Me: Tell me more about your new school, Christian. (They are moving his class to the bigger campus at Russels Rd next week and had an orientation session today).
C: There's an ugly teacher there.
Me: Huh? You can't say that.. that teacher will be sad you know.
C: Song Lao Shi is a good teacher. Ms Huimin is a good teacher. XXxx is my good friend.
Me: Who's your good friend?
C: Errmm.. Hiren. Hiren is my good friend.
*pauses to think*
C: Everybody is my good friend. Cannot say "He is not my good friend" right?
Me: Yes! Who taught you that?
C: Gonggong. Only naughty korkor said "I don't love the children!" Yes. The naughty korkor outside said that. I am not naughty korkor. Everybody is my good friend.
22 July 2011
The birth of Baby Calista Wang Rae Ann
Finally. Our baby has arrived :)
Felt contractions early Monday morning around 5am, but was hesitant about whether labour had truly started, having read stories of "false labour" where women have contractions which go away and restart 48 hrs later. Was a little stressed and frustrated when the contractions were still slow and irregular in the afternoon. Watched two episodes of Glee on dvd and actually forgot about the contractions! People were asking me whether I've started my maternity leave and I couldn't really give a definite answer..
Things picked up by 6pm though. I decided to shower, have dinner and then proceed to hospital. Thank goodness I decided to do all that cos by the time we were in the car, the contractions started becoming more intense, though still 6 - 8 minutes apart. There was the after-work jam along Farrer Rd and Adam Rd and Peter was getting stressed driving there.. I just kept quiet, trying to cope with the contractions.
Imagine my dismay when I reached the hospital at 7.45pm and the nurse said i was only 3 cm dilated. Apparently it takes about an hour to dilate by 1 cm, and the target is 10cm before the baby comes out, so that meant I had another 7 hrs to go! Tseng sent word to say that I can proceed up to the ward to wait if i wanted to, so off we went. The nurse gave instructions to let them know when I'm in active labour (i.e. contractions 2 - 3mins apart). We dutifully kept count, and nearly fell asleep watching CNN. 11-something pm, and the contractions were still irregular, about 5 mins apart. I was close to despondent and complained to Dr Tseng who came to visit me at 10sth pm that I'm wondering why I chose a natural birth philosophy of non-induction. =7 He explained that he could burst the water bag and speed things up, but the worry is that the pain that follows will be too much to bear. Although my labour is dragged out, at least the pain is bearable.
At about 1145pm, while P was keeping count, the contractions were still 5 mins apart but I had the 'show' and suddenly felt an immense urge to push. We called for the nurses but they took their time to come. They took me seriously only after I started yelling "Call the doctor! I want to push!" She looked irritated and asked me why i called them so late, asked me whether I could bear with it while she pushed me down to the delivery ward. I used all my inner reserves to fight the urge to push as we raced down the corridors of the ward and took two separate lifts down to the delivery ward.
The good doctor made it in time (turns out he lives near TMC), and within minutes of his arrival, baby Calista was born.
2.785kg, 47cm, 0025 hrs on 19 July 2011.
She was so alert and kept looking around with her big eyes.
Welcome to the family, our little one.
Felt contractions early Monday morning around 5am, but was hesitant about whether labour had truly started, having read stories of "false labour" where women have contractions which go away and restart 48 hrs later. Was a little stressed and frustrated when the contractions were still slow and irregular in the afternoon. Watched two episodes of Glee on dvd and actually forgot about the contractions! People were asking me whether I've started my maternity leave and I couldn't really give a definite answer..
Things picked up by 6pm though. I decided to shower, have dinner and then proceed to hospital. Thank goodness I decided to do all that cos by the time we were in the car, the contractions started becoming more intense, though still 6 - 8 minutes apart. There was the after-work jam along Farrer Rd and Adam Rd and Peter was getting stressed driving there.. I just kept quiet, trying to cope with the contractions.
