Madison's first holiday season is coming to an end!
This year is the first of many to come of presents, trees and gift giving for our little girl ( she's hardly a baby anymore! )
Madison has been rather taken by the Christmas trees that dot our path wherever we go for the past month. The ones with the most shiny baubles and lights draw her attention the most and she definitely recognises the word " Christmas tree ".
We've never had a tree in our little apartment, mostly because of space constraints, but in view of our little girl I especially went out to Taka to get one, decorated it with the help of Maria and Nancy. The effort seems well worth it, it's been priceless seeing her face light up whenever we turn on the Christmas lights! She seems to favour the shiny silver baubles and would pick them off the lowest branches of the tree.
Of course Madison received her share of presents this year from various people. Pa gave her a mini pink laptop, complete with a mouse! She got Nike sandals from Chris and me, fake Chanel ballet slippers courtesy of Uncle Chai and his frequent visits to Han Ting! Geok and Munhon bought her a shiny Neoprene swimming suit. Chris' mum bought her a belated pressie from Gap-- a new wardrobe for the new year!
We stayed over at the Novena house on Christmas eve so that we could have a long sit down dinner. There was home made turkey, salad, scallops and prawns. For dessert Pa tried to make chocolate souffle but that didn't turn out so well. There was B & J's ice cream courtesy of Ma and marbled banana cake courtesy of Mummy ( chris' mum ).
Prof Foo Chee Liam and his wife, as well as uncle Poh Seong joined in the dinner as well, so you can imagine the crowd at our dinner table... it was tight but really cosy and we all had fun that night.
The only downside to the entire event was the night.. Chris and I spent it at the Novena house but since Chai and his mum were occupying the other spare rooms, Madison took the last remaining one and we crashed on the floor in the study.Did we wake with a sore back and stiff neck the next day!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Crazy days..
I can't believe the year is almost done... I started it thinking about nothing but the baby, the pregnancy and delivery, and now that seems eons away... like a lifetime ago. Life before Madison is becoming a distant memory now, and every day it seems more normal to share my life with her... so cliched!
Updates...
Madison can now crawl too well and she's all over the place. Although I must add that she seems pretty smart for her little pants, and tends to choose the surfaces that she will crawl on quite often. I suppose the cold granite floor is a little uncomfortable to be crawling on for prolonged periods. She also has preferences for the usual places: kitchen, living room, any area COVERED in hazardous things such as electrical wires and white goods! When she comes to a step, our smarty pants of a girl has figured out how to maneouvre it by going leg first then hands!
She can also pull to stand really well now and uses that to her advantage to pull things off shelves and any flat surfaces. Today she was holding a plastic light bulb cover and forgot to hold on, so she actually managed to stand unaided for a split second!
Madison is quite developed in her social domains, and has been able to wave bye bye for awhile now, as well as mimic the twinkle little star act. She of course enjoys peek a boo and laughs at silly things that we do to her.
Fortunately for the past few nights she has been settling well at night so I finally get some well deserved rest at night. Her day time naps are down to 3 as well, morning one at around 9Am, an afternoon one at 130PM and a late one at around 430 0r 5PM so that she would last past dinner. I tried to eliminate that one but it was disastrous... she was so exhausted by dinner and fell asleep before bedtime!
Just when I thought things were settling down for the good... Chris develops optic neuritis...
It occured about a week or two ago right out of the blue. He suddenly started complaining of eye pain, although there was nothing much to see externally. After a week I told him to get it seen by the eye doctors, so he did, and they did not come up with a diagnosis. Saturday, 6th December he started getting fuzzy vision, which did not improve over the weekend.
Monday was a public holiday, so we left it alone but I told him to get a opthalmologist to see it on Tuesday at work. Finally the diagnosis of optic neuritis was made and he had to get urgent tests done that night. The MRI of brain and orbit were done and seemed ok but the opthalmologist seemed to think the optic nerves looked inflamed on the scans. Chris was admitted that night for further blood tests and to start intravenous methylprednisolone to arrest the visual loss.
Wednesday was a really stressful day for me. Initially I had to go to the clinic to review my patient that I intended to SEND to the hospital ANYWAY, but in the end there was a communication error and the message was that she'd already gone, so I didn't go there but headed to SGH in the morning. Then while I was there Jolene called to say that she hadn't gone but had come to the clinic instead! I had to tell her to call the family to send her to the hospital to get checked.
By 11 am Chris still had not seen the neurologist and was still waiting to do some visual testing. I took Madison home for her lunch and afternoon nap. As soon as she fell asleep I packed up some lunch and soup for Chris and headed back to the hospital. Fortunately Zhou Hong was around SGH that day for a lecture so we went down to Delifrance for drinks.
It is good to have friends in different specialities in the medical faculty. Zhou Hong and Melvin helped us look at the MRI scans, while Wan Xian's hubby, who is a neurologist spoke to me more about optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis. In the end while the information wasn't new it still helped to kn0w that there were people out there who cared enough to respond.
Pa and Ma also returned from the annual Hainan mission trip that I missed this year. Ma called me as soon as she landed in Singapore... and terrible me... all I said was... you guys are late! She didn't berate me but just asked how Chris was... Of course I felt really bad afterwards.. it wasn't her fault the plane was late!
All I really want this Christmas is for Chris to be healthy and live LONGER than me! I think I can cope with most things otherwise...
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Crawling
Madison finally crawled for real... forwards and more than 2 steps!
She's been practicing for the longest time and for awhile we were doubting that she would crawl, betting instead that she would just walk rather than crawl. Then suddenly 2 days ago , roughly on the 23rd November she suddenly started to crawl for real! We were quite thrilled, although we realise that we have to watch her constantly now.
She's still not terribly too quick at it yet, unlike her rolling around the bed/sofa skill.... but I'm sure it'll get there quite soon!
She's been practicing for the longest time and for awhile we were doubting that she would crawl, betting instead that she would just walk rather than crawl. Then suddenly 2 days ago , roughly on the 23rd November she suddenly started to crawl for real! We were quite thrilled, although we realise that we have to watch her constantly now.
She's still not terribly too quick at it yet, unlike her rolling around the bed/sofa skill.... but I'm sure it'll get there quite soon!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
A new car!
Today we finally did the deed. Bought a new car...
Chris and I had been putting the purchase of a bigger car off since the birth of Madison... until she grew bigger the current Subaru Impreza that we bought on the 20th March 2003 had been sufficient...
Other factors that made us keep the car was that we had bought it at a time when the price was significantly higher at over $82 000 and the car loan was substantial. To redeem the loan would have meant we were out of pocket. Hence we stuck with it, although some days we were struggling for space as her car seat took up half the back seat and her stroller would take up the entire boot space!
However, with the current economic crisis and downturn, COEs had dropped to an all time low and the current car prices are some of the lowest around. We'd been shopping online and at the showrooms for awhile and the only car we'd vaguely liked till now was the Subaru Tribeca. However the rear view mirrors were HUGE and unpleasant to the eye, and the cost was beyond our means at the moment. We were quoted $115K for the car and it was to be discontinued too.
For some strange stroke of fate, one of my patient's friends smsed me today regarding the Tribeca having fallen $10k, to see if we were interested. That prompted us to start thinking about getting a bigger car again...
Chris brought up the Honda Stream, which is a midsized 7 seater MPV and was less than $80K. A little hesitant, we went to the showroom to have a look. Dean looked after us at the showroom and showed us the different variations in the Stream... after looking around and discussing, it was decided that the Stream was the most suitable size and price wise. The CR-V looked nicer, but had less space and would guzzle petrol, and the sedans were all too small. The Odessey was similarly too big and costly.
Dean took us for a short test drive and after that I was more convinced that the car was easy to drive and not too difficult to manouvre. Then we had to decide between: 1. 2008 or 2009 models; 2. colour; 3. standard or RSZ model. The difference? The top end 2009 RSZ model had the works, sport rims with 17 inch alloys, fog lights, halogen lamps and sporty front panel. The interior was a nicer black instead of standard beige. Sunroof was also standard in the RSZ, as well as paddle shifts. Chris was sold on the RSZ but I needed more convincing to spend the extra $7k.
In the end we settled on the 09 RSZ, and sat down to work out the numbers. The Subaru was worth $25k, which was FINALLY more than the bank loan of $14k, so we were able to do a trade in and exchange the loan. Funny thing was that with the new car, our effective loan repayments per month was lower !
We signed the papers and charged the $5k deposit to the credit card. Metal silver was the colour of choice. Dean advised us that the car would be available Dec/ Jan. We kinda left thinking.. OMG what the heck??? We just got ourselves a new car~! Just like that...
Chris and I had been putting the purchase of a bigger car off since the birth of Madison... until she grew bigger the current Subaru Impreza that we bought on the 20th March 2003 had been sufficient...
Other factors that made us keep the car was that we had bought it at a time when the price was significantly higher at over $82 000 and the car loan was substantial. To redeem the loan would have meant we were out of pocket. Hence we stuck with it, although some days we were struggling for space as her car seat took up half the back seat and her stroller would take up the entire boot space!
However, with the current economic crisis and downturn, COEs had dropped to an all time low and the current car prices are some of the lowest around. We'd been shopping online and at the showrooms for awhile and the only car we'd vaguely liked till now was the Subaru Tribeca. However the rear view mirrors were HUGE and unpleasant to the eye, and the cost was beyond our means at the moment. We were quoted $115K for the car and it was to be discontinued too.
For some strange stroke of fate, one of my patient's friends smsed me today regarding the Tribeca having fallen $10k, to see if we were interested. That prompted us to start thinking about getting a bigger car again...
Chris brought up the Honda Stream, which is a midsized 7 seater MPV and was less than $80K. A little hesitant, we went to the showroom to have a look. Dean looked after us at the showroom and showed us the different variations in the Stream... after looking around and discussing, it was decided that the Stream was the most suitable size and price wise. The CR-V looked nicer, but had less space and would guzzle petrol, and the sedans were all too small. The Odessey was similarly too big and costly.
Dean took us for a short test drive and after that I was more convinced that the car was easy to drive and not too difficult to manouvre. Then we had to decide between: 1. 2008 or 2009 models; 2. colour; 3. standard or RSZ model. The difference? The top end 2009 RSZ model had the works, sport rims with 17 inch alloys, fog lights, halogen lamps and sporty front panel. The interior was a nicer black instead of standard beige. Sunroof was also standard in the RSZ, as well as paddle shifts. Chris was sold on the RSZ but I needed more convincing to spend the extra $7k.
In the end we settled on the 09 RSZ, and sat down to work out the numbers. The Subaru was worth $25k, which was FINALLY more than the bank loan of $14k, so we were able to do a trade in and exchange the loan. Funny thing was that with the new car, our effective loan repayments per month was lower !
We signed the papers and charged the $5k deposit to the credit card. Metal silver was the colour of choice. Dean advised us that the car would be available Dec/ Jan. We kinda left thinking.. OMG what the heck??? We just got ourselves a new car~! Just like that...
Friday, November 21, 2008
Phil and Ted's Vibe stroller!
Pa and Ma are finally back from their trip to Kyushu in Japan!
Chai coincidentally came back from Melbourne/Australia for his summer holidays too, and he bore with him our newest acquisition! The 3 wheeler jogger that cost us over $1000...we ordered it online about a month ago on Babies Galore.com.
I must say... I was really skeptical and hesitant to buy it initially as it seemed SO BIG and bulky on the internet... but Chris was sold on it and he liked it the best out of all the joggers that he had been looking up. So we did the deed and spent the $$$ ( as usual ! )
And now I am really excited about taking it out for a spin! My only worry is whether she will stay in it long enough for me to actually jog in it?
Chai coincidentally came back from Melbourne/Australia for his summer holidays too, and he bore with him our newest acquisition! The 3 wheeler jogger that cost us over $1000...we ordered it online about a month ago on Babies Galore.com.
I must say... I was really skeptical and hesitant to buy it initially as it seemed SO BIG and bulky on the internet... but Chris was sold on it and he liked it the best out of all the joggers that he had been looking up. So we did the deed and spent the $$$ ( as usual ! )
And now I am really excited about taking it out for a spin! My only worry is whether she will stay in it long enough for me to actually jog in it?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Madison's first Zoo trip!
Since I've been feeling pretty fed up with the nights, I decided we should try and do something fun during the day to make up for it...
We spend way too much time at the malls so finally I decided to bite the bullet and take her to the ZOO.....
It's a good 30minute car ride away and so we left immediately after her afternoon nap. It was just Madison, Nancy, Maria and myself. When we got there I signed up for the Friends of the Zoo membership via a magazine subscription since the membership came free with it. I chose to get Newsweek and Discovery channel magazine. The entire deal came up to $289 ... the FOZ membership was already going to cost me $180.
I think the adults were more excited at finally being at the zoo and we were perusing the map enthusiastically. Madison seemed interested in the zoo but I am not sure if she really knew what was going on... she got excited looking at the animals but got tired and needed a nap after about an hour. I suppose it was pretty warm out too although the sun wasn't out. Oh ... and were we lucky! The white Tiger exhibit had just reopened after the human mauling episode that occurred last week! They were majestic creatures, though I must say, their paws did look awfully BIG and DANGEROUS...
One comment I really should make about the zoo... its prominent lack of nursing facilities and child diapering areas! Considering it's supposed to be a child and family friendly place. I did email them about it but they suggested using a function / activity room somewhere in the zoo....how on earth are nursing women supposed to look for it in the middle of the zoo trip??
I was hunting up and down screening for a decent place to feed Madison, but in the end just did it in public near the restaurants in the middle of the zoo. Thankfully she wasn't too naughty and
I managed to feed her quite discreetly with the sarong! I was so glad she fell asleep quite easily too. And then we went to the cafe to cool down with a scoop of Ben and Jerry's each. She was zonked out so I even got to put her down in the stroller to sleep!
After Madison woke I decided to call it a day and take her home... she was supposed to have dinner soon... which is another saga in its own... sigh... trying to get her to take her solids have become increasingly difficult, which is strange as she took to them easily at the start!
We spend way too much time at the malls so finally I decided to bite the bullet and take her to the ZOO.....
It's a good 30minute car ride away and so we left immediately after her afternoon nap. It was just Madison, Nancy, Maria and myself. When we got there I signed up for the Friends of the Zoo membership via a magazine subscription since the membership came free with it. I chose to get Newsweek and Discovery channel magazine. The entire deal came up to $289 ... the FOZ membership was already going to cost me $180.
I think the adults were more excited at finally being at the zoo and we were perusing the map enthusiastically. Madison seemed interested in the zoo but I am not sure if she really knew what was going on... she got excited looking at the animals but got tired and needed a nap after about an hour. I suppose it was pretty warm out too although the sun wasn't out. Oh ... and were we lucky! The white Tiger exhibit had just reopened after the human mauling episode that occurred last week! They were majestic creatures, though I must say, their paws did look awfully BIG and DANGEROUS...
