Blessings from Above

yes, thanksgiving is still a long way from now but as i sit and enjoy the new love in my life, i can't help but feel blessed. so today, i'm going to give thanks to the many wonderful people in my life. i give thanks mostly to the Lord, for a relatively easy pregnancy. i did not suffer all the discomfort associated with being pregnant. in the first trimester, i was just mostly tired. i slept through the first few weeks - never actually 'suffering' from nauseousness, morning sickness or the likes of it - i just hate my regular toothpaste. in the second trimester, i had more energy. i spent my days shopping and preparing for the arrival of my love. i ate and slept well. in the third trimester, things slowed down for me - i worked lesser but smarter. work was smooth sailing at most times. i give thanks for not putting on too much weight and whatever i gained mostly went to my new love. i give thanks to birthing a healthy and beautiful baby. i give thanks that i suffered n

this is princess @ 2 weeks' old... :) on a good night, she will sleep 4 hours straight after one feed... on others, she will wake up every hour and 'demand' to be nursed. i have to produce at least 70ml of milk every two hours to satisfy this constantly hungry baby or allow her to latch on for 20 mins minimum or put up with her incredibly loud wailing. i can't understand how someone so small can be so loud? yet i get immense satisfaction knowing that she is thriving from whatever little milk i am giving her - indicated by the number of soiled diapers DH and i have to change every day (she's already using the 3rd pack of diapers we've got) and her weight gain. for that alone, i shall endure all the pain and soreness and persevere in breastfeeding her until she no longer wants to be breastfed. on a side note, i can fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans oredi! :)

see what joy she is!

our little princess is 09 days old... :) isn't she just adorable? on monday, i woke up with my whole body aching... by mid-day, i was having a fever... it went up all the way to 38.8 degrees... all because of engorgement. before i went to see the lactation consultant, i set out to do some shopping online - i bought some Goat's Rue (that is supposed to help improve the milk output), nursing tea (for the same purpose) and a Ameda twin electric breast pump. i am not going to give up breastfeeding my princess because of some pain. the lactation consultant gave my right breast a good massage (which hurt like hell!) and sent me to see my OB for the fever. i spent 4 hours in RH, mostly waiting, before getting home @ 1930 hours. i was prescribed medication (a double-edged sword - too much of this medication will cause the milk production to cease permanently) to help with the engorgement and was told to take panadol for my fever and body aches. this 'suffering' made me grouc

its almost a week since my dear princess made her grand entrance - my day/nights are now topsy turvy and for the next few months, i will NEVER have the opportunity to sleep my regular hours (10pm - 7am) again. yet, i can't complain; she's such a joy - i love it when she smiles, enjoy her blissful expression she finishes feeding and when she stares at me in the quiet of the night with her big, beautiful eyes. i promised to share the story so here it is... as per doctor's orders, we admitted ourselves to the hospital on the morning of 09/04/07 @ 7.30am, after each having a plate of bee hoon and nice, cold drink @ the foodcourt on level one. on admission, i was immediately strapped onto the CTG machine to monitor princess' heart beat and my contractions. dr. appeared @ 9.30am (he was supposed to appear @ 8 plus!!) and seeing that i was only 1cm dilated, he made arrangements to induce me with pitocin, after breaking my water bag. the "unbearable" wait then b

a photo of dear princess taken today for now... will share the birth story when i can think straight... :P

D-day is almost here... up 'til now, dear princess still won't make her grand entrance even after we "bargained" for a few more days. dr tan will not allow us to wait beyond tomorrow so we'll have to be at the hospital tomorrow @ 7am for the induction process (dr tan says she'll be out by lunch time!). honestly, i am having mixed feelings; slightly disappointed because i had hoped that i'd be able to birth dear princess naturally without the use of any drugs, extremely elated because we are finally going to meet our dear gal! * however, i am still holding on to the hope that she will choose to make her entrance BEFORE dr tan injects me with pitocin tomorrow * DH finally relented in letting me go out and get my hair cut and my brazilian wax done yesterday! hehe... and since i was out, i did more shopping for dear princess... i finally bought her some toys... and also a receiving blanket from Ralph Lauren coz ms kwekie complained that bb gals should not bro

in another 2 days, i'll be 40 weeks pregnant... obviously, its good that i've reach full term without any hiccups so far but i'm also getting worried. dr tan is not about to let me wait out for natural birth to happen. he deems it is 'medically necessary' to induce me this thursday because i have lost 1.2kg in the last two weeks and he's concern that its either because 1) the placenta is not working well or 2) the amount of amniotic fluid has decreased. this is despite a normal CTG done today @ his clinic and princess putting on another 1+kg bringing her estimated weight now to 3.2kg. sigh... i've been hoping for a TOTALLY drug free birth and its becoming seemingly impossible now. i will have to return to the clinic on wednesday to do another CTG in order to delay induction to next monday. princess claire, you have TWO days to make your grand entrance so please... be a good gal!