The day Zachary was born..

This happened exactly 7 months ago, on the 20th of July but it feels like it happened very recently. Can't believe that 7 months have passed! Was just looking at his photos which were taken when he was born and he has changed so much!

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On the 19th of July, Thursday:

So, SY was right! We told baby that we would induce him and force him to come into this world if he didn't give us any signs that he wants to be out naturally before 20th July. Contractions happened on the 19th July and he was not induced! Read this post on the date we picked for induction.

I woke up at about 9am and show appeared (bleeding). I told SJ that but we didn't have any big reaction; that was a sign that baby could be coming anytime soon. When a show appears, the contraction could take from hours to days to occur. We went to Antipodean, Bangsar for our huge breakfast. It was yummy! I was about to enter the confinement period for one whole month right after delivery, I just had to make sure I get to eat my favourite foods on the day before I deliver.

After our yummy big brunch, we drove to Amcorp mall in PJ because we decided to get a good camera on that day. I have been telling SJ that I always wanted to get a better camera because the current one that we have does not take good clear photos in low light. Told him I 'needed' a good camera to take baby photos :)) and he said, ok! He started to search for the camera model the night before. He even posted that question in Facebook and many suggested Canon G12 and we decided to get that! Found out from the internet that the shop in Amcorp mall gives one of the best prices for cameras. 

I was so happy and in good spirit because we have a new toy! :) Spoke to Dr Choong briefly while I was at the camera shop to explain to him about my condition. I was supposed to go into the labour ward in preparation to induce labour that very Thursday night after dinner. Since the show appeared that morning, we thought maybe we should wait for another few days because natural would be better for both mommy and baby. Asked Dr Choong for his opinion but he said it was entirely up to me. Dr Choong voiced that he preferred me to wait for baby to come out naturally. 

After that, we did some errands; stopped by at the lighting shop to confirm the lights for our new home. At about 2.30pm, I felt a regular rhythm of hardening and releasing of my tummy. It felt like baby was stretching really hard in my womb, which I initially thought it was baby kicks but realized that it was contractions because it occurred on a regular pattern. The contractions were 20 mins apart. I quickly messaged my friends and family members with this new update. My mom was asking me to quickly rush to the hospital because she was afraid baby could be popping out anytime.

We went home to rest. I had a nap but was woken up by the pain whenever the a contraction happens. Had my shower, washed and dried my hair. The Chinese's confinement observes that new mothers are not allowed to wash hair during the one month confinement period because it could cause rheumatism. We packed 4 bags of things to bring to the hospital. It was like we were going on a holiday because we had so many things. We had a bag of food; bicsuits, instant cup noodles and even isotonic drinks which we barely touched when we were in the hospital. I read that we won't be given any food when we were in the labour room and I should eat a little so that I would have energy to deliver the baby. So, the kiasu me packed a lot!

My mom-in-law was so anxious that she advised us to bring our dinner to the hospital instead of having it at home. At about 7pm, my contractions were about 15 mins apart, we had dinner at home and we watched an episode of CSI before we decided it was time to leave to the hospital at 9pm. The antenatal class instructor advised us to only leave to the hospital when the contractions were 8 mins apart.

Reached Pantai Bangsar at about 9.30pm and I was ushered to the labour room. 

Wires were being stuck on my belly to monitor baby's heartbeat and contractions, as shown on the machine located on the right side of the above photo. The nurse or midwife confirmed that I was already dilating and there was no need to induce anymore. Yay!

Just the two of us. Third member of the family would be joining us soon!!!

 In front of my bed was a small little bassinet where my baby would be placed inside when he was born into this world.

After the initial 30 mins of monitoring, I thought I would be transferred to a nicer room with an extra bed. During my tour when I was about 5 months pregnant, we were shown different rooms with an extra single bed for daddies to rest and there were tv in the rooms. I thought those rooms were great because SJ could rest and I could probably distract myself with the tv but I was told that I had to stay in this labour-delivery room until the baby arrives. I was shocked and feeling a little sorry for SJ because he had to sleep on the plastic chair. Tried to negotiate with the nurse that I wanted a better room but was unsuccessful because she said I would had to move back to this room when I deliver which could happen anytime soon.

