I was at a company training today and get to know one of my new colleague Paul just had a new born boy and wife is still in confinement. He shared with me that he is deprived of sleep every night and haven't been able to get to work for nearly a month. He did not engage a confinement lady and his mother is helping out during the day time. When it comes to night, its him and his wife alone.
He is in his early 40s and is his first child. He complained that he gets tired easily, probably due to his age.
Some of the things he shared such as "Worried from day 1 of wife's pregnancy to the day of delivery", "Recalling how his parents took care of him while he is young", "having an addition makes the family complete" seems exactly what I have been feeling all along too. This shows a lot of Fathers probably been going through what I am going through and thinking too except that not many of them shared openly with their friends as compared to how woman share with their so called "Girlfriends".
I haven't share about my wife's pregnancy with most of my colleagues till today and he seems surprised that I know so much about pregnancy even before I have one. Actually back in my mind, I was thinking, "OMG! I have 2 coming and you are already so tired with 1." I really wonder if I can even come for the training today like he did, if I am at his shoe now.
Twice the Joy
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Serious questions start popping
Felin's parents and Evelyn/Jimmy endured the causeway jam to visit us during the H.R Puasa weekend. Felin is always happy whenever her family is here. She will have plenty of pregnancy experiences to share and to talk about old times. We met at Sentosa Resort World to have lunch with them where we simply laze around the Malaysian Foodcourt. MIL gave me and Felin a buffet dinner voucher at The Starz (Hard Rock) where Felin can only admire my Sashimi and Clams during dinner. After dinner, we just chat outside the Casino like till 11+pm. Wow!!! Seems so much to talk and Felin don't really looks tired.
The following morning, we suddenly discussed about how and who are going to take care of the kids. For the first month, the strategy will be Felin just take care of feeding the babies and have plenty of rest to focus on having sufficient milk flow. Mum and MIL will be in charge of putting babies to sleep, making them burp, giving them shower and cooking, etc.... We are also seriously considering to get a domestic worker to assist. When it comes to night, Mum will be resting at her own house and MIL should be still there to assist during the night. I think its either the domestic worker or me have to help out.
The above strategy sounds easy but I think will not be easy to implement. My house is so small, can we accommodate so many people? Will there be conflict between Mum and MIL? Does domestic workers help in the middle of the night? What if we get D.W who does not know how to take care of children? What happen after MIL goes back Malaysia after the 1st month confinement? Are we able to take care of 2 babies from the 2nd month onwards?
It seems that we are not getting confinement lady and MIL and mum will work together to help out. I was considering whether to get a month supply of the Ting Kat to ensure enough food for 3-4 people or take this chance for Mum to teach our domestic worker to cook. We also considered on infant care after 4 months but we will take this only as a last resort measure when Mum can't handle and no domestic worker is found to be suitable to help.
I somehow felt that I am still so far from doing things that I been wanting to do such as learning public speaking for seminars, doing my ChFC exam, ensuring my fitness with more runs and gym sessions, to learn from a fitness instructor before my Gym membership ends in October, etc...
It seems to me that once the babies come, I may not have time for all these things and life. Finances can be another concern, additional expenses such as domestic worker, car expenses after conversion to normal plate, insurances, living expenses such as Diapers, milk, medical, my tax, my mortgage payment, parents support, tithes, etc... This is on top of a likely case where Felin will stop working for 1-2 years. MONEY NOT ENOUGH!!! Money not enough, yet I'm concerned if I will be in good physical shape to continue remain focused on my work in office due to lack of sleep.
I think these concerns will get more pressing as the babies approaches their arrival date. I'm definitely not ready for them to come yet though Felin hope they comes asap. Too many things undone and unsure at this moment. Week 15 is coming and omg I really don't know whether I want time to go fast or slow now... haha...
The following morning, we suddenly discussed about how and who are going to take care of the kids. For the first month, the strategy will be Felin just take care of feeding the babies and have plenty of rest to focus on having sufficient milk flow. Mum and MIL will be in charge of putting babies to sleep, making them burp, giving them shower and cooking, etc.... We are also seriously considering to get a domestic worker to assist. When it comes to night, Mum will be resting at her own house and MIL should be still there to assist during the night. I think its either the domestic worker or me have to help out.
The above strategy sounds easy but I think will not be easy to implement. My house is so small, can we accommodate so many people? Will there be conflict between Mum and MIL? Does domestic workers help in the middle of the night? What if we get D.W who does not know how to take care of children? What happen after MIL goes back Malaysia after the 1st month confinement? Are we able to take care of 2 babies from the 2nd month onwards?
It seems that we are not getting confinement lady and MIL and mum will work together to help out. I was considering whether to get a month supply of the Ting Kat to ensure enough food for 3-4 people or take this chance for Mum to teach our domestic worker to cook. We also considered on infant care after 4 months but we will take this only as a last resort measure when Mum can't handle and no domestic worker is found to be suitable to help.
I somehow felt that I am still so far from doing things that I been wanting to do such as learning public speaking for seminars, doing my ChFC exam, ensuring my fitness with more runs and gym sessions, to learn from a fitness instructor before my Gym membership ends in October, etc...
It seems to me that once the babies come, I may not have time for all these things and life. Finances can be another concern, additional expenses such as domestic worker, car expenses after conversion to normal plate, insurances, living expenses such as Diapers, milk, medical, my tax, my mortgage payment, parents support, tithes, etc... This is on top of a likely case where Felin will stop working for 1-2 years. MONEY NOT ENOUGH!!! Money not enough, yet I'm concerned if I will be in good physical shape to continue remain focused on my work in office due to lack of sleep.
I think these concerns will get more pressing as the babies approaches their arrival date. I'm definitely not ready for them to come yet though Felin hope they comes asap. Too many things undone and unsure at this moment. Week 15 is coming and omg I really don't know whether I want time to go fast or slow now... haha...
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Spending time thinking of names
Woke up by Felin at 6am today as she was vomiting in the toliet again. She told me that she was hungry and she tried to ignore but failed. I quickly made milk and oat for her and as she was having the food, we started chatting on the bed discussing about Christian names for our kids.
She seems to like Cheryl and Joshua a lot and think I am to look for alternatives just in case we wants the siblings to have same alphabet for their names. Caleb have been my favourite for a while but Caleb Khiat sounds too much like "Carrot Cake" and I somehow need to re-think again. I also like Josiah, who was one of the good king of Judah. Other names which came into my mind include Camellia and Delphine for girls. As for boys name, I currently also have Jensen to go with Joshua just in case its 2 boys or Daryl to go with Cheryl just in case its boy and girl, etc.
Its certainly consumed a lot of time to think of names, moreover for our case, need to think of 4 names. 2 Christian and 2 Chinese names. I actually spent hours browsing the internet alone for names today. I wanted a less common and meaningful name but Felin likes to play safe and is less receptive to my suggestions.
Anyway, I think it will helps after knowing the genders. So todays names research exercise is just for reference and for fun.
Friday, July 25, 2014
Its 14th week!!!
Its like a counting down exercise for both of us. Its the babies 14th week today. Every week seems to pass so fast but its funny that the number always seems so small when compared to 40 weeks. Felin and I had a casual conversation today where we hope the babies will arrive on 10th January 2015. 10th January means a full term of 38 weeks and Felin will suffer 2 weeks lesser. We will celebrate their baby shower exactly 1 week before Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year falls on 19th February 2015.
