11 months old update!

This month AJ has been pulling himself up and cruising along furniture much more often and with a lot more confidence!
At 11.5 months he's finally been able to stack the IKEA wood rings toy we bought him when he was 7 months old. It's amazing watching him grow.

He's trying to walk but still needs that bit more practice. I feel like by his first birthday he'd take his first steps!

He's much more responsive leading up to his first birthday, we hear him babbling and trying to say his own name these days. Sometimes he laughs when we laugh and he tries to imitate our words (simple ones of course). He adores his papa and is always so happy when he's home. Every time a tune comes on (could be from anywhere - TV commercial, music from my laptop or daddy belting out a tune etc) he stops everything and starts dancing and shaking his bum to the beat. You can tell, he will love music.  :-)

There's this particular soprano/opera-sounding commercial that he just LOVES. When that ad comes on, he literally stops doing anything he's busy at, and stares at the TV until the commercial ends.

In terms of his diet, breastfeeding is still his main source of food and comfort.
His solids are mainly veggies and fruits, with the occasional meat and tofu. He hates pureed chicken, we figure it's because it's not sweet like the veggies and fruits he love! His all - time favourite foods are banana, blueberries, apples, carrots, zucchini and sweet potato.

In terms of sleep, he's still waking up 2-3 times at night ever since we moved here to brissy almost 5 months ago. Both his parents are exhausted but at the same time, have kind of gotten used to the exhaustion. We are going to move him to his room soon (once we get an armchair for me) and hopefully the sleep situation improves. 

We can't wait till he sleeps through the night - but john thinks that we will have to wait 18 years for that to happen!

10 months old! (& sleeping habits)

So AJ turned 10 months old 2 days ago. 

Ever since we made the move to Brisbane in July 2016 he's been a terrible sleeper.  Waking up every 2-3 hours at night to feed. I thought he wasn't getting enough during the day hence the night feeds, but when I tried giving him more food (milk & solids) in the day, he refused.

So.. My body was exhausted from it and then it slowly kinda, "got used" to the routine a month or so ago but I swear, ever since he turned 10 months old (i.e. from the night of 17th October 2016, he's been only waking up twice at night. I put him to bed at 830pm (the usual) and he wakes at ~1230am and ~415am, quickly falls back to sleep each time with a quick feed, and is fully awake by about 6am - amazing news! I ***hope*** it is a sign that he's ready to be sleeping for 4 hour stretches now. And that slowly but surely he will go back to sleeping through the night.

I even bought the book by Ferber from amazon which came in the mail 4 days ago but haven't gotten round to reading it yet.

A teething (read: screaming & clingy) baby does keep your hands full!

So yeah, here's the quick 10 month update. Time is flying past too fast - this little guy is turning a year old in 2 months?! Goodness! I still distinctly remember when he was just born!

Anyway, with the progression of age he's also becoming more responsive to john and I.  He actually "responds" when we ask questions directed at him with loud mumbo jumbo noises as if he's talking! And when he's upset, you can definitely see it cos he chucks a tantrum. Which is cute but at the same time not cute - the cuteness melts ny heart & makes me want to give in.. but my brain tells me no! Give in and he'll be a spoilt kiddo. And so I resist. And it seem to be working - when I say a firm "NO", AJ definitely understands that I don't want him to do a certain thing.

He's so smart though - he then pretends to do something else and when I look away he quickly crawls back to whatever he was prohibited to do originally. And then I catch him and go to him and say "No!" And he quickly scrambles away all the while making disgruntled noises. It's sooooooooooooooo sickeningly cute.  My heart has mini explosions sometimes.

Anywho I'm out for now. It's 4.36am and I need to go back to sleep before he wakes in 1.5 hours!

Quick Update : 7.5 month

Wow. Time flies past really fast! It still feels like yesterday when I was at Pantai, getting all wired/tubed up and waiting for my spinal block..

Anyway, some exciting news. We've finally  moved our little family to Brisbane and couldn't be happier being closer to family and enjoying the "summerised winter" here. Seriously though, up until this stage I've never been in a country where it's people were out and about in singlet and shorts in a cold winter season. 

In the day it's about 23 to 25 degrees and falls to about 10 to 15 degrees at night.

