Day out

I brought Dylan out to Orchard yesterday to meet up with Nov09 moms, met them for the 1st time. It was a good lunch and got to know more friends and indeed, it was my 1st time nursing in the public! Managed to conceal using the MIM sling. One con was that Dylan got really hot and bothered after awhile due to the fabric and he didn't want to nurse anymore and decided to sleep instead. After lunch at TCC at Isetan, I walked to ION. Unfortunately the music in MOST of the stores was very very loud and Dylan didn't like it at all and in turned he became pretty cranky. I ended up empty handed and decided to just head home since I was quite tired even though it's just 4hrs out of home. So I headed home. Yt picked Shawn up from school last night and I managed Shawn from dinner then on. Timing was quite right, I had dinner one-on-one with Shawn while Dylan was still taking his evening nap. By bedtime, it was pretty well adjusted and managed to tuck both to bed by 10pm. Did some laundry and logged on.

Next week another moms' lunch is planned at Hashinbo. I am considering to go, if weather is good, since I am using sling and managing the stroller at the same time.

1st trip to wet market

After I had breakfast and after bathing Dylan, I brought him downstairs to the market. He drew a lot of attention from the aunties. He was busy looking around, I think he was mesmerised with the lights. Towards the end, he started to whimper and cry. Luckily I was about to finish my marketing and I quickly wheel him back home. He had milk and had his morning nap. It wasn't for long but in between I managed to get the groceries cleared from the kitchen counter, plus having some time to boil the pork stock for my lunch/dinner. I managed to cook beehoon soup with kailan, tofu, pork and fish ball. A little bland but I am not bothered to add more soy sauce.

We both had a long afternoon nap of about 2hours. While he was napping, I quickly cook up dinner. Cooked pork stew, and blanched some kailan and heated up the soup. Anyway, YT said dinner was good and Shawn didn't complain until towards the end of his dinner, as usual he wanted to fool around.

Photos from today

Little Dylan as of today... side view, a nice face profile and an exploding diaper ...

Venturing futher

Since last night we had a late night, Shawn woke up at 7.30am. YT got him ready and got him the milk, they were off to school. Obviously Shawn was a happy little chap since he get to spend his morning short hour with his papa. I didn't get a good sleep coz from 4-6am, Dylan was snorting away and kept me awake by asking for feed

While I was at home, little Dylan was cooperative in the morning. He had a long nap in the morning, I was able to get a lot of housework done, cleaning the floor, the laundry, boiled soup for dinner, cooked Shawn's grains and chucked into the Tiger jar. Pretty good start for the day. By 12plus Dylan woke up and had his feed before I headed to Bugis to join YT and G for lunch. Dylan was dozing in the sarong all the way to Bugis till towards the end of my lunch. Then went to nurse him while the big boys went to SL SQ. Then I headed to Raffles City with the kid in the sarong, napping. At one point, I felt like my legs were going to break and so were my shoulders. So I decided to take a break for a cuppa and cheesecake at TCC. Couldn't walk any further. By then it's already 5pm, after nursing him awhile YT and I headed home to pick Shawn up.

Tonight I poached cod fish with brocolli for Shawn's dinner while Shawn and YT went downstairs to buy OUR dinner home. Shawn ate 90% on his own tonight and of course, I was very very happy. Finally, it's getting somewhere! Meanwhile, Dylan turned cranky and kept asking for milk. He couldn't lie in his cot for more than 15min, at least he was waking up every other 15min!!! He was drank, slept a bit, pooed and screamed.. it went on and on until 10.30pm. Finally I get to sit down for longer than 30min at one go. Going to catch some sleep before he wakes up again

15Dec09 Shots with the brown "boxing" mittens

I bought these but didn't get to use them, until yesterday. I decided not to cut his nails as he was sleeping, so I put on the mittens.

Dylan is 1mth old!

Dyland has turned one month old yesterday!

11Dec09 Little Muscleman

10Dec09 Getting a little high?

