The Birth

Wow was I spot on... Anyway since I last blogged 2 weeks ago, we are happy and excited to announce the arrival of our dearest baby girl, Kayla Annie Pak (Chinese name still undecided as of yet), born on 3rd July 2014, weighing 2.81kg and 47cm long. 

Josh chose the name Kayla - it's a name he has loved for a long time - I mean if Jayden was a girl that's what his name was going to be. I chose the name Annie, after my dear grandmother (her great-grandmother) who practical raised me, and whom we will see in Singapore very soon! 

The night before, I had gone for a late night dessert outing to San Churros with my sisters, especially with Sam who had flown in for the birth, and actually got pulled over by the cops on my way home to do a breathalyser!! Yes at 39weeks pregnant!! 

Here is the full story of the birth..

Anyway, later that night, around 3-4am I woke up feeling the contractions starting. I rolled over and told Josh, who then promptly mumbled something and went back to sleep. Half an hour later, they were still coming, pain scale was prolly 2-3/10, but I thought I'd better properly wake Josh up. he proceeded to flip out, his first words being 'why didn't you tell me before!!!', before leaping out of bed, sending a bunch of emails, and packing. 

My response? Well I think I was still in denial.. I very calmly told him that I didn't think the baby was coming today and he should just go to work. Famous last words right?? 

He laughed at me and said fine, to call him if anything changed..

I even rang the midwife who told me that if the contractions didn't stop or the pain got more unbearable, I should ring them back immediately. 

Come 9.30am and the pain was now 5-6/10, so I rang my midwife who told me she would meet me at the hospital, so I packed my bag and made arrangements for Jayden and my mother-in-law drove me to the hospital at 10.45am. There the midwife said I was on the cusp (what does that even mean!!!!) and was undecided about sending me back home.. Well I gotta tell you the pain was about 7/10 so I opted to just stay there and she would check on me back at 4pm. She also loaded me up with paracetamol which she said would take the edge off, but if I were truly in labour it would not stop the pain, and contractions. 

Well despite the pain, I was still in denial, and really didn't want to bother Josh at work, so my mil stayed with me and we watched the tennis (go krygios!!!) together. And guess what the meds did not work, by 3pm I was 4cm dilated and the contractions were coming fast and strong. Finally accepting that the kid was coming I got transferred to the delivery room (which was really nice) and with a sigh of acceptance told Josh to come on down to the hospital.

After he came I had my epidural (aka magic heavenly sent needle) and I was able to rest for a few hours before the pushing started, which, I could feel without the pain. Heavenly I tell you!! And, finally, at precisely 7.55pm she came into the world.

The first night, I held her from 1am to 5am nonstop because she kept crying when I put her down. Welcome to the world my precious daughter.

This birth was so much better than my first, and it was so much easier, despite still having a second degree tear. I was able to be discharged at 11am the next day to the comfort of my home. 

This was her birth story. 

Deja Vu

I've sort of been in denial about when Baby Girl will arrive. I must admit, I love my current state of maternity life.. Which involves having a long nap in the afternoon (when Jayden sleeps which is normally 3 out of 4 afternoons) and going to bed at 8pm and lots of TV and relaxation.

I am not looking forward to having a newborn again, not even kidding, just imagine the next 3-6 months being equal to 1 long day, a day that never ends, with just brief rests in between.

The week before Jayden arrived we had a massive week of rain and storms.. Resulting in my roof leaking and Josh having to get up there and fix the patches. 

Well, the same thing happened last night! A severe weather warning was issued for the rest of the week and big gale force winds are predicted. We woke up to the roof leaking (in the same spot), and Josh had to take a day off to fix it. That's our floor at the moment, full of buckets, and towels.

Thank God for a handy and fit husband. 

Guess I'd better get my hospital bag packed.

Quick Update

It is now approaching mid June, and yes I have not blogged for awhile, but in my defense I have been busy.

Since my last post:
1. I have officially finished Sem 1, 2014 and the first half of 3rd year physiotherapy, completing Acute Care and Rehab modules (Whoo Hoo!!)

2. I am now 36weeks+2days pregnant. Little one is due anytime after this sunday... (but preferably on 7/7/2014).

3. I am on 'maternity' leave/ uni holidays now, which will last till october where I will undergo another 5 weeks of pain sciences (another subject).

4. We have (finally!) decided on a tentative name for our little girl. #whyisitsohardtoagree

So what have I been doing with myself?
Lets just say that the Nesting Instinct has kicked in, big time. In between my time with Jayden, I have been desperately trying to clean, arrange, rearrange every room in my house. I mean, every tiny little thing. I am no where near done and it is so frustrating when I think about the amount of work that needs to be done.

Its hard because other than Mondays and Fridays where he goes to childcare, Jayden is with me 24/7, and it is just impossible to get ANYTHING done when he is around. In fact as I am typing this my house looks like a tiny Jayden-size bomb has exploded and I am trying to curb my frustration in.

Anyway I hope to get the whole house done soon, and will post up piccies!!
Also, try asking a pregnant, hormonal woman to get rid of Jayden's old clothes.. a monumental task seeing that his things have been piling up since his birth and I now have 4 large 60L storage boxes bursting to the brim with his used clothes I need to sort... and give away...

Josh's Barber Shop

It's safe to say that after my last hair cutting fiasco, that haircuts in this household have been delegated to Josh.

I think I must have the most amazing, capable, trustworthy, handy husband around. Next to him, I'm like, useless. Not only is he kind and patient with Jayden, he is good at everything he tries - be it sports, to making a potato gun, to housework and cooking.. And now haircuts. Even on his own head.