This would be paradise in Melbourne where I know is freezing right now cos we recently went on a 4 day trip to see family and catch up with friends and for the first time in 7.5 months, AJ fell sick with a high grade fever and we had to rush him to the ER twice (and let's not talk about the less-than-desirable experience we had a Monash medical centre).

Anyway, I also finally purchased the Haakaa breast pump today from sleepstore.com.au. Why I say "finally" is because they were so bloody expensive to purchase in Malaysia (plus the shipping cost from NZ/Australia) when you're on a local salary and there were many Haakaa fakes claiming they were genuine. It was hard to trust that so I made it one of my top priorities to purchase one when I arrive in Brissy.

When it arrives I shall post a review on it. I've seen sooooo many positive reviews of it online and in the mum FB groups I'm a part of - I feel like I've been missing out!

Another exciting piece of news - we get the keys to our house tomorrow and I cannot wait to settle in already.  This 1 bedroom apartment we are now in (paid for by John's company) is way too small for us 3. There's stuff everywhere on the floor and the balcony is oddly placed.

Plus we get to go to the Ikea logan store tomorrow to shop up a storm! I love furniture shopping - especially for a new place!

Can't wait for tomorrow! :-)

6 Months Postpartum : The Magical Month

6 months postpartum and things are really starting to fall back into place. Why? You may ask. Well here's why..

1. My postpartum hair loss comes to a halt.

Seriously, I struggled with this from month 3 onwards and was so worried that the bald patch at the side of my head going backwards from my hairline would be permanent. 6 months on.. It is miraculously growing back at an incredibly fast rate.

2. I've finally lost the stubborn 2.5 kgs.

This happened literally overnight. I woke up one morning, weight myself and found that I was 2.5kgs lighter. This could have coincidentally been a result of the stress I've been experiencing organising the move to Brisbane. Nonetheless, once I'd hit 6 months PP, the last stubborn 2.5kgs dropped off just like that *snap fingers*

3. I now have a flat  (relatively) tummy.

What they said is true - your body will never be the same again once you've carried a baby. And don't get me wrong. I think the female body is an amazing apparatus in many aspects and one of them is the ability to carry and grow a whole human for 9 months. Imagine the amount of work your body has to put in to sustain not just 1 but 2 lives and still keep on functioning on a daily basis.

After I gave birth, it took at least 10 weeks for me to feel even slightly normal again. I plateau-ed at 3 months (despite exercising from week 6 onwards) and only managed to lose the remainder of the weight from 4.5 months onwards.  At 6 months,  like I mentioned above I lost the remaining 2.5kgs and that came with a flatter stomach. I know I'll never get the same super flat tummy I was so proud of pre-pregnancy, but ill never be more proud of the fact that I gave birth to nothing short of a miracle.

So if you haven't hit the 6 month postpartum yet and are thinking of giving up altogether, don't lose faith.
What helped me the most was keeping a positive mindset, focusing on looking after my baby and at the same time eating healthy and taking time out every week to maintain an exercise regime.

Trust me, keep this up and you WILL eventually feel like a million bucks again. 

:-)

Starting on Solids

We started AJ on mashed avocado mixed with breastmilk when he turned 6 months old. He hated it.
The next week we went to brisbane and came back with 2 pouches of commercial pureed food with no added sugars or preservatives of course!
He loves the banana and apple rice porridge as well as the mango and blueberries puree.

Once we settle into our permanent home and get a high chair, I can't wait to start him in pureed vegetables! 

The move was nothing short of a fun headache. How ironic, right? It was fun interacting with all sorts of people during the selling process & also during the time when the movers came to help pack our belongings into 2m3 boxes - that efficiency was something else!

To say that we were stressed out in the last week before the big move would be an understatement. I'm glad that part is over.. now our biggest headache is getting a house and a car. We are looking at small SUV options since we have a kiddo now. I miss driving a jazz though and can't wait to get my own little car once I get back into the work/office grind. 

For now I could do without it.

Crawling Milestone Reached @ 5 months 3 weeks old

So last week, for a period of 3-4 days, AJ went through an extremely fussy phase. Up until this stage he would sleep from 9pm to 3am, wake to feed and back to sleep immediately till about 7am.

