The Apple's Diary!

If you attend New Creation's services, you would know that Pastor Joseph Prince would have an anointed phrase for a new year. 2012 was a year of unceasing fruitfulness. Indeed... this is truly a year of fruitfulness by God's grace. There are so many things I want to give thanks to... 1. I was on maternity leave from end Aug to Nov 2011. Although I returned to work in Dec 2011, it was a lull period. So only in Jan 2012, did I really return to work full force. By April 2012, I discovered I was pregnant. Naturally I was shocked and overwhelmed and afraid of what my bosses would think. However, not only they were supportive, I received a good appraisal for the Year 2011 and this was reflected in my Performance Bonus. Indeed God has blessed me richly. 2. When news of pregnancy had finally settled down, I received waves of bad news. Spotting, low placenta, complete placenta previa that could lead to major hemorrhage at childbirth. Possibility of needing to remove my womb to c...

This is truly the most boring Xmas ever. No turkey, no gammon ham, no sashimi and fresh oysters, no ribs and no wine! The only thing that I had closest to Xmas was a mini log cake which I shared with Darren and Jonathan. mini logcake from Polar But the days leading up to Xmas was eventful.  1. On Sunday night, I broke my hot stone. broken hot stone Hot stone is my best friend in my breastfeeding journey. I depend on it to clear all the lumps and blocked ducts. Without it, I would be quite lost. At the same time I broke my hot stone, my Avent pump went dead. 2. Avent pump went dead on me. Even though I have Medela Freestyle, the suction was not strong enough to draw out the milk. It was really frustrating and nerve-wreaking (another episode of engorgement was definitely not welcomed). So I latched even in the wee hours and all the way until my new Avent pump arrived.  3. I actually bought my Avent single electronic pump 2...

Breastfeeding. Looks easy, seems easy, thinks easy. However, even the lactation consultant begs to differ. There's a lot of hard work (and sweat) for each precious drop. 想当年, my milk only kicked in at Day 6 after I delivered Jonathan and I was crying buckets over my failure to provide milk for him. This round, I'm more cool and less stress about everything. For a start, during my pregnancy days with Matthew, I worn non-wired bras throughout. I periodically used hot water to massage my breasts during showers and drank fish soup now and then. It really paid off. Also, I don't rush to latch my baby when the nurse push in Matthew. Instead, I drank my warm red date tea, massaged my breasts before picking Matthew up. I ensured that there's colostrum first before latching him. I'm glad my efforts paid off this round. Day 5 - 60ml EBM At Day 5 - I am pumping out 60ml for 3-4 hours interval. Yesterday at PD, Matthew's weight was back to almost birth wei...

38 weeks 2 days - 16 December 2012 Matthew decided to meet us on this special day. 15th December 2012 6+pm - started to feel irregular contractions. Thinking it was just one of those contractions when I over exerted myself, I ignored it and continued my activity. Went over to MIL's place for dinner and left her place at 8pm. 8-9+pm - started to feel that it might not be a false alarm. Darren settled Jonathan to sleep while I packed my hospital bag and activated my mum. 10+pm - contraction came at a regular pace of 10mins apart, with tightening of tummy and pressure at the pelvic. Called the hospital hotline and Dr Irene Chua advised me to head to the hospital. 11+pm - bathed and finished my TVB drama. Mum reached my place and we left for the hospital. On the way, made a detour to Mac. I was still grumbling that I couldn't have my sashimi feast before admitting to hospital. 16th December 2012 12.30am - Reached Gleneagles and was ushered to the delivery ward at l...

Finally, we bought my latest gadget. What's in the bag? Have been looking for a better and faster camera but don't want a bulky DSLR as it would be totally unsuitable if you still need to bring out a stroller, a diaper bag and a heavy weight toddler. So I have been asking around... what's good at the market that fits my criteria? 1. Price 2. Fast 3. Compact After all the research and trying out of various models and brands.... I finally nod my head at this. converting to olympus Bought my latest gadget from a reliable source for $989. Not much freebies thrown in except for an extra original battery. But I love its speed... I can finally capture Jon with his multiple expressions at one go in clear definition. The price was the cheapest we could haggle and though not exactly a compact camera, still manageable for me. my new toy Thought of going to Botanica Garden to do some justice for my new toy with Jon as my model. But alas, just...