One comment I really should make about the zoo... its prominent lack of nursing facilities and child diapering areas! Considering it's supposed to be a child and family friendly place. I did email them about it but they suggested using a function / activity room somewhere in the zoo....how on earth are nursing women supposed to look for it in the middle of the zoo trip??
I was hunting up and down screening for a decent place to feed Madison, but in the end just did it in public near the restaurants in the middle of the zoo. Thankfully she wasn't too naughty and
I managed to feed her quite discreetly with the sarong! I was so glad she fell asleep quite easily too. And then we went to the cafe to cool down with a scoop of Ben and Jerry's each. She was zonked out so I even got to put her down in the stroller to sleep!
After Madison woke I decided to call it a day and take her home... she was supposed to have dinner soon... which is another saga in its own... sigh... trying to get her to take her solids have become increasingly difficult, which is strange as she took to them easily at the start!
Sleepless in Singapore....
Argh... I have to complain once again!! MADISON IS A TERRIBLE SLEEPER!
During her early days, Madison was a terror when it came to the nights.. she would fall asleep, then wake repeatedly and refuse to go back in her cot... we tried so many ways to make her stay, but in the end none of us were getting sleep so she got to bunk in with us for awhile...
Then for some really strange reason she started sleeping stretches in her own cot and for a few months the nights were becoming blissful.. to a point where I was starting to think that sleep at night was not far away.... how wrong was I!
For the past week, since she recovered from her viral fever, she has been terribly unsettled and waking frequently looking for me at night. The days are good, she is cheerful and napping well, but come nightfall and the nightmare begins. She falls asleep easily but would then suddenly wake and scream to no end until I rock her back to sleep. This can go on for awhile until she completely falls asleep till a few hours later! Same thing repeats later at night after a feed at whatever time she chooses to wake ... one night it was 12midnight, another night 1 AM, another night 3 or 4 AM!
Chris and I have been trying desperately to find the cause of this: temperature wrong? I got the airconditioner technician to service the units. Bed too hard? We bought her new cot quilt to make it softer and slightly warmer. Leg getting stuck in cot rail? We got a new cot bumper that is taller, since we moved her cot lower down. Sleepsack too warm? We tried to put her in long legged PJs and just a blanket but she soon kicked them off and then woke too! Teething??? None seen yet after 1 week of this !
I am getting really discouraged and frustrated with this turn of events... she was so good before her illness and something has changed since then! Just wish she came with a troubleshooting manual so we could fix the problem!
During her early days, Madison was a terror when it came to the nights.. she would fall asleep, then wake repeatedly and refuse to go back in her cot... we tried so many ways to make her stay, but in the end none of us were getting sleep so she got to bunk in with us for awhile...
Then for some really strange reason she started sleeping stretches in her own cot and for a few months the nights were becoming blissful.. to a point where I was starting to think that sleep at night was not far away.... how wrong was I!
For the past week, since she recovered from her viral fever, she has been terribly unsettled and waking frequently looking for me at night. The days are good, she is cheerful and napping well, but come nightfall and the nightmare begins. She falls asleep easily but would then suddenly wake and scream to no end until I rock her back to sleep. This can go on for awhile until she completely falls asleep till a few hours later! Same thing repeats later at night after a feed at whatever time she chooses to wake ... one night it was 12midnight, another night 1 AM, another night 3 or 4 AM!
Chris and I have been trying desperately to find the cause of this: temperature wrong? I got the airconditioner technician to service the units. Bed too hard? We bought her new cot quilt to make it softer and slightly warmer. Leg getting stuck in cot rail? We got a new cot bumper that is taller, since we moved her cot lower down. Sleepsack too warm? We tried to put her in long legged PJs and just a blanket but she soon kicked them off and then woke too! Teething??? None seen yet after 1 week of this !
I am getting really discouraged and frustrated with this turn of events... she was so good before her illness and something has changed since then! Just wish she came with a troubleshooting manual so we could fix the problem!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Madison is sick!
The scourges of childhood....
Madison's fever started innocuously enough.. she was cheerful and bright on Thursday 29th October, laughing and reacting to everyone the entire day...
It started suddenly right after her bath.. Chris was on call that night, so Nancy was helping me with her bath while I got ready to feed her. When Nancy passed her to me, I suddenly realized her mouth and lips felt really warm to me and alarm bells went off. Her body still felt cool and a quick axillary temperature read 37.3C. I prayed that I was just being paranoid and put her to bed after her usual night feed.
The nightmare began soon after around midnight. She started crying and when I went to her she was burning up. Her temperature read 38.5C and she was irritable and fretful. I nursed her and then removed her warm clothing, then started to sponge her down with tepid water. After an hour, her temperature was still high, so I had to dose her with oral paracetamol, which she HATES.... she was gagging and crying but I managed to get most of it into her. She fell asleep soon after, but everytime I tried to put her back in her cot she would cry out again, so in the end I wore her in a sling and let her sleep till morning.
The entire Friday she was febrile and miserable. I was dosing her regularly with the oral paracetamol, but each dose was getting worse, with crying and gagging. She started to have several loose stools with the fever.
In the afternoon we brought her to see Dr Wong at the KKH private clinic. She told us to monitor her symptoms and to collect some urine to check. By nightfall, she was still febrile and tired. We put her to bed early but she was up again by midnight. This time her temperature soared to 39.5C and I panicked. Chris was post call, but I got him up to help sponge bath her and give her more paracetamol. Her lips were like fire when she nursed, and she refused more than a little feed, before falling asleep. Again I carried her in a sling to let her sleep better, with a wet towel around her neck to cool her off. The night seemed like a dream, spent on the couch with my poor sick darling.
Saturday morning was terrible. She woke crying and refused the breast. Nothing would change her mind. Rocking, walking around and waiting 20 minutes were all in vain. Panic started to creep up to me and on the brink of tears, I called Pa and Ma to ask them what to do. They told us to come over so they could give us some respite and to decide whether or not to take her to the emergency department. We drove over at 0645h and tried once more to feed her. Thankfully she took some milk and then Pa and Ma took over her care while we got some rest.
During the day we managed to get some urine while putting her in a potty and did a urine dipstick which came back negative. She took a small amount of plain porridge in the morning and seemed to improve slightly. The rest of the day she was still feverish and tired, so we kept her indoors and tried to encourage her to drink as much as she could tolerate. By the evening, however, her temperature started to rise slightly and she was cranky and tired. We decided to spend the night at the Novena house so that we could get help quickly if we needed it.
Saturday evening I decided that Chris and I should go out for dinner, to get a breath of fresh air as well as to celebrate his long awaited news of registrarhood. This weekend was supposed to have been a happy celebratory one, but ended up an entire living nightmare. We went to the Marriot cafe for dinner. This was the first time I had been out for dinner in 2 months! Nancy and Maria helped watch Madison via the baby monitor after we put her to bed. She settled to sleep without much fuss, which was unusual for her as well. We had a great dinner, and thank goodness, as we were relaxed and feeling better by the time we returned.
However, the night was not to end happily. By midnight Madison's fever soared again. Despite sponging and paracetamol, she remained above 39C so we called it quits and decided to go the emergency department. Thankfully Pa and Ma were back from their dinner outing so they took us to KKH.
We were lucky. Our initial assessment queue number was next in line, and when they took her temperature it was 39.5C so she basically was seen almost immediately, via the ' RED DOOR' . A kindly MO, Dr Ng Chee Kong attended to us, 4 paranoid doctors and 1 baby. We were 'hovering' while he checked Madison, and I was asking him ( rather, practically telling him !) to do these blood tests! Madison already had EMLA cream on both the dorsum of her hands in preparation for these blood tests. He suggested doing the urine specimen so we stuck the bag on her again. After consultation with the registrar on call that night, we settled on a full blood count and collecting some plain tubes for dengue serology to be processed on Monday via the outpatient clinic. I must say Dr Ng would have done them that night but the registrar on call didn't agree, so the poor guy felt a little stuck between us all!
Chris was brave, he pricked Madison and got blood at first draw. Dr Ng was keen on attempting the blood taking, but I think we didn't have much confidence at his ability to take her blood. Poor Madison, she screamed blue murder while we extracted the blood enough for 3 tubes. Ma then took the blood down to the laboratory herself to get it processed. In the meantime I nursed her and put her back to sleep. The blood results came back in 45 minutes and showed a normal white cell and platelet count. Her Hb was slightly lowish at 11.4 g/dl. Slightly reassured we all went home and basically crashed. Madison slept on our bed the entire night quite well. All I remember was waking periodically to either feed her, check on her temperature and to pump once because she wasn't taking that much breastmilk.
Sunday morning Madison woke at quarter to six, she was still feverish and her appetite was appalling. Madison would take no solids, and breastfed only enough to keep herself hydrated. We were sponging her regularly during the day and putting the paracetamol suppositories in every 5 to 6 hours. She would sleep most of the day and wake slightly better, but deteroriate after an hour and become cranky and tired. In the evening Chris and I were exhausted but we decided to go out for a breather. We ended up at Wheelock place for drinks and a muffin at Starbucks.
Sunday night we went back to the Papillon home to sleep, as Chris had to work the next day. Madison went to bed fairly easily, but the night started again at midnight when she woke with a spike of temperature at 39.5C. Again we sponged her, put in another paracetamol suppository and hoped for the best. Again I carried her in the sling and brought her to bed for the rest of the night. That took close to an hour and she was miserable by the time we put her back to sleep.
By Monday morning, her fever was starting to subside, but she still ran a low grade temperature of around 37.7C. Madison was still cranky and irritable, and was still not feeding well. I decided to collect some urine for FEME and culture, just to ensure that we were not missing a urinary tract infection. Nancy was fantastic, managing to collect a small specimen for me which I rushed down to KKH for laboratory testing at around 11 AM. The specimen looked a little suspiciously contaminated, but it being so difficult to collect urine from her, I decided to just go ahead and get the specimen processed.
Madison was terribly lethargic and sleepy, which made me really worried. By lunchtime she was sleeping for over an hour, which she never does, and then Ma called me up saying the urine specimen showed some white blood cells and insisted that we treated her for a urinary tract infection. However I was not convinced and thought the specimen might have been contaminated as she had a bout of loose stools just prior. At lunch, Dr Wong called up and told us to bring Madison in for a review, which was fortunate. We rushed over immediately to the Private Children's clinic ( which shocked Dr Wong : " That was fast! Where do you live??!!" ), all in a flurry and major state of panic and doom.
Well..Madison of course, woke just as we arrived at the clinic, looking all bright and cheery... the best she had been all week! Just in time to see the doctor ...! We had also attached a urine collection bag on her to collect some more urine and she peed just then, clear as crystal! We sent the specimen off immediately too. Dr Wong examined Madison again, and reassured us with the results of the CRP and dengue serology which had been done with the blood taken at the emergency department, and they were all negative. Feeling heaps better, we left KKH feeling slightly foolish and paranoid.. but how can you take chances with your own kid! The second urine specimen was also clear of infection. It was the first time we all breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Monday night came not a minute too soon, and Madison seemed to border between a normal and slightly high temperature. Being cautious, we dressed her in short sleeves and covered her with only a light blanket, and turned the AC down slightly. Of course, she turned out to be afebrile the rest of the night, and instead became too cold! Her appetite returned slightly and she needed 3 feeds over the course of the night, instead of her usual one.
Tuesday she finally remained at normal temperature, but was in exchange extremely tired and cranky.... a little like chronic fatigue syndrome. She spent the day between whining and sleeping and I let her sleep as much as she needed at each time. Madison even fell asleep on my bed without much effort ! Her appetite was still appalling but we took it slowly and gave her a little banana, some grape, and chicken soup over the course of the day...
Thankfully there was a happy ending to the whole episode.. Madison did finally improve and get her appetite back, as well as her smiley cheerful self. Her energy level picked up gradually over several naps and by Thursday this week she was pretty much more like normal.
The only significant gain in the week was LANGUAGE! Madison is finally into babbling, non specific "dada" "baba" "nana" ..the only time she uses "mama" is in the middle of the night/ tired during the day/due for nap time or plain COMPLAINING!
Madison's fever started innocuously enough.. she was cheerful and bright on Thursday 29th October, laughing and reacting to everyone the entire day...
It started suddenly right after her bath.. Chris was on call that night, so Nancy was helping me with her bath while I got ready to feed her. When Nancy passed her to me, I suddenly realized her mouth and lips felt really warm to me and alarm bells went off. Her body still felt cool and a quick axillary temperature read 37.3C. I prayed that I was just being paranoid and put her to bed after her usual night feed.
The nightmare began soon after around midnight. She started crying and when I went to her she was burning up. Her temperature read 38.5C and she was irritable and fretful. I nursed her and then removed her warm clothing, then started to sponge her down with tepid water. After an hour, her temperature was still high, so I had to dose her with oral paracetamol, which she HATES.... she was gagging and crying but I managed to get most of it into her. She fell asleep soon after, but everytime I tried to put her back in her cot she would cry out again, so in the end I wore her in a sling and let her sleep till morning.
The entire Friday she was febrile and miserable. I was dosing her regularly with the oral paracetamol, but each dose was getting worse, with crying and gagging. She started to have several loose stools with the fever.
In the afternoon we brought her to see Dr Wong at the KKH private clinic. She told us to monitor her symptoms and to collect some urine to check. By nightfall, she was still febrile and tired. We put her to bed early but she was up again by midnight. This time her temperature soared to 39.5C and I panicked. Chris was post call, but I got him up to help sponge bath her and give her more paracetamol. Her lips were like fire when she nursed, and she refused more than a little feed, before falling asleep. Again I carried her in a sling to let her sleep better, with a wet towel around her neck to cool her off. The night seemed like a dream, spent on the couch with my poor sick darling.
Saturday morning was terrible. She woke crying and refused the breast. Nothing would change her mind. Rocking, walking around and waiting 20 minutes were all in vain. Panic started to creep up to me and on the brink of tears, I called Pa and Ma to ask them what to do. They told us to come over so they could give us some respite and to decide whether or not to take her to the emergency department. We drove over at 0645h and tried once more to feed her. Thankfully she took some milk and then Pa and Ma took over her care while we got some rest.
During the day we managed to get some urine while putting her in a potty and did a urine dipstick which came back negative. She took a small amount of plain porridge in the morning and seemed to improve slightly. The rest of the day she was still feverish and tired, so we kept her indoors and tried to encourage her to drink as much as she could tolerate. By the evening, however, her temperature started to rise slightly and she was cranky and tired. We decided to spend the night at the Novena house so that we could get help quickly if we needed it.
Saturday evening I decided that Chris and I should go out for dinner, to get a breath of fresh air as well as to celebrate his long awaited news of registrarhood. This weekend was supposed to have been a happy celebratory one, but ended up an entire living nightmare. We went to the Marriot cafe for dinner. This was the first time I had been out for dinner in 2 months! Nancy and Maria helped watch Madison via the baby monitor after we put her to bed. She settled to sleep without much fuss, which was unusual for her as well. We had a great dinner, and thank goodness, as we were relaxed and feeling better by the time we returned.
