9 days left to lil K's big One! Gosh, I just can't believe how time flew by us. Last year at this time, I was still confined to bed rest at home due to placenta praevia and lil K kept kicking/banging/knocking against the placenta till it bled 3 times! First episode was when I was in week 29, 2nd episode in week 31, and the final episode in week 34. Yupe, I was hospitalized thrice due to the bleed, and confined to bed rest for a month! My gynae gave me the green light to return to work in week 33 with the condition that I have to limit my movements around the office. Just as I thought I had survived the first week back to work without much difficulties (and I just had a meeting with my GM where I was supposed to do up a presentation for him that day), lil K decided to come out to the world and join us by giving me another kick in the placenta, resulting the final bled. Yes, it was a dramatic affair in the office. The bleeding was so heavy that you can see my blood trail in the office, and even though I took a stack of old newspaper that was about an inch plus thick to line my colleague's car seat, the blood just went through effortlessly and stained her car. And when I was hospitalized, my gynae told me it's best to take lil K out via c-sec rather than trying to keep him till 36 weeks and endure another bleeding episode. Very quickly I was put on drip and had to fast. I can still remember that I was so darn hungry coz it was lunch time and I couldn't eat anything! So, lil K joined us on 20.11.2009. Nothing felt better to have him by oursides and that he was doing very well as a preemie (in fact he was the loudest in the nursery!).
The confinement month was quite a stressful one for me, in a way. Lil K is a preemie and as much as I would want to try breastfeeding him exclusively, there are always 'advices' to feed him with the preemie formula supplement. My hubby gave me his 100% support to breastfeed, and my mom is also supportive but to an extent. Well, first off, lil K was only in his week 34, and after the delivery my paed chose to put him under the heater instead of kangaroo cuddle (my bad, I didn't know that kangaroo cuddle works for preemies). Next, the paed told me that he's going to give lil K some supplements since he's a preemie which I agreed (again my bad, I didn't know that supplement refers to formula milk, but hey I was a new mom at that time and I only know two terms: breastmilk and formula milk). After I found out he was on formula, I was really worried if he doesn't want to be breastfed. Thank god, he latches on pretty well and has no problem switching from bottle to breast.
Few days later after we were discharged, lil K had prolonged jaundice and was admitted back to the hosp twice. I wanted to get myself 'checked-in' to facilitate breastfeeding, but my hubby opposed to the idea, and suggested I should pump at home and he will send the milk to hospital, while I rest at home. I relentlessly agreed. Getting up at every 2 hours to feed lil K wasn't something that I would complain about. I started getting all stressed up when I was trying to breastfeed exclusively, and there are all sorts of advice, "I-should-feed-formula-at-night-so-that-I-can-get-more-rest", "breastmilk-is-easily-digested-and-you-can't-gauge-how-much-the-baby-had", "if-you-feed-formula-you-can-set-the-feeding-span", etc. Hence, the roller-coaster effect on my emotions. I remembered I cried every other day thinking why is the breastfeeding journey so difficult - which got my hubby worried that I might be facing post natal depression and he even called up my mom to consult! LOL..
Once the confinement was over, and I was home alone with lil K, I couldn't have felt happier. I then take charge on how I want to feed my son - no more formula milk! Yupe, since then he was on exclusive breastfeeding until 2 months later when my workload in the office couldn't allow me to pump on a regular basis. And the fact that Aunty Flo was back on track wasn't helping much either. That was when my milk supply started to go up and down. But I'm still happily nursing lil K till now even though he has to take 1-2 feeds of formula milk at the babysitter's place. It's our private bonding moment that we both enjoyed very much.
Measuring lil K's milestones was quite an interesting chapter for us. Since he's a preemie, he should be measured against his actual estimated due date rather than his birthdate. And lil K would hit milestones between his actual due date age and his birthdate age. For example, we thought he would roll over when he's 3 months plus (since he kept showing signs of wanting to roll over since 2 months old) but he ended up to successfully rolled over when he hit 5 months plus (about 4 months from edd). And he didn't sit unsupported until he was 8 months old (about 6.5 months from edd)! As for his vocal milestones, he's quite on track with his birthdate age to which we concluded, he's going to be chatterbox! So, when he couldn't hit milestones of his birthdate age, we will self-console ourselves by saying oh, he came out 6 weeks earlier. :p But when he does, of course we would be very happy. =D
Watching him growing up healthily day by day is the biggest satisfaction so far. Despite having to work full time, I'm making sure that I can provide him with all the love and nutritions he can get. Preparing his food is one session I enjoyed a lot. From pureed fruits and vege to semi solids, I really learnt a lot along the way - nutritions, what are super foods, four day rules, etc. Which of course got me labelled as 'picky&choosey' by my mom when it comes to lil K's food, but I couldn't care less! Nothing beats watching him finishes the food that I prepared which makes me feel extremely happy and satisfied.
