Infection

Me lah. This morning got up at 4.30am to excruxiating pain in my left boobie. When I removed my blanket, I began to shiver uncontrollably. I shivered till my whole body was aching. It was the same kind of shivering and aches I had when the epidural was working during labor. I thought I would never have to go through that again.

Then my temperature shot up to 39.9 degrees C. I guessed as much I was getting a breast infection. I suffered in bed for two hours till my in-laws woke up and by that time I was giddy and wanted to throw up. I stayed in bed till 9am and then attempted to have breakfast. I called my good friend QQ to check with her as she had the same thing when her son was 2 months. I had heard her horror story and was so terrified that I would have to go through what she went through.

I made my way to Dr. Chen's clinic in Punggol and she said it was probably a start of an infection and prescribed me with antibiotics. I have to pump the infected breast and throw away the milk and supplement Russell with powdered milk as she didn't want him to drink infected milk. Too much information? Best part is I have already packed up the breast pump. Had to go dig it out from Box No. 2!!! Which i packed ages ago!!

How does a breast get infected? Well, it is possibly because the milk did not get drained out completely and stays in the breast. When this milk accumulates, it causes an infection. If you don't do anything about it, an operation may be necessary. Ouch.

On hindsight, maybe I forgot to do the left right, right left, left right feeding causing one boobie to be un-cleared. Better be more conscious of this after the infection clears.

Clothes

Anyone has this "problem" of keeping all the "nicer" clothes for a "big" outing? Keep keep keep and then realise it is too small to use when you finally take it out for the kids to wear?

Russell has a couple of outfits which he has already outgrown and he probably only used it once or never at all.

Here is a picture of my Michelin Man in a cool t-shirt and star shorts assemble, courtesy of Auntie Wendy.

Just this past Friday, Russell discovered the "joys" of thumb-sucking. He will suck suck suck like damn shiok. Sometimes he can suck till he falls asleep. Good for me right? Don't need to rock him to sleep freeing up some time and energy. But my mum says it isn't good. His fingernail can rot as it is always damp. Yikes! Thought it was just innocent baby action. Maybe he is hungry? Err....last check up on Wednesday revealed that he is a whopping 7.5 kg, putting him on the 97 percentile.

Anybody got any advice on thumb-sucking? Renee did not have that habit so this is new to me.

Catch up - Photos

Finally, some photos to keep you updated...Russell at 3 months

The first time I have seen Renee smile like that! Now she knows how to smile for the camera!

Up close.....

Preparing for our pool outing with whale

Having lots of fun with lobster......

While Russell stays warm and cuddly

Brother and sister

Some naughty girl photos

After peeling open the diapers, Renee sticks it to our windows and ponders

Finally, some use for the peepee pot we got as part of our wedding dowry

Renee wants to wash her hands but insists on putting her whole body in the sink

Renee wants to be packed up as well.....

Swimming

Today, it rained. And of all days, in-laws decided they wanted to bring Renee to the pool downstairs. I thought it was so chilly and crazy. Basically, we have 18th July as our last day at Dunman View so we have one more month to enjoy the pool that we pay for every month but never use.


Renee's more or less recovered from her cough and so I thought that she should keep away from the pool at least for a few more days. But no, in-laws said the water won't be cold after the rain. ???? Hmmm....Wonder what goes through their minds sometimes. Makes me want to discount all the old-wives' tale that they keep relating to me and that they want me to follow.


Anyway, she had TONNES of fun with her grandparents while I carried Russell and stayed out of the water. Nothing like when Eugene and I brought her before - so scared of the water. Hmmm.....

Pictures will be loaded by this weekend, keep a lookout!

Shout out to my good friend YY who has just given birth to Chen Kaile, I am going to visit them tomorrow and apparently kids should not go to the hospital. Okaaaayy....

Blocked nose

As I expected, Russell finally succumbed to Renee's germs. He got a blocked nose on Saturday and I started him on the medicine that he got the last time. Sunday night was HELL for him and me. He couldn't sleep properly and I could hear him trying to breathe through all the mucus. I think I must have slept 2 hours in total. Monday night, he got a fever on top of the blocked nose and this time my MIL stayed by his side and sponged him two or three times. I was too zombified to do so. This morning, I drove to Dr.Vas' clinic at 8.45am. I got there before 9 and was the 3rd in line. By the time she arrived, it was 9.40am and I was the second patient to see her. Wow! Going early has its benefits.

Anyway needless to say there was money spent and I ended up buying the nebuliser machine as it costs $10 to rent per day versus $230 for my own machine. Any of you need the machine, it can be rented from me for $8 per day ha ha.

After the 1st session of nebulising, he slept for almost 5 hours. Two nights of non-sleep must have been so horrible for him. It's 11pm and I am about to give him the 4th session for today. Think he will sleep really well tonight.

Eugene's been calling back very frequently lately, I think he misses Singapore! ha ha, or rather his WTM and hokkien mee! He said he bought a sofa-worth of stuff and doesn't know how to pack it to check in. Thought only girls liked shopping......

Tiring weekend

With my in-laws here everyday to help me take care of the kids, I decided to handle the weekend myself. They went to watch a movie and went to church and also sent my SIL around to her stores.

