First Weight Loss

I love to go for Eunice's monthly check. Sometimes I'll just go even though she's just having some very mild flu or cough, or something nothing at all, but I want to know her weight and her height. So, I'll make up some reason to go for checkup even though there's no monthly jab.

Since Eunice is born, she has been putting on weight. And her weight is very good (according to many friends around me), and of course me as mummy is proud over it. Every mum likes to know that their child is growing well.

Before CNY, Eunice had some mild flu and cough, and knowing that no clinic or hospital will open during CNY, we brought her to Taiping Columbia Asia to get some medication before the public holiday. And we weighed her. With her diaper on, and I think the weighing machine was not very accurate, Eunice weighed 9.4kg! I was so happy.

Then, she had sore throat and went on antibiotics for 5 days. On that week, she couldn't eat well. She basically skipped porridge and drank little milk at babysitter's as well. She only wanted to be direct fed, and that also I won't know how much she's drinking.

But she recovered fast. After 4 days of antibiotics, she's eating her porridge again, and drinking as usual, and went for her first birthday party.

A week after her birthday, we brought her back to Island hospital for her 1st year old MMR jab. Dr Dan weighed her and told me she's now 9kg. I was shocked. This is the first time when her weight DIDN'T increase. I told Dr Dan that, and he checked his record and found that she was 9.1kg as per last weighed at her 10 months. Then only he found in the older records that she had fever and sore throat last month.

And he told me, "Oh, kids lost weight very fast... but don't worry 9kg is a very good weight for her...".

I didn't know that a child could lose weight THAT fast!

But anyway, I'm not complaining that she's thin. She's definitely not thin. She's chubby. I do think 9kg is a good weight. When my parents saw her, they commented that she's very small size, but is very fleshy! I guess she has my gene! Hehe...

Her height didn't increase for the past 2 months though. I think she's not going to be tall, since both her parents are not very tall. Not complaining as well, shorter girls can find boyfriend easier... Hehehe :)

My Eunice is ONE

Eunice is ONE already! How time flies.

I started planning for her birthday party 2 months before her birthday, looking around for cakes, venue and etc.

In the end, I had it in Strada cafe at Crystal Point. And I got this cake from Funbakez. I gave her the picture of Eunice's stacker with the duck on top, and requested the cake to be in yellow color. And viola, look at the cake. It's just lovely. Many came and asked me about the cake. And the price is very very reasonable too. :)

We had Eunice's birthday during CNY. So, it's rather rush for all the deco stuff. Hence, I kept it really simple. Only gotten some Happy birthday banners, and printed some of her pictures to put on the big windows in Strada Cafe. I got this idea to decorate her high chair while surfing for some birthday party ideas website. Look at the birthday girl. Isn't she sweet? :)


It was a buffet party. I asked for snack but it was actually quite a heavy snack - with fried rice, curry, sandwiches, sausages, nuggets, drinks, & salad. Many told me the food was nice. And since all the friends that we invited are mainly from church and they know each other well, they all had a great fellowship among themselves.

I was also very happy that Eunice was very well behaved that day. I guess she's excited. So excited that she didn't drink her milk at her normal 2pm feed, and she only had 1 1/2 pcs of her biscotti, and some water. And she didn't cry, didn't fuss, didn't get cranky, and didn't sleep as well. She could stay all well behaved from 1.45pm to almost 5pm! And almost everyone could carry her. I think she's just a happy girl that day.


I was very happy with the birthday party. In fact, Eunice might not even know anything about the party, but I felt that the party is mainly for the parents, esp me. I have been a mum for 1 year. And I have been breastfeeding for 1 year too. It's a celebration for me. It's definitely not an easy journey for me but I definitely enjoy all the moments to see my little one growing.

The party was simple. Nothing too fancy. No special agenda. Just eating, talking, laughing, cake cutting, end. :)

Euwing & Win Nee from my church did the below video for me. I think I have been watching it over and over again for almost hundred times. It's very nice. Simple and nice. Just full of love. I hope Eunice will also like it when I show her when she grows up next time.

Eunice's 1st Birthday from Euwing and Win Nee on Vimeo.

Now, my little girl has grown up. And I need to be more relax, and start to live some of my own life now.

First Antibiotic

Eunice has not been feeling well last week, I noticed. She had fever on and off. Having fever is never a good sign. It was low grade about 38.5 degrees and after paracetamol, it went down. Besides, she's eating very little. And at times, she won't eat at all. After a mouth she'll be crying with tears & mucus full of her face. Oh, she has running nose too.

We still sent her to babysitter. When I checked if she's alright on the day, babysitter told me she vomitted after the milk feed and rejected all solid. So, EG and I decided to bring her to hospital for a check in late evening.