10th January also seems to be an easy date to remember. Lets pray for this date. May they stay till full term and yet not too big and uncomfortable for Felin.
So what is happening on week 14?
He's probably sucking his thumb and wiggling his toes in there!
His kidneys are making urine, and his liver and spleen are doing their jobs, too.
And he's growing lanugo, a thin, peach-fuzz-like hair, all over his body -- it will help him keep warm!
He had grown to about 9cm at a weight of 42gram. Its about the size of a Lemon...
Felin haven't fully got over from the pregnancy symptoms of fatigue and nausea. She fall into sleep pretty early. We are still somehow unsure on what we should be researching on at this stage. We don't seems to be doing anything yet. On my personal side, I haven't been active enough on my exercise regime and not engaging a trainer yet before my California membership ends in Mid October. I haven't register myself for the ChFC examination, I haven't start attending the Toastmasters class to learn speaking in public. Time is running out and I am still so relaxed.
10th January also seems to be an easy date to remember. Lets pray for this date. May they stay till full term and yet not too big and uncomfortable for Felin.
So what is happening on week 14?
He's probably sucking his thumb and wiggling his toes in there!
His kidneys are making urine, and his liver and spleen are doing their jobs, too.
And he's growing lanugo, a thin, peach-fuzz-like hair, all over his body -- it will help him keep warm!
He had grown to about 9cm at a weight of 42gram. Its about the size of a Lemon...
Felin haven't fully got over from the pregnancy symptoms of fatigue and nausea. She fall into sleep pretty early. We are still somehow unsure on what we should be researching on at this stage. We don't seems to be doing anything yet. On my personal side, I haven't been active enough on my exercise regime and not engaging a trainer yet before my California membership ends in Mid October. I haven't register myself for the ChFC examination, I haven't start attending the Toastmasters class to learn speaking in public. Time is running out and I am still so relaxed.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Forgoing my free Lucerne and Barcelona convention trips
Felt very disappointed that I have to forgo my 2 free Europe trips in October. I have been praying over if I should go and when Felin asked me today, "If you think that is more important, then you go ahead. You decide" I think the answer is obvious from her reply. She is comparing what is more important now. Her or my free trips.
Actually what I see is that she will be in 26th week pregnancy by then and she should be fine. If I am to choose only go for one of the trip, it should be okay, isn't it? But after seeing that she hasn't really got over the nausea spell lately and she had been moody due to her work stress in office, I have to make a decision once and for all so as not to think about it again.
While everyone in the office are talking about extension after the trips and what they are going to do, I am the only one who have to stay back here. I actually feels tired after all my long hours work over all these months and want to get out of the house and be refreshed on my own. Going on trips with company is different compared to with family because I can don't talk and do my own thing throughout the trip when with company but with family, I have to stay focus throughout the trip. I always be able to complete a few books and have fresh ideas whenever I comes back from overseas company trip.
I think I will feel disappointed for a long time to come but I have no choice because Felin cannot accept staying home alone without me. She commented "What if" I this or that and you are not around, blah blar blar...? I sometimes really don't like those "What ifs". Just like how I forgo my free Tokyo trip last year because she said "What if there are still radiation?"... I also forgo my Goldcoast and Yogyakarta Borodudur Trips last year mainly because she wasn't happy that I go and she have to pay a large sum of money to accompany me.
Its just wishful thinking that she will tell me "Dear, you had worked hard for the whole year. You deserve these coming Lucerne or Barcelona incentive trips that your company had rewarded you. I hope you will be more refreshed after the trip and able to come back with fresh ideas on how to run your business. I can take care of myself well when you're not around... Love you much... Enjoy!!!"
Actually what I see is that she will be in 26th week pregnancy by then and she should be fine. If I am to choose only go for one of the trip, it should be okay, isn't it? But after seeing that she hasn't really got over the nausea spell lately and she had been moody due to her work stress in office, I have to make a decision once and for all so as not to think about it again.
While everyone in the office are talking about extension after the trips and what they are going to do, I am the only one who have to stay back here. I actually feels tired after all my long hours work over all these months and want to get out of the house and be refreshed on my own. Going on trips with company is different compared to with family because I can don't talk and do my own thing throughout the trip when with company but with family, I have to stay focus throughout the trip. I always be able to complete a few books and have fresh ideas whenever I comes back from overseas company trip.
I think I will feel disappointed for a long time to come but I have no choice because Felin cannot accept staying home alone without me. She commented "What if" I this or that and you are not around, blah blar blar...? I sometimes really don't like those "What ifs". Just like how I forgo my free Tokyo trip last year because she said "What if there are still radiation?"... I also forgo my Goldcoast and Yogyakarta Borodudur Trips last year mainly because she wasn't happy that I go and she have to pay a large sum of money to accompany me.
Its just wishful thinking that she will tell me "Dear, you had worked hard for the whole year. You deserve these coming Lucerne or Barcelona incentive trips that your company had rewarded you. I hope you will be more refreshed after the trip and able to come back with fresh ideas on how to run your business. I can take care of myself well when you're not around... Love you much... Enjoy!!!"
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
To cuddle or to be independent
I worked into the Wee hours last night again. I am working so long hours but yet seems to complete so little. The administrative work remains, the proposals not written, the sales not coming, etc... I am getting worried about my own business as the babies seems to be arriving. I think this could be something which many Daddies feel when kids are arriving. They feel the need to provide sufficiently for the family and with pride. I am still letting time flies like nobody's business. Hours by hours, days by days. I really don't know what I am doing.
Felin and I had a short conversation about children sharing room with parents. My idea is that children should move to their own room within 1 years old and we can put a baby monitor to check on them, if necessary. I do not want them to be too used to sleep with the parents because I still want my private life with Felin. I do not want the children to be in between us everyday and like life to be as normal as possible.
As for Felin, she feels that 1 years old is still too young and preferably they should stay until between 2 to 3 years old when they can better take care of themselves. She kept saying, "What if" this and "What if" that, etc... Maybe I just don't like those "What if"... I think we shouldn't be thinking too much lor...
I think I'm probably the type who will prefer children to run in the wild, feeding cats and playing in the rain, not afraid of that little bit of dirt. I want to them to learn appreciate nature, be active and run in the sun. I want them to fall down and learn to stand up. This was how I grew up, I was independent from young. I remembered playing with cats everyday on the void deck when I was like 7-8 years old. I remembered playing in the mud and rain while in primary school (Pity my mother because I was so dirty and smelly). I remembered taking bus alone, travelling all the way from Bedok to Bukit Timah Hill with just a friend while as young as 10-11 yrs old, sneaking to swim in public pool without parents knowledge (Opps.. Naughty boy!)...
But of course, being independent doesn't mean I will care less about them. I still hope to be a Father whom they will respect and consult. Be a good friend to them and they loving me and Felin back. I also have to lead them in Godly ways to ensure who is in control in their life.
Felin and I had a short conversation about children sharing room with parents. My idea is that children should move to their own room within 1 years old and we can put a baby monitor to check on them, if necessary. I do not want them to be too used to sleep with the parents because I still want my private life with Felin. I do not want the children to be in between us everyday and like life to be as normal as possible.
As for Felin, she feels that 1 years old is still too young and preferably they should stay until between 2 to 3 years old when they can better take care of themselves. She kept saying, "What if" this and "What if" that, etc... Maybe I just don't like those "What if"... I think we shouldn't be thinking too much lor...
