Back at SGH

I did it!

Took some planning to get the logistics right, but the stars were aligned so I got to go back to SGH to work for the day.

1. Music class got postponed
2. Madison fell sick --so no school anyway!

So Thursday night Madison stayed over at Novena while Annika came home.

Friday morning was a mad rush! I had to meet WS at 0750h, but at 0720 Annika was still asleep. Of all days! Then I realized I probably needed to bring my stethoscope along, so made a quick dash to the clinic to pick it up while Chris was still home.

Got home and she was still sleeping! ACK! Running late, so I made Chris drop her off at Novena instead. Drove like mad to make it to SGH, ended up being only 3 minutes late!

At SGH, had to figure everything out again. Managed to get changed, gowned and then met up with the consultant in charge of the roster. She sent us off to the tea room to wait while she went to sort stuff out.

Fortunately by 9 we were then dispatched to L2(me) and L8(WS). I was so thankful I was paired off with a really nice consultant. IT was like being thrown into the deep end. Everything looked familiar yet foreign.

But... it's kind of like riding a bike. Or skiing. You just stumble around like an idiot for a few hours, then it slowly gets familiar again. I managed to only botch 1 iv plug up(amazing!). Didn't get to do anything fancy( phew!) and we managed to finish by 5!

A few things:

1. It's SOOO COLD! I was literally shivering the entire time I was there. Especially just prior to lunch.
2. I forgot to bring socks, or theatre shoes. YUCK.

So, looks like I'll probably stick this one out for now, not sure how long they'd need us anyway. It was good to have this sensory overload for the day,it sure went by really quickly. But I'm glad I don't have to do this everyday. I really missed the kids, since I didn't get to see either of them since Thursday night.

IT also made me appreciate my life as is now, and the time I have for everything since I'm not in the rat race. But getting out to do this ALSO gives me the patience with the kids, because it tires my brain out and gives me intellectual stimulation.

Let's see how long this lasts!

Revisiting old work, CNY

Last week, an old friend from Anaesthesia/ GDFM days emailed me regarding going back to SGH to locum for the anaesthesia department.

I was torn.

Part of me was definitely interested, to see if I could still do the stuff I used to do. Maybe even (horrors..) consider a change in career (again!)

Of course the other part immediately quashed all that. What about the clinic! what about the kids!

and the first part started thinking, why is it my problem again? How come I can't be the one to leave for work everyday at 7, 7.30am, and let other people feed/change/ferry my kids around and plan their schedules every day?

So initially I thought I could just ignore it and hope that I didn't have to decide so quickly if I wanted to do it.

Then another message: he was going to start Friday 27th! So soon! So I said, no thanks, Madison has music that day, can't make it!

Then guess what? Just at that very moment, after I replied his message, I got one from the music teacher, saying she was away Friday 27th, no music class!

So I took that as A SIGN. Guess I should give it a shot. The universe has aligned for me to do this.

Once I made that decision, things happened really quickly. Emails, phone calls and text messages fired away from various directions. Finally my BCLS recertification was organised, and we were booked to come in on Friday morning at 8am!

I'm not really sure what to expect or what to think, but I guess after having 2 kids, I've learnt to let go a little and just go with the flow. See where and if it'll take me anywhere.

CNY 2012

Our first Chinese New Year in Singapore. Turned out pretty good actually. Since all the family was away, we didn't have to do anything special. We did have dinner at home and the kids got to toss Yusheng(twice!). We were also kindly invited to New years' lunch at our neighbour's place.

And was it a good thing we opted out of travelling this year. Apparently it was a nightmare getting to KL!

School for Annika, HMDP

Last year I started thinking about school for Annika.

My initial plan was to accompany her for a few months in some form of Mandarin based programme, starting with an hour or so once a week, then gradually progressing to a drop off class, 3 times a week, max.

My preference was also Joy Little, which is a stone's throw away from us, rather than the one Madison attended at Serene Centre.

But, as it turned out.. Joy little didn't have any of those things I wanted. So I hesitantly signed up for drop off classes twice a week starting Feb.

I was(am) still quite nervous so today I took Annika down to the centre to have a second look.

Turns out, Annika went right in, started playing with the stuff at the school! She's really quite a sociable person with an endless amount of energy. No wonder she stays skinny.

And I got to talk to the teacher/principal, and was quite reassured:

1. They allow the kid to be accompanied for up to 2 weeks at the start
2. They are rather flexible in pick up times: so this means Annika can start with a shorter class and be picked up earlier if I so wished.

That really took a big load off my mind. So looks like Annika will be starting next month at the school, and depending on how she copes she might end up going between 3 to 5 times a week.

HMDP: Human Manpower Development Programme

That's the fancy name for the fellowship year.

After all this time, FINALLY Chris will (hopefully, fingers crossed) be exiting this year and become his profession.

After that, he has to consider taking 6-12 months off to work overseas.

Most times the family accompanies the husband.

