Sleepless Nights - 28 Feb 2007

For the past few nights, Jerlene has been crying non-stop from 8:30pm onwards. I tried very hard to coax her to sleep but the moment I put her down into her cot, she will struggle and start crying again. I think I must have fallen into her trap whereby she will only stop crying when I carry and hug her tight. Usually she will go into deep sleep at around midnight when I can put her down without agitating her. However last night, I had to carry her till about 2:30am before she is calmed. Right now, I'm both physically tired (after standing and walking for hours last night) and mentally tired (not enought sleep) and still got so much work to do in office. Hope Jerlene will understand her daddy and not make her daddy so tired......hope...... :)

Day visit to Infant Care Centres - 26 Feb 2007

Today, my wife and I went to visit two infant care centres for a tour. The first one that we went is called Cherie Hearts, located along sembawang road. The person-in-charge brought us around the place and explained to us how the infants in the centre are being taken care of.

Next, we went to Carpe Diem Infant Care centre located at Yishun. It occupies the entire 3rd floor of Yishun Polyclinic building. Similarly, the person-in-charge brought us around the place with explanation on each station. This place is much bigger than Cherie Hearts. But it has its pros and cons.

At about noon, we went home and Choz Confectionery had already delivered 22 boxes of full month tarts to our place. These are for our colleagues and frens. So after lunch, we headed to my office to distribute those tarts. Next we went to my wife office for the same. We did not bring Jerlene out today because we wanted to "train" my MIL to take care of Jerlene alone. Although we are a bit worried but we just have to try. After distributing all the tarts, we went to Bishan to catch a movie (Just Follow Law). It has been a long time since we last watched a movie.

We reached home that night at about 7:30pm and not surprisingly, the moment I opened the door, I can hear Jerlene crying. And she has been crying constantly till about 12 midnight. My guess is my MIL had been making her sleep throughout the day and now we have to handle her when she's wide awake......sigh...........

Shave or not to shave? - 25 Feb 2007

Today is a day to rest after a tiring day yesterday. Jerlene had been sleeping a lot and I decided to let her rest more instead of waking her during the day.

We were told that on baby's full month, we should shave off baby's hair. However, Jerlene has such a beautiful hair, how can we bear to shave that off? So what I did is I just shaved off a tiny bit of her hair. And I've kept those hair in one of her booklet.

Other that the shaving, nothing much happened today.

Jerlene's Full Month - 24 Feb 2007

Today, we celebrated Jerlene's Full Month, and coincidentally, today is also everybody's birthday according to the Chinese calendar (7th day of Lunar Chinese New Year). At about 8:30am, 40 boxes of Full Month cakes were delivered to my place. It comes with a stack of Thank You cards with Jerlene's photo on it.

As we have quite a few places to go today with Jerlene, we spent quite a bit of time to pack Jerlene's stuff. We set out at about 11am and first destination is my auntie's place at Yishun. It's a quick one because all I need to do is to pass her the full month cakes plus two mandarin oranges for the new year. Jerlene and my wife were waiting in the car.

Next destination is my parent's place. My parent has bought Jerlene a full month necklace. We had lunch there and after which, we headed to my cousin's place at Bedok. We stayed there for a while before heading to my grandma's place at Serangoon Garden. All my aunties are there since morning, waiting to see Jerlene. We had "Lou Hei" there also.

Then at about 5pm, we got to go home to catch some rest, especially for Jerlene, before we headed out to Shangrila Hotel for my colleagues (Ronald) wedding dinner. I was carrying Jerlene when I stepped into the ballroom and immediately, I found myself surrounded by all my colleagues. They are all very excited to see Jerlene. I think Jerlene may have created a record to be the youngest guest to a wedding dinner. Not many parents will even think of bringing their newborn out of their house. Anyway, Jerlene had been behaving quite well till about half way through when she started to throw tantrum. I think it's because the ballroom is quite cold which caused Jerlene to feel uncomfortable. I told Ronald that I had to leave and we quickly took a picture with the bride and groom. On our way home, Jerlene is still crying and I had to stop somewhere to feed her. Reached home at about 11:30pm.

I think Jerlene is too overwhelmed today. I believe she'll definitely sleep very well tonight.

Running out of baby wipes - 23 Feb 2007

Jerlene's baby wipes are running out very soon. So immediately after work today, I rushed home to pick up my wife and brought Jerlene along with us to Causeway Point. We went to John Little and pick up a dozen of Angel Baby Wipes, which we think is cheap and good. After that, we went home straight as it's about time to feed Jerlene already. This is the shortest trip that we ever had to Causeway Point.

