Instead of an essay; believed pictures suffice to capture the moments. Oh, food gatherings are my favourite form of gatherings.

April 29: Our Wedding Anniversary

P.S Cafe: We choose the outlet at Ann Siang Hill. A place we don’t want can’t bring the kids.

Lovely black & white decor with great (sinful) food & my favourite date pudding with toffee topped with vanilla bean ice-cream.

May 3rd – My Birthday

Birthday treat from younger bro & sister-in-law: I chose to try the value-for-money Japanese buffet at Chizo Zanmai.

Osaka-type of family cuisine. Comfort food with some hits & misses.

But probably not worth paying for the dinner which includes sashimi. I would head back for weekday lunch at $14.90++/pax.

They are nice not to charge my toddler who ate peanuts-worth-of-a-buffet.

Kim bought back a chocolate truffle cake from Cedele – one of my favourite places to take away birthday cakes.

3 big candles but I am not 30 years old. He said a woman after 30 shouldn’t reveal her age. Errm… I thought I should aged gracefully?

May 12th: Mother’s Day

4 years of motherhood; this is the first year Xi En seemed to grasp a little concept of Mother’s Day. Not enough to let me sleep in till 10am or make me breakfast in bed (yet).

But his school surely knew what mummies want. We mummies have a soft spot for this sort of things:

A hand-made clay pendant necklace which each kiddo took turns to present to their mummies coupled with lots of hugs and kisses.

Xi En told me a few days before the school Mother’s Day tea party that he has a surprise for me. He was looking high and low in his bag but couldn’t find “the surprise”.

I told him he got to wait till Mother’s Day tea party in school.

We listened to a heart-warming kids’-shrieking Mother’s Day song and planted a garden to bring home:

My first photo with my two precious boys – Mother’s Day at church:

Loving mummyhood ever so much – poo,booger,tears,hugs and kisses – all of them. It’s a precious gift from God which I have a love-hate relationship with at times.

But God makes all things beautiful in His time. Thankful for His gift of motherhood.

Linking up with:

Sharing a little about my experiences here. 

We were contemplating between hiring a live-in confinement nanny or cater confinement meals (lunch & dinner). In the Chinese traditions, we are supposed to be “confined” for 1 month post-delivery and be the Q.U.E.E.N to be served and uphold in dignity.   Kind of. 

It’s more like to be confined; no showers; no shorts; no plain water/only red dates drink; drown yourself with lotsa yucky fish soup and best of all: be the-on-demand-milk-dispenser or the-express-every-3/4hourly-cow.

Of course, being the modern mum – I did almost none of the above; save the milk-on-demand part.

Not to digress further, we didn’t hire a live-in nanny in the end due to various reasons such as it’s Chinese New Year period (prices go real high to hire one); lack of room space to accommodate everyone and etc. The next best thing is to take care of the nursing mummy’s diet and reduce the cooking chores.

I shortlisted the following after some research:

1) Chili Padi – They are known for their Peranakan food. Food tasting of confinement meals are available at a cost at one of their outlet. But I didn’t go for it as they are the most expensive!

2) Newbaby – I almost went with this company but after calling a few times, I couldn’t get through and thus gave up. This company is apparently quite popular with mummies too.

3) Confinement Food – Honestly, I don’t like the website. It’s too amateur looking to be trustworthy in my opinion.

4) Rich Food – They are the cheapest among the more reputable companies. But they don’t deliver to my address! It’s good to call up the various companies first before poring over their menu; especially if you stay in an older estate without many new mummies. Less catchment; doesn’t make sense for them to deliver.

5) Natal Essentials – This is one of the most traditional company. I choose them in the end. Price is average. If you look at the menu on it’s website, you will notice that it’s quite repetitive. The person-in-charge said that the reason for such menu is because confinement food options are actually quite limited. They don’t believe in dishing out more variety just because of competition. They do vary the cooking methods which I found helpful enough. Portion are huge and I am not a small eater! They are good enough for hubby and I to share; except the yummier dish always seemed insufficient! 

