Jeremiah - new born

Both my daughters were delivered naturally ~ the water broke, there was contractions & labour pains.

J's birth was scheduled. When the time came, there was none of that. It was surreal, very calm & uneventful. Pre-op preparations & then waiting for the doctor (who was ½hr late). I felt a tinge impatient - just a tinge. I still feel apprehension bringing him into this world 3 weeks early.

The doctor came & the anesthetist did her job. I have requested for local anesthesia - I wanted to stay awake & be there the moment he arrived.

It took a while for the doctor to get to him. There was a change in the vibes in the OT when J was delivered - everyone fell silent. The expected wailing did not come to my ears. Then I heard it, albeit a short one. I felt relieved - he's alive!!!. I waited for the nurse to do the standard cleaning, weighing, swaddling, tagging the bracelet....

When PA finally brought J to me he had a solemn look on his face ( I could see that even though I was not wearing my glasses). I held J for the first time, just elated that he'd made it. I didn't notice any else - probably due to the anesthesia.

Our first encounter was brief, then J was whisked away in the bassinet & I learned later - straight to the NICU, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

J was born underweight for a 37-week baby - just over 2kg. He was also born ebony-skinned. As dark as the darkest African person. PA & I are of pure Chinese ancestry. As soon as I was able to, I went to see him at the NICU. J has had his 1st blood test & had a high jaundice reading. He was put under the UV lamp & had an eye mask on. He was skinny but was actually the largest baby in the NICU, mostly there due to pre-mature birth. At this point I couldn't see his true skin colour due to the UV light on him & didn't understand what the fuss was about. He looked to me like a tan baby.

I visited him every day. I touched him but did not hold him - I did not know that I could do that him being so fragile. On the 3rd day, a nurse casually asked me if I wanted to hold him. I said: "I can?". She was surprised
I hadn't done that already, promptly turned off the UV lights & handed J to me. It was a wonderful moment. Reality struck at that moment too - seeing J for the 1st time without the UVL - his skin was ebony black, almost as if he was burned except it was smooth. But it still didn't bother me. He was doing much better than my overactive imagination had earlier envisioned.

The pediatrician was a kind man, Dr Terence Tan. He was baffled by J's hyper pigmentation & couldn't determine what was the cause. J's jaundice readings remained high too, despite the continuous UVL treatment.

It came time for me to be discharged from the hospital but I didn't want to. As long as I was there, I could see him at anytime. I know I won't be able to if I went home. I'd only be able to see J when PA is available to send me there. =(

Jeremiah before birth

We have 2 daughters born 2 years apart & without major health issues. When my 2nd daughter T was in pre-school Jeremiah was conceived. My husband P.A. was ecstatic! He started praying for a son.

As it was my 3rd pregnancy, I didn't rush to my doctor straight away - "no hurry" I thought. Daily routine went on. Get kids ready for school, do chores, prepare meals - repeat the next day.

That morning was no different. I was walking back to the lift lobby after T was picked up by the school bus when I felt a hot gush of fluid & thought to myself "???". I quickly went home to check & discovered I had experienced pre-natal bleeding. I've experienced 'spotting' while pregnant with C, my eldest daughter but this    
time seems more severe. I called P.A. to get me to my doctor & lay down to wait for him. Panic was how I felt.

At Dr H's clinic, I got worked up & was crying. Dr H gave me a hormone injection which was suppose to stabilize my pregnancy. He ordered bed rest & minimal strain for the next 2 weeks. My mother came to my aid - as usual. She took over my work as well as took care of me. When the bleeding continued the next few days - I got another hormone injection & continued to lie in bed as much as possible. Not daring to make unnecessary movements.

After recovering from that ordeal. Life went back to routine - more or less. I was not putting on weight much, it was similar with my first 2 pregnancies - I only started gaining more weight during the 3rd trimester. Dr H, however, became concerned & since I was in my early 30s - he referred me to a specialist for an amniocentesis -to check for Down syndrome etc.

It's been 3 years?

Wow! Its been 3 years since my last post! 

I'm surprised this blog was not deleted!

So many things happened in the last 3 years its drama material for sure.

Didn't realise that 2 people actually read my posts. That's an achievement for me - WOOHOO!  =D

Am trying to become a more organised person. 'Trying' being the key word.

My next post will attempt to outline some events, hopefully. Hee hee.

My Family Portrait

My son's (4+) first family portrait masterpiece!

Not so long ago - he couldn't even copy draw!

Yes, its the little things in life that brings the most joy! Ü

Whoosh!

Yikes! A whole month went by and I didn't blog! The Lunar New Year period does that to me...

Anyway, had my annual catch-up dinner with 3 friends and boy am I outdated.

Had trouble going to the venue (clever me, I started out very early cos I knew I'd 'detour').

Had trouble looking for the restaurant - the mall was ridiculously huge - my feet were aching by the time I got there!

Had trouble going home too! (Yes - 'detoured' again)

Several people I knew got divorced... pondering if I should contact them... or not... should I?

Glad my pals are still the same, good to know life hadn't dealt badly with them this past year.

Look forward to the next catch-up session - hopefully not too long a wait. ☺

2008 What a year!

It hasn't been a very good year for many people - 2008. Sure - there was the brilliant Beijing Olympics. But unfortunately the other events ensuing made it's glory extremely shortlived.

On the large scale: there was the earthquake in Szechuan, the melamine-tainted milk catastrophe, the collapse of Lehman Brothers - leading into the worldwide recession.

On a personal scale: the tip of my son's right middle finger was caught by a sliding door and ripped off together with the entire finger nail. It was the most horrifying experience I've personally had. We rushed to the hospital with the severed bit in a glass of ice. The tip was re-attached. It eventually turned black and fell off - including the nail. It was a nasty sight!

With plenty of prayers & God's amazing grace, the tip & finger nail grew back and now looks ok. The best part is - he took in all of this very well - probably due to all the medical trauma his been through since he was born. (Or even before he was born.)

Not long after this a good friend who had migrated to Perth a few years ago emailed us - his 6 year-old daughter has passed on in a hospital. He was obviously too distraught and did not provide more information in his brief email. We were so shocked by this news - I was in a daze for quite a while. We've visited them 2 years prior and she was such a sweet girl! I was very worried about her older & only 7 year-old sister now left to deal with death at such a young age - I still am.

Then- like in the dramas - my dad was hospitalised for multiple infections. And the stress made my mum very ill too.

After all that - what do you know? A friend from NZ called. Every November, she'd usually drop me a visit enroute to HK to spend the holidays with her daughter. She didn't go this year - her son-in-law is having an affair with a woman in mainland China. She and her husband were very upset and worried about her daughter but there isn't much they could do about it...

Maybe someone would like to write a drama about all this....? Naw...seems like these have already been done before! A case of art imitating life!

All I pray for now is a better year ahead!

Update on $1.50 Paypal incident

It's official. Paypal is not giving me the $1.50 they held - surprise, surprise!. The payer (888goodchi999) is no longer registered on ebay. I think this is what happened:

888goodchi999 sold a set of golf clubs and used the money in his/her paypal account to buy stuff to get feedback. I think the poor golf clubs buyer didn't get the goods/service from 888goodchi999 so he/she claimed from Paypal. Paypal take back all the payment 888goodchi999 made to sellers like me to reduce their loss. We (sellers, underdogs) become the ultimate losers... story of most honest ebay sellers - ya win some, ya lose some!