Thursday, April 16, 2015

Breastfeeding for #1

First, let me share my old banner for this blog... I can't bear to part with it so I'm sticking it here. ^^

Lilypie Breastfeeding tickers


Writing an entry to share my breastfeeding journey for my first girl. I've been wanting to do this for the longest time but haven't gotten down to writing this and it's over 1 year late (this entry has been 'in progress' for the longest time and was completed on 2 October 2015). In fact, I've shared my stories on various other platforms, usually with fellow mummy-friends in mummies groups and forums. I couldn't have done it too without the support of my pro-breastfeeding mummy-friends who have been very supportive and helpful in giving me information to find out more about breastfeeding on my own, as well as sharing their experiences with me. Thus it really spurs me to want to do the same to help other breastfeeding mummies. =)

The very first 2 days 
I did not get to latch immediately, and being a very blur first-time mum, I didn't know I could request to latch my girl immediately after delivery. I cuddled her for a while and she's sent to clean up and rest in the babies' nursery room. When I finally get to rest in my premiere ward after wolfing down my lunch in the delivery ward, and then she's brought into my room to latch for the very first time, she stopped after suckling a couple of times. The lactation consultant was like, "Woah, your baby's very smart! She knows there's no milk so no point suckling, conserve energy first." Yes, my smart girl totally freaked me out as I was worrying that if there's not suckling to induce the milk flow, the supply would not come.

This happened another once or twice. In the end we gave in to giving her formula milk. The lactation consultant was kind enough to bring a set of the Medela Supplemental Nursing System (SNS) for me to try, with formula milk flowing down a tube attached to my nipples, so my baby would get milk when she suckled, and thus would continue suckling. She suckled alright, so there was no problem with her suckling at all. Thank goodness. However, the lactation consultant also pointed out that my nipples were quite flat, so introduced nipple shields to me. I started using nipple shields then. She also suggested that we buy the SNS, nipple shields and Pigeon nipple puller to help with my situation, and my hubby went to buy all of them immediately at the pharmacy in TMC.

It was quite a hassle to use them actually and I didn't like them at all. However I needed them for my girl to continue to suckle and hopefully my milk would start flowing soon. I didn't start using the SNS immediately as we didn't bring anything to sterilize it, plus hubby and I thought that it was really expensive to buy the plain plastic box and sterilizing pills from TMC. *stingy parents alert*

Dr Tham, my gynae, also prescribed me some pills for boosting my milk supply, and my hubby went to the pharmacy to get fenugreek supplements on recommendation.

Going home from TMC
On the morning of day 3, my last day in TMC after staying for 2 nights (oh man, how I miss those staycation-style nights in TMC!!), my milk supply started flowing~ I was ecstatic! In fact, I was engorged on day 4. In the end, I sold the brand new SNS that hubby bought at TMC.

Jaundice hospitalization woes
My girl has to be hospitalized for jaundice and as a first time mum, I'm super upset as it's my first time not being with my baby 24/7 since we were discharged from TMC and I cried. I guess it's actual very common for first time mums with same experience. As my girl won't be by my side, I had to go on a pumping frenzy and then bring to TMC for her as she stayed in TMC for 2 days 2 nights of phototherapy.

And confinement continued
I continued to nurse my baby, sitting up in the single bed which I slept in while having confinement at my parents' place. However, my baby has no regular feeding time and I was simply feeding on demand and struggling to keep up with baby. In fact I started to go a little bonkers with the irregular hours of nursing and resting that I had to face. The struggle was REAL. Trust me, new mummies, when I said I understand what you're going through. The struggle was totally wrecking me. Plus I was still hanging onto the nipple shields, and I had to sterilize them with hot water each time I needed to nurse my baby. It was really a big hassle. Eventually it seemed like all my hours were spent nursing, washing, sterilizing, pumping, nursing... the list goes on. In fact, I've been latching and latching and latching nonstop. I needed a reason for it... perhaps it's growth spurt? The latching was making my nipples super sore and painful. :(

Often, I wonder if I was the crankier one or my baby, as she went wailing in the middle of the night.

