Welcome Liam James Chui

Liam James Chui arrived on the 21st June 2013 at 2229h.

He weighed 3035g and was 51cm long.

I was quite surprised by his arrival really..   I truly expected him to go past his due date, partly because his last estimated fetal weight at 38 weeks wasn't very high.

So I was determined to continue with life as normal at 39 weeks.

We had a potluck dinner organised for the evening with a few friends( neighbours  ) and we were having a steamboat dinner. I was supposed to prepare the chicken broth and buy some fresh produce for dinner.

I think contractions started on the night of 20th, because I had a restless night and hardly slept. I noticed irregular but starting-to-hurt type contractions... but in my mind I assumed they were just stronger Braxton Hicks because I just turned 39weeks.

By morning the pain was getting more obvious, but not so much that I couldn't function. So I went about my usual day, although I let the girls start their school holiday early because for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to take them to school.

At work the pain was still irregular but I was really cranky. Man... people that turn up to ask for medical leave! Here I am in occasional pain and STILL at work!!

It was a good thing that at the back of my mind I felt I really had to cancel the next day's appointments. So I did.

I called it quits at work around 5pm and went home to rest. I think close to 6pm the pains intensified and I knew there was no way these could just be BH contractions.

Chris got home early ( thank goodness ) so we waited a little while until the contractions were 5 minutes apart. By then we decided to head to KKH to get checked out. I was still contemplating whether or not to get an epidural.

At the labour ward it took forever to get registered and then I still had to be hooked up to monitors for over half an hour while they monitored the contractions. That was quite uncomfortable. I have to thank my good friend KSY whom I was messaging, regarding epidurals. She said "yes! "

Still it took a good hour before I finally got the epidural, and then it was pure bliss. By some stroke of fate, the anaesthetist who turned up happened to be the very same guy that gave me the spinal at Annika's emergency C section! Except he's now promoted to be consultant! I was just wondering how strange it was that the 2 anaesthetists would be named Shawn at both my births. This time the spinal-epidural worked beautifully and it took most of the pain away.

I was 4 cm dilated at admission, and after the epidural we were able to lie back, relax and watch Sherlock Holmes on TV. Dr John Tee arrived to see me just past 9pm and he was really surprised that I was already 9 cm dilated.

He left me and returned at 10 pm and told me the head was right there! It was incredible. I didn't even realize I'd been having regular and strong contractions. Thank goodness for the epidural. He hitched my legs up, told me to give strong and steady pushes, and in 3 pushes Liam was born.

I admit, I was a little disappointed that he was a pint sized 3 kg at birth, considering his 2 sisters were 3.2 and 3.5kg respectively. Still, the most important thing was that he was well and I had a successful VBAC!

Dr Tee didn't do an episotomy but I had a minor tear. He stitched me up quickly and did the blood taking for cord blood storage. The placenta weighed 660g.

KKH has this new skin-to skin contact thing, so I was left with naked Liam for over an hour. I think this birth experience was so much better than Madison's, I felt less rushed, more relaxed and they gave me more time after delivery to recover in the labour ward than before.

It's now 1 week since Liam was born, so today is technically his due date. He's got the same issues as his sisters, mostly jaundice requiring regular heel pricks and visits to KKH. He gave me a huge scare yesterday.. when he woke up at 5pm he felt really warm to me and I measured his temperature to be 37.8 C. I panicked big time thinking neonatal pyrexia. I kept taking his temperature throughout the evening and night and fortunately that settled.

It's such a relief to have delivered the baby. The last month of pregnancy was so uncomfortable, from the chronic distension of the abdomen, inability to eat proper meals, occasional reflux, and most annoying of all, this strange insomnia. I hardly slept the last month! When the baby popped out, it was IMMEDIATE relief. I could breathe again!

I'm really happy to meet this youngest member of the family, and for some strange reason, this kid I fell in love with immediately. I think its the confidence that comes with subsequent children... less apprehension and more knowing that 'this too, shall pass!'

Week 37

Last week was a good week in my books.

The kids were well. They went to school. They were happy.

As this is the school holiday season, there are holiday programmes aplenty. I happened to chance upon a 2 day workshop that claimed they could teach multiplication by drawing. I was intrigued. After consulting with my parents, I signed Madison up for the workshop. As my dad said.. if it's crap, just don't go for the 2nd day!

I was lucky too, to have a good friend that also signed her daughter up for the same workshop, so Madison had company.

Turned out they were right! The method is ingenious! Day one they did single digits, and by day 2 they did double digits. I don't think Madison is ready for double digits but she did get the concept for single digits! I was impressed.

We had a potluck planned for Friday night, and I planned on making lamb shanks. We met up with M Han for dinner Thursday night, and he helped me pick out my fabulous Le Crueset dutch oven. It was heavenly to use the heavy cast iron pot! I am sold on using these cookware. The shanks turned out perfectly after 4 hours in the oven. We were scraping the bottom of the pot by the end of dinner.

The weekend was nice and low key.. Saturday started off as usual, tennis for Madison at 8am, work for me. It was really nice that Chris had the weekend off so he spent the morning with the kids. When I was done with the clinic we took Madison out for lunch and decided to get her eyesight checked.