I think I'm probably the type who will prefer children to run in the wild, feeding cats and playing in the rain, not afraid of that little bit of dirt. I want to them to learn appreciate nature, be active and run in the sun. I want them to fall down and learn to stand up. This was how I grew up, I was independent from young. I remembered playing with cats everyday on the void deck when I was like 7-8 years old. I remembered playing in the mud and rain while in primary school (Pity my mother because I was so dirty and smelly). I remembered taking bus alone, travelling all the way from Bedok to Bukit Timah Hill with just a friend while as young as 10-11 yrs old, sneaking to swim in public pool without parents knowledge (Opps.. Naughty boy!)...
But of course, being independent doesn't mean I will care less about them. I still hope to be a Father whom they will respect and consult. Be a good friend to them and they loving me and Felin back. I also have to lead them in Godly ways to ensure who is in control in their life.
Our unique Singapore Baby Bonus Scheme
Someone asked me about Baby Bonus recently and I went to find out how much I will be getting from the Government. Think this is one benefit of having children in Singapore.
Let me write briefly on what this baby bonus is about and how I am planning to use it...
The Baby Bonus Scheme is designed to help families defray the costs of raising a child. It comprises a cash gift and a Child Development Account (CDA), a special co-savings scheme for children.
Enhanced Baby Bonus Cash Gift
For Singapore Citizen children born on or after 26 Aug 2012, the Baby Bonus cash gift has been enhanced as follows:
Additionally, the cash gift is now disbursed more quickly. It is given out in 3 instalments over 12 months following the child’s birth (instead of 4 instalments over 18 months previously):
* 50% at birth;
* 25% when the child is 6 months old; and
* 25% when the child is 12 months old.
CDA savings funds can be used for child development needs at Approved Institutions registered with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). Approved uses of CDA funds include the following:
At this moment, for each of my kid, I am still thinking of putting in a seed fund of $19,000 together with the Cash gift of $6,000 that I'll be receiving to construct an investment portfolio meant for their future tertiary education. It means a total of $25,000 for each of my babies. In total, I must fork out $38,000 for both of them. Hopefully, I can achieve 4.5%p.a yield and by 20 years, this fund can grow to $60,000.
As for the CDA Co-Savings, I will definitely put in $6,000 for each of them in order to receive the full $6,000 from government. I will use this $12,000 for their future childcare expenses.
This means I will likely be putting aside $50,000 in total for the babies. Hopefully this year's budget report, government will give more money to have babies. Put in $50,000, broke already...
Let me write briefly on what this baby bonus is about and how I am planning to use it...
The Baby Bonus Scheme is designed to help families defray the costs of raising a child. It comprises a cash gift and a Child Development Account (CDA), a special co-savings scheme for children.
Enhanced Baby Bonus Cash Gift
Enhanced Baby Bonus Cash Gift
| Child Order | Born between 17 Aug 2008 and 25 Aug 2012 (for each child) | Born on or after 26 Aug 2012 (for each child) |
|---|---|---|
1st & 2nd Child
|
$4,000
|
$6,000
|
3rd & 4th Child
|
$6,000
|
$8,000
|
Additionally, the cash gift is now disbursed more quickly. It is given out in 3 instalments over 12 months following the child’s birth (instead of 4 instalments over 18 months previously):
* 50% at birth;
* 25% when the child is 6 months old; and
* 25% when the child is 12 months old.
Baby Bonus CDA
The Baby Bonus Child Development Account (CDA) is a co-savings scheme for children, where savings deposited by parents into a special savings account called the CDA are matched dollar-for-dollar by the Government, up to a specified ceiling, as indicated below:
CDA Government Co-Savings Caps
| Child Order |
From 17 Aug 2008 onwards (for each child)
|
|---|---|
| 1st & 2nd Child |
$6,000
|
| 3rd & 4th Child | $12,000 |
| 5th Child & beyond | $18,000 |
CDA savings funds can be used for child development needs at Approved Institutions registered with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). Approved uses of CDA funds include the following:
- Fees for child care centres, kindergartens, special education schools and early intervention programmes
- Medical expenses at healthcare institutions such as hospitals and GP clinics
- Premiums for MediShield or Medisave-approved private integrated plans
- Assistive devices
- Eye-related products and services at optical shops
- Approved healthcare items at pharmacies
At this moment, for each of my kid, I am still thinking of putting in a seed fund of $19,000 together with the Cash gift of $6,000 that I'll be receiving to construct an investment portfolio meant for their future tertiary education. It means a total of $25,000 for each of my babies. In total, I must fork out $38,000 for both of them. Hopefully, I can achieve 4.5%p.a yield and by 20 years, this fund can grow to $60,000.
As for the CDA Co-Savings, I will definitely put in $6,000 for each of them in order to receive the full $6,000 from government. I will use this $12,000 for their future childcare expenses.
This means I will likely be putting aside $50,000 in total for the babies. Hopefully this year's budget report, government will give more money to have babies. Put in $50,000, broke already...
Monday, July 21, 2014
Beginning of Felin's 2nd Trimester
Felin had just entered into her 2nd Trimester this week. She had not been waking up in the middle of the night for 3 straight nights. Her nausea is not as bad as what happened to her over the past few weeks. She is eating better and we even went to the pool for some exercise today. She is still worried about swimming because she is afraid of using her abdominal muscles. I kept reassuring her that its safe to swim but she always prefer to play safe.
We had a fantastic weekend. We went out for Lunch at Tampines Mall and watched the Disney movie "Maleficent" on Saturday. I told Felin that our "2-of-us" days are numbered. We should spend more time together like this and value it now. Whenever I told this to Felin, she will tell me that she prefers that the babies come out soon so that she don't need to suffer alone in this pregnancy journey. I just kept quiet because we are certainly not ready and I know she will be enjoying the honeymoon period of the pregnancy before the 3rd Trimester comes.
We then went for a baby shower at my Army Friend cum clients place. During the baby shower, we get to meet his confinement lady who was also highly recommended by his friend at the party. They said that this confinement lady not only take care of the kid, she also did the housework, cooked different set of dishes for the family. She was so good that they hardly even hear the baby cry throughout one confinement month.
Wow!!! Thats seems contrary to what I heard from PK, Felin's ex-colleague who complained that they hardly is able to sleep at night despite having the confinement lady.
We are in a predicament whether to engage a confinement lady or to just engage Felin's Mum to help out. The cost of confinement lady can be very high because ours is a twin and strictly speaking if we follow our EDD, it will be 24th Jan 15, which will coincide with Chinese New Year which falls on 19th Feb 15. Price will be double + double. I still believe that the baby will be due by 38th week which will be about 10th Jan 15 but let God plan the date and lets not speculate first.
I did not make any appointment over the weekend and I really enjoyed the time with Felin. Our sunday was just as good. Church Service, have lunch with Evy and Lilian at DTE before lazing at home and swimming in the evening. She went out dinner with her friend while I had instant noodle at home. May God continue to protect Felin and the babies in the week ahead.
Parenthood is a very long journey and I seems to be looking things week by week and been praying for them almost everyday. Is this how parents being always worried about their children? Never felt like that in the past before...
We had a fantastic weekend. We went out for Lunch at Tampines Mall and watched the Disney movie "Maleficent" on Saturday. I told Felin that our "2-of-us" days are numbered. We should spend more time together like this and value it now. Whenever I told this to Felin, she will tell me that she prefers that the babies come out soon so that she don't need to suffer alone in this pregnancy journey. I just kept quiet because we are certainly not ready and I know she will be enjoying the honeymoon period of the pregnancy before the 3rd Trimester comes.
