Edward has been developing well. Praise God! He had his 3rd dose of 6-in-1 jab today and he didn't even cry at all! :)

As of today, he weighs 8.4 kg (50-75%), height 71 cm (75%) and with head circumference
​of 43.2 cm.

Milestones:

• 2 front teeth
  
• can sit up
  
• loves wheeling around in his "Ferrari" walker but still loves being carried
• recognises family and shows preference on whom he wants to be carried by
• discovers his voice!!!

21 November 2016 - Thank God that Didi Edward is growing very well!

For the record, Edwards weighs a hefty 7.52 kg (75%) and measures 66 cm long (90%).
We were advised to start him​ on solids only a month later. That will be just before Christmas! Excited that he'll be able to join us at the table soon!

​p/s: Ikea highchair is ready for him! :)

Didi Edward is growing well at 11 weeks. We had a visit to the PD yesterday; with weight at 6.54 kg, height at 63.2 cm and head circumference at 39.2 cm. In the nurse's words. "He is off the charts"! Praise God for a strong and healthy Edward. His first jab went well. A little cry when the needle went in but all was well in a minute. :)

It's the end of another week. Time seems to pass so fast with two little ones at home and mummy is taking some quick moments to do some updates while they are sleeping, and mummy is not. :P

Had a first month review with pediatrician, Dr Oh, on Monday for Baby Edward. Thank God that He is feeding and growing well. And the nurse call him Ah Bui too (just like in the hospital)! Oh no!

​His growth charted as below:
Weight: 5.28 kg (75%)
Length: 58 cm
​Head circumference: 35 cm

Edward is also starting to look around and respond to people talking to him. He's smiling more now and we managed to capture some nice shots too! :) 

p/s: Papa placed him down a second time in order to capture a shot. Weight was a little off the initial 5.28 kg with one of his legs up. :P

So fast! One month is over and it's time to party and celebrate! We held the celebrations on Saturday evening.

​Doesn't Edward look much bigger than before. Also spot Mama's new hairdo by Apgujeong Hair Studio. For more photos from the evening, please go to Daddy's Facebook. :)

We thank God that we have a nice and spacious function room to host our guests. As usual we catered from Neo Garden. A little disappointed that the previous 50% promotion for Full Month is no longer available. It is now only 30%. Well, it's better than nothing. We always choose it for its consistency in food quality.

This time round, we did not get the ang ku kueh and red eggs combo. Instead, we got ang ku kueh from Ji Xiang. It was so good that all the 8 boxes were gone by the end of the day! And while busy mingling with the guests, I forgot to have a piece. Will get some soon.

My Papa helped with dyeing the red eggs and my sisters helped to get the helium balloons for simple deco. Thanks to our family for helping us in the setting up and decoration of the place. The balloons really give the venue a special feel. :)

And here's the star of the evening!

It is slightly before 2 am on the Sunday morning of 3rd July 2016. I had gotten up to go to the washroom and there was some bloody discharge. No contractions yet. Quietly excited as that is a sign that labour is coming; I was already overdue by 12 days! 

Got back to bed and couldn't get back to sleep. It was perhaps 10 to 15 minutes later that the first contraction started. I got to my phone app and started the contraction tracker, thinking that it wouldn't be so soon and thought I'll let Bernard have a little more rest before the real action begins. But I was wrong. I didn't expect the contractions to come in so fast and intense... The first few readings were already like 3-4 minutes apart! Ready-to-go-to-the-hospital kind of timing. I quickly woke Bernard up and asked him to get ready.

We contacted our doula. There was no time for her to come to our place, unlike Faith's birth and we had to meet at the hospital. I like going to the hospital in the wee morning because there's practically no traffic at all. Even then, I had to endure 4 contractions in the car in the most uncomfortable position - yes, I counted, with one just at the door of the hospital. It was slightly past 3 am when we reached the hospital and was so glad to see Doula Catherine waiting for us! She helped me to get to the delivery suite while Bernard went to park the car.