8Dec09 The unwilling participant of tummy time

Photos from today 8Dec09

Dylan's full month on 5Dec09

We had Dylan's 'full month' lunch at home. No guest, just the handful of us savouring the yummy curry chicken cooked by Auntie Tay, our confinement lady. Angku kueh were bought from Bengawan solo.

Some updates

For about 3days Dylan was having what seems to be growth spurt. During daytime he was latching on every now and then. He didn't really sleep enough during his daytime naps, causing him to be very very cranky during evening hours. Since his intake was a lot, so was his poo. Our confinement lady insisted that it must have been gas and applied Ru Yi oil without my consent. Well, what is done is done.

Today we had some visitors. A few of my colleagues came by. Shawn was at home. He was ok seeing them at first. But when we asked him to bring the guests to see Didi, he started whining and cried. I thought it was due to jealousy. I told Caroline the massage lady about it and she said he probably thinks that the visitors were going to take Didi away. Reason being, he has the 'responsibility and ownership' of Didi now. In fact nowadays, when Didi cry, this is what he says, "Didi don't cry, Kor kor here". Sometimes he says "Kor kor lai" because my mum used to tell him to 'come over' to look at Didi. In the afternoon, Gavin and Karen dropped by. Shawn played the little host while enjoying himself watching The Lion King.

I'm still not spending much time with Dylan, except clocking those breastfeeding hours. I should start his daily tummy time and some 1 to 1 chitchat and singsong time real soon. I tried to bottle him feed him today. He took in 60ml while I fed him, all at one go! Yay!

Update on Dylan

When Dylan just got back home from the hospital, he was draining me dry almost every hour on the 1st night. I was darn tired! Things had improved and Dylan has been drinking on a 3hrly interval. Well, I have no complaints or whatsoever.. just that sometimes he falls asleep during feed and I would have to patiently wake him up with all sorts of methods. I have not introduced bottle to him yet. I started pumping only 1wk (diligently) after we got home after the mastitis scare. One of the days, I woke up feeling a little sick. In half an hour upon me waking up, I checked my temperature, it was 38degC. I quickly popped in 2 panadol, fed Dylan while I was shivering and then quickly went under the blanket to rest. It was a very horrible feeling. The fever went off by noon and I was back to feeling normal. Anyway, now I pump twice a day, yielding excess of about 80-120ml in 5-10min and I pull the brakes. It also depends how well he had drained me during the feed before I pump. I don't want to overproduce. And Shawn is drinking as one of his feed, in the afternoons in the weekend or night feed on weekdays. He seems happy drinking it, he says it is nice. So what more could I say ? :)

I just started Dylan on tummy time today. He could lift up his head a bit while turning from side to side. Actually since day2 he could turn his head left to right while lying on his back. We noticed it while we were at the hospital. When we got back about 2weeks later, he was busy twisting himself around while on the back, which brings us to warn the confinement lady to be more careful when placing him at the edge of the bed when preparing him to bath!

Just today, for the first time, he took an afternoon for almost 5hrs, with an interval to wake up to drink for about 10min and going back to sleep. And he had gone back to sleep again. I hope tonight he would sleep for a longer interval.

Dylan Ooi - My birth story

It's been 2wks since Dylan was born. We had decided to induce to bring him into this world earlier than he should be. His due date was 25Nov but I was the one having all sorts of funny stuff so, we decided to do it just right on time on w38.

On 11Nov:
11am Admitted to hospital

11.15am Did the enema to clear the bowels and waited for Dr Yang to come by.

11.30am Dr Yang came and did a check and I was still about 3-4cm dilated. Since I was still not in labor, after poking the waterbag, she put me on drip. Before she left, she said this, "It's your last chance. If you want epidural, you better take it now. Else later it'd be too late."

12pm Dr Yang left and we were waiting.

1pm YT went to have his lunch. That was when the contractions start to kick in. It's was pretty quick and I was clenching the pillow when it peaked. Boy was it awful?! Nurse came in and asked if I had wanted epidural, or GA or gas. I said no.. I wanted to endure. Stubborn eh?!

1.3opm YT came back and I was practically angry at him asking him what took him so long... :)

1.45pm Nurse came and asked again, I said ok, I'll take the gas.