In this fussy period, he would only finally fall asleep at around 11pm to 12 am (after 2 hours of non stop fussing) only to wake up screaming bloody murder one hour later; needing to be rocked back to sleep; then waking up again within the hour screaming bloody murder again. This went on for 4 days and at a time when John and I both fell sick. So by the end of it, we were so exhausted.

I didn't realise we were actually experience his 6 month growth spurt at the time.  All I wanted was for it to end!  Miraculously by the 5th day, things went back to normal and at the same time he started crawling! Army crawling to be precise.

So, at 5 months and 3 weeks old, our dearest baby boy has started to crawl :)

"6 month Sleep Regression"

AJ's 6 month old Sleep Regression came when he was just 5.5 months old - and it reared it's ugly little head at the most inappropriate time (I mean, when it is ever an appropriate time for a sleep regression anyway?!)

By that I mean, it came the very day I fell sick with a high fever, tonsilitis and had to manage an inflamed tendon (tendonitis).
It will still lurking around as an evil entity when John fell equally sick with a very high fever. Just when you thought things couldnt get ANY worse, my period decided to make its appearance, coupled with the sickness & the immense stress ive been feeling the last week or so, my milk supply took a huge dip.

So by day 3 of the regression, it was us 2 extremely exhausted, wearied and broken bodies with a fussy, screaming baby who simply won't settle down (even with boob!) or go to bed.

And then, magically, by day 4 he was sleeping well again (by about 4 months old he'd been sleeping from 8-9pm to 2-4am feed then back to sleep for another 3-4 hours).

My milk supply is slowly creeping back up but it is during this time that I've finally properly appreciated my freezer milk stash. Before this, the bags were sitting untouched and I actually thought I would've to throw them all away because we are moving to brissy in a month's time (permanent move) & will not ship them over because of the amount of trouble it will take plus I have already established a good milk supply and AJ will be starting solids by the time we are in brissy anyway.

So as I'm typing this it's day 5, 1020pm and he's sound asleep in his cot. I'd better use this time to catch up on some sleep!

The almost 4 month old!

Wow. It has been a long time since I last updated this space. Heaps have happened in this time..

- mum and dad went back to melbourne
- our little family went on a 1 week trip to melbourne
- AJ started rolling over and army crawling
- I'm back to the workforce after a 3 month maternity leave
- new role, new responsibilities, new structure (2 top dogs left my team)
- possible migration
- AJ got his second booster immunization!
- 120ml intake

I've just named the main ones. . A lot of smaller scenarios have happened in between these larger ones.

Anyway AJ has just gotten his second jab yesterday.  In the butt. He was such a good boy though - crying only for the first few seconds and then quickly calming down after with the help, hug & cuddles from his daddy.

He's turning 4 months old tomorrow (how time flies!) and can now roll over, army crawl, babble & coo, giggle and smile (heaps!). He's such a happy, lovable baby and John and I are more than blessed to have this little man in our lives.

He's also started to lean forward ALOT especially when he's put down in his bouncer. The more I push him to lean backwards the more he resists and tries to lean forward - makes for a funny scene actually. And when he's sitting down he clamours to get on his feet (but obviously at this age he isn't able to do so yet) so the moment we lift him up on his feet, he goes all smiley and giggly. What a cutie.

Tempted to get him the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo soon. I've seen so many good reviews on it (amazon) & I'm sure AJ will love it since he gets to stand and bounce!

Daycare is turning out to be fine as well. Santhy, Patricia and Katsuri (Aunty "Sura") are all looking after him well. The only thing I dislike is the fact that it gets hot & sweaty there sometimes and his bottles come home with tiny crawling gifts (read: ants) however that is to be expected since the daycare is a landed property (essentially a house-turned-daycare-centre). In the past month AJ's breastmilk intake has gone from 90ml to 120ml!! This is after we got feedback from Santhy that he's been finishing all 5 90ml bottles within 10 hours AND still sucking for more at the end of each feed! We increased it to 100ml and still nothing changed so we increased it to 120ml just 2 days ago and we shall see how it goes within the next week. 

I still can't believe how much he's thriving on breastmilk alone - it inspires and motivates me to keep continuing on this breastfeeding journey up until for some reason, I physically can't anymore! I truly love how it comforts him too and ill surely be sad when the day comes that this breastfeeding journey comes to an end!

