Finally...

Finally, the 1 month confinement is done with!! Tmr, we'll be having a celebration to celebration Kiefer's full month. Now that all these are done with I finally get some time to sit down and scrap again!!

Left Kieran at the inlaws the other day and went shopping at PS with Kiefer. It's good to not have an active toddler running around while you try to shop!!! :P Anyway, managed to pick up some scrapbooking supplies :D and thus, I can start scrapping again! I figured I'd probably will have lots of photos to scrap with 3 boys in the house!

Here's one of my birthday 3 weeks ago! It's been a long while since I celebrated my birthday and it was really great. Hubb did all the planning and I got a wonderful pressie from him this birthday! Most of all, I have 3 special boys by my side, celebrating my birthday this year! Happy 29th birthday to me!

All I want is you

Watched Juno yesterday and found that I liked the songs from the movie, esp this one:

All i want is you (Juno OST)
Lyrics from http://www.stlyrics.com/j/juno.htm

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and green
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves


All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a river in the mountains tall,
The rumble of your water would be my call.
If you were the winter, I know I'd be the snow
Just as long as you were with me, let the cold winds blow

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a wink, I'd be a nod
If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod.
If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug
And if you were a kiss, I know I'd be a hug
All I want is you, will you be my bride

Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were the wood, I'd be the fire.
If you were the love, I'd be the desire.
If you were a castle, I'd be your moat,
And if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float.

All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

Kieran is 2!!!

We celebrated Kieran's 2nd birthday yesterday! It wasn't a children's party, was more of a family gathering. Here are some snapshots:

How's Kieran these days?

Kieran is still a little unsure about his little brother. Also as he approaches the great Terrible Twos, he is starting to throw a lot more tantrums. He'll whine and yell whenever things are not done his way or he can't get to something that he wants. However, his tantrums aren't as bad as some kids that I have seen around. I think he just has difficulties trying to express himself.

He has a new "no" now. He will cross his hands behind him, pout and stand there looking downwards. Whenever he does that, we go to him and go "haha" then he'll not be able to hold that stance and start to smile and giggle!! That's the fun little boy that we have!

Reversing...

Kiefer is starting to reverse his day/night cycle :) Yipee!!! But it also means that he is starting to wake at night for milk... urgh.. still I'm glad for the reversal!!

Cluster feeder?

Got this off Kellymom.com. Sounds very much like what Kiefer is doing!!

Cluster feeding, also called bunch feeding, is when babies space feeding closer together at certain times of the day and go longer between feedings at other times. This is very common, and often occurs in the evenings. It's often -but not always- followed by a longer sleep period than usual: baby may be "tanking up" before a long sleep. For example, your baby may nurse every hour (or even constantly) between 6 and 10 PM, then have a longish stretch of sleep at night - baby may even sleep all night.

Cluster feeding often coincides with your baby's fussy time. Baby will nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry, nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry... on and on... for hours. This can be VERY frustrating, and mom starts wondering if baby is getting enough milk, if something she is eating is bothering baby, if EVERYTHING she is doing is bothering baby... It can really ruin your confidence, particularly if there is someone else around asking the same questions (your mother, your husband, your mother-in-law).

This behavior is NORMAL! It has nothing to do with your breastmilk or your mothering. If baby is happy the rest of the day, and baby doesn't seem to be in pain (as with colic) during the fussy time - just keep trying to soothe your baby and don't beat yourself up about the cause. Let baby nurse as long and as often as he will. Recruit dad (or another helper) to bring you food/drink and fetch things (book/remote/phone/etc.) while you are nursing and holding baby.
Does this mean that baby needs more milk than I can provide?
No. Don't give baby a bottle -- supplementation will only tell your body that you need LESS milk at this time, and that will not help matters. Also, keep in mind that formula fed babies experience fussy periods in the evening, too -- fussy evenings are common for all young babies, no matter how they are fed.

The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine spells this out in their supplementary feeding guidelines:
There are common clinical situations where evaluation and breastfeeding management may be necessary, but supplementation is NOT INDICATED including... The infant who is fussy at night or constantly feeding for several hours.

Why do babies fuss in the evening?
One frequently-heard explanation for baby's fussiness in the evenings is that milk volume tends to be lower in the evening due to the natural cycling of hormones throughout the day. However, Dr. Peter Hartmann, a breastfeeding researcher, has said that in the women he has studied, milk volume is not low at this time of day. Even if milk volume is lower in the evening, fat content is typically higher in the evening (particularly if baby is allowed to control this via cue feeding), so the amount of calories that baby is getting should not be significantly different. Milk flow can be slower in the evening, which may be frustrating for some babies.

