Mummy's solo times with Ethan

Finally my confinement lady is gone on Thurs. The times with Ethan thereafter was tiring.. he was awake more now, and while he's awake, either he pooed lots or demanded for feeds.. or simply just want to be carried..

We brought Ethan to Dr Sim on Friday for his Hep B jab on Friday. He is now weighing 4.65kg, think its a pretty good size for a month old baby.. was proud that he could gain so much despite on TBF. Hopefully as the days go by, I can get myself adjust to the night feeds better and be less tired. To date, my c-section wound still gives me problems and the pigmentation of the rash is still horrible.. I need to look forward to the year-end sales to get working pants for work come Jan when I return from M-leave!

First day out after turning 1-month old..

Happy Birthday PaPa!

It is PaPa's birthday today. Although Caden is still at home, being quarantined from HFMD, he is as chirpy as before, early in the morning, he sang the birthday song in English and Mandarin for PaPa, who has been moved to tears.. however as the day passed by, Caden started to be cranky, crying for the slightest reasons.

PaPa also believe that someone dear to him or himself will fall sick on his birthday, to no surprise, its caden this year but we are glad that his HFMD did not got worsen and full-blown. Mummy has also been quarantined at home due to confinement so we did not get a chance to blow a birthday cake for PaPa.. it will be compensated next year, nontheless..

Ethan's First month's celebration

Ethan first month celebration has been cancelled due to Caden's HFMD. Today, we had a quiet day at home. PaPa tried to quarantine Caden out of the house by sending him to Grandma's house, but he refused to sleep there for his usual afternoon nap. So he's back home in the afternoon. Ethan has no chance to wear his new romper that we bought for him to showcase to the close friends and relatives whom we have invited for the mini-party.

But my mil said that the usual ritual is to be carried out, so we have prepared the red eggs, bathe with the "hong hua" water and had the Ang Ku Kueh (sharp ones represent boys). Hopefully this joyous day mark the beginning of good things to come - like recovery of my rash, speedy recovery of Caden's HFMD, etc.

Hand, Foot, Mouth disease (HFMD)

Caden has been diagnosed today with HFMD by our GP, to our shock. It all started yesterday morning when he came down with fever and we decided not to bring him to school. Subsequently he started vomiting the fluids out this morning each time he drinks. We didn't suspect theat he has HFMD as he usually has these symptons when he's unwell. Thankfully, the GP told us that this is a confirmed case of HFMD as he found small little ulcers at the back of his throat.

As we have scheduled to hold Ethan's full month baby party tomorrow, we frantically started informing all invited guests that we need to cancel the party as there will be too many children coming and we certainly do not wish to pass on the virus to anyone of them who come to grace the event.

Caden still looks fine today, think its still the preliminary stage of HFMD, for this weekend, we have no choice but to sent him over to my in-laws place to separate him from Ethan. Not sure how Caden got the HFMD virus as we called school and they told us that there is no reported cases. We suspect the HFMD will be full-blown in days to come and he will become more cranky.. hopefully he will recover soon again..

Dozed off on the safa this afternoon when watching tv..

Sigh, what a month!

Ethan @ 3 weeks old

Ethan has by far been fed fully on breast milk for the last 3 weeks and shown signs of growth. As I carried him every 3 hourly for feed, I realised that he's getting heavier as the days pass by.. PaPa also told me last night that Ethan's cheeks has become chubbier.. here's his picture taken today.

And how he looks last week - any difference?

Caden's speech development and drawing skills

Caden has been very vocal since he got enrolled into the playgroup. Definitely a good sign as it shows that he has at least absorbed some teachings from the teachers for the past 2 months. Each night as he returned home, he will be talking non-stop to us, about his toys, asking abt Ethan, asking abt my rash, etc, etc.. He has since be able to form some simple sentences and articulate pretty well. And lately, he has been able to identify all sorts of shapes accurately and able to draw them on the newly bought white-board as well! To my surprise last night, he has shown me his drawing of a face which looks like a face drawn by a lil' child - can see the face, eyes, nose and mouth, and even adding hair!