[Monspiration] Self-Improvement

Source: acidcow.com

Keep striving to be a better version of yourself everyday (even in the smallest things).. that's the only way to develop and improve yourself.

Happy Monday!

[Monspiration] Just Breathe.

Source: pinterest.com

As we approach a new week & a new month, in the middle of your piles of incomplete & overdue assignments, hectic workload and working schedule, dealing with a nasty colleague or trying to  meet your boss' high expectations... remember to pause, and Just Breathe.

Because sometimes what we need to keep our sanity in check is to have that space (even if for a few seconds) to clear our minds & recompose ourselves. 

Happy Monday all!

Postpartum : Week 4

How I feel (Overall): As expected, I'm feeling better with each passing week. That said my little pooch is still there albeit flattening out, slowly but surely.

I can't wait till my 6 week post natal checkup with kamaljit. Pretty sure I'd be able to start exercising afte that!

Pain areas: The incision itself I believe is almost fully healed. The occasional pain I feel is from the inside which I believe is from the inner wound.

A new pain area would be my back and hips - from carrying AJ all day! He's getting heavier and my arms are not getting proportionately stronger to support that, in fact my wrists started aching last week and sometimes I wake up from my nap feeling my someone has taken a hammer and smashed my wrists.  Yeah it's that bad. I hope this subsides eventually as they get used to all the carrying. 

Back and hips hurt due to my scoliosis. Carrying him on one side of my shoulder creates an imbalance in these areas - a circumstance that definitely doesn't help my current situation! Gotta get that Moby wrap,  apparently it evenly distributes the weight of the baby across both shoulders thereby causing less impact on the back and hips.  Anywho we shall see about that - might even do a review on it!

How I coped: I've started going out & regaining some normalcy of my life - meeting my dearest colleague and friend Gladys for breakfast at our usual hot spot below the office - Grab.

And to be honest I feel like these are much needed breaks from the repetitive baby schedule I'm on otherwise.
I'm very grateful mum is around to allow me to do this - however I do still have a 2-3 hour "curfew", one set by my boobs otherwise they become angry and engorged. Yeah, #breastfeedinglife.

Next short term goal : hitting the gym!

AJ's Progress: Now that we are a month old he will need to get his booster shot soon - Dr. Altaf recommended we get it done at our local public clinic since that is where the stash of vaccines coming into the country are prioritised. Other than that, I think im starting to see the beginning signs of him smiling and it's so damn cute. I can't wait for the day when he can smile & talk!

[Monspiration] Courage

Source: fromupnorth.com


Too often we get so used to being in our own comfort zones, that we lose sight of the bigger things in life that we can achieve. Today's quote is to encourage you to have the courage to step out of your comfort zone & take risks because if you don't, then you won't fulfil your potential in life. 

Happy Monday!

[Review] Ocean Spray Original Craisins (Dried Cranberries)

When I had a UTI infection early last year, I did a mountain of research on it and most of what I read recommended drinking Cranberry Juice as one of the more natural ways to prevent it. So once it cleared I was out and about on the hunt for Cranberry juice. However, in KL, Cranberry juice is a rare sight and when I do find them it's either ridiculously priced (RM45 for a bottle? Come on..) or loaded with artificial sweeteners/sugar/preservatives. Desperate as I was to start integrating Cranberry juice into my daily diet, I just couldn't!

Then, one fine sunny afternoon, I saw a packet of Ocean Spray Original Craisins sitting on one of my ex-colleague's desk. My first thought was "Craisins?.. Crazy Raisins??" until I took a longer look at the pack and realised they were actually dried cranberries! Super cool. Instead of paying through my nose for a bottle of Cranberry juice, why not consume cranberries?? However, because she wasn't at her desk, I couldn't ask her where she got them from but eventually I forgot about it..

Until I saw them at Village Grocer in Bangsar - however they were selling it at an exorbitant price (like with everything else at this shop!) so I skipped it. Last Saturday when John and I were going our regular weekly grocery shopping at NSK Kuchai Lama, I stumbled upon it again and this time it was almost half the price of Village Grocer's at RM7.30 per packet. Without hesitation, I immediately grabbed a bag.

Package - Front

Package - Back

I know these are also loaded with sugar, as with other dried fruits (and any health nutritionist would surely warn you against them), but they are an alternative to the juices which are also loaded with sugar and TWICE the price. Here's something that I miss about Australia - the widely available fresh produce and natural health foods.









