A for APPLE

Guess what?! Rianne spoke her first word 2 days back!! Yes, Rianne, my princess Rianne! =)

There's this alphabet poster in my room, which was on the wall in my room months back. Since then, my mum & I have been reading the A-Z to Rianne everyday. Until whenever she hear us sing the alphabet song, Rianne will automatically look at the poster.

It didn't occur to me that she will hold a strong memory of any word, especially when the words are more than 3 letters long. So, when Rianne said 'APPLE' in front of me; I was stunned.. in a good way! Who wouldn't?!

At first, I thought the word came out coincidentally; and was not expecting to hear it for a 2nd time. But there was more to come.. Rianne practically said 'APPLE' everytime she tries to talk! I'm surprised the pronounication of the word was quite accurate, for a 10 month old infant; that is way too brilliant!

My mum thinks that the credit goes to us always showing Rianne the fruit at the supermarket, and telling her it's an apple. She even knows to sniff at it the minute we placed the fruit in front of her nose. So far, Rianne has smelled an apple, an orange, a grapefruit, a mango, a lemon, and even a dragonfruit before. This girl will be good in the fruits section when she grows up!

Rianne now also recognizes words of objects in the house, like our X'mas tree in the living room, her bathing toys (the duckie and the alligator), and us. She will look around for those items when we say them. We are trying to teach her to point at them, which is probably harder as Rianne hate people pulling her hands.

Well, I hope to be able to video her saying 'APPLE', but most of the time; she caught me off guard. So, pls watch out for the possible video of my little girl saying her first word - APPLE. =)

Get inked!

I know I have been talking about this for some time, and there's no better time to do it than now.. especially when this new tattoo is all about me and my princess.

The concept is to have our initials, the letter "R" facing each other, or back touching each other. Then cherry blossoms will surround.. The significance - Mama R will protect baby Rianne with all her might, and with that it means, Mama R has blossomed from a bud into a beautiful cherry flower; from a girl to a woman.

The tattoo artist my colleague's boyfriend strongly recommend, runs its operations in-house, at his own house. Looks professional, and his works are mostly portraits and horror pieces. My first consultation with him reveal the kind of font the two letters "R" are supposed to be; and also the position of the tattoo. I would want to have it on my inner calf (left inner), with the cherry flowers contouring down to my ankle.

Like any other soon-to-be-tattooed person, I did my research and found several fonts online. On my first consultation with Elvin, the tattoo artist, he told me about the impossibility of having my desired design on my calf as my legs are too small. Unless I am willing to alter the design to have only one R, then that would be fine on the small area I have. However, that is not what I want.

We further explored areas which I could have my ideal tattoo, and have it tastefully done. Elvin suggested my abdomen to hip area (for the flowers to appear like floating in the air). I thought that would be quite nice, and also a very concealed spot. At least I don't have to worry about cover-ups if I were to change jobs and have to dress formally.

The consultation ended with an appointment fixed, and the price agreed on..

So, while waiting for me to show off my new tattoo, check out the works of Elvin here on his website - http://www.elvintattoo.com/

Little Miss Chatterbox

Yes, Rianne is now talking, talking and talking every single minute.. watch it below. =)

Birthday & Jokes

This is so ridiculously funny, listen.. "When the telephone ring, Green Green Green. I Pink up the phone and asked Blue are you? White do you want? You don't Purplely call me. If I am angry, I will not call you Black!" Damn hilarious, isn't it? - a portion from the local movie "Happiness Matters". Go rent the dvd, if you need a laugh badly!

You may think that I am in high spirits since I can tell jokes. Sorry, you are wrong. The jokes are so much needed, exactly because I'm in a foul mood..

I turned 31 on 29th Oct, and to be honest, I wasn't exactly happy about this milestone at all. It feels weird to be this old when I ain't even feeling like I'd aged. There were a total of 5 birthday celebrations, and 4 birthday cakes. The first cake came as a surprise at my workplace. My dearest colleagues pulled a stunt on me that was almost uncoded by the birthday girl herself, if the cake hasn't appear soon enough. My sweet mum & Rianne also had a cake waiting for me at home, on the day of my birthday!

The 3rd celebration was the one I least wanted it to happen. It was at school, where our class always celebrate birthdays of people in that particular month. At first they left out me, which was a good thing. But then our kind lecturer went through the register, and found me to be one of the birthday people. The whole class sang, and I'm sorry to say that I wasn't very smilely at that time. Probably because I was a little annoyed at my project mates for showing me 'smelly' faces, when I didn't turn up for our project discussion. I had my reasons!! Already informed one of them via sms, so if they want to be mad, let them be!

I had the most fun in my last birthday celebration with my bestest chums - the F5! Rianne, the party pooper (yes, she tagged along!), however did ruined some of the fun times. At the celebration, we welcomed another member to our gang, our ex-classmate of sec 4D - Y. It was great seeing Y again, especially when we haven't met for more than a decade. I bet she was enjoying herself, coz you could hear her laughter the whole time during the gathering! Y will also join us in our very exlusive X'mas gift exchange annual practice this year. I really wonder who did she pick? Who is she getting the gift for? Me? Heeheehee..

Wonder who enjoyed my birthday celebrations the most? Answer below :

Swimming

I was thinking, it's going to be doubly hard for Rianne to want to get into a pool of water, after an unsuccessful attempt at the baby swimming centre last month..

Rianne, Jayden & Joelle had their first go at swimming (not Jayden's first though) at a pro swimming & massage centre for babies, located at Plaza Singapura. The three babies each occupied a tub, filled with water warm enough for them to soak in. After some flexing exercises to warm up the babies, Joelle went into the tub with a neck float attached onto her neck of course. There was no negative response, so Rianne went next. She screamed the minute her body touches the water! We tried distracting her attention with some bath toys and kept talking to her. She continued crying, and it got worse when Jayden boy, supposed to be more experienced in the swimming field, wailed when he was put into the tub!!

Rianne had to be taken out, as her crying did not stop. I only managed to snap a few pictures of her better composure before we had to end the swimming completely.

Joelle, the baby who swam first was the last one standing; when even the most expert of the three - her brother, Jayden was taken out of water the first. She was enjoying herself in the water, kicking her legs and the less bothered by the neck float that was resting on her shoulders. I wonder why Rianne didn't like it..

Anyway, I tried again to expose Rianne to swimming, in a public pool this time. I thought she would be fine if she knows that I'm going down with her, and that there's going to be no neck float. Indeed, she was ok and was having a ball of time in the baby pool. The pictures below will best relate the misery Rianne undergone (heehee!) at the baby swimming centre, and the delight she got from swimming again.. =)


Can tell at once Rianne isn't too happy about getting into the tub..

