The trip alone

i actually managed to survive the journey to Penang with the 2 lil ones alone!! thank God!

Arielle was still down with diarrhoea and she was so weak she couldn’t walk so i had to take the stroller. Air Asia delayed our flight for half an hour and during the wait, we had to visit the loo a few times coz this lil girl of mine just had to. poor thing… but she was a good girl, no tears or meltdowns.

i had to ask the crew to help since i have a baby (2months old) strapped on me, a stroller with a 2year old and a big hand carry bag. it was also raining that night. they were very helpful seeing that i was in a difficult condition; they helped carry the stroller down the stairs and kept it in the cabin for me while Arielle walked the short distance to the plane (since she refused to be carried by a stranger). another crew came to carry her up into the plane when we reached the stairs. so, from the waiting area to the plane inside, i only had Ashton to take care of as the rest of the things that was with me was taken care of by the crew members. if you have young kids and you don’t know yet, you can actually use the stroller with you so that you don’t have to always carry baby around. it will later be passed to the crew when you reach the landing area before you board and will be kept inside where the luggages are, and when you reach, the crew will pass the stroller back to you so you can use it along the way back inside the airport. but the only setback is that with AA, there are staircases so you might need some help carrying the stroller if you’re alone.

inside the plane, Arielle was already tired coz it was already late so she slept soundly – such a good thing!! Ashton pulak woke up to ang-gu ang-gu and smile for a while … he charmed the lady beside me and she carried him for a while till he wanted to nurse. that was when the tragedy started. as he was nearly finished he suddenly burped and all the milk he took came gushing out of his mouth and both of us got all wet. i didn’t bring an extra change for him so i had to make do with a napkin cloth that i brought instead. what was worse was he had also made a big poo poo and it had stained his pants!!  the lady beside me was an angel as she helped me clean and change him, got her hands dirty and all and i felt quite embarrassed about it all. i was so grateful to her (a mother of 2 young adult children) and profusely thanked her. i suppose it must be due to the cabin pressure and the bumpy ride due to bad weather that he was feeling unwell. there was also a bout of crying and fussing.

when we reached penang, it was already over midnight. it was dark, most people are tired and everyone just wanted to go back home. we waited quite a while for our luggage, a whole lot of ppl crowded around the belt to get their stuff. i waited patiently far from the crowd, and then as more ppl left with theirs i finally got nearer and saw my big bag. i tried to lift the 29kg bag with 2 hands (baby on the sling) but a big lady beside me helped to take it off the belt.  i’ve help everywhere, not to mention stares as well.

all in all, the journey which i thought at first as impossible had become possible. thank God for strength and for kind ppl who have willingly offered their hand. because of that, i’, now happily in my hometown enjoying my one month stay here… the longest period of time here since i started work in kl in 2003.

Break in Penang

it’s snowing in WP!!

ah yes, finally i have the time to update (only coz FB photo upload’s taking a long long time). God really knows the desire of my heart… i’m going back to Penang later this month, for a month (anyone going up?). would be a good break for the grandparents here from the 3 of us! time for the grandparents over there in Pg to take over and have some good run after the 2yo.

purpose of the trip is to hang out with my oh-so-missed family, attend weddings of ppl closest to my heart (yay!! i can make it after all) and EAT EAT EAT!!!

the only problem is … i’ll be travelling alone with 2 small children from KCH – PEN. i’m praying that all will go well esp with Arielle that she doesn’t run around; as long as she stays close. furthermore, the flight from KCH will reach PG at 11pm; really late for Arielle who sleeps at MAX 9pm.

k then, do call me if anyone wants to meet up, though i’m not sure if i can go out conveniently, but you can always come visit me at home!

What’s Next?

so, baby’s out… what’s next?

our current plan, now confirmed, is to return to Brats after CNY ‘10. Ayl will come back to Kch on CNY day itself and after 2weeks, we’ll be going to KLIA and off to freezing-winter Brats we go. can’t imagine how the 2 kids will be going from such a hot weather (30*C+) to a freezing one (-10*C n below).

meantime, i’ll still be here in Kch at the in-laws’… now with 2, moving/going around will be difficult since i don’t have a faithful companion who can help me take care of an active running-around lil girl while i have my hands full carrying baby.

coz of this, i won’t be able to go back to Penang… SAD!! but i’m still hopeful that maybe something will come up and i’ll get to go back maybe for just one day to attend my beloved cousin’s ROM in Dec.