We then went for a baby shower at my Army Friend cum clients place. During the baby shower, we get to meet his confinement lady who was also highly recommended by his friend at the party. They said that this confinement lady not only take care of the kid, she also did the housework, cooked different set of dishes for the family. She was so good that they hardly even hear the baby cry throughout one confinement month.
Wow!!! Thats seems contrary to what I heard from PK, Felin's ex-colleague who complained that they hardly is able to sleep at night despite having the confinement lady.
We are in a predicament whether to engage a confinement lady or to just engage Felin's Mum to help out. The cost of confinement lady can be very high because ours is a twin and strictly speaking if we follow our EDD, it will be 24th Jan 15, which will coincide with Chinese New Year which falls on 19th Feb 15. Price will be double + double. I still believe that the baby will be due by 38th week which will be about 10th Jan 15 but let God plan the date and lets not speculate first.
I did not make any appointment over the weekend and I really enjoyed the time with Felin. Our sunday was just as good. Church Service, have lunch with Evy and Lilian at DTE before lazing at home and swimming in the evening. She went out dinner with her friend while I had instant noodle at home. May God continue to protect Felin and the babies in the week ahead.
Parenthood is a very long journey and I seems to be looking things week by week and been praying for them almost everyday. Is this how parents being always worried about their children? Never felt like that in the past before...
Thursday, July 17, 2014
A chip off the old block?
I started reading the book that I borrowed from the Library during the night after coming back home at 10pm. One of the chapter that interests me is about how being a new father stirs up thoughts about my relationship with my Dad.
Dad is getting old by days. He is getting slow in thoughts and less agile than before. He seems to be thinking lesser and finding hard to catch up during a family conversation. I think if I am still single or not in a fatherhood position, I can be rather impatient when talking to him as I always have to repeat the same question 2 to 3 times.
While reading this chapter, I started to reflect on how Dad had raised me up. How he would had reacted when he knew my arrival. I'm the third child in the family and we are not well off people, I wonder if he felt anxious about time and finances as what I am going through now?
Mum once showed me a photograph of Dad when he was young, I felt that I look so much like him. When I look at his mannerism and how he treated friends, etc... I felt much like him too. And when I look at him today, I thought that I might be like him in future as well as how I described above?
I certainly do not wish my children to be impatient with me next time. If I love him and care for him today, I will be a good example for my kids in future on how they can take care of me one day too. I should stop doing or saying things that will hurt my parents and love them unconditionally. This is how they loved me in the past as well. I think this is a big lesson that I'd learnt over the past 2 months while preparing for my parenthood.
I will try to ask Dad on what he think he did well as a father and what mistake I should avoid in the future into fatherhood. It might be challenging for him to understand what I want to ask him but I do hope it can help him stimulate his thoughts a bit too. I also hope when the children arrives, he will become more active, think and talk more as well.
Well, today its Felin's official 13th week of pregnancy. By statistics, the baby should be about 7.4cm and weighs 23gm now. We are into the 2nd trimester and the babies will grow really fast from this point onwards.
Dad is getting old by days. He is getting slow in thoughts and less agile than before. He seems to be thinking lesser and finding hard to catch up during a family conversation. I think if I am still single or not in a fatherhood position, I can be rather impatient when talking to him as I always have to repeat the same question 2 to 3 times.
While reading this chapter, I started to reflect on how Dad had raised me up. How he would had reacted when he knew my arrival. I'm the third child in the family and we are not well off people, I wonder if he felt anxious about time and finances as what I am going through now?
Mum once showed me a photograph of Dad when he was young, I felt that I look so much like him. When I look at his mannerism and how he treated friends, etc... I felt much like him too. And when I look at him today, I thought that I might be like him in future as well as how I described above?
I certainly do not wish my children to be impatient with me next time. If I love him and care for him today, I will be a good example for my kids in future on how they can take care of me one day too. I should stop doing or saying things that will hurt my parents and love them unconditionally. This is how they loved me in the past as well. I think this is a big lesson that I'd learnt over the past 2 months while preparing for my parenthood.
I will try to ask Dad on what he think he did well as a father and what mistake I should avoid in the future into fatherhood. It might be challenging for him to understand what I want to ask him but I do hope it can help him stimulate his thoughts a bit too. I also hope when the children arrives, he will become more active, think and talk more as well.
Well, today its Felin's official 13th week of pregnancy. By statistics, the baby should be about 7.4cm and weighs 23gm now. We are into the 2nd trimester and the babies will grow really fast from this point onwards.
Felin's upset morning and my unproductive evening
I was still asleep at 8+am when I noticed that Felin was in the room. I asked her if she is not feeling well but she just lay on the bed motionless. I queried further and she told me that she just returned while on her way to office. I asked her why and she told me that 2 people commented to her while on her way to work that her dress was too thin and the inner lining of the dress are too visible or rather too short. She became so conscious while on the MRT that she decided to just come back home and change. However she was already so upset and tired that she simply don't feel like going to work anymore. I just dragged myself out from bed and offered to drive her to office. I think this made her morning better and she eventually reached office at about 9:40am. Felin is really short of new clothes at this stage but yet she is so tired to do any shopping. The quality of clothes she got from her sister were questionable as evidenced by the above example where the dress is from her sister.
Work as usual for me and I was in the midst of possibly recruiting a new staff to help with my administrative work. I was pretty worried about cost because I am going to incurred a lot of additional expenses in time to come. New baby expenses, domestic worker, conversion of car to a regular plate which will increase transport cost and not forgetting my mortgage and condo maintenance expenses. Now talking about a new administrative staff and on top of it, my sales aren't showing sign of getting better or even maintaining what I got last year. Instead, the chance is that it will drop when the babies come.
Quite worrying indeed especially if Felin is to stop work for 1 to 2 years in the near future.
Anyway, take a step at a time. I am getting stressed actually.
I was supposed to do my work since that I returned home early today after dinner at Mum's place but I ended up looking through Gum Tree for 2nd hand baby cots and reading through articles from internet from 10pm to 11:30pm at night and I had also read my first borrowed book from the library which I think is pretty useful for new Daddy like myself.
This book gives a good idea of the pregnancy process and what the woman is going through. The type of scans, how to support the woman psychologically, the financial aspect, the skills needed, things we need to know and take note at different stages, etc, etc...
Well, I got lots to learn indeed...
Work as usual for me and I was in the midst of possibly recruiting a new staff to help with my administrative work. I was pretty worried about cost because I am going to incurred a lot of additional expenses in time to come. New baby expenses, domestic worker, conversion of car to a regular plate which will increase transport cost and not forgetting my mortgage and condo maintenance expenses. Now talking about a new administrative staff and on top of it, my sales aren't showing sign of getting better or even maintaining what I got last year. Instead, the chance is that it will drop when the babies come.
Quite worrying indeed especially if Felin is to stop work for 1 to 2 years in the near future.
Anyway, take a step at a time. I am getting stressed actually.
I was supposed to do my work since that I returned home early today after dinner at Mum's place but I ended up looking through Gum Tree for 2nd hand baby cots and reading through articles from internet from 10pm to 11:30pm at night and I had also read my first borrowed book from the library which I think is pretty useful for new Daddy like myself.
This book gives a good idea of the pregnancy process and what the woman is going through. The type of scans, how to support the woman psychologically, the financial aspect, the skills needed, things we need to know and take note at different stages, etc, etc...
