Growth Spurt for the Little Squirt?

OK thought I'd give all an insight into life with JR. As you can see, we've moved into the nursery temporarily to facilitate feeding. Sleep, when we are blessed with it, is a miracle. I don't think I ever could've imagined how exhausting the first few weeks could be! It makes me think back in nostalgia and awe at how we used to think nothing of spending a lazy Sunday in bed reading, then going for a leisurely brunch at Beviamo. Haha! How things have changed.

I think Jordy is going through a growth spurt as well - he was rather calm and easy to settle the last few days, then cue last night. Refused to go down at 7pm despite being fed the baby equivalent of a gastramonical feast, and had to be fed almost every hour from 11pm onwards till this morning! Yipes! I'm trying to tell myself - it's great he's growing, growth spurts are exactly how they sound - an onomatopoeiac mess of crying, pooping, feeding, and noisy sleeping.

Needless to say D and I are more than zombies - but do not you worry, all these stories will come in handy at the appropriate time (i.e. Jordy's 21st maybe? haha).

Ah well, he's taking a cat nap now and I'm taking these quick minutes to reconnect with the outside world... HELLO! Oh and one fantastic thing about breast feeding? Taking the long feeding sessions to put up my legs and watch The Gilmore Girls! Finished Season 1 - supremely fantastic show. Haven't enjoyed anything this much since The West Wing :) Thanks to Jordy's Godma C for lending me all seven seasons!!! Woo hoo...

The Two Men in My LIfe

"Whatchu lookin' at?"

Ok! So I did it! I gave birth to a barracuda disguised as a human! But breastfeeding woes aside (what can I say, little Jordy is born to feed...), the last 10 days have been the most surreal of my life. Especially when I'm confronted with my own thoughts night after night while I feed Jordy. Sometimes I'm flipping through trashy mags (for this bounty I have S and Z to thank heartily), and other times I'm religiously filling in the breast feeding chart from KK Hospital, marvelling at how I've gone from freaking at the thought of baby's poo to rejoicing when I see (or hear!) the evidence of a good feed. It's amazing, the human brain...

Will skip any gory details of the labour and birth, but suffice to say that the epidural is God's true gift to womankind (sorry but epidural beats Adam's ribs any day) and that I actually had a very relaxed and happy birth! Despite the fact that a) Jordy wasn't reacting well to being induced (after my waters burst at 6am on Sunday), b) his heart rate kept decreasing everytime they upped the Oxytocin (medicine to induce labour), c) I might have had to have a C-Section (but thankfully my trusty old body responded and I was able to do get things myself), and d) his umbilical cord was wrapped once round his neck which meant they had to use forceps (a big OUCH if not for said miracle called epidural).

Anyway he came out in his 39th week at 3.35kg, 50 cm long (which my friend Yvonne joked was a third of her height! haha) and really rather a beautiful baby (truly I am not biased! he is rather cute!)

Stay in hospital was a bit longer than expected as I had nausea, bad headaches and a high fever (ALL AT THE SAME TIME!). Poor Jordy, when mum was crook, he had to be cup fed some formula. But things worked themselves out and here we are at home now (today marks our one week anniversary of returning home!) and D and I are getting SLOWLY into the swing of things.

One thing though, I will unabashedly proclaim my husband D to be the world's best new Dad and partner-in-poo. They say to cherish these early days - I think we're too zonked to even register what we're doing at 3am every night - but I know that I'm gong to look back and marvel at how supportive and caring D has been - hugest hugs go out to him from me and Jordy!

And there's a definite difference when Dad baths Jordy than when Mum does! heh heh... Something about big strong Daddy hands cradling a little body. Anyway, I know I'm rambling but I'm allowed given I'm surviving on like 4-5 hrs of sleep a day! It'll all get better and calmer soon I'm sure but just wanted to say a big Hi from zombie mummy land :)

Thanks for all the messages and keep them coming - they are of great comfort to me, esp in the wee hours of the morning...

Happy Birthday Singapore (But Not Zorgy)!