My plan was to walk a lot while waiting for baby's arrival. I was walking around the room for a bit, stopped in between when the contractions comes and practicing my breathing but when the water bag breaks at about 10.30pm, it was almost impossible to move. Water was trickling continuously and it was so uncomfortable to even move a little. I was advised to just sit or lie down :(

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On the 20th July, Friday: 

At about 2am, when I was at about 5cm dilated, the pain was rather unbearable and I was not able to get any rest with the contractions that I decided to get the epidural. The epidural took about an hour to arrive and the anesthetist told me that I would still feel the pressure of the contraction but the epidural will take the pain away. A catheter was inserted to my back to numb the bottom half of my body and I would not be able to leave the bed at all because the epidural solution would continuously flow into the body. Babycentre explains epidural very clearly: http://www.babycenter.com.my/a542571/epidural

The epidural effectively removed the pain and I could sleep for a good few hours. SJ was sitting beside me the whole time observing the contractions and baby's heartbeat monitor. I was in so much pain without the epidural when the contraction number went to 60 but with the epidural, I could still sleep soundly even when the number went above 100. 

I had a fever at about 4am and I was shaking uncontrollably. I was feeling so cold and my teeth were chattering but it stopped after I had some paracetamol. At about 6am, Dr Choong came in and told me that my baby's heartbeat was beating faster than usual. Baby was in distress and it could due to my fever. At that time, I was 8cm dilated and if I did not reach 10 cm in another 2 hours, Dr Choong suggestted caesarean. 

9am came and Dr Choong examined me and I was still only 8cm dilated. He said he would let me wait and take my time if my baby's heartbeat was not beating so fast but because my baby was in distress, he strongly advised us to have caesarean to get the baby out fast. We agreed and preparation for surgery started immediately.

I was pushed with my bed to the operation theater  This was my 2nd time being in the OT, the first when I had my thyroid surgery in April 2010 but this 2nd time was quite an exciting and happy moment because I was nearing to meeting baby! The hospital staffs were fussing over me, preparing for the surgery that they almost forgotten about SJ. They left him standing outside of the OT. Dr. Choong was about to start when I reminded him to bring my husband in. 

Operation started at about 9.30am and baby came out at 9.49am! I could see the digital clock clearly in the OT and I could see a little from the reflection of the lights above me when Dr Choong pulled the baby out. The moment baby gave a really loud cry, we were relieved because baby was ok! SJ immediately took out the camera and followed the nurses. Our first born, Zachary was born! He was weighed 4.15kg and 51cm tall. I was so thankful that Zachary was a healthy baby.

The nurse brought Zachary to me so I could kiss him before they took him away

Our new precious!

It was love at first sight!

Yay! All good! 

That was 7 months ago! This past 7 months was probably the most special 7 months in our lives. It's really amazing that this tiny little human being could bring so much joy to our families and it such a blessing to have him. I hope I am doing alright as a Zach's mommy. SJ was amazing and very supportive throughout the labour and delivery. He is such a hands-on daddy and he is my pillar of support. I am really lucky to have him! :) I hope Zach would grow up to be like his Daddy. 

Happy Chinese New Year 2013!

It's the year of the snake and it's also Zach's first Chinese New Year (CNY)! His grandparents were more excited than him and we as parents were worried about the fireworks that could cause sleepless nights. My mom bought 3 sets of new clothes for Zach and I was rushing to buy a dress just days before CNY. 

This CNY is definitely the busiest ever with our new house and new baby. We had visitors everyday since CNY day 2 but it was fun. It was really good to catch up with many people.

Zach is 30 weeks old and is turning 7 months old on the 20th February! Zach has learned to sit very well and do his slithering crawl in this past few months; he was basically pulling himself with his hands while his body was gliding on the floor. He is also able to turn over and over again very quickly. We cannot leave him on the bed unattended anymore. Floor is the safest place for him if we need to leave him alone even for a few seconds. Next, to get a play yard so he would not crawl to 'dangerous' areas. His two middle bottom teeth are pretty huge now. His top middle teeth are cutting out now. So are the ones beside the middle bottom teeth. My baby is growing too fast!

Photos of Zach taken during this CNY. I have misplaced my Canon G12 battery charger and couldn't use my camera during CNY :(((( These photos were taken by Iphone4.

Wishing everyone a wonderful snake year ahead! Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Happy New Year 2013!

It's the 4th day of 2013! As I am typing this, I have just spent an hour and a half doing my work in the middle of the night. These work has been super overdue since before Christmas. I have concluded again that it is impossible to do any work from home while taking care of a baby. Also, I'm typing this from my home office on my new desk in my new home!