However, the night was not to end happily. By midnight Madison's fever soared again. Despite sponging and paracetamol, she remained above 39C so we called it quits and decided to go the emergency department. Thankfully Pa and Ma were back from their dinner outing so they took us to KKH.
We were lucky. Our initial assessment queue number was next in line, and when they took her temperature it was 39.5C so she basically was seen almost immediately, via the ' RED DOOR' . A kindly MO, Dr Ng Chee Kong attended to us, 4 paranoid doctors and 1 baby. We were 'hovering' while he checked Madison, and I was asking him ( rather, practically telling him !) to do these blood tests! Madison already had EMLA cream on both the dorsum of her hands in preparation for these blood tests. He suggested doing the urine specimen so we stuck the bag on her again. After consultation with the registrar on call that night, we settled on a full blood count and collecting some plain tubes for dengue serology to be processed on Monday via the outpatient clinic. I must say Dr Ng would have done them that night but the registrar on call didn't agree, so the poor guy felt a little stuck between us all!
Chris was brave, he pricked Madison and got blood at first draw. Dr Ng was keen on attempting the blood taking, but I think we didn't have much confidence at his ability to take her blood. Poor Madison, she screamed blue murder while we extracted the blood enough for 3 tubes. Ma then took the blood down to the laboratory herself to get it processed. In the meantime I nursed her and put her back to sleep. The blood results came back in 45 minutes and showed a normal white cell and platelet count. Her Hb was slightly lowish at 11.4 g/dl. Slightly reassured we all went home and basically crashed. Madison slept on our bed the entire night quite well. All I remember was waking periodically to either feed her, check on her temperature and to pump once because she wasn't taking that much breastmilk.
Sunday morning Madison woke at quarter to six, she was still feverish and her appetite was appalling. Madison would take no solids, and breastfed only enough to keep herself hydrated. We were sponging her regularly during the day and putting the paracetamol suppositories in every 5 to 6 hours. She would sleep most of the day and wake slightly better, but deteroriate after an hour and become cranky and tired. In the evening Chris and I were exhausted but we decided to go out for a breather. We ended up at Wheelock place for drinks and a muffin at Starbucks.
Sunday night we went back to the Papillon home to sleep, as Chris had to work the next day. Madison went to bed fairly easily, but the night started again at midnight when she woke with a spike of temperature at 39.5C. Again we sponged her, put in another paracetamol suppository and hoped for the best. Again I carried her in the sling and brought her to bed for the rest of the night. That took close to an hour and she was miserable by the time we put her back to sleep.
By Monday morning, her fever was starting to subside, but she still ran a low grade temperature of around 37.7C. Madison was still cranky and irritable, and was still not feeding well. I decided to collect some urine for FEME and culture, just to ensure that we were not missing a urinary tract infection. Nancy was fantastic, managing to collect a small specimen for me which I rushed down to KKH for laboratory testing at around 11 AM. The specimen looked a little suspiciously contaminated, but it being so difficult to collect urine from her, I decided to just go ahead and get the specimen processed.
Madison was terribly lethargic and sleepy, which made me really worried. By lunchtime she was sleeping for over an hour, which she never does, and then Ma called me up saying the urine specimen showed some white blood cells and insisted that we treated her for a urinary tract infection. However I was not convinced and thought the specimen might have been contaminated as she had a bout of loose stools just prior. At lunch, Dr Wong called up and told us to bring Madison in for a review, which was fortunate. We rushed over immediately to the Private Children's clinic ( which shocked Dr Wong : " That was fast! Where do you live??!!" ), all in a flurry and major state of panic and doom.
Well..Madison of course, woke just as we arrived at the clinic, looking all bright and cheery... the best she had been all week! Just in time to see the doctor ...! We had also attached a urine collection bag on her to collect some more urine and she peed just then, clear as crystal! We sent the specimen off immediately too. Dr Wong examined Madison again, and reassured us with the results of the CRP and dengue serology which had been done with the blood taken at the emergency department, and they were all negative. Feeling heaps better, we left KKH feeling slightly foolish and paranoid.. but how can you take chances with your own kid! The second urine specimen was also clear of infection. It was the first time we all breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Monday night came not a minute too soon, and Madison seemed to border between a normal and slightly high temperature. Being cautious, we dressed her in short sleeves and covered her with only a light blanket, and turned the AC down slightly. Of course, she turned out to be afebrile the rest of the night, and instead became too cold! Her appetite returned slightly and she needed 3 feeds over the course of the night, instead of her usual one.
Tuesday she finally remained at normal temperature, but was in exchange extremely tired and cranky.... a little like chronic fatigue syndrome. She spent the day between whining and sleeping and I let her sleep as much as she needed at each time. Madison even fell asleep on my bed without much effort ! Her appetite was still appalling but we took it slowly and gave her a little banana, some grape, and chicken soup over the course of the day...
Thankfully there was a happy ending to the whole episode.. Madison did finally improve and get her appetite back, as well as her smiley cheerful self. Her energy level picked up gradually over several naps and by Thursday this week she was pretty much more like normal.
The only significant gain in the week was LANGUAGE! Madison is finally into babbling, non specific "dada" "baba" "nana" ..the only time she uses "mama" is in the middle of the night/ tired during the day/due for nap time or plain COMPLAINING!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Mommy brain
Something happens to women after pregnancy and motherhood....
I'd always believed that was some kind of urban myth or an excuse that people used for their innate forgetfulness, but having experienced it first hand now.... I don't doubt that for a FACT!
Uncanny forgetfulness, especially when it comes to my own things and NEVER her things.... I have lost, to date, some important parcels, my mobile phone and today, my precious CAR KEYS /HOUSE KEYS/ GYM KEYS! All while shopping at Centrepoint!
It was really spooky. We arrived at Centrepoint at around 3 PM and were merrily checking out the shops, and never realised anything was amiss until it was time to go home.Pa was carrying Madison and we had got back to the car, and suddenly I just could not find the keys! Of course that set me off in a major panic and I ran back, tracing our steps to try and find it. We had gone to the baby change room as soon as we had arrived to change Madison's diaper, so I presumed I must have left the keys accidentally on the table then. But as luck would have it, the keys were not there and the cleaner had JUST changed shift! I think I passed her as she was leaving too!
I had to rush back to the car, get Madison to feed her and put her down for a nap, thank goodnes I had brought the Moms In Mind sarong out this time with me and not left it in the car! After I had fed her and she was sleeping Pa and I tried to search for the keys again. It was in vain.
In the end, we had to take a taxi back home, leaving the car in the carpark. Chris HAD to be working late THAT day too... stuck in OT until close to midnight! Thank goodness Pa was forward planning, and organised for the spare key to be brought to him at the OT reception and he collected the car for me at around 10 PM that night.
I think my bag is also partly to blame... its a new red bag that must be somehow jinxed??? So I have since given it away to Nancy...
I am still hoping a kind soul will pick the keys up and return them to me somehow.... is it too much???
I'd always believed that was some kind of urban myth or an excuse that people used for their innate forgetfulness, but having experienced it first hand now.... I don't doubt that for a FACT!
Uncanny forgetfulness, especially when it comes to my own things and NEVER her things.... I have lost, to date, some important parcels, my mobile phone and today, my precious CAR KEYS /HOUSE KEYS/ GYM KEYS! All while shopping at Centrepoint!
It was really spooky. We arrived at Centrepoint at around 3 PM and were merrily checking out the shops, and never realised anything was amiss until it was time to go home.Pa was carrying Madison and we had got back to the car, and suddenly I just could not find the keys! Of course that set me off in a major panic and I ran back, tracing our steps to try and find it. We had gone to the baby change room as soon as we had arrived to change Madison's diaper, so I presumed I must have left the keys accidentally on the table then. But as luck would have it, the keys were not there and the cleaner had JUST changed shift! I think I passed her as she was leaving too!
I had to rush back to the car, get Madison to feed her and put her down for a nap, thank goodnes I had brought the Moms In Mind sarong out this time with me and not left it in the car! After I had fed her and she was sleeping Pa and I tried to search for the keys again. It was in vain.
In the end, we had to take a taxi back home, leaving the car in the carpark. Chris HAD to be working late THAT day too... stuck in OT until close to midnight! Thank goodness Pa was forward planning, and organised for the spare key to be brought to him at the OT reception and he collected the car for me at around 10 PM that night.
I think my bag is also partly to blame... its a new red bag that must be somehow jinxed??? So I have since given it away to Nancy...
I am still hoping a kind soul will pick the keys up and return them to me somehow.... is it too much???
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Sleepless in Singapore
Argh.. the pains of parenthood... chronic sleep deprivation.
Madison was TERRIBLE last night... Chris and I nearly collapsed with exhaustion at the end, which of course signalled the start of a new WORKING day!
I really don't know what the true cause of her recent night wakings are, and from searching the internet I realize that it is a frequent problem faced by many parents. Madison gets really tired by 8 Pm and we usually put her to bed after a bath and a good feed. Last night she was very unsettled and started crying out every 5 to 10 minutes until close to 10 PM. Then she woke for a feed at 2 Am and the nightmare started. She started crying just prior to 4AM and would not stop for a good 30 minutes, until I tried to rock her, and finally ended up feeding her even though I know I should not encourage poor sleep associations. We even tried to take her to our bed but she ended up playing with us and not sleeping!
The previous nights were similar albeit less severe: I could still pat her down to sleep. Yesterday we were trying to see if the daytime naps were excessive so we completely cut out her last nap at 4PM. BIG MISTAKE. She was awake since 230PM and by the time we got to 630PM she was fast asleep in her car seat on the way home from the Novena house... my heart broke when I got home and found her doubled up in her seat FAST ASLEEP! I felt terrible...
So... we paid the price... Pa and Chris both thought that she was old enough to do without the last nap, but I had my reservations.. but I guess you never know until you test her limits! Chris was post call last night too.. but he put up a brave front and was up for her at 4am.
I cannot imagine doing this for a second time with another child!!
Madison was TERRIBLE last night... Chris and I nearly collapsed with exhaustion at the end, which of course signalled the start of a new WORKING day!
I really don't know what the true cause of her recent night wakings are, and from searching the internet I realize that it is a frequent problem faced by many parents. Madison gets really tired by 8 Pm and we usually put her to bed after a bath and a good feed. Last night she was very unsettled and started crying out every 5 to 10 minutes until close to 10 PM. Then she woke for a feed at 2 Am and the nightmare started. She started crying just prior to 4AM and would not stop for a good 30 minutes, until I tried to rock her, and finally ended up feeding her even though I know I should not encourage poor sleep associations. We even tried to take her to our bed but she ended up playing with us and not sleeping!
The previous nights were similar albeit less severe: I could still pat her down to sleep. Yesterday we were trying to see if the daytime naps were excessive so we completely cut out her last nap at 4PM. BIG MISTAKE. She was awake since 230PM and by the time we got to 630PM she was fast asleep in her car seat on the way home from the Novena house... my heart broke when I got home and found her doubled up in her seat FAST ASLEEP! I felt terrible...
So... we paid the price... Pa and Chris both thought that she was old enough to do without the last nap, but I had my reservations.. but I guess you never know until you test her limits! Chris was post call last night too.. but he put up a brave front and was up for her at 4am.
I cannot imagine doing this for a second time with another child!!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
7 months old !!
Madison turned 7 months as of yesterday, the 13th of October...
I really cannot believe we are halfway through with October already, much less imagine my dear baby is growing rapidly and hurtling towards toddlerhood!
She is becoming a little person with her quirks and personality... she loves to clap her hands, splash like mad in any pool of water -- be it her bath, the swimming pool or even a bowl of water! Madison is starting to crawl.. she can get on all fours and squirm backwards, and she finally started flipping non stop as a mode of travelling... sigh.. no more leaving her on the bed...
Growth wise Madison has slowed tremendously.. her weight has been stagnant for awhile, although she is still of a healthy weight at the moment... I suppose all babies tend to have a reduced growth velocity in the second half of the first year, and in the second year they hardly grow at all! Still.. its something to get used to, after seeing her grow so much in the first 6 months!
But most of all, Chris and my life has changed tremendously, and I must admit that things are not what I expected during my pre pregnancy days... still, we have adjusted fairly well... sleep is still a precious commodity, although like most mothers, we learn to get by with less. Couple time is limited, of course, having a new person in our midst to occupy us most of the time apart from work. That, I hope will improve as she gets older and sleeps better as well.
Having Madison has given so many people around us so much.. for a start, my parents... they have changed quite a bit since her arrival, rushing home from work everyday just to spend time with her... endless shopping and spoiling her with little treats, from clothes to toys to little gadgets. She is undoubtedly the new apple of the grandparents' eyes! She definitely brings so much joy to those who care for her ( apart from the bad nights, of course!)
Celine has been in town for the past 2 weeks, and it is a pleasure meeting her boy for the first time. Her son has a different personality from Madison, being much of a joker and less serious sort of person. He loves to 'pooh pooh' people and seems to take an interest in other people. Celine has tough nights though, since he still wakes 2 hourly at 6.5 months to feed! He is much bigger than Madison, weighing a good 10 plus kgs at 5 months!
We also attended Andrew Lim's daughter Clara's first birthday party on the 12th October at their new place near Holland road. I remember the last time they met us she was only 6 months! Now she is trying to walk already! Andrew Chen, Jackie and their kids, Abigail and James were at the party too. Their son is turning 2 next month!
Today I have sent the grandpa, the daddy and the baby off to the supermarket, while I get some quiet time, surfing the net, baking a banana cake and just relaxing... argh but Chris took the car.. otherwise it would have been Orchard Road MAD SHOPPING!
I really cannot believe we are halfway through with October already, much less imagine my dear baby is growing rapidly and hurtling towards toddlerhood!
She is becoming a little person with her quirks and personality... she loves to clap her hands, splash like mad in any pool of water -- be it her bath, the swimming pool or even a bowl of water! Madison is starting to crawl.. she can get on all fours and squirm backwards, and she finally started flipping non stop as a mode of travelling... sigh.. no more leaving her on the bed...
Growth wise Madison has slowed tremendously.. her weight has been stagnant for awhile, although she is still of a healthy weight at the moment... I suppose all babies tend to have a reduced growth velocity in the second half of the first year, and in the second year they hardly grow at all! Still.. its something to get used to, after seeing her grow so much in the first 6 months!
But most of all, Chris and my life has changed tremendously, and I must admit that things are not what I expected during my pre pregnancy days... still, we have adjusted fairly well... sleep is still a precious commodity, although like most mothers, we learn to get by with less. Couple time is limited, of course, having a new person in our midst to occupy us most of the time apart from work. That, I hope will improve as she gets older and sleeps better as well.