The teardrop she shed is still on her face, eventhough she has stopped crying


A totally different expression from the last swimming experience

Rianne definitely enjoying herself this time round..

Emotional Breakdown

I did.., yesterday at work.

My boss had sent me an invite for a catch up in her office yesterday afternoon, and that was when the breakdown happened.. I knew she had wanted to talk about my long absence from work, when Rianne & I took turn in falling ill.

Initially I had only the flu influenza with fever, cough, runny nose and rashes, all symptoms from the irritating bug! I did not get any better after 2 days of rest & medication, and was visiting another doctor in hope to be treated and healed more quickly. It didn't happen, and in fact my condition got worse. On Thursday, I suffered giddiness, and was vomitting the very first thing after I woke up. Everything I ate came out as puke. My stomach was so empty, but I simply felt nothing. Not hungry at all, just giddy.

I don't think I had passed anything to Rianne because she seem so fine than her sickly mummy. However, we do notice her getting cranky easily; and that could possibly be due to teething.

Maybe I have an 'itchy' mouth, coz Rianne had a fever just one day after I went back to work. Her fever was not only persistent, but it hardly came down. We gave her the medicine prescribed by the GP at the clinic downstairs where I stay, for 4 times and her temperature still remain relatively high. I decided it is not wise to carry on with the medication which doesn't work, instead we should take immediate action to bring her temperature down. So we took her face hanky, soaked in chilled water, and start to sponge her. Rianne screamed the instant the cold fabric touches her skin! I really hate to see her wailing her guts out like that, but I have no choice. After the sponging, we were quite relieved to see her temperature going down to 37.7 degrees celsius. But that didn't last too long. Very soon, her fever returned and her temperature rose quicker than before. I knew I had to send her to the hospital and seek immediate medical treatment.

At the hospital, the doctor administered a dose of fever medicine and put her on an urine collection bag whereby they need the urine to test for the presence of any infection. We continued sponging her, and needless to say, her screaming sequelled there in the hospital. The initial test results show some abnormality, and Rianne's urine had to be sent for further intensive check. Luckily, the second results came back normal. Rianne was able to go home after her fever went away, which was 3.5 hrs later at the hopsital.

If you think I would be able to have it easier with Rianne after her fever is not there, then I'm sorry to say that you are very wrong. The following day, Rianne broke out in rashes all over her body. There were the most rashes on her abdomen and back. Slowly they appeared even on her neck and face!

Again I had to bring Rianne to the doctor.. The rashes were diagnosed as the 'clearing signs' of her viral fever, and they are totally harmless and non-contagious. Another working week gone in a flash..

I was out for almost 2 consecutive weeks, and I wasn't accessing to our office webmail or doing much work during this period. My boss was frustrated at the fact that I had missed an urgent email and not had the assignment done in the allocated time frame. She said she feel that my commitment at work is no longer here, and it is being unfair to her and the company. She then asked me what I want, like do I still want to stay in the company, or I rather give up the job.

Don't know how I felt I suffered an injustice in that conversation, and my tears started rolling like there is no tomorrow! I sobbed while explaining and apologizing to my boss for my overlook in that email. I felt terrible, and not only that; I finally experience the fear of losing my job.

I think I took positivity, motivation, and discipline out from that brief catch up. I pushed myself a little so as not to fall straight into depression. I want to be able to accompolish all the KPIs I set for myself, and come end of the year, I would reap profits (results) from my hard work put in from now on. Wish me luck!

Cheers,

Mama R

To the Zoo!!

"We are going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.. We are going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.." I have been singing this to Rianne for a couple of weeks, and finally we went to the zoo on the Hari Raya public holiday.

There were a total of 7 of us - 4 adults, and 3 babies. Can you imagine the high ratio of infants to us adults, can at anytime make us call for help and breakdown if all 3 were to stage a protest at us?! Lucky, that didn't happen.

It was really an enjoyable outing, the happiest I had been in a long, long time. All the babies were well-behaved, and they appear to be having a ball of time (or did I idealise it? hahaha..). We were prepared that the babies might get cranky due to the heat and fatigue, and thus we got strollers, carry-slings, and portable electric fans all ready.


Rianne sling-ed in the front of mummy

After a quick brunch at KFC, we began our zoo tour with me carrying Rianne in the sling, little Jayden walking on his own but with his mummy holding his hands, and my brother-in-law slinging baby Joelle. Think the only baby who could probably make out what was in the exhibits, was the eldest one Jayden. Nevertheless, the two girls were still displaying expressions of curiousity at some really close-up animals.


The excited Rianne at the rhinocerus exhibit!!


Soon, Joelle started to show signs of fatigue..

And finally Rianne, completely K-O (Knocked Out)!

By late noon, the younger babies were completely exhausted; and so are us adults. We finished viewing the last few exhibits quickly and left the zoo for lunch at Sembawang Shopping Centre.

We needed so badly to rest our feet, and our arms (achy from carrying the babies the whole day!).. but not Jayden boy, who is forever so obsessed with Barney, the purple dinosaur! And he had dragged little Rianne along too.. (evidence below!!)

Little Junior is 7 months old!

2 blog posts later, Rianne is 7 months old! Wow, how fast children grow man!! Hahahaha..

We are now introducing Rianne to semi-solid food, which isn't considered too late to begin as I have known of 1 year old toodlers still suckling their mama's boobs at meal times! Rianne will have brown rice cereal on its own at noon, and porridge cooked with ikan bilis, dried scallops, potatoes, carrots and even broccoli sometimes, will be taken for dinner.

I have also changed a different follow-up (for 6 months old onwards) formula milk for Rianne. Her previous infant formula from this "SXX" brand was still fine, but when we continued with the follow-up formula; I found that she has problem finishing each feed. Also the milk powder was never dissolved completely, leaving chunks of residue on the milk bottle; and this makes washing so difficult. Especially when outside, we won't have the baby bottle detergent with us; so the bottle is hardly very clean.

I decided to ask for samples from other brands available in the market, and see which one meets my expectations. Surprisingly, the second one I tried does. It is a hypo-allergenic formula, gives all the required nutrients, and most importantly; Rianne likes it! She can finish the milk, and sometimes not even enough for her. This "NXX" brand of milk doesn't produce any grease on the milk bottle, so washing is like a breeze!

Well, I couldn't believe it when I discovered that Rianne was teething! She had been cranky, and keeps putting her fingers into her mouth, then pulling them out abruptly. She was also having problem drinking her milk. My colleague who express milk together with me in the office, was complaining about her daughter's teething woes. The syptoms were similar, except that her girl had fever and Rianne didn't. I told Annie Mummy, and she confirmed my suspicion when she rubbed Rianne's gums and found jaggered tooth buds on her upper teeth bed..

