Times passes so quickly ... babee nat is now officially 3 weeks old. she now cries very loudly demanding for milk and attention ... meet my fave little bumblebee ...

Yesterday was the first time I took a bath for nat ... under the supervision of auntie (the confinement lady) of course. It's really not easy ... first u start off with her tongue ... which has to be cleaned daily or else there will be milk stains. next, u wrap her up and bring her to the bathroom ... then you'll start off by dipping her legs gently into the warm water till she is accustomed to the temperature before you start washing her hair. then you can begin to wipe her face, body, hands and butt ... all this has to be done quickly or else you'll have to be ready to face her wrath :) anywayz, today is the second time i'm going to try bathing her ... wish me luck!

Baby nat's facial features seem to change a little every day ... but to me she's still a little sweet heart. Here's a really cute pic of her we took recently, she looks unfazed by the noise around her :)

Today, the confinement lady had to go off to run some errands for half a day, so we got to experience what it's like to handle nat without her. It's not easy ... i must say ... changing her diapers, feeding her, etc. For me, i'm still not too confident when handling her because she's really very fragile but I guess all i need is more practice, after all, in one month's time, i will have to take over all these tasks. Although we have managed to get Nat used to feeding from the bottle, I still try to breastfeed her directly once or twice a day ... i realise that i do like the bonding that comes with direct breastfeeding.

I was just telling gary that I sometimes miss having nat in my tummy. Not sure how to describe this feeling that I have ... but I like feeling her little kicks daily and talking to her.

Every day, she is growing to be such a little sweetheart, especially when she gives her little impish smile :)

Baby nat is officially 11 days old today ... i'm still learning how to care for her. Today, auntie (the confinement lady) was teaching me how to carry her comfortably during breastfeeding ... we even resorted to using my toy bear so that I could have more practice. It's scary ... having this little being so dependent on you for everything ... next up ... bathing ... hmm ... think i'll leave that to next week.

jaundice worries

Since baby nat has come home, I've brought her to see the pediatrician thrice because of her jaundice. People tell me most newborns will definitely have some form of jaundice, but one can't help worrying anyway. In the end, we had to rent this phototherapy machine and have her sleep with the UV lighting on. Poor thing ... it was hot and uncomfortable for her. luckily on the last visit to the pediatrician, he told us she was better ... no need to sleep on the UV bed, and we just had to monitor her more closely.

Nat's first day home ... 7 Feb. The confinement lady had not arrived yet, so gary and I had to handle babee on our own till she arrived in the evening. We did our best to keep her amused ... well fed ... and luckily we did learn a thing or two from the nurses at Gleneagles about changing nat's diapers.

Look at the proud daddy :) gary had the honours of snipping the umbilical cord, although I must say he was quite nervous, took him 3 tries. It's a nice feeling when they place the baby onto you right after delivery. Nothing dramatic like what you see on tv, where tears well in your eyes blah blah blah ... nyah ... it's just nice to finally meet this little being that has been living together with you for the past nine months. After resting a while, I was moved to the normal ward ... gary and the nurses were rather shocked that i still had the energy to practically leap out of the portable bed onto the bed in the ward. Well, I must admit the epidural did make me feel kinda tired but otherwise I was still quite alrite ... btw have i mentioned that epidural is the only way to go ... can't imagine going through the whole delivery process without it.

Meet baby nat :)

my birth story
We arrived at Gleneagles at about 1:30pm, admission was pretty quick as we had already done all the pre-admission procedures. Proceeded to the labour ward where I was given a blue gown to wear and hooked up to the baby heartbeat monitor, which also measured the intensity of contractions. Didn't feel much pain, just minor cramping during contractions ... gary and I were bored ... so he went off to buy us some magazines.

3:30pm Dr Chua came along and broke the waterbag with this long sharp thingey ... looked kinda scary ... but well, it was over in a jiffy. I kinda like Dr Chua as a gynae, somehow she has a calming presence and I always feel quite confident and safe with her.

Things moved along pretty smoothly after tat. I was asked to move to another room ... the actual delivery room. This room was definitely more comfy, they had a nice pink chair for gary to lounge on.

anyway, the anaesthetist along came and did the epidural procedure for me. again, no pain. over the next few hours, cervix dilated ... and when Dr Chua came along in the evening/nite, it was time to push!

With the epidural, i really cd not feel much but I pushed with all my might and baby nat was born into this world on 5 Feburary 2007.

I feel really blessed that the pregnancy has been a smooth journey, the birth process has been relatively painless and our baby natalie is strong and healthy.

5 Feb ... Welcome to the world, Baby Natalie ...
I woke up in the morning feeling perfectly normal. Gary asked " Does it feel like today?" I thought about it ... nyah ...anyway, I've got this presentation to do in the office today. In the office, tummy felt a bit tight ...hmm...mabbe I should drop by my gynae Dr Chua's place today instead of tomorrow, the date of my scheduled appt.

Arrived at Dr Chua's place and was hooked on to the machine to monitor baby's heartbeat. She checked my cervix and declared that it was already 2cm dilated. I was given 2 options: a) check myself into hospital in the pm and she would come along to break the water bag b) go home and wait for the water bag to break on its own ... sign being the control freak I am, of course I chose option a.

I picked up gary at this office, we had a quickie lunch at Maxwell and we were off to Gleneagles. Hmm ... everything still feels rather dreamlike ... can't believe this is it!

I admit, I've been lazy ... my last post was in October! But well, I really thank God that it's been a smooth pregnancy for the past nine months. Babee has been active and I've been rather energetic as well ... gary and I have been going about our weekend shopping, exercise ... etc. Valentine's Day 14 Feb is the date that babee is supposed to be due but somehow I have this gut feel that she'll be early. 3 Feb - I insist we make a trip to Chinatown to soak in the festivities. After all, once babee is born, I'll be cooped up at home.