Baby sam's first trip to Botanic Gardens was a success. She basically slept through most of the way, waking up to soak in the surroundings occasionally and then back to slumberland again. She is definitely getting more interactive and her eyes can follow you as you move from left to right and back again. At the park, we met a group of tourists that were quite impressed with my brood of 3, who are all aged 4 and below. I must say, it is definitely chaotic and physically and mentally tiring, especially during moments when you have to keep an eye on all 3 at once. Towards the end of the walk, the 2 older kids were tired and wanted to sit on the stroller but baby sam was already sleeping in it. In the end, I had to carry sam on one hand and push nat on the stroller using the other while Gary carried Luke, certainly not an easy feat. Never mind, hopefully it will help me in my weight loss endeavour anyway.

Having been cooped at home with me during confinement, the kids were let loose yesterday at their favourite place, the Botanic Gardens. Nat and Luke have both progressed well, from not being able to cycle on their trikes to being able to cycle quite long distances. Only hassle is that it is quite a chore storing 2 trikes (nat's one is especially heavy) and one big stroller in our car. But well, as long as the kids enjoy it, why not? After all, without the clumsiness of being pregnant, I can help Gary with the lifting in and out of the car.

After Botanics, it was really hot, so we went to the mall to enjoy some air-con breeze. The kids were super hyper yesterday, while I was in a sports shop looking for a cap, they decided to entertain themselves dancing in front of the mirror. Haha, they built up quite a bunch of amused audience. Gary was wondering where the kids picked up their cool dance moves from? Yesterday evening, when they were watching TV, I realised that they had picked it up from this show called Boogie Beebies. What a cute pair they are, except when they are fighting over toys!

I have just succeeded in getting baby sam to sleep after 2 hrs. Phew! After a week of caring for her without the confinement lady, I am still trying to get the hang of her habits, her likes and dislikes and her little quirks. Meanwhile, I thought I had better pen down some tips for getting a fussy baby to sleep, lest I forget.

1. There are a few positions she likes to be carried in. Preference is for the "Hang me over your shoulder" hold. Not sure why she likes this, but most times, this hold gets her to calm down quite fast. Next, is the "Superman" hold, somewhat like Superman flying in the sky. Interestingly, I just saw a baby documentary that mentioned that a lot of babies like this hold, and here I was thinking my daughter is weird for liking this seemingly uncomfortable position. The last is the conventional "cradling" position. This only works when she is generally calm and almost falling asleep.

2. Music is an important factor in getting baby sam to sleep. Lullabies are good, namely rock-a-bye-baby. I think I must have sung it like 100 times in the 2 hrs it took me to get her to sleep. When songs fail, saying "Shh, shh, shh" in a rhythmic fashion also helps. Just like nat, sam also falls asleep to the french boy choir "Le Choriste".The music should be accompanied by gentle tapping on the back.

3. Breast is best. This option may not always work.When she is in the mood, suckling at the breast calms her down and she falls asleep just seconds after suckling. When she is not in the mood, suckling at the breast just pisses her off and she ends up bawling after delatching from the breast for the umpteenth time. I guess it doesn't help that sometimes, when the breast is full of milk, it ends up spraying all over her face, making her even more upset.

4. Try not to let her fall asleep in the late evening, after 6pm. I find that if she has little naps after 6pm, it's really hard to get her to sleep at 8pm. If she is kept awake, she generally falls asleep quite easily by 8pm. But, of course, it's not easy to prevent a sleepy baby from falling asleep, especially one who has learnt to nod off amidst the screaming from her siblings at play.

5. Dance lessons are essential. Sometimes, as I dance around with baby sam in my arms, I feel like I have just taken up ballroom dancing, the waltz in particular. Again, this motion calms her down and her loud cries turn to soft whimpers, as I waltz from the living room to the bedroom and back again.

As we settle into the routine of life at home with 3 kids, I realise that life is really not the same anymore. In the past, Gary and I used to take off for a couple dinner on Fridays. We can no longer do that as we cannot leave 3 kids alone with our maid. Same applies during the weekend. If we do want to go our on our own, we have to pack up the whole brood and leave them at my mum's place.