Having Madison has given so many people around us so much.. for a start, my parents... they have changed quite a bit since her arrival, rushing home from work everyday just to spend time with her... endless shopping and spoiling her with little treats, from clothes to toys to little gadgets. She is undoubtedly the new apple of the grandparents' eyes! She definitely brings so much joy to those who care for her ( apart from the bad nights, of course!)
Celine has been in town for the past 2 weeks, and it is a pleasure meeting her boy for the first time. Her son has a different personality from Madison, being much of a joker and less serious sort of person. He loves to 'pooh pooh' people and seems to take an interest in other people. Celine has tough nights though, since he still wakes 2 hourly at 6.5 months to feed! He is much bigger than Madison, weighing a good 10 plus kgs at 5 months!
We also attended Andrew Lim's daughter Clara's first birthday party on the 12th October at their new place near Holland road. I remember the last time they met us she was only 6 months! Now she is trying to walk already! Andrew Chen, Jackie and their kids, Abigail and James were at the party too. Their son is turning 2 next month!
Today I have sent the grandpa, the daddy and the baby off to the supermarket, while I get some quiet time, surfing the net, baking a banana cake and just relaxing... argh but Chris took the car.. otherwise it would have been Orchard Road MAD SHOPPING!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Meeting new friends
Madison had her first real contact with other children yesterday...
Of course, she's seen other children from afar, at the playground, in the malls but never played or came in really close contact with them.
Yesterday being a public holiday in Singapore ( Hari Raya and Children's day ), we were invited for a potluck lunch at Zhou Hong's apartment at The Petals in Bukit Timah. Andrea had recently delivered her second daughter Alica 2 weeks ago. Kenneth, Grace and Timothy as well as Yu Liang and Bernie were invited as well. Wan Xian and her husband were coming too but were late.
SO... at the house were 2 other older kids and of course the newborn. Kiera, 26mth old and Timothy, 11 mths old were developmentally more advanced than Madison... Kiera was running around and chattering non stop while Timothy was crawling around the house. They were both relatively quick at picking up toys and for some strange reason they all wanted the SAME toys at the SAME time... so... survival of the fittest... Madison was caught unawares and shocked at having toys being taken from her! IT was quite amusing to watch them all at it. At one point of time, Kiera and Timothy collided, ending up in tears for Kiera first, then Timothy.. leaving Madison speechless and astounded as to what was happening! All the adults were laughing away...
Lunch was a delicious spread of fish head curry, roast chicken and duck and some salad that I brought. The adults were hungry and the kids were left to their own devices while we were eating for awhile.
After lunch we sat around chatting and watching some pictures that Yu Liang had taken of the recent Singapore Grand Prix.. but by about 3 Pm Madison felt rather overwhelmed and we decided to take her home...
Oh.. and Nancy was away for the entire day for the first time in 6 mths so we were looking after Madison by ourselves for the first time in a LONG WHILE...! We coped pretty well though, although I was really thankful I made Chris take some leave during this time!
Of course, she's seen other children from afar, at the playground, in the malls but never played or came in really close contact with them.
Yesterday being a public holiday in Singapore ( Hari Raya and Children's day ), we were invited for a potluck lunch at Zhou Hong's apartment at The Petals in Bukit Timah. Andrea had recently delivered her second daughter Alica 2 weeks ago. Kenneth, Grace and Timothy as well as Yu Liang and Bernie were invited as well. Wan Xian and her husband were coming too but were late.
SO... at the house were 2 other older kids and of course the newborn. Kiera, 26mth old and Timothy, 11 mths old were developmentally more advanced than Madison... Kiera was running around and chattering non stop while Timothy was crawling around the house. They were both relatively quick at picking up toys and for some strange reason they all wanted the SAME toys at the SAME time... so... survival of the fittest... Madison was caught unawares and shocked at having toys being taken from her! IT was quite amusing to watch them all at it. At one point of time, Kiera and Timothy collided, ending up in tears for Kiera first, then Timothy.. leaving Madison speechless and astounded as to what was happening! All the adults were laughing away...
Lunch was a delicious spread of fish head curry, roast chicken and duck and some salad that I brought. The adults were hungry and the kids were left to their own devices while we were eating for awhile.
After lunch we sat around chatting and watching some pictures that Yu Liang had taken of the recent Singapore Grand Prix.. but by about 3 Pm Madison felt rather overwhelmed and we decided to take her home...
Oh.. and Nancy was away for the entire day for the first time in 6 mths so we were looking after Madison by ourselves for the first time in a LONG WHILE...! We coped pretty well though, although I was really thankful I made Chris take some leave during this time!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Madison's 3rd round of vaccinations
The time has finally arrived for the dreaded "V": vaccination...
I have been dreading this all month really, and contemplating whether to give her the pneumococcal vaccine at this visit. It's an additional injection, but considering that we take her regularly to the swimming pool now, I felt it would be prudent to protect her against invasive pneumococcal disease. The Prevenar vaccine is a 7 valent vaccine covering almost 90% of the strains of Strep Pneumoniae that cause invasive pneumococcal disease.
I think Madison knew somehow that something not right was up... I suppose it started quite innocuously when I gave her the liquid paracetamol in the afternoon by surprise. Her mood changed from chirpy to moody. After her nap, Pa dropped Madison, Nancy and me at KKH. In the car she was already teary and crying! Which she almost never does anymore in the afternoons because she usually knows we're going out shopping!
At the Private Children's clinic, Chris met us there. I tried to distract Madison by walking around with her, then we sat in the waiting area while she twiddled with my handbag. Once we were in Dr Yong Yin Peng's clinic ( appt at 1500h) she became more nervous. She was still fine up till the point when she was prepared for the injections. She was made to straddle Chris and he held her down while Dr Yong and a staff nurse simultaneously gave her the 2 injections : 6 in 1 and the Prevenar in each thigh. The Prevenar went in the right thigh. Before the needle touched her she was already screaming in fear... and the cries crescendoed when they stabbed her. Madison nearly went purple crying in anger and pain!
We quickly took her out and Ma came around and carried her to distract her. I think once outside she calmed down quite quickly. After the visit, we went to the Kopitiam to have a drink. I bought Madison a bottle of mineral water and she suddenly became quite attached to her mineral water bottle! She would scream if I tried to take it away from her.. it was quite amusing.
At home she cheered up a little, but of course was quite unhappy about getting another dose of paracetamol. The night was uneventful, but come morning... the grouchiness started ...
Madison developed a fever of 38C and was super cranky the entire day, as well as being tired and irritable. We dosed her up with more paracetamol and gave her a cool bath, which seemed to help. Her appetite was decreased as well, refusing to take much milk or other liquids. She managed some lunch though, surprisingly.
The second night was hellish too. Madison was tired out in the early evening, crying easily, so we put her to bed by 8 PM. Things were fine until 2AM, she woke in a tangle of her swaddle ( goodness knows how she managed to struggle out of her swaddle!) After a feed she seemed to settle and go back to sleep, but then woke in tears at 4 AM, but Chris managed to rock her back to sleep at 0430h, then at 0540h she was awake again! I fed her again and she fell back asleep. I think Chris and I started the day EXHAUSTED.
Again her appetite seemed to be diminished... and she looked a tad skinnier???
I have been dreading this all month really, and contemplating whether to give her the pneumococcal vaccine at this visit. It's an additional injection, but considering that we take her regularly to the swimming pool now, I felt it would be prudent to protect her against invasive pneumococcal disease. The Prevenar vaccine is a 7 valent vaccine covering almost 90% of the strains of Strep Pneumoniae that cause invasive pneumococcal disease.
I think Madison knew somehow that something not right was up... I suppose it started quite innocuously when I gave her the liquid paracetamol in the afternoon by surprise. Her mood changed from chirpy to moody. After her nap, Pa dropped Madison, Nancy and me at KKH. In the car she was already teary and crying! Which she almost never does anymore in the afternoons because she usually knows we're going out shopping!
At the Private Children's clinic, Chris met us there. I tried to distract Madison by walking around with her, then we sat in the waiting area while she twiddled with my handbag. Once we were in Dr Yong Yin Peng's clinic ( appt at 1500h) she became more nervous. She was still fine up till the point when she was prepared for the injections. She was made to straddle Chris and he held her down while Dr Yong and a staff nurse simultaneously gave her the 2 injections : 6 in 1 and the Prevenar in each thigh. The Prevenar went in the right thigh. Before the needle touched her she was already screaming in fear... and the cries crescendoed when they stabbed her. Madison nearly went purple crying in anger and pain!
We quickly took her out and Ma came around and carried her to distract her. I think once outside she calmed down quite quickly. After the visit, we went to the Kopitiam to have a drink. I bought Madison a bottle of mineral water and she suddenly became quite attached to her mineral water bottle! She would scream if I tried to take it away from her.. it was quite amusing.
At home she cheered up a little, but of course was quite unhappy about getting another dose of paracetamol. The night was uneventful, but come morning... the grouchiness started ...
Madison developed a fever of 38C and was super cranky the entire day, as well as being tired and irritable. We dosed her up with more paracetamol and gave her a cool bath, which seemed to help. Her appetite was decreased as well, refusing to take much milk or other liquids. She managed some lunch though, surprisingly.
The second night was hellish too. Madison was tired out in the early evening, crying easily, so we put her to bed by 8 PM. Things were fine until 2AM, she woke in a tangle of her swaddle ( goodness knows how she managed to struggle out of her swaddle!) After a feed she seemed to settle and go back to sleep, but then woke in tears at 4 AM, but Chris managed to rock her back to sleep at 0430h, then at 0540h she was awake again! I fed her again and she fell back asleep. I think Chris and I started the day EXHAUSTED.
Again her appetite seemed to be diminished... and she looked a tad skinnier???
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
A visit from Kayla
Kayla and Cheryl came to Singapore last week to visit her grandfather, who is recuperating from a recent stroke.
Kayla is 41/2 now, and is such a sweet tall girl! She and her mother live in Melbourne , Australia and her father is South African, and REALLY TALL... they are both doctors, Jake is an anaesthetist in training and Cheryl is a SAHM to Kayla.
I think Kayla is waiting for a baby sister from Cheryl too.. she seems to enjoy playing with Madison!
Monday, September 15, 2008
6 months old!
The 13th of September has come and gone..
I cannot believe time has flown past so quickly, although I must admit it has been the longest 6 months of my life.... so much has changed yet so much has stayed the same. Having Madison has been a bittersweet experience, filled with happiness, tears and angst... but like all parents say... I have no regrets... only sweet memories of my DINK lifestyle that are slowly fading away.
We celebrated her half year birthday at home with a barbeque style lunch. Pa and Ma specially went to the market and bought some chicken and meat. Nancy cooked an Indonesian style Mee goreng to complement the meal. Madison was really good too, eating her porridge which was made from fresh liver, pork and stewed with rice. She really loves her cooked meals... I think I should give up on the commercial rice cereals.
Chris had a long weekend so he spent most of the time at home with Madison too... it was nice having him home for a long period... otherwise work keeps him busy most of the day during the rest of the week.
Madison now sits well unsupported and can use her hands to reach for things,especially cups filled with liquids! She is able to stand supported by herself for a few seconds but is rather unstable with that. Rolling over isn't something she seems rather inclined to do, but she was suddenly able to roll back from her tummy over the weekend. She doesn't really succeed at crawling just yet, preferring to walk assisted!
Her favourite activity at the moment is banging away at the electronic keyboard, her Fisher Price toys and walking around in her walker. Of course, shopping is another all time high for her, and she is able to stay occupied once in a shopping mall or outside the house!
Another thing I noticed.. we take her to lunch outside and bring her food along, and she gets quite a good appetite eating outside! Either that or she is hungrier at lunch compared to breakfast. She is getting better at drinking from a cup, an adult mug at that too...
Madison is starting to indicate her wants but is not yet at the non specific "mama/dada" stage just yet... I am patiently waiting for the specific "mama" , although I suspect I may prefer her mumblings later on when she can scream and shout for things!
Friday, September 12, 2008
My poor ill baby
Madison fell ill!
This is not the first time she has been ill but definitely the worst!
It all started when Nancy became unwell.. and the silly girl didn't tell me that she was sick! She had been fasting and not sleeping well, going daily to a crowded mosque for Ramadan and then after one rainy day she suddenly started sneezing and I noticed she seemed rather 'off'. I asked her if she was sick and she replied 'no'. Then I said " are u feeling throat pain or have a runny nose?" AND the dreaded 'yes' came back....I could have fainted at that point!
The worst thing is that Nancy has this habit of wiping Madison's drooling face with her bare fingers despite being told to use tissue. Hence the transmission of the bug...
On the 9th Sept Madison was still her cheerful old self.. I didn't even suspect that she was brewing a bug. I even took her swimming that day! Horrors, in retrospect.. my poor baby...
That night, I put her to bed as usual and then woke at 3 AM to feed her. She seemed rather zonked out and when I picked her up she was burning hot! Her palms and soles were the first to strike me as being searing hot. I fed her, trying my very best not to panic as I reached for the thermometer. It read the dreaded 38 C. She fed and fell asleep immediately so I put her back in her cot without her swaddle.
I was absolutely shocked. And unable to go back to sleep. I tossed in bed until close to ? 4Am and by 540h she was awake and crying. I rushed to her room and picked her up, she felt so hot so I quickly fed her again in an effort to hydrate her. A repeat temperature read 37.9 C . Chris and I then fed her some paracetamol syrup. She stayed up after that for about 2 hours then I fed her again and she fell asleep at about 0700h.
The rest of the day she was grouchy and tired, and I think the highest her temperature got probably was close to 39 C. I fed her 2 hourly and regularly checked her diapers. She subsequently gagged at the paracetamol liquid and even threw up once. Her nose was running on the right side and later developed a runny sticky right eye too!
We rested her the whole day and I basically carried her in the sling either for transport or to nap. Fortunately, at the 4 PM nap after I fell asleep too, her fever broke. She was still tired but really picked up in the evening. she took another nap at 6PM for 30 minutes so she ended up sleeping late ..at 9PM! For the first time in months Chris and I had dinner at the Novena house...one good thing that came out of the entire saga.
On the 11th Sept she remained afebrile, but was cranky and still off spirit. She also developed some loose stools, and you could hear her gut grumbling away...I let her nap as she desired, as she was so upset otherwise... crying easily at the slightest thing. Her nose was running less, but was blocked instead.... She still wanted to be carried and kept accompanied the entire day.
Madison starting recovering on the 12th of Sept, but boy was she grouchy! Complaining at every little thing, unhappy about sitting around, unhappy about being in the house and she hardly smiled the entire day. Fortunately Chris was post call and around in the afternoon to keep her company and Pa returned at 5PM from the gym as well. Her nose was still blocked and she occasionally coughed and choked, and her appetite was affected as well.
Parents of sick children really do suffer more than the kid sometimes, emotionally and physically...
This is not the first time she has been ill but definitely the worst!
