The Unborn!

Having a Sweet, sweet Dream
YAWNZZzzzzzzz

Boo!

Alan FINALLY got back from Jakarta last night at nearly midnight. He had been there since Monday early morning. *sigh* The poor fella has been away from his little newborn son for the longest time!

Yesterday at around 5pm, Christine, my ex-student from CGS (2001/2002) came a-visiting. :D SHe lives a stone's throw away in Bangsar as well. We exchanged notes about KL living and bitched about life etc. hahaha

Ethan enjoys being told stories to - his favourite is Jack and the Beanstalk and his favourite song whilst being rocked to and fro / put on mummy and daddy's bed is Old Mac Donald Had a Farm :P Now, I can experience childhood all over again!

This morning , our breakfast was a TREAT! We had Mac Donald's!! Yay I had a sausage egg macmuffin and hash brown and a vanilla shake (Oooooooooooo- shhhhhh don't tell the confinement lady!) and Alan had a fillet-o-fish, hash brown and strawberry shake.

For Lunchtime entertainment, and because I have been released from the bars of watching horror movies, we chose a blue-ray entitled The Unborn. Sad to say, it was BORINGGGGGGGGG. Nothing is really scary in the movies nowadays. Anyone has any recommendations for horror movies????

Ethan Tan Ee-Hom (Chen Yi Hong)

Day Six

Day Seven

Day Ten

The Fruitful Weekend

7 November 2009 (Saturday)

We slept in (Ethan included) today till around almost 10am. It is as though Ethan knows it is a weekend and therefore he let us sleep in. hahaha What a warm feeling to have the whole family on the King Sized Bed and all snuggled together :)

After Ethan had had his feed, Alan and I decided to sneak out for a good meal (with the blessings of my confinement lady, of course). hahaha. We headed to Bangsar Shopping Centre and went into Chilis Grill and Bar. I ordered a Mushroom Beef Burger and Alan had (amazingly) fish & Chips. Then, we shared the olala molten chocolate cake topped with a scoop of delicious vanilla icecream. ooooooooooo...

We decided to explore the new wing of BSC but since many shops were not opened yet, we found it wanting... Then, guilty for leaving the Baby at home for so long (3 hours?) we rushed home - the nanny gave me the Evil Eye and announced that Ethan had been clamouring for milk for a while now. :( I am a Bad Mother.

After all was done, Alan and I sat down to watch DVDs.

8 Novemeber 2009 (Sunday)

We woke up early this morn (read: 8+am) and decided to head to the wet market to pick up fresh meats.

Alan and I bought a whole chicken and some pork ribs and pork slices. We also picked up a few items, together with Ening at TMC. And then we headed home for Ethan's feed.

After the serial DVD-watching, Alan and I and Ethan took an afternoon nap together. ;) Alan then packed for his trip to Jakarta the following day. :P

Soon, at 630pm, it was high time we set off for the pasar malum to pick up fresh seafood / veggies and fruits. Alan and I got stuck in a jam going out of the carpark of the shopping mall and Ethan was hungry again when we returned home. My Goodness!

Dinner was bakuteh and afew other dishes that En had put together.

Prayers for Little Tykes

My nephew (Tyler) whose EDD was to be late Nov will emerge and see the world tomorrow at 1130am via C-sec. My younger sister's adomen shares the same fate as mine. :P Little Tyler and little Ethan was conceived at around the same time as well. hahhaha.

Anyway, last night was a miracle (hope I will not jinx things by putting it publicly online). Ethan 'went to bed' after his last feed at 10+, 11pm and then did not emerge in my room until around 530am. He had roused once at 230am to feed again (from the bottle) and Auntie has taken that unearthly-houred shift.

He hungrily fed from 530 to almost 7am this morning, by then I had already fallen asleep countless times. haahah. Alan had had a relatively good sleep as well. Yay Praise be to God!!

Oh yah, Alan had gone to see a geomancer (who is uncannily accurate - she predicted I'd get pregnant this year and also deliver via c-sec) a couple of days back and we discovered that Little Ethan lacks the elements of water and earth in his 8 characters so hence his name was chosen:

Ethan Tan EE-Hom (sounds like wong lee hom? hehe). Chinese name will be Ethan Chen Yi Hong. Quite nice lah rite? haha. I am just glad it's not some overtly cheena pok name he will blame me for giving him for the rest of his life. hahhaa.

The little one is getting stronger and stronger and he kicks and pushes quite a fair bit. He has enough strength to lift his head to follow my voice and also to use his hands to take off his mittens. His poo has changed to a watery yellow (which the Auntie said it's 'beautiful' - I quote, "Hen Mei") - I'm glad he is peeing n pooping well. A sign of healthy feeding. One never knows how much milk he is downing when he feeds from my breast directly. *worries*

Anyway, time really flies and it's already Day 11 of his existence. Sad to say, Alan has been real busy recently and unfortunately has been spending more and more time in the office. He is also slated to fly again to Jakarta shortly. :P What terrible timing. I hope Ethan can recognise him in his later years. :P

On a lighter note, I am more confidently of handling Baby Ethan and don't fret so much nowadays. Just pray that he grows stronger and healthier and puts on more weight!

Battle Scars

pic taken on Day 8
3 Novemeber 2009 (Tuesday)



I had an AM appt with Dr Ravi to remove my stitches and Alan accompanied me there. Both of us sat in his clinic, fighting off the sleep bug. Our panda eyes are comparable to Dr Ravi's though his is for a good cause. ;p I printed out a pic of Ethan to add to Dr's collection.



My battle scar is an approximately 15cm long thin red line running below my bikini line. It has healed rather neatly (Dr Ravi is a genius) - I had initially worried about the c-sec leaving frankenstein scars. All my worries were unfounded.