Imagine my dismay when I reached the hospital at 7.45pm and the nurse said i was only 3 cm dilated. Apparently it takes about an hour to dilate by 1 cm, and the target is 10cm before the baby comes out, so that meant I had another 7 hrs to go! Tseng sent word to say that I can proceed up to the ward to wait if i wanted to, so off we went. The nurse gave instructions to let them know when I'm in active labour (i.e. contractions 2 - 3mins apart). We dutifully kept count, and nearly fell asleep watching CNN. 11-something pm, and the contractions were still irregular, about 5 mins apart. I was close to despondent and complained to Dr Tseng who came to visit me at 10sth pm that I'm wondering why I chose a natural birth philosophy of non-induction. =7 He explained that he could burst the water bag and speed things up, but the worry is that the pain that follows will be too much to bear. Although my labour is dragged out, at least the pain is bearable.
At about 1145pm, while P was keeping count, the contractions were still 5 mins apart but I had the 'show' and suddenly felt an immense urge to push. We called for the nurses but they took their time to come. They took me seriously only after I started yelling "Call the doctor! I want to push!" She looked irritated and asked me why i called them so late, asked me whether I could bear with it while she pushed me down to the delivery ward. I used all my inner reserves to fight the urge to push as we raced down the corridors of the ward and took two separate lifts down to the delivery ward.
The good doctor made it in time (turns out he lives near TMC), and within minutes of his arrival, baby Calista was born.
2.785kg, 47cm, 0025 hrs on 19 July 2011.
She was so alert and kept looking around with her big eyes.
Welcome to the family, our little one.
15 July 2011
The naughty korkor (Pt II)
This morning, in the car on the way to school, we passed the usual patch of forest / park that’s just behind our house.
________________________________________________
C goes.. “I want to go to the forest and find my way home.”
P: Where’s your home?
C (points to our cluster of blocks): There.
P: Who lives there?
C: Daddy, mama, meimei. And Christian.
P: Who else?
C: Nothing else.
P: Nobody else? What about naughty korkor? Does he live there?
C: No he doesn’t live there. I don’t like naughty korkor. I shoot him.
P: Why don’t you like naughty korkor?
C: If I like naughty korkor, I’m naughty korkor.
P: So if you like naughty korkor you become naughty korkor? Is that what happens?
C: Yes.
_____________________________________________
P looks at me and we smile. *confession!!*
39 weeks today. Sigh.
13 July 2011
the repentant son
P and I went for a rare and possibly last date night in a long while. It was nice getting picked up from work and driven to dinner :) We enjoyed a surprisingly excellent dinner at TCC, at Keppel Bay..watching the sun set on the marina. We were done by 7.45pm, and managed to reach home in time to catch C's bedtime (it's great to live near Keppel Bay).
P was playing and horsing around with C, who was so high he kept shouting, jumping on his dad's back..he refused to sleep when I offered to put him to bed. Said he would cut me up (that's his standard response these days towards things / objects / persons he doesn't like or want). I acted really hurt and astonished cos that's a first for his mama. He hid at a corner of the bed, took a peek at me and came forward to 'chop' my thigh with the side of his hand. I pretended to tear, and he stubbornly peered at me from behind his hand, wondering whether i'm upset with him.
I went about the usual routine of putting his socks on while he drank his milk.. told him he can't cut mama up, cos it'll make me sad. I heard him whisper after he finished his milk "Mama Psjfasljkdf ..."
Me: What?
C: Mama I won't cut you up again.
Me: AWWWww...
C: MAma I love you.
Me: AWWWWWwww...
C: I won't make you sad again.
Me (thinks "yeah right" but goes AWww anyway).
P was playing and horsing around with C, who was so high he kept shouting, jumping on his dad's back..he refused to sleep when I offered to put him to bed. Said he would cut me up (that's his standard response these days towards things / objects / persons he doesn't like or want). I acted really hurt and astonished cos that's a first for his mama. He hid at a corner of the bed, took a peek at me and came forward to 'chop' my thigh with the side of his hand. I pretended to tear, and he stubbornly peered at me from behind his hand, wondering whether i'm upset with him.