It all started when Nancy became unwell.. and the silly girl didn't tell me that she was sick! She had been fasting and not sleeping well, going daily to a crowded mosque for Ramadan and then after one rainy day she suddenly started sneezing and I noticed she seemed rather 'off'. I asked her if she was sick and she replied 'no'. Then I said " are u feeling throat pain or have a runny nose?" AND the dreaded 'yes' came back....I could have fainted at that point!
The worst thing is that Nancy has this habit of wiping Madison's drooling face with her bare fingers despite being told to use tissue. Hence the transmission of the bug...
On the 9th Sept Madison was still her cheerful old self.. I didn't even suspect that she was brewing a bug. I even took her swimming that day! Horrors, in retrospect.. my poor baby...
That night, I put her to bed as usual and then woke at 3 AM to feed her. She seemed rather zonked out and when I picked her up she was burning hot! Her palms and soles were the first to strike me as being searing hot. I fed her, trying my very best not to panic as I reached for the thermometer. It read the dreaded 38 C. She fed and fell asleep immediately so I put her back in her cot without her swaddle.
I was absolutely shocked. And unable to go back to sleep. I tossed in bed until close to ? 4Am and by 540h she was awake and crying. I rushed to her room and picked her up, she felt so hot so I quickly fed her again in an effort to hydrate her. A repeat temperature read 37.9 C . Chris and I then fed her some paracetamol syrup. She stayed up after that for about 2 hours then I fed her again and she fell asleep at about 0700h.
The rest of the day she was grouchy and tired, and I think the highest her temperature got probably was close to 39 C. I fed her 2 hourly and regularly checked her diapers. She subsequently gagged at the paracetamol liquid and even threw up once. Her nose was running on the right side and later developed a runny sticky right eye too!
We rested her the whole day and I basically carried her in the sling either for transport or to nap. Fortunately, at the 4 PM nap after I fell asleep too, her fever broke. She was still tired but really picked up in the evening. she took another nap at 6PM for 30 minutes so she ended up sleeping late ..at 9PM! For the first time in months Chris and I had dinner at the Novena house...one good thing that came out of the entire saga.
On the 11th Sept she remained afebrile, but was cranky and still off spirit. She also developed some loose stools, and you could hear her gut grumbling away...I let her nap as she desired, as she was so upset otherwise... crying easily at the slightest thing. Her nose was running less, but was blocked instead.... She still wanted to be carried and kept accompanied the entire day.
Madison starting recovering on the 12th of Sept, but boy was she grouchy! Complaining at every little thing, unhappy about sitting around, unhappy about being in the house and she hardly smiled the entire day. Fortunately Chris was post call and around in the afternoon to keep her company and Pa returned at 5PM from the gym as well. Her nose was still blocked and she occasionally coughed and choked, and her appetite was affected as well.
Parents of sick children really do suffer more than the kid sometimes, emotionally and physically...
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Our first swim!
Today Madison had her first real swim!
I took her to the Singapore Swimming Club and took her for a real dip in an adult pool.
Chris and I had bought her swimming diapers just the day prior.. they are the Swimmers from Huggies and are really expensive! They cost just over S$ 15.00 for a pack of 12. They fit rather snugly and have elastic sides that are meant to be torn away after use. I had also purchased a wetsuit like swimming costume for her a while ago.
Anyway... after my swim at about 1030h, I got Maria and Nancy to change her into her swim stuff and then into the shallow end of the adult pool she came with me!
Our dear Madison was like a little pro! Initially she was a little hesitant, but before long she was kicking away merrily in the pool. I took her across the length of the pool kicking free style, then flipped her to her back to take her back. We did a few 'laps' and in the midst of one of the free style laps I quickly submerged her head, and waited to see her reaction... our brave girl took it rather well, a little shocked but not crying !
This being her first dip I decided to keep it short and took her out after 5-10minutes. She was showered and then towel dried. Afterwards she was really exhausted and went down for her 11am nap really well!
In the afternoon, after lunch Pa and I took her to Giant at the Turf club supermarketing. I decided to check out the other swimming costumes for sale there and while searching frantically for a wet suit like costume in HER size, she had DECIDED she liked a strawberry pink skimpy swim suit! And like a little shopping queen, she 'looked' up and down the display at the other suits and stuck to her first choice.. it was sooo cute...of course she got that suit!
I must say... I had alot of fun taking her for her first swim... lets hope there's more to come!
I took her to the Singapore Swimming Club and took her for a real dip in an adult pool.
Chris and I had bought her swimming diapers just the day prior.. they are the Swimmers from Huggies and are really expensive! They cost just over S$ 15.00 for a pack of 12. They fit rather snugly and have elastic sides that are meant to be torn away after use. I had also purchased a wetsuit like swimming costume for her a while ago.
Anyway... after my swim at about 1030h, I got Maria and Nancy to change her into her swim stuff and then into the shallow end of the adult pool she came with me!
Our dear Madison was like a little pro! Initially she was a little hesitant, but before long she was kicking away merrily in the pool. I took her across the length of the pool kicking free style, then flipped her to her back to take her back. We did a few 'laps' and in the midst of one of the free style laps I quickly submerged her head, and waited to see her reaction... our brave girl took it rather well, a little shocked but not crying !
This being her first dip I decided to keep it short and took her out after 5-10minutes. She was showered and then towel dried. Afterwards she was really exhausted and went down for her 11am nap really well!
In the afternoon, after lunch Pa and I took her to Giant at the Turf club supermarketing. I decided to check out the other swimming costumes for sale there and while searching frantically for a wet suit like costume in HER size, she had DECIDED she liked a strawberry pink skimpy swim suit! And like a little shopping queen, she 'looked' up and down the display at the other suits and stuck to her first choice.. it was sooo cute...of course she got that suit!
I must say... I had alot of fun taking her for her first swim... lets hope there's more to come!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sitting pretty...
Suddenly Madison can sit by herself!
I suppose she must have been slowly developing the skill, but over the past week she suddenly ( as it seems to me) was able to sit without support quite well by herself. Initially she would use her hands to support herself while seated, but definitely by yesterday she was sitting and using both hands to reach for objects....
Meanwhile, we have embarked on solids and she is at present offered breakfast at about 7am, followed by lunch at about 1230 to 1300h... she has her moods, some days she takes more others very little. The one important principle I adhere to is to never force her to take more than she wants, for fear of inducing food phobias and bad habits.
After some consideration, we have settled on rice cereal with expressed milk with a combination of fruit in the morning, while for lunch she has a portion of porridge that has been previously cooked and frozen.
She was started on the classic banana for breakfast, primarily because it was the easiest to prepare. Since then she has had avocado, home cooked and pureed pear, apple for breakfast. Porridge at lunch has been rice congee with spinach and sprinkling of anchovy( ikan bilis ).
Of course she makes a merry mess of her face during her meals, but otherwise has been a good little girl in taking foods she seems to like. Apple looks like one of them!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
More worries about Madison
Sigh... I think its true what they say about parenthood. The minute the child is born the parent is constantly worrying about them till they turn about 30! And I think the worrying probably never stops even then... school, health, their personal relationships, career etc...
Madison is doing quite well and was growing at a good pace but suddenly for the past 2 weeks she stopped putting on weight! This I found out when I weighed her at the clinic. At first I attributed it to the machine being inaccurate, but repeated weigh ins showed the same figures. Then I thought maybe just a temporary thing, so I waited 1 week. Still no change. Panic started to set in...
The funny thing is, the logical side of me tells me that she probably is alright, being chirpy and generally happy, not asking for more food... but the emotional me is screaming : " inadequate!!! Dropping feeds.. !! doing bad job not feeding more!!! "
The conclusion is that either she was taking in less or my supply is dropping.... argh... both of which were pretty unsavoury....
So we started her on some complementary feeds... being close to 6 calender months this took the form of SOLIDS!
Madison got her first taste of mashed banana, which she took surprisingly well...
Then I realised that she needs a source of iron so we added rice cereal diluted with breastmilk ( what else!) .. this took a little more time getting used to...
Since last week, she has tried carrot, pumpkin and just the last 2 days, home cooked apple puree.. which she seems to like mixed in cereal .. i tried it neat and she gagged something bad...! Pa tried giving her rice porridge with some egg yolk but she gagged too...
Since starting some solids, albeit a little only and twice a day, she seems to take more milk at the feeds too! I thought this was somewhat paradoxical? Or am I imagining it? My boobs seem emptier between and after feeds these days... even trying to express is like TORTURE...
Madison is doing quite well and was growing at a good pace but suddenly for the past 2 weeks she stopped putting on weight! This I found out when I weighed her at the clinic. At first I attributed it to the machine being inaccurate, but repeated weigh ins showed the same figures. Then I thought maybe just a temporary thing, so I waited 1 week. Still no change. Panic started to set in...
The funny thing is, the logical side of me tells me that she probably is alright, being chirpy and generally happy, not asking for more food... but the emotional me is screaming : " inadequate!!! Dropping feeds.. !! doing bad job not feeding more!!! "
The conclusion is that either she was taking in less or my supply is dropping.... argh... both of which were pretty unsavoury....
So we started her on some complementary feeds... being close to 6 calender months this took the form of SOLIDS!
Madison got her first taste of mashed banana, which she took surprisingly well...
Then I realised that she needs a source of iron so we added rice cereal diluted with breastmilk ( what else!) .. this took a little more time getting used to...
Since last week, she has tried carrot, pumpkin and just the last 2 days, home cooked apple puree.. which she seems to like mixed in cereal .. i tried it neat and she gagged something bad...! Pa tried giving her rice porridge with some egg yolk but she gagged too...
Since starting some solids, albeit a little only and twice a day, she seems to take more milk at the feeds too! I thought this was somewhat paradoxical? Or am I imagining it? My boobs seem emptier between and after feeds these days... even trying to express is like TORTURE...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
My Birthday!
This is my first birthday as a new MOM!
I had a few wishes that I had made a little while before this birthday occurred.
1. To have Madison sleep through the night
2. To regain some semblance of my previous fitness
To a certain extent with realistic modifications of the wishes they were fufilled... Madison slept pretty well last night, waking once for her feed then sleeping to 6 am to start her day. No fussing at the 3 am either.
Fitness wise, well.. I am pretty content with the level I have reached at this stage, it's not quite as good
as it used to be but I have to discount for the chronic sleep deprivation and preoccupation with breast feeding supply. Although the second one may be more of a worry than reality but I am not going to test that one out.The day has been pretty good so far, Chris is on leave this week as requested so that I didn't have to spend the day alone with Madison. He's been the perfect father, going out with walks with us in the mornings...afterwards we went to the Swimming Club to play a round of tennis, but had to abandon it after 30 odd minutes as it was searing hot... we were sweating buckets and baking ( read... pigment returning to face and arms..ARGH!!) Madison had a little nap and when she woke I fed her while we treated Nancy to breakfast at the club. Chris and I had a drink to cool down...
Afterwards we popped over to the Joo chiat clinic to meet up with Kay Shin and her significant other to remove stitches from above his eyebrow. Chris had taken out a mole for him 6 days ago. For some funny reason there was a walk in patient and I had to consult dressed in shorts!
Anyway, when we were done at the clinic we drove down to Great World City to pick up some sashimi and california rolls to add on for lunch. Video Ezy also has this promotion where the birthday person gets to rent a DVD for free on the day itself. So we have " Strange Wilderness" to watch tonight.
Pa and Ma came home for lunch so we ate at home. Madison was such a sweetie today, sitting happily in her feeding chair and wolfing down some mashed banana.
We all had lunch together, afterwhich Madison went for her afternoon nap.
The day ended on a quiet note, Chris and I had dinner at home while Madison slept after we put her down for the night...
Monday, August 18, 2008
New developments
Madison is now 5 months...
Time has really flown past the last few weeks....but it does when you are busy with life and a baby.
Although the things we do on a daily basis seem rather mundane in retrospect and hardly a "life" when I think about what I was doing pre-baby!
But.. our little girl is growing fast and developmentally she is communicating her needs better to us. It's really noisy when she is awake and yapping away... she turns perpetually on a flat surface, then gets stuck and complains terribly about being stuck in the prone position.
She said " bah!" 2 days ago out of the blue, but hasn't repeated it since then.
Madison is starting to sit better with support now and can sit unsupported ( in a very crooked fashion ) for a few seconds. She loves playing in her Mamas and Papas walker, courtesy of Pa on her 4 month birthday.
Ma just bought Madison her first encyclopedia collection costing $2500, which I am supposed to read to her daily. It is a Grolier set and includes a phonics system as well. It is an investment in her education.
Chris is still busy at work but he is going on leave next week! Hooray! His little game with her is to throw her up and catch her, which she absolutely loves. She screeches in delight when she is coming down just as Chris is about to catch her.
Can't believe its almost September already...
Friday, August 1, 2008
Our Growing girl part 2
Time really flies .....
Madison is fast approaching 5 months and she has grown by leaps and bounds
The last appointment at the paediatrician on the 21st of July she weighed a healthy 8.1 Kg and measured 64cm. That put her at the 90th centile for weight and height. Madison performed well for the PD and didn't pee/poo or scream while being examined! The visit terminated with her routine vaccination ( 5 in 1 ) this time. We chose not to administer rotateq or Prevanar at this stage. Primarily because I did not see the point in subjecting her to multiple antigens all at once at this point of time.
After the vaccination she developed a mild temperature, but was surprisingly good that night. I was expecting a sleepless night filled with crying fits but that did not happen. Hmm... paranoia...
Madison can now roll over confidently ..she acheived that in early July... ?? around the 17th?? Now she rolls over everytime we put her on her back to change her diaper! She can bear weight while supported and sits well with support too... without it she kinda slouches forward!
Grandpa is ever doting... spending almost every afternoon with her... we go to the supermarket once a week and she sits in the supermarket trolley... he takes her for long walks around the Novena area and buys her lots of "STUFF" .. a term he has coined for things he buys without hesitation for her.
Chris is busy as usual at work at SGH... trying his very best to get an accredited training job... But he spends as much time after work as possible with her and tries to bathe her in the evenings.
Today we were rushing to make it to the Joo Chiat clinic by 0930h.. and we DID it.. only to have the patient cancel on us! ARGH... but our dear Madison was really great, she even tolerated a cool shower in the clinic because the hot water there didn't seem to work!
I noticed a slight looseness to her stools today, which occurred twice... am watching it closely to see if she develops GE.. although that would be strange in a fully breastfed baby who doesn't even get bottles!
Madison is fast approaching 5 months and she has grown by leaps and bounds
The last appointment at the paediatrician on the 21st of July she weighed a healthy 8.1 Kg and measured 64cm. That put her at the 90th centile for weight and height. Madison performed well for the PD and didn't pee/poo or scream while being examined! The visit terminated with her routine vaccination ( 5 in 1 ) this time. We chose not to administer rotateq or Prevanar at this stage. Primarily because I did not see the point in subjecting her to multiple antigens all at once at this point of time.