During the check, Dr Hwang said she has throat infection. Her throat was red. So, she had to go on antibiotics.

ANTIOBIOTICS!

That word sounds illegal to me. Immediately I asked Dr Hwang why she needs to be on antiobiotics. She looked at me straight, explaining that antibiotics is good for babies as long as it's not abused, and added that "..for some cases, if you don't give antibiotics, babies can die u know...".

Ah... I told EG, after breastfeeding for so hard, Eunice still has to go on antibotics! :(

So, Eunice at 11 months 3 weeks had her very first antibiotics in her life. She has to go on antibiotics for 5 days and today is the 4th day. She's been much better now, though still don't want to eat porridge. But at least, she'll be well enough to attend her first birthday party this weekend! Yay!!

I guess my girl has grown up, and I shouldn't worry so much about her going on medication.

And I should now let her build up her own immunity.

First Walking Attempt

It's my bad that I didn't write much on my parenting blog. Work has been busy, with the little one getting more mobile at home, I'll use the time to blank my mind by surfing or watching tv when she's taking her nap. :)

Anyway, my little one is 11 months old now! She's turning 1 next month and yes, we're having a birthday celebration for her next month. Preparing her birthday party is even more excited than me preparing my own wedding. How ironic. :)...

I was just talking to my mum about Eunice last few days and she asked if Eunice now can walk. I told her No, and commented that her development now is a bit slow comparing to when she's younger. But no, I'm not getting stress out, I'm just going to let her slowly find her new abilities to surprise me.

And on Sunday morning, she's playing herself in the living room, and me washing up her bottles in the dry kitchen, and EG doing some cleaning in the wet kitchen. Suddenly I heard her shouting. I turned back, and saw her trying to push her rocking chair and walked a bit. And when she did that, she shouted again, with joy. Ahh... so cute.

So, later I gave her our laundry basket - which is just nice for her height. And she's happily cruising in around the house.



I didn't get any walker for her after reading up that walker might not be good for babies (actually want to save money also :P) , so I told EG maybe we need to get another laundry basket for ourselves since this one is going to be her walker now.



How fast my baby is growing. I am looking forward for the day when I can bring her to have a walk. :)

Yes, still doing full breastfeeding

Many are very surprised that Eunice is still an exclusively breastfed baby.

1. Enfamama called me up, and asked me if my baby is >6 months (I registered the info in their website). I said yes, and she asked what milk powder is your baby drinking? I said, breastmilk. And she responded with a very surprising tone:"Oh, still breastfeeding?" And I said yes. Next she said, OK you know breastfeeding mummies can drink Enfamama too. And I said yes I know. End of conversation. :)

2. Everytime I bring Eunice to her monthly checkup, Dr Dan will never fail to ask me what milk powder is your baby drinking now? And I always tell him, breastmilk. And everytime he'll reply:"Oh still breastfeeding? Very goood.."

3. My mum in law doesn't check on my milk stock anymore when she comes visit us. I think she's finally assured that I have enough supply for her granddaughter. And breastmilk is as nutritious as formula as it's advertised as her granddaughter is as chubby as the other babies, and has a very good weight. So good that sometimes she struggled to carry her well. :D

4. My mum still checks on my supply when we talk on the phone. Still asking if I have enough for Eunice. I told her yes because now she's on solid and I still pump 3 times a day. The next question is so when do I plan to stop. I told her I don't know yet I haven't planned. And she started to get worried about teething, biting, etc etc. And I told her, yeah yeah I know, and we'll cross the bridge when we come to it.

5. Some aunties that I met also very surprise that Eunice is still on breastmilk. I don't know where on the earth they heard that a mother can only produce breastmilk up to 4 months and it'll then slowly reduce to nothing. I'm been feeding & pumping for the past 9 months. And yes, sometimes the supply dropped and that's mainly due to my lack of sleep, but most of the time it has been maintained at 18oz-22oz a day.

Look at my cutie pie enjoying herself while suckling from mummy

When Eunice was admitted for high fever, she's spared from dripping because she drinks breastmilk. I thank God that I have endured so far.


I always encouraged my friends to continue breastfeeding no matter how hard the situation seems to be because I believe one day all these effort will pay off. I'm blessed with many breastfeeding moms around me and the encouragement and companionship to each other is a great motivation to keep me going on.


And as for me, my weight has gone back to my pre-preg weight even though I still eat like a cow. But many commented that I look thinner than last time (with bigger assets though :P). And I do notice that all my jeans are very loose now. But my tummy is still bulging.


Besides, my period has finally came back to me when Eunice hit her 8 months. I used to worry that my supply will be affected when my period is here but thank God it still maintains, maybe just slightly lesser but it's still more than what Eunice consume everyday.