2-2.31pm, Dr Yang came by and she checked, I was about 7cm dilated. However, I was already wrenching in pain. Felt like wanting to pass motion and I kept saying I needed to poo! Midwife did a check and said, I was still about 7cm. They called Dr Yang to come back to the labor ward. I think I was screaming and kept insisting, "No, I cannot wait. I must push now". The pain was unbearable at my groin. Nurses replied, "Wait for Dr to come. She needs to wait for the lift. So wait for her to come" It seemed forever to wait for her to come by. When she was here, she did a check and I was about 8cm. I heard her saying, "Something is not right". I don't know what she did but then anyway, it seemed minutes later, I kept saying, "I need to push now!" She did a snip and I was told to push. 1-2pushes and baby Dylan's head is out and 3rd push the body is out. Then I don't remember having to push the placenta out. I did ask, "Is it over yet?" and I heard a chorus of reply of yes :)

Baby was crying on top of his lungs and midwife placed him on my right. That little guy was wriggling about while Dr was trying to cut umblical cord. Then they did some clean up. Awhile later I looked up and it's 3pm

3pm Midwife passed him over for me to latch him on. He did a pretty good job

4pm After nurse cleaned me up, I was wheeled to the single bed room. Had apple tart as the 1st meal of the day. I whopped up the tart and milo. I was damn hungry

As for the rest of the evening, I just lied there and watch TV and slept. Nothing much could be done, until 8plus when I came down from the bed and went to the the toilet on foot after lying on the bed for the whole day.

Inducing tomorrow

Ok, we have decided! If there is no action today, I would induce by poking water bag tomorrow. I had called up Dr Yang this morning and spoke to her. She told me to have a good supper before 2am, fast, admit into hospital at 11am. She'll see me at about 12pm and poke the waterbag and we'll wait. She guarantees that the baby would be out before her last clinic session.. whahaa which means before 5pm. Wish me luck!

Another Wednesday baby on the way!

Real stuff?

Last nigth I slept at 1130pm. Woke from 230am to 430++. I had 10-15min interval of mild regular contraction. Walked ard the room/house but didn't seem to be reduced. Finally I was too tired to stay awake. Then next, I woke up at 6am with pretty much the same pattern n intensity and went back to sleep till 7 plus. I decided to take a day off to cover back the sleep that I lost. I ended up not sleeping but decided to see Dr Yang today. Went on CTG, showed some contraction during the course of 10-15min. She did a scan and realised that baby is facing up (sunny side up, just like Shawn). That also contribute to more sore on my back. She told me to fly to the hospital if the pain intensify and increase in frequency, else baby would fly out :) Anyway, I decided to come home and rest and relax 1st. Would see how and decide later if I would want her to induce by poking my water bag. If baby turns face down, I could deliver in 2hrs, else it would take a longer time as sunny side up baby is more difficult to push (like Shawn) :)

My next appointment with Dr Yang is 16Nov (provided I don't delivery by then!) Heeee

Another visit...

Today mum and I went to Taka for lunch, met up with YT. On the way there, I had a bit of contraction but there wasn't any 2nd wave. At the clinic before seeing Dr Yang, I was on CTG. 5minutes into CTG,I felt nauseous. I beeped for the nurse and told her that I needed to change position. Later dr came in and said that it's due to the pressure of the uterus that causes nauseous. Dr Yang commented that I should just walked into her clinic 2days ago when I was having contractions as I could really be in labor (which I thought it was pretty much still bearable)! I got an earful from her as baby movement count were not that fantastic (as I was just telling her). But today he's back to normal, as CTG shown. She felt my tummy with her hands and said, "Hey you are having contractions. What if you you really deliver in my clinic!." She did a check and declare 3-4cm, ready to go. Should everything is status quo, I'll see her again on the 10Nov09 i.e. next Tuesday. YT is having a wk course which ends tomorrow. The request was that for baby to be out only after his course ends. So.. who are we to decide on this? Wahahaa let nature takes it course, indeed....

w37

I went for checkup yesterday afternoon. Dr Yang said I am 3cm dilated and cervix is very soft already. She said anytime now, so better be careful from now on. If there is any blood "show" streaks, any contractions, I better get going to the labor room! Anyway, then I went to Taka for snack before walking around to get some last minute stuff. Couldn't walk long. So by 5pm I was queuing up for taxi to pick up Shawn.

