Once upon a time..

There was a fat model..
:D

This is how precious she is to him..

Korkor said,"mei mei is my bao bei!"

Priceless..

Many expressions of Dora..

Cheeky duo..

Ms Pinu is 8 days old..

And her umbilical cord stump dropped!!

Hey mama! I'm a girl! Why did u dressed me in blue??

Dora's first week at home..

4 days old..

Isa in 2007 n Dora in 2012.

Spot the similarities?

Birth Story.. #2

As this is not my first pregnancy, I somewhat know what to anticipate for the arrival of this lil one. I started my ML (Maternity Leave) from the 16th Jan, when I was in my 37 weeks, thinking and hoping that this lil one will arrive a tad earlier due to gynae's estimation for her weight.

But alas she did not. I waited and we waited. But she did not arrive. We even celebrated Isadore's birthday in school on the 16th and thereafter had another mini celebration for his birthday on 24th but she still kept us waiting. Isadore even asked, "I am already 5, why is pinu not out yet?" It was a long wait till 30th Jan.

On an average, when a baby starts moving in mummy's body, they should move on an average 20 times per day. Can be anything more or less but definitely cannot be less than 10 times. I learnt about this fact when my gynae taught me how to do the fetal chart movement. So on this very day, after sending Isadore to school, I knew something was not right by evening time as this lil girl barely moved 5 times that day. I called ah lao around 5pm, updated him what he happened and he got immediately activated to come back from work to fetch me to hospital for a check. I called the hospital too and they also told me to go down for a check. So to play safe, we brought the hospital bag and also packed Isadore's tons of pillows in a trolley bag (in case we need to send him to my parent's place to stay over).

Upon reaching the hospital, the nurse checked and told me that I was 1 cm dilated. Talked to the gynae and he said "we shall forward the induction program to tonight". At 8.30pm, the prostin was inserted. This is the sign. Isadora will arrive soon..

At around 9pm, my contractions came. I called ah lao, who was sending my parents and Isadore back to Jurong, that I NEED him to come back right after sending them. I knew she will come soon.

Ah Lao reached around 10pm. The contractions were more regular. I lost count of the regularity as I was trying to distract myself with SMS and social networking. Around this time, the nurse had observed that the lil one's heartbeat will drop a little whenever my contraction came so the nurse asked me to administer the oxygen mask as required. It was helping the lil one but it was not helping me as I was getting very tired from smelling the oxygen. I was getting tired and sleepy but the contractions were keeping me awake.

From midnight to 5am, the contractions were getting really close and intense that I had to hold on to ah lao's hand whenever my contractions came. At around 2.45am, the nurse checked me and told me I was only 4-5cm dilated. I was happy in a way cos I knew at least the cervix was dilating then the contractions continue to come. They were REALLY painful. at 5 am, I finally asked for pain relief. I am not a epi fan so my first choice was the laughing gas. I even rem telling the nurse that I feel the baby was going down the birth passage. But all she could say was, "That good news!" Then deja vu came once I placed the mask over my nose and mouth. I was in and out of consciousness. I suddenly rem how I gave birth to Isadore and beanie. Everything just came back in a flash. I even rem asking ah lao the time when the pain was the most intense. I kept grabbing his hand. I perspired non stop. The time was 5.30am.

I had the urge to push. I pressed the call bell SO quickly that it slipped out of my hands. I continue to hold the mask over my face. I did not even had the energy to tell ah lao.. THE BABY WAS COMING! I thought there was someone professional in front of me but there was none. Ah lao did not even had the time to tell nurse. I was already pushing the baby out by myself as I was holding his hands that tight! He was helpless yet he could not leave. I pushed and I pushed and I PUSHED. He only told me he saw that I was perspiring away and the BP machine was beeping away so as he was cleaning my perspiration, he heard CRIES! It was from Isadora! She was already out! Right in front on my bed without anyone assisting. The time was 6.05am.

Then the whole observation ward got into a frenzy! I could hear hysterical exclamation everywhere as I continue to be in semi sober mode. I was then quickly pushed to the labour ward for my gynae to follow up with me. I was still in huge pain from the pushing but since she was out, crying LOUDLY. I heaved a sigh of relief. I put the mask away and I breath normally. I did not cry.I was smiling at ah lao and he told me, "Pinu is out." I nodded my head then I heard my gynae's voice.

A little commotion continued in my labour ward among the gynae and the nurses. I rested and waited for my gynae to sitch my natural tear. He even joked, "Wah. this girl is so impatient." I smiled and I replied, "Ya." I was not on gas anymore when he was sitching my wound, gynae asked if it was painful. I told him, "She is already out, nothing is more painful than that."