Thankfully, my wonderful friends helped me along the way, driving me to have lunch and also bringing me to see some properties. Thanks G & V!

I think Renee behaves very well when she is with me, without my in-laws. I guess what they say about her behaviour when she is with them without me may be true after all. Maybe when there are too many people giving her the attention and time of day, she will soak it all up and "chu pattern". I swear she is naughty naughty when we are ALL around. She was a darling this weekend when I had to handle her myself.

New words to "stun" Eugene when he comes back:
1) Artificial (yah, amazing man)
2) McDonald's (took a drive this evening with the two kids in their car seats to ta pao dinner as I didn't want to bother anyone)
3) Finish (my sis-in-law bought her a box of poky and she was chowing down on them. When we asked her for a piece, she said, "finish" even though there were some more. So stingy!)

Today, when G stopped the car at the Upper East Coast and Bedok junction, the Parkway shuttle bus drove past and our darling Renee went "PARKWAY"!! She yells Parkway all the time and she can point to the building from our middle room so it totally caught me by surprise when she could recognise the PP painted on the bus. Geez! They learn so fast man!

Russell was really restless this evening and kept crying for over an hour and a half. I thought there was something poking at him or he was hungry or he preferred my in-laws carrying him. Turns out, he was feeling really hot and sweaty. Beads of sweat all over his luo-han forehead! Poor thing! A nice warm bath and he is now finally sleeping.

It is my turn to sleep too, good night and have a good work week ahead!

Improvement

Renee's coughing less now but her voice is hoarse, and she vomitted the last two nights. Tonight all clear - for now. BIL said, "don't worry, all kids go through this vomitting phase". MIL was a bit skeptical, hee.

Rascal Renee is getting really naughty and today I started the "stand in the corner" punishment. She has been really whiny, difficult and stubborn lately. She lashes out and wants to bite my MIL when she doesn't get her way. She's only "guai" with strangers. Have I been too soft with her? I think I need to step up the disciplining.

Are all 2 year olds like that? I think mine is the only NAUGHTY (with a capital N) kid around. Hope she will outgrow this phase soon.

Russell has started sleeping 8 hours straight at night, last night he made it 9 hours. Wonderful!

My wonderful cousins Gladys and Frankie have lent me a digital camera so I am taking photos now. Just that Eugene took the cable along. I will upload the photos at a later date......

Battle of Eastern and Western Medicine

Think most of you would know that I stand by Western medicine. Why? Cos it works???

For the past two days, we've been feeding Renee the gross-looking powder from the Chinese sinseh. How did we manage to get her to eat it? Mix it with LOTS of honey (which my friends confirm causes phlegm). Erm. Why mix something that does the opposite of what we want to achieve? Beats me, but I let my MIL have her way just to see whether it works.

Seems her cough isn't getting any better, in fact, it seems to be getting worse in my opinion. Fortunately, my SIL is a pharmacist and my BIL is a doctor so after some discussion, MIL was "over-powered" and we gave her the medicine from Dr. Vas.

Rhinathiol and Zenmolin. Zenmolin is supposed to open up the airways to facilitate the expulsion of phlegm through coughing. Rhinathiol is supposed to dissolve the phlegm.

Well, straight after taking it, we gave her her milk and before she was a quarter done, she vomited all the milk out together with some phlegm. MIL straight away said, "you see, Chinese medicine is better, dunno why she can't agree with the Western medicine. The stupid medicine opened her airways too much."

Well, I'd want to give the medicine 2 days to do what it is supposed to do. Afterall, we gave the Chinese medicine 2 days to show its magic but it didn't.

My question to all my friends who have kids and given them the above two medication, do your kids vomit whatever they eat or drink? Is it supposed to do that??

Everytime she vomits, MIL will say her heart-pain. As if I enjoy seeing my darling vomitting. Sigh.

Outing with my kids

Before Eugene left for his trip, he told me that I'd most likely have to change the batteries in the car as it was already 1.5 years old and it had been taking a second longer to start than usual. True enough, before my parents, Russell and I left for dinner last night, the car couldn't start. So, we ended up taking my dad's car to Shangri-la instead. I called AA and asked them to come by the house at 11pm to change the batteries. Why so urgent? I was having a girls' gathering today and I was bringing my two rascals along so I needed the car.

Before we left for dinner last night, I was talking to Renee about where Mummy would be going with Russell and that she would be following her nai-nai and yeh-yeh. She said ok. When the time came for Russell and myself to leave, she cried her eyes out. I wanted to bring her along but without Eugene it is pretty difficult, especially if she doesn't behave. Last night she had nightmares throughout the night, as if to tell me that she was fearful of being left behind by me. This morning she clung on to me for dear life. I was going to bring her and Russell to Serena's house anyway, but I gave her a choice. Her nai-nai also kept asking her to go along with them as my MIL was doubtful I could handle both of them myself. I was kinda delighted that she choose to follow me. Thank goodness she was very cooperative and sat in her car seat without kicking up a fuss while I sat in the front to drive. She also got along really well with Dylan, no fighting over toys?? I was totally surprised!