After the vaccination she developed a mild temperature, but was surprisingly good that night. I was expecting a sleepless night filled with crying fits but that did not happen. Hmm... paranoia...
Madison can now roll over confidently ..she acheived that in early July... ?? around the 17th?? Now she rolls over everytime we put her on her back to change her diaper! She can bear weight while supported and sits well with support too... without it she kinda slouches forward!
Grandpa is ever doting... spending almost every afternoon with her... we go to the supermarket once a week and she sits in the supermarket trolley... he takes her for long walks around the Novena area and buys her lots of "STUFF" .. a term he has coined for things he buys without hesitation for her.
Chris is busy as usual at work at SGH... trying his very best to get an accredited training job... But he spends as much time after work as possible with her and tries to bathe her in the evenings.
Today we were rushing to make it to the Joo Chiat clinic by 0930h.. and we DID it.. only to have the patient cancel on us! ARGH... but our dear Madison was really great, she even tolerated a cool shower in the clinic because the hot water there didn't seem to work!
I noticed a slight looseness to her stools today, which occurred twice... am watching it closely to see if she develops GE.. although that would be strange in a fully breastfed baby who doesn't even get bottles!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
New Toys for Madison
Grandpa is a major shopper for Madison...
Let's see... since she turned 4 months on the 13th of July, she has acquired a new walker toy from Mamas and Papas, which she loves, as it has a steering wheel, horn and live music!
Just yesterday we made a jaunt down to United Square and bought her a huge inflatable swimming pool that we inflated immediately on returning home.
Today Madison got her swimming gear and went for a dip in the pool.. which took ages to fill just a little...
She protested initially when put into the water, but with a little encouragement and play she soon took to it like a little pro.... and we had to take her out after a good 30 minutes because she was starting to get cold!
I can't imagine the days that will follow when she will want to live in that pool!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Nursing Strike
MADISON IS ON A NURSING STRIKE!!
Last week she had a pooing issue.. which settled finally on Day 5.. after countless days of wondering and worrying.
This week is a more unsettling issue: NURSING STRIKE!
She is unusually fussy during feeding, sometimes refusing to feed.. yesterday was terrible... she fussed and fretted from the time soon after she woke, had a late morning nap and a good feed at 10 am then nothing significant until 4 PM! She would fuss every time she was put to the boob... but would be perfectly happy being carried or played with! IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!
According to websites and books its a common phenomenon that occurs between 3 and 8 months that sometimes results in weaning but apparently it is supposed to be a temporary phenomenon that make take days to weeks to resolve! AND IT DEFINITELY TAKES PATIENCE to wait it out, as well as a good breast pump!
I am hoping it will resolve soon with some sleep in between (this goes on at night too) ... it does feel like a rejection but I am the adult and should know otherwise!
Last week she had a pooing issue.. which settled finally on Day 5.. after countless days of wondering and worrying.
This week is a more unsettling issue: NURSING STRIKE!
She is unusually fussy during feeding, sometimes refusing to feed.. yesterday was terrible... she fussed and fretted from the time soon after she woke, had a late morning nap and a good feed at 10 am then nothing significant until 4 PM! She would fuss every time she was put to the boob... but would be perfectly happy being carried or played with! IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!
According to websites and books its a common phenomenon that occurs between 3 and 8 months that sometimes results in weaning but apparently it is supposed to be a temporary phenomenon that make take days to weeks to resolve! AND IT DEFINITELY TAKES PATIENCE to wait it out, as well as a good breast pump!
I am hoping it will resolve soon with some sleep in between (this goes on at night too) ... it does feel like a rejection but I am the adult and should know otherwise!
Friday, July 4, 2008
All about poo
We always hear horror stories about how couples become obsessed and engrossed with their little tykes poos and feeding....
ITS ALL TRUE!!!
Madison is usually spot on regular with her pooing, being a breastfed baby she would naturally poop quite quickly after feeds on a daily basis, usually more than once a day.
Since she turned about 3 months her pooing became more infrequent but still daily and watery.
Then all of a sudden, starting this week she just STOPPED pooing. Literally. Sunday was as per normal. Monday comes along and she does NOTHING. Then Tuesday and Wednesday passed. Nada!
If it had been a gradual reduction in frequency I would not have taken much notice but our dear girl went from 3 times a day to zilch. Everyone started to ask whether she had pooed for the day everyday!
We were wondering when to do something about it.... I think we would have tolerated 1 week.
Thank goodness this morning she finally decided to do one....
AND IT WAS SMELLY! For the first time ever! and formed too... like adults! I couldnt believe my eyes... I can't imagine what formula fed babies poos must be like...super whiffy!
ITS ALL TRUE!!!
Madison is usually spot on regular with her pooing, being a breastfed baby she would naturally poop quite quickly after feeds on a daily basis, usually more than once a day.
Since she turned about 3 months her pooing became more infrequent but still daily and watery.
Then all of a sudden, starting this week she just STOPPED pooing. Literally. Sunday was as per normal. Monday comes along and she does NOTHING. Then Tuesday and Wednesday passed. Nada!
If it had been a gradual reduction in frequency I would not have taken much notice but our dear girl went from 3 times a day to zilch. Everyone started to ask whether she had pooed for the day everyday!
We were wondering when to do something about it.... I think we would have tolerated 1 week.
Thank goodness this morning she finally decided to do one....
AND IT WAS SMELLY! For the first time ever! and formed too... like adults! I couldnt believe my eyes... I can't imagine what formula fed babies poos must be like...super whiffy!
Friday, June 27, 2008
MADISON USES THE POTTY
Ok.. so its silly...
We know that potty training should start later but we are ambitious ... want to try potty training her from as early as possible...
She has 2 potties, one at each household, both nice and EXPENSIVE... she has been refusing the potty previously but has slowly grown to allow us to sit her up when she poos.
Today, after a long nap and good sleep, I brought her downstairs where Nancy and Maria came around to entertain her. She started her pooing and Nancy immediately put her on the potty. She did not fuss even when the diaper was removed and subsequently went on to poo in the potty!
Obviously this is not easy to keep up....
We know that potty training should start later but we are ambitious ... want to try potty training her from as early as possible...
She has 2 potties, one at each household, both nice and EXPENSIVE... she has been refusing the potty previously but has slowly grown to allow us to sit her up when she poos.
Today, after a long nap and good sleep, I brought her downstairs where Nancy and Maria came around to entertain her. She started her pooing and Nancy immediately put her on the potty. She did not fuss even when the diaper was removed and subsequently went on to poo in the potty!
Obviously this is not easy to keep up....
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Stubborn girl part 2
Its been over a week... Madison still refuses the bottle...
We have tried every trick in the book...
We started with AVENT bottles and size 0 teats, which were refused all of a sudden just a day after she had been taking them..
So the initial plan was to try with me not around, which failed, then in different environments, which also failed...
Off we went to buy a size 1 teat.. and the process was repeated..
Then it was off to a size 2 teat.. as well as a special spout like teat that Avent makes for its cups and bottles.. all failed...
So after a days' rest, it was time to change the teat, and we tried the pigeon teat.. at this stage, she would not even let the teat touch her mouth before starting to protest!
She would rather starve than take the teat, which happened 2 days ago when I had to go off to work in the afternoon...
But I think this phenomenon is not isolated to Madison, sounds as if many breastfed babies develop this aversion to artificial teats and bottles after some time ....
We have tried every trick in the book...
We started with AVENT bottles and size 0 teats, which were refused all of a sudden just a day after she had been taking them..
So the initial plan was to try with me not around, which failed, then in different environments, which also failed...
Off we went to buy a size 1 teat.. and the process was repeated..
Then it was off to a size 2 teat.. as well as a special spout like teat that Avent makes for its cups and bottles.. all failed...
So after a days' rest, it was time to change the teat, and we tried the pigeon teat.. at this stage, she would not even let the teat touch her mouth before starting to protest!
She would rather starve than take the teat, which happened 2 days ago when I had to go off to work in the afternoon...
But I think this phenomenon is not isolated to Madison, sounds as if many breastfed babies develop this aversion to artificial teats and bottles after some time ....
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
STUBBORN GIRL!
Today was a terrible day for us all: Madison, Nancy and myself.
Why? For 2 consecutive days she has steadfastly refused the bottle of expressed breast milk! I have been trying to encourage her to take a regular bottle at noon which she used to take alright, albeit irregularly.
She now protests vehemently when the teat is introduced; we have tried to heat up the milk, give her freshly expressed milk and I even tried to hide while she was being given the bottle! All in vain! Our dear little stubborn girl cried furiously, pushed the teat away and promptly went to sleep HUNGRY! She would take the breast readily but persistently pushed the teat away!
This afternoon the same drama unfolded, and being worried that she would permanently refuse the bottle we tried again at the 3pm feed. The same thing happened! Finally Pa came home and she took the bottle from him! She refused the bottle from Ma as well! Really strange...
I can't even begin to imagine the drama when she starts to eat proper food! Its' really hard not to worry when children refuse to eat...
My main concern now is that if she chooses to starve during the day then she would wake at night just to feed and sleep during the day instead... SIGH... should I persist with the bottle or give up and give her the breast only!
Why? For 2 consecutive days she has steadfastly refused the bottle of expressed breast milk! I have been trying to encourage her to take a regular bottle at noon which she used to take alright, albeit irregularly.
She now protests vehemently when the teat is introduced; we have tried to heat up the milk, give her freshly expressed milk and I even tried to hide while she was being given the bottle! All in vain! Our dear little stubborn girl cried furiously, pushed the teat away and promptly went to sleep HUNGRY! She would take the breast readily but persistently pushed the teat away!
This afternoon the same drama unfolded, and being worried that she would permanently refuse the bottle we tried again at the 3pm feed. The same thing happened! Finally Pa came home and she took the bottle from him! She refused the bottle from Ma as well! Really strange...
I can't even begin to imagine the drama when she starts to eat proper food! Its' really hard not to worry when children refuse to eat...
My main concern now is that if she chooses to starve during the day then she would wake at night just to feed and sleep during the day instead... SIGH... should I persist with the bottle or give up and give her the breast only!
Driving me crazy in the middle of the night!
I can't believe how things can vary so much from night to night!
There I was, just enjoying the day with her and getting better nights and then a TERRIBLE night.
I am trying to identify the factors which give her a bad night: insufficient day feeds, over stimulation etc...
Tonight was TERRIBLE.
First of all she was tired at bed time. I made sure she had been adequately nourished the entire day but by the time 6 PM came she was cranky and wanted to sleep.
Then her DADDY was POST CALL and probably tired too, but wanted to spend time with her. He fell asleep in the afternoon until her bedtime so bath was the only time he had with her for the past 2 days.
FIRST MISTAKE: I don't know why men cannot MULTI TASK. He had to put her down SCREAMING while he prepared her bath. And he was SLOW.
SECOND MISTAKE: he took his time giving her a bath despite the fact that she was screaming through it...
THIRD MISTAKE: he took his time DRESSING HER! So she got cranky too...
She settled ok initially but within 30minutes she was fussing already and had to be rocked back to sleep after her dinner feed.
Then the nightmare started. She got up unusually early for the next night feed at midnight, then fussed again barely 3 hours later, then again another hour later and again 30minutes later! Finally even at 6 AM she stirred and needed to be rocked again! This all just 1 night after a fantastic night before!
Of course I got mad and felt really impatient, but I kept telling myself, she is only a kid and not doing this to annoy me... not her fault, its us stupid adults who cannot get it right@!!! And of course who suffers but the breastfeeding mummy and the kid@@@!!!ARGH!!!! If its not the grandparents trying to enforce their parenting habits on you its something else!! We are doomed not to sleep for A LONG TIME!!! SIGH.....
There I was, just enjoying the day with her and getting better nights and then a TERRIBLE night.
I am trying to identify the factors which give her a bad night: insufficient day feeds, over stimulation etc...
Tonight was TERRIBLE.
First of all she was tired at bed time. I made sure she had been adequately nourished the entire day but by the time 6 PM came she was cranky and wanted to sleep.
Then her DADDY was POST CALL and probably tired too, but wanted to spend time with her. He fell asleep in the afternoon until her bedtime so bath was the only time he had with her for the past 2 days.
FIRST MISTAKE: I don't know why men cannot MULTI TASK. He had to put her down SCREAMING while he prepared her bath. And he was SLOW.
SECOND MISTAKE: he took his time giving her a bath despite the fact that she was screaming through it...
THIRD MISTAKE: he took his time DRESSING HER! So she got cranky too...
She settled ok initially but within 30minutes she was fussing already and had to be rocked back to sleep after her dinner feed.
Then the nightmare started. She got up unusually early for the next night feed at midnight, then fussed again barely 3 hours later, then again another hour later and again 30minutes later! Finally even at 6 AM she stirred and needed to be rocked again! This all just 1 night after a fantastic night before!
Of course I got mad and felt really impatient, but I kept telling myself, she is only a kid and not doing this to annoy me... not her fault, its us stupid adults who cannot get it right@!!! And of course who suffers but the breastfeeding mummy and the kid@@@!!!ARGH!!!! If its not the grandparents trying to enforce their parenting habits on you its something else!! We are doomed not to sleep for A LONG TIME!!! SIGH.....
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Our growing girl
Madison never fails to amuse us adults...
This morning she woke up in an unusually good mood, cooing and babbling non stop until I fed her breakfast...
Then when I passed her to Nancy while I dressed she started laughing repeatedly at Nancy.. the first time she has ever done that... she is such a different girl when she is happy, smiling or laughing...
Another thing we noticed: she really likes to watch the telly! A terrible habit but difficult to completely control because we adults usually watch it while feeding her/ sitting together!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Our First Father's Day!
Today is Chris' first Father's day!
WHAT WAS HIS GIFT? Besides the obvious (being MADISON of course!) ... he was given a day of GOLF at the COURSE!
SO off he went on Saturday to play at the Mandai golf course and he managed 9 holes with some other people he met at the course, an Australian trader and a Canadian teacher. I think he had alot of fun that afternoon!
Today was pretty routine, we went to PUMP class in the morning, then came home to pick Madison up to go to Suntec city for lunch and shopping. Unfortunately the PC show was on ( and the last day too!) so the queue to get in was horrendous and we changed plans to go to VIVOCITY instead.
Lunch was at Food Republic and we had Char Siew wonton mee and an assortment of dim sum. Nancy came along with us and had her Indonesian Fried chicken. I think she misses home food.. anyone would, after being away from home for 3 months!
We checked out the breastfeeding room at Vivocity afterwards, to give Madison HER lunch, and to our pleasant surprise the room was decent and clean with a nice sofa like seat for me to feed her on. Unlike Suntec which doesn't even have a decent diaper changing station at the Food gallery level!
Having fed, Madison was in an agreeable mood and we popped over to Giant supermarket for shopping ... the crowds had not arrived yet and we were able to shop in peace and the checkout line was short!
