Carine's Full Month Party

Doesn't It Look Familiar?

Yesterday was Carine's Full Month Party. It was a pretty long day and we had lots of guests. Imagine we catered a buffet for 95 people! The night before I told Celest about the party that we will be having and there will be many people. I asked her to be a good girl and be on her best behaviour. I was much excited about it and had slight diffculty in falling asleep. Come morning, I went for my haircut. It certainly feels good to have someone to wash my hair clean when all I did for the past 1 month was to use the herbal water to wash only. Felt refreshed & 'younger' with the new look, even hubby commented that I look good with it at night. Keke.


Celest & Her Many Faces...

Soon, the boxes of cakes from Melrose arrived and the Getel cheesecake as well. Was very glad that they offered to cut the cake into smaller pieces as during Celest's time, we had abit of hardtime cutting it nicely. The people from Le Xin arrived at 12pm to set up the buffet table. It was getting busy and I didn't really have time to eat the lunch that CL cooked. I was also too excited to eat..Hehe. I dressed up Celest and tied up her hair. She behaved well that day and the dress she wore made her look very cute & demure.

Guests soon started to come in and things got underway. It was great catching up with friends and i got ample time to talk to everyone. Celest even got a gift also from father-in-law's colleague. Very nice of her to remember Celest who bought her a Barney bag & stationery/books. She was very happy and kept holding on the bag for her dear life.

Carine didn't have much chance to sleep as many people were looking at her. She's the Star attraction mah and was very good as well. Haiz, I forgot to take pictures of Carine on her big day, not to mention with mummy. Halfway entertaining, I found Celest not around in the house and thought one of the relatives had brought her downstairs to play. It was after sometime that I realised it's been far too long. Only when I asked around, I realised that Celest went to Gillian's house to play. She was so happy there till she did not want to come back. Gillian had to bring her over with some tricks.

The food was pretty good with the exception of the dessert and Lo Han Chye. The dessert supposed to be Cheng Teng but got too much sweet potato that it looked like a sweet potato soup instead. We over catered abit and had the relatives to take back some food home. Cleaning up was tiring man and all of us slept early.

Super Eyes & Ears!

Hubby was telling me that we can consider training Celest to be a shooter already. She has very good eyesight man. From our house, she can spot an aeroplane or helicopter and told us correctly be it at night or daytime. Sometimes, she would point to the wall, telling tell me that there are ants crawling on the wall man.

These few days whenever Carine cries, she would go and tell the CL that 'baby cries, eh eh' etc. Sometimes, she was the one who heard the cries first before anyone else.

Labour Of Love

I am now in my 3rd week of confinement and we will be holding Carine's baby shower this coming Saturday. I was too lazy to start up a new blog for Carine and even thought of writing it on Celest's instead. Oh well...

My labour pain started on friday night, 29th August, when I was sleeping. It didn't really hurt much and it seems to me like a dream so I was non-chalant about it. In the morning, the contractions started coming in at a more frequent interval and greater pain. I started recording down the timings of each contraction.

Late in the morning, I called up the clinic to seek some advice and they asked me to go down for a CTG scan, which i didn't go ultimately. In the afternoon, the interval was still quite distant, around 45 mins to one hour. My in-laws came to visit us and we were supposed to have dinner together. Because of my pain, I told my hubby to excuse me. We ended up having "take-away" and my last meal before my delivery, "Hokkien Mee".

When night falls, the intervals started getting shorter but still fall short of gynae's 5-10min interval. It was getting more painful each time my contraction came which resulted me in not sleeping. It was until 3am+ when I decided that I need to go to hospital. We asked our parents to come down to look after Celest. Actually, before this, we were in a dilemna over to go hospital anot, for fear that it will be a 'false alarm'. It will be quite embarrassing for me if that is the case. Another reason is also because of my hubby who kept saying that he don't feel that I am giving birth so soon.I got up to pack finish the hospital bag and did some preparation while waiting for them to come. Hubby was still telling his dad that I don't have the look of giving birth when we were leaving the house.

In the car, I was praying hard that it won't be a false alarm also. At the admission counter, we were brought straight to the delivery ward where the nurse checked on me. The midwife did CTG scan and showed that I had irregular contractions. She then did a VE check and she told me that I was 3cm dilated already. The VE check was quite painful man as my gynae didn't do any before this preferring natural.

I was then given enema to flush out all my poos and changed into their green robe. I was then brought into the labour room. I was like har? 3cm dilated. now in the midst of labour. I asked the midwife if i can go home to wait till there's more dilation etc but she said #2 usually will be faster and she do not wish to see me giving birth inside a taxi.

