The accidental mum of three

Jared's ambition

2009-03-08T15:53:00.002+08:00

Out of the blue in the afternoon earlier, Jared said "I want to be a farmer."

(@_@)**

WHY?????????

And it was all because he wanted to drive the tractor...

Kids.

So I said to him, I didn't want him to be a farmer. And being quite silly myself and because Barney was on, I said "I really don't want you to be a farmer. I want you to be Barney."

This was met with the most interesting reply.

"But I can't be Barney. Look, I'm not purple!"

:)

And they don't tell you much what happens to your BODY after...

2009-03-07T17:52:00.002+08:00

This entry is going to deviate from the norm.

So, seriously, someone should write in ALL pregnancy books 'What to expect AFTER you have kids'.

My body has somehow changed to what it wasn't like before. To quote a dear friend during a lunch meet last week, she said that whenever she looks at herself in the mirror, there's the greatest urge to 'bish' herself. Well, the same goes here.

I seriously dread looking at myself in the mirror, with clothes or without! There are bulges every where, loose skin, wobbly bits and the worst of the lot? My south-going boobs!!! No one ever told me before I had children that after you stop breastfeeding, your precious orbs go south! I can't 'encourage' ;) it to come back up north. It simply follows gravity and heads where I hate it to. If anyone knows of some exercises where I can get them back nice and perky, pleasssse, I implore you, do share!

Though I know that I ought to exercise and exercise caution to the amount of food I take and the kinds of food I eat, it is no doubt a difficult task. Reducing the amount of food, I can. Exercising has gotten me though. With three kids to handle, I simply do not have the time to go to the gym or go running with GG like I previously could. So the plan now is to resume my gym workout, but we'll just have to bring the boy along with us. We plan to exercise, and he'll stay at the sitting area to play with the cars/trains or read. Someone ought to run a gym place with some kids' corner. That'll be a hit with parents who are hardpressed to find time to go exercise.

So for now, I'll just try to eat less and exercise by lifting the kids and running after them in the park (weather permitting) or pay good money to 'exercise' with them at Fidgets.

By the way Jaime, I'll be trying extremely hard to show as much perseverance as you have! :)

Dec 06 Toddlers' Gathering

2009-02-26T00:41:00.008+08:00

It's been so long since I last wrote in my blog. Much has happened and today, I'm suddenly overtaken by this urge to enter some entries and photos.

Last week, I met up with some of the December 06 mummies and their toddlers. Most of whom I've met previously except Lillian (with her very handsome Ewan) and Sylvia (with beautiful, tech-savvy and soft-spoken Regina).

Kei (with Mandy and Barry) and I (with Nat) were the very first ones to arrive at New York New York so we managed to 'chope' 2/3 of the high chairs available (there were only a pathetic THREE) in the WHOLE restaurant: not very child friendly isn't it?

So anyway, this was what happened after both todds were done with their lunch...

I think Mandy will be the better waitress. She was ernest in cleaning and took initiative to clean the chair even. Nat was just too distracted to do a proper job...

Even though I've owned this camera for about 2 years, I still don't know how to take nice pics with it. Under this lighting, most of the images appeared blurred.

Cute cute Barry! But where did all that 'stylo-milo' hair go to??????? KEI! WHYYYYYYYY?????

Mandy with her 爱心牌 stir-fry thick vermicelli.

Tech-savvy Regina taking pictures. She was really pro for a tiny todd. I regret not taking of picture of Natalie trying to take pictures. She was really 'orhbit'! Put the camera at her forehead to take... Oh dear! Have I raised a bimbo???

Chubby and cute Annette taking pictures too. And note that she's also doing it the CORRECT way.

Little miss sunshine Annette.

Regina and Nat were born on the same day. Any resemblance??

The Girls-only Circle of Friendship. Poor Ewan was left out...

Doesn't Annette look terribly sweet with that smile of hers? We all love, love, loved it!

Nothing to do whilst the adults were chatting, so Mandy sat at the ledge and soon, all the girls followed suit. Cuteeeeee!

Except for the same kinda hairstyle, Nat is NOTHING like the sweet and gentle Regina. However, no matter how feisty she is, she'll always be my little darling and I love her all the same! MUAKS!

Recharged!

2008-12-11T12:40:00.002+08:00

I read in a magazine, 'Forget the post-sex glow, it's now the post-sleep glow!'

And I'm on a post-sleep glow now because Cadence is now able to sleep through the night, I've got a new haircut that I adore (GG and Jared doesn't though...) and yesterday, I met up with my msn kakis for a long dim sum lunch and a karaoke session. God! I seriously can't remember when was the last time I sang a tune in a karaoke joint. And we were able to carry out adult conversations sans kids! Like Jamie said, we were speaking just like how we speak on msn too! 你一句我一句, not sure who's listening to who just we just yakked on! Such fun!!! I think we absolutely have to do it more more often.

Lots to say

2008-11-21T10:20:00.002+08:00

I've so much I want to say yet have so little time these days.

I've so many pictures I've uploaded, yet all become saved to drafts because I have so little time...

It is at times like this that I wish I hadn't had kids yet and can relish all the time I have to myself.

A heartbreaking moment...

2008-10-29T00:48:00.006+08:00

There will be no pictures for this post.

Of late, Jared has been rather trying yet at the same time, somewhat sensible. And because of this weird phase that he is going through, it puts a toll on his caregivers as well. Namely, me, GG and my mum.

We were leaving my mum's place for my home just now and Jared didn't want us to go. I opened the bedroom door and came out, Natalie followed suit and Jared was in the room still but wanted to close the door. Upon seeing that Jared wanted to close the door, Natalie retaliated and pushed it back. She was naturally not strong enough and Jared insisted on pushing the door and shutting it. So there they were, creating a huge ruckus with one wanting to shut the door and one wanting it to be left open. Natalie yelled and cried, Jared simply continued pushing with all his might.

I told him very nicely (in the beginning) to stop his act but it fell on deaf ears. Then it got to a moment when Natalie almost fell off that I really raised my voice and shouted at him.

"WILL YOU CUT IT OUT AND STOP PLAYING WITH THE DOOR???!?!?!?"

He simply stopped and pursed his lips as he so often like to do these days (looks really horrible by the way).

"I'VE TOLD YOU SO MANY TIMES NOT TO PLAY WITH THE DOOR. AND NATALIE IS THERE. DO YOU WANT HER FINGERS TO GET CAUGHT???"

I then pulled/yanked him away from the door rather forcefully and sat him on the mattress. By then, after shouting, I kinda cooled down slightly and told him that I had no wish to shout at him and that I did not understand why he simply did not want to listen to my instructions.

