Twenty Questions

I know, I know... It's Sunday today, but I'm working on something that's part of Tuesday's Thoughts... But after reading a couple of other mommies' answers to these 20 questions, I want to join in too!!!

1. Was your pregnancy planned, and how old were you?

For Blake, I came home from work one day and told Sean, "LET'S HAVE A BABY!" Haha. I was 23.

For Nakayla, I turned to him and said, "Let's try for baby number two!" :P I was 25.

2. What were your reaction?

Both times, I was grinning from ear to ear. Haha!

3. How did you find out you were pregnant?

For Blake, I was patiently waiting for the day to arrive for me to test myself. Already had the test kits bought and on standby!

For Nakayla, I couldn't wait to test. I tested (and wasted) with so many pregnancy test kits. Always testing earlier than I was supposed to. After 3 months passed and nothing positive came up, I gave up. Then next thing I know, I was late and it was positive!

4. Who did you tell first?

Sean!

5. Did you find out the sex?

Yup. I wanted to know, both times. Haha.

6. Did you have morning sickness?

For Blake, no.

For Nakayla, I only felt a little nauseousness and loss of appetite. No actual vomiting.

7. What did you crave?

For Blake, Chocolate ice cream, fast food

For Nakayla, Chinese food - especially Bak Chor Mee (Minced meat noodles)

But neither cravings were so bad that I had to have it.

8. Who / What irritated you the most?

People who push and shove me, even when I was heavily pregnant. And those who snatch seats from me on public transport! Haha.

9. Did you wish you had a different gender from what you obtained?

For Blake, no.

For Nakayla, I was half-hoping for a boy. But my original plan (like can plan like that, haha!) was elder brother, younger sister. And I got what I originally wanted. And I must say, having another girl in the family is really good! Haha.

10. How many kilos did you gain during the entire pregnancy?

For Blake, I gained about 15kg.

For Nakayla, I gained about 10kg.

11. Where did you think the baby was conceived?

At home, for sure. Hahahaha!

12. Did you have any complications during the pregnancy?

Nothing major.

For Blake, I had spotting in the first trimester.

For Nakayla, I had low lying placenta.

13. Where did you give birth?

Gleneagles! :D

14. How many hours were you in labour?

I honestly have no idea when it started...

15. Who watched you give birth?

Both times - Sean, my gynae and the nurses

16. Was it natural, or C-Sect?

For Blake, Natural with Epidural

For Nakayla, Natural with only laughing gas (nearly died when I couldn't have epidural!)

17. Did you take medication to ease the pain?

For Blake, after giving birth, I took painkillers (tablets) and had a further injection when the epidural wore off in the middle of the night and it hurt like mad!

For Nakayla, after giving birth, I only took painkillers (tablets).

18. When was your child born?

Blake, 9 September 2010

Nakalay, 21 November 2012

19. What is his / her name?

Blake Maximus Wang Rui Xiong 王睿雄

Nakayla Rose Wang Rui Xuan 王睿璇

20. How old is he / she today?

Blake will be 2 years 7 months old in two days time!

Nakayla will be 5 months old come 21^st!

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Saturday Morning Snapshot #4

So not how I expected to spend the long weekend. Post will be up when all this is over. Sigh.


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Flashback Friday #37

15 September 2011: Blake developed a slight fever after taking his vaccination. He was upset that we put the cooling patch on him, but was still in good spirits!




And in line with the new linky, Friday Five, here are my five tips on vaccination/caring for a sick baby:

1. Bring extra plaster to replace the one the doctor pasted after about 15 minutes. It's usually soaked with blood by then!

2. Have cooling gel patches ready for the onslaught of fever! The bigger the patch, the better. The longer it says it stays cool on the package, the better too!

3. If the cooling gel patch fail to stick on, like they are supposed to, use cute kiddy plasters to hold it down!


4. When feeding medication, use a syringe and put it at the back of your child's mouth, aiming for the side of the throat. Remember to squirt in a little at a go. Shooting it all at once might risk choking your child or having your child spit everything out!

5. Let your child sleep as much as he/she wants, but if they are up for food and play, give it to them! :D

Linking up with Mum in the Making:

7am on Saturday

It's 7am on a Saturday morning, and Blake's in his school uniform. Why?! you asked?

Well, Blake and I attended his school's family day for the first time! Haha!

Full story in next entry. For now, mother and son needs a nap... *yawn*

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First Time is Never Easy

The first month after having Blake, I had help. During my confinement period then, I had Sean, my mom and grandmother around to help me - from cooking to laundry to baby duties. But all that ended the moment I moved back home after confinement.