Dr Ravi also introduced us to a scar-removing gel pack which costs a hefty RM194. It's called Cica-care and supposed to reduce scarring and keloids (something I am prone to getting after a wound). We also shopped in the pharmacy for hot/ cold packs for my cow glands, and bolster swaddles for Ethan and also alcohol wipes for ET's umbilical cord.



After the stitches were removed, Alan and I sneaked into Victoria Station to grab a DECENT bite. hahaha After all the confinement food (pig trotters, pig stomach, pork ribs etc etc) I was craving for some REAL FOOD.



We each had a creamy mushroom soup and a ribeye steak ahahah. Shhhhhhhhh. Eh, my confinement lady endorsed my meal ok...so it's all OK!!



After that ,we headed to Mid Valley to change $ and then I returned home to feed my starving and irate son who had already finished up the store of expressed breast milk in the fridge. :P I was immediately placed on a guilt trip when he looked at me with big soulful eyes which seemed to ask ," Had enough fun? Where were you when I was starving?" and when Ethan heard my voice, he burst out into wails again. boooooohoooooooo.



4 November 2009 (Wednesday)



Ethan is 10 Days Old today. Amazing how time flies. (Actually, more accurately, time flies in the day when he is angelic and crawls at night when he is a cry baby.) haha.



Last night, Alan and I had a really good sleep, however. I had expressed some milk and stored it and because of a bad back, I told the confinement lady to feed him the milk when he woke up in the wee hours. As a result, the poor fella did not disturb Daddy and Mummy at all from 11pm - 330am! Wow.



I didnt sleep all that good though, and had dreams that I was breastfeeding and when I woke up, I found myself 'breastfeeding' my bolster. OMG. The stuff that lingers in the sub-conscious mind....



Ethan also REFUSED to feed at 330am, duly pissed with his mother for not giving him enough attention (AND MILK!) and took revenge by pooping twice and wailing loudly. I had to carry him and sat , away from Alan, on the OSIM chair and both of us fell into a deep sleep there. hahaha. An hour later, I brought him back to our bed where he slept till 8am on a growling stomach! This fella got CHARACTER ah! :P

Ethan's First Visit to the Paediatrician

31 October 2009 (Saturday)

Today is Ethan's 6th day in existence. We have kinda established that he is an angel in the day and a monster at night. OMG. Hope he reduces his wailing ASAP so that my family members and I do not turn into pandas. There are enough animals in the household already!

We brought the little fella to his paediatrician (Dr Lim MK, Gleneagles, KL) today at 330pm because he was turning a little yellow. Dr had said that if he started showing signs of jaundice, we shld bring him to see him asap. So there we were...

Little Ethan slept all the way in the car and only woke up when he was stripped to take his weight. OMG he lost 300g from the date of delivery!!! To think he is drinking quite well too. :P Hope his weight will go up quickly. Jia You Baobei! *mum whips out pom poms to cheer Ethan Boy on!*

Dr Lim checked Ethan and announced that there's no point of concern as of now. Very mild case of jaundice. Nei Nei paid RM122 for that piece of mind and colic drops and some nasal spray. On the way home, Alan Daddy bought icecream for himself and Nei Nei. (NOT FAIR)

Welcome to Our World, Ethan!

26 October 2009 (Monday)

Alan and I packed our bags and left for Dr Ravi's at around 9am this morning. We were squeezed in to see him (since we hadn't made appt) at around 10am (after we got there admist the traffic jams). Unfortunately or fortunately, I don't really know, Dr Ravi did another scan and announced that the aminotic fluid was dwindled and the baby has not put on any weight since the last appointment. At the same time, the umbilical cord was twirled around Ethan's neck and therefore it was TIME (finally) to get him outta there!!! Because the cervix wasn't dilated, we had no other option but to slice open the belly and perform the C-section. Dr Ravi is a busy fella alright but we managed to squeeze in the operation at around 130pm. I was pushed into the OT at around 1+pm and given the spinal block by Dr Suresh. In a few minutes, I couldn't feel my legs and that was when the gloved and prepared, Dr Ravi strolled into the OT. Alan was also scrubbed down and given a blue operating gown to wear.

Then, with Alan's hand in mine, and admist continuous shuddering (effect of the spinal block), Ethan was tugged (literally) outta my womb by the expert hands of Dr Ravi. Dr Suresh helped PUSH my womb also and then SUDDENLY (at 1:49pm) the OT was filled with loud cries. Ethan had ARRIVED! Weighing in at 2.490kg and with length 44.5cm and head circumference 33.5cm).

Dr Lim MK (the pedatrician) then charged in and took charge. He cleaned and wrapped the baby etc and placed him on my chest (whilst I was still being stitched up). Ethan looked like this red little alien thing. ahaha. I looked and saw Alan's eyes tearing up (hehe) but I was too busy shuddering to activate my tear ducts.

The doctor took Ethan away after the bonding session and when I was done and Dr Ravi had completed his handiwork, I was rolled into an observation room and placed there for 20minutes to monitor my progress. BP and all. SHUDDER SHUDDER

When all was well again, I was rolled back into my maternity ward (D311) and Alan was there to welcome me. We waited (impatiently) for Ethan to be brought into my room but it was around 5pm when he came, all showered and clean. :) Because he was a tad (10g) underweight, and his glucose level was a bit low, he was given a supplement formula feed of 30ml. I was worried that he would not want my breast milk after that but thankfully he did not refuse my goodwill gesture :P

The days and nights rolled into one long stay in the hospital, but amazingly, I recuperated from the op very, very well and Dr Ravi allowed me to be discharged after 2 nights only! We left for home at 1+pm on 28th October 2009 and Ethan was introduced to his kingdom shortly after...