All this while when I spoke to him, his back was facing me. So I turned him round and saw that his eyes were red and that he was trying his best to hold back his tears and he was starting to sniffle. I then put him on my lap and told him that I had no wish to shout at him at all. I also explained why I shouted at him, why he shouldn't keep pushing the door against Natalie. And while I was explaining to him, I was tearing and when I finished with my explanation and told him to hug, he turned around, buried his face in my chest then started bawling.

I can't describe how I felt then. It was a mixture of guilt, sadness and anger all rolled into one.

He is only three this year. How sensible was I expecting him to be? And I'm not sure if it's the hormones or something but I get short with him so easily. I snapped at him when all he wanted to do was to come close and kiss his baby sister, I scolded him when all he wanted was for me to carry him because I've not been able to do so for the longest time.

It is at times like this I wish I had just one child. Then, I'd be able to devote all my time to him and not subject him to divided attention so soon. This is not to say I don't love the girls and regret having them... Things just happened too quickly, too soon...

He is starting to be able to display his unhappiness by sulking and moving away to a corner now. The only good thing is, he tends to forget it quickly enough and I always make it a point to explain to him why I reacted the way I did. We also don't leave the unhappiness lurking around so after I calm down and he does too, we'll hug and kiss.

I've so much to learn as a parent and much to pray for later: patience, more love and to be more level-headed.

Sept '08 Mums and Babes Gathering

2008-10-28T16:39:00.011+08:00

Recently, I brought Cadence to attend a gathering to meet the rest of the babies her age group. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about going since she shouldn't be exposed to crowds because she has not taken her jabs yet, plus, I'd have to travel to Bishan with her myself since GG was at work. After much contemplation, I decided to go anyway since I do so wanna meet the rest of the mummies and put a face to the nicks.

The gathering was scheduled for 1-ish and I kinda planned to wake early enough (at about 11), so that I can bring Cadence over to my mum's and bathe her there and prepare everything before leaving the house at about 12 plus to either take a cab or mrt (was really gearing towards the former). However, on that day itself, I woke up at 1.30pm!! I quickly fed Cadence, packed, changed and was gonna rush out when GG phoned to ask me where I was! Thank goodness for his phone call. Well, in the end, he came home and joined us in the gathering. So that saved me much agony of carrying Cadence and her bag of stuff.

Some pictures we took at the gathering.

The babies and mummies were all labelled for easy identification. Clever ya??

The mummies told me that Cadence doesn't look that small for a preemie. I must say I was initially worried that she'd be like the tiniest there despite being one of the oldest. She slept throughout the whole gathering and didn't wake up once despite some of the babies wailing away. She must be well-trained by Jared and Natalie at home!

That's all of us at the gathering. I wonder when we can all meet again. Perhaps when the babies can flip?

Cadence's pretty booties!

2008-10-28T16:02:00.010+08:00

My friend Betsy learnt about me giving birth to Cadence and knitted a pair of booties herself and gave it to Cadence. It's the prettiest pair of booties I've seen so far. So, I think the whole cam-whoring thing and took pictures of put it up here.

That's the name of her shop. Cute name right?

Here's her shop's email address and telephone number. Betsy, are you reading this? Free advertisement for you!! :)

For a bigger and better view. If you find this familiar, it's because she was featured in Sunday Times' Lifestyle a couple of months back.

Sooooooooo pretty isn't it??? Love love love!

Tried it on her last night, but it didn't seem to fit her very well. Think it's not tight that's why it fell off. Still! It's very pretty. Maybe I'll make Cadence wear socks first before putting on the booties. :)

Natalie's pretend play

2008-10-24T16:01:00.011+08:00

Boys and girls are just different and you can so tell it even at this tender age. I mean, Natalie has an older brother and though she does play with his trains and cars at times, her favourite play thing is still pretending to make milk to feed her elmo/cookie monster soft toy. How very cute!

So recently she's taken to using this large elmo hankie to wrap her cookie monster. Her hankie is rather multi-purpose. Depending on what she'd like to do, it can become (1) a bib (2) a cloth diaper (3) a hankie for cleaning mouth and (4) a blankie. She's rather creative isn't she?

Just the other day, I had my camera with me and managed to take some pictures of her changing cookie monster's 'soiled' diaper. Forgive me for the lousy shots coz whenever she noticed me with the camera, she'd dash to my side and insist on looking at herself in the LCD screen on the camera...

Lifting cookie monster's feet up like how I lift up Cadence's feet when I change her diaper.

Errr... a rather good attempt. I think she changed her mind halfway and decided that the hankie was a blankie instead.

That's her trying again.

Ok! Done! And up comes cookie monster.

Motorshow outing @ Suntec

2008-10-22T16:38:00.019+08:00

I know it's way overdue... But better late than never right??

Immediately after my confinement and Singapore's very first night time F1 race, we went to Suntec for the motorshow that GG so wanted to bring Jared for. I've seriously never seen Suntec that quiet before. Anyway, all the better for us.

I look like a beach whale, Natalie's all grouchy and Jared's plain wacky.

Natalie really doesn't smile much...

Like so loving hor???

Jared got all excited when he saw the miniature racing cars. BOYS!!!

Contemplating which design to get once GG gave him the go-ahead to buy one.

Yellow it shall be!

They were blasting music and girls were dancing on the platform. This Natalie, upon hearing music, started dancing away! Didn't manage to take any videos of it but I snapped one really cute picture of her though.

Getting ready to dance awaaaay!

So cute isn't she?? Cheeky look!

Jared joining in to dance.

GG scrutinising the wax on the car then deciding that he can do a better job himself.
Natalie got rather restless and tired...

Singapore's first female F1 racer perhaps?

We went to Kenny Rogers to have dinner afterwards and met into some friends. Was so nice to go out and have fun after being confined in the house. NO MORE CONFINEMENT for me anymore! YAHOOOO!!!!

Tired...

2008-10-22T00:36:00.002+08:00

Sometimes I am just soooo tied down.

For the longest time, I haven't really had any me time. I've a long overdue pedicure that I don't know when I can go for, a much desired full body massage I so wanted since my second trimester, a good haircut coz my hair's so long it's sweeping my butt when I take a dump... The list goes on.

I seriously wonder when I'll get my turn to do all of that.

I do so wanna look nice and pretty on my birthday next week.

Cute!

2008-10-19T02:01:00.002+08:00

My current favourite picture of the two of them!

WHY?

2008-10-17T18:50:00.003+08:00

Yesterday when I was preparing to bring Jared out, he asked for me to carry him. So I told him plainly that I couldn't carry him because it'll hurt my tummy. To which he said, "Is it because you cut open your tummy for Cadence to come out?"

Woah! That was unexpected. I said to him, "Yes. That's why I'm still healing and I can't carry you."

Then came the inevitable 'WHY' questions that he is now soooooo fond of asking.

Jared: "Why pain ah?"
Me: "Err, coz they cut me open with a knife?"
Jared: "Why cut with a knife?"
Me: "For Cadence to come out?"
Jared: "Why she wanna come out?"
Me: "BECAUSE SHE CANNOT STAY INSIDE FOREVER?"

