It's coming to an end

My maternity leave, that is.

I have been on a 3 months maternity leave and I have a taste of how a SAHM's is like lol. At first I thought I'm gonna get cabin fever because I'm someone that doesn't like to be confined at home. I like to be out and about doing things but yes, I surprised myself. I actually enjoyed my 3 months stay at home. Maybe because i'm too busy at home to feel bored, as I have stuff to do everyday!

Not counting the month of confinement, this is what a typical day for me is like.

10am to 11am - Wake up with the two kids. Shiok, sometimes i feel like lepaking in bed further but Peanut gotta eat lunch and I have to cook!  have been waking at this time because I can only sleep at around 2am to 3am each night. If i'm lucky, 1am. So I don't know how i'm going to cope when I go back to work. Now the reason I've been sleeping late is because of Peanut. Peanut is STILL a night owl who hates to sleep. She doesn't nap in the day, and she fights sleep every night, and it's a struggle for us to put her to bed. And as for BabyD, well he's still a baby. I'll be lucky if I can catch some sleep when he sleeps.

11am to 1230pm - This is when i quickly do all my chores. My chores are bathing BabyD, cook lunch, wash all the bottles, and prepares stuff for dinner. And seriously i hate thinking of what to cook everyday!! I don't know how the other housewives do it, especially those who can cook lots of different, yummy dishes everyday. For me, sometimes  I have to go online and google what to cook  based on the ingredients i have on hand. My maid does all the cleaning and helps me look after Peanut on and off. I'm really thankful for all her help because without her, my house will always be in a constant, giant mess.

1230pm to 5pm -  Peanut takes her lunch, while i'll be feeding BabyD on and off throughout the day and making sure he naps. Sometimes I surf the net for a bit, do spring cleaning, read some books, watch tv, cook dinner etc. I'm now an avid fan of TVB and Astro on Demand. I'm hooked!! Before this (my maternity leave that is) I've never really watched any TVB dramas because it doesn't interest me and I don't understand cantonese.  But beggars can't be choosers and since the dramas look interesting and i've nothing better to watch,  I've been watching them everyday with the help of malay subtitles. Auntie or what??! hahah. Let's see whether I will still be into it once I go back to work.

6pm to 9pm - Peanut takes her dinner, and i bathe her after that. And i wait for DH to come back from work to have dinner together.

9pm to bedtime - Lepak with DH and the two kiddos and getting ready all the bottles and stuff for bedtime and sometimes DH catches up on the dramas on Astro on Demand lol. He's hooked just like me. Only difference is he doesn't need subtitles wtf.

So that's how my day goes by everyday with the exception of weekends and the 2 to 3 days where I managed to escape from the kids go out shopping by myself, and suffice to say, it's been a blast.

Baby no.2's confinement

My confinement lady is very fond of cooking. She's so passionate in her cooking that she can spend hours in the kitchen..thinking of ways to tickle my taste buds.

Evidence..






Agree?
As I joked to the parents, i felt like I'm dining at a restaurant everyday haha.

zzzz

I'm having sleep deprivation wey..

Lately, Peanut has been waking up twice in a night instead of the usual once. Maybe she gets hungrier faster now. She's also a very light sleeper and can wake up at the slightest sounds.

This not-enough-sleep is making me hazy. I can't think straight when I drive, my eyes feel drier making it hard for me to wear contact lenses for long, I'm easily irritable *oops..sorry BigB!* hehe, and I can now sleep at a drop of a hat. I used to not be able to fall asleep easily.

I now try to wake up by 6:20am at the latest, so i can get out of the house by 7am. Everything needs to be done at a military precision. Besides getting ready for work, i also need to wash Peanut's bottle from the night before, change her if she's wet, bring her down to my MIL so she can take over, play and talk to Peanut for a few minutes, clean up whatever mishaps that has happened the night before i.e. milk stains & pee on the bedsheet. Usually i'll just wipe the stains off with wet wipes. No time okay!! And grab a quick cup off coffee before I zoom out of the door. Wah...tired even before i start the day!