Week 3 low supply woes
My nipples were sore. I was cranky and an emo wreck. I cried and cried. I needed sleep. That's really all I could handle, and then my supply dropped. It was the ultimate devastation. I cried for days, and my milk supply went lower and lower, to a mere 10 ml per pump. I was beyond miserable, I was defeated. I was depressed. We were still supplementing my baby with formula milk each evening/night since her jaundice episode, and it seemed like we need to give her even more formula milk to make up for the dip in my breastmilk supply. But that too had passed, and eventually my milk supply went up, and then went up even more!

At the same time, I ditched the nipple shields as my pro-breastfeeding friend encouraged me to directly latch my baby, and offered many insightful articles that stated that nipple shields should be used as the last resort. And so, baby and I started learning all over again. Baby now has to latch on my barely-there nipples, and I have to learn to pinch my breasts into her opened mouth. It's day one all over again for us. It's not easy. And I couldn't get it under control

Finally all's good from week 6
At 5 weeks, she was latching nonstop. I was emo again and again, tired of being her pacifier as she latched nonstop through the days. It was SO NOT EASY! But that too shall pass...

From week 6 onwards, it seems like my supply has been established and stabilized, and she's become very proficient in latching in all positions. We lie down to latch in bed often so we could both rest. And she stopped taking formula milk from week 6 as I latched her full time and was giving her 100% breastmilk. Finally, a proud mama moment!

I struggled painfully for a good 6 weeks and I'm glad I perservered on and didn't give up, especially after the drastic supply drop in week 3 that got me extremely devastated. My baby continued to 100% latch on demand (sometimes nonstop!) until she started solid food.

Latching on the go
In fact I've been directly latching her, it's so easy to go out. We didn't have to bring any milk powder, bottles, hot water for heating up milk or ice bags for expressed milk. I started with looking for nursing rooms in the malls but eventually I graduated to simply using a nursing cover. That's all I needed in my bag, besides the usual - diapers, wet wipes, extra set of clothes and hanky. I usually checked out malls with nursing rooms for my own convenience, and I love nice, clean nursing rooms and nice, clean diaper changing facilities. But if it's inconvenient to get to the nursing room, I could sit in any eatery, cafe, fast food outlet or restaurant, and latch away with my nursing cover.

Pumping pumping
I pumped too so that when I wasn't around, my MIL could feed her the expressed milk. So I tried to pump whenever I have plans to go out, and of course before I went back to work. I didn't like pumping though, because of all the washing and sterilizing. Directly latching was much more hassle-free!

Frozen milk
I managed to build up a small stash of frozen milk... yes, quite a small stash. No extra freezer unit required. And then suddenly, my baby rejected frozen milk. Like... duh. What's gonna happen to my milk in the freezer now?! I tried making milo with the packets of frozen milk in the freezer but seriously they smelled so much like puked and didn't taste any better, I ended up puking the milo out and so my milk literally ended up going down the drain...

Going back to work
Eventually it's the time I dreaded but couldn't avoid. It's time to go back to work. My only consolation was I took half a year of no-pay leave after my maternity leave and so my baby has been on breastmilk for 10 good months.

I continued to pump but it was difficult to find time to pump regularly. I ended up pumping only once at work. Or twice but rarely. The nursing room was a CCA room for photography club to store their cameras and it was very stressful to pump inside as often I encountered students or teachers trying to unlock the door while I was pumping. Fortunately, the school installed a bolt on the inside, but it was still very unnerving with my exposed breasts out in the open air. And to make matters worse, the room was situated between two classrooms and the walls are thin. I could here the two teachers on either side teaching when it's lesson time, and the students bustling. I was totally imagining that if the earth shook, the walls crumpled and I'll have 80+ pairs of eyes on my naked breasts. Paranoid me always have thoughts like that and it's driving me crazy.

As baby rejected my frozen milk (eventually MIL discarded *heartpain*), I pumped fresh milk for her everyday and put the bottles in the fridge for her to take the next day. When I was at home, I would continue to latch directly, and she continued to be latched to sleep at night. I was willing to let her latch to sleep for as long as she wanted to.

Weaning
Eventually I stopped pumping when she was close to 15 months old. It was a good 15 months of breastfeeding... a journey full of ups and downs, full of cries and crankiness, full of stress and emo wreckage. But I'll not exchange it for anything, because I know my baby has benefited well from my milk, and the bonding we have is amazing. She slowly could drift into sleep without latching and my breastfeeding journey officially ended. I could not remember how I got 'dried up'... I didn't eat anything for it to happen. I guess it just naturally happened as I stopped pumping and latching, since I was already pumping lesser and lesser at work.