Rianne now has 2 teethers, one in the shape of a zebra and the other, looks like a biscuit and a cookie. She loves most the biscuit & cookie from Combi Toys, and always reach for them when she see me holding them. To ease her teething discomfort, I bought a teething gel which can be rubbed onto her gums whenever she's feeling sore.

I remember my nephews Joaquin & Jayden looked so adorable with their bugs bunny tooth, and I really can't wait to see baby Rianne looking like Bugs! Hahahaha..

Here's a video of Rianne having porridge for the first time, super cute her!! ;p

6 months old, and getting naughty!!

Baby Rianne loves hair accessories, of all sorts & shapes!!

However, sometimes she still get hair like Beckham..


Her first drumstick.. yummy!!

And after that, a poop in the potty!!

Rianne is 6 months old!

Being a preemie, it's not unusual for Rianne to be smaller in size than the other babies of her age. However, when her cousin Joelle, 2 months younger than her has the same weight as Rianne, I became rather conscious.

Rianne does drink lesser milk than Joelle, if you look at the intake per feed. My baby takes 80-100ml/120ml of breastmilk every 2 hourly, and the latter drinks 175-180ml formula milk at an interval of 4 hours. But on totality, Rianne actually has more milk than her younger cousin. Not forgetting the twice cereal feeds Rianne drinks with 70/80ml of breast milk.

My little talkative princess although smaller than her peers, is not developing any slower than any of them! Take her motor skills for example, she's learning to sit already (pictures as shown in previous post) and before she could even sit on her own; she's now taking baby walking steps on a walker! It was my mum's idea to put her in a walker, and surprisingly she managed to take several steps.. ermmm, however they are in the reverse direction which I don't know why! Hahaha..

The other thing which I am so proud of Rianne (and I'm very certain Annie Mummy is too) is, her ability to poo using a potty! Yes, you have not heard me wrongly; a potty. Some toddlers only learn and succeed pooing in a potty at the age of 1-2. My darling baby knows it's poo-poo time when granny flashes the brightly coloured (it's orange in colour!) potty after her morning feed, and another time after she had cereals. Now then I realised how baby poop actually look like in solid form, when it's not squashed in a diaper.. Nasty.

Rianne does have a few unusual habits, even at 6 months old. She shakes her legs when she is seated on people's laps and when she hears music. She loves to check herself out in the mirror, especially when her hair is being combed. She likes looking at you from the mirror, and then at your face just so that she knows it's is the same person. She enjoys watching the telly, but not animation and the cartoony stuff though she still like the nursery rythmes dvds we got at home.

She loves it when you play peek-a-boo with her, and the more I play with this little bundle of joy, the more I wish I can stay with her all day and night..

Back!!

Been out of blogging actions for a while, due to a faulty router. The D-Link router which my brother-in-law gave (during his courtship with my sis, trying to curry my favour I suppose! hahaha!!), became totally powerless one day. Regardless how me and my mum tried to connect the AC, it simply doesn't work! Then my colleague reminded me that I still have a modem. By plugging my lappie directly to the modem, I will be connected to the network..

Well, some updates on Rianne's condition. After she's been diagnosed with the genetic disorder (NF 1), we've been following up with eye checkups at the hospital. Poor baby her.. she was put to horrible eye tests with administration of 8 different types of eye drops, to see if there's anything growing (likelihood of a tumour) at the back of the eye. My little princess was so brave to got through the first 6 drops without shedding a single drop of tear. However, this smart baby was so clever to know that the second time into the treatment room would mean another round of eye drops; she immediately struggled and cried when my mum tried to keep her still.

There were many other kids & babies older than Rianne, (except one who's only 4 months old) at the eye centre awaiting to be checked in the scariest way ever.. A father & mother of a 2 year old girl was telling Annie Mummy and me how some of the checks were carried out. They said the doctors would pry the eyes of the young children with paper clips, and then shone super bright lights into the poor sockets. I was so terrified that Rianne's doctor will be using such method, but I had overworried. The 'nerdy' looking female doctor was so gentle, and even sang "Twinkle, twinkle little star" in a lulluby version to Rianne. Her nurses were also so kind, and used lots of toys to distract Rianne while the doctor checked.

The doctor explained to me that currently there isn't anything behind Rianne's eyes, probably just a small cafe au lait mark on one of her eyes which is harmless. However as the growth of a tumour can develop anytime, and Rianne is still too young to notify the adults of any discomfort/visionary problems; the doctor recommends us to come back semi-annually for checks.

At the counter while checking out, Rianne was the limelight at the eye center when she made singing-like sounds, and was 'chatting' to almost everyone. All the nurses love her, as Rianne was all smiley and talkative! Hmmmmm, maybe my darling's trying to create good impressions so that the nurses will be kinder to her the next time. Hah!

Hey, Bumbo!

My darling, Rianne is finally sitting on a chair.. on the Bumbo chair made in South Africa, said to teach infants age 3 months on, to sit up straight.

I had bought 2 Bumbo seats around the same time last year for my nephews Joaquin & Jayden. One year later, my own daughter is sitting on the never-been-sat before Bumbo. The other one in my sister's possession is now in the hands of my colleague, whom I regularly share the nursing room in my office with. Her daughter is about 1 month older than Rianne, and has started sitting on the Bumbo at the Infant Care centre.

Modernization has cleverly produced an useful tool (I wonder how the babies of older days learnt to sit?!), which even a traditional woman like my mum is impressed by it.

Pictures of Rianne on Bumbo, so adorable I am proud to say she is.. Enjoy!

Life - happy for some, and short for others.

Time flies.. Woof, and Rianne just turned 5 months old yesterday! I am of course thrilled, but a part of me actually feels anixety as I watched my darling grow.

One thing I am most afraid to know, and hate to come to terms with; will be Rianne's inheritance of her daddy's disorder. As the appointment date with the genetic counsellor gets nearer, my mind starts filling itself with all the bad thoughts. "What's going to happen to Rianne if she really has NF?!", "Will it affect her growth and brain development?!", "Is she gonna look different as she grows?!", and most critically, "Will it lead to cancer?!"

Well, as news of Michael Jackson's death start flooding all media, I tell myself I should just quit worrying. MJ had a life full of twists, fame, accusations, and surgeries (it's the truth!), but he was never a sad person. His Neverland brought joy not only to the boy inside him, but to many young children who has never been to a wonderland like this..

