the neverfull

Mommy can't really remember what exactly happened in the 2nd month. Days seemed just passed with feeding, pumping and more feeding.

Suddenly, baby darren began to drink a lot. i also dunno why, my stomach seemed not full even though i just finished 120ml, so i cried for more milk. mommy gave me a new name, called "neverfull" cos i can cry for milk every 1-2 hour. the most memorable event is that mommy brought me out with her to the salon then dinner. within the 6 hours we were outside, i finished 4 feedings of 120ml!

see, i am so hungry that i can even eat my own napkin!

I want to hold my own bottle!
Oh... where is my milk???

This is mommy's favourite picture of me. see my sunshine smile.

The Little Botak

Daddy and mommy decide to shave me botak shortly after one month. my hair will be used to make into chinese brushes. and thanks to wai po for the good bargain, i got one set of brushes which daddy and mommy said will give me as wedding present when i grow up. and an extra one for myself. but after the shave, mommy suddenly regretted cos i got a lot of hair and my hair was so smooth and silky to touch. and mommy keeps regretting that they shouldn't allow that uncle to shave my eyebrow and i got very nice shape.

just before the shave and i still dunno what i will be going through later, still happily sleeping

I've become a little botak, but i am still blur abt what's happening to me
that's my precious hair

The First Month

The first month, or the first one week was quite traumatic for us as new parents.

firstly, the baby. when darren was discharged, the nurse oredi informed us abt the slight jaundice appearing around the cheek area. upon returning home, as my milk has not come, wai po tried to give him the pre-mixed formula milk from the hospital. but everytime, little darren only drank a bit, abt 10 to 20ml, and he was taking forever to finish that little bit. Darren was so sleepy that he didn't even wake up for milk most of the time. so the very next day, we went to his PD, Dr Ong WH for check up. when he opened up his diaper, there was little reddish dot there which the doctor said the urine has crystalised. it was a big worry to hear that as he is on the verge of dehydration. so Dr Ong suggested we go to the parentcraft to let the nurse there to help us. and at the same time, he drew some blood for jaundice test.

Wai po trying hard to feed me but i am just too sleepy


when we went to the parentcraft, the nurse helped me massage the breasts and pumped out the first milk - colostrum. To my surprise, the milk has already come and quite a lot too. meanwhile, they also tried to feed the baby via bottle as well as cup.

that afternoon, the jaundice report also came out and the jaundice level has gone up which also explained why he was so lethargic to drink. The nurse at the PD's clinic asked us to continue to monitor him as well as going back for review in two days' time.

tat evening, my confinement lady came. auntie Jin Hua took over the duty of feeding little darren, yet she also had not much success in doing so. he was still drinking so little. that nite, hy bought an electric pump for me. and since then, i started the routine of being a cow and religiously pumping milk every 3 hours.

when we went for the 2nd jaundice review, the result was even higher and since baby darren was still not feeding well, the doctor suggested to admit him for phototherapy as well as monitoring of his feeding by the nurse. so there we are, back at TMC. This time round, we opted for single room as well so that while Darren was having his suntanning at the nursery, we can stay with him and passed milk to the nurse to feed him. and the amount of milk he drank increased too, maybe due to the fact that he was under the light all the time.

Baby Darren under the light

when darren was discharged, the jaundice level went down but was not fully gone yet. so we still got to monitor him. so basically the next week was in and out of PD's clinic for jaundice level. The worrying part is even after the first session of phototherapy, the jaundice returned the next week which the doctor commented it could be due to the breast milk. so being kiasu parents, we sent him back to TMC for another round of phototherapy. it was so uncommon that even the nurse at level 4 (the children ward) recognised us. however this round of phototherapy was not very successful. the jaundice level only went down a bit. since darren was drinking well and appearing well enough, the doctor discharged him to be monitored and do sunbathing at home.

