Hannah's first few days at home

Baby Hannah has been coping well since we got home, except for certain times when she has her screaming fits, which she was well-known for even when we were at the hospital! Other than that, she has had quite a good disposition, and we have found out that the time when she is most well-behaved is when she wants to "pang sai" :p.

Her jaundice level when she left the hospital on Thursday was at 160 and when we brought her back to check yesterday, it had gone up to 198. Tomorrow we have to bring her back because if the level exceeds 200, she has to be put under the light. Hopefully this is not the case.

She has refused to breastfeed ever since Day 1 so I have resorted to expressing the milk and feeding her through the bottle. However, she is a big eater and I don't have that much milk as yet, so we have given her formula to supplement the breast milk. I did initially want to breastfeed exclusively, but it seems like Hannah has won when it came to this. We couldn't stand to see her screaming, so Hannah 1, Mummy and Daddy 0.

Here are some photos of her at home:


Hannah's "pang sai" face :p



Hannah with her new friend - is it an elephant?



Hannah: I cannot see his face!



Hannah loves Daddy..what about Mummy??

The day Hannah was born

Since I am now on paternity leave, I have the time to share our Hannah's pre-delivery experience with all of u. Also by posting it here, it will help me to remember vividly this special moment :-)

A few days before her delivery, I was assigned to attend Ipoh High Court on 26th May 2009 which was 12 days before her expected due date (7th June 2009). There was a thought in my mind(or rather my worry) that my wife might deliver on the day when I was supposed to go to Ipoh High Court. If that happens, there might be a chance that I would miss her arrival, something that I would not have traded for anything in the world.

So I kept praying that she would either come before or after 26th May 2009 and to make sure she heard my request, I personally talked to her while she was still in the womb (might be silly but that was all I could do :p). This was what I told her the night before: "Hannah, don't come tomorrow, ok? Daddy needs to attend Court at Ipoh tomorrow. You can come any day after that."

That night we went to bed early because I had to be up early to make the trip to Ipoh. Suddenly around 3.00 am, my wife woke me up and told me that her water bag had broken. I immediately woke up, grabbed our bag which had been packed and we headed for the hospital. At the back of my mind, I was wondering how to settle my Ipoh case later that day and I thought how ironic it was that the more you did not want something to happen, it would happen anyway. My wife jokingly said that she must have heard me wrongly and thought that I asked her to come on the 26th, instead of "not" come on the 26th. Haha.

Anyway, we arrived at the hospital around 3.30 am and went straight to the Emergency Room. My wife was admittted while I was asked to go to register for admission. By the time I finished all that, it was around 4.00 am and I went up to the Labour and Maternity Floor to see my wife. She was hooked up to the fetal monitor to monitor our baby's heart rate. At that time, she still had no pain from any contractions as yet. The midwife told us that she was already 4 cm dilated at that point which was very good progress.

Later, she was transferred to the Labour Room at about 4.30 am and that is when the contractions slowly started to increase. At about 5.30 to 6.00 am, she was already dilated 6 to 7 cm. This was when I realised that I was going to be a daddy very soon. At 7.00 am, a different midwife appeared because of the change of shift. She checked my wife and told us that she was already fully dilated 10 cm and could start to push when she felt like it. It was only myself and the midwife there as the doctor had not yet arrived, so I had to play my role as midwife No. 2. So I guess that all the baby shows we had watched on Channel 733 helped during that time to guide us in what to do, especially during the pushing.

She pushed for about one hour, which was normal, since the midwife said that this is her first baby. The doctor arrived just in time before 8.00 am to deliver our baby. When our little Hannah came out, I was very happy and relieved to see that both mummy and baby were safe and healthy. She came out crying at the top of her lungs which was a good sign of a healthy baby. I quickly counted to see that she had all 10 fingers and 10 toes. The moment she came out, she was put on her mummy's chest for the first cuddle and then taken to the side to be cleaned up. I managed to snap a few photos of her in her "birthday suit" which is only for our private viewing :) (I don't want her to scold me when she is older because I had shared her .... with everyone :p Hehe).

After that she was given to me to cuddle while the doctor attended to my wife. I immediately asked the nurse to snap a photo of me and my baby, which was the first father-daughter photo which I had been fervently waiting for.