Its a long story but this is it. I have only the Lord to thank for cos I prayed for willpower and perseverance for this birth and He did bless me with them. I am very amazed with myself too. 30min of labour and she came.

I wonder how fast if I have a 3rd one?

Sibling love.. Priceless..

Isadora has arrived..

605am on 31st Jan 2012. With her thunderous voice, she shocked the whole labour ward as she came out unassisted. Will post the birth story soon when I am better.
Thank you all for your blessings n prayers.

Happy 5th birthday Isadore!!

The best I could do..

He wrote his English name ALL by himself at exactly 5 years old..
Chinese characters still guided: surname n middle name he wrote by himself, he still need alot of guidance for the last character. But I'm one proud mom!

Isa's 5th birthday celebration in school on 16 Jan..

A very expensive 3D cake based on the cartoon Octonauts

All created from the beauty hands of Veron

Oops the eyes of Captain Barnacles began to melt.

Just my bao bei.. always knew when to smile at me when I need that special shot.

The children in his class were simply overwhelming. Cant even see the birthday boy blowing out his candles. Apologise for the poor photography skills as I was using my phone.

And did I mention that this is a pinata cake?

Which explains why Isa was holding to a hammer that was made up of a cork.

Even Teacher Deniece could not resist trying out hitting the pinata :)

Then our birthday boy had to cut his cake in a ceremonial way.

The only edible part of the cake actually the bottom half of the Octopod, top part in beige is actually the pinata and inside the pod was full of candy.

In the cake filing was Vanilla sponge cake with chocolate chips.

Verdict: 9/10

Reason: a bit wasteful for the inedible mini pods at the side otherwise it will be perrrrrrfect!

Not forgetting to thank the Lord for giving us precious moments like this. :)

Preparing for his big day in school on 16 Jan..

Preparing the goodie bag is generally my fortre. And I ALWAYS like to buy tupperware (say like lunch box or cups..) for kids. Don't ask me why..

It's a steal. The tupperware boxes cost me only 3 for $2.9 from the Value Shop.

The mentos are complimentary from ah lao's workplace *cough* so its FOC.

Inside the pack also include one pack of Hello Panda biscuits and one pack of no-brand choclate and one lollipop.

Total cost of one goodie bag = ?

Make a guess.. :)

We always have a problem with Isa bringing back goodie packs with no names and we had sent out two years of goodies packs without Isa's name too.

Thus this year we learnt our lesson: place a simple note for his friends. Let their parents know who is the box coming from.

In yellow prints were suppose to the words

"Thank You"

but guess my printer is failing me despite changing a fresh set of ink cartridges.

Anyway in the next post will be the photographs for what we took in school on 16 Jan.

Assembling the playpen..

The best gift.. From ah xiu yee yee :)
See my model trying out the bed?

Week 37

+12kg still..
pinu is 3.1kg
Dr said wanna push pinu to 39 weeks then induce but chances are she might hit 3.8kg?
Pray hard that I can still go epi free..

its a waiting game still..

Father n son bonding..

This is how Isa can bully Ray papa..
Hahahahah... The laughter that emits from this play that is priceless.

Lookalike..?

Sometimes I wonder who will ms pinu look like more??
Ray papa or Connie mama..
Anyway here are two recent takes of us with Isa n I actually realize Isa looks more like Ray papa in certain angles..no?

Swollen.. All over..

First it was swollen feet.. Now it is swollen calves. So swollen till I feel my skin on my calves are like over stretched rubber band that is ready to snap any second. Only solution..? Rest n lie down till it becomes better.

When your child discover the amazement of emoticons..

Thank God it's in whatsapp..

Isadore's 5th birthday in plan..

We had just went to the gynae today and he said Ms Pinu should be able to stay till we celebrate Isadore's birthday on 16th Jan in school! Yay!!

If you know, his actual birthday falls on the 24th Jan but since its over the CNY period and that I am (very) due to give birth soon, we thought it would be safer for us to celebrate his birthday just tad earlier. (Just in case you know..)

And since this year is a special year, with the additional bundle of joy and first year we are celebrating Isadore's birthday in this school, we thought we might as well order a more special cake...

We shall keep you in suspense till that day then!

For now, I am still monitoring Ms Pinu's very closely for her movements and the contractions.

Week 35..

+12kg, pinu is 2.2kg..
It's a waiting game now..