So, when do I plan to stop? I don't know. I am used to wake up at 5.30am to pump everyday, and so used to lift up my shirt whenever my baby cries at night. Like I always tell EG, I've not been sleeping through any night ever since I become a mother. But I'm not complaining. One day I'll wean her off. The only thing that I look forward to after weaning is I can stop pumping. But I haven't planned the day yet.


We'll see. :)

Eunice's Tooth Chart

Though teething is not a very nice experience for all of us (but still manageable), but I'm nevertheless very happy that Eunice's teeth finally are coming out!! :)

Since Eunice is now teething, I'm going to update her tooth chart, just for fun!

Eunice's Hospitalised + Teething Episode

A week before we went to KL, while Eunice is 8.5 months old, Eunice had some fever. We fed her infant paracetamol (PCM) and it subsided. A week later after we came back from KL, her fever came back, and it's high. Hitting 39C. We had to give her suppository through her back in order to bring her fever down.

We brought her to Island Hospital for Dr Dan to check. She just had her PCM and her fever subsided then. And she remained active and was playing with the nurse. Dr Dan said she looked perfectly OK. So, we sent her back to her babysitter. When we picked Eunice up, babysitter told me they fed Eunice PCM at every 6 hourly (instead of 4 hourly) and it seems like her fever is under control. So, I felt rather relieved.

Her last feed of PCM on that Friday was 4.30pm. I was thinking even if it's 4 hourly, we should feed her last PCM at 8.30pm before she sleeps. When we reached home around 7.30pm, I told EG i think Eunice is rather warm. To our shock, her temp went up again to 39C. So, again, we gave her suppository to bring the temp down.

At night, Eunice woke up and cried. When I picked her up, I felt that she's so warm. I quickly shouted at EG to get him to get the thermometer to check on Eunice and to our shock, her temp had shot up to 39.8C! Quickly we brought her to another room with no air cond, and EG brought a tub of water and I kept sponging her. At the same time, we gave her suppository again. However, her temperature couldn't go down. And she was shivering a bit and still trying to babble. I remember my friend's suggestion to dip baby into water to bring the temperature down, and so I did, at 3am! Thank God after that, her temperature went down to 37C. And I actually called in to Island Hospital asking if I should admit her. But since her temperature already went back to normal, we have decided to bring her to hospital the next day.

So, the next day Saturday, there we went again to Island Hospital. This time, they took Eunice's blood for blood test and tried to collect her urine for test too. Talking about blood test, I was trying to imagine how do you take baby's blood esp. they will struggle. The nurse actually wrapped Eunice up in a blanket tightly, leaving one arm out. And that's how they drew her blood. Eunice was crying, but not because of pain because the moment it's done and when I picked her up, she's quiet. But I think she didn't like to be wrapped up and got poked. No one likes it. The result was out in less than an hour and thank God that the blood test shows everything is OK and hence Dr Dan said no antibiotic is needed.

As for the urine test, you must be wondering how do collect baby's urine since they don't take instruction.. :).. They sticked a plastic bag "there" so that when baby urinate, the urine will be collected. The problem is we waited from 10.30am to 1pm, Eunice wasn't urinating yet.

We went home. And to cut the story short, EG and I woke up every hour to check her temperature. It was really so tiring for both of us. And at 5am, Eunice passed motion and while I changed her diaper, not only I notice her stool was loose, also her diaper was light. She wasn't urinating much. I know my baby well, she urinates A LOT. Sometimes until the mamypoko diaper overflows! But this time she's not urinating. So, at 5am, I called into ISland to get ready with Eunice's file, and off we went to admit her.

Eunice was especially cranky in the hospital. Besides, she didn't want to drink too. Neither from my breast nor from the bottle. Actually she drank, but not to her usual 3 hours schedule. It's dragged to 5 hours sometimes. We had to get the nurse's help to syringe feed her. After every feed, she'll poo loose stool. However, thank God that her temperature was back to normal in hosp. The max it went up to 38.5 and after 1/2 day, her temperature was all back to normal. But she's still esp. cranky. We thought there was wind in her tummy - as she was passing gas, and still passing loose stool. So, EG and I were carrying her the whole day, walking up and down the hospital aisle. She only slept in the cot for 5 hours herself (allowing me to sleep for 5 hours on the lazy chair as well), before I had to carry her again to rock her / let her sleep on me.

When the doctor came the next day to check on her, the nurse told him that Eunice drank breastmilk - though not much but she drank. And Dr Dan said oh it's very good. Since she's drinking mummy's milk, then she doesn't need to go on drip. Phew! Imagine my relief when I heard that!!