Grateful
I am eternally grateful for my mummies-friends who have been very supportive, encouraging and motivating. Thank you for sharing with me and spurring me on, which led me to eventually breastfeed my girl fully for over a year. Some of the links below are links shared by my friends. I find them very helpful and I hope they can be helpful to you too! :)

Helpful links
KellyMom: evidence-based breastfeeding and parenting
Ask Dr Sears - breastfeeding topics
La Leche League International - resources
Australian Breastfeeding Association - information
How to express breast milk using hand expression

Saturday, April 4, 2015

April 2015

Lilypie Pregnancy tickers

4 April 2015
And the ticker above says I'm 31 weeks and 5 days pregnant today with 58 more days to go... exciting times' coming!

Today's my gynae appointment~ But before I talk about it, first let me whine a bit then do my foodie thingy! LOL~

Whining time: I've been so busy setting the exam papers. In fact, I slept at 2am on Sunday night, 1am on Monday night and subsequently 12am, until last night. I just couldn't stay up until 2am every night anymore, unlike before. I guess, age is really catching up and there's no way I can run away from it. Yesterday was Good Friday... What Good Friday?! I spent most of my time doing work, from the moment I was awake until after dinner. And I finally got my papers all completed before it was too late into the night, and could go to bed earlier! *happy* And my girl slept with me... I really missed cuddling her to sleep! ❤

Alright whining's over, and this week's foodie journey begins~

Monday's dinner and Tuesday's lunch.

Tuesday's dinner... yummy!

Wednesday's lunch in the school canteen.

Wednesday's dinner and Thursday's lunch.

Good Friday's lunch.

My mum-in-law is such a gem!! We went out for dinner on Thursday and she bought a mini portable rice cooker just to cook individual servings of brown rice for me. And then on Friday (yesterday), she was cooking up a storm in the kitchen the whole morning, but when lunchtime came this was what I saw: soup to share, stirfried thick beehoon for my girl and herself, and the rest of the dishes ALL FOR ME! Flabbergasted~ I'm such a spoilt daughter-in-law!! Although seriously too much food... these dishes are enough for a family of 4 and I'm having them all to myself?! So I split a portion for dinner too. And so, Good Friday's dinner's settled~ Yay! I'm a very blessed woman!

Anyway my efforts in keeping on a strict diet has paid off!


In fact, the diet worked wonders~ After going on my strict diet since my last appointment on 16 March, I've lost 2 kg in 2+ weeks!! How can a preggy woman be losing weight?! I dunno, but I did!

And this is today's lunch!

Had a great lunch with my girl at Vegetarian Express Cafe after my gynae appointment. My girl must be starving, as she kept looking at the broccoli and mushrooms dish at the next table and asking me for her rice!! Haha... finally our dishes were served~ I'm indulging today, satisfying my craving by having vegetable curry with brown rice, while my girl's having her favorite dish that has broccoli, cauliflower, carrot and mushrooms. *yums*

So today I found out that I lost weight. Also, baby's head has turned down and is all already to pop! Actually I started feeling the difference yesterday, that the baby's getting really low and pressing downwards, instead of against my stomach. I told Dr Tham and he said let's check, and true enough, baby's down! He did mention that there's plenty of space inside though, thus baby still can move around and let's just pray and hope that she won't turn around again. Dr Tham also went through the symptoms of labour and I have to report to the delivery suite immediately if I experience any of them. He also gave me notes on pain relief in labour and asked me if I had epidural analgesia the last time. I said no and he's like "wow", and I quickly continued that my first labour was fast as baby popped 2+ hours upon reaching TMC! (Here's my delivery story for my first girl.) And I also told him my worries as my colleagues have been telling me that the next time will be half the time and I need to rush down as soon as possible, lest baby decides to pop on the way. Oh please, no way!! Dr Tham urged me to act immediately upon discovering any of the labour symptoms. Then while making the next appointment, the missy told me to bring my admission letter with me wherever I go. It finally dawned on me that I'm delivering anytime!! And so now I'm sitting in bed updating this new entry with a mess around me as I'm struggling to get my hospital bag packed. So far I've inside: A set of clothes for discharge, a cardigan, a nursing bra and disposable undies. And I'm already at a lost of what else to pack. Maybe I shall pack 2 nursing bras instead.