I went about the usual routine of putting his socks on while he drank his milk.. told him he can't cut mama up, cos it'll make me sad. I heard him whisper after he finished his milk "Mama Psjfasljkdf ..."
Me: What?
C: Mama I won't cut you up again.
Me: AWWWww...
C: MAma I love you.
Me: AWWWWWwww...
C: I won't make you sad again.
Me (thinks "yeah right" but goes AWww anyway).
12 July 2011
Questions before bedtime (insight into an inquisitive mind)
I let Christian fall asleep on my bed last night, thinking I won't have many more nights where I can devote my attention solely on him..He asked so many questions that seemed ludicrous from an adult's mind, but revealed that norms and conventions are being challenged by his young mind before being accepted.
C (Pointing to the doors in our room): "Why are there only two doors, mama? Why are there no doors there (points to wall next to window) and there (another side of the room)."
Me (blinking and trying to take his qns seriously): Because this room only requires two doors - one to the toilet and one out to the other room. We don't need a door there because we don't need to walk out into the air.
C: Who made the two doors? Is it the gardener?
Me: No, the builder. The gardener only tends to the garden..
C: Is it the construction?
Me: Yes, the construction worker, also known as the builder, built this house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*moments later after some goofing around*
C: I want to turn your forehead.
Me: Hmm?? What do you mean? Oh. My face is not a jigsaw puzzle, you can't turn the forehead around.
C: Why not? Why is your mouth here?
Me: God made it this way.
C: Why did God make it like that?
Me (trying hard not to grin and be serious): Erm.. If our mouths were above our eyes, we wouldn't be able to see our food, and we'd drop food into our eyes.
C: Oh. If we have our mouths on top, here (points to brow) then we have no eye brow right? Only naughty korkor has his mouth on top.
C: Why your eye not big? Why I cannot open your eye and make it bigger?
Me: Because God made my eye this big.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
C (clutches my head with both his hands, and laughs as he bangs his forehead against mine. Suddenly struck him to ask..): Why is your head bigger than mine? Why did God make mama and daddy big, and Christian and meimei little?
Me: Eh.. mama and daddy used to be small too and Gonggong and Popo were big, then mama and daddy grew bigger.. and I gave birth to Christian..remember the pictures you saw of mama when I was little?
C: Yes. When you were small, you went to school right? You went to my school?
Me (Decides to put an end to the qns, else sleep would be an unachievable goal): No I went to my own school. And are you going to close your eyes and sleep? If not, you'll have to go back into your own bed.
C promptly clenches his eyes shut, turns to face me, and falls asleep while grabbing my wrist to make sure I don't run away and leave him alone.
C (Pointing to the doors in our room): "Why are there only two doors, mama? Why are there no doors there (points to wall next to window) and there (another side of the room)."
Me (blinking and trying to take his qns seriously): Because this room only requires two doors - one to the toilet and one out to the other room. We don't need a door there because we don't need to walk out into the air.
C: Who made the two doors? Is it the gardener?
Me: No, the builder. The gardener only tends to the garden..
C: Is it the construction?
Me: Yes, the construction worker, also known as the builder, built this house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*moments later after some goofing around*
C: I want to turn your forehead.
Me: Hmm?? What do you mean? Oh. My face is not a jigsaw puzzle, you can't turn the forehead around.
C: Why not? Why is your mouth here?
Me: God made it this way.
C: Why did God make it like that?
Me (trying hard not to grin and be serious): Erm.. If our mouths were above our eyes, we wouldn't be able to see our food, and we'd drop food into our eyes.
C: Oh. If we have our mouths on top, here (points to brow) then we have no eye brow right? Only naughty korkor has his mouth on top.
C: Why your eye not big? Why I cannot open your eye and make it bigger?
