Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Breastmilk Jaundice

Yiu-Shern is still having jaundice. His SB level was at 247 yesterday, which nearly gave us a heart-attack. We immediately sent him to see Dr. Dan.

Before this, he has already been hospitalized twice because of his high jaundice level.

As Yiu-Shern is already more than 3 weeks old, he was asked to undergo a thorough checkup - urine test, blood test & ultrasound.
We spent the whole morning in Island Hospital.

He cried his lungs out when they poke the needle into both his hands blood veins to retrieve a few vials of blood. I could felt my own tears dripping down as well.

The results came back good. There is nothing wrong with his liver and it is functioning well. Phew...

Dr. Dan then explained that his jaundice is called 'Breastmilk Jaundice.'
So what is Breastmilk Jaundice?

The baby should be gaining well, with breastfeeding alone, having lots of bowel movements, passing plentiful, clear urine and be generally well. In such a setting, the baby has breastmilk jaundice.

Breastmilk jaundice peaks at 10-21 days, but may last for 2-3 months. Breastmilk jaundice is supposedly normal, as long as the exclusively breastfed baby is perfectly healthy and is gaining weight.

Yiu-Shern was 3.6kg when he was born. But at 5 days when he was discharged from Island Hospital, he was only 3.3kg. As of yesterday, his weight has been increased to 4.1kg.
Dr. Dan said his weight gain is perfectly good.

But whatever the reason, Yiu-Shern is still yellow and is still making me having more wrinkles. I think I will be an old maid before he reaches 1 year.

I am constantly worrying and thinking about my baby.

Monday, June 29, 2009

June - A Joyous Month

Starting 2009, our family will always have triple celebration in the month of June.

6 June - Lim Yiu-Shern's birthday
3rd Sunday of June - Father's Day
28 June - Mum's Birthday

Happy Father's Day - 21st June 2009

Proud daddy holding on to his bundle of joy


Proud kong-kong holding on to his precious grandson

p/s- Yiu-Shern have not taken picture with 'Ah-Kong' yet. Pic to be uploaded soon.


Mummy's @ Pho-Pho's Birthday - 28 June 2009

Proud pho-pho holding on to her precious grandson

And also more laughter and joy from now onwards ;)

Friday, June 26, 2009

Yiu-Shern - week 3 - Expressions

Yiu-Shern's many face expressions...


25 June 2009


20 June 2009

Look at his sleeping positions. He likes to put his hand on his face.


22 June 2009


23 June 2009


23 June 2009

Teh Family

It's Peter's favourite nephew & niece in action again! This time around, Win Win took for them their Family Portrait at Youth Park.

See the happy smiles on all their faces!


daddy David, mummy Janette, princess Jamie and Prince Dylan


Dylan & Jamie

For more photos of their Family Portrait, please visit this page.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Shern: The Juicy Part - Labour & Delivery

Everybody has been asking me this question 'Why the emergency caesarian?'

I got tired of explaining again and again, so I will blog about it here. (This is going to be a very long post)
Those who are squeamish on terms such as vagina, blood, pain, etc...pls stop reading now.
This post is all about squeamish details.

I encountered spotting when I woke up on 5th June 2009 at 8am. I immediately bathed and went to Island Hospital.
As my gynae, Dr. Eric Soh was on leave (attending conference from 4th - 6th June and will only be back on 7th June morning), I was seeking for Dr. Mah. Unfortunately, he was doing operation and thus, I was asked to choose another gynae.

Dr. J. Karen's room was next to Dr. Mah so I just registered myself. Upon checking, Dr. Karen told me baby's head was nicely locked in and I was already 3cm dilated. She made me realized that I was actually already having minor contractions pain. I was then asked to go home and to go back to Island Hosp when my contractions are more frequent (15 mins apart) and intense.

I then went home and spent the afternoon watching 24 series Season 6! ;P
I even went to Island Plaza with mum at 8pm. But by then, I could feel my contractions getting more painful although the interval were irregular.

By 10pm, my pain was getting intensed and to my disbelief, the irregular interval pains suddenly became only 5 mins apart. I panicked a little (b'coz I was supposed to go to the hospital when the pain was 15 mins apart!) and went to bathe again (I washed my hair 3 times that day!) before heading to Island Hosp.

We had no choice but to check in at about 11pm++ (my contraction pain was 5 mins apart and I did not know what to expect!) although they were going to charge me 1 day stay from then til 12 midnight.

