Visiting Peak

 

Maddi and I visited the Finance department at Peak today and everyone met Maddi. Donna even called Stephen over from Logistics because apparently, he would be very disappointed if he found out we came for a visit and he didn't get to meet Maddi. Stephen took Maddi to visit with his department and met everyone there. Maddi was so good, she didn't cry. After a short visit with everyone, Donna and I went for coffee and a little catch up. It was so good to see everyone! Unfortunately, Leanne wasn't in today and Maddi missed meeting her. But we will be visiting again very soon.

A part of me does miss the office life, but not enough to want to part with Maddi!

Harvey, I still miss sharing an office with you! =)

New Friends

 

Maddi and I went to the Parent & Baby Drop-In at the health center that our community nurse, Anne works at. We met a few moms and babies, including Monica (mom) and Eloisa (baby) who was born on the same day and at the same hospital as Maddi!

Also, towards the end of the drop-in... guess who walked in?! Bryn & I-wen, with their babies in tow! I met them both through Anita, and I played volleyball with Bryn. Bryn's baby Jonah and I-wen's baby Isaac are now Maddi's newest buddies... and they're both also halfers! Looking forward to play dates and mommy dates, ladies!

At the end of the class, Maddi got weighed. I'm not sure if the scale was off, but she weighed in at 9 lbs 0.5 oz! Did she really gain a whole pound in a week?

This photo is especially dedicated to Auntie Anita =)

Yawn

 

It was pouring out, and downtown is busy with the Grey Cup parade! We forgot about the parade and only remembered when we had to drive across the Lion's Gate Bridge to get to the North Shore for our appointment with Cody at Lexus. We ended up going over the Second Narrows Bridge instead, half an hour late for our first tutorial on the features of the new SUV. Good thing Cody was so great about it.

After our appointment at Lexus, we stayed in the North Shore for lunch and to run some shopping errands. Little Miss Maddi was so sleepy. Other than crying because she needed to be changed, she was sleeping the whole time. Despite hating getting into her car seat, she loves riding in the car and being pushed in her stroller. It lulls her to sleep - most of the time!

This photo was taken at home as Maddi yawns after a long day out!

Grey Cup Champions!

 

Today, Maddi and I pretty much stayed home the whole day. Grandma McMillen and Auntie Julie came over for a Grey Cup party. Maddi napped and stayed up the whole time from after her nap till she went to bed for the night when she usually have short naps during that time. I'm not sure if she will stay up during this time from now on, but she is certainly more awake these days! Oh, my little girl is growing up too fast!

The BC Lions won the Grey Cup tonight, and this is Maddi celebrating with the home team, despite being asleep after I've just said that she is more awake these days!

Thanks to Gruncle Bob for the BC Lions onesie!

Sleepy Baby

It was pouring out, and downtown is busy with the Grey Cup parade! We forgot about the parade and only remembered when we had to drive across the Lion's Gate Bridge to get to the North Shore for our appointment with Cody at Lexus. We ended up going over the Second Narrows Bridge instead, half an hour late for our first tutorial on the features of the new SUV. Good thing Cody was so great about it.

After our appointment at Lexus, we stayed in the North Shore for lunch and to run some shopping errands. Little Miss Maddi was so sleepy. Other than crying because she needed to be changed, she was sleeping the whole time. Despite hating getting into her car seat, she loves riding in the car and being pushed in her stroller. It lulls her to sleep - most of the time!

This photo was taken when I was waiting with her outside of a Kin's Farm store in Capilano Mall while Sean shopped for some fruits.

Lunch With The Ladies

Today, Maddi and I have a ladies luncheon to go to! It was to celebrate Grandma McMillen's birthday. We started out being on schedule, but in the last 10 minutes, we got delayed by a poopy diaper.

I showered as Maddi went back to sleep after her first couple of feedings in the morning. Then I managed to get out and finish getting ready just as she was waking up! I gave her a bath and got her dressed. Then, I had a one-handed breakfast as I nursed her one last time before we headed out. We were right on schedule. Then, I strapped her in the car seat - which is on the top of her "most un-favourite things to do" list. Then, I hear her go for a number two in her diaper! So I took her out of the car seat and changed her. I guess she was hungry after having gone to the bathroom, so I nursed her again. By this time, it was when I was supposed to meet Great Grandma, Grandma McMillen and Auntie Julie at the restaurant and we are just getting out the door. Sigh. 'Tis, the life with a baby... but I'm not complaining! She is most adorable!

At the restaurant, there was a waitress who was very excited to be expecting her first grandchild. So, she really wanted to meet Maddi. Maddi was nursing when she first came to see her, then Grandma took her to see the waitress after she was done nursing. The waitress ended up taking Maddi and something in me just wasn't comfortable with a stranger holding my baby. I couldn't articulate how I felt at the time and wasn't sure if I was over-reacting. Maddi was also not happy while with the waitress. I let it be for a little while, but was on the edge of my seat and really wanting to go get my baby back. After waiting a couple of minutes, the waitress didn't bring Maddi back to me despite her crying the whole time she was with her. With a little nudge from Great Grandma, I went to take Maddi back. A little crying can't harm a baby physically, but I can't stand the thought of Maddi feeling helpless when she is not where she wants to be. My mother's instinct kicks in and I just want to hold her; I wanted let her know everything's going to be okay, and that she can feel safe because I'm here to take care of her.

Wow, I've never felt this way, this intensely for anybody before. I think it is a wonderful way to feel and I love being a mom!

Happy Dreams

As Maddi napped today, I stared at her for minutes before I napped too. This photo is taken in that time and I caught her smiling in her sleep. Sweet dreams, happy baby!

I've started to hear some coos from Maddi and it is so exciting when she does! A part of me wants her to stay this small forever, but another part of me is excited to see her develop, grow and learn to do different things. I can't wait to see how she grows up to be like, I can't wait to see her little personality emerge, I can't wait to get to know her and the little person that she grows to become.

It truly is a privilege to be entrusted with the responsibility of guiding the path for her life. It is both nerve-racking and exciting beyond words to be given this enormous and incredible responsibility. Yet, with the love I have for her as her mother, I am confident I will do my best to give her the best life has to offer. Now I understand what my parents have always said, "Everything we do, we do for you."

Happy One Month, Maddi Moo!

Maddi is one month today! This also means that we are both done our traditional Chinese postpartum care.

What I tried yesterday to get Maddi to sleep longer at night sorta worked... she went to bed at 11.30 like usual, but then Sean's stupid phone alerts from Facebook woke her up and she fussed for about an hour when I finally decided to have her sleep on my chest. This morning, she didn't wake up till 5.45 to feed! If you consider that she didn't eat since 11.30 last night, that's a six hour stretch! Next time, we just need to make sure that there is no phone alert that would wake her up, then mama can also have a six hour stretch of sleep!

She fell back asleep after feeding for about an hour at 5.45. I got up to have a shower at 10am, and it was nice of Maddi to let mama enjoy her first shower and waited until I got dressed before waking up. It was, however, quite the production to get ready to go out. We visited Sommer at Saf & Benjamin, the local baby store, then almost made it to the pastry shop for Maddi's birthday cake when I realized that my friend Cathy was minutes away from my house with a pot of congee for me! She didn't have a lot of time so we quickly turned around and headed home. I nursed Maddi soon as we got home, then I had a bowl of the congee for lunch while Cathy held Maddi. I nursed Maddi again, then it was our nap time when Cathy left at 2pm.

We woke up at 4.30pm. Since we didn't make it to the pastry shop on our stroll this morning, we made another attempt after our nap. This time, it didn't take as long to get out the door. We made it to Ganache Patisserie with half an hour before they closed. I picked out the Blanc Fraisier for Maddi's cake, ordered a small cup of coffee, and we were homeward bound with cake!

We invited Auntie Julie to come over and help celebrate; she was happy to share cake with us! We kept her up for the most part of the night, and she finally went to bed at 11.30pm, in mama's Moby wrap. She transferred into her bassinet once mama was done with her photos and blogging. Fingers crossed that she will go for another 6-7 hour stretch!

Tummy Time!

Today is our last day with the traditional Chinese postpartum care! Tomorrow, I get to shower, eat any food I want, drink more than just the herb tea that I've been drinking for a month and also... get out of the house!

For now, we will enjoy the coziness of the indoors... the fire is on and classical music for babies is playing! In this photo, Maddi is enjoying some tummy time!

I had a phone call with our community nurse just after we woke up from our nap and I was telling her what Maddi's routine has been lately. She can't believe that Maddi would sleep 6-7 hour stretches without needing to eat during the afternoon - from about 1pm till about 7.30pm! So she gave me the idea that I can try to switch her schedule so she sleeps that long stretch at night instead of in the afternoon by waking her up to feed every 3 hours during the day, making sure she wakes up from her nap at around 4 or 5pm, and trying to keep her up from then until she goes to bed for the night.

I tried to do as Nurse Anne suggested and she went to bed at 11.30 as usual. We'll see what time she wakes up in the morning!

Contemplating

Yesterday was a full day of just me and Maddi. I do really enjoy our times together, although I am looking forward to being able to go out in a couple of days. I can't believe I have actually gone through a whole month of traditional Chinese postpartum care quite painlessly. In fact, it was quite enjoyable, thanks to my support crew! Still missing them terribly!

This photo was taken after Sean got home from work. Maddi is hanging out with dad, just chilling beside him in his arms, and it seems she is contemplating something - maybe what the big world out there holds for her when she can actually step out of the house in a couple of days.

Three Boys And A Little Lady

Maddi is four weeks today! According to the baby development emails I get every Sunday, she will start to coo and giggle and smile around this time. Looking forward to that - she's already making some sounds.

This morning, after waking up for a feeding at 7.30, Maddi slept some more with daddy while I got busy with getting some stuff done. Sean and Maddi finally got up at 10am. They hung out some more while I went to have my ginger sponge bath. I've never appreciated my personal hygiene moments as much as in these last little while!

At 11.30, Cathy and Victor brought the boys to come visit Maddi. Cathy had told me before that Morgan just loves babies. How cute is that, right?! Morgan is the older one, he's six. Conner is three and he's a little monkey! =) I bet they would love another baby in the family! C'mon Cathy, you know you want one too! ; )

After a short visit, the boys went to play at the playground nearby while Cathy and I visit some more. Thanks for the strawberry shortcake, Cath!

After they left, Maddi fell asleep so I had some time to do some chores before joining Maddi for a nap. Maddi ended up sleeping for a long time, perhaps because she was cozy, all bundled up in a tight swaddle. She didn't feed as much as she usually does before bed, and I wonder if that means she won't sleep through the night tonight. I guess we'll see!

A Visit from Ted, Marisa and Yam Yam

This is the first weekend after my family left. It was a typical day. My days in the last month has pretty much consisted of meeting Maddi's needs - feed her, change her diaper; somehow squeeze in my own meals in between and when she sleeps, I join her on one of her naps and at other times that she sleeps, perhaps I'd get time to do chores, get to some of the stuff on my to do list, blog and post photos on Facebook.

Tonight, we had the Lau's over for a visit. They came with take out from one of our favourite Thai places. Dinner was delicious! Thanks, Ted & Marisa!

It seems that most kids are fascinated with babies. Yammers is the second toddler we've had to come visit and she too liked Maddi. Every 5th word out of her mouth was "baby" in that cute toddler voice. She's a bit scared of Sean, but Sean was bribing her with cookies and ice cream so she was a little bit okay with him too. However, when it came time for them to leave and Sean put on his toque to go out and get the parking pass from them, she bawled! Even in the middle of bawling, she managed to say, "bye bye, baby" - sooo cute!

Maddi's First Play Date

Today, Maddi and I slept in till 9.30 this morning. We both had our breakfast, I got a chance to change out of my pjs when Maddi had a bit of a nap after a feeding. I managed to tidy up the house a little and then it was time for our first play date!

I first met Elina about two years ago, when I first started going back to school, in Accounting class. We took the next class as well and have kept in touch after, through Facebook. Coincidentally, we got pregnant around the same time. And today, Elina and baby Jacob dropped by with some cookies for a play date. It's really more of a mama date. It's nice to have friends with babies around the same age. Thanks for coming over today! Next time, when I am done with my voluntary house arrest, a walk would be nice!

After Elina and baby J left, I had my lunch then it was time for our nap. I napped till about 4, but Maddi didn't wake up till about 5.30. So I took the opportunity to have my ginger sponge bath. She really only got up to feed, then when I put her in the Moby, she continued to sleep until 7.30pm. In that time, I got busy. Tidied up the house a bit, washed dishes, put dishes away, made more of my herbal tea that I've been drinking, made dinner and had dinner. The only thing I didn't get to is laundry. I have to say it was a pretty productive day!

Boob Hog

Maddi has always liked the breasts, hence she weighed in at 8lbs today during our visit to Dr. Wenner's office. She has been gaining an ounce a day! Recently, however, she has started touching whichever breast she's feeding on with her tiny little fingers. Today, she seemed just a little more possessive of the breast than usual, she wrapped her whole arm around it!

Baby Koala

It looks like there's a baby koala hanging on Sean.

Sean had the day off today, so it was a nice family day for us. Maddi was especially sleepy today. She slept in between feedings tonight. After our nap, from about 6 or 7 o'clock is when she cluster feeds. She can't seem to stay awake, so I was worried she might be up a lot in the middle of the night since she slept so much this evening.

She ended up going to bed for the night by 11.30pm. Perhaps this is all due to the growth spurt babies go through at 3 weeks? Or maybe we just have a really sleepy baby, it's as if she's drunk on milk.

Nurse Anne

We first met our community nurse Anne when Maddi was 3 days old and my milk just came in the night before. Maddi didn't seem to like the fuller breasts and wasn't nursing as much. In the meantime, I was on my way to getting very engorged! Anne was my saving grace. She called me that day when I was just thinking, "I don't know what to do and if she doesn't start draining them, I'm afraid they'll just explode!" After a few minutes on the phone, she decided that she needed to come for a visit and I was so glad she could come the same day! She showed me some tricks and in the next couple of days, Maddi has drained the left one, which is the more engorged one, 3 times!

She's come to visit another time and today was her third visit. She's helped us with Maddi's gas issues, sleeping schedule, etc. Although Maddi sleeps through the night, which is awesome for me, her bedtime has been some time between midnight and 1 o'clock. I was trying to get her to go to bed earlier, and I think what I've been doing is working. Last night and the night before, she's gone to bed for the night at 11.30pm.

We love our nurse Anne!

Thank You For Everything!

This is my traditional Chinese postpartum care crew!

My sister Hennie who took care of me and made sure all of our meals are taken cared of the first week after Maddi's birth, before my parents arrived.

Gib, my brother-in-law, drove my parents around half the time to take them places and pick up anything we might need... including an outlet mall shopping day trip across the border.

My parents arrived on the Friday when Maddi was 5 days old. As soon as they arrived, until the hour before we took them to the airport, my dad was constantly cooking up storm - meals, snacks... it was heaven! He was my chief cook, you see! =) My mom took care of all my herbal Chinese medicines, my ginger sponge baths, cleaned up after my dad makes a big mess in the kitchen and washed the dishes after every meal.

Sean, Maddi and I can't thank you guys enough. I am going to miss the royal treatment after you leave ='(

Missing you already, can't wait to see you all in April!

Daddy On Diaper Duty

This morning, I realized that I only have today and tomorrow with my parents and my sister before we take them to the airport tomorrow night. I got a little emotional thinking about it, and started missing them before they even leave. =(

It must be that I started appreciating my family more as I got older (not that I didn't appreciate them before), because I never used to get like this.

Other than getting a visit from Sean's mom and sister who came to see Maddi, it was pretty much a routine day for me and Maddi. We were up for a few hours in the morning (or at least I was), and napped from 2 to 3.30pm. Dad made another feast of a dinner, which I know I will miss when he leaves.

In this photo, Sean is on diaper duty. No, it's not his first diaper change, I think he's actually pretty good at it.

Poo Face?

This morning, Sonia and Jeff came to visit little miss Maddi.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. Maddi and I had our nap together, and Sean was watching his games on tv most of the day. My parents went out for dinner with my sister's in-laws, so it was just Sean and I at the dining table tonight. I appreciate that my dad still cooked up a storm and made sure we had food for dinner and that I have plenty to eat for snacks.

This is Maddi shortly after her dinner... Sean and I think this might be a poo face. So cute!

Blustering Fall Day

Today, I was allowed a cheat day from my voluntary house arrest as part of the traditional Chinese postpartum care that I'm receiving. My family leaves in a few days, before my month of staying at home is over... so we decided I should have a cheat day to go out with my family - I just had to make sure that baby and I are well bundled up and warm, as well as to spend as little time outside.

We had lunch at a Shanghainese restaurant in Richmond, then went to Daiso in Aberdeen mall to look for an organizer for Maddi's drawer.

This photo was taken from inside the restaurant, looking out at a blustering Fall afternoon, leaves being blown in circles it reminded me of The Wizard of Oz.

Pretty Baby

Today was another quiet day. Sean was at work and my sister came to take my parents out for the day to visit a friend and run a few errands. So, it was a me and Maddi afternoon. This is Maddi on her change table just after our nap - all clean and happy. Isn't she a pretty baby? =)

Poopy Bath

Yesterday, my sister took my parents outlet mall shopping. When they got back, Maddi got a bunch more stuff, including her first Christmas dress... so cute! Can't wait to put it on her!

Today is another quiet day. Sean went to work, and my parents stayed home packing some of the stuff they've bought from shopping. My mom and I gave Maddi a bath. She still doesn't enjoy baths, and she pooped twice in her bath today... eeww!

I did a load of Maddi's laundry, and frankly... I don't know what else I did all day, but my time seems to disappear quickly these days.

Can Your Feet Do That?!

Today was a quiet day, and Sean was off from work to hang out with Maddi and I at home.

Maddi pretty much just ate, slept and dirtied her diaper. I made sure I was eating and drinking throughout the day, worked on posting photos to Facebook and napped with Maddi in the afternoon.

This photo was taken during one of the times just as I was about to change her dirty diaper. One of the amazing things babies can do is bend their feet up to touch their shins. Just one more thing about my babe that I'm fascinated by. Even diaper duty can be fun when you're in love =)

Baby Exercises

Today, we had a visit from Baby Garrett and Nanny Gail. In this photo, Maddi is doing some baby exercises with Nanny Gail to help her relieve some gas.

We went to see Dr. Wenner today and she said Maddi looks good. She gave us a prescription for Oval to give Maddi 3 feeds per day to help with her gassiness.

Although she is not feeding as long as she used to (20 mins each time), feeding only 5-10 mins. each time now... she seemed happy tonight and wasn't fussing at all.

She nursed while waiting at Dr. Wenner's office, then slept most of the time from after we got home from around 5.30pm till about 7.30pm. She woke up to feed and slept till about 8.30pm, fed again then slept till about midnight. We thought she was out for the night, but I guess she was making up for lost time and fed 40 mins at a time starting midnight till 3am! I guess the baby exercises worked.

Poor Boo

Poor little Boo probably had a gassy belly last night. She normally feeds for 20 minutes each time but last night she would only feed for 5 to 10 minutes at a time and would latch off and cry. She seemed hungry but wouldn't take the breast when I offer it, she looked frustrated and would cry. She's such  good baby, so far she has only cried when she's hungry, cold or gassy. So I figured she had a tummy ache from being gassy. I rubbed clockwise circles on her belly and lifted her knees to her belly like how Alicia showed me, but that didn't seem to help relieve her last night.

I called the newborn hotline to see if there's anything else I could try, but they didn't really have anything different I could try. The nurse at the other end of the line said that at two weeks, babies start to take in more milk and could have reflux. Also, colic usually shows up around this time, although breastfed babies don't normally become colicky. She suggested that I make an appointment to see the doctor tomorrow.

