6mths (3mths 19days) milestones

Happy 6mths my lil pumpkin!! 

She's now exactly 6mths actual (3mths 19days corrected). All these milestones were achieved prior to this date so that means she's progressing faster than her corrected milestones. So she's like in between her corrected and actual age in terms of milestones. 

-sit up on her own (with the support of pillows and she won't fall over/with little support from us)

-she's able to hold her bottle 

-she's knows how to pull her bottle out from her mouth when she doesn't want to drink 

-she loves tummy time now 

-she can flip from her back to tummy... Tummy to back 

-she's able to lift her butt up (in preparation for crawling) 

-she now kicks her leg while on her tummy (in preparation for crawling) 

-she can lift her head up pretty high 

-she's too big for her 3mths clothes... But too small for her 6mths clothes 

-she loves her hands; loves to suck them and make smacking sounds 

-she can grab her toys and put them in her mouth 

-able to grab things (eg: chopsticks) and holds them for a very long time 

-she laughs and talks ALOT 

-she replies you when you talk to her 

-when u prop her up with pillows and she slides down... She attempts to sit up by using her tummy muscles to get herself up 

-went for her first baby spa swim 

-and just today she learnt how to "fly" (refer to second picture!) her back muscles are so strong and when she's up in the flying position her legs will automatically straighten, arms straighten too! Hahaha super cute 

This is her attempting to use her abs to sit up properly! Like a boss this one 

Mummy's sweet lil angel (most of the time when she isn't screamin her lungs out). I love you so much and nothing will ever change. 

Oh wow it just hit me... I've been breastfeeding for 6mths!! WHOOOO it's my celebration milestone too! 

Hope

Today was another day out with baby G. Seriously this is one baby that goes out so often! Haha but I enjoy bringing her out plus she's pretty easy when she's out. Just that the amount of things I have to bring out is madness!! 

Her baby bag: 

-1 milk bottle of express breast milk (ebm) 

-bottle warmer 

-flask of hot water 

-her water bottle 

-pacifier 

-diapers n wipes 

-change of clothes 

-cooler bag wif ice pack n extra bottle of milk 

-my breast pump 

-baby carrier 

So just yesterday i actually nursed her in a nursing room!! Trying this new way where I only bring one bottle of milk out and the next time she needs to feed I will breast feed her directly. Pretty happy to report it was successful!! Because I nursed at Taka's nursing room which is super clean n comfy! Big plus points for me. My next achievement is to nurse her in public with a nursing cover! GO ME! 

Anyways today headed for lunch with my mum and her friends. Then dropped her off to have tea and then I took the car with baby G behind and met fellow preemie mummy phyllis. Funny story how I got to know her. I was randomly surfing Instagram when I came across her profile and saw pictures of her baby boy in an sgh swaddle. Browsed further and found out she gave birth at 30weeks! So another fellow preemie mummy and she is also my age! So I reached out to her (hoping I didn't freak her out haha) and found out we have so many things in common and bam we clicked instantly! 

Today was my first time taking baby G out without my mum or husband for a short while (okay I cheated I had help from phyllis too) but hey it's an achievement okay! I think baby G knew I was alone so she was so well behave that she slept through as I drove and while we were out having llaollao. 

Then we headed to pick my mum and headed to the hospital to visit baby K! Baby G and I are probably the only ones who get to see baby K up close since we are allowed to go in being ex patients. All the nurses always get so happy when they see baby G. I guess they feel so proud of them. Like their hardwork of looking after them during the first few weeks/months of their life has paid off when they see them grow so big and strong. Everyone praised her and said she's super talkative. Baby G was busy talking to everyone and even met her physiotherapist upstairs which did an informal assessment for her and said she's hitting her milestones way before her corrected age! So yay (shall do her milestone update in another post). 

Baby G got a lil fussy so the nurses handed her back to me. And then she decided to do a poop explosion all over my leg and shorts!!!! OMG her poop stained her Burberry shoes and luckily I managed to move my leg in time if not she would have pooped on my Ash pony hair shoe! 

