OUR ATRINA JOURNEY

Monday, November 30, 2009

Bean is 4 months old!

* Post dated 30th Nov but I publish only on 03rd Dec * Busy lah.

She has grown so much more flesh compared to her birth time!
Still skinny and small sized. Think not even 5kg but definitely doubled her birth weight.
Health assessment in a few days' time.



Saturday, November 28, 2009

iphone pics

New contributor for pics: The person carrying iphone!

His virgin 自拍pic. Pls give him some credit.
*claps*



Torturing Miss Rabbit while trying to fall asleep.



She tries to feed herself while we were out shopping :)

Friday, November 27, 2009

Clumsy Mummy?

First, I broke the Tollyjoy bottle brush while washing Bean's bottle. Luckily I had a Pigeon backup *phew*.
Next, I accidentally dump my CDP statement together with the stack of brochures/leaflets into the recycling bin. No statement 死无对证 but I think should be still valid hor. Hahaha

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Mummy stays home again

Yes, after starting work for 8 days, I'm "forced" to apply leave and stay home. Daycare informed us last minute about the closure on 26th Nov. Daddy had some job onhand so I had to thick-skinnedly ask my new boss to let me have a day off work. So paiseh right? Some more teased by him: do I have anymore leave or taking advance from next year.

Half a day at home with her and I'm actually starting to appreciate the time I spent in office. Haha what an irony and to think I want to be a full time Mummy. So how? Still considering when I should start?!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

New food processor

ETA: Pump in use. Not letting go :P

Yes my Ameda Lactaline is here. Speedy delivery. Arrived in 4 working days after I placed my order.

Couldn't wait to try it when I got home. I'm new to double pumps so needed a bit of practice. This pump is good! Can empty both sides in about 15min but I'm still not very accustomed to using it. The cycle/suction could be adjusted for "let-down".

I have now Avent Manual, Medela Swing and finally, Ameda Lactaline. Eversince my Swing went on "mood-Swing", I've been using my manual. Surprised at how good it is! I can get 160ml a session during my lunch break. I prefer to bring my manual to work cuz it's so compact and fits in nicely in my Fridge-to-go with the bottle. Swing and Lactaline is a bonus to me when I get home as in I don't have to wash/sterilise the parts for the next pumping session.

Good as it is, I've decided to let go of my Lactaline. Um... even the hubby was surprised. Took me a long time to decide between this and PIS and after finally laying my hands on it, I wanna let go? Well I'm quite used to my manual now so I don't really need a double pump. Another 2 months + 1 week to hit the 6 month mark. Will I still want to continue with breastfeeding after 6 months? Probably yes if my supply is still there but right now, I decided I'm fine with my manual:) Anyone you know still prefer a single manual to a double?

Interested? Email me pinkdew@singnet.com.sg or sms 9842 1275.
A pair of Flexishields included.







Saturday, November 14, 2009

Cooking new dish

As a bonus entry to my faithful reader/s (you know who you are :D), I decided to do a quick one.
This being the last week of my 4 month break from work, I decided or tried to cook dinner daily. Did drunken prawns on Thurs. Was at Cold Storage and happened to see big prawns on special. Less than $5 for 10 big prawns. I'm so happy with myself :) Recipe taken from a food blogger and it worked for me. So easy to do except that I oversteamed it by 2-3mins.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Princess goes to Daycare Part 3, 4 & 5

* This is a pictureless entry. Can skip if you bored :) *

Day 3:

We (family of three) all woke up very late on Wed yet Daddy still insisted want to bath the Bean before sending her to daycare (which he is already calling is "school"). Reached abt 1030am. We were always the latest to be there. Hehe...

Anyway, Bean is quite easy to handle and she's adapting well to the new environment :D. So what I did on Wed, I left after a while instead of staying with her. Went to Mummy Jas' place to collect my spree loots. Yeah all my baby stuff arrived. Bean has many many clothes now. BabyGap is so much more cheaper than in local stores :) Mummy Jo will make it a point to join all Mummy Jas' spree in future. Wahaha Daddy sure can't stand me. Um.. anyway back to the daycare. The lazy Mummy decided to play cheat. Go home dilly dally a bit then bring the Bean back. Supposed to be there with her yet I go off. Shows that my Bean is easily adaptable. Hehe.

Day 4:

Daddy bathed the Bean before sending her. This is the 1st day she will be there full day and parents don't have to be there. Yeah! This is the day Mummy gets a off day. Mummy Jo got her pedi done and trimmed her hair. Preparation myself to go back to office. Picked Bean up in the evening. She's great!