Birthday is such a special occasion, at least to little Jonathan. Ever since he had his 1st birthday party, he always has this smiley look when a birthday song is sung. Yesterday, Jonathan celebrated Grandma's special day. Got this traditional coffee cake from Balmoral Bakery and little boy enjoyed to be in the limelight as much as Grandma. a special moment Luv this pix of 2 of them =D

Jonathan was delivered at 36 weeks 5 days. Today at 36 weeks 4 days, XP2 is still very cosy in my tummy. I'm so glad that I can carry him to full term. Amniotic fluid is good and he is not engaged. He's now 2.6kg which is on par as Jonathan. As for myself, gain a 7kg to date and *cross fingers*, I didn't suffer from any water retention. Could still wear my wedding band and my covered shoes, quite different from the 1st pregnancy. Most importantly, my nose didn't enlarge on its own. But then, I am still suffering from flu.. and it has been more than a week. I'm still sniffing even though I already took 5 days worth of medication. Also, this round swab test came back with a positive and I have to be put on antibiotic course now and during labour. my assortment of medication On administrative side, we did the pre-admission and packed the hospital bag. Looks like we are all set to receive our 2nd bundle of joy!

My All-in-1 present arrived today. Darren said this is for all the major occasions (Valentine's Day, birthday and anniversary) plus my Push present. I don't mind as I didn't even get anything for him. I'm really happy with my gift. He even got me a Dior Sunglass to pair up with. Awesome! 

21st November came again! We are now married for 3 years, from a couple of 2, our brood is expanding to 4! I won't say these 3 years were all rosy and cosy, lovey-dovey whispering sweet nothings... NO... we spent our 3 years as husband and wife, quarreling from trivial thing like "why can't you pack the diaper bag" to upbringing difference "why you allow Jonathan to play with your Mac!" In the midst of the chaos and adjusting to be parents and having a maid at home, there were still sweet lovely moments. We knew that having a couple dinner is almost impossible so Darren comes often to lunch with me. We whispered " I love you!" on unexpected moments, bringing a smile to each other. Darren took care of Jonathan so I could rest when I needed. I stopped putting on a black face when he needed to work on weekends. I guess we just want to help easing the burden of our partners. Increasing our tolerance and patience so our other half could be happier!...

Jonathan turned 15 month old on 24th November. We usually got him a small cake to pose on every month's 24th. 15th month old Jonathan got an early Xmas cupcake (none other than PG). Xmas Cupcake by PG Although he sometimes lapsed into the "terrible 2s" phrase, most of the times he would do something silly and make everyone laugh. It could be some new facial expressions or some words he mumbled or the few baby steps he made towards me. He's growing taller and bigger. He is turning into be a little boy, rejecting his wholesome porridge and wanting to eat with us at the dining table and our food. I no longer bring out porridge for him, letting him try restaurant food or grandma's home cooked food. The salt content is of course worrisome and I try to "wash" the food before serving to him. He's also beginning to take in instruction. For example, he went into a "Starfish" mode last weekend when we were outside Vivocity's G...

Did I mention that in this pregnancy I hardly have any craving? Definitely not for the 1st trimester when intake of food was the worst. 2nd trimester I was too concerned having a complicated pregnancy to breathe, let alone eat. But everything changed in this last lap. The constant postings of food from the online December mummies' group really make me crave for some of the food. Yesterday since we were already at Toa Payoh,  I got Darren to drive down to Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 for the famous Pine Garden's lychee martin. Couldn't be any happier PG... they are really shorthanded. I had to queue to wait for my turn to get my sliced cakes. Of course, I couldn't just buy 1 single slice... I need to get more to make the trip more worthwhile. Lychee Martini Did they or did they not put martini in it? Am I or am I not supposed to eat it? I go by this theory... since the cake has to be baked, any alcohol content would have evaporated. So I ate it, all by mys...