My MIL's just as shock, suddenly realizing that it could be anytime now, and we haven't washed any newborn items yet! Hahaha~ So it's true... when you're having the second one, you just aren't as on the ball as the first time anymore. =P

5 April 2015
And I continued packing my hospital bag last night!


Borrowed a wet bag from my girl since they're usually not in use anyway. =P Took this while the camera's battery was still charging. Now the camera and the charger are also inside the bag. Yet to buy: sanitary pads and breast pads. Yet to collect from sprees: New Mama bottom spray and nipple wipes. Can't wait for the Baby Market at Expo this weekend!

After spending last week setting exam papers, today I went back to school with these.


Reached school at 6:50am and walked up 3 levels to the staffroom with these, one on each shoulder - a bag of 8 textbooks, workbooks and assessment books, and my haversack which is heavier than the bag of 8 books because of the work laptop which is super duper freaking heavy... everyday carrying the super bulky work laptop with books, notes and other resources up and down the flights of stairs many times a day... that's my daily exercise. I think easily 10 kg or more in my bag, and easily walked up and down 40 to 50 flights in total each day. Suddenly feel like a super (pregnant) mama! Haha~

My dinner today!


9 April 2015
Busy days again. Tests are piling to be marked and I'm still busy vetting the exam papers! Today I'll have to bring work home again... or I'll never get anything done on time!

Yesterday was my self-declared cheat day, after rejecting my committee head's Haagen Daaz treat (She bought one small tub for each committee member! OMG why did I have to miss this?!) on Tuesday during our committee meeting, I decided that I need to give myself a treat! Haha~ I had vegetarian fish chop with brown rice for lunch, and then had a tea break at MOS burger with a potato croquette and ice milk tea. I'm telling myself that the ice milk tea isn't as sweet as Haagen Daaz or your typical soft drink, so it's okay right? :P Then I bought a young coconut home and drank the whole thing myself. I shared the yummy coconut flesh with my girl though. It's her first coconut experience. Keke~ :D

Here's my lunch.


And MIL bought me dinner yesterday.

Brown rice with cabbage, brinjal and beancurd.

Today's dinner~

The 2 dishes are different yet so similar! LOL~

I'm meeting my June 2015 mummies group for an outing at Expo tomorrow! We'll be shopping at Mummy's Market April Fair together, and then sit down for tea. Can't wait for tomorrow to come!

10 April 2015 
Went home after work and heading out to Baby Market at Singapore Expo! Posted this in my mummies group~ :D


This was dinner at Subway in Singapore Expo after all that walking around in the huge hall for Baby Market from 2+ in the afternoon to 5+ in the evening!


And these are some of my buys, plus freebies such as sample packs of diapers.


I'm heading back again tomorrow to collect our pre-orders! :D

11 April 2015
We're back! Our friends met us and brought their cute baby along too~ Hubby and I were overwhelmed as we were there early to find a good parking lot plus to have breakfast, but it was just too crowded and the queue was already ridiculously long at 9ish in the morning! 

Hubby went to queue first while hungry me tried to grab breakfast, but the queue at the food court was equally ridiculous and so I quickly walked down to Subway again, but there's a queue there too! In the end, I bought the last banana loaf from CBTL (where the queue wasn't long because most of the food items were sold out... talking about ridiculous, it was only 9+ in the morning!) and rushed back, only to realized the queue has started moving and hubby has gone in while I'm stuck outside! Got hubby to go in and queue first while I wait for them to finally open all the doors after the long queue has completely entered. You won't believe it... we ordered $300+ worth of diapers from small size to XL, and $400+ worth of formula milk for my elder girl!


The collage above is the day at a glance... look at how ridiculous we packed our car with all our shopping buys from the fair! The top-middle pic was our fourth trip to the car! We probably spent over $2000 at this fair, including the pre-orders. Fortunately we managed to get the free delivery at the Fairprice pavilion with our outrageous diapers and formula milk buys. The car was filled to the brim both in the boot and on the back seats. I'm so thankful that MIL stayed at home to help us babysit our girl, otherwise I'd have to bring her home in a cab as there's absolutely no space left in the car's back seats!