I do like it that they pack the food in microwavable containers which makes cleaning up real easy.  I know some mummies are not keen in such containers but it worked well for me. The last thing I want to deal with is dirty dishes!

Also the food remains warm enough in the thermal bag provided.

And no MSG is definitely a great healthy selling point!

My few grouses:

• Delivery wasn’t on time for 2 occasions. But I have to give credit to the customer service lady who called and explained that it’s a new driver on the road and my place is actually out of the way for them to deliver but they will still do it. The lady kindly offered 2 meals in replacement of the late delivery.
• The fish dishes were sometimes fishy on certain days. But my mum said that this type of fish is normally fishy. I am not a fish fan.. so any fishy smell turns me off immediately. I ended up not eating most of the fishy fish unfortunately.
• I wished they offer porridge as an option instead of rice only. Maybe I am a Teochew (need to eat porridge lah) and also after a caesarean; I found porridge easier to digest. But they did explain that porridge won’t keep well as compared to rice. Oh well….

But otherwise I found the company responsible and the dishes really tasty for confinement food. They also accommodated my last minute request to divert a week’s meal to my mum’s address. And if you have special requests such as no liver, no kidney, replace trotter to pork ribs and etc – they are very happy to accede to all these requests too.

Some of my favourites in the menu are:

1. Black Vinegar Pork Rib (I can’t stomach trotter)
2. Braised Chicken with Preserved Veg (Mei Cai) – I love Mei Cai; didn’t know it is a confinement food!
3. Steamed Egg with Minced Meat – Simple homecook style
4. Doubled boiled lotus root pork rib Soup – flavourful and home style again
5. Braised Chicken Drumstick with Chestnut – how not to love chicken drumstick hey.
6. Pig’s Tripe with Peppercorns – my childhood favourite and about the only innards stuff I eat. The soup is yummy. Son and me fought for it
7. Stir fried Frog Leg with Ginger and Spring Onion – once again, didn’t know this can be a confinement dish too!

A worthwhile recommendation if you are looking for confinement food catering! Oh and do remember to order 1 month ahead of your EDD to enjoy early bird discounts.

Linking up with:

The day we say “I do”

Happy wedding anniversary to my husband of SEVEN years and boyfriend of NINE long years!

The creative musician in him created some lovely memories during our church wedding reception.

p.s: He only took 2 introductory Mandarin courses in uni. *clap* *clap*

Dug out a really old & poor quality video of a young and handsome man some 7 years ago:

The lyrics:

We stick together like the birds in the sky

with the feathers flown high with you

We stick together like the flour in the pie

like the apple strudel pie you like

I wanna spend my life with you

with you I won’t be blue

I love to hold your hands & walk thru’ this life till the day becomes night with you

我们像天空里的彩虹
它颜色合起来真的很奇妙
我们像文东记的鸡贩
没黑酱油味道会有点奇怪
我很想陪半你一生
永远在你身边
我喜欢看到你的笑容
请我天天来照顾你

I wanna spend my life with you

with you I won’t be blue

I had been waiting for this day & my life for the time you say I do

for the time you say I do.

But of course, it’s not all that rosy and cosy all the time. I like the following quote I stole off a friend’s FB status update: (how true! heh…)

But dearie :

HAPPY 7th Wedding Anniversary Kim! *Love u*

Ermmm…not exactly something I would buy on a daily basis; especially if he decides to eat 5 or 10 a day! *gulp*

But thankfully Xi En is a small eater. He’s unfortunately also a picky one. Thus whenever he took a liking to a particular food, we will try to feed him more of that as a bid to get more food into that underweight frame.

Thus when one of the SMB fellow mom bloggers – Pauline – (incidentally also the founder of Munch Ministry - one of my favorite “likes” on Facebook) organised a baking session for Hokkaido Chiffon Cakes; I jumped at the opportunity to learn it!