Should I do that too?

What would happen to the clinic?
What would happen to Warni?
What about school?

But 6-12months seems rather long to be apart too... although my parents did it for a year each.

And it would be time well spent with the kids.

I really don't know what to do.

I know in 5 years time it probably won't matter whatever we do, but for now there is a decision waiting to be made.

Hopefully the answer will come by itself.

Injections, injections

I'm so glad the final round of vaccinations is finally OVER!

Yesterday Annika went for her last round of immunisations. My plan : for her to receive the last round of diptheria/tetanus/pertussis shots and then I would follow up with her last round of measles/mumps/rubella and chickenpox shots.

What she ended up with? ALL OF THEM. I was slightly nervous about giving them all at once, was it an overkill of antigens??

But her paediatrician said:" how many antigens are we exposed to on a daily basis?" Which is true, I guess. And of course, that would make it her FINAL round of routine shots. Which was probably the best selling point.

And while we were there, she also asked me if Madison has had her booster dose of the MMR. Of course she hadn't, I was "saving" that for next year. And of course I was sold on the idea of having BOTH their shots done once and for all.

Madison heard the news and she immediately protested. But she was really logical. When I asked her if she would rather get measles and have fever/rash/abdominal pain blah blah she agreed on having the shots. Then she told me she wanted the shots at home! How amazing was that!

Annika was first up to receive the shots. She wasn't too bad. Yelled for a split second and then stopped when she was distracted.

Madison was next. She knew what she was up for, so gave me instructions specifically as to how she wanted it done. 1. Sitting on my lap. 2. Left thigh. 3. ASAP! She kept telling the nurses to do it NOW ! while they were busy checking her name, her allergy status etc etc.

But, she was fantastic. Not a tear, not a scream. Took it bravely. I was so proud of her. And she didn't even ask for compensation!

So they both have their vaccination certificates all printed out ready for school, and they were "discharged" from the paediatrician! Hooray! (makes me think really hard if I could do this all over again another time!)

New school year

After a 2 week school holiday, Madison is finally back at preschool.

I cannot imagine what kids her age do at home if they didn't go to school! 2 weeks seemed like a really long time when she was home everyday! I had to think really hard of things to occupy her everyday. It is great that Anthony is here with us at the moment so he's around to referee the kids fights. If it wasn't Madison vs Annika, it would be Annika vs Elizabeth, or in the worse case scenario Madison vs Annika vs Elizabeth and all 3 would be screaming/crying .

Anyway, drop off on Day 1 wasn't too bad. I went into the school with her because we had to find her new classroom. It was great that her Chinese teacher was the same so not everything was new. I think class numbers went up so she had more classmates.

When I picked her up she seemed ok but she did tell me she didn't really talk to anyone. Over the next day or so she seemed a little more emotional than usual, so I figured it must be due to the "new class" effect.

Today, I checked the shoe boxes carefully and then I realized: her best friend was no longer in the school! Most of the other kids were from her previous class but her closest friend didn't seem to be there anymore.

Anyway, I talked to Madison and encouraged her to socialize and talk to her other friends. I think today must have been better because she seemed to be more cheerful and back to her usual self.

Next year Annika will start school with Madison. Already I've been bringing Annika along with me to pick Madison up, so she gets to walk around the classrooms. She seems to like the place, but I guess it will be different once she realizes that I'm leaving her there! But it will be quite different to have both of them occupied the entire morning! I can't imagine starting again with another kid by that stage...

New Year 2012, sleep training kid 2

Another weekend flew past.

New Year's eve celebration was held at Novena as usual. The grandparents had organised a countdown party, complete with catered food and alcohol.

Turned out pretty good. Not all of the invited guests came, which made for a cozier group of people.

We catered from Chilli Api, which serves Peranakan food. It was surprisingly good for catered food. There was a good selection of seafood and the spice level was tempered so nothing was excessively hot.

By midnight, we were down to a few closer friends and family. MH's family were visiting as well, but they were sound asleep at champagne toast! The kids were sound asleep upstairs too. We took them home afterwards.

Sleep training:

I think we are at it again, but this time with Annika. She used to be such a good sleeper till the past few months! I really don't know what happened. Maybe just teething, being sick etc. Now she goes down really well, but then starts to whine and cry in the middle of the night. Most times she would settle but then do it again at least once more before dawn. Exhausting, to say the least.

The other night she was inconsolable! Chris wound up sleeping in Madison's room, and she slept on the bed with me. She slept amazingly well that night.

So Chris decided to be firm with her. For 2 nights he has been putting her to bed, ignoring her cries and just simply shushing her to sleep. Apparently she doesn't want him to pat her down or to be carried. After a bout of screaming, she went down. And stayed asleep till the next day! The second night she started crying again in the middle of the night, but Chris went in and repeated his actions. Seemed to work till morning. Hopefully we are on to something? Why can't kids just SLEEP already!! That is all WE want to do!