After his friends came in the late morning, we shopped a bit more (with their adorable baby too, in top-left pic) and went to Changi City Point for lunch at Eggs & Berries (all 3 pics in the middle row), before heading back for more shopping, and collecting free samples too (bottom-middle pic). We finally left at 3ish... it was a long day! The last pic was my girl checking out the newest addition to our family of car safety seat... keke~ She's really excited and can't wait to be sitting next to her sister in the car in the near future :D

12 April 2015
I made breakfast for my girl! :D Wholemeal bread with cheese and a hardboiled egg in a not-so-nicely-formed Hello Kitty shape (^__^)


MIL cooked dinner... and my girl couldn't wait to dig into the steamed egg with tofu!


Didn't visit my parents in the end as I was busy with work the whole day at home... sigh, that's life of a teacher.


Yesterday my girl and I showered together and as usual, I'd have to squat down pretty often to shower my toddler girl. At the end of the shower, I saw a patch of whitish colour on my pubic hair (OMG I absolutely need to wax before this baby pops!) when I looked in the mirror, and I reached for it, thinking it's like some loose fabric/thread or something after wiping with the towel... but it was actually a big lump of light yellowish thick and sticky mucus-like goo. It didn't register as I was busy with quickly wiping ourselves and getting dressed, until today when I read about a mum's delivery story in my June 2015 mummies group. She's the third mum to pop! And it's only April, third preemie of the group! Her story described how her mucus plug dropped and then her water bag burst... mine happened around the same time too for my first pregnancy, and it's the very morning my girl was born. Suddenly it occurred to me... was that the mucus plug? Did my water bag burst? My girl and I both smelled something foul when we were showering, but I wasn't sure what was that. So I emailed Dr Tham to enquire.


Many of us in the group was shocked too as we chatted about it in our Whatsapp group... there's so many preemies this time. I remembered in the September 2012 mummies group when I was pregnant with my elder girl, I was the very first in the group to pop on 23rd August (EDD 2 September) and that was at full term. So it's still quite shocking to me now that already 3 have popped, and the rest of us are feeling jittery now... like it really can be anytime now!

13 April 2015
33 weeks today. Saw GP in the morning for one-day MC today as my back and pelvic zone are feeling very sore and achy when I walk. Still awaiting reply from Dr Tham.

Delivery from the Fairprice pavilion at Baby Market has arrived in the evening, but the delivery guys made a mistake and 12 tins of milk powder (costing close to 400 bucks, and half of what the entire delivery loots cost) were missing!! (>___<) Hubby was busy complaining to the respective companies - emailed Fairprice as it's after office hours, and calling up the delivery company. When he called the delivery company, he was told the packages were all labeled. He did a check and we had packages 1 to 9 (all the diapers are here), except package 2 which was missing. He was told they will make the delivery of our missing package on Wednesday night, but the delivery guys detoured and came back last night at ten with our missing package. Apparently we're not the only household with missing package tonight, and they have many more places to go before they can call it a day.

14 April 2015
Was chatting about our respective weight gain in our mummies chat group and took this photo, so thought to share it here too as this is where I document my pregnancy journey. =)


17 April 2015
Blood when pooing this morning. =/

Dr Tham still hasn't reply my email. =/

Wanted to share some foodie pics from the past couple of days but somehow the network is very inefficient today and I couldn't upload them via the mobile Blogger app.

At around one plus in the afternoon, I felt a bad menstrual cramp kinda pain and it lasted for quite a while... I went to poo while in pain. No blood but just a huge output of dark sticky mess. Am monitoring now... [posted at 2:22pm]

I'm in KKH now.. in fact it's just past midnight... so it's 18 April now. Second cramp feeling came at about 3:50pm. Texted hubby and he suggested going to the gynae immediately. Upon arrival at TMC (with a dear colleague who cabbed down with me), my hubby arrived and I was told to go straight to the delivery ward. I was hooked up with the CTG scan and my contractions monitored. At 6ish in the evening, Dr Tham came to check. He scanned inside and told me something about "cervix funneling" and said I need to be warded to monitor, plus given med to strengthen baby's lungs in case she pops prematurely. After some discussions, we decided to come to KKH. In Dr Tham's referral letter, I was already 0.5cm dilated when he checked. When I finally get a check by a doctor at 9ish at night in KKH, my dilation has doubled to 1cm!


