Happy one month, Rowena Kaur Kler!

Rowena is one month old today. Actually, she was born on the 25th of April, but the Hindu priest did some calculation and we had to do her I month rituals today - which means 1 day less of confinement. Clap clap!

We had some prayers at home, just among the family. Even daddy could not make it as he had to work. Basically, this ceremony is to bless the baby and to chase away any evil that may surround her. Everyone had to whisper Rowena's name into her ear 3 times and feed her with some honey. Harvynna had some honey too. Harvynna was very interested in the whole ceremony. She sat next to me and was asking, 'Why uncle xxxxx' and even demanded a banana from the priest. Harvynna - whispering Rowena's name

After the ceremony, we went to the Hindu temple to present Rowena to the Goddess. It was Rowena's first outing(other than the visit to the dr).

Rowena will have another ceremony(the Sikh baptism ceremony), whereby she will be baptised as a Sikh. We will probably do that at the end of the year when we go to Kota Kinabalu (daddy's hometown) in the Sikh temple. We decided not to travel now as it would be quite tough travelling with Harvynna and the baby. The last time we went back to Sabah in November last year, Harvynna was running all over the plane and screaming that I felt like jumping off the plane!

So fast, 1 month has gone by. Before we know it, Rowena will be crawling, walking, running and talking. Time really flew by since Harvynna was born and now she is an active little toddler. It will be exciting to see the 2 girls growing up and playing together.

A new baby and a toddler

Rowena turned 3 weeks old on Tuesday. How time flies. That also means only 1 week more of confinement for me. Finally, get to go out. I have been pretty good and following the confinement stuff. Its only 1 week more, anyway. Time really flew by this time, probably because Harvynna was around as well.

Rowena has been more wakeful now. She hardly sleeps in the day, and needs more attention compared to the earlier weeks. Am trying to be a smarter parent this time e.g. not picking her up as soon as she cries, so that she will not get used to the body warmth. Also, tend to leave her on her own more. That seems to backfire now, as she demands more attention and I am so exhausted and my back is killing me. Now I remember why many mothers abandon breastfeeding at this time as it is quite tiring. But I also remember that the hardest time is now and they will soon pass this phase. (keeping my fingers crossed) I think she is also going through a growth spurt now.

This morning, Rowena refused to sleep and was fussing the whole morning. I was so exhausted and really wanted her to take her afternoon nap. The thing with the pacifier is that it keeps popping out from her mouth and then she starts crying again. I could have sworn that I woke up about 1000 times last night just to push the pacifier in. Seems like I am hooked on the pacifier now as it helps to put her to sleep. I gave Rowena one big yell and immediately she closed her eyes and slept. Felt guilty after that!

Harvynna on the other hand is slowly showing her jealousy again. Sometimes, She will hug and kiss the sister,’I sayang Rowena’ or ‘Don’t cry Rowena’. At other times, she will smack Rowena’s head or squeeze her foot or pinch her. Today she told Rowena, ‘Why you bully mummy, Rowena?’ ‘Don’t cry,sleep’

Harvynna has really grown into a little girl since Rowena’s birth. She speaks very well now and behaves in a more grown up way. She craves for my attention at times but its hard dividing the attention especially when Rowena needs a lot of attention now.

A new baby and a toddler

Rowena turned 3 weeks old on Tuesday. How time flies. That also means only 1 week more of confinement for me. Finally, get to go out. I have been pretty good and following the confinement stuff. Its only 1 week more, anyway. Time really flew by this time, probably because Harvynna was around as well.

Rowena has been more wakeful now. She hardly sleeps in the day, and needs more attention compared to the earlier weeks. Am trying to be a smarter parent this time e.g. not picking her up as soon as she cries, so that she will not get used to the body warmth. Also, tend to leave her on her own more. That seems to backfire now, as she demands more attention and I am so exhausted and my back is killing me. Now I remember why many mothers abandon breastfeeding at this time as it is quite tiring. But I also remember that the hardest time is now and they will soon pass this phase. (keeping my fingers crossed) I think she is also going through a growth spurt now.

This morning, Rowena refused to sleep and was fussing the whole morning. I was so exhausted and really wanted her to take her afternoon nap. The thing with the pacifier is that it keeps popping out from her mouth and then she starts crying again. I could have sworn that I woke up about 1000 times last night just to push the pacifier in. Seems like I am hooked on the pacifier now as it helps to put her to sleep. I gave Rowena one big yell and immediately she closed her eyes and slept. Felt guilty after that!

Harvynna on the other hand is slowly showing her jealousy again. Sometimes, She will hug and kiss the sister,’I sayang Rowena’ or ‘Don’t cry Rowena’. At other times, she will smack Rowena’s head or squeeze her foot or pinch her. Today she told Rowena, ‘Why you bully mummy, Rowena?’ ‘Don’t cry,sleep’

Harvynna has really grown into a little girl since Rowena’s birth. She speaks very well now and behaves in a more grown up way. She craves for my attention at times but its hard dividing the attention especially when Rowena needs a lot of attention now.

Happy Mothers Day!

A mother is GODs love in action. She looks with her heart and feels with her eyes. She's the bank where her children deposit all their worries abd hurt. A mother's love last forever.

This year marks my 3rd Mothers Day and I have my 2 beautiful babies to celebrate with.

Happy Mothers Day!




Pic 1: taken 6 may
Pic 2: taken 13 May
Pic 3: Taken 14 May

Sleepless in Melaka

Rowena is 2 weeks old today. We took her to see the paediatrician for her 1 week check up. (a little late!) She is doing fine and is now 3.85 kg.