This week, I accompanied Lucas on his school excursion to Jacob Ballas. It was nice spending some one-on-one with with my little boy. We had a good time strolling around the park and I was pleased to be able to see Lucas interacting with his classmates. He has certainly changed, since the first few days of school when he just clung on to me. Now, he is totally comfy with his teachers in class and loves to draw and sing.

The next day, I wanted to spend some one-on-one time with Nat as well, so baby girl and I made a trip to Vivocity. We walked around, looked at toys and books, and had a leisurely lunch. After she nibbled a few bites of lunch, she scurried off to the boardwalk near the cafe to explore. In the past, I would not have allowed Nat to be away from me even for a few feet, but I knew that as she got older, I would have to learn to trust her more and let go. So, we made some ground rules, she could explore as long as she did not go near the railing beside the boardwalk (to prevent people from falling into the sea). A few times, she looked like she was attempting to go there and nearly gave me a heart attack haha but each time she looked back at me, gave a little wave and remembered what she promised me. Basking in my full attention, Nat certainly behaved better and was happily skipping all over the place.

Once a week, I will try to spend a morning or afternoon with one of the older kids. This allows for more quality interaction with each one of them.

 

Happy one month, baby sam! One month ago, you came into our lives in a fast and furious fashion, and life has never been the same again.

1. You complete our family. At the back of our mind, daddy and I had always wanted 3 kids, although we were planning to have you just a wee bit later. But nevertheless, your appearance is welcomed by all in the family.

2. I had all but forgotten what it is like to care for a newborn but you have no qualms about reminding me that you are an attention-seeking individual, just like mummy. Your loud bawling at 3am in the morning is enough to make me bolt out of bed in a jiffy.

3. Like your big sister, you have a way of smiling just as you fall asleep, that is enough to melt everyone's heart, especially daddy. I sense that you will wrap your o'le softie daddy around your little fingers, just like your big sis.

4. You sleep best facing down, on your tummy. But this paranoid mummy checks on you like a million times throughout the day, to make sure all is well and good.

5. Your siblings love you. Big sister nat wants to carry you every day, while Kor Kor lucas loves to caress your head ever so gently.

6. Your first outing was to Robinson's with daddy and me, last Friday to pick out some clothes for you. You behaved relatively well and I am so proud of you.

7. You surprise me with your strength. At the grand o'le age of one month old, your favourite position is upright and you constantly try to lift your head to check out what's happening around you.

8. Mummy enjoys spending one-on-one time with you when your siblings are in school. It's just you and me, baby girl.

Yesterday, was a night of many firsts. The first time we were sleeping with Sam in our room, since the confinement lady left. The first time we left the kids to fall asleep on their own, instead of lying with them till they fell asleep. The first time Sam slept in the secure sleeper, placed between Gary and me. I think I slept a total of about 2-3 hrs, but I feel good this morning. I could easily have outsourced Sam's night time feeds to my maid but I have always believed in taking on this aspect on my own. It's all about sensing the baby, finding out what she wants, what makes her comfy, what irritates her, and all these can only be discovered when you keep her close to you. Sam woke up at about 1am, I latched her, then 3am, I gave her the bottle and nursed her a little, and finally she awoke again at 6am. Sitting there, nursing her in the darkness of the bedroom and listening to her rhythmic breathing and occasional grunts, I felt sleepy but blessed. Some time in the night, she did a poop as well, and I half considered changing her diapers in the dark but decided against it as it could prove to be a messy affair. Moving on to the secure sleeper, we first got introduced to it with nat, when one of Gary's colleague loaned it to us. I liked it, as did nat. With lucas, this stingy mum decided to rent the sleeper from one of the toy rental companies. Bad move, lucas had a habit of big time pooping at night and before we knew it, there were big poop stains on the sleeper mattress. Of course, we had to pay the penalty, which amounted to the cost of the sleeper. Sigh ... This time round, I bought the sleeper on a discount. After researching, I had found, to my delight, that there is a resale value for this item and I can easily sell it once Sam outgrows it. Overall, she seems to have slept well in it last night and I enjoy having her close and easily petting her to sleep, something that I can't do when she is placed inside the cot. I am sure Gary thinks I am secretly masochistic to have chosen the exact same night to ease our two older kids to sleep on their own. As expected, there was a lot of screaming and playing when we closed the door and Gary and I had to make several trips into the bedroom with stern voices calling for them to sleep. After a while, Lucas fell asleep and without anyone to chit chat with her, my baby girl also fell asleep. Success! Finally! What an eventful first night.

