Full moon!

Lucas reached another milestone. Today marks the 1 st month..... It has been a trying month but as most mothers will say preemies are fighters. All's well and as hard as it may be I am starting to have breast milk although not a lot, but the doc said even 10ml is good enough. This is also thhe month I started to learn to feed, wipe his shit, change his diapers and swaddling him. Still learning , it is tougher than any job really. Next week would be another tough star to a month, but looking forward to it. Being parents is most rewarding but it is also a lifelong commitment.

Anxious

Confinement lady leaves on the 25 th. then I am on my own. Thank god mom is back and she would be helping me out the next month. Hoping for the best for myself and especially Bubu.

The confinement lady

With the early arrival of Bubu, I was lucky that I got the replacement confinement lady in time. My mom was also scheduled fr a trip to UK to visit my sis so I was really lucky that the confinement lady in time. at first it was weird having someone else in the house and also to surrender my kitchen and baby chores to her. But I guess we all have to adapt.

I decided to change my attitude and decided to be friends with her. Sure she is naggy and often repeats herself....So I started to get to know her better. In between we swoon over Bubu. When I need a break I take a nap or go to my IPad. And took this chance to learn as much as I could about tending to baby's needs (mind you, there isn't an SOP since Bubu's habits change as the day goes by).

She seems to have had a tough life, two kids with a no-good husband who couldn't stay on a job permanently. So she had a really interesting set of odd jobs to make ends meet. Mahjong centre, maid in Japan, kopitiam, hawker, chef ( I am still discovering). She is also sama kampung as my mom which delighted my mom coz she only met Auntie once before my mom went off to Uk. My mom said I will be in good hands. One of her sons is doing well, staying just nearby in a far bigger house than ours with a maid. The other son is an Ah Long ( errr, all the more I should be friendly with her). Asked her why bother working then ... Confinement jobs are tough! Seriously! Imagine dealing with a cranky woman with postnatal mood swings, and a wailing baby and at the same time adapting to a new place while doing house chores etc. She said no work makes Jack a dull boy, in short.

I guess every reason has his/ her stories to share. And we all can learn from just about anyone if we wanted to. I learnt that caring for a baby really requires a lot patience and observation.... It is not like work when we can hentam and sometimes get away with it. I also learnt about determination, she too is a mother and she shared about her labour of love to her two sons. Until now, she tries to think of ways to open a business for his youngest son. Despairs me when I hear her calling people to find jalan for the son, and it was just recently she had to close down a kopitiam that she opened for the son. Salut.

nyone wants recommendation let me know.

Umbilical cord

Bubu's umbilical cord got detached yesterday whilst having his shower. The special bond between me and him when I was pregnant. I guess it is a milestone as it marks his 14th day. Mom said to store it in an Angpow and keep it stashed somewhere in the house. I waited for Andrew to do this since he is the dad.

Grow well, Bubu.

Confinement

I got myself a confinement lady to help out during the first month. As u already know, baby Lucas came early and in the chaos luckily we got a replacement pretty quickly. The confinement month is meant for me to rest while the confinement lady tends to my needs and the baby' s.

It really seems like a super duper heavy job for one woman alone. In the mornings she cooks brunch for me, showers the baby, and make the yucky herbal bath for me. We usually then take Lucas for a sun tan before 10am. Thereafter she takes care of the baby in terms of feeding and cleaning his poo and urine. That is until way in the evening were she then makes dinner ala confinement cuisine. After dinner she then carries on to feed Lucas in the wee hour of the morning. Tough job, and may I just say these one are over 50 plus.

Well, I now know it is truly an impossible task (except of my mom who is as efficient as a bee). So far I have been trying to do the baby feeds throughout the day, clearing trash, cleaning the house, whatever i could. I try to eat earlier too so she can get her tasks one faster.

Because there isn't any entertainment at home she tends to nag and repeat herself. Sigh. I don't quite believe in all te confinement dos and donts and quite frankly have broken all the rules so far.

The only thing I love during this period is the time spent with Lucas. I am counting the days till my mom return though. Would love an extra pair of helping hands.