Came back home and packed up the hospital bag. Today I went back to office for half a day and would be working from home now on.

w35 visit

Saw Dr Yang on Friday afternoon. Weight gain wasn't what she had expected so I had to lie down there for about 10-15min on my back for CTG to monitor baby movement. Mei Yun was there with me to keep me awake... :) All is well. And I would be seeing her again 10days from then on 2Nov. After that we went to Taka for teabreak and I went on home to pick up Shawn from school.

Now that I'm coughing, darn.. I'm refraining from medication. Hopefully it'll be gone in a day or two. Still have to pump up the kgs that I owe in 3rd trimester. Perhaps I'm eating too healthily nowadays ahhaaaa

W34 checkup

I went for my regular check up today with mum. Baby is weighing at approximately 2.3kg now. Dr Yang said he's not fat, on average and on the tall side. Baby was busy kicking around and sticking out his tongue and lapping in the aminiotic fluid when she's doing the checkup. But she managed to get to the right angle and I had a good side view of the little one. Based on physical check, she said that baby is low and almost in engaged position. Well, I hope not too early as I'm just at w34 only. She still says that #2 would end up looking more like me just as she's seeing Shawn now... hehehee. As I asked about my own weight gain, I have added 16kg to my pre-pregnancy weight, versus when I had Shawn at this w34, I had gained 14kg but numerically higher than current pregnancy. She added that if I want baby to be more chubby, go on and have durian. She had already given up the dip stick test during the regular visit, since I had already passed my recent OGTT, I should be clear of GD. As for StrepB, this time round I am test negative. Means the antibiotics that was given to me during Shawn's delivery worked on me. Sounds good!

Passed OGTT

On 1Oct, it's Children's Day. Shawn stayed with YT while I dragged myself out of the house for the OGTT. I got to the hospital and had to drink the grossly orange fizzy drink and wait for 2 dreaded hours. No scanning was done during the visit just physical and heartbeat check because it was an adhoc visit and not part of the package.

Well, thankfully I passed the test. The clinic called me on 2Oct to inform me that I passed, much to my delight!

Getting there yet ?

8more weeks to endure!
Legs - Getting heavier. Even a 15 min walk up and down the stairs/slow would kill
Abdomen - How do you like getting needle poking feeling from the inside? This guy is pretty active and obviously he doesn't know the concept of night and day!
Pelvic - I could feel the pressure down there as the baby is pressing on my bottom. I got help over the week, so in a way things seemed better for my pelvic. Next week is back to square 1!

I have been getting Braxton Hicks... sometimes it could be very annoying, not so much of pain yet! :)

Visit at wk29

Visit to Dr Yang on Saturday. I'm now tipping the scale at 62.6kg! OMG!!! Anyway, baby is doing fine. His height had shot up and Dr Yang commented that he's not fat, just nice. Weight wise too... he's 1.3kg now at 29wks. Meanwhile, I'm feeling the pressure on the pelvic as the baby descends. On Saturday he was head down, face back. Daily, I'm not sure where is his position but I know I can feel my organs being squashed and misplaced inside me! :)

Some maths here...

My Pre-pregnancy weight 50kg

Current add on from pregnancy 10kg
Shawn (if asked to be carried) 14kg ++
Laptop bag on Fridays/Mondays 5kg (approximate)
Total weight max 29kg

% weight added on on Fridays/Mondays is almost 60% of my pre-pregnancy weight!
That explains why I can't tire out by the time I reach home/office on Fridays/Mondays even though it's just a very very short time on my feet.

Wk24

Baby is doing well, weighing app. 640g at wk24

I was sick since last Friday. Bad bad flu that knocked me out for days. Took two days MC on Tue/Wed. Then went back to work on Thrus. And I got approval to work from home on Thrus PM and today. Am thankful for that because it's flu season in the office. Better be safe than sorry...

