Review for 2019

Dear Diary,

This year has been a very busy year for me. Full of new experiences and new changes. Many many “first time” experiences for me.

1. Pregnancy had been good and smooth for me and I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. First time admitted and staying in the hospital and going under a knife. It was really very scary and cried a lot. Despite all the pain I went thru, i was very blessed to be showered with all the love from friends and family.

2. Being a first time mum and going through post natal journey was not easy. I took it lightly when people mentioned about post natal depression. I didn’t expect it hit me so hard. Lucky, my confinement nanny looked after me very well and told my Godma that i had signs of depression. It was so scary that i can just cry suddenly when I was just sitting on the sofa. i couldn't control my emotions and felt very helpless. Lucky, I managed to walk out of it quickly thanks to all the love.

3. My fur baby Mabuyi passed on. Been trying to nurture her and tried to shower her as much love as I can. She had many bad owners in the past, I was making sure she feels safe with us here. I’m glad she still opened her heart to love me. Goodbye bubuyi, till we meet again.

4. Managed to go for 5566 concert!!! Thanks to my brother in law, he gave up the tickets for us. The best present ever! We didn’t manage to buy the tickets as it got sold out very quickly. Had a very awesome evening and sang my lungs out. I had happy tears too! Also special thanks to my Godma. She helped to look after Enzo while we go for the concert.

5. Brought Enzo to Taiwan for the first time! It was a brand new experience and surely it was very tiring. We wanted to let Enzo see all of our favorite places and we did it! Great experience also travelling with our friends, Bran and Cass and their baby boy too. Special thanks to our new found friend, Rex, for bringing us around in Taipei. Looking forward for next year's trip to Taiwan again!

6. Began my new career as a financial adviser with Great Eastern. It’s an exciting journey and I look forward to what I can achieve. Love my team and mentor who is always constantly guiding me and being very patient with me. And thank you to some of my Friends and family who knew about my new business and already started to show support.

This year it’s filled with love and many things to be grateful for. We lost some precious moments and we gained some. There were mixture of laughter and tears. I really had a very beautiful, adventurous, fun filled 2019. More to come for 2020!

Love,
Mummy Bumver

What is it like being a new parent so far!

Dear Diary,

3 months old! 

It has been very busy during this period of time. After the confinement nanny left, I had a lot of things to pick up and learn. I was so afraid I couldn’t manage a baby on my own. I didn’t have a lot of time for a lot of things. Time past so fast during this period of time. At first, it felt as if I was trap in this time loop over and over and over again. The time loop was like this: wake up -> feed milk - > bathe baby -> pump milk -> feed milk -> pat baby to sleep -> house chores -> feed milk -> pump milk -> pat baby to sleep -> bathe -> feed milk -> dinner -> feed milk -> pat to sleep -> pump milk -> feed milk -> good night. And the cycle repeats again the next day. There wasn’t any changes for the cycle for at least 1 and a half month. I was so stressed and partly depressed as I didn’t dare to bring him out on my own as I was so afraid that I couldn’t manage.

learning cheeky smile

When he was at about 3 months old, everything started to be slightly easier to manage as I got the hang of it. Even though I was much busier because at 3 months old, he craves for more attention from me. He was able to recognise people and hear their voices.  We even hired a helper to look after him at home. It was not easy at all looking for the right candidate that fits the job. I went to about 5 agencies and rejected all the potential candidate until I met my current agent and helper.

We hired our helper from JL recruitment from bishan branch. My agent in charge was Adeline. She was very professional and approachable. She assisted me with the interviews, and I was very satisfied with the questions she asked and the way she spoke with our potential helper. Thanks to Adeline, I now not only found a helper, I have also found a friend. I was initially very worried about entrusting my son with a stranger, just like any other parents would be worried about. Now, I can be certain that my son will be in good hands while we get to work during the day. I have my justifications why I have chosen to hire a helper to look after my son instead of putting him at the infant care. 

Below are my opinions:

Infant care: I did give this thought a chance. I went to visit a school and I didn’t like the idea of having 1 teacher to 5 infants. Even though they tried to minimise the ratio to 1:3, I still feel uncomfortable. I also saw with my own eyes, a poor sick baby was coughing at the face of another baby while the teachers where chatting away. To them, it was a normal behaviour between babies. I asked the teachers about their protocol if a baby or a kid is unwell. They mentioned that they will only send the baby home if the baby is having a fever. Other than that, the baby is free to come to school. I just didn’t like the idea of the viruses spreading in there. At such young age, I don’t think I want my son to be exposed to viruses just yet.

Helper: it’s a risk and a lot of luck needed to find a good and trustworthy helper to stay home alone to look after all my precious babies plus my newborn. I couldn’t sleep at night Everyday just to think which is the best option. Helper is opening my door to a stranger in my house and I was really worried if the helper will be able to handle my girls and the baby and the house chores. I heard about horror stories that some helpers unable to manage, torture baby, impatient etc. at the end of the day, I took the leap of faith. And i was glad I did that.

My helper had experience previously and after observing a while, I see that she was vert organised and she plan her things very well. She looked after my boy very well and even manage the house chores. Every morning when my boy wakes up and comes out from our room, he would look for her and give her a very cheerful smile. That is when I know, my son is in good hands.

Now that my boy is 6 months old today (yay!). he got his first 2 teeth out! Behind every milestone and celebration, the parents and the helper had to suffer baby’s sleepless nights due to teething fever and crankiness. (mostly the mother suffered because I co-sleep with him). Hahahaha! He is also attempting to stand and chase after the girls. Clover in is love with him as she somethings sleeps with him. He has also started with solid foods and I made the purees from scratch. He has tried banana, apple, pear, blueberry, carrot and pumpkin so far.

tummy time with his sisters

his avocado face

the first few outings together

cool look 

me and sleepy boy

having fun with fur babies

he owns his sister

first few pictures together. building their bond

cheeky boy doesn't want to sleep

That’s all for the mini update. Will update more on my next post!

Love,

Mummy bumver

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