But the 5 mins apart contraction pain lasted until 6am the next morning! Arghh...! All the time, I could not sleep because of the pain. Peter was sleeping on the sofa chair next to me!
My mucous plug also already dropped out, I was told.

still-fat me in the labour room with 5 mins contraction pain apart

I denied epidural because I want to feel the sensation to push and did not want to end up having a c-sec!
I also denied the 'gas' pain relief because they told me it will only make me drowsy and will not eliminate the pain. Somehow I gritted my teeth and went through all those hours of pain.

At 6am++, Dr. Karen came in and she broke my water bag to accelerate the labour process. Water gushed out only little by little because the baby's head is blocking the canal. I was 5 cm dilated by then.

She asked me if I want to have the labour progress naturally (for dunno how long still) or if I want her to induce me. I didn't want to wait so long so I asked to be induced. She induced me using an IV drip which was set to deliver a certain amount of Pitocin into me per hour.

After that, my pain grew even more intense and I had HUGE contraction pain every 30 seconds. I barely had time to breathe. My vagina then dilated gradually until I was 10cm dilated and was ready to push. That was at 9am ++.

I pushed and pushed and it was progressing very well. Peter can even see baby's hairline 3 cm away from my vagina. Then, everything got stuck. Nothing seemed to move although I was pushing like crazy.

Dr. Karen said she will help me using vacumn but if that fails, then may need to go for a c-sec. I had no choice but to agree. She somehow shoved that vacumn inside my vagina in order to vacumn out the baby. I shouted in pain at that time because it was a sharp pain.
She tried vacumning but the baby was still suck....she ended up vacumning my vagina wall. She stopped and tried again. Same results. She tried the 3rd time. Also to no avail.

Luckily, baby was not in distress yet. I could still hear his heartbeat normally from the machine.

She then told me that I had better go for c-sec...she said she was just hurting me with the vacumn and there was no results. I was stubborn and said NO. She said I can try to push for another 10 mins. But if nothing happens, then they will wheel me to the surgery room.

After 10 mins, I could not push him out and I was wheeled to the c-sec room. I got disappointed and refused to talk to Dr. Karen (haha!). But I had no choice.

Peter was not allowed in because this was considered an 'emergency caesarian'!

Dr. Jude...the anaesthetician talked to me and told me he knew about my disappointment. He then administer a jab in my spinal into me and after 15 minutes, I heard Yiu-Shern's first cry! I could not believe the whole operation was so fast!

Yiu-Shern was born on 6th June 2009...a healthy 3.6kg baby boy!

Yiu-Shern in the warmer 1 hour after birth

Yiu-Shern was then brought to me to have a look at him and then they whisked him away at the end of the room to clean him up.

All in all, I am glad both me and my baby Yiu-Shern are fine and healthy!

Oohh....contraction/labour pain is bearable because it is a dull pain (unlike the sharp pain of the shoving of the vacumn inside my vagina!)

For my next one, I will still opt labour WITHOUT the use of epidural! ;D

And this is the story of how Shern came into this world.
The story of a new beginning of our family of 3! ♥ ♥ ♥ 



Please click here to read:-
Yiu-Shern's birth story
Yiu-Khye's birth story
- Yiu-Vern's birth story

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

ME - Post Pregnancy - after 2 weeks

This is a picture of the stressed and sleep-deprived mummy.
I have gone back to my pre-pregnancy weight of ~48kg before my 1st trimester nausea kicked in.


22 June 2009

Breastfeeding really makes you lose those weight fast. Not having enough sleep also plays a big role in helping me lose those pounds.

But my stomach is not as toned as last time anymore. I have that jelly-belly stomach now.
They call it mummy-tummy. Boo hoo.....

Monday, June 22, 2009

First Few Pictures of the 3 Of Us

Tada....our first few pictures of the 3 of Us....taken by Shu-Min :)

Proud daddy & mummy with baby Yiu-Shern


20 June 2009


21 June 2009


21 June 2009

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Yiu-Shern - week 2

Yiu-Shern is now 2 weeks old.

I'm starting to see his 'patterns'. He basically just drinks, sleep, & cry every day. On his good mood days, he will open his eyes and look around quietly for like half an hour.

His jaundice level has gone down, hopefully down to zero. He has mild rashes on his groin. Dr. Dan said most probably due to our humid weather and his rubbing his legs against the tender skins.


Yiu-Shern busy scratching himself. He refuses to wear mittens. He pulls them out after 5 mins.