Undeniably, life is as fragile as it can be.. be it a life worthy of living, or a life that is slumpy and filled with endless suffering. Live it upright and happy. God has his plans for you when he come and take you away..

I know God has taken you to be by his side, Uncle Ah Seng.. You will always be remembered, dearly in our hearts.

Strawberry Milk, Cereal and Apple Juice!

Well, the term 'milk' in my context now only refer to my breast milk.. my hard-pumped milk which feeds baby Rianne, and make her grow. Until today, I am still very amazed by the fact that I am a breastfeeding mother when my mum hasn't been able to do that in her motherhood days (of 3 kids).

Day in day out, my top priority is to ensure I bring back enough milk for my little princess. So, when I realised my supply is on the decline, I was depressed. Maybe stress has made the flow less encouraging, and to a stage; I actually produced STRAWBERRY MILK! If you are smart, you would have guessed blood.. Darn right, I was bleeding in one of the expressing sessions and I never realised until I saw the milk collected in the bottle, was a little less white than usual. In fact, it wasn't white at all.. it was pink!

Apparently, some of the milk ducts were blocked and I had probably cleared the blockage with too much force; and caused the bleeding? Maybe, but there was no pain at all.

After discarding that bottle of strawberry milk, I decided that Rianne should get started on cereals. In this way, should my milk becomes insufficient for her; she wouldn't be overly hungry before I get home. As we are giving her brown rice cereal mixed with breast milk, my mum makes it a point to fully cook the cereal first and then pour into Rianne's milk bottle with my milk. It has been a few days since she drank cereal, and apart from the slight constipation (she didn't pass motion for 2 days!); she likes the taste of it.

The other food that Rianne began on was apple juice. Pure, non-flavoured and no preservatives. She seems to like it.. well, I'm not surprised if she love it coz the only fluid apart from milk that she is exposed to, is only water. The juice is a good source of vitamins now, and it can also counter the heatiness which cereals and formulas are said to cause.

Breast milk, brown rice cereal and apple juice, make up a healthy and well-balanced diet for little Rianne.. =)

Just for Laughs

Tummy-down exercising time!


Girl Interrupted.. obviously by the pig!!

Cousins of age 2months difference - Joelle & Rianne


Both enjoying the company of each other.. No!

Transformers Forever!!

Is it unusual to hear a bunch of girls going "Optimus, Optimus!!" at the wide-screen, while putting handfuls of popcorn into their mouths?! No, why would it be?! Girls can like robots, especially Transformers if they grow up with that cartoon.. like I did.

I have not been to the cinema ever since... ermmmm, so long ago that I can't even remember. My colleagues (both ladies, and married!) had bought themselves tickets to the highly anticipated Transformers sequel - Revenge of The Fallen, thinking that I probably ain't a fan. But when I expressed my equal interest to them, they immediately went online and tried to get another ticket for me. I was lucky, and the three of us went for the movie last night.

The night before yesterday, I was still having second thoughts about having an appointment after work. Leaving Rianne with my mum at home for more than 12 hours, means that my baby would probably have to drink formula milk when the breastmilk supply in the fridge runs out. Well, she isn't entirely on breastmilk now too, so that shouldn't be an issue actually.. and anyway, I won't be home too late, as we have chose a showtime that is quite early.

My review after the movie - better than the first, good story plot, and the cast of Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and Josh Duhamel only got better looking! And, the hotdog and popcorn was yummy! Heeheehee..

Sickly

I'm at home on a weekday not because I want to, but because I have to! Both me & Rianne have caught the flu virus, INNOCENTLY!

My cousin, who came from KL on a dubious coach bus last Sunday, immediately fell sick the following day. He was coughing and had a runny nose, symptoms of the swine flu! At first we thought it might just be the long bus ride that made him a little under the weather, and he will get better in no time. But who knows, he developed a sore throat after one day; and it really alerted us by then! I started to caution myself, my mum and Rianne from him. I made him wear a mask, and not stay in the living room when the rest of us are there.

I took him to the doctor, out of goodwill as any other person would do for the cousin, whose parents are not here. Doctor has advised to monitor his condition for 3-4 days, and see if he gets better or has a fever instead. I very much wished my cousin could 'go away' from us this period, until he recover. I have to be this mean, for the sake of baby Rianne. She's so young, definitely more vulnerable than us adults.

Well, he did went away.. after Rianne started sneezing, has a runny nose, and a cough. Poor her has to go to the doctor, and take awful syrups which she could barely get it down her throat. Same goes for Mama R. I was so fluey until I am almost strength-less to carry Rianne.

With the cases of H1N1 affected victims on the high, it's only best I stay out of the office. Everyone has a role to play, a social responsibility, to keep the epidemic under control.

*Latest number of H1N1 cases in Singapore : 969 (Updated on 4th July 2009)

Rianne's Lollitop

My eyes bleamed with delight, when the samples from http://www.heartsatmind.com/ were brought to my work desk last week.

They are no difference from what you see on the website, in fact some of the colours actually look more outstanding when you see it in real. My colleague, the mother of a 4yr old girl, was so drawn to the 'hat that turn into a purse'; she bought 2 out of the 5 samples!

I was contemplating between the white lollitop (Bubble Gum surprise) and another beige one (Dusty Rose). I want Rianne to look as adorable as the models, in the white hat (see below); but on one hand, I'm afraid the lollitop will get dirty easily...


Finally, I set my mind on 'Dusty Rose' which look nicer than the picture itself. And with my Rianne princess donning it, how can it not be cutesy?! =)
Kawaii Neh!!

Check this out..

Mothers of all girls, babies to young children, this is a website you just have to take a look at..

You would adore the pretty crochet hats and hair accessories, which are all handmade.. unless you want your daughter to look like a boy, else I bet you would love to lay your hands on one (or even more!) of those lovelies!

http://www.heartsatmind.com/

This website happened to be ownership of the wife of a guy working in one of our agencies. He had said that discounts can be rendered to us, colleagues, if we are interested in any of the items. So, go on, see if you like anything, and contact me at reginalim29@yahoo.com.sg.

My personal favourites.. So hard to make a choice from these..

Hard work

It has been a week since I returned to work, and I am almost near to throwing the white flag out of the window..

No, it's not my colleagues; neither is it the work.. (not yet, I think) But it is the travelling to work that I dread, and my 'expression' sessions that is tiring me out. The direct bus that takes me to work is a freaking 1.5hrs journey!! There is of course, another faster way to get to my office; via the MRT. I have to alight at Lavender station, and walk a huge distance.. of approximately 15mins. All in all, I will reach office in an hour's time if I go on the train.

