Snoring through the night

Another week just passed and we survived again. If not for the confinement lady and MIL, I don't think its easy for me to get back to office and work in the day and yet stay sane. MIL is going back on 15th Feb after our baby shower and the CL going back on the 18th Feb. The domestic helper is coming only end of Feb. I really smell trouble ahead and my February sales is going to be hit big time.

It is so difficult to coax the baby to sleep and they will just ee ee eh eh the whole day and night, rotating between Joshua and Josiah. They will feed every 2.5 to 3 hours and the feeding time take at least 30-45 minutes including the burping time. Even when they get into bed, they will eh eh again within few minutes and we have to pacify them again. Sometimes its also because of the wet and soiled diapers that they cry. I am feeling very tired rotating between the 2 of them even with so many people around. Felin told me last night that I simply snore through the night even when the babies are crying during mid-night. I think our babies are not very difficult but not easy as well. I somehow feel that if we are taking care of only 1 baby, it will be pretty easy and enjoyable but when the load is double, it can become quite exhausting.

The Chicken Essence and Bird Nest Daddy is enjoying cos Mummy don't like them

While writing this post, both of them are rotating the ee ee eh eh and I have to pat them to sleep every 5-10 minutes. I simply don't have much time to do my own stuff while at home due to those carrying, patting, feeding, diaper changing, coaxing, etc...

We have another week to plan for our baby 1st month shower party. The current head count stands at 113 and I somehow worry that it can be overcrowded. I'd ordered buffet lunch from Casserole for 100 pax and ordered 77 cakes from Sweetest Moments. The babies never encounter so many before and they need to stay strong and healthy over the next 1 week. We are also thinking what clothes to wear for ourselves and for the babies now.

Its quite interesting to see how fast they grow, especially Josiah. Just happy that he is getting rounder and heavier.

 8th Feb 2015

16th Jan 2015

Babies are 3 weeks old now

I'm counting weeks again but this time counting babies age by weeks and no longer their time in Felin's womb. I started this blog when they are 7th week in Felin womb and its now their 3 weeks old in this world. How amazing things had been turning out to be and I really thank God for helping me all along. The worry of a parent started as soon as I knew their existence and my worry about them now is their health and well being. I just have to do my best as their caregiver at this stage.

My family have been supportive and I am able to get back to work relatively quickly. I go work at 10am daily and try to be back home by 9:30pm everyday so as to spend some quality time with the babies in the morning and evening. I also try to avoid working on weekends so that I can spend the full day at home.

What happened over the week? Need a recap...

* I had purchased the AIA healthshield Gold Max A with Max Essential for the babies when they are 16 days old, hopefully they can be covered from 1st March onwards. Just need to trust that they will not need to visit the hospital prior that.
* I started to plan for the babies 1st month shower. We initially wanted to organise in March but Mum and Dad insisted that it have to be done as close to 1st month as possible. We estimated a crowd of 100 pax and we did some research during the week on Buffet, Decoration and cakes.
* We are most likely getting from "Smiling Orchid Catering" and the cakes from "Sweetest Moment". Wennie will be helping us with the banner and I'll check out on the balloons, etc... this week.

Mum celebrated this year's birthday with the babies. Our family came together and my cousins happened to drop by our place to visit the babies. This year, its quite a number of us indeed. Mum really enjoyed a lot...

I sometimes just feel that the babies arrival makes my relationship with my parents closer. I really appreciate how they had taken care of me and helped me during all these weeks. Its just like how I need to care for my babies and do not need to ask anything back in return. I think I only need them to be happy now...

As for the babies, they tends to get quite cranky in the evening between 7pm to 1am and all of us have to stay awake to cuddle, sing, talk to them. We suspect that its probably due to colic during evening time. We then gave them the 12am to 1am feed before they wake up again at about 3-4am for the next feed with formula milk. Felin will wake up about 4am to express milk for their next feed at 6am-7am. God had supplied Felin with just enough milk for the 2 babies even with their increased appetite over the past 2 weeks. Thanks to MIL who helped us with some of the mid-night and early morning feeds and my sister who visited us last Friday to help me. MIL will be back Singapore on Monday and our work will be relieved again.

Its a routine recording all these feeds and I'm always curious on how much milk they increased daily.

As for today, we spent the whole day for the babies and the fun part is while we try to take picture for their passport today. They are simply so adorable...

They are simply so adorable and its good that we enjoy them as much as possible at this stage...

1 week passed with ease

Its weekend again and time passed really fast. I'd went back to work on Monday but not on full steam yet. I worked half day most of the time and with 2 days of long meetings. Mother in law came back to help us since Tuesday and she had really helped us a great deal. To the extent that I don't even need to change a single diaper till today. She stayed overnight with us and helped us with the night feeds. She is attentive to the babies noises, makes sure they drank the right volume at the right temperature. She can hold the babies for long period just to ensure that they burp. As for my mum, she helped with the groceries and with some of the afternoon feeds. She loves playing with the babies but definitely not as patient as MIL. Mother and I are just similar, we always want to get a job done fast.