Me: Because God made my eye this big.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
C (clutches my head with both his hands, and laughs as he bangs his forehead against mine. Suddenly struck him to ask..): Why is your head bigger than mine? Why did God make mama and daddy big, and Christian and meimei little?
Me: Eh.. mama and daddy used to be small too and Gonggong and Popo were big, then mama and daddy grew bigger.. and I gave birth to Christian..remember the pictures you saw of mama when I was little?
C: Yes. When you were small, you went to school right? You went to my school?
Me (Decides to put an end to the qns, else sleep would be an unachievable goal): No I went to my own school. And are you going to close your eyes and sleep? If not, you'll have to go back into your own bed.
C promptly clenches his eyes shut, turns to face me, and falls asleep while grabbing my wrist to make sure I don't run away and leave him alone.
09 July 2011
The arrival of the ‘naughty kor-kor’
We read from our primary parenting reference – The Magic Years, that children will often come up with an imaginary character sometime in their young childhood. This character will often take the rap for things that the child does not want to admit to, or whose conscience will not allow it to claim responsibility for.
“[The two year old] loves, deeply, tenderly, extravagantly and he holds the love of his parents more dearly than anything in the world. To be fair about it, he also loves himself very, very much and this conflict between self-love and love of others is the source of much of his difficulty at this age. But when put to the test, it is love for his parents which wins out. When he has displeased them he is disconsolate and even his self-love is diminished when he feels the displeasure of his parents. He wants to be good in order to earn their love and approval; he wants to be good so that he can love himself. … He begins his progress as a social being by adopting the attitude of his parents toward his unacceptable impulses. He comes to dislike them, too. And the first progress in dealing with his unacceptable impulses is revealed in a way that we would not immediately recognise as progress. He casts them out of himself and attributes them to persons or objects outside.
He acquires a number of companions, imaginary ones, who personify his Vices like characters in a morality play. (The Virtues he keeps to himself. …) Hate, Selfishness, Uncleanliness, Envy, and a host of other evils are cast out like devils and forced to obtain other hosts.”
We’ve been hearing about the ‘naughty kor-kor’ who lives just outside our house / in the bushes / in the other car (depending on where we are at that point in time). I found it amusing to witness this development in C, but have just been too busy to blog about it.
A few mornings ago, C made fun of P, and sang “Old MacDonald, Daddy-no-teeth!” He went on about how P has no more teeth and can only drink milk like meimei now. P went along, used his lips to hide evidence of his pearly whites, which thrilled C and led C to proclaim “I’m a dentist. I’ll give you white teeth.” However, when P asked whether C would share his teeth with him, by transplanting some over to P, C frowned, shook his head then relied on his trusty ‘naughty kor-kor’.
“No, cannot. Later I give you naughty kor-kor’s teeth.”
The concept of the naughty kor-kor has also been extrapolated to a 'naughty kor-kor's daddy”, such that he exonerates P for wrong-doing, and says “Not my daddy..it was naughty kor-kor's daddy who did XXX”.
I should try and remember more concrete examples in future, but this mama is getting close to delivery and feeling increasingly tired by the day...
01 July 2011
My amazing gynae
36 weeks, 6 days.
As mentioned in my earlier post, my new baby's been in breech position for many weeks now. We were getting worried cos only 1-3% of babies are in breech at such a late stage and the longer she stays in that position, the harder it'll be for her to turn as she grows.
I've been sleeping at an incline (i.e. head lower than legs) for 9 days before visiting the gynae again yesterday. All that torture (feel like puking in middle of night thanks to food going bk up the oesophagus; waking up with slight headache) was for naught cos i still felt her stubborn little head pressing against my ribcage yesterday morning.
Went to my gynae's clinic with slight trepidation yesterday, no thanks in part to the youtube videos and comments i watched+read on "external cephalic version" which is just a fancy name for a gynae manually coaxing the baby to turn downwards, by pushing one's belly.