And I distracted him with sweets to stop him asking for the time being... Oh, please don't say I'm a bad mummy for offering sweets to get a temporary respite from his incessant questioning!

When we were at the petrol station the other night and he was whining to follow GG out of the car, I had to tell him it's smelly outside, that's why we had to stay in. That opened up more reasons for him to ask questions.

Jared: "Why must stay in the car?"
Me: "Because it's so smelly outside."
Jared: "Why smelly ah?"
Me: "Because of the petrol smell."
Jared: "Why is petrol smelly?"
Me: "Because there is a chemical in it that makes it smelly."
Jared: "Why is the chemical smelly?"
Me: "You wanna eat my new sweet?"

ARRRRRGH!!!!!! I simply can't answer all his 'why' questions!!!!!

'Homework'

2008-10-10T20:11:00.010+08:00

Confinement was boring. Thankfully the kids kept me quite occupied and also I had GG's camera to play around with.

Took pictures of Jared when he came over with my mum.

I didn't want him to spend his time doing frivolous things so I told him to do 'homework', to which GG chided me and said 'homework' is so off-putting - I should term it 'activity' instead. OK!! So I engaged him in some 'activity'.

This was what he did.

He followed the dots and drew the curves himself. The initial curves were done sooo nicely. Then it just got worse... Anyway, I was quite impressed already. It was his first attempt afterall.

He also tried drawing the circles but they were really off!

Jared dancing away.

Going home shot.

More of Cadence

2008-10-10T19:14:00.014+08:00

On the day I was to be discharged, I broke down and cried so badly in the hospital because I couldn't leave with Cadence who was still in NICU. In all, she stayed 9 days in intensive care.

But her stay in the hospital also meant I needn't be cooped up in the house! Thankfully it was the one week school break so I had GG to fetch me to and from hospital. So after going to the hospital to deliver my milk and to breastfeed her there, I'd go jalan jalan with Cadence and ate outside food. SHIOK!

Cadence without the help of oxygen on the second day.

Cadence and I. This is in the room where mummies like me could breastfeed the babies. When I learnt that I could finally carry her, I was overwhelmed with indescribable emotions. Strange huh? I had to breastfeed her and made sure that she was able to latch properly in order for her to be discharged. Of all three kids, she's the one who could latch the best! I absolutely did not feel any pain at all. Maybe it's because she mouth is real small.

GG and Cadence. This was also the first time he carried her.

Her stay in the hospital bought us some time to prepare the house for her. After we brought her home, it was still quite easy for us coz she slept a lot. So since I had time at home, I took pictures of her.

This is Cadence when she was about 3 weeks old... I think. Can't remember now.

Her favourite pose. I read in a book that says when they pout their mouth into an 'O' shape, it means they are surprised! Not sure about what though...

She's struggling to stay awake after her bath.

Cannot fight the ZzzZz monster any longerrrr.

Jared loves Cadence very much and wants to kiss her all the time. At least he knows that he has to be gentle, unlike Natalie.

Jared carrying Cadence for the first time. He was thrilled. We were not.

Can see Jared's eyelashes?? Sooooo long hor?

This was taken last week. So she was 5 weeks old.

"Excuse me daddy, please remember NOT to use the flash on me!"

FRUSTRATION!!

2008-10-10T18:48:00.001+08:00

I absolutely can't stand this blogspot!!! The paragraphing never comes out right no matter how many times I edit this! Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong??????

And then there was the birth story...

2008-10-10T16:39:00.007+08:00

I believe I truly am THE PROCRASTINATOR.

But...

I do have a VERY VERY GOOD excuse.

My stupid Acer laptop keeps shutting down on me. I'd be using it halfway and the screen would go black. How irritating can it be?? Anyway, I've now resorted to using GG's laptop. That is, until I get my new one!

So... the birth story.

It was pretty dramatic considering that I had two relatively easy pregnancies.

On 27 August, Wednesday, my parents and the kids came to visit as usual. And it was on that day that Jared made the 'prediction' of Cadence's birth weight. So while I was happily chatting away with the kids, Dr Sim came by for my routine checkup. I think it was about 3.30pm.

So there I was on the bed, telling her about how Cadence was moving quite a lot and such. She put her hands on my tummy, felt around and said 'I think we cannot wait much longer. I may have to deliver you in the next 48 hours.' OK... I can do that. At least I was prepared. Then... she put her hands on my tummy again, pressed it around, looked at the CTG result and said 'No, I think I'll have to deliver you later.'

What???!?!?!

I wasn't prepared the least. I mean, I hadn't even thought of a Chinese name for Cadence yet!!!

I honestly was very very ill-prepared because for the previous two births, what I did was to select a date, then pack my bags prior and on the day itself, stroll into the hospital and wait around to have the operation. And there I was, in total shock from hearing that I had to go for the operation in 2 hours time!

My reply to Dr Sim's words was only 'Orh'.

After regaining some composure, I tried again.

Here's a simple transcript of our short conversation:

Me: We can't like wait until next week?

Dr: I don't want to be unable to give you a baby.

Me: Orh... (in more shock)

Just before she left, she told the nurse to go and book a slot for the OT and the earliest available was 5.30pm... So that left me like 2 hours to be prepared.

After Dr Sim left, my parents came back in and they were as shocked that I had to deliver on the day itself. But my parents were rather worried about my complication since Dr Sim told them I could DIE, so they were like better that I deliver soon.

The next thing was to contact GG.

I called him on his mobile but I wasn't really expecting him to pick up coz I knew he was in a class. And I didn't know the number to his school... The best I could do then was to leave him a message 'URGENT. PLEASE COME HOSPITAL ASAP'.

Strangely though... I picked up my mobile and got connected to the MSN so that I could inform my MSN kakis!

So after breaking the shocking news to them, they were rather frantic as well. Then asked if I had managed to contact GG. To which I really hadn't been able to. So Kei asked me which school he was in, and she googled his school on the web, then called his school for me!!!

Kei said when she called the school, she told the receptionist that Gregory Goh's wife was in labour and told her to inform him ASAP. The ever helpful receptionist in school then made a Public Announcement over the school's PA system and told GG to go to the General Office immediately.

Thankfully I kinda warned him beforehand to expect the unexpected so while having lesson halfway and upon hearing the message, he quickly went to his mobile phone and saw the missed call from me and the URGENT message I sent him. He told his students he had to go off, packed, went to the GO then called me back.

By the time I managed to speak to GG, it was already about 4.10pm. He asked me if he should come to the hospital right away or go home first. Luckily he mentioned it coz I wouldn't wanna miss recording Cadence's birth or not be able to take any videos or photos of her. So I told him to go back home to pack the essential digital stuff and also my nursing tops and disposable underwear.