Anywho, I ripped open this packet in an instant (after purchasing it of course!) and found that they were a tad too sweet for my liking. However, I've found that they go very well with my oatmeal breakfast with natural baked almonds and a drizzle of honey.

You can also add them as part of your trail nut mix (afternoon snack) and even in muffins and biscuits!

Keep in mind that each serving (40g) contains 29g of sugar - that's a whopping 75%! However, eat them in moderation, and you'd still get your cranberry fix in any cranberry-deprived situation you find yourself in - like I have!

[Weekly Digest] Postpartum: Week 4

How I feel (Overall): Can't. Wait. For. Week. 8. I dreamt that I started doing BBG workouts again and man, I woke up feeling good for 5 seconds before realising it was just a dream. 

Pain areas: Still some soreness at times but minimal. Im hoping the pain will subside even more and by week 6 I'll be pain-free! 

How I coped: I feel like things are starting to fall into a schedule that works for me, John and mum. Mum has been of tremendous help - so has John and I feel extremely lucky again this week as I ponder and look upon the blessings in my life. 

AJ's Progress: AJ is starting to become more alert - mum reports incidences where he actually responds to what she says (either by coo-ing or making some cutesy baby noises). He sleeps less these days, is increasingly fussy and still regurgitates milk. One thing I've learnt about him this week is that halfway through feeding, if he has to burp and feels uncomfortable he will squirm around and pull away. That is when I know, if I don't straighten him up within he next 30 seconds he will puke out all the milk. And so far I've been 99% right. 

[Tuesday Tips] The ONE Solution to (Multiple) Clogged Milk Ducts

So, today I experienced perhaps the worst case of clogged milk ducts in my 5 weeks of motherhood and it was a direct result of not pumping/expressing on schedule the last 2 days (went out for a movie and shopping) where I went 5 hours (instead of the usual 2-3 hours) between each pumping session... not cool.

The moment you stop nursing or expressing, your milk supply starts to build up and if you leave it for long enough hours, your breasts engorges (becomes very full). Leaving your breasts engorged for too long contributes to clogged milk ducts and the tissue around the ducts becomes inflammed. Other common factors that contribute to clogged ducts include incomplete draining of breast milk either by ineffective latching techniques or a non-functioning pump (e.g. weak suction). If left untreated, it leads to the one thing that most breastfeeding mums dread the most - MASTITIS.

I had a minor clogged duct just a few weeks back that almost immediately cleared after I did one thing. And today, just overnight I experienced MULTIPLE clogged ducts all over my left boob which immediately cleared after I did the same ONE thing. What is it, you ask?

Source: homeremediesweb.com

I scoured the internet for advice, and many of them repeated the same steps: Massage, Hot compress (many suggested soaking a diaper in hot water), nurse and pump frequently until ducts become unclogged. Some suggestions even went as far as downing Castor Oil - what the??
They might work for some, but trust me, I did most of these (except the Castor Oil of course) and still it didn't clear my clogged ducts - in fact, it made it worse and got to the point where there were blue-black bruise like marks on my boob and were painful as hell. Especially the massage and frequent pumping advice - nearly brought me to tears. Heck, even lying down was a major pain.

So my solution??

--> Take a short nap and let your milk supply build up until your breasts become engorged. The moment you wake up, nurse your baby with the affected boob for at least a minute and lo and behold, your ducts will almost certainly become unclogged.

Skip the massage, put away your electric/manual pump, save the last diaper for when you really need it and leave the castor oil at the shops & use your baby because trust me, it worked like magic. Even my mum screamed out with joy because she witnessed how much pain I was going through the entire day prior to this!

And lesson to take away from this? If you have an oversupply like I do, draw out a schedule and pump on schedule. Don't wait too long in between pumps and if you know you'll be away from home for longer than your usual number of hours, take your pump out with you - it will save you so much pain, suffering... and castor oil. :P

[Weekly Digest] Postpartum: Week 3

How I feel (Overall): 90% is where I'm at this week. Whilst I'm beginning to feel more and more like how I felt pre - pregnancy, it's not there yet.

For one my little belly is still there because my uterus is still in the process of shrinking. And I think my hormones have not completely subsided - I still feel bouts of extreme sadness and/or happiness and/or anger.