Is this going to be next craze? Black Ball is a dessert joint set up by TV actor Zhang Yao Dong. There is one outlet at Clementi City Vibe and another outlet at the newly opened Star Vista, next to Buona Vista MRT station. Black Ball serves their signature dessert in 4 different styles - Cold, Hot, Warm or Icy. You can go for their signature dessert or pick mix and match. Mix & Match Black Ball I went for cold ( not icy) mix & match, choosing red beans, pearls, yamQ and black sugar ice jelly. At $4.50 a portion, I think this is good enough for 2 pax. Quite yummy though I found it rather sweet. My next visit, I would ask for a reduced sugar version. Also, the dessert came with coffee cream which I added just one spoonful to try a different taste. I think black ball has earned themselves another fan. Besides dessert, they serve winter melon tea series which is really quite interesting. I guess this probably be the next craze (at least for myself) after all th...

Qn : What is Malaysia Boleh? Ans : It is a new food joint at Jurong Point that sells Malaysia's popular dishes. Last Sunday, we or should be I decided that lunch will be from Malaysia Boleh after church. We went for takeaway as Jonathan had fallen asleep and we didn't want to risk waking him up from noisy shopping centre or restaurant. We were not quite sure what to order since it was our maiden trip. In the end, these were what we got. KL Hokkien Mee I first queued for KL Hokkien Mee, thinking it was the usual prawn hokkien mee. But when I got my food, I was shocked. First... it was black! and the portion was really small for $4.50. So I thought I better get another takeaway. Wanton Mee I thought Wanton Mee would be a safe choice. The portion was okay for $3.50 + $0.20 more for takeaway. Then Darren met me after buying the helper's lunch. Evergreen Chicken Rice It looked big for $3.50 but I know it won't satisfy the helper. So ...

We bought the discounted tickets from Groupon, meaning to make it as a birthday outing for Jonathan. However, the plan was shelved due to 1. unstable pregnancy 2. poor Jonathan was seriously ill during his birthday week. Hence, the tickets were left untouched until recently I discovered that there's an expiry date to it. So using the Deepavali holiday, we made a trip to it. What we didn't anticipated was the huge crowd that turned up as well. The main car park was full so Darren dropped us off before making his way to the Meadow carpark which I discovered was really a distance away. So with the helper in tow, we walked up to the ticketing booth for the conservatories. From a preggie lady's POV, the 3 minutes walk as told by the information kiosk were still quite a long way for me. And there behold, another surprise for me. The snake queue that formed at the ticketing booth. Wasting no time, I joined in the queue while asking the helper to push Jonathan to a shady ...

I'm at 33 weeks 3 days. I couldn't be happier. 1. My little XP2 has touched the 2kg line. 2. I have not gained any more weight. Total weight gain is still at 6kg (from clinic's scale) and 4kg (home's scale). 3. I'm out of the crucial stage! 4. XP2 is head down and high up. Placenta is away from cervix opening. Cervical length is not very important this stage now. Amniotic fluid is still high. - - - > No Sign of Pre Term Labour!!!! To celebrate... I treated myself a cup of decaf Mocha with 3 petite cakes from Spinelli. Not the best but good enough for me!

We have discussed this topic for a very long time. We compared between Cordlife and Stemcord. We read up all the information. We still couldn't decide. We wanted to play fair. But this is our last chance to store the precious cord blood. Today, we made the final decision. Yup! We have decided to donate XP2's precious cord blood. We signed all the forms today and also confirmed that Jonathan's donation was not successful. We were told that there were many factors contributing to an unsuccessful donation, yet none of it was personal. Probably a contamination along the way or a low cell count that was not viable.  But still... we do hope that XP2's cord blood will go all the way and put into good use one day!

As a 2nd time mummy, I am now more aware what I could do to kickstart my breastfeeding journey. Bought my fenugreek and going to bring it along to the hospital. Will start to pop 2 capsules per day after delivery and start drowning myself with fluid. My other strategy also included getting Sacred Tea and relax. I hope with all these... I can go into exclusive breastfeeding instead of partial. But I'm not going to get so uptight and be stressed over this. I'm going to CHILL..... after all, is the Xmas season too! =D