For the past 2 weeks, she has been a good baby, waking to have a feed and goes to sleep immediately. But come yesterday, she woke up at 12.30 am and did not go to sleep till almost 5.00am. She seemed rather uncomfortable - will feed for a while, sleep for 15 minutes then wake up again. Wonder if it is colic. Tried everything, from rubbing some Yu Yee oil on her tummy, rocking her, swaddling her but nothing seemed to work. My mum took turns to rock her as well. Suddenly, all the memories of Harvynna not sleeping and crying at that age came to my mind. I remembered how I almost lost my mind when Harvynna was about 2 -3 weeks as she was hungry all the time and i used to associate crying with hunger.

Finally, I resorted to something which I am totally against - the pacifier. Rowena sucked on it with such vigour. The only thing is when the pacifier drops off, she starts crying again. So it was back to square one. In the end i swaddled her really tightly, as I realised she was pushing the pacifier out with her hands. That seemed to work and she finally felt asleep. Phew!

I wonder if this is a one off episode or the start of a new one.

Rowena

Rowena - 27 April
Rowena - 29 April
Rowena - 1 May Rowena - 3 May

Since I do nothing but feed, burp, try to squeeze in some sleep, will post later but update some pictures of Rowena.

Harvynna and Rowena

We introduced Harvynna to Rowena on 26th April (Day 2) as I was too exhausted from the delivery on the first day.

Aunty Philo (the babysitter) had already told Harvynna that she had a baby sister and was preparing her. Harvynna came in to the hospital room and saw me holding the baby. She was ok with that and came to touch the baby, saying, ‘Baby Girl, Baby Baby!’. She did not like Daddy or Nani (my mother) carrying the baby. She would scream and roll on the floor screaming for daddy to carry her.

When it was time to feed the baby, she climbed on the bed demanding for ‘Mummy’s susu’. Sigh! ‘Just a little bit more!’

The worse was when there were many visitors that came to see the baby especially once I got home and that got her really worked up. She would scream when anyone tried to carry Rowena. She would shout ‘Put baby back in basket’. ‘Don’t touch my baby’. She sat next to Rowena the whole time. She was being a possessive sister.

Now, after a week, she has gotten used to her baby sister and keeps coming to kiss her and touch her. Although sometimes, she can be a little rough as she treats Rowena like one of her dolls. Harvynna has been helpful with looking after the baby e.g. throwing Rowena’s diaper, soaking the cotton in water to clean her etc. She is fitting into the big sister role quite well!

Oops-got to go, Rowena just did a super explosive poo!

Baby Rowena is born!

Our precious little princess, Rowena Kaur Kler was born on April 25th at 4.45pm at 40 weeks and 2 days.

Weight: 3.65kg
Length: 50.5 cm

Rowena was healthy and has lots and lots of hair. Harvynna adores

her little sister but is of course a little jealous.

Rowena's birth

Long overdue but nevertheless!

Our precious little princess Rowena Kler was born on 25 April 2006 at 4.45pm, after a long, long wait (40 weeks and 2 days).

Was getting very anxious as my due date was getting nearer and nearer and there were absolutely no signs. Was on mc from the week of 17 April in anticipation.Went for the doctors check up on 22 April and he mentioned that there was no indication and set April 28 as the cut of date - no sign of baby coming out, then we have to do a c-section.

As I had been planning to have a natural delivery this time, we decided to wait it out. Then on the EDD, 23 April, I had a show in the evening and went to the hospital. Upon doing the monitoring, i had mild contraction every 4 minutes and they decided to admit me. It was very mild so it was bearable. The next day, the cervix was only opened 1 cm and they decided to discharge me. We scheduled an ARM for tuesday morning

That night was miserable, as the contractions were every 4-8 minutes and quite painful. Could not sleep the whole night. Anyway, the next morning, we left for the hospital as planned. We dropped Harvynna off at the babysitter.

This time the contractions (although still categorised as mild) was getting more painful esp when I stand. Felt like the old wound was going to rupture.

At the hospital, the CTG showed the same mild contractions every 4 minutes. The dr checked and saw that the cervix had dilated 3 cm and went ahead to burst the water bag. Was transferred to the labour room at 11.00am.

Dr Guna came in at 1.00pm to check. Cervix dilated only another 1 cm. He toldme he will come in at about 3.00pm to check and to decide what to do. So at 3.00pm, cervix was only at 5 cm. We had to make a decision. He was willing to wait but we were also aware that should we do a C section after 5.00pm, the charges will be doubled!! It was something we had to decide our selves and also that the longer I wait, more stress was put on the old wound. In the end, we decided to go for the C section. That was about 4.00pm. The Operation theatre team came downand took over. It was like a scene from the ER. Everyone was rushing and wheeled me to the Operation Theatre like it was an emergency.

Decided to take a spinal anesthesia. At 4.30pm, Dr guna came in and started the surgery. At 4.45pm, little Rowena was born. She was not as loud as Harvynna! The surgery was a little complicated as after my first C section, some if the internal organs got stuck together and the dr had to seperate them. Hubs saw the dr seperating the organs, tying them up and pushing them aside. Even the stitching back took a lot of time, and it was painful. Immediately, after the surgery was over,I could feel the pain and was shivering.

The 2nd C section was extremely painful as they cut at the same place. It took 1 week for the pain to go away. Harvynna likes to look at my wound and say, 'Dr cut Mummy's stomach for Rowena to get out!'