Shanna's Started at Babysitter's

Shanna's started going to the babysitter's since yesterday from 9am-1pm.
Mummy, Grandma and Ah Yi misses her while she is away :(
Babysitter was so excited to have Shanna at her place. I hope and pray Shanna and sitter will get along well. On her first day, babysitter has discovered some of Shanna's characteristics, namely her huge appetite, how she cries everytime she wets her diapers and also how she smiles when people play with her.

This week with Grandma here, Shanna has got used to being pacified with a real pacifier and not Mummy's breast. Pacifiers not being enough because nothing comes out of it, Shanna is given water which she drinks eagerly as well. In the effort of making this happen, Daddy and Mummy have bought a total of 5 pacifiers. Shanna still prefers the first and original one she tried, a huge Anakku pacifier that we got out of a gift pack, rejecting the more branded ones like Avent and TippeeTommy. So yesterday Mummy ended up getting another 2 huge Anakku pacifiers for baby.

Initially Mummy was not eager to let baby use pacifier/soother. However, after 3 weeks of baby crying/fussing for the breast everytime she got cranky and wanted to sleep, pacifier and water it is.

Shanna's gaining weight! She is taking in 3.8 ounces of milk every 3 hours, plus 1-2 ounces of water in between (given when she cranks wanting to sleep). She likes to eat. One night during while trying to train Shanna not to wake up at 4am, Mummy and Daddy offered her water. She gulped down 2.5 ounces and still cried for milk. After a tussle, Shanna won that match and she got another 3.5 ounces of milk, which she gulped down in no time at time. She went back to sleep with 6 ounces of liquid in her tummy :O
Did we mention she's a strong-willed child?

~Audrey

Shanna's new mode of transport etc

Baby Shanna's new mode of transport :) Shanna now likes getting into her BabyBjorn air carrier and go 'gai-gai'.
She enjoys her daily walk with Daddy. Her favorite things to look at are: coconut trees, apartment blocks and pavement shades. She is so happy during her walks that she will smile and 'talk' (makes a lot of sounds).
Now Daddy can partially understand how Mummy felt carrying a baby around :)

Shanna looks like a little angel in her sleep. She has so many different expressions and looks, even while asleep. Here are some :)


"I surrender"


Yes, Shanna 'swam upstream' in her sleep. Original position was head on diaper cloth.

All curled up

Tired little girl.

Leg up.

photos photos photos of me... :D

Halor... here are some of the photos taken by daddy these few days... i'm trying my best to post for daddy, but sometime daddy just come in the wrong time when i was cranky... :)

Try to guess who am i look like right now? 50% of the aunty uncle i met last weekend said i look like mummy and the rest said i look like daddy... :D i know i look like them both... after all i'm their precious baby... :D

i have been good these few days... didnt cry out my lungs for food ... but sometime i really will want my food to be ready when i woke up from my sleep... something like breakfast on my bed... take note ya daddy n mummy... :D

where's my milk milk???

sleepy....!!!

me... drinking milk milk

my best toy... 

huh?

streach.... before zzz....

my "chut chut"

blur..... 

huh?

zzz..... shss.... dont wake my up

just woke up .... got mummy's smell... :D

:)

BB Shanna LYY

Operation Getting Shanna Ready For Babysitter Comences

Yes, time flies. Now I have about 2-3 weeks left before I start work. So with a heavy heart I am getting baby Shanna ready for the babysitter's.

Grandma is here again this week 'acting' as babysitter to help with getting Shanna ready. For the past 3 weeks I have been taking care of Shanna full time, and also breastfeeding, so she is pretty attached to me. So far, Shanna is learning that she will get 3.5oz of milk every 3 hours and if she fusses for 'pacifier' in between, she will get water only... or the Avent/Anakku pacifiers. With Grandma's excellent care, she is getting use to a routine of taking a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons.

Hubby and I have also brought Shanna to the babysitter's for a visit. She slept nicely through the whole time :) We have also bought some items to be given to the babysitter for baby's use.

Hopefully Shanna will be adjusted to less fuss and be a good girl at the babysitter's. The plan is to send her to the sitter's next week onwards for a few hours a day to help both her and myself adjust as I prepare to go back to work.

~ Audrey

Breastfeeding: The Inside Story From A Working Mother's Perspective

Just a disclaimer before I proceed. This is entirely my own experience and opinion - a 7 week mom who is preparing to go back to work.

