Baby Lorenzo full month and confinement month

Dear Diary,

Baby Lorenzo is almost 2 months old! Time pass really fast with a baby at home. No doubt, he is a handful. Lucky i got a very helpful confinement nanny. I was in a lot of pain during the first 2 weeks at home. My body felt as if it was torn into many pieces. My internal organs felt like they were all over the place and all I wanted to do was just lay in bed. My confinement nanny was really helpful. At first, i really couldnt get used to an additional person living in my home, in Lorenzo's room. I was full of doubt and wary of everything. It was really stressful till i opened up and started communicating with her. She did more than what she was supposed to do and went the extra mile. She helped me to mop the floor, sweep the floor and even pick up bumbie and clover's poop.

I was so attached to my baby that every night i had to watch him drink his last bottle of milk before i go to sleep. Early in the morning, i would wake up to watch him drink his milk before i continue my rest. My confinement month was quite ok as i cheated and went against a lot of confinement rules.

Confinement rules:
1. Wear long pants and long sleeves full day all day -  i wore shorts and t shirt. the weather was burning hot to wear long pants and long sleeves!

2. Wear footwear at home - i wore socks(i guess its the same?) for the first week and gave up already. Too hot!

3. No fan - oh my goodness, the weather for that month was too humid to not on the fan for ventilation. I slept with air-con anyway

4. No bath for a month - oh my goodness...  dont want to be marinated in my own stinky self. i do practice personal hygiene. anyway i bought the herbal bath to bathe.

5. No outdoors - I had to breathe. So i went out for an hour or two and bought some groceries.

 The weather was really humid to follow those rules. i do believe personal hygiene comes first. I felt very trapped during that time and i do cry sometimes when i was alone in the room. I tried my best to wipe away my tears and look at my baby. It was all worth it.

Finally the big day arrived, Baby full month party. It was as if planning for another wedding ceremony. So many logistics to do and food, people to invite. We had to keep the party small due to space constrain. We held the party at my godbrother's condo function room.

Our caterer: Neo Garden.

It was a simple party. All the decorations had already been covered by the caterer. Its a full package. I chose a unicorn theme for him and requested a blue unicorn. They made it an exception as unicorn theme were planned for girls. But i really couldn't control the urge to choose unicorn.

Now that confinement is over, confinement nanny went home, i have to look after this boy all on my own. I hired my nanny for one and a half month. so i can do what i need to do before she goes back. i really do miss her a lot. I cried for about 2 days after she went back.

My confinement period was really comfortable. Want to thank my Godma for sponsoring my confinement food and doing all the marketing. Also, making sure i am emotionally stable. Thanks to my husband too for being a pillar of support.

Now, i am trying my best to look after him and give him the best i could. not to forget, Bumbie and Clover too!

Love,
Mummy bumver

Our first born,Baby Lorenzo

Dear Diary,

Finally, its time for our little baby boy to be born.

It was a usual weekly gynae visit. We were actually ready if the gynae would to tell us if baby was ready to be out as i was already 39 weeks pregnant. While doing the scan, he mentioned that baby was still not ready and i am not dilated. However, there was signs of me having high blood pressure and was advised to be admitted to the hospital on that day. We were asked to choose if we wanted natural birth of c-sect. If we still wanted natural birth, i have to be admitted to induce labor which might not guarantee if the natural birth will take place at all as i was not even dilated and baby was not ready. In the end, we might even need to go though emergency c-sect. Another alternative was to be admitted with the intention of c-sect birth to get it over and done with. Well, of cause we chose the latter we didn't want to waste time to induce the labor. Before having to make this decision, i cried at the gynae clinic. It was embarrassing as many people were staring as if something happened.

We were quite chill after that and went to have a big feast before heading to the hospital. I went back home and hugged the 2 girls and explained to them that their little brother will be joining them in a few days time and i will not be home for a few days. I was crying again, thinking that my life will be different.