On a 'prompt' day, Rianne will wake at 5-ish; not later than 6am; and I will breastfeed her in my room (She now sleeps with my mum at night). I would then start my preparation for work, and leave home at 7.20 in order to catch the 7.30 bus. By 9am, I would reach my office in Beach Road; and my breasts would be so so full.. Yesterday, I was so engorged and I needed to express milk once I got to work. Never did I expect myself, or rather my breasts, to be leaking so much until my breast pads were completely drenched. The milk flow was so plentiful, and it actually dripped onto my dress as I express. Damn! I was in such a mess, but the amount of milk I got out of the expression made me less angry. I had 240ml of milk, WOW!

The damp breast pads made me uncomfortable as the day goes, and I was beginning to feel itchy around my boobies. Very soon, I was scratching and tucking at my bra. I had used the last pair of disposable breast pads I kept in my cooler bag, so I simply had to endure the discomfort til I get home. Bad news hit me, as I checked and found no more disaposable breast pads at home! I felt like I was going to die of itch, and my poor tits were already red from all that scratching..

I didn't want to put on the same washable breast pads again, so I had to take the day off and went to buy the disposable types which are thiner (but super absorbent!), and very contour-friendly. They follow the shape of our assets, and get nicely chucked underneath the bra. *Tip : Remove the breast pad from your bra when you breastfeed your baby. Let the breast that your baby feeds on, be free of the coverage and have some breathing time.

Sometimes you ponder, is breastfeeding really the smarter way to feed? From the financial point of view, yes, it is. 2 boxes of breast pads ($8.90 x 2) to a tin of formula milk ($39.50), and apparently, it may be 2 tins or more when each feed is on formula.

No doubt breastfeeding and expressing milk is tedious, but when you know that your baby is getting the best nutrition that no formula could match up; you'd tell yourself that all the hard work is definitely worthwhile!

Hairless Rianne!!

Ok, I admit I was being stubborn when I refused to let Rianne have all her hair shaved at her first month old.. BUT, you would agree with me that her tresses were of such a nice dark blonde colour, that it would be a shame if those were to be shaved off.

However, good times don't last, and so do beautiful things. Rianne started shedding hair by the time she was 3months old, and the amount of hair fall only got more and not lesser! It was so bad until a point whereby Rianne's pillow was full of her hair after every nap, and we have to keep changing the pillow case. With all that hair loss, Rianne's hair is most at the center of her head and sparse at the sides. I cannot risk letting Rianne lose more hair, thus I decided to relieve her off all her hair.

We brought Rianne to the hairdresser right below our house, and all hell broke loose when the shaving started.. Rianne was resisting, and wriggling out of my mum's arms because she was terrified of the vibration the shaver gave. Regardless how fast and skillful the hairdresser was, Rianne yelled and cried all the way until all her hair was removed.. Poor her!

Rianne looks even more like a boy now with no hair. But hopefully, finer hair will grow soon; and make Rianne prettier than how she already is!!

Before - Still looking girlie with the pink dress on

After - totally like a boy!!

Milk, milk, milk..

The least exciting thing is going to happen soon, in 3 more days.. I don't mean my cousin's birthday, on 17th June; but this day is the day I return to work after a long 4 months break.

I should feel thrilled about returning to a new, and supposedly very chic office space.. But I'm not. My office has moved from the ever-so-accessible Shenton Way to 'ulu-ulu' (local speak for 'out of the way') Beach Road, spawning a total of 4 floors. It is impossible, for me that is, to walk all the way from Lavender/Bugis MRT to my office building. No way am I going to make myself sweat like some domestic maids, whose employer insist they walk to every destination; in order to save up on transport fees from a person who takes care of the whole household!

Worries haunt me, even before I hit my workdesk.. Will Rianne get used to not having my boobies to suckle on whenever she's hungry? Will Annie Mummy be able to cope when Rianne throws a tantrum? Will Rianne be hard on her granny and refuse to give her some free time? And the most worrying of all.., will Rianne be ok drinking formula milk sometimes now, and even for good, if mummy's produce gets lesser and lesser?

After serious considerations, I had Rianne's timetable planned, and here is how it will go..

- One feed of formula milk - 130ml at night, just before she goes to bed (12am).
- As formula milk is more filling, Rianne would need just another formula feed around 3-4am.
- Then I would wake and breastfeed her at 5.45am/6am, and get ready for work after that.
- Subsequent feeds would all be expressed milk (ranging from 80-130ml) which have been frozen in advance, and need to be thawed and warmed for consuming.
- I would express my milk twice at work, once in the morning and the other just before I finish work.
- When I get home around 8-ish, I would breastfeed Rianne one time or twice, if she's very hungry.
- Then the whole cycle repeats again..

Sounds simple? Easy feat? Hmmmm, hopefully my little princess would be a good baby and the above routine will work for her! Crossing my fingers..

The day after tomorrow

What is wrong with the climate nowadays?! Whatever happened to "It isn't Singapore if it doesn't rain once in a few days!" And lately, there hasn't been even a drop of rain in the day or night.. Freaking hot, is all I could describe the weather!! The heat is not only making adults angry and irritable, but babies as well..

Annie Mummy used to say Rianne is a baby who fears the cold, and can hardly take the fan blowing at her.. But now, she's swallowing her own words with Rianne breaking out in perspiration after every nap in the day. My baby does feel hot too!! My room isn't any less stuffy when the windows and door are opened, so I tend to turn up the power of the fan to a No. 2 speed. Well, it feels slightly cooler but my mum wouldn't allow that to happen for too long. She feels that Rianne will swallow too much air with the fan blowing so strongly. So what, it beats having her so sweaty slumbering away isn't it?!

The ideal solution I can come up with is, to install air-conditioners for the bedrooms. In the past, air conditioning in our house was rather unnecessary because all the kids (me and my siblings) were never sleeping with aircon before, and even with the fan on; we actually feel cold. However, with my pregnancy and post-partum body changes (got fatter and easily annoyed); I no longer need the comforter when I sleep. My sister, since she got married, has also gotten use to sleeping in an airconditioned room. Her son, Jayden is too. That active boy barely has a head full of hair, but yet he can sweat so much! Hence, he's always sweaty whenever he is at our place and unable to stay over.

Ok, airconditioners may be a little expensive (ranging from $1800 - $2800) and troublesome to install in an already furnished house. How about air coolers then? Seen one that is the size of a paper shredder, selling at the supermarket for $89. Sounds good? Well, it seems undeniably the second best solution now until my mum says her friend who had an air cooler before, said it is a piece of useless junk! So what now?!

