The various outfits of my baby girl from birth to nearly 3 months..

Kayla is now nearly 3 months old, and I've recently started dressing her up.. I've come to realise that dressing Kayla is nearly equal to playing dress up with a doll. Make that a real living doll which pees and poos. This is totally uncharted territory for me as i am really not into dress up - my ideal outfit is a black singlet and old denim shorts. So I've tried taking pictures of Kayla's various outfits (what I've tried to mesh together anyway).

This is her in her first ever outfit... She was about a month and a half old before I started to dress her.. She basically lived in onesies up till then, mainly because she was in this tight flexed position which made wearing tights impossible.

This is her in her first dress..

Her in a onesie... Ok snowsuit.. How small is she..

We had a wedding on September 6th and this is what she wore... an Ella dress with a headband. She was already grumpy when I put the dress on, but lost it completely when I tried to put the headband.. It was hilarious

When my sister in law came to visit she bought Kayla a gorgeous sweater and pants from seed. Granted she can't yet fit the pants, but the sweater is just right. She wore this on Fathers Day Sept 14 to church. 

Since then, she has worn a number of different outfits, including this one from her brother's wardrobe.

On a side note, she had a professional photoshoot at 5weeks old. What a cutie. On one hand I cannot believe I did this, but on the other am so glad I did. 

My mum has left...

My mum left after 3 weeks of being with us. I will admit I sunk into some depression after I saw her plane take off. It definitely did not help that Kayla cried the ENTIRE way to the shops, AT the shops, and on the way home, non stop after the airport. Did I mention that I live a good half hour away from the airport?

It made me appreciate my mum more. When she was here she picked up Kayla every chance she got, changed her nappies, cooked for me, did dishes, took us shopping (a lot of shopping!!) , spoilt all of us, played with Jayden and generally just made life that much easier.

Thanks Ma! You are the best mother and grandmother, and my role model to model my parenting and life upon. You are always there for us and Jayden, Darren and Kayla are very blessed to have you as their grandma. We love you very much. Come back and visit soon, and we will also see you in Singapore! 

What a Beautiful Day

Jayden has had an ear infection this week. It gets a lot worse at night, to the point where he is woken up from sleep and clutches his ear and just moans and cries. As a parent it is so hard watching him go through that much pain, and Josh even sacrificed sleep and too him to the hospital in the middle of the night, getting home at 2am.

So anyway, after a week of cold, cold and more cold (even my carpet was freezing cold), that front finally passed and it has been pretty nice weather these past few days. It was awesomely sunny today, and he (and I) were going stir crazy cooped up at home, so I decided to take us to the park.

'We're going on a bear hunt

We're gonna catch a big one!

I not scared! I'm not scared!

What a beautiful day'

And what a beautiful day it was. These pictures are captured by my trusty iPhone and unedited so the quality isn't that great.. But I guess it will have to do.

On a side note, Kayla is still jaundiced, and she is now a month old. It is worrying, so she is going in for a blood test tomorrow. So I thought it would be good for some 'phototherapy' ie exposure to some sun. In case people are disapproving, it was cold and the sun was not scorching, and I only put her in this position for less than 10 minutes... 

Letters to my Darlings

Dear Kayla,
You are about 20 days old today. The midwife has just left, and now you weigh about 3.42kg.. nearly up to your brother's birth weight of 3.49kg (but not quite yet, still very very little).

I have to say, you are vastly different from your brother at this stage of his life. He was a hungry baby that seemed to wake up routinely every 2-3 hours, throughout both day and night, for the first 3-6 months of his life. You, on the other hand, have gotten into a routine whereby you sleep at 3-4 hours a stretch at night, but stay awake in the mornings between 8/9am up till 1/2pm.. then you pretty much sleep the other 21++ hours away.

Your day routine is as follows (like today):
9am - 1.30pm -  You wake up and feed sporadically (every 1/2 hours) until you get full.
1.30pm - 5pm - Nap
5pm/6pm - 7pm/8pm - Wake up and feed as much as you can
8/9pm - 12am - Sleep
12am - 12.30am - Feed and nappy change
12.30am - 3.30/4am - Sleep
3.30am - 4.00am - Feed and Nappy Change
4.00am - 7am - Sleep
7am - 7.30am - Feed and Nappy Change
7.30am - 9am - Sleep

Such a placid, sweet and serene baby. So amazing. Mummy and Daddy still cannot believe that you are ours, and we love you to the moon and back. Your big brother loves giving you multiple kisses and cuddles, and the occasional head knock (yes we tell him off). Anyway we love seeing you growing bit by bit.. the midwife even commented on how much you've grown and that your starting to get chubby arms! =)

Love,
Mummy



Dear Jayden,

You are exactly 3 and a half years old now (well, yesterday).

I have to say, you are coping so very well with the addition of Kayla. You swell up with pride everytime someone mentions that you are a 'kor kor' or a big brother now or that you have a little sister. You also tell me how when Kayla gets bigger you will teach her to fire a nerf gun, and play with your lego, and even build paper aeroplanes and fly them together, and it makes me want to reach out and give you a big hug and never ever let you go. I know it cant be easy not being the centre of attention anymore, but you make me so proud about how you react and how you love her.

You tell me multiple times a day how you love Kayla, and stop me when im feeding her or whenever you can to give her hugs, cuddles and kisses. Sometimes its annoying but you know what - I love seeing you love her. You are growing and maturing into this fully amazing kid with such a good sense of humour that I can actually hold a conversation with. It never ceases to amaze me how much you KNOW, and how much you REMEMBER.

Which brings me to my next (unrelated) point, never EVER grow up. When I jokingly tell you that you can never grow up and must always be my baby, you start frowning and very panicky/angrily tell me "NO I want to grow up mummy!!" So you can drink coke. So you can have coffee with Ah Ye when you get older. So you can call me "Mum" instead of "Mummy". Such wisdom in your words. Soon you will grow up and I think i will be clutching at your baby clothes and crying. But i know you need to.

You're amazing and it is such a privilege to be your mum.
I love you.

Love,
Mummy (Yes still Mummy, not Mum).
(Mummy FOREVER not mum).

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...