Yiu-Shern's 'muscle cramp' smile :)
(read somewhere that baby don't smile in the true sense 'til much later)



Yiu-Shern deep in thoughts - frowning....


Yiu-Shern's favourite pose. He likes to sleep this way....the 'Sun-bathing' pose.

So how is mummy doing?

Good news first. Dr. Eric said my uterus is contracting nicely. Lochia is getting less and less.
B/feeding is now better - not so much engorgement. Just tiring that I am waking up every 2 hours to direct feed Yiu-Shern. He is currently still on exclusive b/milk.

Dr. Dan said Yiu-Shern is gaining weight marvelously - he gained 200g in 5 days. Let's hope this means my milk factory is producing enough milk so far.

Bad news. I have inflammation on my c-sec wound. The stitches were still intact, thank God.
He gave me oral antibiotic initially. But the pain became worse...I had throbbing pain on my wound. Dr. Eric then gave me antibiotic jabs which must be taken 3 days in a row.

Normally, I'm OK with injections. Just that they never can seem to find my veins. I was poked 4 times before he managed to inject the antibiotic inside me. Arghhh....

Dr. Eric also used a needle to make a hole in the wound and then pressed out discharge/stale blood from inside. I need to go back to the hospital for this for the next few days. And not to forget more antibiotic jabs... :(

From Lim U-Shern to Lim Yiu-Shern

The stupid government new ruling now does not allow single alphabet names to be registered. So I cannot name my little angel U-Shern, because 'U' is unacceptable in their new guideline.

What kind of stupid ruling is that, right? Actually it is because they wanted to eliminate those people who uses single alphabet as short forms. Such as S. Jayakaran or K.Mohamed.

We told them that 'U' is not a short form and is a pronunciation but they also refuse to budge from the new guideline. :(

So now if I want to maintain his name as the same pronunciation, I need to change the spelling.

So Lim U-Shern is now Lim Yiu-Shern.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

U-Shern - week 1

Today is exactly 1 week since U-Shern was born. It is exactly one week since I endured both natural birth contractions 'til the end but ended up having an emergency caesarian! *grins

Breastfeeding
U-Shern did not know how to suckle on my breasts on the first day he was born. He was merely enjoying my nipples in his mouth. I had to squeeze the colustrum out for him.
However, U-Shern started suckling well the next day.

On my 3rd day post delivery, my milk started coming in. I could felt my breasts muscles tightened in the middle of the night at around 2am. I thought I could sleep it off and then see to this matter in the morning. Little did I know that that was the biggest mistake I could ever make.
Both my breasts were fully engorged at 6am. I almost cried when the nurses there helped me to massage them using hot pad.

On the 4th day, U-Shern got over his lethargicness and started suckling on my breasts vigorously. Thus I had to endure not only breasts engorgement but also sore/cracked nipples.
Thanks to Bepanthen ointment, they did not bleed YET.

I was so committed to breastfeeding and also read up so much about it, yet, I was not prepared enough. As of now, breastfeeding is really TOUGH! I was almost in tears (sometimes really in tears) due to my breasts engorgement.

Breastfeeding requires me to 'feed-on-demand' and U-Shern demands for milk every 2 hours. My nipples barely had time to heal and there goes the little piranha again!

But I guess it is because I do not produce enough milk for him. After direct feeding him, I can only express out slightly more than 1 1/2oz of EBM. That is little I know.


Jaundice
Poor U-Shern had jaundice. He was put under photo/light treatment on his 3rd day.
He bacame lethargic and refused to suckle on my breasts. This is a bad sign because he was very dry due to the photo/light treatment. I had no choice but to express out my milk and to ask the nurse to feed him using a feeder cup/soft cup.

I had to stay in Island Hospital for an extra 2 days because of U-Shern's above the borderline jaundice level. When he was allowed to be discharged on Wednesday 10 June 2009, his jaundice level is only at borderline at 170+ reading.

Took him sunbathing in the morning but his jaundice level still increased to 213 on Thurs and then 220 on Fri. The nurse at the goverment clinic in Tg Bungah also advised us to send him to the hospital.

So poor U-Shern is now back to the hospital yesterday Fri 12 June 2009. I did not stay there as a lodger this time. Instead, I send over my EBM to the nursery every once in a while and also to direct b/f him while I am there.