Contractions! / Hubby's Resting Corner

Wonder of Epidural

I was brought to labour room 3 and strapped to the CTG again so that we can be sure baby's heartbeat is ok. The contraction pain was getting more painful and came with terrible backpain. I had to get grab hold of the metal bar tightly and hubby helped to massage my lower back each time the pain comes. The nurse kept asking me if i wants the epidural but i decided to wait till Dr Paul came before deciding.

Now became a waiting game and hubby even got the time to go out and ate his breakfast Wonton Mee @ the opposite coffeeshop. I didn't really sleep much due to the pain and hubby's massage on my back..Hehe. The nurse mentioned that usual standard is 1cm dilation will take 1 hour, but my dilation goes real slow. Imagine at 9am when the gynae came, it's only 4cm! He said that he would break the waterbag to speed up the dilation but the pain would be more intense. I asked him how long more would I have to wait and when he mentioned at least 5hrs more, I agreed to the epidural instantly. Also, he said the epidural will help to relax my muscle inside so that it will be faster to dilate as he said that my muscle was very tense up inside.

The epidural doctor was actually his brother Philip who came around 10am+. I was afraid of epidural as I heard that they would use long thick needles to poke. Anyway, Dr Philip must have been very frustrated with me as whenever he tried to poke my back, I fidgeted. It's not due to the pain but more of ticklish. Or maybe I was too tensed up.

I had a hard time trying to relax myself and kept trying to think of things to distract me. I thought of my flying days, the Japanese briefing we had in the cabin, the meteor shower that I witnessed in the dark sky while on flight etc... Finally, I asked him if there's any more needles to poke and he said that he's done already. Hehe.

Next came the poking of needle for the IV drip. This is more painful as lots of nurses/docs have said that it's quite hard to find a vein to poke the needle in. The 1st poke wasn't successful and Dr Philip had to poke again the 2nd time. The 2 sites became swollen and bruises man after that & the 2nd epidural doc asked me why did the 1st epidural doc poke at the 1st site. It was blissful after the epidural kicks in. Before that I was still worried that I would move my body when the contraction came but Dr Philip helped me to breathe through it.

Now I understand why during the antenatal class last time, the instructor said that the husband must know the breathing method as the wife usually all gets panicky whenever the contraction sets in. I can't even remember any of the breathing method! The nurses dimmed the lights then to let me have some sleep. 2 hours later at 11am, my dilation was still at 5cm only. Hubby was saying that there's a young couple who came later than us but they have already delivered their baby boy and the father was outside watching the baby being weighed etc. The room wasn't really sound proof as I could hear screamings and nurses talking next door. It makes me afraid of what's going to come later.

Dr Paul came at 1pm+ again to check on me and said that there's no progress on my dilation. He ordered Oxytocin to be administered to speed up the dilation process. Hubby looked at the CTG chart and said that I just had a big record-breaking contraction but I told him that I didn't feel anything. Wonders of epidural!

Halfway through, the nurses came and asked me to breathe in some oxygen. They didn't explain much but i feel frightened and scared as I knew there's something wrong with the baby. Later they told me that, the baby's heartbeat had dropped alot and that's why I need to breathe in the oxygen so to give the baby more air. I started to worry and I breathe in the oxygen as deeply as possible until they told me that the baby's heartbeat is back to normal. Phew!

At 3 pm+, Dr Paul came and told me a bad news. I was 6/7cm dilated then but everytime there's contraction, the baby's heartbeat seems to drop and get distressed. He believed that something seems to be preventing the head from dropping into the canal. He said it could be the cord etc, & he suggested c-section then. He was also afraid that my previous c-section wound can't take the pressure & rupture. I was very upset upon hearing this as I wanted to do a natural badly, be it for the faster recovery, lesser cost, chances to give more birth later etc...Not to mention, I know hubby will definitely whined on the excess $ needed for the emergency c-sect now etc..bla bla bla. 12hours of labour came to nothing. Haiz.

The nurses started to prepare me for the surgery, shaving etc. They topped up my epidural and it was another doc who came as Dr Philip couldn't make it. I was wheeled into the OT and things proceeded very fast from there. Hubby came in very soon after that and Dr Paul began his work immediately. I was already in a daze from the effect of the morphine? epidural? As soon as i felt nauseous, the epi doc injected the 'antidote' into my IV drip which made me more sleepy. Soon, I felt the familiar tugging, pulling and pushing. Wa-la, little Carine is out @ 5.05pm. We managed to take some family pics before the baby was whisked away. It was damn fast as compared to the previous experience, probably because I already had the epidural.