Doctors often attribute evening fussiness to baby's immature nervous system (and the fussiness does end as baby gets older, usually by 3-4 months). However, Dr. Katherine Dettwyler (who does research on breastfeeding in traditional societies) states that babies in Mali, West Africa and other traditional societies don't have colic or late afternoon/evening fussiness. These babies are carried all day and usually nurse several times each hour.

So perhaps none of these explanations is a complete answer to baby's evening fussiness. For many babies, the fussy time seems to be characterized by a need to have small quantities of milk at frequent intervals, combined with lots of holding, cuddling and movement. Babies who are offered as much expressed milk or formula as they will take by bottle [note: this practice will decrease your milk supply!] often behave in exactly the same way in the evenings. Baby takes a small amount and dozes (and fusses), then a little more, and so on. Perhaps babies "remember" mom being very active during her pregnancy at these times, and want to be held, rocked, and nurtured constantly again.

Perhaps babies simply need to nurse more often at this time -- rather than consume more milk.


Page last modified: 05/17/2006 Written: 10/29/1998

2008 kellymom and its licensors. All Rights Reserved.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Gosh, I'm 29 already. This year's birthday is really a special one for me. It's on the same day as Mother's Day! Also, I have 2 wonderful little boys and 1 fantastic big boy to celebrate it with me!

This month is going to be a month long celebration. Kiefer's born on 1 May, my birthday's 11 May, Kieran's birthday is this weekend, 17 May!! On top of that, Mother's Day is also in the month of May. Poor (or issit lucky, he can't forget our birthdays this way can he?) Hubby has to be the busiest person this month!!

Kiefer is 1 week old!

Wow! time flies by really quickly. Kiefer is 1 week old already! Things at home are good. Kieran is pretty good with his little brother around. He is still a little apprehensive sometimes, but nowadays, he will touch Kiefer, hold his hand and says Hi to him. When he wakes up, he will go to the cot to take a look at his little brother.

It seems that with Kiefer around, it is actually easier to make Kieran take his afternoon naps! We'll go into the room at about 2ish, he will drink his milk, watch some cartoon and when I turn off the show, he may whine a little (only a little), sometimes not at all and just go to sleep. He seems to know not to disturb Kiefer! Of cos, Kiefer is not so considerate. He'll still cry regardless whether Kor Kor is trying to sleep or not!!

I really hope for this 2 boys of mine to be the best of brothers. Kieran has a very good disposition. I'm sure he'll love his little brother. Will have to teach Kiefer to love his big brother as well!!

New addition to our family!!

Labour Pains II

A record of the birthing process in the delivery of our little Kiefer:

4am
Woke up at about 4am in the morning to use the bathroom and felt some fluid coming out. Woke Les up and told him that his baby is coming today. Went into the bathroom and saw blood-stained mucus. Realised that the mucus plug really came out. Tried to go back to sleep, but was a little too excited already. Felt some cramps (i.e. PMS type). Did some rough timing and the pains came every 10- 20mins or so. Tried to get some sleep. So half-sat, half-laid in bed for another hour. Pains were coming in at regular intervals.

5am
Pains came regularly. Couldn’t sleep anymore. Woke up to pack last minute things. Mainly Kieran’s stuff. Went to lie down for awhile till about 6am.

6am
Decided to give a call to Dr Lim. Described symptoms to him. He said to admit to hospital as it sounds like I’m in labour.

7ish am
Finally left the house to send Kieran down to in-laws. He was still sleeping. It was like a regular school day where we leave the house in the morning while he is sleeping.

Dropped Kieran off. Kissed him and said bye to him. Went by the car wash to give our dirty car a good wash. Ate a few bites of subway (should have eaten more, was hungry throughout the labour).

8am
Reached hospital. Dr Lim was already waiting. Did a check and said I was about 2cm. Told him that I didn’t want to go onto the Syntocin drip. He said ok, he’ll break the water bag and let the contractions develop for a couple of hours and see how.

9am
Dr Lim came back in to break the water bag and about 9ish 10am. He didn’t use the instrument this time. He used his fingers. It was the most uncomfortable/ painful (not quite the word either) thing. The contractions slowly built up. As I didn’t want the Syntocin to speed things up, contractions built slowly.