I could try making it through one the recipes online but nothing beats having visual aids and practice.

So we gather this weekday and had a great hands-on session together with fellow mom bloggers.

The bake-out place @ Tessensohn Civil Service Club:

The thing I love about cooking classes are: the mistakes can be rectified and also we learnt the little tips not taught in recipes. E.g. ensure no extra oil/water on the bowls we used; otherwise end products will be affected and the eggs are to be beaten to this pale-yellow consistency:

Once again, my bake-out partner – Pamela – trying to conquer the eggs; sure look effortless. :-p

KitchenAid – One amazing kitchen helper which I would love to have in my kitchen one day too! With this aid, we had the egg whites beaten up and the batter combined.

The verdict: It’s really not diffcult to make this. Taste is almost similar to what I bought from the bakery outside; if not better!! My boys at home gobbled down a few; which tasted even better when chilled.

So now to save some $2.50 ++++++++, I hope to be replicating these at home whenever we are in the mood for the fluffy; easy-on-the-waist chiffon cakes.

Do pop over to Munch Ministry’s website for assortments of tried-and-tested recipes if you are keen to try the above & more!

Thank you once again to Pauline and Munch Ministry for organising this bake-out session! The above event is made possible also because of someone’s birthday:

What did you do over the weekend? Something fun? Something interesting?

Xi En had some F.U.N last weekend.

Together with some mummies from SMB, we were invited to a trial class with Gymkraft. It’s a huge  7000 over sqft training ground located in a quiet corner of Guillemard Crescent (former Singapore Badminton Hall). Gymkraft is the first in Singapore to build a Parkour training facility and a 12 metre high Aerial Silk training facility too. It’s fully equipped for the real gymnast in you.

Gymkraft organises lessons for the adults to the kids; varying from Adult gym, Ariel Gym, BeGym, KinGym, Parkour 101 (apparently gaining popularity among the youngsters these days!) and many more.

We were on the look out for activities which will expend Xi En’s energy given that he’s always on the move! It’s his first gym attempt besides his regular mini gym class in school. I was concerned if he might be willing to join the class and enjoy it too.

My worries were unfounded. He loved it!

There were 2 coaches for the day and they patiently ran through warm-ups, practiced routines and gently coaxed the little ones into performing  various gym moves.

Willie explained that 3 years old is the minimum age for this class as they do not use music or visionary aids. Instead, they concentrate on the core technics of gymnastics and thus require the children to be able to follow instructions.

Xi En took to this like a fish in the water. He followed the class well and look at those flexible limbs! I am convinced that it’s best to start young……

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Are you keen for your kids to try this out too? Good News!

GymKraft is generously offering 3 trial classes each for BeGym & KinGym AND 4 trial classes to Parkour!

Total of 10 winners for this giveaway!

Age group/Time for the various classes are:

BeGym: 3 to 5 years old (Sat 10am to 11am)

KinGym: 5 years to 10 years on (Sat 11am to 12pm)

Parkour: 7 to 12 years on (Sat 4pm to 530pm)

If you are keen to win these trial lessons, check out the following simple steps:

1) “Like” Gymkraft Facebook page.

2) Enter a comment under this post. Include why you would like your child to try GymKraft, age of your child, which trial lesson are you keen in, your FB name (which you used in Step 1) and your email.

Note:

Giveaway contest will be opened till 5th May 2013; 2359hrs

Winners will be picked randomly using Random.org and announced/updated on this blog post.

Gymkraft will contact winners via email for scheduling of trial lessons.

Disclosure: We were invited for a trial class with GymKraft. No monetary compensation was received. Opinions are writer’s own impression during the class.

Updates on results (7th May 2013)

Congrats to all those who left a comment for this giveaway! You are all winners! Gymkraft will be in touch shortly for redemption of the trial classes for your child. Have fun!