We got admitted to the hospital, Mount Alvernia at about 7pm and was arranged for c-sect at about 11pm. We entered into our lovely single bed hospital room which looked like a chalet. I was trying to calm myself down by turning the television on and watching some movies. Then, some nurses came in to do some documentations, change to my operation outfit and to take some blood test. I was so fearful of needles and the nurse really made me very nervous. Again, i was being so embarrassed to cry when they had to poke the needle into my arm for blood test. I am not a brave person, so with the decision to do this c-sect is already taking away a lot of my courage.

my single room, Our Lady's Ward

At about 10pm, the nurses came in and told me to get ready as my gynae has arrived and ready for early operation. First time in my life i was lying on the bed and was being rolled into the operation theater. I was so nervous and shaking so badly. When they rolled me in and told hubby to wait outside a little while, while they have to prepare me for the surgery, i felt so afraid! They rolled me into the theater and i was looking at all the big operation lights. I saw my gynae and he still looked so smiley! One of the nurses took my hand and said, "im gonna put the needle thru here" and she quickly just jabbed me with the needle. "ouch". Next, they turned me to my side and said "just relax, we are jabbing the epidural". Without any hesitation, i felt like a big fat thingy went though my back that wasn't painful. My legs felt numb as if there were many ants in my legs. Then, hubby appeared beside me holding my hands, he looked anxious. I felt a lot of movement in my lower part of my body, i guessed the operation had already began. I was so afraid that i started struggling. The nurses gave me the oxygen musk and i knocked out.

Then, when i opened my eyes, i heard my baby cries. Everyone was laughing and smiling and they put baby on my chest. It was my baby! I was still feeling very sleepy. They rolled me to the waiting area for a while to check if i was ready to be rolled back to my own room. All i remembered was shaking very badly non stop as if i was really cold but i was not.

Our Baby Boy

Taking photo with our Gynae, Dr Ben Choey. A very patient and understanding gynae. He made us feel very comfortable and is very approachable throughout our whole pregnancy. 

Thank you Dr Ben for ensuring mummy and baby are both safe and healthy!

Hubby was already waiting for me at the room. I was still shaking and was really hungry. They couldn't feed me anything till morning. Worst, i couldn't even sleep for the night. The next day, they rolled my baby in again.Wow, i can't believe i actually did it. They pain was really bad. I couldn't walk at all and i cried in pain.

Stayed in the hospital for 4 days 3 nights. the food was ok only. They served confinement food. I didn't really enjoy my hospital stay. Not because the service was not good, it was because i was in pain and i miss home a lot. The service at the hospital is very good. The nurses were very patient and i really do appreciate their service.

On the day of discharged, i was so excited to go home! My confinement nanny was readily waiting for me at my doorstep. She started to orientate herself around my house and settle down. My first meal that she cooked was really yummy but i couldn't get used to the mess. Even though she did clean up after everything but it wasn't clean enough. I was really very stressed up for the first few days until we spoke about no oil in our food. She was really very patient and she still managed to cook yummy healthy food all without oil. She was really helpful and she ensured i had enough rest. She also made sure my baby boy was in good hands and thanks to her, i was able to sleep through the night.

First day home, Clover greeting her little brother!

Next, we will be planning our baby's full month. Hopefully it will be a successful event.

Thank you friends and family for visiting me at the hospital. Thanks for all the gifts and red packets. My baby boy is really blessed. Most importantly, thank you godma for the full support and guidance. Every week my godma will come at least twice to buy all the confinement food and made sure i have alot alot alot of food to eat. I am really pampered. My hubby helped with the house work and bathing and maintaining all the fur babies.

Many people have the wrong impression that having a c-section for child birth is cheating or a short cut as we do not know how does real labor feels like as compared to natural birth. But i can guarantee that the pain for going through c-section is no less than natural birth. We are being cut through layers of skin and muscles. We will need months for recovery and till now, i am still feeling the pain from inside even though the wound has been healed from the outside.

All mothers are hero.

I will have a good rest to recover faster and can care for everyone again. Soon we will have more adventures together soon!