In terms of mobility, I can do all housework now :-)

Pain areas: The area around my incision is still numb - I understand that this can continue on for YEARS to come. But it doesn't bother me. My incision is almost fully healed (scabbing!) and is no longer tender to the touch.

I still can't get out of bed frontwards as my internal abdominal muscles are not yet fully associated and it'll take time. So right now I'm still rolling out of bed on my side.

How I coped: The major breakthrough for me this week is AJ latching on correctly 50% of the time.
I've discovered the cradle and cross- cradle position and boy, all those tears I shed in the first few days of breastfeeding could've been solved if it weren't for that wretched football position due to my incision! I always feel mothers who delivery naturally (not by c section) have it easier with recovery.

It's funny how life works - always a give and take in life right? C section mothers suffer post-delivery while natural mothers suffer during labour and delivery.

AJ's Progress: We went to see Dr. Altaf on Sunday and guess what? AJ weighed in at 3.4kg! Which means he gained the ideal 300g in a span of a week. Phew! I can finally pat myself on my back *pat pat*

With this, I'm more motivated to continue bf-ing and pumping for my little guy. I want him to grow big and strong!

Also we got some medication for his minor oral thrush, milia and probiotics (which cost us RM120 for a tiny bottle!) for his gassiness.

Overall a good week! It's getting better and we are reading him better - knowing what his cries mean, what to check when he cries (diapers? last feed time? temperature of room?) and how to rock him to sleep. He loves music. And I'm not referring to the infamous "White Noise" that is recommended for newborns as it mimics the sounds he's used to inside the womb, neither am I referring to baby lullabies. What he really falls asleep to is pop songs, billboard chart toppers and generally the type of music that the current generation listens to.

Heroes by Alesso, anyone??

[Weekly Digest] Postpartum: Week 2

How I feel (Overall): This week is proving to be an improvement from the last. Not just in terms of recovery, but in terms of AJ's progress. I see a schedule slowly taking shape - John managed to extend his paternity leave for another week because I broke down last week and told him I needed him for another week. Fights with Mum, mainly due to parenting differences, is getting worse. Sigh.

Breastfeeding is still taking a toll on me - painful nipples, blisters and even a little bleeding situation once - so tempted to give up. But I shall now. If I have the supply, I will strive to make this work, for the sake of AJ. I want nothing but the best for him.

TOOK MY FIRST SHOWER IN 8 DAYS.

Pain areas: My bandage came off after the end of Week 1. Paid a visit to Kamaljit for a Week 1 checkup and she said I've healed wonderfully! Yay. All the effort I put in to prevent myself from sweating and infecting the incision paid off. All of John's and Mum's pro-activeness in making sure I don't sweat up a storm, definitely paid off.

To be honest, it feels weird without the bandage now, as thought my fresh wound is exposed to the harshness of the world, vulnerable and ready to be attacked... Okay maybe I'm over-dramatising it a little but it does feel strange. I need to get used to this! I'm so afraid to touch it.

How I coped: I took my first shower (in 8 days!) and it felt.so.good. I feel like a new woman again. To give you an idea, pre-baby I used to bath twice a day, no less, and sometimes more. So going 8 consecutive days without a shower has been nothing short of a miracle for me. It doesn't help that I've got 'sweaty' genes, meaning I sweat up a storm almost everywhere I go in Malaysia (I don't know anyone in my circle of friends who sweats more than I do).

Granted, John wiped me down daily in those 8 days, but a damp cloth doesn't compare to the feeling of having warm water running down your skin plus the smell and feel of soap & shampoo.

I still have difficulty getting out of bed, takes me about 20 seconds to roll to my side and use my arm to lift my torso and upper body off the bed. And each time I do this, my lower abdomen where my incision is, hurts a ton. You know what else hurts? SNEEZING. After my shower, as I was putting on my clothes I let out an involuntarily (and huge) sneeze, immediately causing me to double over clutching my torso. It felt like someone literally stabbed me with 100 knives at once.. I seriously thought my stitches had split open - a visit to Kamaljit proved otherwise (phew!).