Day 5:

Mummy told Daddy no need to bath for Bean. The teachers can do it. Handed Bean over and I left. Didn't even give her her morning feed and she went in her PJs. I only gave her a diaper change. I guess this is what we will do starting from next week. Mummy went in search for new clothes again. What would I wear to the office with my newly found "figure"? The inches at the waist and hips prevented Mummy Jo to spend that $. Only managed to get a skirt from IORA. MJ met Daddy at Suntec for lunch since he was at customer's office troubleshooting. Silly MJ proceeded to do eyebrow threading only to realise her package has expired last month! Hm.. 2 sessions down the drain. 2nd blow of the week following the closure of that lousy spa place at Pan Pac. Not very much impact on me but still... Anyway I paid ala carte price for my brows threading. They tried to sell me yet another package but would I sign again for fear of closure or not consuming the sessions within the time frame? Of course not! 3rd blow of the week must be when Old One saw me and commented how come I have not done my brows for such a long time. How come so thick? Huh I just spent extra $ (forfeited my prepaid 2 sessions leh) on it and he dare to say it. Must be the lady draw too thick for me la. Luckily I was still loitering around Suntec / Marina Square area cuz just nice when I felt like going home, Daddy just finished work and we could go fetch Bean together. Saw a new lady in the daycare when fetching Bean. Turns out that she's the principal of the centre. She has been observing Bean for a few days. She said Bean was adapting well :)) Oh.. something kinda embarassing. She asked the other Malay teacher is this the baby who needs the bottle to be tapped while feeding and the Malay teacher nodded. Then both told me they didn't have to do the "tapping" when feeding her AND she finishes her milk. Strange! Cuz we often have to tap the bottle for her to drink more milk. If not, she will try to pull away from the bottle, leaving 20ml even after we increased the qty for her. Tell me she's not bullying her poor Mummy! That girl of mine! Haha...

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Pre-order for New Ameda Lactaline Personal Dual Electric Breast Pump

A little biz I am starting to earn spare cash for myself and also to benefit mummies who wish to breastfeed and looking for a good dual pump. I've read and heard good reviews about this pump and how it is comparable to Medela Pump In Style Advance.

Price: SGD265/unit inclusive of free delivery to local address.
Email me: pinkdew@singnet.com.sg
Sms: 9842 1275
*Local departmental stores selling at $388*


The latest generation mains and battery operated breast pump from Ameda has been completely modernised, with bigger, better control knobs and new BPA-free Hygienikit ™ milk collection sets supplied with standard 25mm breastshields.

Main features
CustomControl ™ - Independent cycle (0-60 min) and suction (215mm Hg max) controls for complete control of the let-down reflex.

Easy to maintain - Compatible with all Ameda electric breast pumps, the supplied HygieniKit Milk Collection sets feature a patented silicone diaphragm that prevents milk and bacteria from entering the tubing and pump motor.

The HygieniKit is dishwasher safe and can even convert to a manual pump. There is no need to sterilise the Ameda Hygienikit tubing.

Professional performance - Comparable to the Ameda Elite 'Hospital' breast pump but for domestic use.

Use anywhere - The Ameda Lactaline Personal dual electric breast pump is supplied with a UK 3-pin mains adapter, and will operate effectively on battery power (6x AA alkaline batteries). Ameda's 12v adapter adds further versatility, enabling use in the car, caravan or boat.

And above all - It's a double pump. Double-pumping is believed to raise the body's prolactin levels compared to expressing on one side only, leading to an increase in the quality and quantity of expressed breast milk. It's quicker than a single pump too!

Princess goes to Daycare Part 2

2nd day I was there with her. Daddy went back to work.
Her new Carter's bodysuit is so contrasting with the rocker carrier.



Teacher feeding her.
She's a baby who does not love her milk.
Cannot concentrate and keep wanting to play.





Finally drinking properly!



Burping her. My sis is always amused the way she looks when being burped.





Another teacher feeding her. Mummy is free from work today. Haha.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Princess goes to Daycare Part 1

Sadly, the temporary SAHM job is coming to an end. I'm returning to work next week. 17 weeks and 2 days = 4 months of not going to that dreadful place and it's finally time for me to go back. *endure*

After some careful planning, we decided the best way for now is to send the Bean to a daycare close to home. My father so wanted me to bring her over every morning and then we could have dinner together before bringing Bean home. I do appreciate his thoughtfulness and willingness to help out but as I still intend to give Bean ebm till my supply runs dry, I have to wake up extra early to pump. Not forgetting I have to rush home straight after work again for the same purpose. If we were to ferry Bean to and fro everyday, it's going to be too tiring for all of us. Anyway the daycare arrangement is going to be for temporary. I have my plans afterall. Next thing is I do not want my father to get too attached to Bean in case after execution of my plan, he can't see her daily he will be very heartbroken. In fact he suggested to me if I'm afraid of the trouble of ferrying her to and fro daily, I could leave Bean with them for some nights. Now this is something I do not want to do yet. Bean is still young and I want to be able to be by her side every night. She's still waking up daily at about 5am for her feed. Sometimes she wakes up 2 times. She still needs to be nursed. Besides my father is old, I don't wish for him to be waking up at such wee hours to prepare for her feed. Even if Auntie Lasi is helping I'd also rather not. I don't mind to let her sleep over at my father's place when she's older. I can have a break for myself too.