With love,
Bumver mummy

Our new journey - Baby Loading

Dear Diary,

A huge change is about to happen to our family. We are expecting a new addition to our family!

I will be sharing what have i been busy recently.

This was really a little surprise and a birthday gift from god. Last year on my birthday, I had dizzy spells that i never felt before in my life. At that point, i also realized i was late for my monthly thingy. Therefore decided to do the test. It was already in the afternoon and people usually advise to do the test in the morning. I was too anxious to follow that advise and proceeded to do the test anyway. Within seconds, it was tested out positive. I cried for the moment, mixed tears of joy and fear. I wasn't expecting to have a baby during this period of time as I was at the midst of switching and building my career. Seems like everything have to come to a pause. Things after that went pass really quickly. I became a stay at home fur-mum and human-mum to be. Now, in a few more weeks, this baby is gonna pop soon!

We did some pre-natal photoshoot. Well, I am all swelled up with water retention so i really do look quite meaty. Managed to have a good deal with Studio Memories for the photoshoot. The photographer was nice, people there were friendly. But their package was not so flexible. It was hard to negotiate certain things that we didn't need from the package to replace with something we needed more. They would and up charging us with extra charges. And they do take a long time for the editing. waited for 2 weeks to choose the photos and have to wait for another 2-3 weeks to collect the photos. Anyway, we managed to buy the raw photos and I would share some photos below!

Being pregnant also have certain privileges. I also went for pre-natal massage. A friend referred a home based pre-natal masseuse. Basically, she will offer her service to your door step. She will bring along her massage bed and massage oils along. All i have to do is just make space for the bed and on my Air-con. ( Anyone who needs her contact, please pm me. ) She is really good and knowledgeable. Love her skills and the pressure she used for the massage, is so good that it really helps a lot with my tired body. Especially my water retention. It always feels better after the massage session. Best part, she charges by "per session", not by "per hour" so she really takes her time to massage and made sure she covered every part of my body.

I also tried pre-natal spa style at Aramsa spa. Wanted to know and feel the difference between spa based and home based. The difference was HUGE. Spa based obviously charge by per hour. Therefore they are less focused on the sore parts of your body and they will just briefly massage thru. Its relaxing, with all the relaxing music, aroma and serve tea. But I prefer home based massage aunty better. Home based massage aunty can advise me what i should do, what to expect etc. can tell that she is really experienced. But spa based, they only know where to massage and where not to massage and thats all. They might not know what is pregnancy.
Anyway, this is the environment at Aramsa.
Very relaxing environment. Never regret the experience.

Want to specially thank my godma with all the good food that she has been cooking for me weekly and making sure we are eating well. All the birdnest and chicken essence. Now she had me fully prepared for my confinement.
Also, very thankful for my hubby for taking care of me, day in and day out. Making sure we are safe and being the papa bear every where we go. All the supplements and chicken essence. He tolerated my mood swings and seen me at my worst. Supporting us all the way so that i can lead a comfortable housewife.

Other than that, we are all waiting for this baby to join our little family!

See ya soon baby!

Love,
Mummy Bumver

Short getaway at Taipei/Taiwan!

Dear Diary,

Its the time of the year for our annual trip to Taipei. Every year, we will choose a month to head to Taipei for some shopping and stock up. Taipei is one of our favorite destinations as they have a lot of shopping and is a very relaxing place to be! Best thing about their culture is they are dog friendly almost everywhere! We can spot dog owners almost everywhere and all dogs are really very well trained to follow their owners without leash.
This trip was planned at the very last minute therefore, our tickets were booked just few weeks before the trip. We managed to get a good deal and a good hotel as well.
Details of our trip:
Airline -> China Airlines
We booked through Expedia. 2 way transport was about S$800 for both person. (including choosing of seats and travel insurance.) The airline already had meals and 30kg baggage included with the fees.
Hotel -> Burgary Hotel
We booked through Agoda. Per night was at about S$100 including breakfast. The breakfast was not buffet style. The big highlight of the hotel is that they have personal Jacuzzi in most individual rooms. The Hotel is also very convenient as it is located very near to Ximen station.