Some have described it as an experience they'll never want to go through again, which wasn't very reassuring.. the video I watched had a serene-looking mum-to-be, but was ~4 mins long, and I think she received an injection to relax the uterine muscles first too.. Also read about the very slight probability that baby might be agitated during/after the procedure and that it might trigger labour. Anyway, I was just not looking forward to it and prayed that everything would go smoothly.
What happened was miraculously quick, and much less painful than I'd imagined. My good doc did an ultrasound scan to confirm her position (V-shaped, in extended breech), checked that the umbilical cord was not around her neck, then proceeded to gently depress parts of my belly, as if feeling for her position as he normally does. He pressed my belly maybe thrice and I looked away, bracing myself. Just when i felt a little discomfort of bone against bone (but nothing more than what i feel when she head-butts my belly), he went to wash his hands and said "Ok, let's have a look."
I raised my eyebrows thinking "Look at what? Aren't you going to continue?" but before I could say anything he showed me her position "There, head down, legs up, with baby none the worse for it."
I think my jaws dropped at that moment. He took all of 30 secs! I blinked in amazement and I think he was secretly pleased with himself too (tho he's much too classy to boast about his skills.) I asked him if he does this very often and he just smiled quietly saying "Not very often...". Thanked him and staggered out still in shock, totally forgetting the birth plan i'd brought along for his perusal.
Haha. I'm so glad I don't have to sleep at an incline anymore! I'm also so happy that he's spared me a C-sec.. thank goodness I found him! (Don't think many docs in Singapore are very experienced in ECV, nor would they suggest it..^_^)
As mentioned in my earlier post, my new baby's been in breech position for many weeks now. We were getting worried cos only 1-3% of babies are in breech at such a late stage and the longer she stays in that position, the harder it'll be for her to turn as she grows.
I've been sleeping at an incline (i.e. head lower than legs) for 9 days before visiting the gynae again yesterday. All that torture (feel like puking in middle of night thanks to food going bk up the oesophagus; waking up with slight headache) was for naught cos i still felt her stubborn little head pressing against my ribcage yesterday morning.
Went to my gynae's clinic with slight trepidation yesterday, no thanks in part to the youtube videos and comments i watched+read on "external cephalic version" which is just a fancy name for a gynae manually coaxing the baby to turn downwards, by pushing one's belly.
Some have described it as an experience they'll never want to go through again, which wasn't very reassuring.. the video I watched had a serene-looking mum-to-be, but was ~4 mins long, and I think she received an injection to relax the uterine muscles first too.. Also read about the very slight probability that baby might be agitated during/after the procedure and that it might trigger labour. Anyway, I was just not looking forward to it and prayed that everything would go smoothly.
What happened was miraculously quick, and much less painful than I'd imagined. My good doc did an ultrasound scan to confirm her position (V-shaped, in extended breech), checked that the umbilical cord was not around her neck, then proceeded to gently depress parts of my belly, as if feeling for her position as he normally does. He pressed my belly maybe thrice and I looked away, bracing myself. Just when i felt a little discomfort of bone against bone (but nothing more than what i feel when she head-butts my belly), he went to wash his hands and said "Ok, let's have a look."
I raised my eyebrows thinking "Look at what? Aren't you going to continue?" but before I could say anything he showed me her position "There, head down, legs up, with baby none the worse for it."
I think my jaws dropped at that moment. He took all of 30 secs! I blinked in amazement and I think he was secretly pleased with himself too (tho he's much too classy to boast about his skills.) I asked him if he does this very often and he just smiled quietly saying "Not very often...". Thanked him and staggered out still in shock, totally forgetting the birth plan i'd brought along for his perusal.
Haha. I'm so glad I don't have to sleep at an incline anymore! I'm also so happy that he's spared me a C-sec.. thank goodness I found him! (Don't think many docs in Singapore are very experienced in ECV, nor would they suggest it..^_^)
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