This is how we've set up: a good movie Ice-Age, a seat in the bath tub and Jayden completely starkers, facing the screen..

The aftershot... (Yes josh shaved his own head yesterday).

'Smile Daddy!!!'

And another, just because Josh wouldn't crack a smile.

Basketball at the park with Dad

I actually bought the basketball from Kmart when Jayden was about.. 8-9months old. Early I know but in my defence, it was on special for something ridiculous. It was too big for him then but it was so cute to watch his little hands and feet try and roll the ball.  

On Thursday night he had a sleepover at Mums, as we went to the Stamford Grand for another precious Anniversary Night, so we were somewhat missing our little munchkin. (Yes it was only 1 NIGHT!! But after hearing about how he miserably howled at his grandmother "I lost my mummy tonight" and talking to him on the phone for 2 minutes, where he proceeded to tell me how much he loved me, it was heartwrenching!!)
So on Friday Josh took the day off, and we decided to pick him up from Emali early to just spend sometime with him. We took him to the park behind our house to play some basketball.

His hand-eye coordination is getting better. Now he can effectively bounce the ball but often neglects to use his left hand.

Here's him sitting on Daddy's ball, which is significantly bigger than his own bright orange basketball.

When he tries to make a shot he just throws the ball into the air and runs away, hoping it doesn't hit him on the head on the way down. Its hilarious to watch. I must say, it is so good seeing Daddy play. He's not too shabby himself.

Baby Pak

So... keeping up with my updating my little flailing blog.. we had a morphology scan on Valentines Day (around 20 weeks pregnant).. I was hoping to find out the sex of our baby but with our experience with Jayden the last time (he was too overly active - we had to wait till he was born) I didnt have much hope.

Like Jayden, this one kept on turning.. and moving.. and tossing around.. the scan was quite a detailed one, and the sonographer had to take a whole heap of photographs of the baby. Well, surprise surprise, baby moved so much that one point the poor frustrated sonographer exclaimed "My goodness, will this baby stop moving!!" 

Ah well, lets just say I was mortified and yet secretly proud of Baby.

Towards the end of the scan (around the 1 and half hour mark - yes because it took thaaat long for sufficient pictures to be taken) I asked the anticipated question... "Do we know the sex?" With that this long-suffering lady embarked on another 15minute search 'down there',  only to conclude that she thought it was a girl but couldnt be sure. So, she got her supervisor in to take a closer look. Her supervisor after peering at the image, then goes "Congratulations, I'm 90% sure its a girl."

Stunned silence. 

"A baby girl?!! What will I do with a baby girl?? I dont have any fashion sense, can't braid my own hair, and from what I've heard about girls, they are harder to raise.." Well, and its no secret that Josh wanted another boy. His reaction was about the same as mine ' stunned silence followed by "well this is INTERESTING..." ha ha..

Well, so.. we are 90% sure that we are have a Baby Girl. Here she is - my gorgeous child anyway, and we will look forward to this adventure together.   

To my baby princess.. 

I know Daddy and myself weren't really expecting to have a girl, and we still don't really know what to expect, as long as you are happy and healthy, we will be happy. You certainly kick and move alot, not much more than your brother!  The difference was to me, that when that nice lady was poking and prodding you, you didnt react as fervently/indignantly as he did. But you waited, and was patient. Only after about 6-8 hard prods did you react and kick out, and even then it felt different, more like "okay i dont like this, please stop!!" instead of "STOP poking me!!" Well right now Mummy is at 24 weeks - only about 3 more months to go before we see you face-to-face, but this we can tell you now - we love you already.

Love,

Mummy and Daddy

Happy (really belated) Birthday to my Baby Boy!!!!

I know this post is really late, but before I could blink summer holidays were over, uni started in February and it was intensive - literally 9am -5pm, 5 days a week, and a whole lot of study after hours for pre-clinicals, which is why I have not had the time to blog. Well, its now midway into my first clinical placement - I've finally raised my eyes and looked away from my study-worries and now I cant believe its nearly April!!!

So here goes...

Happy Birthday to my darling baby boy..
You have seriously grown so much!! Mummy and Daddy have had the awesome privilege of being able to witness you grow physically and mentally. You are maturing into such a sensitive, caring little boy. Yes I said 'little' and 'baby' because no matter how much you protest and tell me that "I'm not a baby anymore, I'm a big boy now mummy', you will always be my first-born baby.

I love how you laugh, and play with your play-dough and paints. I love how gentle you are with the babies around you, and how you profess your love for your coming baby. I love how you love rough-housing around with Daddy and how cheeky you are, especially when it comes to throwing your soft toys at Daddy's face and anticipating his reaction and running away.. I love your smile and how you always greet me with "HIIIII MUMMY!!!" when you come home from Emali or Ah Ma's house.

I secretly love how you come into our bed in the earliest times each morning and snuggle with us (dont tell Daddy). I also secretly love your independence, strong will and how you assert yourself.

You are amazing, and we love everything about you.
Here's to another wonder-filled year ahead.

Love,
Mum and Dad

So anyway, this year was special because we were able to celebrate his actual birthday in Singapore with my family.. and my mum planned a party and ordered a cake.. here it is..




When we returned to Adelaide, I organised a small party for his friends sometime in February.. This was the waterbomb game.. I what a good sport he was, even when a whole bucket of water was poured on him ha ha (I was half-expecting tears).  

Daddy waterbombing (mummy)


and then showing Jayden how to do it.


Mummy throwing back..

Time for Cake: (Yes I made the cake (from a box), yes the other one cannot compare (hah):


I think he was happy.. and so were we. Thank you to all his friends for coming and helping him celebrate.. it was amazing - you guys all are.

Here's to this year ahead!!