At the Labour ward, I was still thinking if I want GA as I am afraid to go through those panicky feeling again. My stupid hubby even said that he doesn't want to come in. Reason being he was lazy to change into those 'OT suit'. Wa Kao, I needed his support the most and yet he said this. So disappointed man.

Just Born / Tears Of Joy

Getting Tagged

Dr Paul stitched me up and I was wheeled back to my room soon after that. Our room was 511 and it was a pity that we didn't manage to stay in their newly renovated room. My father-in-law and Kian came to visit but I was too dazed and sleepy to greet them, except for the vomiting. This time round, my side effect was vomiting and itchiness. I vomited throughout the night and my back felt terrible coz of the itchiness. It felt hot and i couldn't sleep. I got hubby to use a towel to scrub my back for me. I kept complaining to the nurse that the room's very hot, believing that the aircon is spoilt. Even got them to put an extra fan for me. I guess it must be due to the itchiness that i felt that as the next days when the itch gone, the room didn't feel so hot.

Taking Height & Weight

@ Home With Baby

Discharged from hospital. Day 6

Celest was very excited with the baby at home and she liked to be with her "meimei". Whenever the confinement nanny opened her bedroom door, Celest would rush into the room to see the baby. We had the door closed as we worried that Celest would wake Carine upfrom her sleep.

So now, whenever Celest sees the confinement nanny walking back to the room, she would run ahead of her and wait at the door. In the beginning, as soon as she woke up, she will mention about baby already. Sometimes I dread about Celest being at home as she has a very loud voice. Carine always got woken up with Celest's talking/ singing/ playing with toys etc. In the end, all of us ended up not having sufficient rest. When we tell her to be more gentle when playing toys, lower her volumes etc, she would somehow do do the opposite! Arggh.

Very bad peeling.... Day 9

Day 7

Celest had running nose and persistent cought for the past few days. We had a hard time separating both sisters apart and we had a few incidents of Celest sneezing/ coughing right in front of Carine's face! I was praying hard that Carine's immunity is strong enough to withstand the germs.

Out of the blue, Celest begun to fuss about becoming a 'baby' too. She would ask us to carry her like a baby & 'sayang' her etc. Whenever she got the chance to get into the baby's room, she will climb into the baby cot and sat there. The 1st time when I saw this, I thought it was amusing but subsequently it became irritating.

Meet The Parent/Teacher Session

Today was the scheduled session for Celest and hubby met up with Celest's teachers at the childcare centre. The purpose was to update us on the progress of the kids for the past few months etc. The teacher told us that Celest was generally very well-behaved in school, with not much crying spells, tantrum etc. She's even sort of a discipline mistress. Eg: When Alden was sent to the 'thinking chair' and he left the chair without permission, Celest would tell the teachers about it. She would also tell Alden to remain seated on the chair. Celest is quite well-liked by the teachers in the school. Haha. I was thinking that they seldom see her 'bad' side man. But the teachers do noticed that she wasn't as bubbly and happy since the birth of Carine. Think I must pay more attention to her liao and hopefully Celest will be back to her usual self sooooon.

Mid Autumn Festival 2008

We did not really celebrate much this year due to my confinement. We didn't even get a lantern for Celest although my mother-in-law got her a "Barney" lantern. I felt guilty about it as this year would be a very fun year since she is more sensible now. I was glad that she managed to go for the school's West Coast Park outing in celebration of Mid Autumn. Hope she had a good time eating and tasting the mooncakes etc. I initially volunteered to bring the teochew yam mooncake but due to my confinement, I missed the deadline to bring it to school. Luckily, they called me and asked me to bring a pomelo instead.

Meeting Carine For The 1st Time

My Cheeky Little Girl!

Celest came to hospital on Monday to visit me. That was the 1st time that we met since I was admitted to TMC on Sat midnight. She was delighted to see me and kept calling Mummy. Hubby was saying how much he missed her the night before. He went to bring the baby over from the nursery and that was the first time the sisters met each other. Suddenly, there was a buzz as everybody want to have a look at the newborn.

Believed that Celest staring to feel the 'threat' as she had a worried look, according to hubby. He said that he went to carry Celest to assure her that we still care about her. Soon, Celest began to warm up and wanted to touch the baby. When baby was pushed back to nursery, Celest wanted to follow her "meimei". Departure was a difficult moment as Celest refused to leave. We asked her if she wanted to see baby and she replied "yes". Only then she willingly followed my in-laws out of the door. According to hubby, they had a hard time getting Celest to leave the nursery area and she ultimately left, crying badly.

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