Then she was given back to my wife and we took a few family photos together.



After such a long wait and all this time worrying, she has finally arrived safely. To me, the whole journey of my wife's pregnancy was like a roller coaster ride; full of joy, excitement and worry. Maybe it was just me who worried too much but I couldn't help it because I am a first time dad :) I have heard of the saying that having a baby is an "irrationally beautiful thing" because I voluntarily and unnecessarily put this worry upon myself, but when I hold her in my arms, she is the most beautiful thing to me (besides my wife :p). I am glad that everything turned out fine and we thank God for this little blessing and bundle of joy. There are still many things for us to learn as first time parents but we are more than prepared to begin our parenthood journey together.

Little Hannah, Daddy loves you!

P/s: Thanks to all our family and friends for your good wishes and support. We truly appreciate it. Thanks also to my "bestest" friend who helped me to settle my Ipoh High Court matter on that day.

Baby Hannah

Baby Hannah has made her grand entrance into this world on 26 May 2009 at exactly 8.00 a.m., 12 days before her due date.

We have possibly taken hundreds of photos already, being excited new parents, so here are some nice ones :)


Just born


After being cleaned and swaddled


Eyes open


Daddy and Hannah


Daddy kissing Hannah


Hannah enjoying her beauty sleep


Hannah posing in her sleep


Candlelight dinner with Baby Hannah


Family photo before leaving the hospital


Hannah on the way home

Baby Hannah has arrived!

For a quick view of her photo, click here. Click on "Baby Photo Online", then enter the Visitor Access Code 314755BNE.

We will post more photos here soon.

Babytalk: Thank you Grandpa and Grandma

My Grandpa and Grandma from Australia have bought me lovely gifts from Australia. They will come to visit me in July.

Grandpa sent some photos to my Mummy and Daddy:


Pretty summer dresses

Short-sleeve onesies

Reversible bonnet and bibs

Aren't they all so nice? All from Pumpkin Patch Australia. Thank you Grandpa and Grandma. See you very soon! :)

38 Weeks Check-Up

This morning was our 38 weeks check-up at Adventist Hospital. We reached there about 9.00am. As usual we proceeded to the registration counter and were given our queue number. The nurse then proceeded to weigh my wife, took her blood pressure and ran a urine test. Everything was fine except her weight had gone up to 75kg!!!! Can you believe that? Of course not..I'm just joking.. But the truth is her weight did go up a little bit higher than the last check-up which was one week ago. Doctor said this was mostly due to her swelling feet and hands (the effect of water retention), which is nothing to be worried about since there was no sign of pre-eclampsia.

Since my wife couldn't really feel our baby's movement as frequent as before, the doctor asked us to go for a CTG scan (CTG is short for cardiotocograph) mainly to monitor the baby's heart beat.

The CTG scan lasted about 20 minutes. While waiting I decided to snap some photos.

*The machine next to her was the CTG scan.

*The green sticker on her shirt shows that no HINI flu :-) All visitors were screened upon arrival at the hospital.

To our relief, everything was normal. We can't wait for our baby's arrival but that's nothing much we can do other than keep waiting.............................

Will update more on the next check-up.

Happy Birthday Papa!

Today is my father's birthday. Happy Birthday Papa!



Love from the 3 of us :)

Be Delicious!

I was never a big fan of perfume until quite recently when I came across this and was totally hooked on the scent:



Be Delicious Green by DKNY has a wonderful apple-y smell which is not too overpowering and gives a nice after-scent which is just heavenly. Some people have even said that I smell good enough to eat! Haha.. The bottle is also shaped like an apple, which is pretty cute.

Be Delicious Green also comes in the Red variety but somehow I still like the Green version better. Today however, I discovered a new variant - Fresh Blossom (it's pink!).



I have not yet had the chance to sample it. Maybe this weekend if we happen to go jalan-jalan. The only caveat on my perfume hunt is that perfume may not be safe to use during pregnancy, and after pregnancy if the mother is breastfeeding. I try not to wear perfume nowadays unless it's for special occasions (not to mention that my Be Delicious Green is running out), but anyway, this will be on top of my list for my post-pregnancy shopping spree! :)

Babytalk: My Mummy and Daddy

My Mummy and Daddy have been talking a lot about me in this blog, hence the name "Our Little Princess" :P Indeed I will be the princess of the house once I am born, which will be very soon now!