Things will get better right? *hopeful*

*sobs*

Tilam is leaving tomorrow!!!!!!!



*runs around like a headless chicken*




I'm scared.


Tilam might not be a lot of things.

For example, her meals are okay only. Very mediocre. I don't look forward to each meal time because the chicken is always too tough, and it's always kailan, kailan, kailan, and the cooking style is the same.

She asked a lot of questions too....

She is always sasking me what's this, what's that.

And the other day i went up to my room after lunch. So she asked me you went up to the room for what? I say to go do something la. She asked me again, to do what? Aijor.

And she likes to ask me whether i have enough milk while i'm breastfeeding. Like how I know wor...not as if my boobs have a measuring cup.

She is also repetitive.

I think i have lost count on the number of times she repeated her stories to me. Always the same stories, different day nia.

But she sure knows how to take care of Peanut, and that's the most important!! I just hope I can do half as well starting tomorrow!!

"Watcha looking at?"
Peanut on Tilam. Her clothing mis-matched as usual.

Bye Tilam!!!!!!!!! We're gonna miss you!! *sniff*

And you thought...

there's no more rules after confinement month??

No lor, there's plenty more!!! So have you heard before that:

a) You can't eat yam within 100 days after confinement? Cos your "down there" will be itchy. Unfortunately, i like yam. So yeah, have to tahan.
b) You can't eat pineapples either but I dunno for what reason cos I don't like pineapples so I didn't care to find out.
c) You can't drink cold drinks for at least another 10 days after confinement month? Bye bye icy cold coke light ( i miss you so much), and hate you, _________ <-- insert all the hot drinks that i've been consuming for the past one month.
d) No sex within 100 days after confinement.
e) Children can't kiss babies on the face, cos it'll delay their speech??
f) Babies can't wear shoes for the first year of their lives.

wat la, so many rules

The "look"

Nowadays BigBoss is very fond of giving me the "look".

The "shhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " with the finger on the lip type.

Especially when I say "eh look! Peanut's legs so chubby de hor"
Or "wahh, Peanut can sleep really long lei"
Or "she can really drink her milk!!"

Basically, i cannot say nice things about Peanut in front of Peanut. Might as well stuff my mouth with a piece of cloth and put a masking tape over it la.

Yes, BigBoss is as pantang as Tilam.

Me the cheerleader

So Tilam has many weird advices for me.

Sometimes, Peanut makes weird expressions when she's sleeping. Ocassionally, she breaks into a smile. Or she'll cry for like 3 seconds and then silence. She does all these when she's sleeping. So i asked Tilam whether there's anything to be worried about.

She said all babies have a "baby guardian" by their sides. And these babies will play games with these "guardians". So if the babies win, they will smile. But if they lose, they'll cry. So when babies cry, us Mothers need to tell our babies to "fight for it!!". Dunno fight for wat also la.

So if you see me yelling "fight for it!!" to Peanut, I'm not crazy. I'm just being the supportive, cheerleading mum.

Day 14: Peanut

I try to take pics of Peanut with different expresssions to give this blog more variety. You won't see a photo of her and me in this blog though cos I look a mess. And i"m still fat.

Hello Helllo!!

Um, if you're wondering why she's dressed in blue, I'm not trying to turn her into a boy okie. She's wearing my nephew's hand-me-downs. I've got tons of it from my sis, so why waste it rite? hehe

Finally, a blur pic of her smiling!

Caught by surprise.

To make her look more girly, *ahem* I threw the pink blanket on her.

You see the pink mattress protector she's lying on? That thing is a life saviour. She poops so much in a go that sometimes some of it leaks out of her diaper. Thank God her poop doesn't smells like adult shit. It just smells, different. And it's yellow in color.

