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...

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???

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: she 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!

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..

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...

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

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!