My Mummy has been busy posting stories about me and my new things on this blog that she had no time to put up some photos of her and Daddy's wedding last year. Maybe she doesn't really like to look at the photos since she misses looking at her slim body. (Don't worry Mummy, you are still pretty and I'm sure Daddy thinks so too!)

Here are some nice shots from their wedding:



Grand entrance - Uncle Max being cheeky behind them



Candid shot on the stage



With best friends and their babies - my future playmates!



Daddy's siblings - Daddy is Number 4 out of 5



My cousins - Cass, Candice, Benji, Bryan, Zheng Wei and Pei Yi


The reception was held at Tanjung Bungah Beach Hotel. It had recently been renovated so the place was quite nice. Mummy and Daddy only had a small wedding and the guests were mainly relatives and a few close friends. My Daddy has lots and lots of relatives! I don't know how I will call them all once I know how to talk :p

Anyway, Mummy and Daddy say that that was one of the most enjoyable times for both of them as well as the time leading up to and preparing for it. Even now Mummy says that too bad its over! Daddy will laugh and say that that's why it's called a once in a lifetime event.

Now they look forward to meeting me!

Nesting instinct

I am not sure if this is scientifically proven, or is just a myth, but it has been said that as labour draws near, many women will experience a nesting instinct which is an urge to clean and tidy the home in preparation for the new baby.

In my case however, it seems that this nesting instinct is not so strong in myself, but rather in my hubby. He has spent the last weekend cleaning up the whole house and preparing the baby's room. We never knew that one small apartment could take up so much time cleaning it. Anyway, finally everything is spick and span and ready for Baby. He was worried that Baby might come before he could get everything ready, but last night he finally told Baby that she can come anytime now :)

Baby's new big girl wardrobe was also delivered yesterday. It looks like this:



Red and white



For hanging clothes



Storage space at the bottom



Storage space at the side

So many shoes for one small baby!

People may be wondering what is that red ladybug thing at the side of the wardrobe:

We saw it one day at Jaya Jusco and Hubby thought it was very cute. We are going to use it to put Baby's laundry because we don't want to mix our clothes with hers. Also, it matches the wardrobe :)

37-week check-up

Last weekend we had our usual check-up with Dr Zovi at Adventist Hospital. Now our visits are on a weekly basis. We also got back the test results which I had had the previous check-up for hemoglobin, glucose and Group B Strep. All the results came back normal and I had no Group B Strep, which I am thankful for, so that I will not have to be given antibiotics during the delivery.

Dr Zovi also checked my cervix and she said that it has already opened up a little bit. I later saw her writing in my file that it has dilated 1 to 2 cm. So according to her, I may deliver earlier than the expected due date.

Anyhow, Baby is considered full term now so she is safe to be born at any time. We pray for a safe delivery and healthy baby everyday, so please pray along with us.

The bag to be taken to the hospital is almost packed and now we are just waiting for the time when Baby decides to make her grand entrance into the world!

P/s: Some of you may be wondering why we have not revealed Baby's name until now. We have decided to wait until she is born before announcing her name. Even our closest friends do not know it yet :)

Outing with Baby Sarah

Last night Hubby and I took Sue and Baby Sarah for dinner. Sue is actually my father's cousin's wife, which would make Sarah my cousin and would make her Baby's aunt! Okay okay too confusing :p It is rather strange though that an 11 month old baby can be an aunt! Haha..

Anyway, we had a nice dinner at Manhattan Fish Market, Queensbay Mall. Sarah was engrossed in her Baby Bites while we had our meal. However, she took the time to pose for some photographs. According to her mother, she loves to take photos :)



Baby Sarah and her Baby Bites

Baby Sarah and Sue



Daddy-in-training :)

After dinner, we went jalan-jalan around the mall. Hubby offered to carry her so we girls could do some shopping. Sarah was fascinated by many things before she finally fell asleep on his shoulder.