For the whole week, we were just busy feeding the babies every 2-3 hourly, coaxing them to sleep especially in the evening, changing diapers almost after 1-2 feeds, expressing milk, and bringing them to see doctor, etc... As they have a bit of nappy rash, we decided to use cloth diaper during the day. This created a bit more washing on the CL side.
The confinement auntie helped with the cooking, laundry, all the babies and mummy's needs. She even cooked meals for us. I helped with the installation of the roller curtains at our balcony, arranged with the admin stuffs and took lots of pictures and videos. I had also arranged for the delivery of the Jubilee baby gift package that arrived on Tuesday morning.

We went for Josiah's jaundice check on Wednesday and glad that both their jaundice are officially below 100 and we do not need to go polyclinic again till CNY eve for their Hep B vaccination. We also went for the NUH check-up on Friday and had challenging day bringing both babies out and making sure they sit quietly on the car seat. During the wait, we need to go nursery room to feed the babies and Felin need to express the milk in it. Glad that everything ended within 4 hours and we need not prepare for the next feed in the hospital.

As for this weekend, its time that I got to learn from MIL and the confinement lady. It will be only Felin and I by the time they leave. Although our domestic helper is coming, its in the very near future that we will get busy again. Meanwhile, we just focus on playing with the babies and coaxing them to sleep. Both of them are really active and refuses to sleep. They can be quite cranky in the evening too. I initially just refuses to carry them and wanted to challenge them to cry, thinking that its not good to carry babies too often as they will get used to it. However, after much reading on web about babies and their needs, I decided to carry them more often before they start the loud crying. They are nevertheless babies and less than 2 weeks old. I will leave the discipline part in the later part.

Sunday - A guest visiting day

There are so many things I thought of pinning in this blog over the past days but simply can't remember them whenever I'm in front of the computer.

We celebrated Felin's birthday together with the babies for the first time. I ordered the cake from Patisserie Glace and I drove all the way to Novena Square to collect the cakes, just in time to arrive while our parents and some of my relatives are still around to sing the birthday song. At least there are some surprise element for Felin. We were finally able to get Ah Ma to take picture with the babies today. I also made a little declaration on Facebook that I'll give Felin exclusive birthday celebrations in future and not with the kids.

Other members who visited us include some of our cell members, Hui Min, Isa and Lucas. Even neighbours will look into our house and congratulate us outside.

The past few days have been really tiring, we were struggling to supply sufficient breast milk for the babies and yet we wanted them to continue experience latching on to the mother. The babies are so sleepy and will latch on for at least an hour each and yet they are sleeping 80% of the time. Its too tiring and time consuming especially that they need a feed every 2-3 hours. If we are to latch, it means mother have to latch 24 hours a day. We are left with no choice but to supplement with formula milk to meet their demand. Their appetite seems to increase very quickly and the supply of BM are not increasing at the same pace. This increase of appetite did make us be more conscious about overfeeding of babies.

We took care of them for only 7 days now, moreover with a confinement lady and I felt so tired already. I sometimes wonder what will happen after the CL left.
I try to help Felin to the best I can especially towards breastfeeding. This is the best gift that the mother can give to the children and I must be supportive towards her in this aspect. I make sure I sterilise and assemble the breast pump. I also help plan the babies feeding schedule and allocate the milk between FM and BM. I will encourage her continuously.

Other things I do include feeding the babies from bottle occasionally, recording all the feeding and pooing time. I also do all the paperwork such as
Driving them to polyclinic for checkup,
Running errands such as buying whatever thing they lack,
Bringing mother to see doctor for her constipation,
Unpacking and organising all the gifts
To do the birth certificate,
Organising the health book,
Applying for the CDA account,
Checking and applying the paternal leave,
Organising all the photos in my camera and hp as well as
Recording what happening in my blog and facebook, etc...

Yet at the same time, I try to do a bit of my office work.

The babies are really adorable but Josiah is a bit less responsive to our calls and his development is still not as fast as Joshua. His feeding time is a bit irregular and his tender skin are somehow peeling off at some parts. We will need to give him more attention at the moment.

I'll continue to pray for them daily together with Felin. We pray for theirs and our health as well as giving us the mental and physical strength to take care of them.

Family united finally

Time is going fast and furious. We are entering the 6th day as parents. Let me update what happened over the past few days.

Felin was discharged on the 15th Jan together with Joshua. We were also glad that Josiah is out of NICU and back to the Rainbow Nursery. He was expected to stay back at least one more day for observation. When we settled the bill, Josiah's additional expenses comes up to nearly $3,800. Haiz, not choice, just got to pay and move on. Just be glad that he is healthy.

It was good that the first day was only with Joshua as he allowed us to practice before Josiah arrives. We also make use of Joshua to stimulate for more Breastmilk. Felin's bm flow were still quite low even at Day 4 and we were still using syringe to suck every drop that comes from her. We also had a lot of problem latching because Joshua wasn't too cooperative and refuse to latch. He was also very sleepy and kept sleeping once he got latched. Felin and I was still joking that next time we must tell how difficult it was to let Joshua the sleepy baby drink milk.