On his way home, he messaged me and asked what I thought of the name 'Kai Xuan'. I must say that initially, I didn't think much of it. It was only after I delivered then I started to think that 'Kai xuan' is such a meaningful and apt name for Cadence. Coz after her discharge from home, we can celebrate 'Kai xuan gui lai'! (A triumphant victory/return). Befitting right??? He was smart to think of the name. But I hardly think he knew the meaning.

So anyway, I was to be pushed into the OT by 5pm and by 4.45pm, there was still no signs of GG. He only reached at 4.50pm. At least there was some time to spare.

Shortly after I changed and showered, I had to go into the OT. While being pushed to the OT, I once again (as did previous times) cried and told GG to say a little prayer for me and Cadence. I think he wanted to console me and allay my fears. But it kinda turned out sounding wrong...

Me: I'm so scared. *sniff sniff*

GG: Aiyah, nothing to be scared lah. Third time already.

Me: *rolled eyes*

YA!!! I KNOW IT'S THE THIRD TIME! Precisely why I'm so darn frightened coz I know of the pain that's coming MY way!!! NOT HIS!!!

Anyway, he probably was just as nervous so I didn't make a fuss of that.

In the OT, operation didn't start promptly coz Dr Sim did not want to proceed until Cadence's PD was there (Dr Kumar from KinderClinic: he's the PD for all three kids).

Once I was given the anaesthetic, I was knocked out and Cadence was born at 1808hrs.

GG told me he didn't wait long this time. The only difference is this time round, he wasn't able to hold Cadence in his arms immediately coz she was put in this breather thing to help her breathe. But he did say that she was wailing pretty loud and clear. Shortly after he saw her, she was brought away to NICU. At least he was there to accompany her.

That's ugly me! Texting away informing friends about me going away for op.

Cadence crying away after she was delivered.

She couldn't even be cleaned up of all that goo and had to be put in the case so that oxygen can be given to her. The tube in her nose stayed there for about 10 days before it was removed. It goes all the way into her stomach and in the initial days of her birth, she was tube fed.

Finally quiet after the bout of crying.

After I was awake from surgery, I couldn't see or hold Cadence in my arms coz she was in NICU and I was on the drip and catheter. I only saw her on day 2. And even then, I could only touch her coz she was hooked up to all those things on the machine. Quite a painful sight and the worst thing was to see that she had needles in her tiny hand...

That's me post surgery and the first time I touched her. Couldn't carry her though. Tiny isn't she?

Jared's 3rd birthday

2008-09-20T21:43:00.015+08:00

I'm gonna deviate from the hospital saga and give an update about the rest of my life that is happening. Otherwise, I'll forever be backlogging...

So we had a mini celebration of Jared's birthday on 1 Sep Monday. He knew it was his birthday because everyone in the house kept reminding him of it and we also called him on the phone to wish him a 'happy birthday' since we couldn't spend the day with him (had to go to the NICU in Mt E to deliver milk to Cadence then).

He chose his own birthday cake. No prizes for guessing what design it'd be...

He picked this from the Polar cake brochure. I tried to sway his choice to a somewhat nicer design but he had his heart set on this already...

We went to my mum's in the evening and after dinner, he kept asking for his birthday cake. When we finally brought it out, he was the happiest!

My poster boy! Nice smile there right??

Before we brought out the cake, I told him that after singing the birthday song, he would have to make a wish. However, before we finished singing the song, he already blew out the candles and couldn't wait to cut the cake!!!

Nat just as excited as her brother.

Jared wanted to eat Thomas's face...

I kinda choked while singing the birthday song. Blame it on my post delivery hormones but I was feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. My boy is THREE! And I've three kids!

Pressie time!

Jared posing with his birthday pressie.

He sure is one happy boy! I really like his smile!

He tore apart the wrapper in no time... It cost GG $1.20 per piece and we had to use 3 pieces. Why did we even bother???

Thomas and friends set complete with Bulstrode. His current favourite.

GG set up this for him and he had a fun time playing with it.

Next, we'll be looking forward to Cadence's full month celebration, my 30th birthday and Natalie's 2nd birthday!

The '20-10' story

2008-09-16T00:26:00.003+08:00

Cadence was born on 27 August via emergency caesarean at 6.08pm weighing 2.010kg.

Before I go into more details about her birth, I absolutely have to tell this '20-10' story. Do the numbers '2010' look familiar? It's because, that's Cadence's birth weight as recorded (refer to picture above).

On the afternoon of 27 August, my parents brought the kids to visit me in the hospital (as usual). The highlight of each visit for Jared and Natalie was the food. For Jared: sweets that his father buys for me and for Natalie: my tea time food - croissants, cakes, sandwiches, etc.

That day, I didn't really want to let Jared have any sweets since my mum mentioned that he already had one in the day. So to distract him from asking for sweets, I told him that I'd only give him the sweet if he could count to 30.

The sweet-toothed boy immediately started on his task.

For some odd reason, when he counted till '14', he skipped '15' and went on to '16'. I caught him at that and said "Uh-oh, nope. You have to start all over again because you missed '15'." Without so much as a delay, he started counting from '1' again. He actually counted in the cutest fashion. I simply can't imitate it here and I haven't made a recording of it. Well, if I were to try to describe, it involved him bobbing his head up and down with each number he counted, and a cheeky, dimply smile!

So he started counting for the second time and when he reached '14', he once again, skipped '15' and went to '16'!!! What was the matter?? Again, I said I wasn't gonna accept that so if he really did want the sweet, he would have to re-count again.

And, so he did.

This time round, I really didn't have the heart to make him redo the whole thing again should he fail to count '15', so when he was reaching '14', everyone started reminding him that he ought to count '15'! Geez!

Thankfully, he got the obvious hint! And sucessfully got through '15' and went on to '20'. Then he counted '21', '22', '23', '24', '25', '26', '27'... All the while when he was counting, his eyes were darting here and there, looking at me for approval, giving us his cheeky smile. He actually got through to '27' all on his own and then when he was supposed to say '28', he paused, went "errr" '28?' then went "errr" '29?'.

Everyone in the room was waiting eagerly for him to say '30'.

He didn't!

After saying '29' he paused again, went "errr" and said '20-10'!!!!

He said 'twenty-ten'!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAHAHHA!!!

We all broke out into an uproarious laughter, to which when Jared saw us laughing, laughed out loud too.

It was truly hilarious. I thought he knew how to count to '30'!

So that's the '20-10' story! It's like a prediction of Cadence's birth weight.

After my surgery and when florence woke me up, the first thing I asked was how heavy Cadence was. She immediately told me that Cadence was born weighing 2.010kg. Even in my coma like state, I wondered why they bothered to mention the '0' figure at the back of the weight measurement. I thought it was pretty redundant. But then now you see, these things happen for a reason. No?