B, this was just practice. Not too long now before the real thing!

Babytalk: My new car seat and playgym

Mummy and Daddy bought me a new car seat and playgym from Jaya Jusco and Tesco respectively.

At first they were contemplating whether or not I needed a car seat, since the law in Malaysia is not that strict about babies having to buckle up. But since the government has implemented the new rear seat belt rule and also considering my safety, they thought it would be better to get one for me. This type of car seat is also a carrier, so they can carry me around in it, especially for doctor's vists. With this, they don't need to lug the big pram around. However, I can probably only fit in it until I am about 9 months to 1 year old, so after that Mummy and Daddy will have to get me a bigger one. This is what my car seat looks like:



Front view



Side view


It's not very colourful but at least it won't get dirty easily. Hopefully it will serve its purpose. Some little babies do not like to sit in car seats and prefer for their mummies and daddies to carry them. I hope I am a good girl and not cry if I have to sit in it.

I also got a new toy, a bright orange playgym. It's very nice, shaped like a mushroom with a bear on it and the bear's nose can squeak. It also has lots of nice hanging toys for me to look at and play with. Mummy and Daddy hope it will keep me entertained! Daddy even went further to hang up extra toys on the playgym.



The original look



Daddy hung some extra toys on it

This weekend Daddy will be getting my new room ready. Last weekend Mummy and Daddy bought a new wardrobe especially for me. It's very nice, red and white, with sliding doors. It has not been delivered yet so no pictures for now. Anyway, Daddy says that since I have so many things now, it's better to get a big girl wardrobe for me so that I can use it for a long time.

They also ordered new curtains for my room, it's green with pink butterflies. It's custom-made so it will take about 2 weeks to be ready. Mummy and Daddy hope it can be ready on time before I arrive!

Once my room is ready, then all my things can be arranged inside. My Daddy is very creative and he's thinking of how to decorate my room. Anyhow, Daddy, I'm sure I will like my new room very much! :)

Mothers' Day weekend

We had quite an eventful weekend these last few days, mostly due to the fact that we did a lot of jalan-jalan cari makan again! :) Baby was pretty excited too considering the fact that she was pretty active the whole weekend as well.

It started on Friday night when our usual group went out for dinner to celebrate Karen's belated birthday. We went to this little joint on Chulia Street called "Ecco" where they served mostly Italian food; pizza, pasta etc. Look at what we had:


Pumpkin soup



Linguine with ham, mushrooms, olives and capsicum



Calzone



Spinach fettucine-looks funny but very yummy!



Pizza with spicy chicken



Hubby and I



Jenny, Ai Nee & Karen

The food was pretty good; all the pizza and pasta was handmade, which gave it a really light taste, not too "jelak". However, it was rather hot there as there was only one fan.

So after that we headed to this place called "Sugar Dynasty" near New World Park for "Tong Shui" and also to cut the birthday cake.


Our "tong shui"



The birthday cake

So that was Friday night. On Saturday night we had our dinner at another Italian place called "El Mondo Pizza" at e-Gate near Tesco, together with Steven, June Siang, Chia Yin, Kok Hsiang and Isabelle. Hubby and I had been there once before and the food was pretty good. However, it must have been due to their short-handed staff that Saturday night that the service was incredibly slow. The food was still good, nonetheless. We were too hungry by the time the food arrived so nobody thought of taking any pictures of the food!


El Mondo



The Tan family



The whole gang (well, almost)

Sunday was Mothers' Day so we took Hubby's mum for dim sum at Northam Hotel in the morning. The food was pretty good, and inexpensive considering that we had a 50% discount with the use of our HSBC credit card. However, the fruit juices were RM10-00 a glass! So that was RM30-00 just for juices! *Shudder* We took some nice pictures though:


Baby's Ah Mah and Ah Gong



First lot of dim sum



V.E.S. (Very expensive stuff)



Hubby's sister and brother-in-law



Mummy-to-be :)



Happy Mothers' Day! Love, Cass and Candice

So all in all it was an enjoyable weekend. Baby's Mummy got to eat all her favourite foods; Italian as well as yummy dim sum. Hopefully Baby enjoyed it too!