AJ's Progress: He's crying less this week. Last week (week 1) we had a fever scare. The no-touch forehead thermometer that Mum bought us kept showing that he was having a fever (hovered between 37.5-38.5 degrees celsius). We immediately packed our bags and made our way to Pantai Hospital. Because it was past 12am, we went straight to emergency ward. He kept crying and crying and the whole ordeal was terrible for us. Coupled with sleep deprivation, we were absolutely shaken.
Luckily, the paediatrician on duty at the time took one look at AJ and said "He's hungry".
I breastfed him on the spot (with curtains closed of course), and true enough he settled down immediately after.
Supposedly, having a fluctuating temperature like that is extremely common for newborns, particularly because their immunity and bodily functions/systems are not yet fully developed and they cannot regulate their body temperatures as well as we adults can.

Other than the fever scare, he's settled down a little bit. A scheduled visit earlier this week to Dr. Yong (Pantai Hospital Paediatrician) shows that he's lost 11% of his birth weight! From 3.28kg down to 2.92kg - which means he's not getting enough food, which absolutely explains his frantic screams and cries the last 1.5 weeks! We were so desperate because my milk supply hadn't come in yet, John drove out to Tesco (on just an hour of sleep - poor guy!) to get Similac (formula milk) for him and we fed him through a syringe to avoid nipple confusion as we planned to still breastfeed him once my milk supply comes in.

By the way, we didn't have a good impression of Dr. Yong - didn't appear dedicated & resourceful, and I had to ask a billion questions only to get either a "Yes" or "No" or a coy smile from him.
We asked Kamaljit for a PD recommendation and we were referred to Dr. Altaf in TTDI.
Paid a visit to his clinic at the end of the week and he's just amazing. His clinic is always packed - and what I really like about it (and I found this to be true of Kamaljit's clinic as well) is that it is a first-come-first-serve basis.
Essentially, you walk in from 9am to 12pm and write your name down on a numbered list which gets cancelled off one-by-one. If you come early at 9am, you'd be sure to get first dibs. If you come too late like past 11:30pm you'd be sure to be wait a long time because by that time there would've been at least 10 people ahead of you waiting to see Dr. Altaf.

Anyway he got weighed and put on 200g in less than 4 days!! Went up to 3.1kgs. We were so happy.

Things to be Grateful for: AJ has gotten back some of his birth weight and is overall a healthy bubs.  Mum is becoming more helpful - she took a one day hiatus and coached it down to Singapore where she caught up with Aunt BL. It was a good break for John and I too - sometimes you need that couple-alone time to get your heads back straight on again. Also grateful for all the well wishes from friends and relatives - we feel so loved and we can't wait for everyone to meet AJ. He's been such a blessing! Grateful also for a smooth recovery. My belly is slowly deflating... I give myself up to week 6 to get back my flat tumtums!

[Weekly Digest] Postpartum: Week 1

How I feel (Overall): To sum it up in one word, hell. When I was pregnant and reading up everything I could on motherhood, none prepared me for this first week. The incessant crying and not knowing what he wants, was not only painful to hear but an overwhelming sense of helplessness also engulfed me. Luckily, John was on paternity leave and could "share" in this pain with me.

We understood from the nurses at the hospital that AJ is still trying to get used to the new environment, new smells and it is normal for a newborn to be crying his lungs out and screaming in the first few weeks, but we never thought it'd be this hard. I eventually broke down and cried to John and he encouraged and motivated me to stay strong.


Pain areas: Incision throbs and hurts. I can barely walk, let alone lift anything. Trying to prevent incision from becoming infected as we live in a humid country and chances of infection is much higher than if we had a drier environment.


How I coped: John, & Mum. These 2 people in my life are God-sent I swear. Recovering from a C-section is not an easy feat. Add to that the responsibility of a new baby and existing responsibilities of having to keep the house clean and for food to be on the table 3 times a day... John & Mum have taken all of that onto their shoulders. For them, I am ever so appreciative <3


AJ's Progress: This first week has quite honestly, been super hectic. All he's done this week is cry, feed, sleep. It's okay.. the first few weeks I know are going to be the hardest.


Things to be Grateful for: A healthy baby boy. Nothing makes us more happy than seeing AJ thrive as he does. The reason our hospital bill came to almost half of what we were expecting it to be was because he was born healthy. No jaundice, no need to be admitted into NICU for any reason. Healthy baby, happy mummy (& daddy!). Thank God.