Wednesday, 13 April 2011 The joy of being a milkmaid. I am blessed to have "the perfect boobs for breastfeeding", as declared by one lactation consultant who sailed in early one morning after I had just delivered Sam. At that moment, I thought she was just making polite conversation. But now I totally agree, I have become a milkmaid. I pump and breastfeed at all times of the day. I empty my breasts and 2 hours later, it's hard as a rock again. In one night, I can pump about 1litre of breastmilk. I even have a chest freezer just to store my bags and bags of breastmilk. Being near Sam makes me have a letdown reflex and I have stocked up on boxes and boxes of disposable breastpads. Poor baby even gets milk sprayed on her when she is latching, so I have taken to pumping some milk out first before letting her latch directly. I must say, breastfeeding is definitely easier for me this third time round (although it didn't start off too well in the beginning, when Sam gnawed on my breasts just a bit too violently and Gary was totally scandalised by the bloody breastmilk that resulted). Let's hope I can persist and go all the way to breastfeed Sam for at least 6 months to 1 year. Wish me luck!

Monday, 11 April 2011 Time flies so fast, baby Sam is almost one month old already. While her loud cries are enough to make you bolt out of bed, she really is a sweet baby. She has a curly mop of black/brown hair and loves looking at the musical mobile above her cot. Her siblings adore her. Nat draws pictures for her baby Sam every few days and delivers it to her cot and the confinement lady will dutifully hang up her drawings for Sam to look at. Sometimes, it is a picture of a rainbow, sometimes a family picture (with mummy holding baby Sam in her arms) and sometimes it is just so abstract, I have absolutely no idea what it is. Lucas loves to peer at Sam through the gaps at the cot and when he has an opportunity, he will gently stroke her hair and tell Sam, I'm Kor Kor. It's lovely to see them interact with one another. Just the other day, I was about to go to bed and I found a drawing under my pillow. It said Mummy, I looked under Gary's pillow and there was one for Daddy too. Nat is really into drawing these days and she loves hiding her drawings around the house for me to find and appreciate. Even Lucas enjoys drawing these days and he is finally able to draw smiling faces instead of just scrawling all over the paper. Another week of confinement and I'm looking forward to going out with my 3 babies! Not gonna be easy to manage, but we will adapt, we always do.

Wednesday, 6 April 2011 I love cuddling my newborn, letting her suckle till she falls asleep and continuing to hold her in my arms and just staring at her sleeping. Even after 3 kids, I still love this feeling. I send pics of the babies to Gary every so often, to remind him what and whom we are working hard for.

Sunday, 3 April 2011 Caring for baby sam reminds me so much of my experiences with baby nat. The cute little rompers that hang on their scrawny little frames, the loud bawling, the innocent looking eyes that stare up at you when you are carrying them in your arms. I didn't realise how much I miss it. Check out the pics, the top one is of baby nat and the bottom one is of baby sam, dressed in the favourite duckling rompers that I absolutely adore.

This time round, although my breastfeeding experience was off to a slightly rock start (with engorgement initially), my milk supply has stabilised and increased such that I am even able to store a few packets a day. It's interesting how your mood and emotions are so affected by your milk supply. When you can't produce enough milk for your baby, you begin to feel guilty. Yet, when the milk supply sets in, your mood improves as well. I just can't figure out if this is just hormones at work or if there is a scientific rationale behind it.