Breastfeeding for me, was indeed not easy. Why?
1. Everyone knows that breastfeeding is on demand, when baby wants to eat, mummy's got to feed. I found out that even if baby did not want to eat (sleeping ), I had to wake up to express milk to ensure milk supply... and to avoid engorgement (ouch!).... no chance to steal more sleep.

2. When baby falls asleep when feeding without eating much, I needed to express remaining milk after that, again to ensure milk suppy and avoid engorgement. So double the time spent.

3. Expressing milk with electric pump was initially very hard for me. Somehow milk is so hard to come out through the pump! I was so fustrated sitting there for an hour pumping but not having much and still feeling engorged. After 7 weeks, through much practise and lots of effort, it's become easier, BUT not easy still! I have to do a lot of massage and end up with sore wrists, sore neck and back.

4. Breast feeding is not 'cheap' compared to formula! Consider the $ spent on pumping equipment. What's worth more is the time spent on effort to breastfeed. As a working mom, I need to express milk to store for feeding baby. I spend at least 25 mins to 0.5 hour for each pumping session (that's using double pump), pump 6 times a day, plus time spent to stearilize pump equipment, store milk etc... that adds up to at least 4 hours a day spent. That's why breastmilk is 'golden liquid'. I learnt to appreciate the saying 'Do not cry over split milk' literally when I accidently split some a few times.

5. Baby Shanna ended up very attached to suckling from the breast. Past 2 weeks she has been fussing and very cranky when going through transition to being fed using a bottle. She can't continue suckling during day when she goes to the babysitter!

So why do I want to breastfeed?
1. There is nothing more satisfying than to see baby contented and well fed from the best baby food that I can provide from my body.

2. Baby and mummy get to spend lots of time together. I talk to her, pray for her and speak blessing over her during our feeding sessions.

3. Everyone knows about other benefits of breastfeeding so I won't go into that here.

Hopefully this sharing of my experience will help other wives-to-be, moms-to-be to be more prepared :)
Probably I will have more comments when I actually start working :)

~Audrey

How my face changed these 6 weeks... :D

Let's see how Shanna's face change these 6 weeks.... :D

just born

3rd day

6th day

err... lost track... :P

lovely princess... :) just realize that we have very little photos of her... :P probably too bz taking care of her and attend to her cries... :P

will continue to take more of her esp when she's awake.... :D

:)

tim

Little Shanna

Tough i'm small in size, my voice is much more louder then what daddy and mummy can imagine. Everytime i cry, i make both of them nervous. I only cry when i :

1. Hungry

2. Sleepy

3. Wanted to hear some one talking to me

4. wet my diaper

5. scare myself when i swing my hands in the middle of the nap

6. wanting my pacifier

7. all of the above.

SO i'll let mummy and daddy guess which is the one that i'm in when i cry.

Oh, today, finally, i manage to go to church for service, tough most of the time i spend outside the hall coz i'm zzz, cranky and hungry... cant remember which one was the dominant one ... :P

I slept thru the travelling time from PG to PCC. It was a good weather in the morning, it rained! after a very humid night. :)

:)

BB Shanna

Shanna's First month Birthday

2 weekends ago was Shanna's full moon, i know that it "has" to take me two weeks to update that... :P, so we bought a choc cake for her. We didnt manage to sing her a birthday song also coz she was just too happy to sit around quitely. So both of us just take some nice picture together with her before she started "singing"...

here are some of the photos taken then. :)

 

Trying to reach for the cake... :( if only i can eat... :(

Here are some other photos taken these few weeks. :)

My Swimming lesson with mummy

Shanna's zzz face... cute eh?

This is how she looks like after feeding...

This is how she looks like when she just woke up... :P

Pretty princess

She's crying out at her maximum power... :P

Sleeping in peace after feeding.. chubby huh?

She's using her last bit of energy by moving her hands around before the sleep

energy depleted.

Daddy's little princess

Shanna:"Mummy, why is my shirt taken off??"
Mummy:"You need to take a bath, my darling. Also to show Grandma how round your stomach is with 3 ounces of milk"


Can't open her eyes in the sunlight... or is it closed from sleepiness..



*Yawn*

Daddy's princess

Daddy bringing Shanna gai-gai at the balcony :)

Baby Shanna is learning to smile at playtime. Will try to capture some photos later. She is still cranky lately due to inavailability of Mummy's 'pacifier' during day. Mummy is pretty exhausted trying to keep her from screaming and crying too much... it has been a week, Shanna's a determined little girl.

~Audrey