Erin

Just this past week...Kisu commented that Erin has lost her baby-ness. My first reaction was Whaddya talking about...she's still a baby! But I looked at her again and by golly I think I know what he means. It's not terribly obvious, but she has grown a little taller, her comprehension of what is happening around her is growing day by day. She understand and reacts/interacts with us. It's amazing how much more aware she is -  and how she's advanced. But a little part of me wishes I could slow things down a bit.

Kiss Kiss

I occasionally ask Erin for a kiss...she doesn't understand but I still like doing it. Don't know - it's a Mum thing I guess? This evening before she went off to bed I said the same thing to her "Kiss Kiss! Erin Kiss Kiss!" And to my very pleasant surprise, she leaned onto my cheek and went "Muak!"

I was thrilled of course. So cute! 

Eoin is 3 and a half months old. Erin just turned 18 months old. As I stood in the darkened nursery a moment ago trying to burp him, I nuzzled his little neck and inhaled his sweet baby scent - I never want to forget this. His sweet little baby face and the half smile that he gave me in his dreams. Erin I remember calling "Mama....Mama..." from the shopping cart seat, as she looked for me in the supermarket today. And telling the cashier lady "Ma-na-na! Ma-na-na!" (banana). All of this - I never want to forget. My sweet little babies.

Birthing Erin

Erin Sung Min Ah arrived 2nd September 2011, Friday 12.01pm

Weight 2.745 kg

Head Circumference 34cm

Length 47cm

On one of my prenatal checkups in the final stretch, (Tue Aug 23rd) Dr Chua discovers that my amniotic fluid is low. It's dropped from an 11ish reading to 8ish. Levels 5 and below warrant induction. She asks me if something is going on - more physical activity, stress? Both - we have been doing some home renovations - I am moving stuff around. I also have decided to move offices at the same time. Coordinating the move and reno has been making me slightly stressed.

She tells me that there is little that can be done about increasing the fluid levels, but I can minimise further drops by resting more. My next appointment is scheduled in a week's time - August 31st.

My fluid level has dropped to 5 - Dr Chua tells me we have to induce. I need to return on Thursday to start the induction process - it is deja vu of my experience with Ellis except for very different reasons.

Thursday 1st September

I am back on Thursday afternoon at Dr Chua's clinic to start the process = it is deja vu of my experience with Ellis. But before that, I get my tooth fixed at the dentist. Dr Phua asks me when I am due and laughs when I tell her I'm going to get induced right after my dental appointment. Kisu is on leave and accompanies me to the dentist. We follow up with lunch at Handburger and then head over to Dr Chua's. I arrive at 145pm at Dr Chua's clinic to get a pessary inserted. I am hooked up to monitors for 2 hours to check on contractions and the baby's heartbeat. There is a chance I go into labour the same day (Thurs) and if not, I get myself admitted on Friday and they proceed with the oxytocin drip.

I am so convinced that I am going into labour right after the pessary is inserted, but 2 hours pass and nothing so I am sent home. I even have luggage in the car in case I need to be admitted immediately. Upon reaching home I am still convinced that I will be back in the hospital within 2 hours. I take a bath and Remy arrives to watch Ellie. Nothing happens so Kisu and I decide to hop out for dinner (last time I did not manage to bath and did not have dinner before I was rushed to the hospital - I was determined that this time would be different!) We end up at Ngee Ann City Crystal Jade Palace. We have charsiew and siu yoke...and I am still waiting for contractions. Nada. So we head home and go to bed - perhaps I will have one final night of restful sleep.

2 September, Thursday

I sleep fitfully knowing I could go into labour any moment, and wake up thinking I need to start getting ready to head to the hospital. I look at the clock and it's only 1+ am. I go back to sleep and the next time I wake at 3.45am I am sure the contractions are here for real. I wake Kisu up and we pack ourselves in the car. This time, the roads are clear since it's the middle of the morning - it's a smooth and quick journey to Mt Elizabeth. We roll up to the Emergency entrance and I calmly tell the staff that I need to be admitted to the labour ward. A nurse pops me on a wheelchair and wheels me to the 3rd floor delivery suite even though I am pretty capable of walking on my own (might as well take advantage of the service!) The contractions are mild but I know that this is it.

I tell the nurses that they can give me an epi, no need to wait but am told that I need to be monitored first (!). Dr Chua pops by and does a VE. Very uncomfortable and I don't think she was even close to doing a real VE - she knows I don't like it and says she can check again after the epi is administered so I am more comfortable. I get the usual enema and Dr Yap arrives to give me my epi around 5am.