I will briefly go through a few highlights of our trip. As this is an annual trip, we didn't focus on exploring the country. Our focus was mainly shopping for the girls(Bumbie and Clover) and for ourselves.

First Day
We landed in Taipei at about 3.30pm. Took some time checking out from the airport and bought some snacks from the nearest 7 11 as we were quite hungry. Board the shuttle bus from the airport to Ximen Station. There are many shuttle buses at the airport that provides cheap transport to town. So we chose a random bus that is able to alight near our hotel. It was a bad choice as the bus made a big round alighting our passengers. The journey took about 1 and a half hour. Not the best plan for someone who has motion sickness like me. We checked in the beautiful hotel and rest a little as i need to recover from my motion sickness.
We headed to Taipei 101 for our dinner, Ding Tai Feng. Its a mandatory meal each time we are in Taipei. The beef noodles taste so much different from the beef noodles served in SG. Much tastier and flavorful. They allow customers to choose lean beef or fatty beef from the menu. The queue there is always a good half an hour to an hour wait. But its totally worth it.

 

Then we head to my fantasy world. Pet street. I don't have the exact location on the map but i know its located directly behind Tong Hua night market. We will always flag a taxi from Taipei 101 and tell the taxi uncle in mandarin "the pet street behind Tong Hua night market" and they will bring us there. Its less than 10 min taxi ride from Taipei 101.

the whole pet street. 

To go back, there is a nearest train station "LiuZhangLi" station (brown line) near by. But we are always lazy and will take a taxi back to hotel after that.

Second Day
We went to our usual temple to pray. Long Shan Temple. Located directly at Long Shan Station. If you have strong beliefs in prayers, this temple has always been our mandatory visit. This temple is one of the tourist attractions so be prepare for the crowd.
After the prayers, we headed to Taipei Zoo station. Not to visit the zoo, but to sit the cable car ride up the mountain to Mao Kong station! The weather was cooling and we went there at about 4pm, just nice for the beautiful sunset! There were 2 types of cable cars to choose from, the full 360 glass cabin or the normal regular cabin. Of course we choose the glass cabin! So that we can have a good view even from below!

Nothing much up the mountain, other then tea houses. So we walked a little and took a cable car back as it was getting dark (sun sets in Taipei is around 5pm-5.30pm. So by 6pm its already night time!) and taking cable car that dark is scary for me. Its the only way down hill unless you don't mind taking a taxi down. The night view is also as breath taking so don't waste the chance to view it from above!

map of Mao Kong

Night View

Third Day
We woke up slightly earlier to head to JiuFen. Its at the outskirts of Taipei i suppose. We had to take a train to Taipei Main Station to change to a railway train to head to Jiu Fen. From the Taipei main station, we had to take a railway train to RuiFang. Once at RuiFang, we had to cross the street and take bus 788 (keelung bus) all the way up to JiuFen. Jiu Fen is also one of the tourist attraction so be prepared for the crowd.

Keep cool, and walk on. HAHA
If possible, try every food there. No regrets!

Make every effort to explore the shops. You may find unique gifts and souvenirs.

Forth Day

Its a full eating day! We had street food, steamboat etc.

All at Ximending. We had to shop for gifts and last min items for ourselves. Ximending is our favourite shopping district. You will not have nothing to buy or eat there. After shopping hours, all the street night shops will come out! That is when you will have good shopping deals!

This marks the end of our little getaway. On the fifth day, We had to fly back to SG. Mixed feelings as i was unhappy that this holiday is just too short but excited to show the girls things that i bought for them.

Special thanks to our best buddy, Yukiko, for helping us to look after the girls. I am so forever grateful that she is always there for us.