So when I got to know that Cadence weighed 2.010kg, I immediately thought of Jared who said '20-10' in the afternoon! It was so coincidental. And there I was, just woken up from my drowsy sleep, and I was already recounting Jared's '20-10' story to the nurses, much to their amusement. (Later on when I went back to the clinic for the one week checkup, Florence told GG I was talking so much after she woke me). And after a GA, I was not even able to speak properly, but there I was, retelling it to anyone who bothered to listen!

It is perhaps not that much of a coincidence that Cadence was born looking absolutely like Jared when he was an infant and even has dimples like he does, on the same side!!!

Presently, I can't really imagine how Jared would look like as a girl... I can't wait for Cadence to grow some more and soon, so that we can all see their resemblance.

The Great Escape!

2008-09-10T16:07:00.002+08:00

If I still do not finish up with my hospital 'saga', I'll never never be able to blog about anything current!!! And my friend Kei actually sent me a message to ask me to update! Hehehehe. What better joy to have a waiting reader!!

So, here goes...

I was admitted into hospital on a Thursday. On Saturday, I was wheeled in a wheelchair to Dr Sim's clinic. Then on Sunday, when Dr Sim came to see me, she said I was to go for another checkup on Monday (at 12 noon) to see if baby Cadence's weight had gone up. She specifically instructed for GG to go along as well because she needed to discuss the next course of actions with us both. So after conveying Dr's instructions to GG, he decided to take leave on Monday to see Dr Sim with me.

So after my normal routine, I fell asleep and woke to have lunch. However, I had a really really strong craving to eat Ajisen Ramen's volcano ramen that day. So I told GG about it. The intention initially was for him to dabao the ramen to me in the hospital. But then he slept in late that day, and reached the hospital at 12.30pm.

Once he reached the ward, the nurses told us Dr Sim was ready to see us, so told us to walk up to her clinic (she needed to see if I could maintain a good bp with normal activity).

In her clinic, we did the scan and found that bb Cadence was about 2kg. So that was a good sign. So we basically had to observe her movements in me then and decide if she needed to be delivered early.

Soon, we were able to leave the clinic. On the way out, my tummy growled and I told GG that I still had the ramen craving... And he said he hadn't had his lunch yet, so... hehe!

While we were on the way out, Florence and Doreen were also on their way out to lunch. So they casually asked where we were going, to which silly GG said 'She wants to go Taka for lunch.'

Pengsan!!! How could he tell them??

Of course the nurses were like 'huh? how can? cannot cannot. must go back to the ward immediately' blah blah blah. So I just went 'orh orh orh'

But can you understand how I felt?? I was in hospital since Thursday and had hospital food for all three meals!!! That's like 4days x 3meals = 12 hospital meals!!!! CRAZY!!

So the ploy was: GG would go to my ward and drop off Dr Sim's notes to the nurses. I stay at Guardian pharmacy to 'shop shop', GG comes back and we'd walk to Taka together for lunch!

I suppose he was rather hungry so he left quite quickly after our little discussion. By the time I remembered that I wanted him to bring my mobile and wallet along, he had disappeared.

Well then, off we went to Taka. To tell the truth, I was really afraid that the nurses would get rather gan jiong that I wasn't around so I told GG that perhaps it was a better idea to dabao the food back. But he was famished and when I saw the food right before my eyes, I really couldn't argue otherwise...

A little while after we placed our orders (done so quickly), GG's phone rang.

It was a nurse from my ward!!!

She asked GG where I was and told him that they couldn't get me on the phone. Then they went on to ask him if he was with me and he said NO!!!

You're not gonna believe this but he actually told the nurse that I was given the 'go ahead' by Dr Sim to walk around a little bit, so perhaps I was shopping in Guardian Pharmacy and that I'd be back real soon. And he said that he was hungry so was having lunch alone and wasn't with me!!

That kinda got me a bit worried... Thankfully the food came quite quickly. My idea then was to devour the food in 10 seconds flat and race back to the ward!

BUT...

GG's phone rang again. This time round, it rang only 3 minutes after the first phone call. AND IT CAME FROM DR SIM'S CLINIC!!!

ARRRRGH!!!!

ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS TO EAT RAMEN!!! Why were there so many people calling for me????

GG told them the same story he told the nurses, but this time round, under my instigation, told them that I could perhaps have gone to visit my friend in the next ward who had just given birth. When asked which room number, I told him to say 'I don't know'.

I guess the nurses were just really worried and didn't expect me to take soo long to get back to the ward. Personally, I think it was a wrong idea to drop off doctor's note first. They must have realised that I was done with the doctor and went galivanting!

In any case, though I was slightly anxious to get back to the ward, I was revelling in the joy of walking and shopping in town (since I was staying right smack in the middle of it). However, there was ONE problem: I was in BERMS! And I had that silly hospital tag round my wrist! Hahahahahha!!!

I did have some essentials to get since I was in hospital for so long, so we went off to Watson's to get shampoo, snacks and some drinks before heading back to the ward.

Perhaps I was so confined to the bed, the walk from Taka back to Mt E was strenuous! In fact, I was panting by the time we reached Lucky Plaza. So take heed pregnant ladies, exercise is of paramount importance when you're expecting.

Back at Mt E...

I sneaked into my friend's ward in room 4426 and chatted with her, while GG went to Guardian and came back slightly later (just to show that we were not together in this). Because my friend needed to breastfeed her son, I had to leave the room. As I was walking back to my room, the nurses saw me and started bombarding me with questions. 'Where were you?', 'We tried to call you but you didn't bring your phone!', 'Are you ok? Any headache?'

Aiyoh, I was only away for slightly over an hour!

So I said 'I was in room 4426 chatting with my friend who just gave birth yesterday.'

Then this nurse who happened to be taking my bp when the friend came over to visit said 'Oh, the one who came this morning to visit you?' Then I took the opportunity to say yes and said that I was there the whole time! Hehehe.

You see, though I was in room 4424 and my friend was in 4426, we were in two different wards: 4A and 4B. So that was why my idea worked.

Subsequently, upon chatting with my gynae, did I realise that even my gynae heard about my 'escapade'...

That was the only exciting thing that happened throughout the stay.

My hospital stay

2008-09-08T17:26:00.005+08:00

The ensuing hospital stay was rather boring I must say. It actually even settled into a routine.

In the night, the nurses come and take my bp every two hourly. It came to a point where I was no longer anxious or worried about it coz they just kept checking my bp. Even when they took it in the night, while I was SLEEPING, the bp still managed to go way up so high... like 153/108 kinda high. So as long as the diastolic reading goes above 100, I have to take that offending capsule which I ABHOR!!!

So once the nurse leaves, I'm conked out again.

Each time the nurse comes round in the morning, I seem to have more medication to take. And it was only on the 3rd day when I realised that Dr Sim had prescribed me with Valium to sooth my nerves, just in case I got into a fit because the bp was so high.