Well, I got lots to learn indeed...
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Milk she drank and I drank
I like to share a bit about our experiences with Milk for pregnant mothers today.
Shortly after knowing that Felin conceived, I purchased the Nestle milk for her. After drinking, she insisted that there is a fishy smell in it and refused to drink further. Hence that tin of milk belongs to me from that moment. I drank one cup every few days and it taste really good with oats and cereals. Don't understand where the fishy smell came from. Only conceiving mothers will know, I supposed.
A few days later, I went Giant to purchase another milk powder and this time from Dumex. After drinking, she commented that its a bit too sweet but at least no fishy smell. After sometimes, she commented that she need something more filling to mix with the milk and therefore, I went to buy quaker oats. It taste pretty good. A few days later, as we are shopping, we purchased a more flavorful oat which is mixed with tropical fruits but she commented that its too sweet. Hence that tropical fruits oats belongs to me again.
Maybe we need to go for some mothers and baby fair to get some samples before purchasing or else I will having plenty of oats or milk to drink...
Monday, July 14, 2014
Announcing the pregnancy to the Cell Group
Its church activities as usual for today. It was David Peters who preached this Sunday. One point I remembered today is about how lowly we value the gospel is because of how lowly we value the book of Life and Death. Its a encouraging preaching today anyway.
We had cell group meeting today and during the teabreak session, Felin finally shared about her pregnancy. She shared about her vision of the Chinese word "蕊" weeks before she conceived. When Felin checked about the word, the definition is as follows:
植物生殖器官的一部分
又如:蕊香(花蕊的芬芳);蕊黄(古代妇女装饰面容时,以黄点额,其形似花蕊,故名蕊黄)
Its somehow describe the reproductive organs of plants.
Felin viewed it as a vision that the time is near for her to be conceived. Her vision came true indeed...
As for myself, I longed had this vision back in late 2012 of me carrying a baby with a light coloured wall behind me and when I looked down, its a balcony and a condo pool. We were in the midst of buying "Watercolours EC" back then and I thought it will be in 2015 when the EC TOP before this vision will be fulfilled. However, when we did not get "Watercolours EC", I thought that it must be my own imagination to see that vision back then. However in Dec 2013, we moved to Livia and the view is indeed a pool right below me with the balcony view. Well, I will claim to say that the vision is true...
The cell was excited and they prayed for us. They prayed for a smooth pregnancy and subsequent delivery. They prayed that both of us will get ourselves ready to be parents who can bring up our children to God's value...
After Cell Group meeting, we visited Mr Long for the Grocery Delivery. Evy was with us today for the visit. We don't really have a chance to share the much with Mr Long and Long Qi during the meeting but we did invited Long Qi to visit us during the next CG meeting.
Went back home for a rest before we went Ikea for dinner and Giant to buy milk for Felin and then finally home to complete our day. During dinner, Felin shared that after thinking through, she now hope that I can go Barcelona with my colleagues because she wants me to be happy and she will find her way to avoid the fear of being alone at night. Well, though I was totally ready not to go but it seems that I have an option now. Shall see how it goes in the next 1-2 weeks.
We had cell group meeting today and during the teabreak session, Felin finally shared about her pregnancy. She shared about her vision of the Chinese word "蕊" weeks before she conceived. When Felin checked about the word, the definition is as follows:
植物生殖器官的一部分
又如:蕊香(花蕊的芬芳);蕊黄(古代妇女装饰面容时,以黄点额,其形似花蕊,故名蕊黄)
Its somehow describe the reproductive organs of plants.
Felin viewed it as a vision that the time is near for her to be conceived. Her vision came true indeed...
As for myself, I longed had this vision back in late 2012 of me carrying a baby with a light coloured wall behind me and when I looked down, its a balcony and a condo pool. We were in the midst of buying "Watercolours EC" back then and I thought it will be in 2015 when the EC TOP before this vision will be fulfilled. However, when we did not get "Watercolours EC", I thought that it must be my own imagination to see that vision back then. However in Dec 2013, we moved to Livia and the view is indeed a pool right below me with the balcony view. Well, I will claim to say that the vision is true...
The cell was excited and they prayed for us. They prayed for a smooth pregnancy and subsequent delivery. They prayed that both of us will get ourselves ready to be parents who can bring up our children to God's value...
After Cell Group meeting, we visited Mr Long for the Grocery Delivery. Evy was with us today for the visit. We don't really have a chance to share the much with Mr Long and Long Qi during the meeting but we did invited Long Qi to visit us during the next CG meeting.
Went back home for a rest before we went Ikea for dinner and Giant to buy milk for Felin and then finally home to complete our day. During dinner, Felin shared that after thinking through, she now hope that I can go Barcelona with my colleagues because she wants me to be happy and she will find her way to avoid the fear of being alone at night. Well, though I was totally ready not to go but it seems that I have an option now. Shall see how it goes in the next 1-2 weeks.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Happy until the question pops
I reached home at 1am and get to bed at 2am last night. Felin woke up hungry, ate some banana walnut bread and we chatted till 3am. We woke up at 8am and I quickly went to buy breakfast for Felin before going out again at 9+ to do some banking stuffs. She just cannot go hungry.
After the banking stuff was completed, we proceeded to meet Pooi Kuan and her husband Yi Han at Bugis Junction for lunch. PK is now in her 38th week, ready to deliver her baby boy within the next 2 weeks. Felin and PK talked so many things which they have in common during lunch as Yi Han and me just listened. From the meeting, I can also see how much Yi Han cared for PK. How he planned PK's nutrients intake via traditional and western way. He can also go back home early to accompany PK during her pregnancy days, etc... This makes me feel that I'm actually doing nothing for Felin. I don't really know how to cook and let her eat more nutritious meals, I didn't drive her to work or at least accompany her every morning on the MRT, etc etc... After lunch, we went Orchard Road to buy maternity clothes and back to Bugis Junction for a $25 eye checkup. After that went Bedok to buy air purifier and had dinner with mum...
What a packed and awesome day until the question popped out "Can I go Lucerne and Barcelona in October?" The discussion wasn't pleasant and we ended up stopped talking to each other for quite a while. Felin's stand was simple. She is pregnant and she feels that she needs me to be by her side. A day without me is a torture and why will I still want to go? To leave her alone at home is a "No No"! To her, I'm only there to go play and have fun. She feels that going overseas is a family thing and how could I enjoy when I'm not going with her. Her father definitely not going to be like me of putting pleasure ahead of family.
I can't hide my disappointment because they are free trips that I'd aimed and achieved over the year. How I wish that she would have allowed me to go and taste the fruit that I'd fought for. Its not that I do not value her pregnancy, I just believe we should still have our own "Me" time. Is it a must that I cannot be out of her side the entire 40 weeks? I just like to request for a week to go for this trip with my colleagues and friends. Its really not a matter of "I value this trip more than you". After much arguments, she unhappily told me to go for one of the 2 trips but this matter had already created so much unhappiness that I decided to forgo the entire trip altogether.
I think none of us is right or wrong. Its simply a difference in perspective. I seriously never perceive things to be as serious as she thought. I thought life need not be so rigid even with pregnancy and we need to stop living our "life" for the entire 40 weeks. I'll still do my best to care for you for 39 weeks but please let me go for only a week and its not a month?