Sean returned to work, and I was all alone. With this.




Blake was a colicky baby. A super colicky one. He cried from day to night, night to day. The loud piercing cries of Blake could be heard blocks away. This I know because I remember Sean telling me he heard Blake crying while walking towards our block. Basically, my memories from those days with him were just him crying non-stop for 3-4 months straight. That, and tons of carrying which grew out muscles for Sean and me. Needless to say, the first 3-4 months was a very trying period for us.

We turned into the living dead due to the lack of sleep, and because of that, we argued a lot; The most we have ever argued in our entire of six years together then.

I remember being very depressed. I had shut myself out from the rest of the world (visible online with lots of rants), and I cried a lot, threw tons of tantrums at the slightest bit of anything.


This was how I ate at home for the first 3-4 months. All I ate were instant/microwavable food.


He would only sleep while being carried


Happiness to me back then was having peace in the house and not having to move to get anything done




Whenever he would sleep, I would try too

I find myself having to choose what's most important to me on a daily basis - eat, shower or sleep. I could not have all or two. I could only have one per day, when I'm on my own. Usually, I'll take food cos I could always take a quick shower when Sean's home. Not being able to shower when I feel icky was part of the reason why I never enjoyed breastfeeding. It's a very messy business for a first-timer, at least for me. Taking a nap would be a huge gamble cos Blake would wake up at any moment. Unless he's sleeping on top of me, it's pretty difficult to get a decent nap. And that would make me even more grouchy than I already am.

I was in constant angst and self-pity. I ever considered throwing myself off the building, with or without Blake, just to be done with everything. Yes, these awful thoughts flashed past my mind more than once.

On one of those mornings when I had that thought, and was very sure I would follow through with it, I called Sean to tell him I could not take it anymore. He had just reached his work place, and he got so worried about Blake's safety and mine, he took an urgent leave and rushed home to be by our side.

I had locked myself and Blake in the room. Blake was, as usual, screaming at the top of his lungs, and I was covering my head with a pillow bawling my eyes out. The whole room was a loud, noisy mess.

When Sean entered the room, the feeling that I felt when he came to comfort me first, instead of attending to Blake, was triumphant. I was actually competing with my own son for my husband's affections unknowingly.

I cannot remember how long it took for Sean to calm me down, and to get me back to sleep before taking Blake out of the room. I only remember that after that day, I still cried whenever I lost it, but never again did I have those awful dark thoughts.

Things got much better after Blake was 4 months old. Along with switching from regular formula milk to goat's formula milk, I had stopped breastfeeding him too, and those seemed to have had a positive effect on his colic. He only cried when he was hungry, fell asleep on his own in whatever comfortable positions he could get himself in, and that's when he began to laugh and smile at us too! :D








The funniest, and I presume most uncomfortable, position I ever caught him sleeping in








Saying Blake's laughter wasn't infectious is a lie. A big fat one!
As the tougher days past, I find myself enjoying the time spent with Blake. I even found him to be quite the trooper! Even when he was down with fever, Blake would still find the energy to play with me. Only when he is really down with something terrible, will he whine and just want to be lying near us, regardless of what we're doing.


Being a first time mother to Blake brought about a couple of regrettable actions which I am ashamed of. I had thought I was well-prepared for what was to come, but I was obviously not. However, thanks to the experience Blake gave me, I am now better at my motherly duties with Nakayla. If not for him, Nakayla would probably go through the first few months with me just like Blake had to. Perhaps this is why I seem to be more favourable towards Blake at this point. Looking at how things were with him then, and how things are with Nakayla now, I think I'm trying to make it up to him subconsciously.

But honestly, I must thank my lucky stars for having Sean in my life. I'm really lucky to have a husband who cares so much for his family, who gave me all the emotional and physical support I needed despite his own need for some back then. I cannot imagine how he lived through that period with the very little amount of sleep he had, and having to put up with all the craziness that is me, and still having to go to work as usual! And the fact that he went along with my idea of having a second child last year, in spite of all that has been mentioned above... He truly is a Superman. My Superman ♥



One is never alone in their walk down a difficult path.
Read similar stories here and find the strength to carry on:

It's Saturday!

After our new IKEA furniture (my new work station!) was all done, Nakayla was sat in her rocker while Blake took his toys out to play. Nakayla loves watching Blake play and enjoys being near him, while Blake happily includes her in his play cos he loves to make her laugh! But this boy is very shy (so the opposite! Haha!). The moment he realizes he's being photographed, he will move away. Must maintain his "macho boy" image, I reckon. Haha!