Jerlene SHIT on me AGAIN!

Today since abt 9pm, Jerlene has been throwing tantrum because she had slept too much during daytime. I could not watch American Idol in peace as she kept crying and crying. When I finally managed to calm her down with some nursery rhymes, not only that American Idol has ended, she actually SHIT on me. She poo'ed so much that it overflow her diaper while I was still carrying her. Not only I had to wash up for her, I had to wash up myself also. This is the 3rd time that she had shit on me. The first two times were when I was changing her diapers halfway through, suddenly a stream of brown liquid just shot out onto my feet...... Now my wife keep calling me the shitty daddy because everytime Jerlene sees me, she'll shit.........

Daddy enjoys bathing Jerlene...and vice versa

Every morning when I wake up, I'll first brush my teeth and wash my face. Next thing will be to setup the baby bathtub and get ready for a spa session for Jerlene. I believe Jerlene enjoys the warm bath just like I enjoy bathing her. However, it's a bit challenging bathing her as she's quite slippery and now, she's quite strong as well. Sometimes, Jerlene is so naughty that after I've cleaned her up, she'll poo and pee.....sigh......

3rd day of CNY - 20 Feb 2007

This morning, there were colleagues coming to our place to see Jerlene. However most of the time, she was sleeping in the newly setup playpen in our living room.

At about noon, we brought Jerlene out for a new year gathering with my wife's colleagues. My wife were playing blackjack with her colleagues while I took care of Jerlene. One thing we realize is that whenever we are out of our house, Jerlene tends to sleep more. At that time if she was to be at home, she will definitely throw tantrum. Also we notice that the noisier the environment, the better she can sleep soundly.

Jerlene started to sleep sideways

These few days, Jerlene has been throwing tantrum in the middle of the night in her cot. So my wife and I have to carry her and walk around the house to calm her down. But the moment we put her down in her cot, she will start crying. So we try all ways to coax her and in the end, we let her sleep on our bed. When we woke up in the morning, we saw her in the following position for the first time...

Jerlene's first dress on CNY - 18 Feb 2007

Today is Chinese New Year! With Jerlene around, this CNY will definitely not be as boring as the past. We had lunch at Five Star Kampong Chicken Rice stall along sembawang road. There is a 20 percent surcharge on the bill.

In the evening, we brought Jerlene to grandma's house. Everyone was so happy to see her. For the first time, grandma has finally promoted to great-grandma. In fact, everybody got promoted with Jerlene's arrival.

Today is also the first time that Jerlene is wearing a dress. Everyone said that she does not look like only 3 weeks old. Is that so?

Jerlene's first outing - 17 Feb 2007

For the very first time, we brought Jerlene out today. Early morning, we went to Chong Pang for breakfast. After that, we went to NTUC at Sun Plaza to do some last minute CNY goodies shopping. Throughout the outing, Jerlene was half asleep, which is good........

At around 1pm, we went to my parent's place for reunion lunch. We finally got some rest there because whenever Jerlene needs attention, there's sure to be someone who will volunteer. :)

Jerlene on my Bday - 15 Feb 2007

Today is my birthday and my most precious gift is none other than......Jerlene. What I tried today is to turn her over and let her lie on her tummy. Initially I thought she may not like it but I'm wrong. She seems to enjoy it very much. In fact, whenever she starts to cry, I'll turn her over and she'll stop crying. She also enjoy lying on my wife's body in that position.....so lovely......

Can't stop making Jerlene my Model

Since day one I have been taking photos of Jerlene non-stop. Just want to capture her every expression and posture. On average, I take abt 30-50 shots per day. Here are some photos that I'm most satisfied with so far.........

A rewarding experience

Seeing Jerlene grows day by day is really a rewarding experience. Although taking care of baby can be really tiring, the whole process is actually quite satisfying. Your whole heart will melt when you see her smiling at you. Everyday, I just want to quickly get back home from work to see her, bath her and sing songs to her.........Yay!

Jerlene's first Glamour Shot - 7 Feb 2007

On the 2nd day after Jerlene's birth in Mount Alvernia, Peter Pan Studio came to our ward to ask whether we want glamour shot for our newborn. Without much hesitation I said ok. I want every beautiful moment of her to be captured. So she pushed my girl away to wash and dress up. Within 30mins she's back. Today they delivered the photo to us. We will have another family shot free as part of the package.