You may say that I'm childish to feel disappointed. But I know she feels equally disappointed that I did not put her in the "Priority" position during the discussion.
After the banking stuff was completed, we proceeded to meet Pooi Kuan and her husband Yi Han at Bugis Junction for lunch. PK is now in her 38th week, ready to deliver her baby boy within the next 2 weeks. Felin and PK talked so many things which they have in common during lunch as Yi Han and me just listened. From the meeting, I can also see how much Yi Han cared for PK. How he planned PK's nutrients intake via traditional and western way. He can also go back home early to accompany PK during her pregnancy days, etc... This makes me feel that I'm actually doing nothing for Felin. I don't really know how to cook and let her eat more nutritious meals, I didn't drive her to work or at least accompany her every morning on the MRT, etc etc... After lunch, we went Orchard Road to buy maternity clothes and back to Bugis Junction for a $25 eye checkup. After that went Bedok to buy air purifier and had dinner with mum...
What a packed and awesome day until the question popped out "Can I go Lucerne and Barcelona in October?" The discussion wasn't pleasant and we ended up stopped talking to each other for quite a while. Felin's stand was simple. She is pregnant and she feels that she needs me to be by her side. A day without me is a torture and why will I still want to go? To leave her alone at home is a "No No"! To her, I'm only there to go play and have fun. She feels that going overseas is a family thing and how could I enjoy when I'm not going with her. Her father definitely not going to be like me of putting pleasure ahead of family.
I can't hide my disappointment because they are free trips that I'd aimed and achieved over the year. How I wish that she would have allowed me to go and taste the fruit that I'd fought for. Its not that I do not value her pregnancy, I just believe we should still have our own "Me" time. Is it a must that I cannot be out of her side the entire 40 weeks? I just like to request for a week to go for this trip with my colleagues and friends. Its really not a matter of "I value this trip more than you". After much arguments, she unhappily told me to go for one of the 2 trips but this matter had already created so much unhappiness that I decided to forgo the entire trip altogether.
I think none of us is right or wrong. Its simply a difference in perspective. I seriously never perceive things to be as serious as she thought. I thought life need not be so rigid even with pregnancy and we need to stop living our "life" for the entire 40 weeks. I'll still do my best to care for you for 39 weeks but please let me go for only a week and its not a month?
You may say that I'm childish to feel disappointed. But I know she feels equally disappointed that I did not put her in the "Priority" position during the discussion.
Friday, July 11, 2014
OSCAR screening done and Gynae selected
Its certainly a highlight of our parenting journey today as we viewed for the first time our babies moving in Felin's womb and our first time hearing their heart beats. Baby A was moving his hands and body and baby B was sleeping soundly with her hands on her face. They were almost exactly the same size and made me wonder if they were of the same gender. It will really be perfect if its a boy and girl. We were so happy to see the babies and was smiling throughout the day.
The scan we went for today are Nuchal Translucency Screening and First Trimester Serum Screening. This is sometimes known as OSCAR (OneStop Clinic for Assessment of Risk)
Nuchal Translucency screening was done through an abdominal ultrasound with some measurement done. The doctor did a lot of measurement here and there on the screen but all I heard is "Good".... "Good"... "Mmm.. Good".... That was very assuring indeed. Even when we met Prof, he was also saying "Good"...
As for the Serum Screening, they will contact Felin to inform her about the result next week. We still need to pray hard. We are not entirely safe yet for this Trimester until the result is known
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The babies are so adorable, they looks so relaxed and seems to rest so comfortably in it. I was already thinking how I can nurture and love them in future. I wanted to sayang them already... They are already 6.1cm each which is in a 95th Percentile for their age. Its like a 13th week baby now.
We had also selected our Gynae today and made an appointment. Its Dr Su Lin Lin from NUH. Our first choice is Dr Mary Rauff due to her experience and reputation but she was confirmed booked to brim and we cannot take us already. The other Gynaes we considered are Prof Biswa who is the head of the department and Dr Choolani who seems to have lots of experiences too, especially on high risk pregnancy. However after looking at Dr Su's face on the brochure, she seems more friendly and maybe because she's chinese. Her reviews in all those forums seems good too. We seek opinion of the nurse there and she told us that Dr Su is very patient and really follow up with her patients when there are problems.
We had also decided that we will want to stay in their delivery suite after we visited their delivery wards. The difference in price is just about $450 over the 3 days stay. However, if its taken, their A ward is quite good too. The suite has a really big living room, dressing room and a big washroom. Just got to pamper Felin over these 3 days in NUH after giving birth. She must rest well over that 3 days after C-sect.
Well, its a really exciting day for both of us and we seems satisfied to select our gynae and saw our rooms. Just got to save up a bit for our delivery package. I think it will cost us about $8,500 including the scans, C-sect, Delivery charges and consultations in the suite.
I reached office only like 3pm and I was so excited that I told Casey about this good news and when I met my client in the evening, I also shared my excitement with them. I'm really happy today... Woo Hoo!!!!! The journey is getting exciting indeed...
The scan we went for today are Nuchal Translucency Screening and First Trimester Serum Screening. This is sometimes known as OSCAR (OneStop Clinic for Assessment of Risk)
Nuchal Translucency screening was done through an abdominal ultrasound with some measurement done. The doctor did a lot of measurement here and there on the screen but all I heard is "Good".... "Good"... "Mmm.. Good".... That was very assuring indeed. Even when we met Prof, he was also saying "Good"...
As for the Serum Screening, they will contact Felin to inform her about the result next week. We still need to pray hard. We are not entirely safe yet for this Trimester until the result is known
The babies are so adorable, they looks so relaxed and seems to rest so comfortably in it. I was already thinking how I can nurture and love them in future. I wanted to sayang them already... They are already 6.1cm each which is in a 95th Percentile for their age. Its like a 13th week baby now.
We had also selected our Gynae today and made an appointment. Its Dr Su Lin Lin from NUH. Our first choice is Dr Mary Rauff due to her experience and reputation but she was confirmed booked to brim and we cannot take us already. The other Gynaes we considered are Prof Biswa who is the head of the department and Dr Choolani who seems to have lots of experiences too, especially on high risk pregnancy. However after looking at Dr Su's face on the brochure, she seems more friendly and maybe because she's chinese. Her reviews in all those forums seems good too. We seek opinion of the nurse there and she told us that Dr Su is very patient and really follow up with her patients when there are problems.
We had also decided that we will want to stay in their delivery suite after we visited their delivery wards. The difference in price is just about $450 over the 3 days stay. However, if its taken, their A ward is quite good too. The suite has a really big living room, dressing room and a big washroom. Just got to pamper Felin over these 3 days in NUH after giving birth. She must rest well over that 3 days after C-sect.
Well, its a really exciting day for both of us and we seems satisfied to select our gynae and saw our rooms. Just got to save up a bit for our delivery package. I think it will cost us about $8,500 including the scans, C-sect, Delivery charges and consultations in the suite.
I reached office only like 3pm and I was so excited that I told Casey about this good news and when I met my client in the evening, I also shared my excitement with them. I'm really happy today... Woo Hoo!!!!! The journey is getting exciting indeed...
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
My short trip to Bintan
Just came back from our Branch Retreat at Bintan Nirwana Gardens Resort this afternoon. We had a great getaway from Singapore over the night. We bowled, played beach captains ball, had a sumptuous seafood dinner, boozed, danced and had karaoke throughout the night. Slept about 6 hours before breakfast and a stroll along the beach till we checked out at 11am. We reached Singapore at about 1:30pm and I went straight to office to work till 7pm and had dinner with Felin.