Turned out her sight was fine but mine was not so hot. The optometrist told me my corneas were apparently becoming hypoxic from prolonged use of contact lenses, and that I had to lay off them for the next 3 days. In addition I had to restrict the duration of use subsequently. This was profoundly annoying. I hate the poor vision that I get with glasses and the weight of the glasses on my face. But.. I asked for a professional opinion so I guess I'd better comply.

On Sunday Warni had her day off so it was just the 4 of us for most of the day. Again, it turned out surprisingly peaceful. Madison had her golf lesson in the morning and we took Annika to the range to hit some balls with her club. This time we borrowed a shorter golf club from the school and she loved it.. I was suckered into getting her a tailor made club. With a Hello Kitty grip and pink flowers on the graphite shaft!

When Madison was done with her lesson we drove over to Vivocity for lunch at Bakerzin. I had a good time actually! The kids were well behaved, ate their lunch and we were able to sit down and complete the meal peacefully.

In the evening Madison had her tennis class at the Swimming club so we were headed that direction again. Chris and I took Annika for a swim while we were waiting for Madison. Chris left our stuff on an empty chair while he went to change, and this plump lady approached me to say that she had 'reserved' the seat already. I didn't say a word, but looked around for another empty chair which I promptly fetched for her to sit on. I hope she felt embarrassed that she had to ask a pregnant woman to get her a seat! After which I left and went for my swim.

We had dinner at the club, then drove over to the hospital for Chris to see his patients. I took the kids to 7-eleven for ice-cream while waiting for him. Such simple pleasures but I gratefully appreciate them now... for now...

Appreciating the GOOD days

I think I might have discovered an epiphany...

After the bad round of sickness for the past 2 months, I am starting to appreciate and enjoy the good days.

I think parenting must be like that. Good days and Bad days.

Bad days: kids are sick, parents are tired and everyone is in a bad mood. Days like that I really wonder about parenting skills, why life sucks and just how tiring everything is.  Days like that I miss the childfree times, sleeping in weekends and holidays, the freedom to stay out late, eat rubbish and do anything we want. Go on holidays at the drop of a hat, ski holidays at that.

Then we get some good days... the kids are finally well, they fight less and we feel more energetic. We still can't sleep in or go on multiple ski holidays but at least I'm not in a constant state of impatience/ annoyance/ unhappiness.

I was having trouble with Madison's apparent bouts of aggression towards her sibling/cousins.. and I think we might have found out why.

When she's at my sister's place for the afternoons, I suspect she spends a large amount of time watching videos on the iPad.

After the last round, we put an end to her iPad privileges and I am pleased to say that her behaviour has improved markedly!

She now plays more amicably and is less moody at the end of the day. I think the mindless watching of videos was probably doing more harm. I just needed my dad to enforce it, since he is quite generous with iPad privileges.

I'm holding my breath to see how long this current "good" round will last.... my next concerns will start when the baby is born.. .

Long Weekend break

We had a long weekend over this past weekend.

It had been a tough week for me because Annika had been ill for most of it. So when our neighbour friends asked us to a joint movie night on Thursday to see Fast and Fabulous 7 I jumped on it.

The movie was alright... not as good as Ironman 3 but it was a good break. Unfortunately with movies it usually means a late night out..

Friday was a public holiday due to Vesak day.
But somehow with young kids public holidays never feel like a holiday... they were still up before 7am!

Annika was still under the weather, refusing to have breakfast, being whiny etc...

Madison had a golf course lesson scheduled for 8am, so we had to have a quick breakfast and head out. We left Annika at home with Warni since she needed to rest.

We dropped Madison off to golf, then Chris went to see a few patients. I headed off to meet up with a friend. It started to pour, and the course lesson was terminated. Chris picked Madison up and we went to Takashimaya for a spot of shopping and lunch instead. It was pretty fun, actually! Madison is getting so much easier to go out with...

Saturday was a really busy day... it started with the girls tennis coach FORGETTING to turn up for the lesson(?) .. afterwhich Elizabeth had her birthday party at the kids eXplorer indoor playground.

Getting to the place was a nightmare! For one, E's party coincided with the start of the school holidays.. I think the entire population was there for the day! There was absolutely no parking ... and there were hoards of people EVERYWHERE. Turned out it was a family day fiesta, and they were offering free entry to the playground for 300 kids!

In any case, I think the kids had a real ball.. Annika missed out because she was still not quite healed.. however Chris was a real trooper and took care of her for the morning. I think they went shopping and had lunch together. We now have 4 or 5 brand new goldfish in our tank.

Saturday evening we had a potluck dinner with several neighbours... It was a feast... Japanese curry, braised tofu (me), braised pork knuckle, chap chye (stanley ) , grilled salmon, chicken wings ( Fanny), Pavlova (Sabine). And lots of wine... fine weather was a bonus too.

On Sunday morning, we took the kids to Bishan park on the spur of the moment. Madison didn't have her usual golf lesson because she had it on Friday. It was super hot. We brought the kids' roller blades and scooter along.