No wonder I was knocked out after all meal times.

Alright, here's what I do in a day...

5.30am: Nurse will come into room to take my bp. Readings never normal. Take the horrible capsule. Nurse will also remind me to pee into the pan and measure how much I pee. Then leave a bit in the cup for them to do urine test.

6am: Nurse will remind me to pee if they don't see my pee... So pee time. I hate having to pour my own pee into the measuring cup so I just estimate how much I pee each time and record it on the paper. Else I'd press the bell and get the nurse to do it for me.

6-8am: Wait for breakfast while watching CNN and reading the papers.

8am: Chow time! Nothing fantastic but I do like their chicken bee tak mak/bee hoon soup. Then there's also milo, orange juice and bread.

8.30am: Medication! Two different kinds of medication for bringing down my bp, one valium and... can't remember if there's anything else. After this, I go off to the toilet to wash up and to put on some foundation. I refused to look like a patient. After staying in hospital for 2 days... I actually did begin to look sick.

8.45am: CTG. It's one hour. I'm strapped there with nothing to do except to watch tv. But the valium soon kicks in so I fall asleep... all the way till lunch.

12pm: Lunch time.

After that, I fall asleep again and am woken when the kids come visit.

I only had to share the room with someone else on the first night and after that she was discharged and I had the room all to myself.

I was really bored throughout the hospital stay and so resorted to taking pictures of myself...

Looks horrible. Weird smile... So,

took again... hehe.

Ok... not tooooo bad. Hair's messy but at least no double chin!!!

and of the CTG...

The only excited thing to look forward to was Dr Sim's visit coz I often asked her when I could go home... But it was always a negative answer...

Believe in the unexpected.

2008-09-03T19:06:00.002+08:00

Sometimes I really ought to watch what I say...

Just a couple of weeks ago when I was on msn with my msn kakis, I said that I couldn't wait to see baby Cadence. And for once, GOD decided to grant me that wish way in advance...

I saw some very faint, pinkish blood stains when I went to the toilet. That was on 17 August if my after-birth brain has left me some semblance of memory. I kinda ignored it and only mentioned it to the msn kakis the next day. So they mentioned that it was nothing to be treated lightly, because I also had such high blood pressure. It could be placenta abruption you see... So under their urge, I called the gynae the next morning and was told to go down to the clinic immediately.

So on the morning of 20 August, after a call to the gynae, I sent an sms to GG informing him about the gynae's visit and went off to Dr Sim's clinic.

I must admit I thought lightly of the matter coz the blood stains did not return and I did not seem to spot any of the placenta abruption symptoms.

However, since Dr Sim was quite afraid that things with me might repeat as did her patient who gave birth when baby was only 30 weeks, I was told to take the steroid jabs to mature baby's lungs. How glad I am now that she did that!!!

The next day, I remember meeting GG for lunch at paragon, after which I was supposed to just go to the clinic for the second jab and wait around for GG to come pick me home.

Alas, GOD had other plans...

Perhaps I couldn't sleep the night before (see the post at 3.33am...) and had very little sleep when I could finally do so, I ended up with a headache when I was at the clinic. The nurses seemed to think something wasn't right with me and asked if I was ok. So I casually mentioned that I had a headache and Doreen (one of the nurses) asked how my blood pressure was. So I told her it was scarily high when I took it that morning... like 160/110. So all three of them gasped in horror and I was asked to go lie down and PJ (the new nurse) took my blood pressure. She couldn't believe her readings and told Florence to take my bp. Which was the same as what PJ read. So they IMMEDIATELY called Dr Sim who was away at a conference.

Under her instructions, I was given this orange pill to suckle on to lower the blood pressure. From the initial looks of the pill, I thought 'hmm, orange colour = orange flavour. Shouldn't taste that bad.' How freaking wrong I was!!! It's this horrid, plasticky capsule, which the nurse has to poke a hole with before squeezing the offending liquid into my mouth!!! It was bitter, yucky and more yucky!!!

The sad thing was, after that, my blood pressure still did not go down...

Because the diastolic reading was really high (above 100), Florence called back Dr Sim, again, and this time round, I heard 'admit', 'immediately' and 'observation'. In my mind then, I was like 'Oh dear... admitting into Mt E?? That's gonna be costly!'

So after Florence got off the phone with Dr Sim, she came to tell me that I had to be warded immediately. I was in such a daze that all I could do was 'orh'...

I left the room to wait outside for them to instruct me on what to do next. I knew that GG was in a meeting so he couldn't pick up the phone but I called him anyway... No reply. So I sent him a message.

Then came the scary news...

From where I was seated, I could hear PJ on the phone and she was obviously talking to Dr Sim about me. I heard 'delivery suite' this time round and my tears couldn't have darted out of my eyes quicker! What??? Was Dr Sim going to deliver me on that same day??? I was scared, confused and worried! My baby was only 33 weeks, weighing in at 1.8kg at the last check! She wasn't ready to be born!!!

I teared and in the midst of that, somehow, I managed to message Dee (one of the msn kakis). I actually didn't expect her to read the message quite that soon but she almost immediately called me back. I really needed some encouragement and assurance so that phone call to her did me some good.

Plus the nurses must have sensed that I was scared and worried so they assured me that the only reason why Dr Sim said I was to go to the delivery suite was because there would be nurses to attend to me and all equipment was there for them to observe me.

I did feel slightly better after that.

Soon I was placed on a wheelchair and brought down to the delivery suite. Perhaps I was too anxious and all, I missed picking up GG's call. I only called him back when I was at the delivery suite and he sounded worried and in a slight frenzy. I told him that he needn't rush down to the hospital so he only reached at about 5.45pm after his meeting/workshop ended...

If I continue writing some more, this is gonna turn out really long. To cut this short, Dr Sim arrived at about 6.30pm, said I frightened her and the nurses, checked my bp herself, declared that I was to be warded to check for pre eclampsia symptoms...

And there begins my stay for the next six days in Ward 4B room 4424...

That, was certainly highly unexpected.

Up and awake

2008-08-21T03:33:00.002+08:00

It's now 3.33am and I'm still up, unable to get to sleep.

I'm mainly perturbed by the Government's choice of implementation date for whatever they announced during the Rally.

In the days leading up to the National Day Rally, there were rife talks about:

the inclusion of fathers for child-minding (thus leading us to believe and anticipate that the number of days for paternity leave to increase)
and about better perks such that more young couples want to give birth earlier (so we therefore hope for better baby bonus schemes, better tax reliefs, longer maternity leave)

On the day of the rally, GG and I turned up the volume of the tv (coz the kids were making a hell of a noise) and stood almost rooted in front of it, waiting for PM Lee to announce the PERKS.