OK, so my hopes for a national day baby are mostly dashed (unless I go into labour and deliver within the next three hours - I WISH!). So Zorgy hasn't arrived, and is still perfectly content imitating a lava lamp in my belly (who can blame him really, if he's anything like his mum, he wouldn't want to come out to this 33 deg humidity). Good news is that D and I took this quiet "calm before the storm" time to do some good ol couply things, like catch a morning movie today.

In the spirit of the Beijing Olympics (and wasn't the opening ceremony a stunner, I was so impressed with China and the visual spectacle they gifted to the world), we watched a most wonderful documentary by Singaporean broadcaster turned filmmaker Pek Siok Lian called Mad About English, which traced the country's obsession with learning English in time for the Olympic Games. The film profiled a few characters, from an earnest Beijing cabbie who was cramming for a conversational English test that would decide whether he would be allowed to drive his cab during the Olympics, to a spritely 74-year old retiree whose dream was to be a volunteer during the Olympic Games, to the language teacher equivalent of a TV evangelist who has been tasked with teaching over 1 million Chinese proper English.

What came through after watching this marvellous documentary was the sheer determination and grit of the Chinese people leading up to the Games, and how, despite whatever motivations they articulated for learning English, the one common thread that brought them together seemed to be their immense pride and loyalty to China, and a genuine desire to showcase their country to the world. I was actually very touched watching this - thinking how in Singapore, we're so cynical and almost embarassed by our country and countrymen. Guess with Singapore hosting the Youth Olympics in 2010, we have quite a lot to learn from the plucky Chinese.

Oh and did anyone else think that the only downer to the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony was the truly freakish sight of droopy and post-plastic surgery Sarah Brightman trying to reprise her Amigos Para Sempre glory? And what about the dude singing with her? What in the world was he thinking? Turning up in what looked like lounge-at-home clothing? Completely jarring when juxtaposed against the majesty of the 2,008 drummers chanting Confucius and that absolutely funky rolling scroll thing. My favourite bit? The lighting of the Olympic flame by the flying gymnast.

Oh and of course, the geek in me loved seeing all the countries come in one by one - Where or what is the Netherlands Antilles? I want to go there!

OK, I'm going back to what's left of our couple existence now. Will update all once junior makes an appearance and turns our lives upside down!

National Day Baby Anyone?

National Day Rehearsal Heart-Shaped Stunts Courtesy of the Singapore Airforce Fighter Pilots (View from our room at Swissotel Stamford).

Less than two weeks out to the official expected delivery date of le petit Turnip, aka Zorgy, I'm feeling a mixture of impatience, and "enjoy this quiet while it lasts".

After finishing off the biggest event of the year at work less than a month ago, it's been a little less manic and hectic for me. D and I checked into a rather luxurious weekend at Swissotel Stamford couple of weeks back, went for swims everyday (or rather for me, walks around the pool) and I experienced a most blissful Swedish pregnancy massage.

Last few weeks have been a lovely mix of catching up with friends, doing little arts n crafty things (I'm making up these ginormous flash cards for Zorgy a la the Glenn Doman "teach your baby to read" system), went into nesting mode and over a few days, printed out all our digital photo prints dating from 2004 onwards (so far have printed out over 1,500 photos! Thank you Harvey Norman 19cent print sale), have discovered Snapfish much to my delight, and also reading up on some baby books. Went to Carrefour and did a huge shop to stock up on cleaning product and toiletries (I am not kidding when I say we have about 30 bars of Palmolive soap in our cabinets at the moment), made the most of the Robinson's sale, and then today, went for a much-needed pedicure (I have OPI 118 on right now).

Just put a big pot of beef goulash on the stove (am trying to make some freezable dishes to tide us over the next few weeks) and am now sitting in our air-con study listening to the Indigo Girls and typing this. Really rather contented at the mo.

Will keep all posted re the GREAT ARRIVAL. Doctor's visits every week means things are getting rather exciting. Though I'm not leaving on a jet plane anytime soon, all my bags are packed and I'm ready to go!