Um anyway back to the daycare. For the first 3 days, parents or the Mummy have to be there for half a day. We can bring baby back at 1pm. We went in late today. Bean woke up much later than her usual timing and then we did some last minute packing. Lousy Mummy always pushing the packing to the last minute and ended up Daddy had to do it.

I like the name of this place :)



Upon entering, there's a whiteboard with all the infants' names and their birthdates.
How nice to see they were already expecting Bean.



There's also a log file to record the daily "inputs" / "outputs" and activities of the infants.



This is exactly how big the whole place is. The sliding door leads to the baby cots.
The nice teacher informed me there's a nursing room inside but that's really none of my concern. Haha. My gal loves to be bottle-fed!



A little more "private" corner but no one goes inside.



Tried to put her to sleep since she missed her morning nap. This girl is so persistent ok. She usually struggles and insists to have her morning nap straight after bath. Don't even want milk. Then she will wake up half an hour later (1 hour if I'm lucky) for feed. I always wonder: Why can't she just drink up properly and then she can sleep peacefully for the next 2 hours? Anyway she missed her nap as we were trying to bring her over.

She loves the hanging mobile on the cot. We also have a pre-loved mobile at home and she's always very interested to stare at it. Each time the mobile spins, she gets really excited. Just wondering why she is so not interested in the animal safari in the living room?



The small cabinets to store their stuff.



Ok she does not want to sleep. It is so strange cuz she always always insists to nap straight after bath. Probably new environment and also her waking up late today. The cot area is quite brightly lit and the children songs playing in the background was quite distracting for a baby. I didn't think she could fall asleep that easily.

Playing with Daddy. She was laughing hard but then I am always too slow to capture the shots.


Until she Pek Chek



With Mummy. Looks as if I'm nursing her right. But no lor she was struggling cuz too tired but refuse to fall asleep. I'm much fairer as compared to 4 months ago. Too much of staying indoors.



Activity time!



Taken by Daddy on his iphone.



Classic frowning face


And she finally fell asleep here!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Should I invest in a double pump?

What's the worst thing that could have happened to a Eping mummy? Her good old trusty pump dying on her! Yes my Swing motor lost its suction power. Damn it x 1000! And I just changed the soft shield and membrane days ago. Desperate with full breasts and a (thankfully) sleeping baby, I went to dig for my Avent manual. Know what? It's actually pretty easy to use and I could control the pressure since it's a manual. The petal letdown cushion worked very well. I think I got about 60ml in 10min the first time I used it. That's faster than my Swing. Subsequent usage didn't yield very good results. As in the letdown not very good and I had to keep adjusting the shield in different angles to pump. Since the Swing is supposed to be still under warranty, we decided to bring to the service centre on Monday. Suddenly one question came to my mind: Should I invest in a double pump now? The reason why I did not get a good double pump initially, cause I wasn't sure I could hold it out for that long. Who knows it's already been a little over 3 months and my supply is still good. I'm not setting how long I should provide milk for my gal. Will just pump and nurse till supply runs dry. I'll be going back to work in less than 10 days, considering to order an Ameda pump from US and ship by vpost back. Been lemming for a Medela PIS for the longest time but I've read some reviews saying the motor is bulky and the Ameda works just as well for a fraction of PIS price. Ameda pump also comes with its special hygiene feature. It's the only pump in the market with this feature and it's so affordable. After conversion and shipping, it should be max SGD290. Still cheaper than my locally bought Swing. Sigh! Still thinking should buy or not?

Ameda, Yes or Not?


Update: Swing motor back in action. It's the second time it happened. Not sure when is the next time it will happen again.

My backup Avent manual

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Moo Moo Baby

Princess in a H&M cow fleece suit (courtesy of Frau Anna :D)

She wasn't in a very good mood since the fleece was thick and hot for our weather.
And then she just had her morning bath and was demanding her 1st nap of the day!



Tuesday, November 3, 2009

My Happy Baby!

With matching Cheeky Bon Bon mittens and booties





Monday, November 2, 2009

桂花果冻

Thanks to my greatest pal (aka Mrs Tan wannabe) I get to taste this :)
Btw, I kept the boxes for future replenishment. Hehe...

Baby Chloe vs Baby Xiang Ying

Visited Pauline and her Princess over the weekend. Gosh Pauline seems to be having an easier time than I was during my confinement. Don't know why but I dread having visitors come over during that phase. I was so tired all the time and having guests over meant that I could not nap and have to do a lot of talking. *LOL* Pauline my heroine delivered via natural and without epidural. Her delivery was a fast and smooth one. Well done gal!

Baby Chloe smiling to Auntie Jo.



Baby Chloe showing off her 婴桃小嘴.



The 3 week old and the 3 month old.
3 week one so gentle. 3 month one looks so gangsterish.
Making the "kill ppl face" and like going for 谈判.



Baby Chloe is the longest (ok tallest) baby I ever seen. 55cm at birth! My 湘颖 was like 48cm... cannot blame la. Look at her parents' height.



Super looks like her Dad. I always hear ppl say 1st daughter looks like Dad.
Maybe it's true? Mine too!



Catching a wink and 霸占 Chloe's beanie pillow.