I get another VE - this time I am 3cm dilated and Dr Chua breaks my waterbag. She tells me that dilation up to 4cm is slow, but once it hits 4cm it will go faster. We keep waiting and true enough at 10am the nurses check again and declare me 10cm dilated -"Baby is ready to come out!" declares Nurse Sheila. There is a flurry of activity as they rush to notify Dr Chua.

At this point I get a call from the office receptionist - Kisu picks up my cellphone and I expect him to tell her that I am "busy" but he actually hands the phone to me! There is a minor crisis and I'm trying to sort this out amidst the flurry of activity around me. I get it settled (sort of) and Nurse Sheila lowers my epi dosage so I can start feeling the contractions. She tells me that Dr Chua wants to wait for me to be able to feel the contractions and at the same time, let the baby descend further.

While waiting for me to feel contractions, Nurse Sheila got me to try pushing. She told me to bend my head towards my neck, lift my butt, hold the stirrup handles and push from my tum. Worked, but I still didn't have much sensation. She said to wait. She came back later and we tried again.

11.45am - Dr Chua came in and I started to push in earnest. Kisu and Nurse 1 was on my left, Dr Chua ready to deliver and Sheila on my right. The cheerleading began. Apparently my pushing this time was far better, and with each push baby descended further. I had regained sufficient sensation to feel her moving down. Dr Chua then said "Let's try to do this without any cut or tear" (I was like "Wow, really??") She gave me instructions on when to push and when to stop. It was such a different experience this time - I really felt very encouraged and motivated because the pushing seemed to yield results. I think about 7 pushes later, her head was out.

She was sooo small! And covered with lots of vernix, unlike Ellie. (Only managed to have coconut water twice) She kept crying like she was complaining! She would stop for a bit and then start up again. We laughed and said that we might have trouble! We were stuck in the delivery suite till around 4 in the afternoon due to a lack of rooms. I got her to start nursing and she latched on quite nicely.

And my favourite part - they placed a swaddled Erin next to me, tucked in my arms. I was wheeled along from level 3 to level 4 where the maternity wards are. Knowing all the hard work was done and enjoying my new baby. Passing people who look on and whisper in awe "Look it's a newborn baby!"Erin's eyes were closed throughout - she seemed sleepy (Ellie's were bright and open throughout the journey)

36 weeks 3 days

Yikes my weight gain is 2.2kg in 3 weeks! Doc asked me what I had been eating and I was like Ërrrr..."

Baby has gained about 0.5kg and is 2.750kgs now. Whoa! Amnio levels are a little on the low side - 11+ to 6+ this week. I've been asked to rest more because anything 5 and below will mean an induction. I don't know how I'm going to do this amid all the crazy activity...I'm probably going to be moving office soon as well as a larger space that I've been eyeing has freed up....

I can't quite believe that I'll be popping another one soon...I'm thinking back to the hospital experience with Ellis and I can't imagine doing it again so soon

Dental Visit

I finally brought Ellis to the dentist!

I had been putting it off because just based on her temperament we did not think she would go through a dental check without any screaming/holding her down. Whenever I broached the topic of dentists, she would tell me "No" very insistently and get all upset - she said that visiting the dentist would be "painful"- I'm not sure where she got the notion from. And she said she was NOT going to open her mouth for the dentist to check her teeth.

But yesterday her friend Anne had an appointment with her dentist and Alicia (Anne's mum) invited us along. I thought it might be a good idea for Ellis to ëxperience"the dentist (and realise that it didn't have to be scary), and hopefully maybe even get her into the mood to check/polish her pearlies.

We went to LuAlly Dental at Raffles City....Dr Phua was nice and chatty, and wearing pink scrubs! Ellis watched Anne get her teeth counted and checked as well as polished. She didn't want to get into the chair, but allowed Dr Phua to count her teeth standing up...she even got to hold the little round dentist mirror! At first she opened her mouth a little....then it got bigger and bigger! The good news is that she has a nice full set of 20 teeth, and no cavities..yay! I couldn't get her to get her teeth polished, but it was a good start. I hope she has a positive view of the dentist..and that she gets her teeth polished on her next visit!

33 weeks 3 days

latest update - baby now weighs approximately 2.005kg and is growing very well (according to doc chua). My weight gain to date - 6kg (?) How is that possible? I don't know...looking back at pictures I do think I look less puffy than I did when pregnant with Ellis.

So baby #2 has put on 0.5kg over the last 4 weeks and I put on a total of 0.8kgs. The chart of her weight gain is uncannily similar to Ellis' so doc is expecting her to be 3kg at full term.