while baby darren faced the problem with jaundice and poor feeding, mommy was not so well too. when mommy was discharged on sunday, she brought home a little urine bag as well as the bladder muscle was not fully recovered from the delivery. After the milk has come, she also faced a whole lot of problems associated with breastfeeding. first of all, the engorgement, then the little blisters on nipples due to wrong technique of expressing. on top of all, the mastitis! mommy wasn't even aware of that untill Mrs Wong saw the breast when we went to the parentcraft. anyway, mommy became the regular at the parentcraft centre until the nurse there recognised her.

however the topmost problem we faced is that baby darren refused to latch on. initially it was your poor feeding. then the confinement lady auntie jing hua bottle-fed you so that mommy can rest. so by the time mommy was well enough towards the end of the confinement, you screamed so loudly everytime mommy tried to put you to breasts. so much so that we almost gave up. we can only tried to latch as often as possible so that you can get used to it. yet, everytime we still had to feed you through bottle.

mommy has really no idea how she survived the confinement month, with so much discomfort from the confinement traditions as well as the pain from engorgement. but the sweetest return she got is that baby darren finally started to drink more. toward the 3rd week, it really delighted us so much that darren started drinking 100ml per feed. and he started putting on more weight.

finally, it's the full month! it was an achievement to both the mommy and the baby after so many things happened. and it's really something worth celebrating for.

our family photo at the full month celebration

Baby Darren is on the magazine cover!

the look-alike meter!

just find out this website and let's see who darren looks like? Mommy or daddy?

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

the arrival of our bundle of joy

our dear darren was born unexpectedly on 9 May 2008 at 1523 even though his expected date was 31 May. Daddy said he was too eager to celebrate the mother's day by breaking the waterbag. at 530am on 9 May, mommy, while still lying on the bed, suddenly felt water trailng down and quickly called out to the daddy. and the super sleepy daddy still asked " are you sure it's the waterbag?" when i confirmed it, i think all his sleep bugs disappeared!

we quickly grabbed the hospital bag and called the cab, with a towel in between my legs, we reached TMC at 555am. I was sent to the observation room immediately for the preparation work. once done, i was transferred to the labor ward no. 2. initially, i still happily chit chat with hy then the pain got worse. at 7am plus, we decided to have the epidural. then nurse told us the anaesthetist was stuck in the traffic jam. finally he came at 8am plus to administer the epidural.

when my gynae, Dr Eunice Chua, came at 9am plus, I was only 2cm dilated. She ordered the nurse to put some drugs in the drip to hasten the contraction so that i can dilate faster. after that, it's all a waiting game.

still manage to smile and pose before the actual pain comes!

In between, the nurse came in to check and found out that the heart beat of the baby was not very stable and asked me to lie on the left side. got once the nurse even commented that if the heart beat kept falling, i might need to go for a emergency c-sect which really gave us a scare. luckily the heart beat finally picked up eventually.

at 1pm plus, the gynae came to check again and i was 6cm dilated! oh, it's still a long way to go and she estimated that i am going to deliver around 5pm. soon after she left, i suddenly felt the dull pain like going to pass motion. when a nurse came, i told her abt it and she checked my cervix, it's suddenly 10cm dilated which means i am ready to push!

after that, everything went like a whirlwind.... the gynae came, plus the midwife and the husband, all started shouting "PUSH!!" then after a few pushes, someone put something heavy on my chest, then i realised our baby Darren has been brought into this world!

so on this day and at this moment, 9 May 2008 1523pm, our baby darren has arrived in this world. the nurse weighed you 2.695kg, measured your length at 48cm and head circumference at 33cm.

even after more than 3 mths, when mommy wrote this post, i still found the whole thing incredible. it's so like a dream. when both daddy and mommy laid our first sight on you, we know we are going to love you so much.

Baby Darren's first cry and see his rocket head!

our first family photo

the very first post!

being a very lazy mom, i only thot of doing this blog for our little prince darren today. nonetheless, it's a good start to note down every milestone of his life.


as our dear little prince is soundly sleeping in the room, the mommy here can't help but reminisce the days passed ever since he was born. I shall begin from the day he was born.