9 – 130pm
Dilated to 3-4cm. Contractions started becoming stronger after noon. Dr Lim called in to ask if I wanted to go on the drip at about noon. Refused it again. He came in at about 130pm to check. Asked if I wanted the pethidine. I said no. But about 1/2h after he left, I asked for it. He said we should have about 2-4h from this point onwards (exactly what he said with Kieran!!)

130-3pm
The contractions built up really quickly from here. I was on entonox. Realised that I couldn’t remember how to use it. So there were a couple of times that I breathed through it too late and it didn’t help in the contractions. As baby really moved low towards the cervix, I felt the need to push quite early. I kind of panicked and the bearing down feeling was worse. I frantically told Les to get the nurses to check. When she came in, she said I was only 3-4cm. That was when I really panicked and started to cry uncontrollably. Luckily Les was there to quickly calm me down. If I were still crying by the time the next contraction came, I wouldn’t be able to control it. And if I started pushing, I may end up with an emergency caesarean!! Thanks Darling again!

At between 5-7cm he started to speed things up by using his fingers to actually stretch the cervix. That part was quite scary too. Each time he stretched it, the pushing sensation came!! But he was really confident that baby could come out naturally. After he did that, the cervix dilated to the 7-9cm quite quickly. I remember him coming in and commenting that he knew it was going to be fast and he didn’t dare to walk away, he was just waiting outside the door!

The contractions started coming in hard and strong. Every time I used the entonox too late or lost my control or couldn’t relax, I felt the bearing down sensation. Dr Lim came in and said I was 7cm then. I was feeling frantic again, because I had 2 more centimetres to go. Had to talk to Kiefer to tell him not to move against the cervix (I think I talked to him earlier when I had the bearing down feeling at 3-4cm, this part is fuzzy to me. I don’t think I could talk much at 7cm already!).

The last 2cm were really quick. Cos the bearing down sensations were coming with each contraction. I had to ask if I could start pushing. When I was allowed to push, it was almost a relief actually, to go with the flow of the contractions.

Kiefer was born with a few pushes. No epidural, no drip, no vacuum. Les got to cut the umbilical cord. I got to see my own placenta!


First thought when I saw Kiefer:
Gosh, he looks EXACTLY like Kieran!

He was alert, looking around and smiling. I fell in love again. I fell in love with this little boy that Les & I created! He is so much a part of us.
It’s the 4 of us now, a new family, again.

What’s different?
I was more alert throughout the entire labour. I could talk cohesively between contractions. I could feel Dr Lim tugging as he stitched me up.
I can walk around quite a bit (maybe cos no drip) and my tummy didn’t feel as painful. Maybe tomorrow it’ll start to hurt.

What’s the same?
I yelled that it stings and hurts when Dr put the anaethestic for the episiotomy. I yelled that it stings and hurts when Kiefer crowned.
The timing cycle seems to be similar. Kieran was born about 1h+ after I asked for pethidine. Looks like my pain threshold is consistent!

Still, when I see his little face, EVERYTHING WAS WORTH IT!!! And when I saw the happy look on Kieran’s face when Les brought him into the delivery suite to see his little brother, I knew that I would love Kieran even more!! Kieran has to be a big brother at 2 years old. That is quite something for him to accomplish and I think I admire him for that!

As for the Daddy of our babies, he’s been my support throughout the labour. I think he was more tired than I am. Having to stand there throughout my pains, telling me to relax and hold my entonox and hold my hand. He also had to follow my “orders” in between contraction as I kept telling him to do this and that in the next contraction. I think we make a good team. Because I could tell him exactly what I needed him to do and that he could understand and help me by doing all the things I told him in those short intervals, we make it through the labour together. I told him to tell me not to squeeze his hands (at first he said, nevermind just squeeze) because it would mean that I am not relaxing, he remembered and told me so. I told him to listen for my breathing through the entonox and remind me to breathe because I realised after a few contractions that when I tensed up, I stop breathing. He did that. I told him to check that my whole body is relaxed, not just my fingers. He did that. He did all these with each and every contraction after which I told him so. Also, I can now rest on the hospital bed, he has to be at home looking after Kieran on his own.

Thank you baby, I love you.
And thank you babies, I love all of you.

The Mummy.
1 May 2008
2218h
Mt Alvernia Hospital