2012 has been a super special year for me and probably the best year of my life. Never knew that having Z would bring so much joy to our lives, which includes both set of grandparents. This is way above my expectations. The beginning was really tough but as Z grows older, he is such a joy to look at. Maybe Z isn't such a difficult baby and that's why we enjoy having him so much. I think I have said this sentence probably more than twice everyday to SJ; 'Our baby/Z is so CUTE!'. HAHA. And SJ agrees! We are such vain parents! Maybe most parents feel the same way too! I look at Z when he is sleeping and look at his many photos in my phone as well. I have got so obsessed with him that I took more than 3,000 photos of him since he was born and that's less than 6 months!

The second best thing that happened in 2012 was we finally moved into our own home on the 22nd of December! :D This project of pulling an old house down and rebuilding most of it took almost 1.5 years. There were so many challenges in planning and completing this house that there were times I was so worried if we could move in comfortably. So glad that our house turned out pretty well. It's not perfect but we're really happy that we have our own 'nest' now :)

That's the family and personal part of my life. Career wise in 2012, not so good. 2012 is definitely the most relaxed year that I've had since I started the life insurance business almost 8 years ago. I would never take a holiday at the end of the year as it's the closing period but we went to Singapore on Christmas day this year! It was Z's first holiday! I have definitely neglected my fellow agents and response time to clients were much slower than usual. There was a vicious cycle going on almost everyday; I would take my laptop out in the morning but could not open it at all during the day because I was so busy tending to Z and the new house. Then, I would keep telling myself I would catch up on my work at night after dinner for a couple of hours. By the time we finished dinner, I would be so worn out that I told myself that it's pointless working with a tired mind and I need my energy the next day because I cannot sleep while the baby is awake. So, I would tell myself, 'tomorrow lar'. Of course tomorrow comes and it goes in that cycle all over again. There were times I was quite depressed about it and I would be so irritated and annoyed. When I was angry and annoyed, the person that I would blame and be angry at was SJ. Really poor SJ. He has been really sweet, as always to just accepts it calmly. There's good news, my agency has growth compared to 2011 even though I did not work as much. I guess my team is more independent than I thought and could possibly work better without my presence.

I always love the beginning of the year. New year, new beginning and new hopes. It is always exciting to plan because I'd have something to look forward then. 2013 is going to be the year that I am going to focus on my career. I did not work much since I got pregnant. I told myself that when it's time to rest and appreciate the changes in stages of my life; being pregnant and a new parent, I should really enjoy those moments. I hope I could make 2013 be the best year in my career but I know its not going to be easy to juggle between raising a baby, managing a home and building a career. So much to do! Thinking about it gives me both excitement and stress! The first week of January is almost gone! :S 

Here wishing everybody a wonderful 2013 and may 2013 brings lots of laughter and joy! 

Z is 21 weeks old and he has TEETH! :D

As I am typing this, Z just had his feed about half an hour ago and he is fully awake. He must be thinking that it's morning now because he has been sleeping for so long. Z goes to bed at 7pm every night since he was about 7 weeks old but we feel he sleeps lesser recently. Can't believe that he is 21 weeks old now and growing incredibly fast. I wished that I have a slow down and rewind remote control so I can slow down and rewind to watch those many beautiful moments that I have witnessed over and over again.

He is now talking baby language to himself or at his mobile in his cot while hitting his feet on the mattress  trying to get our attention. He has not started crying or making the fussy 'ngek ngek ngek' sounds yet, so we're just going to leave him there so he could sleep by himself. SJ is doing a great job as a daddy; sitting beside the cot to make sure he is ok and trying to coax him to sleep.

Z is so heavy now that my arms hurt when I carry for him a little too long. The last time we weighed him at the pediatrician was when he was 7 weeks old and he was 6.4kg. I believe he should be around 8 to 8.5 kg now :S

Can you see Z's two front teeth? 

We noticed Z's bottom two front teeth popped out on the 1st December. It can be visibly seen on the 6th December that we took a picture and announced in our Facebook. SJ & I are so excited for him. Most people commented that he is growing extremely (or maybe too) fast and my mom thinks he is really matured. My colleagues deduced that it could due to the high calcium that he gets from my breastmilk as I am taking calcium magnesium supplements even before I deliver until now. Usually babies would have their first tooth cutting out after 6 months and boys' growth are usually slower than girls. So, Z is really quite fast. We gets shock or surprise looks most of the time whenever we tell people how old is Z now. Most thought he is 3 months older than his current age.