Just when the heat is almost melting everything, non and living; it rained. But this luxury didn't last long. The scorchy and unbearable weather made Rianne so unwell after her vaccination. It was her first dose of the 5-in-1 vaccination, and she took it quite well at first. She even giggled when the doctor was assessing her growth & development! Doctor said Rianne is doing well for a 3mth old, eventhough she's slightly on the 'tinier' (is there such a word? hmmm, maybe it is accepted medically. Hahaha!!) side. Rianne weighs a 4.9kg, and measured 56.5cm in length. This growth worries me.. Honestly it may seem perfectly normal for other babies, but not for my darling who has a risk of inheriting NF, the genetic disorder. One of the signs of NF is the affected children are smaller than the majority kids.

Please, God, don't let such a thing happen to my baby.. She's innocent, and shouldn't suffer because of her parents' insensibility.

Baby Joelle turns 1 month old!

Baby Joelle just turned 1 month old yesterday.. There were lots of food (my sister spent $900+ for the buffet, and $300+ for pastries buffet), and attention! Even Baby Rianne also got so many people adoring her, and fighting to carry her!

Here are the pictures of that day..

No Myths, Facts Please!!

Did you know some Chinese who are involved with Buddhist rituals, people who are like mediums of the West, who allow themselves to be possessed by the deities, actually 'keep' baby souls at home?!

Sounds scary, but accordingly to someone living with the 'babies'; there is nothing horrifying about them. They are in fact, just babies who love sweets, drinks milk, and enjoy the company of other babies. Well, when they have company of more than 1 baby, it's hard not to be more playful. My sister says her baby girl, apart from being talkative herself; she actually initates talk & play with the other 'babies'! Baby Joelle can wake up at 4am for milk, and end up sleeping at only 8am! You can see her mumuring to herself for that 4hrs.. and we know, she's also talking to her 'friends'..

My mum being the more supersitious type, hates Baby Rianne to be in the same house with the 'babies'. She thinks there might be a clash of characters, and she simply says Rianne is not 'suitable' to be there. Suitable? Sounds daft, and whenever I told my sister my mum's comment, she would be so pissed. Of course she would be as we are so very close, even after her marriage; we would still try to stay in touch often.

Every single time when we visited my sister at her house, my mum would return home with non-stop grumbling! Rianne would be a little cranky, and that gives ANNIE MUMMY a good reason to blame it on the 'babies'. Sigh, don't people in their 50s ever believe in facts?!

Welcome, Baby Joelle!!

I had brought Rianne to the hospital for her checkup at the specialist last Wednesday. It is to affirm if she has the NF disorder that Papa D's mum passed down to him and his other siblings.

Doctor says Rianne has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the same nerve disorder, but right now there are no visible signs of it from her body. However, it is said that the signs could also develop later in the affected's life.. by the age of 8, the doctor would be able to confirm the existence of NF in a child.

Anyway, my sister phoned us that day to inform of her unusual spotting problem. She, in her 37 weeks of pregnancy, shouldn't be bleeding at all. I knew then that she would be going into labour. We couldn't stay with her in the labour ward, but as promised, I was there to mentally cheer her on..

My brave sister gritted her teeth through the 5+hrs labour, and no epidural was required; just like I didn't have one too. She took my advice to use the 'laughing gas', which helped her overcome the anixety and pain(a little, at least). She finally delivered baby Joelle at 1936hrs, and that little one weighed 2.324kg!

Presenting to you, my sister's bundle of joy!!


Cute right?!! =)

Me, Rianne and milk

After the visit to the doctor's on Easter Day, me and my mum are extremely careful now about feeding Rianne..

Doctor examined Rianne and found her to have some nasal congestion. I agree, coz Rianne always sounded 'croaky' when she cry. There are also phlegm in her vomit, and disgustingly, in her poop too.

The explanation for the endless release of gases from Rianne's tiny stommie, is wind. It seems that she has swallowed wind during her feeds on my expressed milk, and that is also why she threw up on the past few occasions. Initally Annie Mummy still believe that it is better for Rianne to drink from the bottle, as that allows the milk to be warmed which she thinks is good for babies to drink milk hot. Actually that is true.. but looking at how Rianne take the milk down and then out from her mouth & nose, we rather her have body temperature milk that is healthy enough.

Right now, I have been breastfeeding Rianne directly, day in day out, every 2 hourly. Sometimes when she's tired, she might wake up a little past 2 hours to drink. But all in all, her milk routine is still quite regular; so I could figure out when to get ready. Having said that, it means Rianne and me will be stuck with each other, for millk transactions.. Hahahaha!!

Well, I have already pushed back the idea of having a haircut, facial and my nails done. This means that I am looking completely unpolished and yes, unshapely too. Baggy tees and loosely-hung drawstring pants are my daily ensemble nowadays. These attires make it easier for me to breastfeed Rianne, especially when she is starving and cannot wait to drink.

The clock ticks so quickly as I write this, and now I have to go replenish both energy and milk, to supply to my little princess in a while later. Ciao for now, people..

Sleeping no more..

What would you do when you laid yourself on bed, ready for a good night's rest, only to be woken up by incessant baby cries?! It's cool, coz you ain't even asleep yet.. just soothe the disturbed baby quickly and you can get your sleep in no time.

What would you do again when you finally managed to catch some shut-eye, but the baby's still wailing? You drag yourself up to pick up the baby, and try to rock her back to her dreamland as quickly as possible.

What would you do this time when this little creature starts to bawl inconsolably in high-pitch cries, and gonna wake the whole neighbourhood up at 5am in the morning? You are rather pissed now, and stomp over to the baby cot and demand an explanation for all that noise! Ha, of course not.. but you are genuinely fed up, as it is almost dawn and you haven't even slept! You ask yourself, how long more is this going on?!! The answer - all the way until the baby gives up sobbing due to over-exhaustion..

I say, maybe the poor adult will die of exhaustion first even before the baby does; and this can very jolly happen to me soon..

Rianne has been cranky and crying her guts out everyday since the start of this week. She was basically screaming, as there were no tears; and struggling so much! It seem like she's in much discomfort, but her diaper has been changed and she wasn't hungry too. Only one thing will come to our mind in such a scenerio, apply the 'RU-YI' oil onto her stommie. I did! Well, I had deduced that Rianne's problem could be there are too much gases stuck in her little stomach, and that, is causing her to be so uncomfortable.

One suspicion that is hovering over me now, is COLIC. The symptoms of COLIC fit exactly what Rianne is going through, except the crying pattern. It is said that babies with COLIC problem will cry for more than 3 hours at the same time daily, and this would go on for at least 3 days a week. Rianne hasn't been noisy at the same time the past few days, but it does go on for hours. I'm thinking to bring her to the doctor to assess whether she is really having COLIC. Oh, poor Rianne.. but even poorer, Mama R. =(

Rianne's first music video

Rianne's first ever music video, featuring Annie Mummy (vocals).. Enjoy!! =)

Worrying..