On another note, i'm really tired but I can't seems to fall asleep. I only fell asleep at 4am last nite. Do I have insomnia or what? And i'm not even taking care of Peanut at night. Yet.

My first "official-it's-not-a-secret" shower

As you all know, today is the "all important 12th day", and today I can eat actually eat pork vinegar and ginger chicken. Hallejujah!!!! Though what i really want is coke light and McDs, this will do for now la.

Oh and about the shower part, showering is a production in itself. In the morning, Tilam boiled and boiled lots of water which she poured into pails, which she then have to slowly bring up to the bathroom. Then one special pail needs to contain this special herbs thingy. All in all, i think i have around 6 pails of boiled water around for me to shower. No wonder nobody showered in the olden days time la. Have to chop wood, boil water, then carry to God knows where. If me also I won't want to shower last time, especially if I have to do all these myself.

Anyway, after shower, as per Tilam's instruction, i have to quickly blow dry my hair, and the air-cond in the room has to be off. And i have to down a half glass of DOM, and i need to sleep. Okay, i just downed the DOM, and i can feel my heart beating more furiously. This is what happened when you don't have any alcohol in your system for the past 9 months. You get tipsy wih DOM. And bloody hell, i'm sweating so much now!!

Confinement: The story so far

My confinement lady is from Johor. She speaks cantonese and mandarin and hokkien. I understand 50% of what she is saying. She refers herself as "Tilam" because she's pudgy and babies like to sleep on her. She reached BigBoss's family home on the day I was discharged from the hospital. (wah, like writing a primary one karangan liddat)

So far ah..she can be quite repetitive, but she's actually quite cool. I'm warming up to her slowly. She has plenty of taboos and pantangs, collected over the span of 23 years.

Below are some of Tilam's pantang larangs:

• Okay we have the usual classic, no showering or washing hair until the 12th day. Then after the 12th day, no showering and washing of hair until the end of the month.
  
• No wine in my food until the 12th day because i had a c-section.
  
• I am not allowed to drink boiled water until full moon because it'll make me puffy / swollen. So everyday i need to drink this weird concotion of red dates with kei chi drink. And i can drink hot milo.
  
• I can't eat anything cooked with salt until the 12th day
• I have no idea what's so special about the 12th day
• I have to sit down when I drink
  
• I cannot eat any fruits except for apples
  
• I cannot eat most vegies except for Kailan and broccoli, and yep you guess it, until the 12th day
• I cannot eat chicken until the 12th day because it's toxic. I have been eating fish and pork every single day *sniff*
  
• I cannot wear anything sleevless, must cover my arms if not the "wind" will go in.
  

As for Peanut, these are a few things she has taught me so far, Pei Chyi and Mei Li take note *ahem* :

• When babies have hiccups, you take a piece of tissue paper, cut it into postage stamp size, wet it with water and stick it onto the baby's forehead. Well, as weird as it might sound, we tried it and it works.
  
• You don't need to burp the baby if she's on breast milk. Only do it when she's on formula. I have no idea whether this is true or not la
  
• When you bring your baby out shopping etc, do not refer her by her name. Instead give her a nickname like Ah Girl, Baby or whatever names you can think of la. This is so that nothing will follow her home.
  
• When you're in the hospital and ready to be discharged, say "Peanut, it's time to go home" and when you reach home, say "Peanut, you're finally at home, welcome home" or something like that lah.
  
• Rub the two big toes on baby's feet constantly to get a smarter baby.
  
• To prevent jaundice, Tilam squeezed three pieces of grapes to extract the juice onto a soup spoon(must be 3 only okie), and fed it to Peanut. Oh, and the grapes have to be green. Drink only once a day.
  
• She bathed Peanut in guiness stout (mixed with tap water of cos) to prevent red spots.
  
