Since the baby was born our lives have changed so much.
Month 1
Week 1 was tough. Baby jaundice did not clear immediately so she had to stay in hospital 1 more day for phototherapy. Went back to clinic every other day while still doing postnatal massage tummy wrap. The pressure was distressing. Body pain, bleeding, hormone change, breathing difficulty etc. Pushing bb cart around and fold it behind a taxi also caused much stress especially when a old and 眼花 taxi driver waiting for me. Milk supply was low so I gotta introduce a few formula feed. Thank god the supply came on day 5 or 6.
Month 1
Week 1 was tough. Baby jaundice did not clear immediately so she had to stay in hospital 1 more day for phototherapy. Went back to clinic every other day while still doing postnatal massage tummy wrap. The pressure was distressing. Body pain, bleeding, hormone change, breathing difficulty etc. Pushing bb cart around and fold it behind a taxi also caused much stress especially when a old and 眼花 taxi driver waiting for me. Milk supply was low so I gotta introduce a few formula feed. Thank god the supply came on day 5 or 6.
Week 2 was not any easy although the massage was over and I got slightly more rest time. But excessive perspiration constantly woke me up from sleep/ nap. I lost count on the number of shirts I changed in 1 night. Confinement rule #1 no fan and body all cover up in this hot and humid Singapore. To make things worse, confinement food made me more heaty. I suffered from cough and sore throat. As I started to get a hang of breastfeeding, baby wasn't cooperative. She just whine n cry the moment I try to latch her on. Before the pregnancy hormone return to normal level, anything can trigger a mental breakdown. I cannot withstand baby cry so I pump my milk and give her in bottles.
But pumping is not as efficient as bb suckle so some ducts blocked in Week 3. I developed Mastitis and had fever for 2 days. No matter how much I pump, I can feel a lump in my breast. The remedy - let the bb suckle more often. In order to prepare for days to come, we learned bathing, carrying bb, change clothes, diapers in 2 short weeks. We observed what the CL did and learned from her. Steep learning curve. Week 4 was fast. It's time for CL to leave and that's when I realized she has been a super great help for the whole month. $2500 was the money most well spent. To celebrate bb full month, we venture to mapletree business ctr for afternoon tea. Bb suddenly wanted to nurse in the middle of our gathering. Tried and successful. The next day we had lunch at Bedrock Grill. Again bb wanted to nurse b4 our main course was served. But overall it was a challenging experience.
Month 2
Week 5 is even more tough because CL is gone. Bb doesn't sleep much at night. I was home alone with bb for a day. Her cry can bring down the house. There is absolutely no specific crying patent. I don't know what she wants. I can only try to nurse or change diaper in order to pacify her. Growth spurt (I believe it is) made her hungry all the time. Nursing has become round the clock, full time job. The real sleepless nights just began. We tried to bottle feed at night to buy some sleeping time. In Week 6, we gradually understand bb cue and able to tahan her cry. She also started to sleep in more human-like patent. I still wake up to nurse 3 times in a night. I even cut my hair short to ease the night feed procedure. I learnt to save time n make do with every single thing. To take up the challenge of motherhood, I also began to do more house chores such as laundry, both hand and machine wash, sweep n mop floor, cook light lunch. Hm will then do marketing, prepare for bb bath, run errands, watch tv, play game etc. This is also the week we get absolutely no help from anyone. We are on our own for real. We achieved so much, especially bb Sabrina. She is 4.5kg this week. She also started to spit up milk, regurgitation. At first we were worried but after a while we just get used to it n simply wipe the vomit quickly. No big deal. She will outgrow it. Week 8 is still very tiring. Expecting my last few visitors. Slowly getting used to bb sleeping schedule. Our life now revolves around bb sleeping schedule. Hm can still go out for midnight show while bb sleeps. On one Sunday after came back from Clementi Mall, bb fell asleep in the rocker herself for the first time. No lullaby no cuddling. That's amazing.
Month 3
Struggling with 3 meals and finally gave in to order tingkat delivery. Cooking is taking too much time from preparation to dinner on the table. Every day there are tons of housework waiting for us. After finishing one round another round of housework is already queueing up. Laundry, wash, hang dry, collect n fold. sweep n mop floor, prepare food, eat, clean up n wash plates. Wa.... Baby is so used to suck breast n refuse bottle now. But I still got 2-3 months to train her hehe. From this month onwards we go out more often. Slowly picking ourselves up and get back to our normal life once again. Inducted bb into Dinner Gang.