So I was in such a mess just now. Thankful that Phyllis helped dress baby G up while I cleaned the poop mess on the floor. And in the midst of cleaning another mummy who's going through the nicu journey spoke to me. And then another mummy who gave birth over the weekend to a pair of twins also came to speak to me and Phyllis. They were so upset and helpless so we just shared our stories. This is why I named baby G Hope too. She gave me hope when I found out I was pregnant and I hope through her nicu journey she can give other families hope too. 

The other mummy told me it's very heartening to see baby G striving so well despite what she has went through. It gave them some form of encouragement. 

Here's baby K! He's so tiny and cuteeeee!! Can't believe baby G used to be this tiny too!! Ahhhhh 

Possibly her boyfriend in the future? Heehee! K we shall start with playdates and see how. Plus there's another baby boy to choose from. Hahahahaha #crazymothers 

But it's also because of the amazing medical team and nurses who helped us get through the nicu journey. They love these babies so much and the amount of love, care and attention they give to them is so heartening. I'm always so grateful to them because they really took such great care of her and guided us through our journey. And they are the nicest and friendliest bunch of nurses I have ever met! 

Any mummies who are going through the nicu journey and need someone to talk to please feel free to email me at yukimi_11@hotmail.com ! 

See no touch.

Question of the day: would you allow a stranger to touch your child without your permission? (Inspired by http://timothythiah.com) 

I'm sure many of us parents have read the blog post he wrote about strangers touching your baby without permission (if you havnt go read it). Then I came across Hot FM 91.3's Facebook page and they too posted this question saying that if someone touched my child I should take it as a compliment as I made a cute child. I found this statement super offensive and very thoughtless to us parents (a statement obviously made by someone who doesn't have a child). 

Firstly let's get this right... What sparked him to write about this topic is because a stranger carried his child WITHOUT permission. I think it's just rude to touch a stranger's property (eg: if you see a stranger carrying a nice bag and you wanna take a look at it you don't simply touch the bag without their permission right?) and this is a baby we are talking about here. Shouldn't the parents have the basic respect from an absolute stranger to at least ask before they touch their child!? Even our personal friends will ask us permission before they carry baby G. Friends... So strangers are expected to do the same thing too. 

Secondly, people who comment saying that they as parents are being overprotective, paranoid and might as well leave the child at home if you don't want others to touch are just insensitive people who do not have children of their own. Children fall ill really easily from the slightest exposure of germs. We don't even know what the stranger touched before they touch your child. And as a parent of a premature baby (just like fighter's parents) of course I will get a bit edgy if some unknown hands reach out to wanna touch my child. Premature babies have gone through a lot during the beginning days of their life and no they don't need to be exposed to your filthy germs thank you very much. 

Thirdly, saying that if a stranger wants to touch your child you should take it as a compliment cause that means you made a cute baby... Well there are a lot of ways to compliment your child wad. Why must it be in a form of a physical touch? Then you wait till you have your own child and see if you will still think this way. 

Forthly, I have read a case where a complete stranger, without asking the permission of the parents, actually had the nerve to physically carry the child away from it's parents and brought the child back to their own table!! Like excuse me wouldn't you as a parent be super traumatised and upset?! There are so many cases of children being abducted these days. Yes call us paranoid or whatever but we have the right to be! 

What I cannot stand are these people who call us parents paranoid and crazy are people who don't even have children of their own. Obviously when it's not your child it's easy to say such things. But when you have your own child.. Trust me it will be a different case. 

Thankfully for us we have never encountered any strangers wanting to touch baby G. I guess cause she is always locked in her pram so people have not attempted to yet. But I did have this discussion with my husband and trust me he will go ape shit at that stranger who attempts to touch/carry her without asking. I'm sure if you ask nicely we may consider. That is why we always hang an antibacterial gel on her pram. Even as her parents we always make sure our hands are clean before we handle her. So obviously we expect strangers to respect this too. 

To summarize... It's just basic manners to ask before you touch someone's property or child. And then it's up to the parents themselves to decide if they want to let you touch their child. And please remember they aren't obliged to say yes just because you were polite to ask cause it is still their child at the end of the day. 