We try to see the tiny streak of light beneath the dark clouds & it help that my mischievous boy never fail to make the going a little more light-hearted.

Aside from Xi en’s own issues, his grandaunt fell down over the weekend & broke her leg (ouch…)

I explained to Xi En that “Lao yi” fell down at the supermarket & broke her leg; had an op to fix it. He asked why, where, how.
I explained.

He asked again. I explained again.

He asked again. I explained again.

He asked again. I explained again.

@_@ – the questioning toddler. Often, I just want to throw the spanner to his Daddy but unfortunately he’s not always at home!

Few days later, he woke up & immediately said Lao yi is like “a little mouse” 小老鼠。I asked why? (my turn with WHY!). Haa..

He replied/sang the Chinese nursery rhyme “小老鼠”:

小老鼠 上灯台
(The little mouse went up the lamp stand)

偷吃油 下不来
(Stole some oil; couldn’t come down)

喵喵喵 猫来了
(Meow meow meow; the cat is here)

叽里咕噜滚下来
(Ji li gu lu, the mouse tumbled down)

For the mandarin speakers who heard this nursery rhyme before, you will get it. Interesting how his brains are wired up!

Loving my boy’s funny antics always.

Praying for his immunity to be stronger & get those nasty viruses down soon.

Happy healthy weekend to come everyone!

Linking up with

I have not tried this in Hong Kong before; but seriously so many world famous restaurants are being brought into Singapore. You probably do not need to step out of Singapore anymore to taste various award winning cuisines.

Our generous director brought us in for a special preview dim sum lunch. It’s not open to the general public yet.

Shall let the photos do the talking here:

Steamed Prawn Dumpling ($5.50)

Baked Bun with BBQ Pork – ($4.50)
(One of the “Big 4 Heavenly King” items). This tasted like po lo bun with BBQ pork except it’s more fluffy.

The fillings within the bun. Nicely marinated but could come with slightly more fillings in my opinion.

Steamed Pork Rib with Black Bean Sauce ($4.20)

Vermicelli Roll with BBQ Pork ($5.50)

Steamed Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce ($4.00)
A standard fare; but I like this dish for it’s collagen.

Steamed Rice with Chicken, Sausage & Mushroom ($6.00)
The chicken is very tender and the rice comes with a special sweet sauce.

Pan Fried Carrot Cake ($4.50)
One of the other “Big 4 Heavenly King”
Taste is fine; but would prefer it to be pan-fried longer so it’s crispier.

Steamed Pork Dumpling with Shrimp ($5.00)

Deep Fried Spring Roll with Crab Meat ($4.20)
This is one of my favs. The fillings are chockful of crab meat and it’s not too oily.

Steamed Beancurd Skin Roll with Pork & Shrimp($4.00)
One of the items worth trying.

Overall, it was a fairly decent dining experience. We actually ate more items than the photos above; but I was too busy stuffing my mouth than to take photos! 

Comments gathered with my colleagues:

+ stuff: food is fresh which is especially important for dim sum. Served piping hot and known not to be reheated/refried.

not so + stuff: chilli is a tad too salty and not unique. Restaurant is a little cramped and kind-of Hong Kong style. Maybe it’s meant to be a eat-and-go place. Certain food options are special; but otherwise the rest are run-of-the-mill.

As this is only a preview of the actual menu, perhaps food and beverage options will be wider upon it’s official opening.

& oh well, it’s possibly one of the most affordable Michelin star restaurant after all. Worth a visit when it’s open to the public.

I will be back for the freshness of the food.

Tim Ho Wan Restaurant

68 Orchard Road

#01-29 A/ 01-52

Plaza Singapura

Singapore 238829

(opposite Starbucks in the new wing)

Linking up with:

Style Essence is founded by Florinda Tay who was our well-groomed, humorous trainer for the day. She was an ex-leading flight stewardess with Singapore Airlines and currently a master trainer in Mary Kay.