Our confinement lady arrived at 6:30pm on 15th Jan. We were somehow worried whether she will put aeroplane on us after we paid that $1k deposit. She is an Indonesian Chinese and have been a nurse for over 10 years prior becoming a confinement lady. She claimed to have experience with Twins as well. She did helped us in some ways but seems a bit blur. Hopefully the next few weeks will just get better.

The night was long because Joshua woke up every hour to ask for milk because he was so difficult to get latched and he is such a sleepy baby. No matter how we tickle or call him, he will just continue with his sleep. We can stipe him and he will still be able to sleep. Even when the nurse pricked him to check his jaundice, he was still sleeping and hence not cry at all. He is a baby with a high threshold for pain. We barely slept and finally succumbed and gave him formula milk at 5am. Even with milk bottle, he still can doze off without finishing the bottle with his mouth still in the teat. Give up...

We brought Joshua for his first Polyclinic check-up in the morning and his jaundice level is still quite high at 183 but glad that its not high enough to warrant him going back to NUH. While on our way back, NUH called to inform that Josiah was able to return home. We were so overjoyed. We also managed to get their Birth Certificate done up on the same day.

First Family Photo

We were back with Josiah at about 3pm. Aunt, Sister, Niece, Dad and Mum came visit us again and play with the babies.

The thoughts kept coming to my mind that the babies will grow so fast and I will miss them at this baby stage and that's why I kept taking pictures of them whenever opportunities arises. They looked so adorable to me now but I may not be able to say the same maybe 2 years down the road. I just have to say, "Enjoy while I still can". I was also trying to remember how I feel being a new father and how I try to love them unconditionally. I want to remember how I speak to them into their eyes daily, prayed over them before they sleep and sign lullabies to them whenever I have the chance. I want them to know how I love my family and set good example for them in future.

Yawning at the same time.

Sigh of Relief for Josiah

I had a difficult time sleeping last night as I worry about Josiah's health. The NICU doctor told me that the pressure of his lung is slightly high and an X'ray was done to check condition. They also suspect lung infection and a blood test need to be done. The only "not to good" result is the blood test result shows that he is ino ccheck fected with some bacteria and another blood test was done which require 48 hours before result can be known. He was also found to have Jaundice and need phototherapy. He is currently being treated with antibiotics until the blood test result is known.

When Felin visited him in the afternoon, he was out of the oxygen support, drip, antibiotics and the tube that draw liquid out of his airway. The only tube she saw was the wires that around his body check heartbeat and pressure and the phototherapy lights. Even with this, Felin cried. I can't imagine how she will feel if she is to see all the wires yesterday.

It was really a sign of relief to see Josiah is getting better. His Jaundice dropped, he ate and pooed well. He still looks skinny and only started to receive some breast milk from Mummy today.

I went to learn baby bathing today and had a lot of experimenting with Felin about Breast Feeding. Her perseverance pays off as the milk started to flow from Day 3. There was nothing, absolutely nothing for the initial 3 days. We kept using Joshua to stimulate her breast and making his suck every few hours. We also use the breast pump and hand to message the breast for milk.

I am back home today as MIW stayed with Felin. Gave me some time to check my emails and write my blog today. Tomorrow going to be Discharging day but Josiah is unlikely able to discharge with us. Got to come back, likely only on Friday. Hope Josiah is able to get out of NICU soon. I understand it cost me $2,000 per day on NICU.

First night as a Daddy

Family members visited the babies last night and Felin's family are last to go at abt 10:30pm. we then tried feeding both babies for about an hour only to be defeated by them again. Joshua don't even open his mouth or simply refuse to suck and Josiah strangely will sleep once he is latched. We don't really know if he is really sucking. We finally decided to call it a day at 12+.

We asked the nurses to push both babies into nursery after our attempt to sleep with them in the initial half an hour. We managed to catch a short nap at 12:30am.

We woke up again when the nurse came in at 1:30am to check on Felin and changed the liquid by her bed. The nurse again came in at 3am and brought Josiah to feed. Josiah is really difficult to feed and we failed after an hour attempt. Joshua came in at 4am and we tried again. We failed and gave up at 5am.

Josiah went back to nursery due to noises during breathing and Joshua stayed in the room with us. For the next few hours, Joshua stayed wide awake and constantly seek attention. We took this chance to latch him but failed again. He only wants to sleep with mummy. He sucked a little bit and fell asleep on Felin's bed.

I woke up at 7am and went for my breakfast. I succumbed to the calls of Joshua and carried him a few times. He looks just too adorable to me when he keep staring at me. I think this will be an issue in days ahead...

In morning during the doctor's rounds, he informed us that Josiah need to be sent to NICU for observation. It is likely an airway problem or lung issue. Need to observe and perhaps do an X'ray. No result yet at point I wrote this post in the NICU Waiting area. Just pray everything will be fine.