When he mentioned that maternity leave was going to be increased from the current 12 weeks to 16 weeks, I literally jumped in elation and GG high-fived me! After which PM Lee talked about his days as a young father where he had to change nappies and stick safety pins into his babies without hurting any thus far, I turned around confidently and told GG 'he's gonna increase the number of paternity leave.'

Alas! We were left high and dry...

In the news report later, it was mentioned that the govt spoke to a 'group of women' and they felt that they would prefer to have the leave to themselves than to their spouses! Hey! Why didn't I get to speak to the PM?? I never hoped for the govt to increase the paternity leave to a whole month. What about increasing it to at least a week?? The current 3 days is really insufficient. In my case where I'm going for a surgery to deliver the baby, 3 days is really miserly. Each time we pick a surgery date, it has to be near a weekend so that GG can have more time to help me move around and for the baby...

This is of course not the most upsetting piece of news...

The extension of the maternity leave news is...

After the rally, I went on to the forum and knew many mummies would definitely be discussing this. To which I found out that the implementation date is to be set from 1 Jan 09 onwards. Then why announce this now, only to dampen the spirits of those who are currently pregnant and giving birth soon?

I do agree that the govt needs to set a cut off date. They implemented this earlier after the Aug 2004 rally. Then why the change now?

The worst hits are the first time mums delivering this year... In my case, after some calculation, I can at least enjoy 16 tax-free years. That's a mighty lot of savings.

Mummies on the forum are gathering names for a petition to change the implementation date. I seriously wonder if the govt will give in at all. However, after much deliberation, I decided to go ahead and do my tiny bit. If it does work, well and good. Should it fail, we can all only take it in our stride.

Like a mummy on the forum said 'The real gem is the one in our tummy now.'

Please wait till 18 Sept...

2008-08-21T01:52:00.002+08:00

I had my third CTG scan today at the clinic.

The first time I did the CTG scan was sometime in May, when I had a bit of spotting... Doctor thought I was having contractions. So was put on CTG.

The second time was in June when my blood pressure raised up so mightily high. And the third time today coz I had faint, pinkish blood stains as well as this localized pain at the lower tummy.

Well, it didn't show contractions. But doctor sim mentioned that she had a patient who went in to see her with minor blood stains too and when checking the patient, the bleeding had stopped and there was also no signs of contractions. However, she erred on the side of caution and gave her jabs to mature the baby's lungs coz baby was only 30 weeks old and weighed in at only 1.5kg. Three days later, the patient's water bag burst and she had no choice but to deliver the baby... Luckily she took the injection to mature baby's lungs. Though baby had to be put in NICU, it could breathe well without the breathing appartus. Just that baby needed to be at a certain weight before it could be discharged.

So, I took one jab today... I have to return to the clinic tomorrow for a second jab to complete the dosage. And I'm on ventolin for the next ten days to prevent any contractions from happening. My friend messaged me and said that my pregnancy is so eventful... I guess. But I'd rather it not be because it is worrying and also costly. Just when I need to really really saveeeee...

On a brighter note, at least I won't have to be warded for any observation and placenta is fine. No signs of bleeding.

Dear Cadence, please don't come out just yet alright?? Stay nice and warm inside me and grow FAT!

By the way, she's gained 200g in a span of ONE week and I have gained 1kg in 1 week... scary!!! Think I'll stop the durian diet...

Pregnancy woes

2008-08-20T12:39:00.002+08:00

I'm gonna have to make a trip down to the gynae right now. I saw some faint pink blood stains yesterday and had really bad pains on the lower right side of tummy. Blood pressure is worringly high - 163/108 today! My friends are concerned that it is placenta abruption... a pregnancy complication that can prove fatal to both mother and baby. Seriously speaking, after the firstborn, I do not read up on any of these anymore coz I think I have that 'ah, I already know it' kinda attitude. WHICH IS VERY WRONG!!!

Recently, I've been reduced to camping outside the toilet in the night. I drink ONE cup of water and I have to visit the toilet 4 times in the night. It disturbs my sleep very much. Firstly, I have trouble getting out of bed because of the nagging pain at the pelvis area. Secondly, tummy feels soooo heavy I literally have to hold it and walk. I really wish GG was the one pregnant instead...

And he doesn't seem to understand all these complications that I have. Just messaged him that I have to go see the doctor coz of bleeding and there's no reply as yet. Oh well, perhaps he is out to lunch or in class... Sometimes I wish he was the 'gan jiong spider' kind instead of being so cool and calm... I've never seen him in a frenzy... Well, perhaps if I tell him his new car has a long, deep scratch! That'll surely make him worried!

I'm so losing out to the mistress...

A little about Cadence

2008-08-14T16:28:00.002+08:00

I think Cadence is going to be the tiniest of all my babies. I'm not sure if this has to do with my very little weight gain for this pregnancy. Before I got pregnant, I was 48.5kg. At the gynae's yesterday, I was 55kg. And it has been like this for the past month...

At 32 weeks, she weighs 1.8kg. This means that every week, she has only been putting on 100g. I am going to deliver in 5 weeks time and if her weight gain is constant, this means that by the time I deliver her, she'll only be 2.3kg!!!!! So tiny!!!

I hope she won't have to go to NICU or something. How can I up her weight???

Selfish idiots!

2008-08-14T16:07:00.004+08:00

It's strange how blogging can be addictive, especially since I know that I've got friends reading and actually leaving me a comment. Oh! How I thrive on attention!!!! hehehehehhe!

Yesterday, was my scheduled appointment for gynae checkup. My appointment time was 1130am but I kinda got out of bed late and coupled with the fact that I'm nursing this chronic backpain, I decided against my 'miserly mode' to take a cab. How I regret it...

At 1121, I was across my flat waiting for a cab. Under the unrelenting, blazing, hot sun. I thought it would be rather easy to get a cab without me walking to the cab stand. On hindsight, that would have been a better idea...

Anyway, I waited for a good 30mins before I got a cab. All the cabs were hired and those not hired, were changing shifts!!! What the heck were they doing changing shifts at that time?? I was sooooooooooo cross from having to stand in the scorching sun to get a cab that I literally screamed out loud and teared.

Worst thing was there were these TWO AUNTIES who hijacked my cab!!!! They stood in front of me and within minutes, got a cab! One of them even had the audacity to turn around look at me when the cab drove past! And all I could do was to give my evilest glare and open my eyes to their widest. Then I silently cursed them. HOW CAN THEY STEAL A CAB FROM A HEAVILY PREGNANT WOMAN????????? That was when I teared...

So five minutes past my appointment time, I called my gynae's clinic to inform the nurses that I was gonna be late. I was afraid of making a wasted trip coz my doctor had a scheduled c sec. The nurses could detect the hint of despair in my voice and calmed me down and said it'd be alright if I was late. Thankfully.

The next time anyone dares to steal a cab from me again, I'm gonna point the middle finger! I SO MEAN IT!!!