Babies may seem to be the world's cuddliest and lovable creatures.. That, is only half right. Many of you, especially the non-parents, are not aware of their dark sides. Well, me being a first time mother can't be sure myself, whether those traits of theirs are naturally in them, or caused by external factors. But, they are indeed worrying businesses that if you are a parent, cannot choose to ignore..

Rianne for example, is the typical frail baby who sneezes the minute her clothes are removed. This had my mum believe that Rianne is a baby who's afraid of the cold, and thus she's all covered up from head to toe; with her face & head the only flesh exposed to the environment. But a discovery the other day proved my mum's analysis to be wrong. I had found Rianne's pillow to be wet, and I took a sniff at it. It seem that Rianne has been perspiring, and that might lead to babies having rashes if they are not given enough ventilation. Since then, Rianne was allowed the fan and she was much cooler.

You know the muscle twitch we sometimes get during sleep? Our legs jerk when we subconciously thought we fell into a drain? Babies suffer from that too.. Rianne especially, is the most jerky little person I have ever seen. Her hands and legs twitched so much that she sometimes get woken up by it. I decided to hold her limbs down with a bean bag made from the shells of beansprouts. That kinda worked, but little did I expect Rianne to have so much force pushing her hands out from the bean bag. She had once struggled to get her hands out, and resulted in having her face covered by the beanie. I was almost scared to death, when I found her like that on my bed. It would have been disastraous if her nose got covered too long!

Last night I placed Rianne on my bed again with the bean bag, while I went to do the dishes (finally I am permitted to do the chores again!). My mum came to the kitchen chatting with me, and it was then we heard Rianne's loud cries. As my hands were still soapy with detergent, my mum attended to her. Guess what? Yes, Rianne had covered her own face with the bean bag again! I was mad at ourselves for our negligence, but at the same time I was relieved that Rianne alerted us on time.

The rest of my worries are equally nerve-breaking.. like the confusion Rianne's facing now between a pacifier, milk bottle teat and mummy's boobies. Then there is her throwing up of milk immediately after her feed, and hiccups that come when Rianne had a drop too much. Also the frustration Rianne has when she tries to pass out gas.. she turns red doing it. The list goes on and on, but my latest worry now is the red patch I saw on the back of Rianne's head. I am just hoping it isn't anything related to the genetric disorder which Papa D has, and that could only be affirmed when I bring Rianne to the specialist on the 21st.

COMFORT FOOD

God knows how long I have wanted to blog, but was always halted by Baby Rianne's cries for milk; or if not, attention.

I am glad I picked up the good practice of keeping a record book for Rianne's feeding times and the number of times she pooped or had a wet diaper. The book had shown how my little girl drinks her milk, at ragingly short intervals I mean. It is said to be normal for an infant like Rianne to feed every 2-3hourly, but this isn't what Rianne is doing! She is now hungry and asking for milk every 2 hours, or sometimes, 45 mins to 1hr's time.

My mum reckons I might not be supplying enough for Rianne, thus the frequent wailing for milk. But sometimes after giving her what she wants, she returns everything back to me by vomitting. This means she didn't exactly want the milk I thought she wanted. She could very possibly just need to suck on something to get her to sleep, and that was mistaken to be hunger.

Apart from the comforting effect it has for Rianne, breast milk is no doubt her staple food; and anyone should be able to understand that.. especially a mother-to-be. But for my sis, she was probably disturbed by the fact that we have to keep entering the nursing room at the shopping mall that day. I totally know why, as the nursery was on the 3rd floor, and both of us handling 2 babies plus a pram; just makes it cumbersome. Also, I have to speak for my preggie sis who's heavily pregnant, and with an active kid like Jayden; any expectant mum would have gone crazy!

Well, I do hope I don't turn crazy feeding and changing Rianne, before Annie Mummy stays home with us for good.

My comfort food - Bees on a doughnut!

What the ...??!!

Funny that. You would think being Rianne's father would "akin" to "kinship" as you could possibly get...

Can someone please interpret the above sentence and tell me it ain't what I thought it's supposed to mean? Am I misunderstanding Papa D? Honestly, I don't think so.

Blood is boiling inside of me, as my fingers hit so harshly onto the keyboard. Here I am being confined (Synonym : trapped in/restrained) at home, hot and filthy, thirsty (for H2O), dealing with Rianne's mood swings, and deprived of the simplest things in life. Not seeking for sympathy, or even asking anything from Papa D, I try my very best to bring up Rianne with a decent monthly income and lots of love. Yes, I understand that he is not well; but that doesn't warrant for sarcasm like this.

Right from the start, I have never disapproved Papa D of his fatherly desires; nor have I deprived him of fulfilling his duties as a dad. The only obstacle hindering him from doing all these, doesn't come from me, but the physical distance apart. I know Papa D has always wanted Rianne to be born in the UK, thus narrowing the gap between them to zero. However, I am not a British citizen, so how can I give birth in UK? Even if I can, Rianne will then become a Brit at birth, and how is she going to come back to Singapore for her future development? Maybe she don't have to come back? Hah, is this exactly Papa D's intention?

Growing up in UK is not so bad an idea, provided the parents are well-off enough to feed and give the best to the baby. OK, let's put it realistically, maybe just the standard living, healthcare, education and caregiver. How much does all these cost in pounds? To date, Rianne has used 220 pieces of diaper, 100 pieces of nappy liner, and 240 sheets of baby wipes. She has been to the polyclinic 4 times, and had 2 vaccinations. As for Mama R, she had consumed 14 bottles of Chicken of Essence, 2 tins of Milo, used 72 pairs of disposable breast pads, and countless number of sanitary pads..

This is just a run-down of consumables which cost money, money and money.. I get cold feet just thinking of the other expenses like bedding needs, clothes, toys, furniture, and the killer, healthcare. Many parents would say, it doesn't take tons of dollars to raise a child; but you CANNOT not have money. More true than anything..

Rianne's First Month

No amount of downpour could dampen our high spirits, as we celebrated Rianne's first month old at The Green Room Cafe, Bishan Park II, last Sunday.

It was meant to be a private affair, a small gathering with family and closest friends. Am thankful for everyone's patience (only made it there 1hr later than planned), attendance, and lastly, your generousity.

Hence, my reciprocal..


I was making sure all my friends take turns to carry Rianne, even those who has never held a baby before. And my little princess definitely enjoyed all the attention, coz she was decently well-behaved in the arms of all the aunties and uncles.