Lightweight party at sgh 2014

On the 6th of sept we went to our first party at the hospital. It's a celebration for all these lil warriors which the hospital holds yearly. When I first got the invite I knew exactly what I wanted baby G to wear! It was an underwater themed party. And if you know me well enough I LOVE Ariel from little mermaid. So I hunted for a mermaid costume for baby G and that was what she wore (: 

It has been 3mths since she left the hospital and it was the first time she saw the nurses and doctors again. They had so much praises for her and all exclaimed how cute she was in her costume!!! She was declared "best dress" of the day by the team and she won the 3rd price in the lucky draw!! 

I've never won anything in my 22years of life. I wanted to resign to my sad fate when they were going to announce the top 3 prices. I thought "aiya I guess we have no luck". But bam they announced her name and I was doing my happy dance inside. Hahahahaha eh first time winning something okay!!! Of course I was a proud mama! LOL 

Some of the nurses carried her and "air swimmed" her. She was enjoying herself and kept smiling and squealing away! She was so poofed out by the end of the party and she slept through the night. 

One of my favorite family photos (:

And can you tell I was in Little mermaid Ariel's colour scheme! Haha 

I have such gratitude to the whole nicu team of sgh. I believe I can speak for my husband too. She was so well taken off during her 2mths stay at the hospital. When we couldn't be there with her 24/7 they were like her second mothers who loved her just as much as us. The way they care for these little warriors are amazing. They have so much love and dedication for these tiny beings. And they guided us so well as to how to care for her when she came home and especially since we were first time parents too. Thank you so much to the nicu team of sgh. No words can express our gratitude to you. 

*dam deleted the pics of the nurses off my phone. Check out my facebook to see the faces who cheered these little warriors on* 

Reflections Wednesday

I have been following both youtubers AprilAthena and Bubzbeauty for quite a while. And when I found out they were pregnant I was estactic cause finally I can watch them and go "ah OMG totally understand how you feel man!" Cause I was pregnant around the same time as them as well. And fun fact baby G was born 5 days before April's Liam when she was due in June. I just watched bubzbeauty's vlog on her newborn and couldn't help but tear and totally understood how she felt when she had to leave her baby Issac in the hospital for an extra day/not being able to have your baby by your side after delivering. Likewise for me, I couldn't see baby G on the day I delivered and I was jealous and so upset that I couldn't have my baby by my side. And when I saw her through the incubator my heart ached so much. 

I had to walk away from the hospital for 2months and a bit without my baby. It was devastating and so hard. Yes it got easier but as I constantly reflect on our journey I always ask myself "how the hell did I get through those months!!?" Cause it was excruciating. 

Even up to now I marvel at how far she has come for a tiny being. Honestly I still marvel at the fact that I actually carried this lil warrior in my belly for 7months. I still find it unbelievable that she's even out!! Like I can actually hold her. Sometimes when I look at her I need to touch her a few more times to make sure she is real! 

A couple of days ago I actually woke up and when I saw my husband carry her, I thought I was still in a dream in my sleep. Like "what I gave birth to such an amazing being!!?" So yea it has been 4months and it hasn't sunk in DEEP within my brain that I have a daughter, we went through such a trying but amazing journey as a family and that she's home in my arms. 

Some mummies get "sick" of being with their child (those stay at home mums) 24/7 but for me I enjoy every second of it! Though I'm not by her side all the time cause I have so much help from my mum and mil, I still know that I can just walk into the room where she is and give her a lil kiss and go back to my "me" time. 

Then jus today my husband and I went to buy diapers and we bought both size S and M (M is till 11kgs and she's 6kg now) my husband made a comment "soon we have to buy L already." The thought of her growing up so fast before our eyes just gave a lil pinch in my heart. But I'm also anticipating her toddling days!! I can totally imagine her wearing those pretty dresses she has and running around. Too cute I can dieeeeee. 

My precious baby G, mummy and daddy has got so much love for you. We may not be perfect parents but I assure you we will do our best and give you the best. You have fought hard for your life and life will continue to get hard as you grow up. But always remember that mummy, daddy and your family will always stand by you and you are never alone. We love you and continue to be amazing our lil angel.