Grace Flows Down

His Grace is sufficient for me.

it’s going to be 2weeks now since Ashton’s born and he’s nothing like his older sister! Arielle was an easy baby… an angel, she hardly ever cried even when she’s hungry. Ashton however cries very very VERY loudly when he’s hungry, especially when he’s hungry and not getting his milk. this time i’ve chosen to breastfeed baby fully and so far it’s proven to be quite a challenge for me.

some days are good when he’s latching on properly, other nights are horrible when he cries and cries and forgets how to latch and that made me panic and frustrated as well. with sleepless nights and body aches, he’s being a big bully when he doesn’t stop crying (to put it nicely). every time i feel like losing it, i look up to God and ask for H.E.L.P.!!! short simple prayers get answered all the time, and i’m so grateful i’m still able to sit and find time to blog about this, otherwise i think i would have already gone crazy pengsan (fainted)!!

this is an old song; heard it in one of Passion’s live concert album that’s in my pc and it captured me immediately. it’s simple yet comforting. i found the vid from YouTube and cried after watching it. So great is God’s love for us. Thank You God for Your faithfulness and Your grace.

My Little Man

Finally! baby’s out and now he’s sleeping soundly in his crib. i delivered on 26/Oct; 8.37pm to be exact after only 5hrs of labour. i’m proud to say, there was totally no use of any painkillers during labour (i had some kind of ‘laughing gas’ when i was in labour with Arielle)  and was a natural birth. what? of course there is pain!!

PAIN IS INEVITABLE!!

my water broke in the morning at 10am, but there was still no sign of contraction at all. i feel so comfortable that i thought my prayers for a painless delivery is really coming true!! haha… well, no such thing after i was checked and then induced. contractions came 2hrs after that and then 5hrs later, this little man came into the world crying very loudly.

delivering here in Kuching GH, i cannot help to but to compare the vast difference with Putrajaya’s semi private hospital where i delivered Arielle. the facility, the staff, and especially the service (!!) are so much better – people here are more friendly and they’re not so racist. no doubt the service if compared to private hospitals is under the benchmark because the you don’t get the special attention that you pay so much for, but overall, Kuching GH has preceded my expectations of a local government hospital.

Post Natal – i was discharged the next day at 2pm, with a fee of RM50 for hospital bills (everything even food) and a compulsory ‘gift offering’ of (3packets x 10pcs) Kotex Loop Sanitary napkins. then home we go!

the day after (27th), we had to go to the clinic again (the one i went for checkups) to report on the delivery of baby and then checkup for baby and mother. the nurses were thorough. they check blood pressure & heart rate, check your breasts and they encourage you to breastfeed, they check the contraction of the uterus; is it returning to normal, even check ‘down under’ to see if you’re healing properly. yes, i’ve got stitches, not a long cut like the 1st delivery but a 1st degree tear instead. again… pain is inevitable. we can put the blame all on Eve. i’m thanking God for His strength and His grace. this time around i’m much more cheerful; i believe i was more than slightly depressed after my 1st delivery due to the 12hrs labour, all the poking and prodding and scolding and mistreatment  i got from the hosp, would have gone insane if it had gone any longer.

so, i’m currently one-hand nursing and one-hand blogging – my goal is to fully breastfeed baby for at the least 6months; he’s still learning how to latch on, and i’m also learning the ways and tips of nursing; what’s best and what’s not with many thanks  to Leona and my MIL. baby’s routine now is to feed, sleep and poo… if only he’d do it all in sequence! the thing is, he’ll wake up to feed, falls asleep 5mins later while being nursed (sometimes poo also) so i’ll put him in bed, but he gets up 3mins later and cries for milk cos he’s still hungry. so it’s latch on and off for nearly 2hours, sometimes in the wee morning. it’d be a great relief if he already knows how to latch on properly. no wonder why most prefer to just give formula milk – so much easier cos baby sleeps immediately after the bottle and they can sleep for hours before the next feed. i found a good site though for those learning how to breastfeed like me.

…and he shall be called Ashton Tavy Leong Xuen En. following my brother’s kids Ashley & Asher, Ash carries the Hebrew meaning of happy/blessed. the middle name Tavy is from Ayl’s middle name; and the chinese name literally translates to ‘proclaiming’ ‘grace/glory’.

or should we just name him Ash instead… hmmm, what do you think?

1 week away

i’m 1 week away from due date and really i just can’t wait to deliver!! argh!!

baby, baby… time to come out and see the world darling!

it’s fantastic that Ayl gets to come back to see us even for a day (ETA KCH 30/Oct night – ETD KCH 31/Oct), and we’re so looking forward to seeing him again after just 2 1/2months being away from each other. he has a biz trip to KL office for the whole week next week, so he’s flying in today and will ETA KUL tmr afternoon.

we really thank God for His favour and His goodness that Ayl has such a generous and wonderful boss! the parents here hope that by then, baby will already be out and he gets to see the newborn. we shall see then…