern is quite a crybaby these days. She enjoys being carried but put her down and WaaaAAA! I could only relax when she was sleeping.

I cry cry and disturbed Mummy a lot teehee
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Other times I had to find ways of entertaining her. Put her in front of the mirror, on the floor, gave her objects to gum... aiyo pretty tiring. Looked forward to hubby coming back to the room.

Oh hello there

Ahmmm ahmmm

Eh Mummy? What are you doing?

One milestone though, tried putting Jo Ern to stand and she could! Before this my mum said not to let her as that might make her bow-legged. Then I saw MC's blog on little Sean http://www.mchyl.net/blog/?p=372 and figured since he can pull himself up, Jo Ern must be ready to stand on her little legs too!

Wheee look at me!

Deepavali

This lady seems nice, I like

We were invited by hubby's staff for Deepavali. One of the ladies there plucked Jo Ern out of my maid's arms when rice was served. I am always taken aback on the rare occasions when strangers do that, but have yet to think of the proper thing to do. But Jo Ern was perfectly fine with people of a different skin colour. There was no sound from her while we had our lunch in the dining room. After we finished and came out, we sat on one side of the living room while she remained happily with our hosts on the other side. It was quite funny to see a whole row of Indians (didn't manage to capture on camera) with the one Chinese baby. Obviously racism is NOT something people are born with!

Bolster

Bolster? What bolster, papa?

Hubby wanted to know why his bolster suddenly migrated downstairs when it has lived contentedly upstairs all this while. Uhm I dunno, does Jo Ern know?

Hehe... the bolster is in case Jo Ern falls backwards while sitting up mah. Actually this bolster is pretty useful. For me to lie on while reading, to put at the foot of Jo Ern's bed to prevent her rolling off (this baby rolls ALL over the place), to make her cosy when she is falling asleep. Even though I don't sleep with one, it's mine now! Mwahaha. Poor hubby is making do with the new polyfibre one that is too light to fulfil any of the functions I have in mind.

Ah Mah's Birthday

Jensen koko got funny colour pants...

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Last weekend we celebrated my mother's birthday which was 2 weeks earlier. Hubby, whose family observes 'pantang-larangs' very strictly, has gotten used to my family selecting ANY convenient day! I previously wasn't aware that some people won't celebrate after the actual day.

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Jo Ern was sleepy and cried a lot. She only cheered up when Ah Mah and Ah Kong were free to carry and play with her. Next time it's Ah Mah's birthday, cannot cry like that ok?

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Earlier on.... Booo! Booooo!

Venue was Daorae at Kota Damansara. It was overall a hit and miss:

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Miss: Stingy with the side dishes - they brought very little for the 12 people dining, went slow on refills and had the cheek to say 'no more' after some reminders. I only realised much later that we didn't get the complimentary fruits. They must have forgotten as it was crowded that night.

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Hit: Service was enthusiastic - waiters were helpful on the seating arrangements. After dinner, cake was presented nicely (photo). Waiter put the candles on the cake, lit them and even wanted to sing Happy Birthday! Of course, the biggest plus was being together as a family. :) Happy birthday to my beloved mother!

Why cannot move one

(Grunt)... Up, up, goes backside

POM! Backside drop. Fail again

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Maybe this one will skip the crawling stage? Poor baby... Mummy is amused though!

New sleeping arrangements

These colours are ok what. I can still sleep like a baby.

Jo Ern has been moved to her own bed for a month now. I didn't post earlier because... well just look at the riot of colours! Hehe. Nothing matches at all! I wanted to get new bedsheets first but hubby has been working weekends. Finally I thought what the heck, might as well have a laugh at this next time.

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I'm relieved Jo Ern is fine with the move. I'd always worried that one of us, while half-asleep, might injure her by accidentally putting our weight on her little body. Not to mention the discomfort of sharing the bed with someone who sleeps like this!

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Her mattress was originally a small one. Once she started to roll, she kept ending up on the floor, getting stuck in between her mattress and the wall, her mattress and ours. I was so tired executing multiple rescue missions throughout the night! Changed to a super single mattress first. Too big. Tried this single mattress next. PERFECT. *happy*

Sit, Jo Ern

Sit already, Mummy. Now what?

Last week Jo Ern couldn't sit without flopping alternately backwards, forwards or sideways. Now, suddenly, she can.

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She still doesn't crawl yet even though she has been trying for a long time. Her legs brace and kick but only succeed in moving her little butt up. The front part of the body remains stubbornly in place! She can 'move' by rolling though and I do need to keep an eye on her. At least now I can still read my book while doing that. Heh.

Very 'ACT'

Mummy says if I turn out very 'ACT', those genes all come from Papa

Hubby loves to say this and that person is very 'ACT'. That translates as 'putting on airs' or other equivalent local phrases, 'very action'/'LCLY'. Of course I have to keep reminding hubby that he can be extremely 'ACT' himself! Though I must say that underneath he is actually very soft-hearted.

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Found this photo of Jo Ern looking very 'ACT' and have to post it up. Like father like daughter...

Fierce hunter I am

I stalk my unsuspecting prey
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I pounce!

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I clamp my jaws around my prey!
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Nothing can escape me, I am a fierce hunter!
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Then I cry-cry want Mummy to carry

Eating adventure: Still starting

Look mummy, I'm eating!

Foods introduced so far: Brown rice, pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, broccoli. Quantities are still minuscule, about 1.5 ice-cubes worth. Her tongue must still poke out ALL the time. She's not spitting anything out so I take it that she IS ready for food.

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Next on the list: Millet, peas, banana. Mummy's got work to do this weekend! Lalala.... I do like the process of thinking about and preparing food! I've been making and storing in an ice-cube tray so that later it'll be easy to pick and choose the cubes for the day.

6 months old today!

Hello everyone! This is big me...

And this was little me.

So kids out there, you must drink lots of milk ok?
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Little Jo Ern is 6 months today! Oh how time flies.

I guess this is a good age. She's old enough to have settled down and not cry all the time. She's too young to be naughty so I don't have to worry about discipline yet. In fact, she's just the perfect age to be a cutie-pie. :)

Hmm she does look bigger, I think. How come she's been the same weight for 2 months...

Eating adventure: Starting

I have a chair... ahmmm

Preliminary

Checked out Nestle baby foods. Looks OK but all varieties contain cow's milk. Snob mummy decides to keep to human milk for now. Heh.

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1st try

Hubby was sick so didn't manage to visit Ikea for a high chair. Got hubby to hold Jo Ern while I fed her. First meal, brown rice pureed with milk. No interest from baby subject. Human chair impatient to get back to his computer. Rating of first try: Fail

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2nd try, one week later

Ikea high chair acquired. Second meal, pumpkin pureed with rice and milk. Aha better reception this time. Jo Ern's tongue keeps poking out when she's supposed to be swallowing though. And she's more interested in the chair, the cup, the spoon and her fingers compared to the food itself. Still, food finished if you don't count the bits that ended up on nose, fingers, diaper, chair, floor etc. Rating of second try: Not bad!

Mr Bear

Oh look, a bear
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Lemme check if it tastes nice

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Wait ah, I confirm first
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Eh, tastes VERY good!
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So yummy! Must eat! Chomp! Ahmmmm!