Rachel (founder of SMB) with Florinda:

I remembered attending similar sessions such as this before. Vanity started in schooling days when a trainer came to school and taught us about colours, how to have the right social etiquette and etc.

It seemed ages since I last attended a beautifying workshop like this one. Flo shared many useful tips from dressing, colors to latest trends, skin care and my favourite – make up!

Through the concise workshop, we also learnt about our body shape (“column” or maybe I should say “clown” shape for my post-delivery body!), what colors works for our skin tones and the choice of clothing style which can enhance your look.

Something quite different in this workshop was the hands on experience with skin care products. This step is not commonly offered elsewhere due to the hassle in logistics.

Skin care is so important but often neglected by most sleep-deprived-overworked-mummies. I am so guilty of it too!

Among the various products I tried, I fell in love with the following 3 products:

1) TimeWise 3-in-1 Cleanser: This is part of their Miracle series. Meant to reduce fine lines, wrinkles, improve skin elasticity, even skin tone and promote soft supple skin. It was evident in some participants’ faces that their faces were more uplifting after the skin care session.

2) Botanical Effects Mask: what caught my attention is the inclusion of luo han guo (also known as the longevity fruit) as one of it’s antioxidant ingredient. Loved the richness and uplifting effect of the creamy mask.

3) Stain Lips Lip Mask: This contains miniature buffing beads that gently exfoliate dead surface skin cells. Very useful for all the built up of lipstick wear and coffee/tea stains. Love the immediate smooth feel after usage.

I am so going to purchase above reasonably-priced products after my current ones ran out!

The last segment was M.A.K.E U.P!

We had lotsa fun experimenting with various colors. Having taken some make up courses before, I really enjoyed putting colors on my face. It’s amazing how make up can totally brighten up one’s face.

Mummies tend to be really busy machines and we forgotten the usefulness of some colors on our faces. My little tips on a quick make up if you only have 5 to 10 mins:

• use a good 2 way cake foundation with good coverage so that you can do a dry quick application with sponge. You can save the liquid foundation when you can afford time to blend.
• use a khol eyebrow pencil so it glides on faster
• use blusher and lipgloss/lipstick no matter what because these 2 will brighten your face immediately
• use eye colors and mascara if you can afford a bit more time. Eyeliner helps to define the eyes but it’s probably one of the hardest to manage if you don’t have time. I will normally skip eyeliner for quick make ups
• lastly: know the best looking feature of your face and pay more attention to that feature as it will be the main focus when you add make up colors to it

Of course, I am sans make up at the market, grocery store and on quick errands. Natural is good; but with age – make up helps a lot!

It was a great girly time with all these beautiful mummies!

Photo credit: Style Essence

If you are keen to attend such a workshop (worth S$150 per session), Style Essence will generously sponsor 3 readers of this blog! Please leave a comment on this post & winning numbers will be randomly picked. Style Essence will contact you if you are one of the winners.

Closing date of giveaway will be on 14th April 2013; 2359hrs.

A BIG thank you to Style Essence for hosting this workshop and Rachel for organising it!

Happy 1st Birthday SMB! “)

Updates (18th April 2013):

Random draw of this giveaway winners are:

1) Eileen Png

2) Irene Cheng

3) Lynnlly

I have provided your email addresses to Style Essence which will be in contact.

Congratulations!

We were invited for a food tasting last week at Beanstro – a casual dining restaurant by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

If you go shopping at Ngee Ann City often, it’s hard to miss this restaurant. You will see the familiar brown and woody deco when you glance upwards from the atrium.

This is their second halal-certified Beanstro. The first successful outlet is located at Marina Bay Sands. The company has plans to open up 2 more restaurants in Singapore.

We were ushered in promptly. The warm lighting and cozy ambience set the mood for a great lunch!
I love restaurants which provide booth-like seats. Beanstro has them in U-shapes; thus making it easier to seat more people comfortably.