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During this trip, I prayed for Felin and Babies at the beach and at the Kelong where we had the seafood dinner. I asked God to give good health to Felin so that the babies will feel comfortable and happy in her womb. I asked God to prepare both of us to be good parents and able to pass down Godly values to our Children. I asked God to give us good health and finances and not forgetting that all these can only comes from him alone. We are such small creatures that we can practically do nothing on our own strength. Such overseas trip sometimes provide me with nice quiet time in a relaxing environment. I pretty love it, actually...
However, prior the trip, I believe Felin will feel lousy about it because she is still not at the stage whereby she can enjoy her pregnancy. She had to battle her night without me by her side. The night will be quiet and on one to help when she is hungry and feeling nausea. To ease this situation, I prepared 5 stick-it pads placed at 5 different locations so that she can see them at different time when she comes home. They are placed on the dining table, bathroom mirror, bed, fridge and behind the main door. I, of course being a good boy, reported to her at 9pm sharp before she gets to bed. We watsapp for about half an hour before I continued bonding night with colleagues in Bintan.
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During this trip, I prayed for Felin and Babies at the beach and at the Kelong where we had the seafood dinner. I asked God to give good health to Felin so that the babies will feel comfortable and happy in her womb. I asked God to prepare both of us to be good parents and able to pass down Godly values to our Children. I asked God to give us good health and finances and not forgetting that all these can only comes from him alone. We are such small creatures that we can practically do nothing on our own strength. Such overseas trip sometimes provide me with nice quiet time in a relaxing environment. I pretty love it, actually...
However, prior the trip, I believe Felin will feel lousy about it because she is still not at the stage whereby she can enjoy her pregnancy. She had to battle her night without me by her side. The night will be quiet and on one to help when she is hungry and feeling nausea. To ease this situation, I prepared 5 stick-it pads placed at 5 different locations so that she can see them at different time when she comes home. They are placed on the dining table, bathroom mirror, bed, fridge and behind the main door. I, of course being a good boy, reported to her at 9pm sharp before she gets to bed. We watsapp for about half an hour before I continued bonding night with colleagues in Bintan.
She is my favourite Zebra from South Africa. She wants to accompany our babies in future.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Back to Malaysia over the weekend for Mum's Birthday
We were back to Malaysia for Mum in Law birthday over the weekend. I can see that Felin was really happy over the weekend with her family by her side. We simply went eating, shopping, lazing around.
We reached Johor Jaya at 11am, went for lunch, then shopping, then car washing, assam laksa, ice kacang, did some work in a coffee house before dinner at a Korean Restaurant.
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The Korean dinner was sumptous and we had a good time. We then sang birthday song to MIW as usual before going back for Durian and to watch World Cup.
The next day, we went to have Roti Prata at Bakawali and I pretty like the crispy prata there. If they come to Singapore one day, they sure famous one. We then went back rest before going 2nd round of a Tim Sum breakfast with those who went for Badminton session in the morning. We then rested in a nearby MacDonalds for chatting before we went Gelang Patah for seafood lunch.
I didn't take much pictures there but the food is really nice. The Tou Fu, Pepper Crab, etc...
Thereafter, we visited Puteri Harbour and walked around the area before heading home to collect our stuffs. The traffic at the custom was bad and we took more than 3 hours to reach home today. But anyway, its a great weekend and Felin really enjoyed it.
We reached Johor Jaya at 11am, went for lunch, then shopping, then car washing, assam laksa, ice kacang, did some work in a coffee house before dinner at a Korean Restaurant.
The Korean dinner was sumptous and we had a good time. We then sang birthday song to MIW as usual before going back for Durian and to watch World Cup.
The next day, we went to have Roti Prata at Bakawali and I pretty like the crispy prata there. If they come to Singapore one day, they sure famous one. We then went back rest before going 2nd round of a Tim Sum breakfast with those who went for Badminton session in the morning. We then rested in a nearby MacDonalds for chatting before we went Gelang Patah for seafood lunch.
Thereafter, we visited Puteri Harbour and walked around the area before heading home to collect our stuffs. The traffic at the custom was bad and we took more than 3 hours to reach home today. But anyway, its a great weekend and Felin really enjoyed it.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Whats happening at 11th week
Yes!!! Its 1.6 inch now. Its the size of a lime now. (Not the type that you eat when you have hokkien mee okay?) 1.6inch is actually 4.06cm. So Felin is carrying 2 limes that makes her so hungry everyday. I got to start talking to them and tell them not to bully their mother.
From this week onwards, the baby will be growing about 0.5 inch (1.3cm) every week. How amazing to see how the babies grow daily! Must continue to pray hard to ensure babies are safe and comfortable in Felin's womb.
Today also marks the 1st month of my blog and I still so much to write everyday. Very tempted to tell others about this blog but I got to hold a few more weeks first.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Waking up 3am daily
Yes. This is happening over the past 1 week plus. Felin is waking up between 2:30am to 3am daily complaining that she is very very hungry. She start to vomit gastric water when she is hungry and I will have to be quick and start preparing some food for her such as milk, cereal, buns, bread, roti prata, etc... We will then start chatting on the bed till about 3:30am to 4am. Felin says that the babies have my genes and love to sleep late to have supper.
I normally get to bed at 1:30am to 2am and I need to wake up within an hour before I can catch my sleep. It means I'm practically sleeping at 3:30am to 4am daily and waking up at 9+am. I'm missing my morning jogs by giving this excuse that its late and I need to go work asap. My productivity at work reduces in office and by starting my work day late, I normally do less things during the day. I think this is practice for me before the real babies arrive.
Other updates for the week include preliminary info that Mary Rauff is not taking in new patients and we might have to look for other gynae in NUH. If really cannot find a suitable one, we may have to go KKH. Hope Dr Mary will be available eventually. Got to ask Prof next Thurs first. Now need to do further research into gynaes in KKH. Really no time to be wasted.
I normally get to bed at 1:30am to 2am and I need to wake up within an hour before I can catch my sleep. It means I'm practically sleeping at 3:30am to 4am daily and waking up at 9+am. I'm missing my morning jogs by giving this excuse that its late and I need to go work asap. My productivity at work reduces in office and by starting my work day late, I normally do less things during the day. I think this is practice for me before the real babies arrive.
Other updates for the week include preliminary info that Mary Rauff is not taking in new patients and we might have to look for other gynae in NUH. If really cannot find a suitable one, we may have to go KKH. Hope Dr Mary will be available eventually. Got to ask Prof next Thurs first. Now need to do further research into gynaes in KKH. Really no time to be wasted.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Spending time looking at double strollers
I am still working in office at 11pm when I'm writing this entry. I can't believe that I spent nearly 2 hours just looking through the internet for Strollers at the expenses of work that I haven't complete on my desk. Terrible me, how easily distracted I am... I could have returned home early to accompany Felin.
I was initially browsing the net to see if there are good websites to purchase 2nd hand items but as I surf through them, I gradually began to look into strollers. I'm really "Kia Su" and start looking so early. My babies are now only in their 11th week. Haha...
I think for strollers, I will prefer one that the babies can see each other side by side, other criteria such as lightweight, easily foldable, comfortable, durable and of course not too expensive.
There are certainly a lot of research that I need to do in future but I had at least identify one stroller which I think looks reasonable.
