Trip to the ENT Specialist

Brot Val to see an ENT specialist today. Her sneezing bout was becoming a little to frequent and too violent (as in her mucus can travel quite far). We thot her nose allergy is mainly brot on by some dust or bugs but we were so wrong.

ENT Specialist gave us a list of food that is known to be triggers for allergies. And these food include:

1) Diary pdts (milk, yoghurt, ice cream, cheese etc);
2) Eggs, esp egg white (cakes, kaya etc);
3) Wheat (bread, yellow noodles, biscuits etc);
4) Chocolate (including milo, ovaltine, choc chip cookies etc);
5) Chicken (chicken essence etc);
6) Peanuts (including peanut butter, peanut oil)

Can u imagine our horror?!?! Valerie eats the following... her fav..

1) Ice cream/cakes (prob once a month)
2) Yellow noodle (2-3 times weekly)
3) Eggs (almost daily)
4) Milo (daily)
5) Peanut butter spread on bread/biscuits (1-2 times weekly)
6) Some kind of biscuits (choc or other flavour), cookies (almost daily)

Doc advise is abstain 1st then slowly reintroduce each category of food again to test which causes her allergy. But we know cold turkey ain't going to work coz she eats all of the above so frequently. So now our approach is drastically reduce to try to curb her condition.

Dancing Queen

Enjoy... simply hilarious!

First 10 days..

The initial days are always the busiest. Getting the hang of latching, into a routine, changing diapers etc etc. Luckily DH was on leave for the 1st week, so we managed some time to take pictures of Nigel as well as Valerie. Look at the difference in size! I totally forgot a baby was this 'tiny'.

So far Valerie has been really sweet to Nigel. Can tell she is a doting sister coz whenever she hears Nigel crying via the baby monitor, she'll inform everyone that baby is crying and will dash upstairs :p

Valerie is also helping me out. E.g. she'll help me take the diaper and throw into the dustbin. At time she also offer to hold Nigel's milk bottle (but we didn't let her coz she wldn't know how to feed) or put the pacifier in his mouth. When Nigel cries, she'll also say to him "baby dun cry" and then sayang his face etc. She was even willing to give Nigel a soft toy when he was crying.

Valere is so sweet.. and both of us feel so blessed to have her.. every single day :-)

Introducing Nigel Yeo!

How time flies! Nigel is 7 day old today! I wanted to update the blog earlier but the initial days are always this busy. Feeding, pumping, changing diapers, trying to get a wink etc etc. I'm still trying to figure out a workable routine as I'm definitely producing more breastmilk that Nigel can finish so I need to figure out how to feed him and pump most efficiently.

But before all that, these are Nigel's stats at birth:

• Date/Time: 05.09.08 1325
• Length/weight: 51cm. 3500gm
• Head circumference: 36cm

As to 'birth story' to share, I guess there isn't any since I went for c-section. I opt for epidural c-section again this time coz I want to be able to hear & see him immediately after birth. That's the closest I get to 'natural' birth I guess. During the op, I can feel the pain (quite painful infact). They up the dosage of the epidural so much so that even my chest area became numb and after the op, I have to work harder to breathe. I'm not breathless but definitely take more effort to take breathes.

Recovery wise I feel that this time round I'm doing slower than previous c-section. I guess not being as fit as before is the main culprit. I did try to walk more at the later stage of this pregnancy but the constant pain at the groin just prevents me from doing so. So I guess chicken & egg situation, the less I walk, the slower I recover now bah.

So far Nigel is doing great. He latches on quite quickly and suckles well. Altho he has the tendency to doze off while suckling (don't all babies) overall he is ok. Definitely more patient compared to Valerie's time. I guess a little more experience also helps. Back during Valerie's time, I guess the lack of experience is the main stumbling block to successful breastfeeding.

As to Valerie & Nigel, I think their 1st meeting went off fantastic. Valerie was very loving and sayang Nigel. The subsequent days went just as well and she has not shown any signs of jealousy. After I came home (Nigel was home 1 day after due to jaundice), she has been a darling. She even sang songs to Nigel (Rock-a-bye Baby & Twinkle Stars)! And when Nigel cries, she'll come by and ask him don't cry. She is such a sweet darling and DH & I are very happy to be blessed with a girl like her.

One thing that didn't change much is how HOT I am throughout the day! And the weather is definitely not helping! Sometimes I wonder why is it when I'm doing my confinement, the sun must shine like there is no tomorrow!!! ARGH!

Tomorrow shall be the day...

After all the anticipation, the stage is finally set. Dr Heng did the cervix check for me and said that I'm roughly 1.5cm-2cm dilated. Baby's head is quite low (she actually can feel) but his face still not facing inside. His hands are rested on the chin and I can definitely see that his nose is higher than Valerie's.

She asked me to wait for another week (she actually said 10 days overdue is fine) but I didn't really want to wait anymore. Many friends ask me to wait. "Just give him a couple more days" they all said. But progressively, I'm losing confidence. Yes, a baby WILL eventually be born naturally, it's a matter of time. But what are the chances of successful VBAC every passing day?

During today's scan, he is estimated to be 3.6kgs (+/- 10%). Even if he is smaller now, give him one more week, wouldn't he be around 3.6kgs by then? I know MANY people, smaller in frame has birth a 3.6kgs baby. But how long did they take? Was it their 1st child? 2nd child? Anyone VBAC? No one can give me such 'statistics'.

I only hope to have my child, safely placed on my arms, with minimum complications. I'm not an advocate that all birth MUST be natural watsoever. But having said that, I understand that natural birth has a faster recovery process. Why would I want to cut myself up for nothing right?

Maybe I'm not determined enough, lack of self confidence and too anxious. But watever it is, the decision has already been made. I've arranged for c-section tomorrow at 1pm. Although I'm sad, since I've already made this decision, I just have to see through it.

Fun @ Varsity Park Condo

Went to Biao Yee's new house yesterday. Her house warming is scheduled for next Sunday but since I should have pop by then, she invited us to her place for dinner one week earlier. After seeing Julian's house, Valerie has been nagging us to bring her swimming so we thought maybe we go slightly earlier so she can have a dip.

When we reached, we are greated by sparsely spaced 5-storey blocks that gives you a very 'resort' feel. The whole compound is actually very big with 1 entrance at West Coast Road and the exit at Clementi Road. It's quite near to NUS (as the name suggests :p). All (I think) of the 5-storey units are actually penthouse units, thus effectively it's 6 floors per block.

Biao Yee's unit is one the ground floor, with large balcony area spanning from the 1st bedroom to the master-bedroom. The balcony area infront of the living & 1st bedroom is made of wood while the one infront of the master bedroom is covered with carpet grass (that needs some gardening :p). It's a 4 bedroom unit totally 1890sq ft. The living, dining, bedroom are of ok size, not too big neither are they too tiny for any effective use.

The facilities in the whole developement are also very spaced out, but thankfully the pool and water play area are located quite near to Biao Yee's house. And this is what you get at Varsity Park.. Water slides!

Before dinner, we gathered at the living room while my cousins played with Valerie. One of them gave Valerie this crown and Valerie happily pronounced herself as the QUEEN. When they asked her who is the King? She pointed to DH. So what does it make me? Hmm...