I brought along 2 makan-kakis – Siangling & Maxie – who share common love for food. A senior server attended to us while we pored over the menu; trying to decide what to order from the extensive American-style options.

Finally we decided to share selections from the various categories so as to sample a wider variety. After we placed our orders, Steven – the restaurant manager – came by and apologised that he was away when we arrived. He said that he had a look through our orders and would like to recommend some others as those are the signatures. We were happy to take on his suggestions.

It was a short wait before the drinks and food arrived:

Our drinks – Sunrise, Mucho Mango Fru Tea & Black Forest. All familiar drinks well mastered by Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf; can’t go wrong with it.

First dish served up is one of their rustic soups: French Onion Soup.

Most of the time, it’s not my first choice of soup but I must say this proved me wrong! The piece of cheese toast complemented the soup too. Yumz!

Next up is one of their signatures: Tuna Nicoise. This is a classic French dish; yellow-fin tuna loin coated with sesame.

The tuna is soft on the inside and slightly pinked on the edges. The accompanying raw onion and cheery tomato went well together with the tuna.

We had 2 items from their breakfast selections:

One of them was the Classic Eggs Benedict. This was strongly recommended by Steven – a “MUST TRY”.

The poached eggs with hollandaise sauce were my all-time favourite being runny and gooey. However the chicken ham was a little disappointing; taste being too processed and tough. Otherwise, it’s a fair recommendation for a hearty meal.

2nd breakfast item which we choose was the Breakfast Steak and Eggs.

The accompanying blackcurrant onions were yummy and sweet! Unfortunately, the beef sirloin was overdone and a tad too tough for our liking.

We also sampled 2 vegetarian options:

1) The Grilled Portobello mushroom with melted Emmental cheese and ragout of capsicum, sun-dried tomatoes, arugula. The mushroom was grilled nicely; a little crunchy on the outside without losing the mushroom flavour on the inside. Perhaps I love a more robust taste; thus felt that further marinates will enhance this dish.

2) Caprese – Grilled Ciabatta Sandwich with fresh mozzarella cheese and semi-dried tomato & pesto.

I loved this! Simple but oh-so fresh ingredients won my taste buds! This make a quick and light afternoon snack.

Worth a try if you are not in a meat-y mood.

The mains were next.

A worthy mention is their signature: Vongole – Squid ink spaghetti with New Zealand clams tossed in extra virgin olive oil.

Steven told us that because Beanstro is a halal-certified restaurant, the chef cannot use wine in this dish which is commonly used in the preparation.

Instead, the clever use of chilli-padi gave this dish its’ kick and I love the fact that your mouth won’t be smeared with squid ink on a hot date!

We also had the Chilean cod fish with mashed potatoes and sautéed greens in a seafood broth.

I am not a fan of fish dishes due to presence of bones and their fishy smell/taste; thus I would normally avoid ordering them.

Our in-house food gourmet commenter (Maxie) said the best way to know if a restaurant does a good job is to order their fishes. And that we did!

I must say the cod is fresh and when served with the seafood broth; there is no fishy taste whatsoever.

Won this non-fish-lover over!

As all good meals have to be, we had something sweet to end the meal. Steven proposed 2 favourites amongst the rest:

Bread & Butter Pudding (my all-time favourite!) and Cheery Clafouti.

The bread & butter pudding was served in a mug-sized bowl. The buttery sweet bread was a prefect contrast with the tangy-lemony sauce & its’ serving is just nice for a sweet ending.

My two companions loved the cherry clafouti – it’s sweet/sour taste.

Overall it was a pleasant dining experience. Thank you Beanstro & my 2 makan-kakis for joining me!

A conveniently located beanstro with a cozy setting for catch-ups with friends; a place for a cuppa & dessert to rest your legs after shopping the halls or a full hearty course with the family!

Do check it up when you are next in town.