This model is "Maclaren techno xt Twin stroller" I seen the reviews to be fairly good. It offers 5 position for the babies. It weighs 12.2kg and used strollers of this is selling about $220 with condition claimed to be 8/10. I don't mind paying $200 for a used one actually. Its going to be used till they are only about 2 yrs old, right? Not sure if Felin will like me to buy used items though.
I also managed to read some good articles about strollers too like
http://www.babystrollers101.com/2-baby-strollers-1-double-stroller/
Well. The research goes on. I will try look out for those that are convertible from single to double as and when I like and with both forward facing. (Not sure if there are such stroller around).
I was initially browsing the net to see if there are good websites to purchase 2nd hand items but as I surf through them, I gradually began to look into strollers. I'm really "Kia Su" and start looking so early. My babies are now only in their 11th week. Haha...
I think for strollers, I will prefer one that the babies can see each other side by side, other criteria such as lightweight, easily foldable, comfortable, durable and of course not too expensive.
There are certainly a lot of research that I need to do in future but I had at least identify one stroller which I think looks reasonable.
This model is "Maclaren techno xt Twin stroller" I seen the reviews to be fairly good. It offers 5 position for the babies. It weighs 12.2kg and used strollers of this is selling about $220 with condition claimed to be 8/10. I don't mind paying $200 for a used one actually. Its going to be used till they are only about 2 yrs old, right? Not sure if Felin will like me to buy used items though.
I also managed to read some good articles about strollers too like
http://www.babystrollers101.com/2-baby-strollers-1-double-stroller/
Well. The research goes on. I will try look out for those that are convertible from single to double as and when I like and with both forward facing. (Not sure if there are such stroller around).
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
What I learnt last weekend
I visited 2 clients last weekend to help them with some policy issues. One of them has a 5 months old girl and the other have a 5 year old girl. During the meeting, they shared quite a number of tips about children and conceiving mothers.
One of them claimed to have read over 200 books during her pregnancy and I was really shocked to hear that because I can see how tired Felin is after work everyday and I doubt she can even complete a single book for the next 6 months. She told me that its a must to read the book called "What to expect when you are expecting."
She said that this book is able to help conceiving mothers to clearly understand how her body changes and what she can do to help the growth and development of the baby throughout the pregnancy period. She also encourage conceiving mothers to read further on books on what to expect when baby is 0-1yrs old and carry on, etc... She said that its a must to read ahead because there will be little time and more tiring when the babies are born.
I actually tried looking for this book in the Library on Monday but I couldn't find it. Felin was so tired that she cannot wait for me to search for books in the Library. She needs to go back home asap.
Another thing I learnt during the weekend is on this supplement called "Fenugreek". I was informed that this supplement really help mothers to have more breast milk when the babies are born.
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenumgraecum) is an annual Mediterranean and Asiatic herb with aromatic seeds. It is used around the world as a culinary spice and food that is soothing to the stomach.
Women have used the spice fenugreek since ancient times in the Middle East, North Africa, and India to stimulate milk flow. Research has shown that fenugreek can increase milk production as much as 900 percent, although no one knows exactly how. The oil contained in fenugreek seeds is believed to play a role in boosting milk supply
One of them claimed to have read over 200 books during her pregnancy and I was really shocked to hear that because I can see how tired Felin is after work everyday and I doubt she can even complete a single book for the next 6 months. She told me that its a must to read the book called "What to expect when you are expecting."
She said that this book is able to help conceiving mothers to clearly understand how her body changes and what she can do to help the growth and development of the baby throughout the pregnancy period. She also encourage conceiving mothers to read further on books on what to expect when baby is 0-1yrs old and carry on, etc... She said that its a must to read ahead because there will be little time and more tiring when the babies are born.
I actually tried looking for this book in the Library on Monday but I couldn't find it. Felin was so tired that she cannot wait for me to search for books in the Library. She needs to go back home asap.
Another thing I learnt during the weekend is on this supplement called "Fenugreek". I was informed that this supplement really help mothers to have more breast milk when the babies are born.
I researched from Internet and it was written...
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenumgraecum) is an annual Mediterranean and Asiatic herb with aromatic seeds. It is used around the world as a culinary spice and food that is soothing to the stomach.
Women have used the spice fenugreek since ancient times in the Middle East, North Africa, and India to stimulate milk flow. Research has shown that fenugreek can increase milk production as much as 900 percent, although no one knows exactly how. The oil contained in fenugreek seeds is believed to play a role in boosting milk supply
From Forum, it was recommended to have it just before labour so that milk can start flowing from day 2 or 3 onwards. Most mothers reported increased milk flow after taking this supplement. Well... Think this is good info for the moment.
Gynae decided. Pending her availability.
It was really good that I came home early from work over the past 2 days and managed to have dinner with Felin. I really love doing so because it gives me the feel that we are a normal couple, spending quality time together in the evening after a hard day work. I really hope that I can have a family like this in the future where I can see my children every night and spend quality time with them. Well, I think I can only "hope" at the moment. With my job nature, it seems so difficult to achieve that.
We went to the Library to look for books on pregnancy on Monday before going back to discuss on which hospital and gynae we like to go and seek. After much research, we decided on A.Prof Mary Rauff from NUH. I heard that she worked closely with Prof. PC Wong in NUH in the past and is quite well known and very experienced in this field. She seems able to handle difficult pregnancies and with our Twins, I think its better to go with an experienced consultant.
From reviews I saw in internet, she is known to be gentle and knowledgeable. She is highly popular, especially with the expatiates and busy. We must be ready to wait whenever we visits her. We chose NUH because of its NICU equipment which are known to be as good as KKH. Felin remembered visiting the suites and she commented that its really big. The price is quite fair too as far as I'm concerned. They offers packages at least to help us save cost unlike KKH which don't offer any packages.
Felin will ask how we can check her availability this Thursday. Hope things will turn out well and she can be our gynae. At least another task completed.
As for today, we went Ikea for dinner and go around looking for baby items like baby cots. We then went grocery shopping before getting home for small talks till 11pm. She is really sleepy by that time.
What a wonderful start of the week and 2 more days, it will be our babies 11th week. I can't wait to see them again on week 12 where we will go for our Trimester scan. Really praying hard that they are safe in Felin's womb.
We went to the Library to look for books on pregnancy on Monday before going back to discuss on which hospital and gynae we like to go and seek. After much research, we decided on A.Prof Mary Rauff from NUH. I heard that she worked closely with Prof. PC Wong in NUH in the past and is quite well known and very experienced in this field. She seems able to handle difficult pregnancies and with our Twins, I think its better to go with an experienced consultant.
From reviews I saw in internet, she is known to be gentle and knowledgeable. She is highly popular, especially with the expatiates and busy. We must be ready to wait whenever we visits her. We chose NUH because of its NICU equipment which are known to be as good as KKH. Felin remembered visiting the suites and she commented that its really big. The price is quite fair too as far as I'm concerned. They offers packages at least to help us save cost unlike KKH which don't offer any packages.
Felin will ask how we can check her availability this Thursday. Hope things will turn out well and she can be our gynae. At least another task completed.
As for today, we went Ikea for dinner and go around looking for baby items like baby cots. We then went grocery shopping before getting home for small talks till 11pm. She is really sleepy by that time.
What a wonderful start of the week and 2 more days, it will be our babies 11th week. I can't wait to see them again on week 12 where we will go for our Trimester scan. Really praying hard that they are safe in Felin's womb.
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