It was quite a wait at KKH as there was no empty bed in the delivery suite and I had to wait sitting at the waiting area where many daddies are waiting anxiously (or not, mostly on their phones playing game like my hubby lol). It was 7ish and I was starving so we went to the Kopitiam in KKH for dinner before popping back to wait. Alright I'm, I'll be back with more!! Good night~

18 April 2015
So we waited a while more before I was brought into this prelimanary observation room with many small cubicles curtained up... hubby couldn't join me and I was strapped to the CTG scan once again. It was super boring and worse, my phone's batt was going flat! It did went all flat before I could leave the place. Hubby was settling the admission admin stuff outside and later on I requested for the nurse to bring my bag in so I could use my power bank. I got this long needle inserted into the back of my hand for drawing blood and for drips... and it hurt so bad for a while! Until slowly, I guess my hand got used to the needle inside and the pain got dull and subsided. I was also given the steroid jab to boost baby's lungs, and that jab on my thigh seriously hurt much more! What's worse was the pain lingered even after the needle was removed and I could feel my thigh muscles twitching in pain. I wasn't looking forward to the second dose at all.

It was probably 10ish or almost 11 before I was transferred to a delivery suite where my hubby could finally join me. But he has to work today, and he's been in his uniform the entire day, so I told him to go home, shower and rest. I was once again strapped to the CTG scan to monitor baby's heartbeats and my contractions. I finished last night's entry and went to sleep. I was woken up for med and doctor check, and I was soaked in perspiration! Requested for the aircon temperature to be turned down. The aircon was turned down to minimum temp before I felt more comfortable! >__< Was woken up every 2 hours or so and eventually it's morning.

Finally, breakfast was served! I was starving~ It wasn't vegetarian and I requested for my subsequent meals to be vegetarian. I was told I could be transferred to the normal ward after breakfast but nope, I stayed in the delivery suite, confined in bed with the CTG scan strapped to my bump. I did request to go to the toilet a few times since last night and initially the nurse asked if I want to use the bed pan, but it's too foreign for me as I've never used before, and it felt awkward. I assured the nurse that I'm pretty mobile and can definitely walk to the toilet that's just a few steps away, and she allowed me. I'm pretty sure it's a much easier chore to unstrap the devices on my bump and then strap them back, than to assist me on the bed pan and washing it later.

I was freaking bored. I turned on the TV and there's nothing entertaining, although I was pleasantly surprised that there're Disney Junior, Cartoon Network, CNN, HBO and Discovery channels. I enquired about the transfer to normal ward when the doc came and he said it was good for me to stay in delivery suite where they could constantly monitor me, instead of transferring me up and down. It seemed like KKH is experiencing a very busy period and kind of shorthanded. Even last night, the nurse popped in several times to apologize that the doc was busy delivering and she was busy transferring babies from the delivery suite to the nursery. However I was still anxious to move to the normal ward where I can finally receive visitors!

My first visitor was my dear cousin and she's so sweet to buy me a book, plus books for my girl and also sugarless soya bean milk from Mr Bean. Thanks a lot sweetheart~ She kept me accompany for a while until my hubby came with his parents and our darling little girl! I totally miss her~ Miss her a lot!!


Breakfast and lunch were in the delivery suite: beehoon soup with veg and rice with tofu, chinese cabbage, soup and orange. Dinner was just as plain with tofu and veg, but it was a great time with my little girl hanging around accompanying me. =) I had supper too! Egg and tomato wholemeal sandwich, with warm milk. (^_^)

19 April 2015
Another day in KKH. 

This baby is so hyper that when other mummies in the ward only need 30 minutes CTG scan, I was strapped to the devices for 2 hours! She kept moving around nonstop and the heartbeat trace was lost each time she moved away and I'll have to start all over again... zzz... Hubby and my girl came in the morning while I was still strapped to the CTG scan. My darlings accompanied me until lunch time, after which my parents, baby bro and his wifey came to visit me. So proud of my hubby to come visit me alone with our girl, complete with my hot pink Longchamp diaper bag!

Here's some random pictures from today.


Brekkie - Simple kwaytiao soup with veggies and mock chicken.