In my prepared birth plan, I had wanted to use the tub for hydrotherapy - the warm water was useful in soothing the contraction pain during Faith's time. However, when the nurse came in to check, I was already 8 cm dilated. "Active labour period" she says and I wasn't allowed to use the tub. And from then I had to be strapped to the monitor and can only stay in the bed. :P

The wait for dilation to 9 cm was rather fast but then it is always the last cm that seems to take forever. The nurse will not allow you to push unless one is 10 cm dilated. And the thing that impedes the development of labour was my very strong waterbag that refused to break. Nurse gave the option to prick the waterbag but we thought we will still want it to be as natural as possible. A few more contractions later, Dr Paul came in and went ahead to prick my waterbag. From then the contractions were even more intense and the urge to start pushing was even stronger...

The nurse quickly informed Dr Paul who was making his rounds in the wards. I was so so glad to see him donning his robe, a sign that I can really start pushing. I can still remember for Faith, it took 2 breathes and pushes for her to be out. For Edward, I lost count. I thank God for His strength and grace to get Edward out. After the long long wait (with me 12 days overdue), it was really a relief to hold Edward in my arms.

Dr Paul then proceeded to deliver the placenta but he was taking quite a while; pushing and squeezing my tummy, trying to push and pull it out... According to doula and Bernard, the usually very calm Dr Paul started to look a bit tense. It was later that I learned that an emergency c-section may have to be scheduled if the placenta cannot be delivered. Bernard and Doula Catherine was praying and thank God the placenta came out in the end!

Then the nurses started to clean me up and got me ready to be transferred to the ward. I was so looking forward to having my breakfast after all the pushing. The nurses helped me out of bed to clear my bladder but I shockingly passed out a lot of blood instead. Suddenly, I started to feel weak and faint. I was helped to the bed and after consultation with Dr Paul, the nurses put me on drip. I'm not afraid of pain, but I just hate needles!

I was had to be kept under observation for another hour in the delivery suite while Baby Edward was pushed up to the nursery for his tests and assessments. For the record, the statistics for Baby Edward at birth:

Weight: 4.09 kg
Length: 53 cm
Head circumference: 34 cm (vs Jiejie Faith's 3.63 kg, 50 cm and 33 cm)

It could be the big size baby that caused the excessive bleeding and dip in blood pressure (Bernard later told me that my bp plunged to 98). Thank God for His hand upon me and I managed to recover quite fast and the blood pressure was normal in the afternoon.

The healing and recovery of body was also much faster and better compared to the first birth. Thank God for watching over us. And thankful for our family and friends for keeping us in prayer throughout my entire pregnancy and delivery. All glory to God! Amen! :)

Tuesday - we visited Dr Paul again for our review. When we arrived, he had just stepped out for a delivery at Mount A so we had to wait for a little while. Today's consultation was rather short. Mummy didn't gain any weight but Baby E is well and comfortable in Mummy. Head is engaged - no wonder mummy is making more frequent visits to the toilet, even at night! Dr Paul listened to the heartbeat which shows that Baby E is well. Next visit in a week's time. :)

Faith's development
While waiting at the gynae, Faith was asked by 2 other mummies "What's your name?" and "How old are you?" and we realised she's able to answer well. Each time, she'll say "Faith" and "2".

She's able to show "1" with her fingers and do "thumbs up" occasionally but she's still not able to do "two". So one day last week, she cleverly held 2 "ones" together to show "two". I have a smart toddler. :)

Excited to receive our photos after our photo shoot last Monday. Here're some of my favourites. Take a look at the complete collection here. :)

We visited the gynae on Monday and we praise God that Baby E is growing well in mummy. Mummy has been feeling lots of kicks and stretching in her upper right abdomen. Dr Paul confirmed that baby is head down in the LOA (Left Occiput Anterior) position. It is the easiest fetal position for the start of labour and helps the baby be in the smallest diameter to fit the pelvis.(Source: ​http://spinningbabies.com/learn-more/baby-positions/other-fetal-positions/left-occiput-anterior-loa/).

Mummy's weight: 58.5 kg
Baby E's weight: 2.49 kg ("good size" says Dr Paul) :)

​See the growth of mummy's belly: