Sunday, June 28, 2009

Shopping Spree (27 Jun 09)

Went Orchard for shopping yesterday.

Burberry
Taka was having 10% mall wide discount. Burberry was having sale and on top of that add'l 10% disc. Bought a collar tshirt for mum ($78.20 after discount; UP: $220) and a crew neck tshirt for YC (his bday present - $67.50 after discount; UP: $150).

Gap
We were at Vivocity on Fri nite. Went to Gap and bought 6 items - 1 polo cap sleeve shirt for myself, 1 polo shirt for YC, 1 dress for Cherylihn and 3 tops for Shawn. Total amount is abt $130.
Went to Gap again on Sat (Centrepoint outlet). Spent about 1.5hours there and left with 1 pants for mum, 2 shirt & 1 jeans for YC, and 1 jeans and 1 pants for myself. Total amount is abt $260.

Toys
We bought a magic spray pen set cum refill for Cherylin. She has been eyeing for it a few weeks back. She was so happy that she kept holding on to the pen set and refill pack. Happily played with it the moment we reached home (it was passed 10pm then)

Mothercare
There's 50% off regular priced items over the wkend. Was in a rush hence only manage to pick two dresses for Cherylin (cost $28 n $31.50 after disc).

Was telling YC that it's the 1st time i spent like $500 in a day. :P

NB: will take pictures and post later.

Studio shots at foto-u (20 Jun 09)

We had a 30-min photo session at foto-u. It's a father's day promo costing $38. We had a total of about 100 shots. Felt it's too few. What to do cos my two kids refuse to cooperate - one too hyper and kept running around; the other too stone after waking up from nap and refused to pose alone without mummy/daddy. Hence, we wasted some time while trying to get them to pose. Nevertheless, at only $38, it's still quite worth while :)























Saturday, June 6, 2009

It's shopping time!

Not because of GSS. PC show is just next week. Need to get a compact digicam, renew mobile broadband scription, and want to buy a netbook. If you noticed, I used "need" for the first 2 items, and "want" for the last.

Need because:
(1) Digicam - as mentioned in previous post, my more than 2.5 years old canon digicam is spoilt. Though i have a DSLR, still need a compact camera so that i can carry it with me everyday whereever i go. With so many models in the market, it's really a tough decision to make on which camera to get. Shortlisted lumix (FX38 or FX48) or canon (ixus 100is or 110is). A fren of mine recommended finepix 200EXR. Hmm... really can't decide..

(2) Mobile Broadband Subscription - it's due for renewal this jun (we sign up during PC show last year in jun. so the renewal ties in nicely with PC show that's held in this period).

Want because:
(3) Netbook - this is something that can wait as without one, i won't 'die'. but really hope to get one soon (looking at lenovo s10) so that i can surf on the go (complemented with the mobile broadband that we have). Then perhaps i'll be able to update my blog more regularly. But i heard windows 7 will be released soon. Hence, not sure if i should wait?

Wedding Dinner

Yesterday was Celest's wedding. Celest was my ex-colleague 6 years ago. We haven't been keeping in contact much. Hence, was surprised and delighted when she invited me to her wedding dinner few weeks ago.

Had wanted to bring YC n kids along. Too bad he's on reservist. Hence, I only brought along Cherylin. Would give Cherylin 8 points for her behavious yesterday. Other than keep asking me questions, she's really well behaved. Ate her food and chat with my two other ex-colleagues too.

Celest became an air stewardess after she's left my ex-company. She's not changed after so many years, still as friendly and fun loving. Cherylin kept wanting to take picture with the beautiful bride. Too bad my camera is spoilt (Cherylin dropped onto the floor and the LCD shows a black screen - can't take picture anymore. sob). Hence, could only take 2 pictures with my low resolution handphone, and one taken by the wedding photographer. Will try to get the soft copy from Celest.

I enjoy attending wedding dinners, especially those of people whom I know personally. Can really feel the joy and happiness of the couple. Make me envy and feel like getting married all over again (haha... just kidding, too old for that).

Time to stop (Part 2)

This morning when i woke up, don't feel my breasts heavy at all. The day is finally coming. I gather by early next week, I won't need to pump any more and it will really be the end of my 'bfg career'. It's really a mixed feeling for me. Glad because it means i can start on my medication to fix the condition; sad because i will miss the bonding time with Shawn while he latch on. Well, i guess it's a matter of sooner or later. So, just try to let go and be happy :)

Friday, June 5, 2009

Time to stop (Part 1)

It's time for me to stop breastfeeding. Really reluctant but got no choice. If not, I'll probably breastfeed till my supply stops or Shawn rejects me. Haiz...