By the time we left for home, the queue to the carpark had just begun.. were we glad that we were on our WAY OUT!
The afternoon was spent at the grandparents' place where my parents had their fill of her.. Grandpa and ma time! She's got heaps of toys at the house now... the living room is slowly being converted to a complete childcare station! I think her stuff takes up just about 50% of the living room already!
WHAT WAS HIS GIFT? Besides the obvious (being MADISON of course!) ... he was given a day of GOLF at the COURSE!
SO off he went on Saturday to play at the Mandai golf course and he managed 9 holes with some other people he met at the course, an Australian trader and a Canadian teacher. I think he had alot of fun that afternoon!
Today was pretty routine, we went to PUMP class in the morning, then came home to pick Madison up to go to Suntec city for lunch and shopping. Unfortunately the PC show was on ( and the last day too!) so the queue to get in was horrendous and we changed plans to go to VIVOCITY instead.
Lunch was at Food Republic and we had Char Siew wonton mee and an assortment of dim sum. Nancy came along with us and had her Indonesian Fried chicken. I think she misses home food.. anyone would, after being away from home for 3 months!
We checked out the breastfeeding room at Vivocity afterwards, to give Madison HER lunch, and to our pleasant surprise the room was decent and clean with a nice sofa like seat for me to feed her on. Unlike Suntec which doesn't even have a decent diaper changing station at the Food gallery level!
Having fed, Madison was in an agreeable mood and we popped over to Giant supermarket for shopping ... the crowds had not arrived yet and we were able to shop in peace and the checkout line was short!
By the time we left for home, the queue to the carpark had just begun.. were we glad that we were on our WAY OUT!
The afternoon was spent at the grandparents' place where my parents had their fill of her.. Grandpa and ma time! She's got heaps of toys at the house now... the living room is slowly being converted to a complete childcare station! I think her stuff takes up just about 50% of the living room already!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Madison's official 3 month birthday!
Today is the 13th of June... Madison's official 3rd month!
She nearly turned this afternoon... which was quite amazing... but not quite yet...
Madison is rather chatty in the afternoons too.. complaining or just babbling away like a train...
Grandpa (my dad) bought her several toys these few days... a fisher price table with a chair that rotates around it, a train filled with toy animals... she seems to take some interest in it but starts to protest after awhile... so we give it a break and let her come back to it another day...
She's lasting longer at night now, which leaves me with the conundrum of engorgement and the fear that she would suddenly wake needing a feed just after I pump...
Some of her clothes are getting a little tight as well... sob... they are being relegated to the "for your sibling" section of her cabinet now...
I was quite amazed that someone else actually read my blog and gave me some kind advice regarding sleep sacks... I am happy to say that we actually usually use the swaddle me sacks that are specially designed but as she recently outgrew her 1st few ones and we were awaiting for the new shipment from the USA we used muslin cloths given by a friend's friend ( self made) for the time being with her blanket. Now I am fastidious about using only stuff that I am sure about..no more new blankets for her! BUT THE SWADDLES have ARRIVED via Singpost yesterday!!!
One more thing... she seems to have developed stranger anxiety already... she screams whenever strangers approach her or try to carry her! A little early isn't it??
Madison seems to be developing eating habits too... she eats less for some reason at the 12noon feed, but seems rather hungry later on, as if to make up for the lost feed...one thing I know is never to force a child to eat for fear of her developing poor feeding associations later on in life!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Expressed breast milk
Feeding a baby is an art in its own right!
We had made the choice to do exclusive breastfeeding from the time I became pregnant, but never did I really expect to be successful..
Well... I am glad to report that Madison is doing fine at the moment, so I am hoping to continue for as long as I possibly can... not having to work fulltime plays an important part in being able to breastfeed well at this stage though, I feel...
Today, I am giving away my first lot of expressed breastmilk that I had so painstakingly collected in April. We had met up with the lactation consultant Yen Ping at 6 weeks, only to be told that I should have started pumping regularly to get used to the idea of pumping in case I needed to go back to work. So we put the money down and purchased the Avent Isis Duo pump, which I then had to diligently use since it COST US SO MUCH!
Now the freezer is getting full so I decided to get rid of the first lot of milk... sob. sob... I think I should donate it to our pet dogs at the Novena house if they would have it!
We had made the choice to do exclusive breastfeeding from the time I became pregnant, but never did I really expect to be successful..
Well... I am glad to report that Madison is doing fine at the moment, so I am hoping to continue for as long as I possibly can... not having to work fulltime plays an important part in being able to breastfeed well at this stage though, I feel...
Today, I am giving away my first lot of expressed breastmilk that I had so painstakingly collected in April. We had met up with the lactation consultant Yen Ping at 6 weeks, only to be told that I should have started pumping regularly to get used to the idea of pumping in case I needed to go back to work. So we put the money down and purchased the Avent Isis Duo pump, which I then had to diligently use since it COST US SO MUCH!
Now the freezer is getting full so I decided to get rid of the first lot of milk... sob. sob... I think I should donate it to our pet dogs at the Novena house if they would have it!
Scares in the middle of the night
I am a bad mummy....
There are so many ways to endanger an infants' life! That is the conclusion I have come to, at 0230h in the morning... this is the first real scare of my life with regards to this issue...
We usually swaddle Madison and tuck her securely into bed for the night nowadays.. she sleeps well like this.
Tonight was no different, except that all her usual blankets were out in the wash. Chris was on call tonight so I was struggling a little with trying to get her crib ready and prepare her for a bath at the same time. Not being able to get her usual blankets, I scrounged around in the cupboard and found one of her unused new blanket/swaddle cloths to use as a blanket. It was a little stretchy with the lycra embedded cloth but I thought that was fine. I tucked one end in and secured it with the muslin cloth embedded into the cot side.
Then at 0140h I heard her fussing although the baby monitor had yet to pick up her noise. I immediately went into her room and found that she had somehow made her way sideways along the cot and had her face UNDER the blanket! Being a smart baby she was struggling and I hastily threw off the blanket and released her swaddle! I couldn't believe how she could have got under the blanket even though I had tucked her in so tightly! She didn't seem much harmed though and I fed her as if she had just woken for a feed. I thought she might have been gasping a little immediately after I freed her from under the blanket???
I couldn't believe my eyes .. that's how babies SUFFOCATE! And it almost happened to me... I held her just a little tighter during the feed, and swore I would never again ignore safety rules.... they are there for a reason and there is no need for me to test the rules...and the irony was just moments ago I was blissfully ignorant...sigh... how do I keep my little girl from all the harm in the world? So I got rid of the blanket, made and remade her swaddle after that until it was perfect and used only a non stretchable muslin cloth to tuck her feet in. And checked and rechecked the monitor. And repositioned the video camera until I could clearly see her head. And left her door ajar so that I can SEE and HEAR her directly. And of course promptly dropped the monitor with a clang afterwards trying to do everything. Then hoping she wouldn't wake because of my clumsiness!
HOPELESS MOMMY... being a mother is just super tough... how do we stop tripping up time and time again? Its a lucky thing babies are really tough souls!
There are so many ways to endanger an infants' life! That is the conclusion I have come to, at 0230h in the morning... this is the first real scare of my life with regards to this issue...
We usually swaddle Madison and tuck her securely into bed for the night nowadays.. she sleeps well like this.
Tonight was no different, except that all her usual blankets were out in the wash. Chris was on call tonight so I was struggling a little with trying to get her crib ready and prepare her for a bath at the same time. Not being able to get her usual blankets, I scrounged around in the cupboard and found one of her unused new blanket/swaddle cloths to use as a blanket. It was a little stretchy with the lycra embedded cloth but I thought that was fine. I tucked one end in and secured it with the muslin cloth embedded into the cot side.
Then at 0140h I heard her fussing although the baby monitor had yet to pick up her noise. I immediately went into her room and found that she had somehow made her way sideways along the cot and had her face UNDER the blanket! Being a smart baby she was struggling and I hastily threw off the blanket and released her swaddle! I couldn't believe how she could have got under the blanket even though I had tucked her in so tightly! She didn't seem much harmed though and I fed her as if she had just woken for a feed. I thought she might have been gasping a little immediately after I freed her from under the blanket???
I couldn't believe my eyes .. that's how babies SUFFOCATE! And it almost happened to me... I held her just a little tighter during the feed, and swore I would never again ignore safety rules.... they are there for a reason and there is no need for me to test the rules...and the irony was just moments ago I was blissfully ignorant...sigh... how do I keep my little girl from all the harm in the world? So I got rid of the blanket, made and remade her swaddle after that until it was perfect and used only a non stretchable muslin cloth to tuck her feet in. And checked and rechecked the monitor. And repositioned the video camera until I could clearly see her head. And left her door ajar so that I can SEE and HEAR her directly. And of course promptly dropped the monitor with a clang afterwards trying to do everything. Then hoping she wouldn't wake because of my clumsiness!
HOPELESS MOMMY... being a mother is just super tough... how do we stop tripping up time and time again? Its a lucky thing babies are really tough souls!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Lucky Madison
Madison has crossed 3 months!
Today I decided to bring her to the East Coast Park beach for a walk... so along came Nancy and Maria and the STROLLER...
For those who know our Madison, she DOES NOT sit in the stroller for any reason... we have tried previously, lugged the monstrosity along with us to Melbourne, only to use it to carry groceries and shopping...
Today.. MADISON SLEPT IN HER STROLLER.. for the very first time!
Then after the walk, at the carpark, we were approached by some kind souls who offered us 2 boxes of mineral water and 100plus! They had finished a corporate event and so had extra drinks left behind... MADISON is super lucky!
what other lucky things? well, the playmat that Pa bought at a surprise discount, free carpark coupons that people offered to us AFTER she was born...
One more new development, Madison now enjoys the fisher price playmat that plays music and has colourful mobiles hanging from it! She seems to be able to activate the device that triggers off the music too! Oh, and for the past 2 months she now seems to enjoy pushing the buttons in the lift!
Today I decided to bring her to the East Coast Park beach for a walk... so along came Nancy and Maria and the STROLLER...
For those who know our Madison, she DOES NOT sit in the stroller for any reason... we have tried previously, lugged the monstrosity along with us to Melbourne, only to use it to carry groceries and shopping...
Today.. MADISON SLEPT IN HER STROLLER.. for the very first time!
Then after the walk, at the carpark, we were approached by some kind souls who offered us 2 boxes of mineral water and 100plus! They had finished a corporate event and so had extra drinks left behind... MADISON is super lucky!
what other lucky things? well, the playmat that Pa bought at a surprise discount, free carpark coupons that people offered to us AFTER she was born...
One more new development, Madison now enjoys the fisher price playmat that plays music and has colourful mobiles hanging from it! She seems to be able to activate the device that triggers off the music too! Oh, and for the past 2 months she now seems to enjoy pushing the buttons in the lift!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Little scare for me!!
We went to the Joo Chiat clinic yesterday and were quite busy for a change...
Then I decided to weigh her again on our new baby weighing machine, and she weighed 6.29Kg... I couldn't remember for the life of me when we last measured her weight and Nancy said " ?last Friday" .. that was 1 week ago! How could she have only put on 100g over 1 week!
I spent the last day pondering over her ? slowed weight gain and started contemplating waking her for 11Pm feeds again.. then the realisation to CHECK MY BLOG hit me and SILLY ME! She was 6.2 on the 27th of May not the 23rd! PHEW... so her weight gain is still normal.... that's parenting for you.. state of panic over everything!!! (probably not the case for kid 2??) PHEW... now I can relax again.. and I was just worrying that my milk supply had dropped due to her dropping a feed at night!
She's also less hungry in the day and I insist on feeding her at 3 hourly intervals.. if I left it to her she might miss out on more feeds!
Breastfeeding is a FULL TIME JOB... but definitely fufilling... NO REGRETS now...
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Communicating with Madison
Its truly amazing.. Madison is starting to communicate with us!
Let's see.. she definitely responds positively when I ask her if she is hungry "mum mum" time?? She also realises that when she poos and people ask her, she responds by smiling... of all things...She finds pooing a real joke!
Of course the best time to interact with her is after a good feed and nap... she is all smiles and is quiet...
Yesterday the strangest things happened.....at the clinic, she suddenly turned from good to tears in 1 minute after Jean approached her! When Nancy took her back she was ok! Then the same thing happened at home when Pa tried to carry her in the late afternoon, which coincided unfortunately with her sleepy period... I think she's too early for stranger anxiety???
Let's see.. she definitely responds positively when I ask her if she is hungry "mum mum" time?? She also realises that when she poos and people ask her, she responds by smiling... of all things...She finds pooing a real joke!
Of course the best time to interact with her is after a good feed and nap... she is all smiles and is quiet...
Yesterday the strangest things happened.....at the clinic, she suddenly turned from good to tears in 1 minute after Jean approached her! When Nancy took her back she was ok! Then the same thing happened at home when Pa tried to carry her in the late afternoon, which coincided unfortunately with her sleepy period... I think she's too early for stranger anxiety???
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
UPDATES ON MADISON
How time flies! Madison has crossed the 10 week mark and is rapidly heading towards her 3 month birthday!
What has happened in the interim?
1. Immunisation: 16th MAY at KKH with Dr Wong Yin Peng, she received the 6 in 1 vaccine with not much protest... I think the injection site was sore for a little while as she was cranky and upset AFTER the injection for a couple of hours. We dosed her before with paracetamol and afterwards as well for a full 24 hours, to be on the safe side! Her next dose is due in July...
2. Feeds: s
he seems to have dropped a feed in the evening / early night, which was a surprise to me, leaving me initially with engorgement! I think that happened around week 9-10, but it is not consistent.. last night she awoke at 1145PM for a feed, but settled thereafter until 5 am! Leaves me baffled as to what to do between pumping and feeding her at night!3. Weight: she was 5.6Kg at the vaccine appointment, today at the clinic (27/05) she weighed 6.2kg! No wonder I can hardly carry her for prolonged periods anymore!
4. Development: Madison is developing at a tremendous rate... physically she is able to raise her head 45degrees on her tummy, her fists are perpetually in her mouth, and her legs are strong. Socially she is smiling more especially if she has had a great night, and after feeds. Her moods are still a little unpredictable, and can swing from happy to tears in minutes! She coos and vocalises more too... Her vision is markedly improved and I think she may recognise some people?
5. What else?? Well.. she loves the swing that was given by a contractor in the Novena house, she has started outgrowing clothes( unbelievable! ) and she is definitely staying awake for longer periods nowadays!
I suppose things do get better, but everyday she changes a little and time flies so quickly, there never seems to be enough of it to do the little things everyday!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Daddy back at work
Sigh... Chris' 6 months hiatus from work has sadly come to an end, and he is now working full time at Singapore General Hospital again..
His days are pretty long, starting at 0730h and ending sometimes past 8 or9 Pm... which leaves me and Madison pretty much to ourselves.. thankfully she has doting grandparents who spend the afternoons with her but on some days its just me, Nancy and her...