The not-so-happy looking girl watching casper in her ward

Doctor suspected that Eunice was having roseola - a kind of baby measles. I did notice some rashes on her cheek and doc told me it's very safe and once the rash comes, it means the baby will be ok then. Since Eunice didn't have fever anymore, we discharged her the next day.

Taking care of sick baby is never fun. Eunice got extra clingy to me (maybe she's still not feeling comfortable) after she came back from hospital. And still, she's not drinking as much as she used to. We had to syringe feed her a bit before she was willing to drink direct from me.

We sent her to bbsitter the next day. Her rashes came out on her face first and later spread to the body. Thank God the rashes are not painful / itchy. After 2 days, the rashes subsided (that's FAST as normally it takes 5-7 days according to the internet). And one day when I went and picked up Eunice, the kakak who takes care of Eunice told me her tooth has came out! I was very surprise as we still haven't gotten over the fever + roseola thingy yet and her tooth came after that! But of course we're very happy. Sometimes I think parents are funny creatures - we'll just get extra ecstatic over baby's development. :o)

And when Eunice hit her 9 months, bbsitter called me one day while I was late in picking up Eunice as I was stucked in the heavy rain - telling me that my baby has been extra cranky. Didn't want to drink much & kept crying. Of course I got worried. And I noticed that at home too when I took care of her myself. It seems like only my breasts can soothe her and I was exhausted & complaining to EG - how could someone drink so much?!! Later on we suspected that Eunice's 2nd tooth was cutting out as she had almost all the teething symptoms mentioned in babycenter. That's why she's so cranky. She's crying almost all the time and this is the first time having me seeing her crying coming out from bbsitter's place as she's always coming out happily playing with kakak. :(

None of the teether helped her. Eunice has 4 teethers and none of it helps. Some told me feeding cold fruits helps - I tried, and she vomitted! We bought Dentinox teething gel for her too and it doesn't seem to help much. :(... I couldn't seem to find any way to help her. But I really thank God that her tooth finally cut out after 2 dramatic days!!

So now, Eunice is back as a happy girl - with her two front teeth. :D

And mummy is stuffing her with fruits / nutritious food that she can to build up her immunity system.

And daddy is already eyeing on other "not-that-cheap" teethers to help his precious, hoping that her next teething experience will be a better one.

It's NEVER fun to take care of a sick baby. And teething is NOT FUN too.

Eunice @ 9 Months

I remember when I first carried Eunice to her babysitter's place when she's merely 3 months old, I was so envious of the other parents who carry their children at the sitting up position. I was hoping in my heart that Eunice will grow up faster.

And now, Eunice is 9 months old. She can sit up well. And I'm carrying her at the sitting position to babysitter's place every morning. But ironically, I don't feel any relief, but rather, more tired. But of course, more joy. Every parent is happy to see their kid grows.

Why am I more tired? I used to think that cooking for babies is easy. Easier than feeding milk. Oh my gosh! How wrong I am to think that way. Maybe I'm just not good in cooking, or babysitter's food taste much better. Feeding Eunice solid can be one of the things that I hate to do the most, esp. now that she's more cheeky, she'll BLOW OUT her food all together when she dun feel like eating or when she lazy to chew. =.=... Till now I have tried cooking porridge with stock, without stock, over the stove, in slow cooker, double boil, all also not to much of her liking. So sad.... I am worried that she won't get enough nutrient through breastmilk, and now that she's not eating much makes me even more worry. However, I try to relax a bit since babysitter thinks that her eating amount is perfectly normal. So, as long as she eats in the 5 days @ babysitter's place, I'll just do my best during weekend to make her eat more. :P

At her 7.5 months, Eunice is already standing up by pulling herself up. I always have to be near her to make sure she is holding onto a steady platform to stand, or to support her when she falls.

Besides, Eunice is now crawling everywhere. I didn't buy any safety guard rail in the house as I told EG I'll want to teach her what to touch and what NOT TO touch by reasoning if we can. Of course if we really cannot, then we'll go for the guard rail for safety purpose. Because of this, I always have to catch her back to her playmat whenever she crawls to places where she shouldn't be.

And now that she's more verbal, and playful, sometimes she wants to be held, and wants to have people to play with her. Hence, there are times where I have to sit in her playmat to play with her to keep her entertained.

I couldn't believe that now I'm busier than when she's a baby. And now I understand why others told me that babies are easier to take care of now. Now, I can't cook I can't bake. When Eunice allows me to have some break, I'll rather surf net / watch tv / blog (now you know why I don't blog so often :P)..

But anyway, I'm still happy that Eunice is growing up happily and healthily.

Cutie pie sitting up straight @ ~7 mths

First standing in her cot @ 7 months

Mastering her stand-up skill

Standing straight up @ 8 months

Doing her rasperry blow during mealtime =.=

Playing with her food

Went for her first hair cut @ 9 months