Why?
I've to face with reality. Somehow, my thyroid problem seems to relapse after every birth. It happened after I gave birth to Cherylin. Now, it happened again. I had known months ago that the problem has relapsed. I kept postponing my scheduled blood test, until mid Apr, before my Europe trip. As expected, my blood test results were negative. Doctor advised to start medication. I checked if there's medicine safe for breastfeeding. The doctor checked and found none. He checked with two of his colleagues. Both of them said the medicine will go into the breastmilk. Hence, doctor advised me to stop breastfeeding. Afterall, baby is already more than a year.

Ok, told doctor I'll start taking medicine after my trip (course don't wanna introduce changes to Shawn during a holiday, and it's so much more convenient to breastfeed him then to bring milk bottles, milk powder, etc.

How?

1st week (11 May to 17 May)

When i first tried to avoid latching Shawn, he cried till very cham. So much so that i bu ren xin to reject him. So for the initial first week, especially weekend, I still bf him like 80% of the time. I kept saying Shawn is like a drug addict having withdrawal symptons when he's not breastfed. He will cry in the middle of the night. So all of us suffered.

I had to adjust the number of times i pump too. Objective is to reduce the supply gradually (err... don't want to take medicine to stop though it's the fastest way). For the first few days after I go back to work from holiday, I stretched the time to pump to 10pm (gotta tolerate the engorgement, so had to hand expressed a little while at work). Morning gotta pump once too. But for each pump, I avoided clearing everything. So, there's some 'improvements'. My supply used to be around 1 to 1.2 litre a day. This week, it's reduced to abt 600ml by end of the week.

2nd week (18 May to 24 May)
Shawn seemed to adapt better when I don't breastfeed him even on weekends. He'll ask for milk and when I told him "Mummy heat up milk for you, ok?". He'll nod his head. I tried giving him formula milk but was unsuccessful (i have some enfagrow sample - oh, me deciding to give btw enfa or gain IQ, which is better huh?). Weekend as usual, bf Shawn as usual (hee...like derailing right? :P)

Pumping at work had also improved a little. Am not so engorged at end of the day. But still need to pump at night for first 2 nites. By mid week or so, can stretched till the next morning. Supply is about 300ml.

3rd week (25 May to 31 May)
This week, I tried to give Shawn formula milk again on weekend. When he asked for milk, i took the satchet of milk and told him "mummy make milk for you, ok?". He nodded his head again. After I've prepared the milk, I passed him the bottle. He took a sip, removed the the teat from him mouth, looked at me and shook his head. Haha.. rejected again. I tried another time, adding the ebm to the fm, he tooked it. Okie, means must 'camouflage' and slowly get him transited to formula milk.

Now able to just pump once in the morning. Supply reduced to about 200ml liao. Sob, my stock of ebm is depleting soon. Now got lots of empty milk bottles which I have headache over what to do with those.

4th week (1 Jun to 5 Jun)
This is the 4th week trying to wean Shawn off breastmilk. Today, 5th day of the week, I yield only 14oml (this is roughly the qty i get. yesterday slightly more at 180ml). Only feel slight heaviness on one side. Really going to be end of my bfg job liao.

Yesterday (4 Jun) at mum's place, Shawn was crying for milk. As she needed to warm up the milk, Shawn had to wait for a while. He cried and kept asking for milk. Good that he didn't come to milk and insist that I bf him. So this is a good sign.

At this rate things are going, I should be a dry cow by next week bah.... then I'll start taking my medication...

My thoughts
I wonder why the relapse occurs each time after the birth of my child. Could it be due to the hormonal change, coupled with caffeine? If so, I'm thankful that I was 'auto averse' to caffeine during both my pregnancies. Otherwise, it would be a difficult pregnancy for me as I read from the internet that patients who are pregnant need to be monitored constantly.

I had earlier asked my gp what will happen if I do not take medication for my condition. Dr Lawrence said that the worst case scenario will be heart failure. Heart failure? I asked him. But Dr Lawrence told me that it won't happen. Because the patient will feel so unwell that medication assistance would have been sought before anything happen. So, I need to be less obstinate and get myself cured. Hopefully, forever and ever and no more relapse in future. :)

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

So frustrating!

Must complain. It's so frustrating to include pictures in the posts. The pictures are always uploaded onto the top page even though i upload after typing some text. Always gotta drag the picture down to where my text end. Not sure if it's the way blogger works or i did it the wrong way?

Anyone can advise me how to be more efficient in creating post with picture. Just that one post on my day 1 taiwan trip took me more than 30 mins to complete. Humph.