It just so happened we met with another bunch of neighbours at the park! They were there having roller blading lessons. Madison was having confidence issues with using the rollerblades and scooter. Chris and I are convinced it's our genes. This dislike of speed/ lack of control issues.. or maybe she just needs to do it more frequently!

In the blink of the eye.. the entire weekend was over. When this week is through, we will enter the month of June. Where did 2013 go???

Being a parent

I think I really suck at being a parent.

1. I have very little patience.

2. I don't know how to discipline my kids in a way they 'get' it

3. I can't deal with sick kids, not even my own. I can see them as patients, but not actually care for them.

When the kids are well, things are better.

The mornings are still stressful trying to get them both ready for school. I really don't understand why kids have to dawdle so much in the morning when it's exactly the same everyday. I have an hour to get them ready now. I can't even begin to imagine when they start primary school and have to be ready for school at an unearthly hour..

Of course now Annika is sick again for the month. She was so well.. and then just suddenly became sick in a blink of an eye. This morning her temperature was 39C, and she threw up after eating 2 spoonfuls of yoghurt. Thank goodness Warni was already here and she handled it. I seriously cannot do sick kids.

Last night, out of the blue, Madison kicked Annika off the sofa. Annika landed on the hard marble floor head first and smacked her forehead on the ground. It was so loud!

I was flabbergasted. And really angry.

I admit it... I smacked her hand and Chris put her in a naughty corner for a long time. We got her to apologize and make up with Annika afterward.

Then this morning.. she did it again! Kicked Annika but at least nobody fell off anything.

I was like ????? She got 3 smacks on her leg and a really stern warning. I really didn't know what else to do. We've warned her so many times. She's already been in naughty corner. What's next?

I was really glad to go to work this morning.

Days like that I seriously wonder if I should ever have had kids! I'm not good at this! It doesn't help that this sort of thing gets to me and I feel guilty/bad/sad about it afterwards. And obsess about what I should have/should do.

My sister is way more zen about parenting than I am.. and maybe I should take notes ...

My little pony cake...

That's Elizabeth's 4th birthday cake.

I think I'm getting more comfortable making these fondant things!

The first time I took like a week to prepare the cakes, crumb coat them, then cover and decorate...

Now the process takes just over a day! In fact, baking and cooling the cakes on the same day as the decorating is quite alright too! My main limiting factor is probably the oven. It takes only 1 layer at a time.

This cake is a My little pony cake. I thought I was going to get away with not making E a cake this year because my dear brother volunteered to get her cake for the party.

But my dear sister brought it up and asked for a My little pony cake since that's a current hit with the kids at the moment. ( Blame it on Youtube )

Chris insisted we try to make the fondant from scratch this time too.. amazing that he's into cake decorating now...

We found the recipe online and we bought the ingredients. Surprisingly, he actually rolled up his sleeves and made the fondant himself!

Which surprisingly turned out really well, and he was right, it did taste alot better than the commercial stuff.

In other news... Annika was supposed to have gone on her first real school outing to the zoo today.
She had been looking forward to it, and had surprisingly remained sickness free for the past 2 weeks.

And of course, she had to start puking last night out of the blue.

And spike a temperature this morning. So no zoo outing for her.

I have to confess that I have this phobia of puke. I cannot deal with puke, not even mine. Last night when she randomly decided to upchuck it was lucky Warni was around to take care of it. Swiftly she cleaned up the mess and the kid.

My job was to get the meds and get them into Annika fast.

I just pray my kids have iron stomachs that don't get into gastro trouble too much.

Vicky in hospital, Intussusception

What a tumultous night!

The day started out pretty normal. Kids off to school, adults all off to work.

I had a pretty good day in clinic, then headed over to my sister's house to see the kids after work and also for dinner.

All 4 kids were at home; my 2 were running around the house, Elizabeth was eating her dinner and I noticed that Vicky was having her clothes changed. MH was at home, watching TV on the couch. Nothing particularly unusual. My parents, Geok, Chai and HT were not back yet.

I went to the back kitchen to help with dinner preparations, when I heard Siti telling MH that Vicky was vomiting.

Vicky had been down with a cold/croup type thing over the weekend, so I assumed it was a post tussive vomit.

So initially she was given instructions to administer some cough mixture because we were told she had been coughing.

However, I think Vicky still continued to throw up. MH made the decision to take Vicky to the children's hospital then. That was just after 6pm.

We waited around at home, when at 730pm Geok called me from the hospital to tell me that they were still waiting to be seen.

Since none of the other adults were home yet Chris and I had our dinner and proceeded to our kids home for bed.

At 830pm I get the message that Vicky was to be admitted for suspected intussusception!

She had continued to throw up in the hospital emergency, and the vomitus was now green.

I think they were really unlucky in that it must have been a busy night. It took another 2 hours before she was assessed by the paediatric surgeon, and for the ultrasound to be done.

Fortunately once she had the ultrasound and the diagnosis was confirmed, she had the air enema which reduced the intussusception.

The hospital was also short on single rooms so my poor sister had to stay with Vicky in a 4 bedded room.

Here's hoping that things stay resolved and she comes home soon.

It's been such a shock!