So much to record and I have a almost 5 months worth of things about Z to record here! Things are very hectic and busy at the moment as we're preparing to move to our new home next week. SUPER YAY!!! *am jumping with joy while screaming with joy inside!* The house was abandoned for more than a year since we bought it in 2010 and the renovation works were almost 1.5 years. Really so glad that we're finally moving to our own place. I can't wait to unpack all our things, start organizing my things and decorating our home :)

Am going to stay up a little while to get some work done. I am going to end today's post with a sneak preview of our new home.. taken a nite this week. We loved the lightings!!  Thanks to our wonderful architect for all her suggestions & ideas :)))))) Have a great Sunday everybody!

We survived the first 8 WEEKS!!

Baby Z is 8 weeks old as of last Friday. This photo was taken last Friday, 14th Sept 2012. These 8 weeks were probably the most challenging and overwhelming 8 week ever but it has been so rewarding. Seeing baby Z growing day by day gives me such great fulfillment that the pain that we went through seemed to disappear when we look at him. 

Baby Z went for his check up with Dr. Eric on 5th Sept at 7 weeks old and I was so proud that he is growing well. He was 6.43kg and 62cm tall. He was in the 97th percentile of the USA growth charts for boys. SJ predicts that Z is going to be huge and really tall. I just hope he won't be too tall and we have to custom make all his clothes and bed! :S

So much to update and there are so much things to do: house renovations is almost done! We're all so excited because we're moving to our very own home really soon :)))))) We applied for a Filipino domestic helper and she has arrived on the 15th Sept. We will pick her from the agency after we get her medical report results next week. I went back to the office for the very first time last Wednesday. Felt good to focus and concentrate on what's happening in the office for a few hours without any baby cries interruption.

Photo taken with Ah Mah on 10th July 2011. 

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On a sadder note, my dearest Ah Mah (paternal grandmother) passed away today, 17th Sept 2012, Monday at 7.20am. She was 88. Was nursing baby Z when I received a phone call from Uncle Fabian at about 7.30am that Ah Mah had some difficulty in breathing and probably took her last breath at about 7am. The moment I heard that, a cloud of sadness came over me even though I have been anticipating this moment for quite a while. Ah Mah's health condition has worsen so much in this year. She couldn't recognize me since few years ago; I had to remind her my name every time I saw her and she would remember quite easily. She has been calling SJ as Ah Fung for a while. I was probably the grandchild she remembered the most because I was the first grandchild that she took care since I was a newborn followed by my sister. We spent a lot of valuable time together at home when my parents had to work. I was very clingy to Ah Mah and slept in the same room as her. She told me many bedtime stories that I still remember until today; Yung Ka Mah - the name of a woman who eats little children and a story about a pretty genie/spirit that appeared from banana trees. I didn't know any standard Cinderella bedtime stories or nursery rhymes until I started kindergarten. I could still remember the times when I was a little girl, Ah Mah would walked me and we sat at the bus stop watching cars passed by probably for hours because I was bored/difficult at home. Things were simpler (no ipad or computers) and definitely safer then.

Ah Mah was a very strong woman; single-handed brought up 3 kids as a young widow as her husband passed away when my father, being the youngest of 3 was just a baby. From what I gathered, she had a very tough life being a woman in her era. She was denied of any education just because she was born as a girl; she had 2 brothers and these 2 brothers were sent to school back in the 1930-40's and they were all university graduates. My grand uncles were lecturers in the university and spoke fantastic english while Ah Mah was illiterate. She had to slave over her brothers at home because her family thought that she would be married off one day and would benefit the husband's family instead. But little did my great-grandma know that in her dying days, it was Ah Mah that took care of her instead of her successful sons. I have heard stories that Ah Mah was arranged to marry my grandfather during the Japanese occupation and after my grandfather passed away, Ah Mah worked as a rubber tapper to bring up her children. If she had some form of education, her life would have been so different. 

Ah Mah was a quiet simple lady and she had brought up all her children to have these traits: understanding, friendly, kind and patient. These are the similarities that I noticed in my dad and my uncle and aunty. She realised that education is important and all her three children, including her daughter had the opportunity to study. Ah Mah hardly had any health problems; her blood pressure and sugar level has been good all these years until age started catching up on her. Ah Mah lost her independence about 5 years ago. She had a fall about a year ago and had to be wheel-chair bound since then. She lost so much weight and began to lose her mental capacity. First, it was the memory, followed by the ability to speak. Ah Mah stopped speaking since beginning of this year and it saddened me so much when I looked into her huge eyes knowing that she could quite hear and understand me but couldn't express herself. The last time I saw her was before I deliver, in June and I broke into tears when I saw Ah Mah's body was restrained to the wheel-chair with a cloth because she could not sit up and kept slipping down from the chair. It was then I knew Ah Mah would be leaving us really soon. 