Beanstro – Ngee Ann City

391 Orchard Road

#B1-37 Ngee Ann City

Singapore 238872

Mon – Sun: 8am – 11pm

N.B: This is a sponsored food tasting review. All photos and opinions are based on personal dining experience on premise.

Eizac Chen Kai En – God’s special delivery to our home.

His birth story is not as eventful as his older brother’s (thankfully) but quite an experience by itself. Before my post-delivery cotton brains become more fluffy; here goes the story:

30th January 2013; 9am

It was Week 37 + 3 days of gestation for Baby Eizac. I had the next week planned out before the scheduled caesarean on 6th Feb 2013. There were a million and one more things to complete before Baby Eizac’s arrival. With the pending Chinese New Year festival season; we were trying to get ready for the festive days; settle Xi En into his not-so-new school + get ready the house & resources for Eizac’s arrival.

I drove Xi En to school at 9am and my mum decided to take the day off to visit my nephew in the west.

10:30am

Cleared most of my work-related matters. Passed some documents and keys to my colleague who drove by to take over my work. Settled down at home to finish up on my Korean drama serial. Last few episodes to go; best to finish up before my life is all about washing milk bottles; breastfeeding; soiled diapers and more soiled diapers.

12-2pm

Had my lunch. I recalled it was instant noodles. Was hungry again at 130pm. Ate some chips and chocolates. Finally full by 2pm.

Decided to nap at 2pm. Such luxury is only reserved for the heavily pregnant. Before I could even lie down on the bed, I felt a gush of discharge. Experience tells me it’s not too good.

Quick check in the loo to discover a river of unstoppable bleed.

That’s it – I told myself. Eizac must have decided to go heads on with the placenta!

It was a moment of panic. I was A.L.O.N.E at home. The hospital bag which was meant to be packed is still somewhere in my head.

I don’t want to be delivering my baby at home!

Breathe-in; Breathe-out; I told myself. Think straight. Yes – In & Out; In & Out (no, not the burgers!)

While trying to stop the bleed; I called 995. Amidst my panicky voice, I managed to tell the operator my address and explained the situation.

And amazingly; I managed to grab a bag and threw in most of the essential stuff which I might need (told you the hospital bag was “in my head”).

Called Kim next and told him baby’s on his way!

Sent a SMS to my obstetrician next.  I was so worried that she wasn’t back from her travels. She did highlighted that she was travelling during the week and I wasn’t sure if she was back in town.  Thankfully, she replied almost immediately to say she will see me directly at the delivery suite. Phew… it was a huge relief to know that my trusted obstetrician will be delivering Eizac.

210pm

Ambulance arrived with the paramedics in 10 mins flat. I managed to lug the bag, my tummy and myself to the door. The paramedics asked me to get onto the stretcher (propped in a sitting position).

I told them I need to lock the doors first because no one is at home. I wasn’t thinking straight I think. They scolded me and told me they will lock up. Asked me to get on asap.

Errm.. I forgot I called for help, hey. :S

230pm

It was taking so long to get to the hospital. I whipped out my trusty iPhone and turned on the GPS. Found out that the driver was taking a longer route than what I would have taken. Told the paramedics so and they assured me that the driver knew where he’s going. But of course.

Kim reached earlier than me. His cab was faster than the ambulance.

I arrived at the delivery suite by 230/240pm. It’s all so familiar again…. déjà vu. Seemed like just yesterday I was here; struggling with my first pregnancy.

Settled in; CTG machine on. I text Dr again to let her know I reached.

3pm

Dr came and did all the necessary checks. No dilation. CTG readings seemed ok. No distress signs.

She consulted with us and we all agreed to go ahead with the caesarean today. But my last intake of food was at 2pm and a safer guide will be to do the operation 6 hours after last meal.

Because of placenta previa major, she was undecided if we should go with an epidural or a full-on anaesthesia. The concern is – if the loss of blood was heavy during the caesarean; they would need to transfer me to another theatre and put me on anaesthesia to stop the bleeding.