My Poor Jerlene (30 Jan - 1 Feb 2007)

So sad......my little princess is now hospitalized for high Jaundice level. She has to undergo phototherapy to bring down the Jaundice level. And every morning, her heel had to be poked to draw blood. Here is a picture of her under the light.

Jerlene is SOooooo CUTE

Ever since Jerlene is back home, I started taking lots of photos of her. Managed to capture her different posture and expression. Really fun.....
More photos can be viewed at her web album: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/geniuswwf/MyBabyGirlJerlene02

Home Sweet Home - 27 Jan 2007

My baby girl, Jerlene, came to this world about 16 days in advance. Probably she can't wait to see her daddy and mommy. At birth, she was 3.16kg, 49cm in length and head circumference of 33cm. I stayed in Mount Alvernia Hospital accompanying my wife for 2 nights. My wife and baby were discharged today. Finally Jerlene is back home for the first time. Welcome home, Jerlene!

The Arrival - 25 Jan 2007

The story begins here...
0800 - My wife, Tracy, was admitted to MAH and went into Delivery Suite straightaway.

0830 - Nurse gave her enema to clear bowel.

0900 - Our gynae, Dr Lawrence Ang, came to check on her. Dilated 4.5cm already but she does not have much contraction. Dr Ang proceed to break her water bag as planned.

0901 to 1129 - My wife's contraction is still quite irregular and not very painful. She's a bit bored so asked nurse whether can play game (bought a Nintentdo DS recently)..... but nurse said NO!

1130 - Still no sign of regular contraction. Nurse called Dr Ang and then decided to put her on drip. The painful experience started here.....

1200 - After the drip was on, contraction started to come quite regularly (about 10 mins) and the pain started to increase.

1215 - Contraction intensified and nurse asked whether my wife would like to have epidural but at that point, the pain was still bearable so she said she'll try to use gas mask first.

1245 - Contraction came every 2-3 mins and pain started to become quite unbearable. She was so painful that she can't really hold onto the mask properly, so I have to help..... After seeing her in such pain, I felt that she would probably need epi. So I called the nurse in. Told the nurse my wife needs epi and she went to call Dr Ang. The nurse checked dilation, which was already 6cm and Dr Ang asked her to try injection on the thigh first. So she took the jab......

1315 - The jab did not seem to have any effect and her pain now is reaching her threshold.... Nurse checked dilation again and it was about 7-8cm but baby head was still quite high. I asked for Epi once again but Dr Ang said now may be a bit late for epi. He advised the nurse to get my wife start pushing at about 1345hrs.

1345 - My wife was in severe pain and she's been struggling on the bed. I tried very hard to support her and keep her in position. The midwife came and started asking her to push so that baby head will go lower. She tried a few times but all she know is pain pain and pain.....

1400 - The midwife tried very hard to encourage my wife but she really got not much strength to push. She was screaming whenever contraction came (about every 1 min) and unconsciously she kept asking for epi and said things like "I want to go home", "I dun want" etc etc

1410 - Still trying to push but baby head was still a bit high for Dr Ang to help. The pain now was way past her threshold and she wanted to give up already. She refused to push anymore and kept asking for C-Sect. No matter how the midwife encouraged her, she just refused to push and the midwife was a bit loss. So she called Dr Ang again saying that my wife cannot bear the pain anymore and asked for C-Sect. Dr Ang said he's coming over soon......

1420 - Dr Ang and a few more senior midwives came in to help. After checking, confirm fully dilated and baby head came down a little but still not enough to take out with any assistance. So my wife was told to try pushing again. One of the midwife (Indian lady) who just came in was very good. She's more steady and my wife somehow would listen to her instruction to push.

1425 - Dr Ang said baby head seem to be coming down a bit after some pushes and got chance to deliver normally so asked my wife not to give up. She's almost unconscious then but whenever pain comes, she'll just close her mouth and PUSH...... At this point, I almost wanted to cry after seeing her in such a pain......

1430 - Baby head came down a bit more and Dr Ang managed to put in the vacuum.

1435 - My little princess finally came to this world..... Dr Ang immediately put her (still a bit bloody) on my wife but at that point, she could hardly see her clearly......

1440 - I went ahead to cut the umbilical cord and the midwife started to wipe her body and drain off the water in her nose and mouth.