It is really sad that Ah Mah didn't get to meet Baby Z, her first great grandson. She would be so proud of me. I thought of bringing baby Z to meet her when Baby Z is older, at about 6 months old. The only way I console myself is that Ah Mah wouldn't be able to recognize or know baby Z anyway. One thing for sure is when Baby Z is much older, I'll definitely tell him a lot about his grandparents and family history. I want him to know his roots and there are many important people with colourful history that came before he was born.

Ah Mah will be deeply missed and may she rest in peace. 

Hello! This is Zachary ;)

I would like to introduce my son, born on the 20th July 2012, Friday at 9.49am, birth weight of 4.15kg. I am so thankful and grateful that we have a healthy baby boy! Motherhood has been fantastic so far, even though it was such a huge struggle at the beginning. Looking forward to see him grow up. Posting a few photos here & will update this journal later on the birth and the start of my parenting-breast feeding journey.

At the hospital, new Mommy and Baby Zach! 

Day 2: Eyes closed

Day 2: Eyes open!

 Day 6: Sleeping like a boss! 

Day 7: New Daddy with Baby Zach 

Day 10: He was smiling so broadly after his morning feed. This is my favourite photo so far! ;))

We're so EXCITED that we'll see baby soon!! I'm 41 weeks pregnant tomorrow!

These photos were taken by Jay at my baby shower thrown by my wonderful childhood girlfriends on the 3rd of June 2012. Will blog about this fun filled party another day.

This post is probably the last entry before baby is born because tomorow at this time, I'll be in the hospital. SJ is taking a day off tomorrow to accompany me so we'll spend some time together before the 3rd member that forms our very own family unit joins us on Friday ;) We will have a good relax day tomorrow and I'll get admitted tomorow night after dinner. Then, inducing of labour will happen on Friday morning and we'll meet baby on Friday evening! :D

I have organised almost everything at work today and I promised my assistant that she won't be seeing me again for another month or so as baby will definitely come out on Friday. She kept getting surprises from me appearing in office and she asked me today whether do I feel any pain or discomfort as I have past my due date. I told her I am feeling good, just heavy and big; I even drove to office today.

Came back home and called my confinement lady to finalize the ingredients to buy so she can cook for me when I discharge from the hospital this weekend. I have tidied and packed our things to move to my parents' for confinement. Here are pictures of my confinement room:

SJ set up the portable baby cot few weeks back and we bought a storage shelf from Ikea to temporarily store baby's items during confinement period. The room has two single beds; one for me and another for my confinement lady. We'll be moving to this room right after I discharge from the hospital; which should be Sunday or Monday afternoon. 

The day that we have been waiting for months is finally here! It is quite hard to believe because I used to think that the day baby will be born is very far away. I used to worry so much that sometimes I could get so negative and worried that this day would not come.. but it's finally here! SOOO HAPPY!! :)))) SJ asked me whether would I miss being pregnant since I have been carrying this bump with me all the time for so many months. Baby has been accompanying me in everything I do on a daily basis for the past 9 months. It is quite hard to believe that 41 weeks have passed and I think it would take me a while to get used to not having a huge bump and the kicking sensations in my tummy. Well, I guess if I missed it so much, we can always go for the second baby ;)

Realizing that baby is arriving also gave me a realization that our lives are REALLY going to change forever and there is no turning back now. We are officially responsible and in charge of another human being's life for a very long time. Suddenly felt a little stressed and pressured that I need to plan better and be focused. I guess it's a good positive change. We're growing up and we have a new title now: PARENTS! I could still remember the time when I was discussing with SJ the pros and cons of having children before we decide to get pregnant, and at that time, I viewed parenting as a job or a thing which can be measured and weighed. But now I have a completely different viewpoint of parenting; you cannot measure the love you have for another person, my child! I'm looking forward toward bringing up the being in my womb into this world and to show him all the wonderful and beautiful things in life. I feel that my life and our lives as a couple is complete with the arrival of our newborn. Can't believe that we've created a life together and it's truly a miracle.

Baby coming to this world on Friday! Life is beautiful!