Visit on 11July09

We went to Dr Yang on Saturday. My weight gain is scary 3.3kg in a month and now I am at 58kg. I am still showing sugar traces in urine. Dr Yang mentioned that I can't run away from that. Anyway she wouldn't make me go for another OGTT test. Perhaps at 7months or so she'll review this case again. Meanwhile baby is doing well and he is at about 360g now. Initially he was facing my back. After some pushing from Dr, he turned around and faced us. During the detailed scan, he was putting his fingers on his nose covering part of the face. She managed to get a slightly blurred picture of his face since his hand was still in front of his face. She commented that she felt that the eyes portion look more like me. And she thinks Shawn's eyes too looked more like me.

I had another kopiC on Sunday... Add on to my coffee count.

Bread day

Had a tuna sandwich and a cup of medium decaf latte this morning. Then lunch time, I felt lazy to go out so a few of us decided to just order McDonalds. I had a Mcspicy meal with Milo. Indeed a bread day

Coffee Count

The list :
1. Numerous cups of decaf of coffee during weekend coffee session
another cup of decaf latte from Spinelli's. Perhaps it's physcological
2. 1cup of Yakun Kopi C (caffeinated)

New pillow

Last week I had trouble sleeping well and having neckache when waking up. Probably the old pillow and the pregnancy factors. So on Saturday I went pillow shopping with Steph. I ended up buying a Denton side sleeper pillow. Well, the price is less than $100, close enough. Hahahaa.. I had never bought such an expensive pillow in my whole life anyway. It better be good.. So far it has served me well :)

Triple Test result is out

Triple Test result is Low risk. Yay!

Visit on 11June09

We went to Dr Yang on Saturday. I gained 1.7kg from previous visit. Dr Yang said I still have traces of sugar in my urine. So, even if I had passed my glucose test, she thinks that I am having GD anyway because baby is on the FAT at 16w 6d. However she said this, "I don't think it's your diet problem. It's just inate, your genes." Well, we'll just have to manage it.
Head circumference 13.2cm
Femur length 2.3cm
Abdonimal circumference 11.7cm

Maggi Mee

Last night we had dinner at home.. a peaceful one because Shawn slept at 8.30pm. Anyway, then at 11pm, I asked for Maggi Asam Laksa (since there's no Penang laksa!). Unhealthy but well, I needed something to snack on.. Oh well, excuses, excuses, excuses

Being a caterpillar

Yesterday was eating spree day. I walked back from Expo with Joanne after Motherhood fair.
12pm Pork rib Kway Teow lunch
2pm Splurged on Sunkiss from Spinelli's
3pm Snacked 3pcs of tau sar peah
4.30pm, 2 siew Mai and a char siew pau
6pm Sneaked in a pc of Famous Amos chocolate cookie
7.15pm Shared an apple with Shawn (I had most of it)

Awful eating spree... sinful too

Today's vice(s):
12.15pm Chicken rice
2pm Splurged on Sunkiss from Spinelli's
3.30pm Planning to snack 3pcs of tau sar peah
5pm Sultana swirl from Spinelli's
we'll figure out the rest later... :)

16wk

Coming to wk16 now. Yesterday I think I felt some movements. Either that my gastric was churning! :)
My appetite so far is okay. Except my pelvic, when I walk too much, I get the usual pain around the pelvic. Darn...

14wk

I broke the news to my boss on 15May09. At least it's official, since I had passed 1st trimester :)

Went for glucose test on 22May09. Hopefully all goes well. My weight gain was about 0.8kg. Baby is doing great, at 7.82cm. Little one was sleeping, no movement during the scan. Apparently Dr Yang saw something between the legs. She said it's likely to be a boy, since the scan was quite clear. :)

12wk

Last evening, I summoned for pork leg in dark soy sauce and meat ball soup. That was my dinner and yes I finished the dishes but not my rice. But it was satisfying... speaking of craving ya...
Based on LMP, today is w13 (based on Dr Yang it's w12). I had announced to my boss about my due date yesterday. So it's official now but I rather stay concealed until I cannot conceal further. :)

11wk

Went to Dr Yang on Saturday 2May. Baby is doing well. Measuring at 3.91cm and machine gauges the age as 10wk6d. I am now 52.2kg, so there was some weight gain.