Being a parent has definitely taught me so much things along the way, and made appreciate my parents even more.
Lil K, mommy wishes you a happy birthday, and may you be blessed with good health and all the good things in life. Love you, baby.
The confinement month was quite a stressful one for me, in a way. Lil K is a preemie and as much as I would want to try breastfeeding him exclusively, there are always 'advices' to feed him with the preemie formula supplement. My hubby gave me his 100% support to breastfeed, and my mom is also supportive but to an extent. Well, first off, lil K was only in his week 34, and after the delivery my paed chose to put him under the heater instead of kangaroo cuddle (my bad, I didn't know that kangaroo cuddle works for preemies). Next, the paed told me that he's going to give lil K some supplements since he's a preemie which I agreed (again my bad, I didn't know that supplement refers to formula milk, but hey I was a new mom at that time and I only know two terms: breastmilk and formula milk). After I found out he was on formula, I was really worried if he doesn't want to be breastfed. Thank god, he latches on pretty well and has no problem switching from bottle to breast.
Few days later after we were discharged, lil K had prolonged jaundice and was admitted back to the hosp twice. I wanted to get myself 'checked-in' to facilitate breastfeeding, but my hubby opposed to the idea, and suggested I should pump at home and he will send the milk to hospital, while I rest at home. I relentlessly agreed. Getting up at every 2 hours to feed lil K wasn't something that I would complain about. I started getting all stressed up when I was trying to breastfeed exclusively, and there are all sorts of advice, "I-should-feed-formula-at-night-so-that-I-can-get-more-rest", "breastmilk-is-easily-digested-and-you-can't-gauge-how-much-the-baby-had", "if-you-feed-formula-you-can-set-the-feeding-span", etc. Hence, the roller-coaster effect on my emotions. I remembered I cried every other day thinking why is the breastfeeding journey so difficult - which got my hubby worried that I might be facing post natal depression and he even called up my mom to consult! LOL..
Once the confinement was over, and I was home alone with lil K, I couldn't have felt happier. I then take charge on how I want to feed my son - no more formula milk! Yupe, since then he was on exclusive breastfeeding until 2 months later when my workload in the office couldn't allow me to pump on a regular basis. And the fact that Aunty Flo was back on track wasn't helping much either. That was when my milk supply started to go up and down. But I'm still happily nursing lil K till now even though he has to take 1-2 feeds of formula milk at the babysitter's place. It's our private bonding moment that we both enjoyed very much.
Measuring lil K's milestones was quite an interesting chapter for us. Since he's a preemie, he should be measured against his actual estimated due date rather than his birthdate. And lil K would hit milestones between his actual due date age and his birthdate age. For example, we thought he would roll over when he's 3 months plus (since he kept showing signs of wanting to roll over since 2 months old) but he ended up to successfully rolled over when he hit 5 months plus (about 4 months from edd). And he didn't sit unsupported until he was 8 months old (about 6.5 months from edd)! As for his vocal milestones, he's quite on track with his birthdate age to which we concluded, he's going to be chatterbox! So, when he couldn't hit milestones of his birthdate age, we will self-console ourselves by saying oh, he came out 6 weeks earlier. :p But when he does, of course we would be very happy. =D
Watching him growing up healthily day by day is the biggest satisfaction so far. Despite having to work full time, I'm making sure that I can provide him with all the love and nutritions he can get. Preparing his food is one session I enjoyed a lot. From pureed fruits and vege to semi solids, I really learnt a lot along the way - nutritions, what are super foods, four day rules, etc. Which of course got me labelled as 'picky&choosey' by my mom when it comes to lil K's food, but I couldn't care less! Nothing beats watching him finishes the food that I prepared which makes me feel extremely happy and satisfied.
Being a parent has definitely taught me so much things along the way, and made appreciate my parents even more.
Lil K, mommy wishes you a happy birthday, and may you be blessed with good health and all the good things in life. Love you, baby.
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