Had a great time with my girlfriends having yummy chicken rice, bak chang, mui choi with chicken and double boiled pork rib soup. Our get together was mainly to catch up with YY before she gives birth. (YY, I say we'll probably see you at TMC this coming week ha ha).

Today's outing went well, no need for any hospital visit this time (touch wood) and we headed back around 4 pm. It's almost 10 pm and the kids are asleep. Time for me to hit the sack too - exhausted man!

Withdrawal from school

Now I know why Teacher said Renee was so quiet. She was going to get sick, and true enough that very night she had a fever and started coughing. Sigh. Weeks and weeks and money to get well and just 5 days at school and she is sick again. I was considering still sending her to school when I move in temporarily with my in-laws but this virus going around and around (with no end in sight) is just annoying. She skipped school today, vomited once in the afternoon and her fever comes and goes.

I'm getting the withdrawal forms tomorrow. It takes 30 days to process the withdrawal but I think I'll just keep her away for most of the time. Just that I feel so sad for her as she has made some friends at school. How do all you parents deal with this? The kids go in and out of clinics so often and I just hate to pump medicines into their little bodies. Can't be good for their organs in the long run. Sian.

We had WTM today!

I called the same movers that helped us move to Dunman View to come down for a quotation. Previously when we moved from Punggol to Dunman View, we paid about $400. Now, it will cost us $550 to go to one location (my in-laws) or $600 to go to two locations (in-laws and my parents house). Goodness! Just 8 months makes so much difference? The guy explained that diesel prices have gone up, etc etc. My mother said because we are living in a condominium so he is taking us for a ride. Hmmmm......after considering the two options, I think we will just send all our stuff to my in-laws because if we split the loot into 2, we will have to fork out another considerable sum when we move to our new place. I couldn't believe it when the guy said we needed about 50 boxes!! sure or not???

My in-laws have been packing and throwing away tonnes of stuff from their own place to make room for our things. 50 boxes is no joke, I think more like 40 boxes lah......They are even talking about throwing away their fridge and Eugene's and Serene's old beds to make room for our own bed. I aso called the Lock and Store near my office and a space to store our stuff will cost $450 per month, to which my MIL totally objected to. Plus each carton costs $5, wow.

Today, Russell turns 3 months old. Last month, he discovered his hands, he will suck ferociously at it for minutes till it is all slimy. When he is hungry during the night, he will start sucking on his hands first. It is this sucking sound that will wake me up. It is amazing how when babies are bigger, they don't start crying the moment they open their eyes. He is now able to respond when you talk to him, that toothless smile is worth millions! He also kicks like nobody's business. Leave him in his cot and come back and his whole body would have migrated to the edge, now we know what the bumper is for!

Today, when I went to pick Renee from school, Teacher Shirley said, don't know why she is so serious when she is at school, never smile. Hmm??? She is NOT serious when she is at home with me!!! Totally naughty and playful, I couldn't believe what the teacher said. MIL says Renee also behaves very well when they bring her to church. Hmm....must be Mummy then. She must love to bully me.

I brought my in-laws and my dad to eat our favorite WTM at Tembling Road. Since it is a weekday, we didn't have to wait too long and my in-laws loved it, now they understand why Eugene can eat a $4 plate and then some. I told Eugene we were going to eat it and he was like, "damn". hahahaha.......

It's so quiet

I don't have a camera for the whole month because Eugene took it with him! So I won't be able to take Russell's 3rd month picture unless someone can loan me a camera!!

At 3 months, Russell makes the most adorable cooing and gurgling sounds. I am also proud to say that he can sleep for about 6 hours straight after his night time bath and feed. Wonderful for me because I get uninterrupted sleep. Still some ways to go before he is like Renee, sleeping for 12 hours straight when she was about 2 months old. Well, can't be too fussy, as long as he is healthy. Met a grandmother at Dr. Vas' clinic last week who was amazed at Russell's size. At 2 months 3 weeks, Russell is the same size as her grandson who is 5 months (not to mention same weight at 6.8kg). She said dunno why her grandson keeps waking up throughout the night and can't seem to grow. We are indeed lucky to have a chunk-of-meat-son!

After 3 months of maternity leave, I am supposed to return to work yah? Well, I have opted to take an extra 3 months of no pay leave to take care of him, same as I did with Renee. I have to admit this time is much tougher as I have Renee to take care of too. I just tell myself that once this age of innocence passes, no amount of money can buy it back.

Just an observation, Renee is now more receptive of people around her. She was taken care of during the day by my in-laws since she was 6 months old. It is only lately that she has come to recognize my parents as her grandparents and by acknowledging them as "gong-gong" and "po-po". For the longest time, she would only know how to call "yeh-yeh" and "nai-nai". I feel much better now as I felt my parents were being left out. All works out for the best yah!

I didn't think I would miss Eugene this much because without him it gets really boring. The weekend is so quiet especially when my in-laws bring Renee out with them. Oh well, it's only 4 weeks. Not sure whether he gets a few days off before starting work when he returns cos we got to start our massive search for our dream home again.

Ok, back to my lonely packing.