If not enough, I requested the nurses there to top up with formula milk. I cannot be too stubborn on saying NO to formula because U-Shern needs more liquid in order to dispose out all the jaundice in his body - he needs to pee and poo-poo more.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Hello World, Meet Shern

Name: Lim U Yiu-Shern (林优升)
Gender: Boy
Born On: 6/6/09
Weight - 3.6 kg
Length/Height - 52 cm
Head Circumference - 35 cm
Delivery via Emergency Caesarian

Proud Parents: Peter Lim Cheng Teik & Tan Shu-Yin

6 June 2009 - 1 day old

11 June 2009 - 6 days old

Thursday, June 4, 2009

The Evolution of my Pregnant Belly


17 Nov 2008 / 25 Dec 2008


23 Jan 2009 / 14 Feb 2009


8 Mar 2009 / 11 Apr 2009


10 May 2009 / 27 May 2009

Look at the 'compounded' size of my belly.
Whoever says my belly is small and compact? It is so HUGE!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

39 weeks - Little Angel is now as big as Peter's favourite fruit

Watermelon is Peter's favourite fruit. He can eat half the watermelon if I allow it.

This week's growth chart shows that Little Angel is the size of a mini watermelon. I doubt the 'mini' part though.



Went to see Dr. Eric again today but he says Little Angel is not ready to come out yet.

His head is low but then he is not facing downwards yet. He is still facing left which is still not a sign of near labour.

And my cervix though soft but not 'soft enough' yet.

So his advice is to wait.....'til my EDD next Tuesday 9th June 2009 to be induced.

But what I am worried about is that Little Angel is growing bigger and bigger as days go by. As of yesterday's ultrasound scan, his head circumference is 107.5mm (normally should be ~95mm) and weighs 3.8kg - Little Angel is BIG!

I am afraid I might have a hard time to push him out with his broad head and he is such a big baby. I am in no favour of a c-sec if possible.

But I don't want to induce him out unless it is absolutely necessary. I want him to be ready to make his appearance into our world!
Even if c-sec is needed, then I have no choice. But I am aiming for a natural delivery.

Please pray for me!

Photo taken from: Baby Center

Jamie drew the 3 of Us

Jamie & Dylan are back to Penang as Singapore is having a school mid-term break.

Look at what the sweet Jamie drew for me yesterday?
She drew our little family - the 3 of us - Peter, me & Little Angel.

And she drew that spontaneously in front of me. I must say she draws very well for a 5+ year old.


(click on the pic to view a bigger image)

Jamie even touched my belly and was in awed when she felt my belly moved. She said she can't wait for Little Angel to come out. She said she wants to play with him.

At the back of the picture, she wrote a message to Little Angel 'I ♥ you and I like to play with you'

I guess little does she know that when Little Angel comes out, all he knows how to do is cry, eat & sleep. He will be not much fun for the first few months.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Happy Belated B'day Bee Wooi & Siow Sen @ Old Frees

We always took the opportunity to meet up and have a makan session - and also to celebrate those whose birthdays fall within the month or so.

Anyway, this time is Bee Wooi and Siow Sen's belated birthday celebration.

The management of the Old Frees Restaurant had changed hands, I was told. But I think the chef left as well. Food there was not as nice the last time I went.

Anyway, this time we ate rice with dishes. Taste-wise I find it OK. Portion was small. Prices are expensive. But the thing that irked me was that the whole restaurant area was so noisy...all the voices kept on reflecting on the walls and you can hear echos everywhere, although there were not many tables being seated. It was so annoying!

So what to do? We shouted at the top of our lungs to get messages across to each other!


Mini Oreo cake from Ritz


Siow Sen & Bee Wooi - the belated birthday girls


Justin & SS, Bee Wooi & Alan


Pregnant women with hubbies


Group pic
(how come Peter closed his eyes and spoiled the pic!)

Shuey, Mindy & Mun Yi @ Sri Ananda Bahwan

I meet up with Mindy & Mun Yi quite often...usually once every month or two. But as my due date is getting nearer, we have been meeting up more and more often. Not sure what is the urgency...but I guess it is me - this kiasu mum-to-be afraid that I don't have time to go kai-kai anymore once Little Angel is out!

Anyway, the four of us had a great time just chatting and eating at Sri Ananda Bahwan last Friday.

As usual, I ate like a glutton that night...because Mun Yi ordered the wrong fish and the fish turned out to be such a big fish! And Shuey left early and abandoned us there with all the food on the table!


Look at my oily face - I am the only one who seemed to be sweating like a pig there although our table was just under the fan and the night was not very hot!

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