Lunch - My little foodie is sooooo happy to see food!! I requested for brown rice... yums! Today there's tom yum mock chicken and tofu which is really flavourful ^^ 

Tea break - Cheese and lettuce wholemeal sandwich with milk.

Med - Yesterday when the nurse served me the med in the normal ward, I was casually joking that they look like soya beans. Then I swirled the little cup and one dropped onto my blanket which is of similar colour, and I was frantically searching for it while exclaiming, "Oh no, I dropped my soya bean!" and the nurse was so amused lol. Today I got a lozenge too as I woke up with a sore throat.

Dinner - Served while I was entertaining myself with the sudoku puzzle in The Sunday Times that hubby left behind for me. Yesterday mum-in-law was around during dinner and I was like, "same tofu again" and she said luckily I like tofu, to which I wholeheartedly agree... but so far I've been having tofu for every freaking lunch and dinner... I think by the time I'm home from KKH I'll be so sick of tofu! >___<

Roar?! Well, just got a change from the tiny screw cap on the drip needle in the back of my hand, to this longer one... (>__<) Told cuzzie I feel like wolverine now except malfunction and can't retract... she said... that's wolverine with blue manicure. LOL!

20 April 2015
I'm stuck on the CTG scan again!! Baby's too fast too furious... other mummies only need to be hooked on the scan for 30 minutes, but mine?! The senior staff nurse spent 30 minutes chasing around my bump for my dear baby's heartbeats.. she's left right up down of my belly button, moving nonstop! Zzz... And now, the other mummies are all done already and I'm still stuck to it... Anyway special thanks to senior staff nurse Mahani for being so patient with my hyperactive baby, and sharing with me when I asked her for advice on nursing (on behalf of a student who wants to work in the healthcare industry but is having problem convincing her parents who are not supportive).

Here's some random pictures from today.


I'm discharged today! This may sound weird but, besides the extreme boredom, I actually had quite an enjoyable stay here. Kudos to all the caring and helpful nurses! Doctor gave me hospitalization leave until this Saturday when I'll be seeing Dr Tham for my gynae appointment. Subsequently he'll assess and follow up until my baby's big day!

A close girl friend popped by KKH to visit me, just before my hubby arrived to  bring me home, and she brought two boxes of strawberries and a box of cinnamon buns for me (and of course my girl, she shares everything I eat)! :D


MIL cooked dinner for my girl and myself before my parents-in-law left for a dinner date with bro-in-law's future parents-in-law. Hubby bought his own dinner from the coffeeshop but offered to wash my dishes for me. *blessed* And he bought Meiji skimmed milk for me too~ ^^

21 April 2015
First day of my hospitalization leave at home. I woke up in the middle of the night to have my "soya bean" med to keep the contractions under control, as I have to take 4 of them every 6 hours. I woke up early, called school to inform the admin staff of my leave and had breakfast, which was prepared last night - overnight oats! I used the strawberries that my friend bought me, plus whatever I have at home - rolled oats, Meiji skimmed milk, dried cranberries and blueberries, sunflower seeds and chia seeds. It was yums! My girl loves munching on the strawberries too and we finished an entire box last night!


Brought my girl to her childcare centre, which is just directly below my block. Came back to continue blogging here (updating the entries for the past couple of days) and MIL cooked lunch specially for me before leaving for SIL's place... I'm so blessed beyond words!


Yes, my MIL is such a gem! Well, what's new? Here's my lunch, and the bowl right at the top is diced pear boiled in water (with no added sugar), for my cough and sore throat which I've developed in the past two days.

22 April 2015
Couldn't sleep well as my cough is getting really bad now. I kept coughing last night and have difficulty falling back to sleep after getting up for med or to use the toilet. When I finally went back to sleep, I was so tired that I lay down motionless on my back until morning when hubby's alarm went off. My neck was stiff, back was aching, pelvic area was sore and it hurt so bad just to flip my body around. I woke up coughing real bad that I was seeing stars and I need to go to the toilet pretty often (unlike usually I still can hold my bladder pretty well) because the vigorous coughing is making me leak. I hope this terrible cough goes away soon. Sigh.