• Babies can't wear anything yellow, so that she won't get jaundice. Even the towel that she use after she showered can't be yellow
  
• Um..wot else. To check your baby for jaundice, use your forefinger and press lightly on the baby's forhead, her chest and cheeks. Press maybe for 3 to 4 seconds. If the skin rises up quickly after that, and the color goes back to pinkish hue, then the baby's alright. But after you press and the skin does not rise up immediately, and there's a yellowish tint then you gotta see the doctor. Oh, and plus the eyes cannot be yellowish too. She told me the doctor taught her how to do this.
  

Absurd as some of the above might sound, I just take it with a pinch of salt. I followed all the rules except for the no showering part and the "no drinking of water". I cannot stand not showering lor, but what I did was to splash a bit of water on my body, soap myself, splash more water and quickly towel dry. It's quite a mission to do all these without letting Tilam finding out. And i cannot NOT drink any plain water, because I feel so dehydrated without it. But i have yet to wash my hair. I can do it tomorrow though (it's the 12th day, unless it rains. sigh). I followed this rule just because I do not want to risk getting headaches or migraines in future. Backaches I can deal with, head pain, not so.

Confinement for me has been pretty okay so far, because I get to spend all my time with Peanut without any interruptions and I get to lie down in bed the whole day. What's not to like ya?

So what do I do everyday ah?

Every morning i wake up at around 8:30am to 9am, but still so tired lor because I can't seems to fall asleep easily at night. I usually sleep at around 12am to 1am.

So...after i wake up, I will quickly wash up, have a quick breakfast before the CL brings Peanut into my room. Then at this stage, i'll breastfeed her and watch tv. The CL takes care of her during the night as she wants me to have a good rest. And i dun think I'll have the energy also.

Lunch will usually be at 1pm, which usually consists of brocolli or kai lan, and pork cooked with ginger. It's only Day 11, but I am already sien with the menu. But she promised me things will be different after Day 12. Hopefully lor! Cos i see my meals nowadays also no appetite. I have to ask BigBoss to sneak in a bottle of Pringles at night for me. Dunno can eat or not, but I eat also lah.

Anyway, after lunch, Peanut will again be in my room with me until around 7pm, which is dinner time. So the whole afternoon, I'll either look at Peanut, breastfeed, watch tv, read some mags, and generally just try to stay awake. I'm usually very sleepy at this point, and there are times when i do fall asleep, but I always wake up to see what Peanut is doing. I'm scared of crushing her while sleeping hehe Sometimes i wish i can bubble wrap her up because she's so fragile and I'm afraid I'll hurt her accidentally. And i have yet to master the art of carrying her in my arms without her bursting into tears.

Honestly, at this stage, I can't live without the CL! She takes care of Peanut really well and it's such a relief sometimes when Peanut cries and cries and I know CL is not far away to come and help me soothe her. Haihhh how ah? I'll be so lost when confinement is up!

What's in a chinese name

So me and BigBoss had a hard time choosing the right chinese name for Peanut. We're both chinese illiterate, and his parents don't know what to name the baby either so we did the next best thing. Look for a chinese sifu lor!! Since it's not often we have babies right, we might as well go all the way and seek consultation for this sort of thing.



Which brought us to Kok Chong Ming Fate Analysis. Got website also wey. This Kok Chong Ming was recommended to us by a family friend. Apparently you need to make an appointment because he's super busy. Luckily neither BigBoss or me need to go. We probably won't know what he's talking about either. His Parents went for us instead. But before the dad went, he took down my sis's, my mum's, BigBoss's mum's and sister's chinese characters (basically all the women's chinese characters in the family la) as he needed to show to this sifu in order for him to calculate.

They went yesterday and then came back with this:


The chinese characters are written in the box. Each chinese character has a number of strokes. You then totaled up the number of strokes which is 29 in this case. Under each number is the english version of pronunciation.

This one adds up to 35

You look up what the number means on this piece of paper and choose which ones you like most

This makes it so much easier for us. The sifu gave us 4 options altogether. So we're gonna get Peanut's great-grandfather to make the final decision for us. RM50 well spent!

Peanut: Day 9

*waves*