Now, the next step for me is to teach him to spell the colors in his fav barney book. To date, he is able to spell "red".

Mummy's rash

I just saw my dermatologist on Sat to have a follow-up review on my rash. To my disappointment, Doc told me that my situation is one of the prolong cases that he has encountered as I still have new spots showing. He estimated that these will continue for another 3-4 weeks(for new spots to stop growing) and the pigmentation may take up to months and years to clear.. It was quite sad for me to hear that cos I probably will encounter problems when returning back to work with dark patches on my arms and areas below my knee... which also means, that's no way I can get into shorts again.., as skirts can be very much of a problem too.. no medication can help as these are due to pregnancy hormonal change and it depends very much on how my body reacts to them.. also the only solution is to just bear with the sleepness nites (due to the itch) and ugliness in days/weeks/months to come..

Count your blessings

I have more problems surfaced as the days of my confinement go by. My original confinement lady(CL) had been sick due to her menopause and she got a stand-in friend to help me with confinement temporary for a few days after my hospital discharge. However, she called me recently and said she couldn't come to my service as she was hospitalised. This stand-in CL has another assignment to attend come mid-Nov and couldn't finish off my assignment. Anyway, I wasn't keen to have her service due to her hygiene problem. Luckily, my good friend, LF came to my rescue when she helped me to contact her CL and asked if she is available to continue with my confinement come this week. And to our delight, she happened to be available in Nov and doesn't mind coming to help out for the next 2 weeks before my confinement is over.

My pregnancy hormonal rashes is another persisting problem. I have seen a dermatologist last week and he said I belong to the minority 5% of the pregnant women who has it after the delivery of the baby. At this point, my hands and legs and other parts of the body looked like they have been burned to "x" degree and charred. The Doc said that slowly these will fade, it is just a matter of time depending on my recovery rate which varies from individual to individual.. They have been a cause for my sleepless nights due to the itch. I am also worried that I can't recover on time when I get back to work come Jan next yr. For those who have visited me so far stared at my skin condition in disbelief and commented that its really bad!!!

This is how bad it looks on my lower part of the legs..

My C-section wound is still hurting at this point.. hopefully it will go in another 2 weeks time at most, otherwise, I will have to go back to my gynae to find out if everything is ok.

Despite all these that have happened, despite my tiredness from breastfeeding efforts, I am still coping well mentally in this period. I have not had a smooth-sailing childhood, but I have subsequently been blessed with a doting hubby, 2 wonderful boys and constant luck in getting problems resolved.. hence, no matter how bad any problem is, the most impt thing is to count your blessings so that you will enjoy every single bit of life to the fullest...

Mummy's complications

Mummy has lotsa of problems during this 2nd pregnancy and even after child birth. I've experienced a threatened abortion during the first trimester, weight gain issue throughout the whole pregnancy and even rash during last trimester, let alone the usual morning sickness symptoms. Now, despite Ethan has been delivered safely, Mummy has a very horrible rash attack - due to hormonal change, the C-section wound also didn't recover well.. Hence at this juncture, I am not enjoying the confinement period like how other usual mummies may have by having the mood to enjoy good food and great time shaking legs at home..

As we were discussing Ethan's chinese names last night, I was talking to my ah lou abt my 2nd C-section cut, which is abt 3cm apart from my first C-section cut. Was wondering if we are going for a 3rd child, where else can Dr Cheng cut me? In between the 2 cuts?? I was not able to imagine the same area of skin tissue having undergone 3 cut in a span of 6-7 years.. But my ah lou quickly said, "Its ok, we should stop at 2.." Asked why, said that he doesn't want to see me undergoing the same suffering that I have gone through for the previous 2 pregnancies (as Caden's one wasn't smooth-sailing either).

Melted......