25 April 2015
Had my appointment with Dr Tham today and I lost weight again... now my overall weight gain is only 1.2kg (>__<) but baby is gaining well! In fact too well, Dr Tham suggested that I go on a diet, to which I promptly reply, "I'm already losing weight!" And he said good, otherwise baby may be even heavier now! Baby's between 2.3kg to 2.5kg today, at 34 weeks 5 days. Coughing badly for days since discharge from KKH, until my ribcage hurts, have to wear a mask when in the cinic. Dr Tham prescribed med for my cough and phlegm.

My pea brain acted out at the most inappropriate time. I've forgotten to give the letter from KKH to Dr Tham and forgotten to ask about my hospitalization leave. I went back to ask after payment (have to pay deposit for delivery as well) and the nurses wouldn't allow me in between his appointments. They said he's rushing to end clinic for a c-sec surgery at noon and they would ask him at the end of the clinic hours and call me to confirm with me plus mail the MC to me. But they didn't get back to me. Perhaps I'll make a trip down again on Monday. Sigh, and I still can't get over why I could be so blur and forgetful to not ask him when I see him. (>__<)

Losing my mucus plug bit by bit, just read up that it's possible. I've lost some for the first time the other day, then I encountered 3 more times ever since. Once in KKH, once when just discharged from KKH and the last time just now. None has blood so no bloody show yet... which should be a good thing as it means I'm not going into labour yet.

Coughing the whole night, until ribcage pain, entire bump hurting and bladder feeling crushed... can't even lie down and rest without coughing like mad and hurting like crazy. Why med like no use one >__< (or am I too impatient... just had second dose of med)

27 April 2015
Got extended hospitalization leave until next Monday. So I'll be back in school to scream at the kids on next Tuesday. I hope they're happy to hear me screaming at them again haha... My med to control the contractions (Adalat) will last me until end of this week, and next Monday I'll be 36 weeks and off med. I hope I won't just go into labour the moment I go back to school on Tuesday with all the running up and down the stairs and screaming at the kids. LOL~

28 April 2015
April has been another eventful month - packing of hospital bag, losing of mucus plug, preterm contractions, hospitalized in KKH and now on hospitalization leave at home. And this very entry on April has been quite a foodie-intensive one. So I decided to make this month more eventful by trying out new recipes and indulging in good food!

My overnight oats - last Thursday's breakfast.

Cooked my first tomato (brown) rice last Thursday.

Last Thursday was extra eventful! I made steamed cakes too!

Last Friday's breakfast while preparing for lunch.

Last Friday I cooked tomato rice and water cress soup too!

Last Friday: The steamed cake I made a day ago... still yums!

Sunday's brunch at Bishan Park's Grub. Yums~

Sunday's lunch at Jurong Point's Legendary Hong Kong.

Monday's lunch, yesterday, at Vegetarian Express Cafe.

I made tomato rice again today! It's so good!!

I made a portion for lunch and a portion for dinner too ^^

I just made more steamed cakes... experimenting with peanut butter!

There is no need to worry about me being up and about. Some of my friends wonder why am I doing all these while on hospitalization leave... I'm supposed to be lying in bed! Well, firstly, my house isn't that big for me to walk about much in the first place. This is a small apartment and there's minimal walking. For tomato rice, I just need to chop everything and let it cook in the rice cooker. There is no need to stand at the stove to fry the dishes, so it's really simple, fast and easy. For steamed cakes, I mix everything while sitting at the dining table and it takes like 10 minutes? Then I just bring it to the stove to steam and that takes another 10 minutes while I sit down and rest. It's definitely not taxing on me and I still get plenty of rest throughout the day. Really appreciate all well wishes from my thoughtful friends. =)

30 April 2015
It's the last day of eventful April. My close girlfriend is coming over to help me take a simple maternity photoshoot and I'm waiting for her to arrive... but I regretted going downstairs for a hair trim plus wash and blow earlier today... now I don't like my current hairstyle at all! =( I think I look stupid. Urgh!

Hmmm while waiting... let me update some yummy stuff~


Hubby came home with these goodies in the past few days... his colleagues are pampering us!


Today's lunch is tomato rice again... same old ingredients, but it's perfectly fine because it's so easy to make and yummy to eat, I can eat this everyday. And today's especially yums as I topped it with a dollop of vegetarian sambal chilli and lots of vegetarian mock floss, then I stirred it up... totally brought the flavours up another level!!