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Good Morning!

Woke up super early today so that I could go to the post office to mail some stuff, and to buy breakfast home for all my babies. When I came home, Blake woke up! So instead of letting him out of his room, we played in his bedroom. From his bird soft toys to his aeroplane and other playsets to singing ABCs and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Stars... It's been a while since we spent a weekend morning like this, as I'm usually still sleeping. Yes, the early bird in the family is Blake. Haha! ♥


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Mommified

Took a trip down memory lane on how I ended up with where I am now in my life, and I realize that ever since I met Sean, I hardly took a break! Instead, I took many, many leaps of faith! You see, I was never really the kind of person who would study hard for anything. Play hard, yes. Study even a little? No way. I still remember my secondary school mathematics teacher asking me this when I failed yet another maths test, "When will you stop your honeymoon period and start working hard?" Truth be told, I had no intentions of stopping at all back then.

But after being with Sean, I jumped into everything. Before I graduated from Republic Polytechnic in New Media, I was already taking bridging courses at Murdoch University for my Bachelor in Mass Communications. And before I graduated from Murdoch University, I was already working at Mediacorp as a Programme Liaison Executive. And even then, I was still fooling around, though I got every job and assignment given to me done.


Can you tell how happy I was when I got the job at Mediacorp?
It was my first (and only) full-time job, and in the department I had dreamt to be part of :D

I only started to focus a little more when I found out I was pregnant with Blake.


I resigned my job at Mediacorp, and took on a part time job as a New Media Trainer, teaching young students things my facilitators taught me in Republic Polytechnic. I spent most of my first pregnancy time doing something that I found myself to truly enjoy! I even went back to teach when Blake was settled in school, and I was pregnant with Nakayla!

All that aside, I guess I didn't have much to lose back then. I had just started out in the working world, and I did not really have to think too much about the finances as I almost always left it to Sean. It was definitely easier for me to give it all up and become at stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) for Blake. I was very, very lucky.

Now, you must be wondering why I say I was very lucky despite the numerous screaming and shouting to a very unfortunate pillow, and constant ranting online to family and friends who are on my social networks, about how my life is stuck in a rut? Because when I look at these, there is no amount of money or travelling or sleep that could bring so much joy and tears to me at the same time...





















I won't be able to imagine not being present for these moments too!









Too, too precious moments to miss! And with at least one of us staying home to look after the children, taking photos and videos for the one putting food on the table makes things easier. Sean may have missed the immediate moment when it happened, but if I managed to capture them on camera, it's as though he didn't miss anything!

And did I mention the joy of being able to go out when everyone else is working, and have the shopping malls to myself (and fellow SAHM troopers)? That is a definite plus for someone who does not fancy shopping in a crowded place, like me. I could also just pop by Sean's work place to meet him for lunch whenever I could. And one of the things I enjoy as a SAHM benefit - I get to shower whenever I want to!

HUGE disclaimer ahead: It's not all nice and dandy all the time.

I may stall on the housework front from time to time, but I definitely cannot put a stop to any baby duties.

There were times where I was sick, and I still had to get myself out of bed to take care of them. And I don't visit the doctor until Sean's home. There is absolutely no way I will bring the children to the clinic with me, exposing them to germs when they are perfectly fine. And that reminds me of the time I sprained my back while playing with Blake (I got carried away), and I still had to carry him, feed him, and clean him up, until Sean returned home from work. I moved like a baby learning how to walk, but with agonizing pain. There was also that one time, when Sean worked late, I had to literally change Blake's soiled diapers single-handedly, while carrying Nakayla. Don't even get me started on the mess just one child can make. This post will never end if I did. Haha.

Till this day, I still have no idea how I managed to do some of the things I did, but I did it. I did them all somehow. Haha. Staying home for my children definitely made me push myself to limits that I never knew was possible. Even at my fittest, when I was on the netball team, I thought running around the court 12 times, followed by 240 male push ups in one training session, or playing a full day of netball from 7am-7pm, were my toughest days ever. But after being a SAHM, those seem easy-peasy in comparison!


Did this when the "how _____ see ____" meme was all the rage cos I couldn't find any on SAHM!
And as though the children alone were not enough to keep me occupied, I took on whatever paying jobs I could do from home (Ribbons and Tape, La Canine Coupes, and baking to name a few). I even started this blog to remind myself of their growing up!

This whole 'mommified' process was definitely something neither I nor anyone else who knew me back then would ever imagine me to be. So, to answer my teacher's question... Mdm, my honeymoon period stopped the moment I became a mother.


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