After consultation with the anaesthetist, we opt for the half body epidural… first.

730pm

Dr came in again and said that we need to wait a while more for the operating theatre to be freed and the anaesthetist to finish up with the last operation.

And so we waited; I waited; Eizac waited.

750pm

Finally! Everyone was ready!

The nurses pushed me down the special passage way and handed over to the OT nurses. Kim was led away to another “secret” waiting area for all the daddies. He wasn’t allowed into the OT because we choose to be in a subsided ward + it was considered an emergency caesarean (again). He was happier this way ‘cos he’s not a huge fan of anything bloody (except medium-rare beef).

8pm

Though it wasn’t my first caesarean operation, I was still a pack of nerves.  There were at least 10 staff buzzing around in the theatre; doing their daily jobs; while I wait like a lamb to be slaughter. Ok; not really. Just almost akin to that.

The anaesthetist was a confident man and called the shots in the theatre. He prepped and started off with the long needle.

One nurse was holding my shoulders to keep me from jerking (it was cold and I was all nerves). Another nurse came over and asked that nurse if she want to go for her break first; she can take over. “NO!” I almost screamed. I asked that 2nd nurse to go away. Leave the first nurse in her position. I can’t guarantee that I won’t move in the midst of the administration of the epidural! Don’t mess with a pregnant woman in the middle of a epidural administration! Grrrggg…..

815 – 830pm

Obstetrician came in her scrubs. Reassured me that she will do her best.

The assistant anaesthetist tested me with an ice pack. This time round, they waited for me to give an all-clear before Dr proceeded with her knife.

During Xi En’s time, I remembered they couldn’t wait for the whole effect of the epidural.

830pm – 850pm

I felt the tugs and nudges. Oh and the familiar coldness of the effect of the epidural.

They tug and pull and pushed. Finally, the anaesthetist (a slightly bigger-built guy) helped to push Baby Eizac from the upper half of my abdomen. Man.. he has some strength!

Wail!!!!!!!! I heard the cries. It’s so relieving to hear him. Dr exclaimed that he’s huge!

The nurses whisked him off for a clean up and checks. But they didn’t bring him back!!!

I thought this time round, I could have a warm fuzzy shot of my newly delivered baby on my chest. Ermm.. not so.

They didn’t tell me what happened. Just said that the doctor was checking him.

9pm

It was taking longer than usual to sew me up. I was staring at the clock and almost dozing off with the calming medicine they pumped into my iv drips.

Subsequently Dr told me that she purposefully waited to see if there were more bleeds before she proceeded with closing me up. Thank God, the bleeds from the placenta weren’t that bad.

Finally I was done. The nurses came back and told me that Eizac was sent to the Special Care Nursery (SCN) due to some breathing issues. My heart skipped a beat while I was sent to the recovery ward.

920pm

Dr came by to see how I was and told me she will help to go to SCN to check on Eizac.

She came back and reassured me that everything seemed fine. Eizac was opening his eyes and drinking milk while she was there.

It’s probably a transient issue.

950pm

I was sent to the post operating area (POA). It’s not the usual ward as Dr decided to be more careful due to my hyperthyroidism issue coupled with placenta previa major.

Kim came by and told me that he saw baby Eizac.

He’s so cute and round! Of a very healthy weight too – 3.235kg! 51cm.

All was good. They just need to keep him in SCN for a night to observe him further.

31st April 2013

Baby Eizac Chen Kai En – our 2nd precious darling boy – was discharged from SCN.

Both of us were finally in the regular wards.

It’s day 51 today and he went through 6 jaundice and 2 thyroid checks. We were in and out of KKH and the polyclinic throughout Chinese New Year till now.

Finally his prolonged jaundice was cleared up after 1+ month and the doctor gave him an all clear for his thyroid panels as well.

He’s a cute little bundle of joy and I am so happy to celebrate motherhood 2nd time round!