Evenings are tough.. having to settle her and have dinner after that. Hoping that she stays asleep while we try and relax, usually its about 8PM or so by the time that happens...
It's Mun Hon's 30th birthday today, and he's having a tough time at work with long hours too..
His days are pretty long, starting at 0730h and ending sometimes past 8 or9 Pm... which leaves me and Madison pretty much to ourselves.. thankfully she has doting grandparents who spend the afternoons with her but on some days its just me, Nancy and her...
Evenings are tough.. having to settle her and have dinner after that. Hoping that she stays asleep while we try and relax, usually its about 8PM or so by the time that happens...
It's Mun Hon's 30th birthday today, and he's having a tough time at work with long hours too..
Monday, May 12, 2008
My first Mothers' Day!
May 11th 2008.. Mothers' Day all over the world
I wonder who invented the occasion? Retail or Restaurant groups?
It was a quiet Mothers' Day for us at home, Madison celebrated the day by giving me an unusually good night.. that in itself is a gift enough! Then she reverted promptly back to her usual unable to settle evenings after the occasion.. smart girl!
Quite an uneventful day, apart from exchanging well wishes among us SCGS girls- turned mothers... Celine Chin, Wendy Tan, Amy Woo...maybe one day we can really celebrate it with a small party/ get together...
Sigh... every day blends into the other, a repetition with exception of the extent of her fussiness and daily naps... some good days and some bad nights... breastfeeding is getting along apart from difficulty with timing.. also... how on earth do people juggle pumping and feeding??? Perhaps they have abundant supply that switches on like a tap whenever they need to feed or pump!
Another issue.. needing time out/ respite, yet feeling so guilty for leaving her for more than 2 hours at a stretch? Even work seems easy, in comparison with trying to placate her on occasion!
Today was a terrible day... it started with her waking at an ungodly hour of 4 45 am wanting a feed which ended close to 6 AM.. then refusing to settle until 0645 ! Then we had to make a trip to the Australian High Commision, which does not have on site parking for visitors! So I had to park at Gleneagles Hospital, which has a pretty old and FULL carpark! During the which she pooped and was a screaming mess in the car!
Then we get to the Embassy FINALLY... only to be met by a QUEUE for the security clearance!
Of course it doesn't help that the sun is blazing HOT, she is sweaty and frustrated and the worst thing??? I didn't realize that you needed a photo ID to enter... of course we didn't bring Nancy's passport! So I had to struggle and bring her in SOLO!
The next blunder? the security guard at the receptions telling me that "citizenship" is dealt with at the 3rd floor only to find that it was actually on the 2nd!!!
When I got to the correct department, guess what? A QUEUE !! For the enquiry reception desk! Thankfully people were kind and let me cut queue... to get a QUEUE number for service!
The last straw came when the guy behind the desk asked for MY PASSPORT and Chris' NRIC!!! Which was not with me, of course...
Then it was a rush to take the screaming Madison back home where I quickly gave her a feed.. then had to make the appointment with the plumber to fix our toilet which was leaking after a change in cistern by that plumber! Then I crashed to bed after a good feed!
We had a quiet dinner by ourselves at home after settling Madison in bed...
I wonder who invented the occasion? Retail or Restaurant groups?
It was a quiet Mothers' Day for us at home, Madison celebrated the day by giving me an unusually good night.. that in itself is a gift enough! Then she reverted promptly back to her usual unable to settle evenings after the occasion.. smart girl!
Quite an uneventful day, apart from exchanging well wishes among us SCGS girls- turned mothers... Celine Chin, Wendy Tan, Amy Woo...maybe one day we can really celebrate it with a small party/ get together...
Sigh... every day blends into the other, a repetition with exception of the extent of her fussiness and daily naps... some good days and some bad nights... breastfeeding is getting along apart from difficulty with timing.. also... how on earth do people juggle pumping and feeding??? Perhaps they have abundant supply that switches on like a tap whenever they need to feed or pump!
Another issue.. needing time out/ respite, yet feeling so guilty for leaving her for more than 2 hours at a stretch? Even work seems easy, in comparison with trying to placate her on occasion!
Today was a terrible day... it started with her waking at an ungodly hour of 4 45 am wanting a feed which ended close to 6 AM.. then refusing to settle until 0645 ! Then we had to make a trip to the Australian High Commision, which does not have on site parking for visitors! So I had to park at Gleneagles Hospital, which has a pretty old and FULL carpark! During the which she pooped and was a screaming mess in the car!
Then we get to the Embassy FINALLY... only to be met by a QUEUE for the security clearance!
Of course it doesn't help that the sun is blazing HOT, she is sweaty and frustrated and the worst thing??? I didn't realize that you needed a photo ID to enter... of course we didn't bring Nancy's passport! So I had to struggle and bring her in SOLO!
The next blunder? the security guard at the receptions telling me that "citizenship" is dealt with at the 3rd floor only to find that it was actually on the 2nd!!!
When I got to the correct department, guess what? A QUEUE !! For the enquiry reception desk! Thankfully people were kind and let me cut queue... to get a QUEUE number for service!
The last straw came when the guy behind the desk asked for MY PASSPORT and Chris' NRIC!!! Which was not with me, of course...
Then it was a rush to take the screaming Madison back home where I quickly gave her a feed.. then had to make the appointment with the plumber to fix our toilet which was leaking after a change in cistern by that plumber! Then I crashed to bed after a good feed!
We had a quiet dinner by ourselves at home after settling Madison in bed...
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Being a couple after parenthood..
THAT in itself is a whole new topic....
It's been 7 weeks since Madison entered and revolutionized our lives...Chris and I are no longer DINKS (double income no kids)... that stage lasted 6 beautiful years and we were happy...
There is no doubt that things are changing with a child in our relationship, but I would like to believe that it is a change for the better... parenthood brings about tough challenges at every stage, and it stresses and tests the strength of the marriage/relationship.
We are fortunate that we've had the last decade to get to know each other and establish the lines of communication... and the ability to fight and forgive (or rather, forget! ) I have no doubt that as Madison grows and difficult parenting issues arise, we will have our disagreements but with the right attitude and communication skills I hope that we will overcome them one at a time....
There should be many great times ahead with fun and laughter... family holidays: ski and golf trips? I can't wait to take Madison on ski trips already!
BUT RIGHT NOW WE ARE SUPER TIRED...and missing a whole night's sleep! :P
It's been 7 weeks since Madison entered and revolutionized our lives...Chris and I are no longer DINKS (double income no kids)... that stage lasted 6 beautiful years and we were happy...
There is no doubt that things are changing with a child in our relationship, but I would like to believe that it is a change for the better... parenthood brings about tough challenges at every stage, and it stresses and tests the strength of the marriage/relationship.
We are fortunate that we've had the last decade to get to know each other and establish the lines of communication... and the ability to fight and forgive (or rather, forget! ) I have no doubt that as Madison grows and difficult parenting issues arise, we will have our disagreements but with the right attitude and communication skills I hope that we will overcome them one at a time....
There should be many great times ahead with fun and laughter... family holidays: ski and golf trips? I can't wait to take Madison on ski trips already!
BUT RIGHT NOW WE ARE SUPER TIRED...and missing a whole night's sleep! :P
Growing up
I cannot imagine that I would be writing this at 230AM in the morning.. .after a feeding/rocking session with Madison...
She is growing up at a phenomenal rate and is changing daily.. .everyday is different and I am so blessed to be able to spend so much time with her...
Tonight while rocking her and trying my best to get her to fall back asleep after a feed, I had this sudden realization that it is not long before she grows up completely and would stop needing me...while she is so tiny, and her world is so small, I fill up most of it and she is generally easy to satisfy... feed/sleep/play... no problems with discipline/behaviour etc...
Granted that things are not always smooth sailing and Chris and I do get frustrated, especially during the bad fretting sessions...but in the end it ALWAYS ends somehow...and we are fortunate to have a great support system here, 2 sets of doting grandparents, 2 excellent domestic helpers, nice home and supporting staff from work...
Parenting probably brings about the greatest satisfaction in life as well as the greatest sadness! Who would have thought that a previously child-phobic person like myself would come to this conclusion!
OH .. and another sad realization...watching her grow up marks the march of time and the fact that we are all aging (including her)...nothing is permanent and we have to truly appreciate the little things in life, and the important people around us ie our parents!
I pray she stays asleep for a little while!
She is growing up at a phenomenal rate and is changing daily.. .everyday is different and I am so blessed to be able to spend so much time with her...
Tonight while rocking her and trying my best to get her to fall back asleep after a feed, I had this sudden realization that it is not long before she grows up completely and would stop needing me...while she is so tiny, and her world is so small, I fill up most of it and she is generally easy to satisfy... feed/sleep/play... no problems with discipline/behaviour etc...
Granted that things are not always smooth sailing and Chris and I do get frustrated, especially during the bad fretting sessions...but in the end it ALWAYS ends somehow...and we are fortunate to have a great support system here, 2 sets of doting grandparents, 2 excellent domestic helpers, nice home and supporting staff from work...
Parenting probably brings about the greatest satisfaction in life as well as the greatest sadness! Who would have thought that a previously child-phobic person like myself would come to this conclusion!
OH .. and another sad realization...watching her grow up marks the march of time and the fact that we are all aging (including her)...nothing is permanent and we have to truly appreciate the little things in life, and the important people around us ie our parents!
I pray she stays asleep for a little while!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Bringing Madison to WORK!
Plans had been laid before Madison was born....
It was also decided that there would be a office/nursery at the back of the clinic so that I could bring dear old Madison to work for as long as I wished, facilitating breastfeeding and of course, bonding...
well... She's been around to the clinic several times in the past 61/2 weeks and so far.. well... its been a mixed bag.. occasionally she would settle and sleep, but most times she would fuss and fret until I could feed her and put her to sleep!
Today was a good day though... for some reason I was able to time her feeds from home all the way to the clinic until I started work... and she protested for only a short while before surrendering to sleep...
It was also decided that there would be a office/nursery at the back of the clinic so that I could bring dear old Madison to work for as long as I wished, facilitating breastfeeding and of course, bonding...
well... She's been around to the clinic several times in the past 61/2 weeks and so far.. well... its been a mixed bag.. occasionally she would settle and sleep, but most times she would fuss and fret until I could feed her and put her to sleep!
Today was a good day though... for some reason I was able to time her feeds from home all the way to the clinic until I started work... and she protested for only a short while before surrendering to sleep...
Thursday, April 24, 2008
NEW HURDLES...
Having a baby indeed presents a continual challenge to the parents, especially the mother...
Today Madison officially turns 6 weeks...
We had a checkup at Prof John Tee's practice for me, and at Dr Wong for her to review her jaundice. The good news.. her bilirubin had dropped below 200 (150) so we are in the clear... the bad news? after returning from Melbourne, where the entire family came down with the cold, she was now running a low grade temperature of 37.4 to 37.5 C! Thankfully she is on breastmilk, so we were praying the antibodies from me would protect her somewhat.
We brought some goodies for Dr Tee and Sally ( his assistant ) in way of thanks... I got a Pap smear done and a quick ultrasound scan of the uterus which i presume was normal. Afterwards we popped in to see Dr Wong who told us to monitor Madison and to return if she continued to run a temperature.
While waiting to see Dr Tee, Yen Ping the lactation consultant dropped by to see Madison... she gave me new instructions to start pumping rigourously and to start her on some bottle feeds during the day for her... so we had to purchase a double electric pump to boost the pumping efficiency... her instructions was to pump at every feed for 20 minutes.. stress... so far pumping is quite a chore, with pitifully poor yields... but if she says it has to be done to boost my milk storage capacity.. all a training process... argh... just when I thought I had the breastfeeding thing down pat!
She also advised me to top up the last feed at night in order for Madison to sleep a little longer earlier in the night..
Madison still is pretty sleepy though... wonder if this is normal at 6 weeks?
Monday, April 21, 2008
MADISON'S 1st holiday
our dear Madison is indeed one lucky gal....
WEEK 5 and she is off to Melbourne, Australia for a 1 week jaunt...the amount of luggage that she created: an entire suitcase of new clothing, the AVENT steriliser, bottles, breast pump and BRESTFRIEND pillow and a pile of diapers, her carry cot/car seat and stroller.. the rest of us had minimal luggage!
We left Singapore on the 14th of April, 1 day after she turned 1 month...We flew on Singapore Airlines SQ228. It was a night flight, which in retrospect turned out to be a bad choice as we, the parents didn't get to sleep! Madison slept so well it was a nightmare trying to rouse her to latch on during take off and landing!
The entire flight there was filled with coughing spluttering people, mainly children too... resulting in the ENTIRE family coming down with a cold/sinusitis, starting with Pa, then Ma and now Chris and I are starting to come down with it too!
We arrived in Melbourne at 8 in the morning, and picked up the car ( RAV 4) that Chai had booked for us. For some reason, she started her distinct dislike of the car seat during this trip... the initial protests turned into massive wails and screams until we reached the house... we got stuck in traffic trying to avoid the CITYLINK toll...
The first day was spent at the Registry of births, deaths and marriage attempting to register her birth.. after waiting eons we were finally served, only to be faced with the immense difficulty of getting an approval for the registration form! BOB, the guy serving us was really helpful though, and went out of his way to enquire about the process of application for us... took us almost 2 hours to accomplish and we are still in the dark about the success of the application!
Ming and Olivia were the first to see Madison, and they joined us for dinner. Cheryl and Selene were next...our dear Maddi decided to play up most of the trip at dinner time, refusing to settle... I suppose she realised something was up...We had a get together on Friday night, with a potluck dinner at home... Austin and Lyana/ Angus/ mike and Yen/ Alex and Lisa/ Soong Chua/ Janette and Asrar/ Pete and Carla turned up ..
Most of the trip revolved around our dear girl. We did manage to go to Albert Park one morning for a really short stroll to see the ducks, one afternoon in the city shopping at David Jones' Food Hall, and breakfast at the Victoria Market, shopping at Brunwsick discount stores...(Nike and Addidas), breakfast at Joe's Garage...
Pa did most of the food catering at home... he was absolutely mesmerised by the meat department at the Victoria market. We had steak, pork roast, Osso bucco,crab in it's shell. I had lots of Chicken soup courtesy of ma, diligently chopping chicken at night to stew in the slow cooker...
we met up with Chai for dinner and most of Saturday.Han Ting came over as well.. they make a nice couple. Chai held Madison and really looked the part!
Sunday came around really quickly, and we were soon packing once again to make the journey back home. We left Melbourne really early in the morning for a day flight back to Singapore on SQ 238. Once again Madison was super sleepy in the plane, driving me crazy trying to force her to latch on for take off and landing! IT was amazing the stuporific effect the plane had on her! If only she would sleep like that at night at home!
We arrived safely home in the afternoon and took a taxi back to the Papillon house... in preparation for the final move back to our apartment ( we had been staying at the Novena house since she was born )...stress..
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