It is heartbreaking to hear her cry like that. It's true what they say about a parent's love; you would wish you were in pain if only that could take the pain away from your child. Til this point, whenever she cried, I knew how to meet her need and comfort her. When I knew what was wrong with her but can't seem to help her, I felt helpless. I never got the baby blues, but I sure got emotional watching her be in such pain tonight.

Maddi slept on my chest for the first half of the night for some comfort, then between mama & daddy on our bed for the second half of the night. I think it did the trick and she still slept through most of the night, getting up only once to feed.

A Visit From Auntie Nicole & Hayley

My baby is two weeks old today!

Today, we got a visit from Nicole & Hayley. Hayley is such a cutie - such a great eater, she loved my dad's cooking! She was saying "mmmm" the whole time =)

Maddi got more loot... thanks Auntie Nicole!

After 2 weeks with Maddi, I'm starting to figure out a routine with her. She feeds as soon as she wakes up, then continues to sleep for another hour or so... and I either go back to sleep with her, or that's my time to do my own thing while she sleeps with Sean. She sleeps most of the day, waking up about every 3 hours to feed. At around 6pm, she feeds nonstop with only 15-20 minutes in between feedings until she goes to bed for the night, which could be as early as 9pm or as late as 1.30am. So, it is crucial that I take a nap while she's sleeping between 3-5pm... and that has become my time with her as we nap together with her either on my chest or beside me on our bed.

The Best Family In The World

In the last few years, I've started to appreciate and be grateful for my family more than I ever have. Although we live halfway across the world from each other, we've become closer than we ever have. I have no words to express just how much my parents have done for me and been there for me. My brother has been such a source of encouragement and my sister has been such a great support and comfort.

My sister arrived on my due date, and has been taking care of all my needs since Maddi was born. I am receiving the traditional Chinese postpartum care, and she's brought Sean and I food everyday as well as picked up anything that we may need. My parents arrived on the Friday after Maddi was born and they took over cooking and cleaning duty as soon as they got here. I am very lucky to have family that would fly 16 hours halfway across the world to serve me and take care of me during this time. I just realized how much I've missed them and wish I could see them more than just a couple of weeks in a year. It will be hard to see my sister leave in a few days and my parents leave in ten days.

In this photo, my parents are preparing an herb concoction for me to strengthen my body after birthing.

Popeye Face

Maddi's starting to fill out, I also noticed that she seemed to have gotten some colour - she's gotten a little darker the last couple of days. She's entertaining to watch, she makes funny faces and this is one of the regular ones she makes - her Popeye face.

A Visit From Auntie Cathy

Maddi is still a very good sleeper! She went to bed at 1am last night and stayed sleeping until 7am - mama definitely appreciates that!

Maddi has been eating a lot too! She has started to fill out and as much as I get excited that she is growing, I get a little sad that she will simply keep growing and will never be this small again =(

Tonight, Auntie Cathy came for a visit. She met Maddi for the first time, and I think she likes her =)

A Visit From Gruncle Bob

Today, we went to see Dr. Wenner for a follow up check up appointment for Maddi. She said that she was at a doctor's convention last Thursday and has been raving about my birth and talking to the other physicians about Hypnobabies. She discovered that not many have heard about it and thought that she could be the spokesperson for Hypnobabies. It's so amazing to see how she went from being suspicious of it to now totally intrigued by it.

Maddi is doing great, she's healthy and has already surpassed her birth weight by 2oz... now weighing 6lbs. 11oz.

Shortly after we got home from Dr. Wenner's clinic, Gruncle Bob stopped in for a visit before flying out to Australia. Maddi got lots of loot again; all sorts of sports paraphernalia - a BC Lions onesie, a BC Lions hat, a pair of Canucks shoes, a Canucks hockey stick, another Sophie (which we'll exchange for something else at the store) and a grobag. Thanks, Gruncle Bob!

Uncle Mike also came for a visit just before bedtime... bearing gifts. Thanks, Uncle Mike!