10wk

Yesterday was the 1st day I felt nauseous. I was on my way back from Tampines after lunch. It was weird that all of a sudden this quesy feeling engulfed me. Uggghhh.. Luckily there was no puking or whatever when I got back to office. hope it doesn't come back again.

9wk

Today marks end of wk9. I have been waking up at least once every night for the past 1-2wks. Except last night it was a sleep thru to 5am. Thankful for that.
My appetite has been the same, except more towards the sweet bud. Not craving for spicy food like previous pregnancy with Shawn. :)

Uggghhhh...

Past week I had been waking up at 5am sharp and head for the toilet. Every night I need to head to bed around the same time as Shawn. So that I get my daily dose of snooze. Meanwhile, I am feeling a bit awkward today. Not sure why. Tummy feels uptight and gives me the nauseous feeling. May be I overate. I just hope morning sickness won't be in my daily activity. Uggghhhh!!!

My growing belly

Not much changes to me except my growing belly. I realised most of my size 38 pants are a little uncomfortable when I sit down. Therefore, I had to change the pants which I wore when I first got back to work in Mar08 after I had Shawn. I am trying to hide the belly as I do not want many people to notice as yet :) Tiredness has certainly engulfed me. I feel tired in the mornings and afternoons. And I had been munching like a caterpillar. I am quite sure there are some observant colleagues who would notice me suddenly having GREAT appetite. I do suffer from occasion aches on joints/pelvic. They go away in a few days. They are not too painful but just nagging.

We had been eating at home. Yes, I am performing the Super Mom thing for the past weeks. We cook dinners on weekdays, because Shawn also need his dinners. So, I need to wake up slightly earlier to prepare soups. When I am back from work, either fry one egg/veg and/or steam a fish or YT would pack a meat dish protein back. So far things have been great. Apart from that I would take the chance to mop the floor while waiting to fry the veg.

2nd visit 2Apr09

We went to Dr Yang's clinic yesterday. Shawn met Dr Yang again, like for the 3rd time in his life. He was very nice to her and smiley too. Anyway, baby in there is doing well. Dr Yang shifted the EDD one week later based on the current fetal size.

Current reading :
CRL 0.334cm
CGA 6w0d
EDD 25Nov
My weight : 51.1kg (last visit 2wks back was 49.9kg)

My next visit would be on the 8May09. By then, baby would be in 11w.

Our Saturday

I woke up feeling like having Dim Sum - call that CRAVING. YT suggested Parkway hawker centre. Then I thought why not East Ocean, since we have never been there. We arrived at 9.45am before they open their doors at 10am. My verdict - good + yummy. Since there were only 2 of us and plus little Shawn, we ordered not many types. But anyway, I would love to go back there to try more dishes.

Shawn refused to sleep, so we headed back home around noon time and slept in til about 2pm. Then we went to Tampines Mall for lunch. Shawn had apple and raisins oats porridge which I cooked and brought out. When he saw YT having prata, he went berserk. Then, he refused the oats and kept wanting to eat prata. He quite a fair bit of it from YT's share. I had ban mian. Couldn't find any macaroni soup in Century Square. Too bad. We walked around and went home after having coffee at Starbucks (I had orange juice :( ). Then we all went home and sleep till about 7.30pm.

Had stir fried beef and HongKong noodles for dinner.

1st Post

I thought I could start early to pen down some going-ons and thoughts.
My next visit to the doctor's would be on 3Apr09. By then it would be wk7. I decided on the blog name as My Little Steak because it is the year of Cow this year in terms of Chinese Calendar. And I love steak, so why not? :D

Currently there is nothing difference, except occasional cramps and pelvic aches. I have no complaints. Hope everything would be smooth sailing for us. Shawn seemed more clingy nowadays, both to YT and me. So old wives tale is true that a child could detect that a sibling is on the way? Hhhmmm...