The occasion ended with more rain, and my mum was so protective of (no, you are wrong; not Rianne!) ME! I, the confined woman, is not to get drenched at anytime. So, I am sheltered by my dearest friends with umbrellas; all the way til I got into a taxi.

Distributing cakes don't seem a difficult task, but for an elderly (yes, my mum's in this catergory already! Hahahaha!) and a confined mother with her baby in tow; it didn't look as easy as we thought. In fact, my poor mum suffered a fall when she was delivering a box of cakes to our old neighbour - my mum's best pal. She slipped after stepping foot into some wet mud, and you can't imagine how I felt when I saw her down on the pavement! I am so sorry, Annie Mummy! But, you refused to let me help.. Anyway, we were just glad that Rianne was in my arms when my mum fell. Phew..

I wonder is it because Rianne's chinese name has the character 'RAIN', that's why all these days when we went out; it was always pouring! Well, afterall, Rianne is a 'WATER' baby..

Idol Fever!!

Ever since Ruben (the big teddy bear, they call him!) won Season 2 of American Idol, I have concluded that maybe America don't really vote in the way I thought they would.. Clay Aiken, obviously would have my vote.

Well, I guess the audition rounds will not be too boring to watch. Who knows, the infamous William Hung might resurface.. No, he didn't. But from the auditions to the Hollywood weeks, the judges have proved to me that they have their reasons for their harsh critique. It is not Simon's fault that the poorer vocalists got voted off. American Idol is a battle of talents and looks, and this season indeed is a fierce battlefield!

There's the good lookers - Danny Gokey, Kris Allen and Megan Joy. The powerhouse vocalists - Lil Rounds, Allison Iraheta, Alexis Grace and Adam Lambert. Multi-talented - Scott Macintyre and Matt Giraud.. and of course, the unexpectedly good - Anoop Desai and Michael Sarver. The final 13 put up an incredible show on Wednesday, with songs from King of Pop - MICHAEL JACKSON.

Some performances touched hearts, while others were simply exhilarating! My personal favourites - Kris Allen's act with his guitar, and Matt Giraud playing magic on the piano. Like Simon said, it would be better if Kris hasn't officially announced he has a wife. I know Paula Abdul was disappointed too, eventhough she commented that Kris was "adorable sexy!". That lucky Kathy! You'd better hold on to your husband!!

After Thursday night's elimination round, the final 11 have just gotten closer to winning the ultimate glory. But with everyone this strong, it ain't an easy task to vote and to bear seeing anyone so talented being voted out. I'm glad that this heavy responsiblity doesn't fall onto the shoulders of the Singapore audience. But I hope America will vote wisely, just like how they have done at the President Election. Cheers!

Poop Attack!!

You would have heard of 'Mars Attack', 'Star Wars - Attack of the Clones'.. but Poop Attack?!

This is what it is, I have been attacked by baby Rianne's poop!! Remember in one earlier post, I mentioned that the little princess seems to be having diarrohea, as she was farting and pooing quite frequently. Her stools are all watery, yellowish with little white bits. Don't ask me what those are, as I had earlier replied my sister-in-law with "I don't know, but they look like rice grains."

I have checked with more than 1 doctor at the polyclinic, and they have all assured me that it's nothing more than normal for breastfed babies to have poop of this kind. Well, what do they think about spurting poop then?!

I was changing Rianne this morning after her feed, and I was prepared to use more than 1 new diaper as usual. However, I managed to 'catch' her poop on the dirty diaper, before a new nappy was dished underneath her bottoms. Pleased with my work, I lifted her little feet to chuck the new piece under. Never did I expect a gush of watery poop to come spurting onto me!! Holy S#@*!!

This is the first time in my life that I am actually glad I am short.. Poop were on my hands, my thighs, my pjs, my bedsheet, but not on my mouth! I was still taken aback at what just happened, and my mind was in a whirlpool - should I clean myself up first or change Rianne?

Parents will tell me, "it is something you will get used to, very soon.." Will I, I really wonder? Or maybe my mum ought to stop feeding me (which indirectly feeds Rianne) stuff that induce farting, or in her own words, wind-expelling.

Poop aside, I need to exclaim, yes, exclaim.. I simply adore Danny Gokey and Kris Allen from American Idol 8! My God, dashing and super vocalists! They are not all the talents in this season.. I'm going to talk more about them tomorrow, watch out for it!

I Miss My Bump..

I remember my best friend, X, told me that she actually missed being pregnant, straight after giving birth to her chubby boy. It didn't make sense to me at that time.. for I have been anticipating, and was ever ready for little Junior's arrival!

I realised the reason for X's statement, was because the living thing inside our stommies have turned into an alive and kicking (my Rianne's a kicker!) creature for real! Not that we depised our newborns, but more like it was a change which we needed time to adapt to.

The sobbing infant laying in the baby cot with soiled diapers, was something we didn't have to deal with before. We only had to talk, sing, and caress our abdomens when we wanted some interaction. Or on an active day when my favourite drama series "Little Nyonya" is on TV, the fetal movement index will be on a soaring incline!

Expectant mothers don't give a heck to their food intake.. they eat whatever they like, they gorge as much as they want, they have the most nutritious tonics like birds' nest and yummy-brewed soups. All cravings fulfilled, and all demands met.

I just have to show ya'all this piece of Israeli goodness.. My friend, X brought it back for me on her business trip. I kept it for 2 months (couldn't bear to eat it because of the memories I hold so dearly of an Israeli guy), and as you can see below, I eventually succumbed to temption..

"It melts in your mouth and your hands too, if you don't pop it down quickly!" Woooo, soft and milky..

Mothers-to-be laze around all day, laid on the couch, and on the bed. Simply, because they are just too heavy to move about! Getting up in the middle of the night ain't a dreadful thing for them, coz it is just a 5 minutes affair to relieve themselves. But for us, the wee-hours waking up means losing almost 1 hour of sleep.. 15mins of breastfeeding, 30 mins to change the nappy, another 15mins to put the baby back to sleep.

It is not hard to see many expecting mothers this year. Stroll down the halls of KK Hospital, and you will see big bellies around every corner. It's weird to see those bellies now, when my own is as flat as a washing board. No, I'm not being smug here. My current weight now (I finally braced up enough courage to jump onto the scale), is 47kg! 8 months back, I weighed only a mere 42kg..

My 14.5kg weight gain is now lying beside me as I write this.. she was being grouchy, and my mum had no choice but to bring her out to the living room. You know what? Her eyes are now fixated on the TV, presumably watching telly I guess.. =)

My happiness bump may no longer be there, but at least now I know how my future happiness look like..