Matthew’s First Month

Yes, my maternity finally commenced! My wounds where the c-section is done still hurts so I had to continue with my painkillers. Despite that discomfort, my 1st month has been pretty interesting watching Matthew’s growth and getting used to new routines.

My breastfeeding regime started intensively on the 6th day where I try to pump cum latch at least 8 times a day. It is tough, I have to set alarm clock to wake myself up at say 1am and 4am ie every 3 hourly, no wonder my gynae, A.L. Lim told me that I would soon find that breastfeeding is a challenge. Indeed, it is continuously putting my willpower and perseverance to test. Melvin bought an Avent Manual Pump for me. It sucks! It couldn’t generate the letdown reflex satisfactorily and it is tough to keep up with supply constantly. After 3 weeks of usage, I finally bought myself an Ameda Dual Electric Pump at $320 with recommendation from Shiqi. I was pretty excited with this new toy. It is able to collect milk more effectively and the best is, it is alot faster. However, Shiqi said I have to pump longer say 40mins or more, in order to generate milk. Sob!!!

I have to work so hard to achieve 100ml of milk. But for my baby, I still have to continue!!!

Yay, finally see some improvement.

Matthew has also been growing pretty fast. His feet and hands have grown in length and size just within 2 week though he may still look thin. Nevertheless, it has been fun watching him both asleep or awake. Newborn babies are so soft and tender and they smell so good…………I simply love smelling Matthew, even his feet exudes such nice fragrance that I cannot stop myself from sniffing them :O). Sometimes, Matthew will smile in his sleep, that is so cute!

Do i look like a little kitty?

 

Eh, Where am I?

Hello! Good Morning!

Is mummy going to give me my milk milk soon…………..????

Ok, do not disturb, I want to sleep again.

Is this my new bed?

Mummy says I have to move my hands and legs whenever I can, to exercise and keep fit.

Yay, I am finally 1 month old!!! Daddy has brought me to a barber. What do you think of my new hairdo?

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Home We Go

After 4 days and 3 nights stay at the hospital, we are all ready to go home. I was feeling kind of frustrated and depressed all at once. I only managed to try breast feeding on the 3rd day of my stay in hospital. The 1st day of my stay I was still on drip and the wounds hurts tremenduously without pethidine and for my 2nd day, I was trying to move myself around with the drip off. When I think I am ready for breastfeeding on the 2nd night of my stay, the nurse has already given Matt his night feed and he is well-asleep already. Period! 

Breastfeeding has proven itself to be a challenge indeed for the new parent. I felt really lousy as I couldn’t feed my baby well due to lack of sufficient breastmilk and I also do not know whether he is sucking in any colostrum at all which is his most nutritious headstart of all times. Nevertheless, my breasts are engorged by the 3rd day of my hospital stay. I do not know that the pain can be that bad and the worst is I do not know how to treat it.

The nurses at Thomson Hospital are too busy to attend to me, leaving me to feel even lousier by the hours. Baby cannot latch on properly as I am too engorged already. My mother-in-law was starting to get impatient while waiting for my discharge at the hospital and also of the anxiety to carry baby in her arms. This is not helping matters at all. I felt even more frustrated as the clock start ticking away. Gosh, Is this the so called post natal blues that I am feeling?

Everything is not in place by the time we are home. Both the milk bottle steriliser and pump are brand new and we had never really go through the instructions to figure out how to use them. Baby is crying again for milk, my breasts are still engorged, mother-in-law took things in her hands are turning our place into a bigger mess without consulting us. Panic stricken and with the anxiety to solve my own engorgement problem, I finally burst out in tears. This act has shocked the whole house!!!

Things start to ease off slighty after the breakdown though I still wasn’t in top form. I kept telling myself that I cannot sink into a depression as I still have quite a number of days to go and alot to learn. Shiqi came to my help at 11pm though I already told her I would be fine. She helped me set up a breastfeeding routine and taught me how to solve my engorgement problem when it comes again. The best was that she had fixed up my Avent pump. It is so easy! I was too anxious earlier on to have figured it out!

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Moments of Joy

We are totally excited over the birth of Matthew as we finally have a chance to see how he actually looks like in person other than just seeing the black and white mammograph for the past 38 weeks. The excitement and joy is shared among our immediate family members and friends as well.

He look so cute when he is all wrapped up in the clothes provided by hospital.

We took some more pictures of him, close up view.

(Don’t you think I look very gentle?)

That’s me, the proud Mama hee.

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The Delivery

38 weeks of pregnancy is finally coming to an end…………
It is time for the Great Delivery when I least expected it.

I am feeling kind of apprehensive. My contraction started at 6am on Hari Raya Haji, 13 October 2007. It is a public holiday. I have already make plans on that day to eat as much of my favourite foods as I can before I brace myself up for my scheduled C-section operation to deliver Baby Matthew on 15 October 2007.

Unfortunately, all my plans has been shattered. Baby Matthew has decided to come out sooner than expected. I was admitted to hospital at 11am. After doctor’s examination, I was confirmed to having an emergency caesarian scheduled at 1.45pm on that same day.

The events after that happened very quickly, I was given an epideural so that I can still be sober during the delivery process and that my hubby would be able to go in to support and witness the entire delivery procedure. Goodness, I couldn’t imagine that it is happening………………..

I can still vividly remember that my gynae carried Matthew out with his hands in glove and he was showing me my baby. Geez……….I know everything about the so much anticipated operation is coming to an end in just perhaps just over an hour.

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