I texted GG later on to tell him about my horrible ordeal and he said that they were probably putting up changing shifts sign coz they were heading for lunch. Couldn't they pick me up then go for lunch??????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have lunch in town lah!!!!!! Argh.

*Anyway, I was so upset yesterday so I thought they shouldn't even lunch at all!!! But I've become reasonable again today.

'Papa wanna parking E ah'

2008-08-14T15:56:00.004+08:00

I forgot to mention that Jared's favourite letter is 'E'.

Sometimes I wonder why he likes/loves (like he puts it himself) certain things.

Of late, whenever we're on the way out after dinner for a walk at Causeway Point, Woodlands Mart, Woodgrove or the Mrt station, Jared will inevitably ask the quintessential question: 'Papa, you parking which level ah?' To which his father will tell him that he is either at deck A, B or C (depending on the time he's back) and Jared will whine and tell his father: 'E got space. Papa, you parking E ah?'

And then the two continues with their crazy argument. Jared on why GG should park at E because it has lots of lots and that E is 'nice'. And GG about why he should park at A, B or C so that we all don't have to climb up so many flights of stairs and he can save petrol! Argh, the two!

Last week, when GG parked at deck D, Jared kicked up a huge fuss and whined and kicked in the car. GG yelled at him for being ridiculous and that it's crazy we have to be bossed around by him. Since then, Jared has changed tactics. Whenever we reach the carpark, he'll ask GG nicely, 'Papa, where you wanna park?'

Because most times we reach home so late, we park at E. Much to the delight of the boy, who gets off the car, then goes to the wall and touches the letter 'E'.

So strange.

I hope he doesn't like to have the letter 'E' splashed all over his report card in the future... I'd be one unhappy mum. ;(

@%#$%@#

2008-08-14T12:55:00.002+08:00

ARGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

THE STUPID PARAGRAHING IS NOT WORKING AGAINNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'I love you, mummy'

2008-08-14T12:46:00.004+08:00

Two nights ago, for the first time, Jared voluntarily uttered 'I love you, mummy!'. I was touched beyond words.

Ever since young, whenever GG and I leave my mum's place, we will kiss him and Nat goodnight, say 'I love you', hug and say 'see you tomorrow'. This has become a routine every night. And we the parents are always the ones who initiate the 'I love you'. So when he said it voluntarily the other night, GG and I were besides ourselves. My little baby Jared has really grown up!

I didn't actually think he knew the meaning of 'I love you'. But when I told him to say the same thing to his uncle (who absolutely dotes on him), he said 'I don't want'. So I guess he does know what it means. How heartwarming isn't it???

But I think this is highly dependent on his mood. Because last night, he didn't say it... But he did come to kiss me and say goodnight first before I did it. Then when I tried to kiss him back, he said 'NO! You don't kiss me. I kissed you already.' Bugger!

The accidental mum

2008-08-08T09:21:00.005+08:00

I am currently 31weeks and 5days pregnant with my third accident baby. There you have it. Three accident babies.

Not a single regret do I have.

Let me introduce my children here.

This is my first born:
Jared Nicholas Goh

Birthday: 1 Sept 2005

He is very shy and takes quite a while to warm up to people.

I'll upload a nicer pic of him from GG's new camera (courtesy of moi for his birthday this year). In the picture above, he is looking at MUSHROOMS. His favourite food. Since I'm on his favourites, let me list it here.

Favourite person: His father

Favourite colour: Black (very strange why a kid likes black...)

Favourite number: 7 (Same as his father)

Favourite food: Mushrooms (we're practically on a mushroom diet at home, thanks to his wai po)

Favourite character: Thomas the Tank Engine (will upload a picture of his entire collection)

Favourite toy: His die cast cars (Black coloured ones...)

Favourite activity: Watching 'Thomas and friends', playing with his trains and cars.

Current favourite phrase: 'Papa wanna parking E ah' (This deserves a separate post all by itself)_

My second child is a princess.

Birthday: 12 Dec 2006

I call her the Tantrum Princess:
Natalie Claire Goh

She's quite sam seng and suku. Can cry this minute and laugh the next... Her father says she's got a screw loose somewhere. But she's also a lot less shy and very very friendly and sociable.

Favourite person: Her father

Favourite food: JUNK FOOD, much to everyone's exasperation because during proper
meal times, she spits like crazy!

Favourite phrase: 'Bu yao', 'don't want' and 'Hi'

Favourite character/toy: Anything Elmo.

Favourite pastime: Watching elmo's world.

Favourite personal belonging: Her smelly bolster. It's in the picture above.

When she's not throwing a fit, she's super adorable and such a doll. But when she doesn't get her way... she screams, kicks and throws herself backwards!!! Can't stand her doing that. And her tears!!! My goodness. What a bucket load of tears she has whenever she cries.

My third baby is also a girl. I'm naming her Cadence Faith Goh. I'm often wondering if she'll turn out to look like Natalie. :)

Is this blogger working??

2008-08-08T09:17:00.003+08:00

I was up last night coz I simply couldn't get to sleep. So I blogged... and then, when I clicked on 'publish post', it went blank. I spent a fair amount of time on it and it just went blank... NICE!

And the stupid paragraphing is STILL NOT WORKING!!!!!!!!!!!!

What timing!!!

2008-08-06T23:30:00.001+08:00

No matter what I do, I just can't change the timing of my post!!!!!!!! So anyone reading this, I did not post at 3 something AM. I'm typing this now at 12:19AM and until I find out how to solve this silly problem, I'm gonna have to write down the time of my posts. Ridiculous.

Since this is my first attempt at blogging, I really am super into it. I just wanna type and type. So what if it is frivolous and almost nonsensical. I'll surely do better in time to come. Pictures, slides, quotes, recipes perhaps? Hehehe. For now, it'll just be me rambling on...

Gotta go check on my chicken soup now.

PS: I've since come back to edit this post like 10 times because I couldn't get it to show paragraphing!!!!!!!!, then I couldn't get it to show the correct timing so have decided to get rid of timing once and for all. Oh my! Blogging is such a pain. But I'm rather enjoying this. :)

Finally...

2008-08-06T18:47:00.003+08:00

It has literally taken me this long: TWO YEARS.

Friends whom I chat frequently with on msn have their blogs and whenever I read theirs, I'm filled with inspiration to do likewise. Post pictures of my adorable children, places I visited, about the mundane things I do at home and such. Everytime after I read Kei and Jaime's blog, I think to myself: 'Ah, I shall start my own blog too!' Each time, I am filled with such enthusiasm and fervour. Alas! The ever procrastinating me just never got down to it. So today marks the day where I've taken another great leap in doing what I've always said I will and NOT procrastinating anymore. *pat on the back*

Wait till I tell my husband about my blog. I wonder if he'll show any interest in reading this.