I would like to recommend The Fluffy Hut as a very good and cozy boarding for my 2 rabbits( Mabuyi & Kibo), 1 Chinchilla (Pistol), 1 Guinea pig (Hugo) and 2 hamsters (Zorro & Neko). As we have so many fur babies at home, its not easy to find a good boarding for small animals. We are glad to find The Fluffy Hut. They have a 24/7 webcam that has 2 way communication so that we can watch our babies and speak to them as and when we want to. They provide meals for them and clean them up daily to ensure their play pen is clean and neat. Their play pen space is really huge and allows the fur babies to roam around the play pen freely. I can see that all the small fur babies do enjoy their stay with The Fluffy Hut.

Thats a nice long write up for our holiday! Hope you enjoy the read!

With love,
Bumver Mummy

Pistol, Our new member

Dear Diary,

On the 30 August, Pistol was adopted. He was an abundant chinchilla that was being rescued by his foster parent. Along with 3 other chinchillas that was being abundant together by the ex owner.
We always wanted a chinchilla but we have yet to find the opportunity to have one. We were trying to find the perfect chinchilla to fit into our family.
When i was scrolling Facebook, i chanced upon Pistol and fell in love with him. His main features that attracted me was his big eyes and huge ears. I decided to contact the foster lady to have more information on him. Unfortunately, he was still not ready to come home yet as the nice foster lady was nursing him back to health. I took this opportunity to learn more about chinchillas and got myself ready. I had to search for the perfect cage, with the perfect routine for him. As his nature is so different from the rest (the rabbits and guinea pig), i had to find the perfect routine that fits all. The challenging part is planning how to keep the area cool enough for him as chinchillas have thick coat.

Once everything has been sorted out, i started to shop for the cage, toys and equipment. This cage has to be much bigger than the rest as he needs space to jump here and there. Toys that are chinchilla safe as they love to chew everything they can get. Once the cage and accessories arrived, it was just in time to welcome Pistol home!

No any particular reason why i name him pistol. Just that his colour just reminds me so much about gun metal. haha.

He is currently 4 years old and had a different life before me. Now, we will help him write a new chapter of his life. It can be challenging for both of us as we need time to know each other. So far, trails i learnt about him are: stubborn, smart, observant, and a fussy eater.
t took him a while to start eating his hay and food. i had to bribe him with treats and sometimes treats doesn't even work as he was so persistent in being stubborn. HAHAHA.

I have yet to let him mingle with bb and clover as i need him to gain his confidence first. He is still quite wary if the environment but slowly trying to explore. 

Chinchillas have very long life span. Up to 20 years. We are gonna have a long time together buddy! I guess you will have a chance to see our family grow and grow old with us.

Small animals have high responsibility level too. Some people ignore the fact that small animals do not need these attention. Small animals cannot express much feelings on their faces but no doubt their hearts are the same as ours. Their heart bleeds, their heart beats. They do feel pain, and they do feel agony and sorrows if we ignore them or abundant them. 

Stay tune for more pistol's progression with us in months to come!

Love, 

Mummy bumver

Clover's Birthday!

Dear Diary,

Its the time of the year again for Clover's birthday! This year she is turning 5 years old! I decided to bake her a big cake for her Birthday party. I love baking cakes for my girls especially when there is an occasion. I searched around for inspirations and came out with this idea. Presenting you, the cake:

I did a little mix in colours and hand piped roses. All made with potatoes and colours were made from vegetables. The cake has at least 1.5kg worth of pork. I took about 7 hours to bake this cake. It was hard work, but worth it. 

We celebrated her birthday at Tanjong beach. Clover was really fortunate to have so many people to celebrate her birthday with her. She is so loved!

For tradition purposes, at the stroke of midnight, we will blow the candle and eat the cupcake!

Thank you our dear friends for loving Clover. Everyone had seen her at her worst and yet still love her endlessly. Clover is so blessed. 

Happy birthday dear clover! May you grow up to be a more cheerful girl. You are always so brave and always protecting all of us. You are my little queen, my little alpha and my little protector. I love you so much! 

With love,

Mummy Bumver