Full Moon

Last weekend, we celebrated Little Bambi's full moon by having a party at our house with some family members and friends. Initially, I was dreading it.... I was worried how I was going to fit 21 people in my tiny little house, if the food was enough, if I would be too tired, if Little Bambi would be overwhelmed, etc. However, the party turned out really well, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

The day started with Little Bambi getting lots of kisses and cuddles as she is finally one month old!

Everyone tells me she looks like her papa!

Next up, my mum instructed us to snip off a few strands of Little Bambi's hair. First she was pretty calm and had her eyes closed.

So worried her father will accidentally snip off her ear.

But when we were working on the other ear, she went a bit cray cray at us. Haha so cute!

With her strands of hair, my mum stuffed it in an angpao, and asked me to wish what I would like Little Bambi to be when she grows up. I said, a doctor! Of course. 

Then we gave her a bath to soothe and calm her, while I was secretly hoping that she would sleep through her party.. hehe..

I can't stop staring at her tiny little feet!

We put her in a cute little romper suit, which was a present from my ex-boss, Belgian Chocolates. I love how it is peach, and not pink. And we rushed to take some family photos before our guests started to arrive. We hardly took any family portraits before this because I was so camera shy during confinement (with un-washed hair and all).

As for the food, I did a bit of research online. We wanted to go with Malaysian catering at first, nasi kunyit, ang ku kueh etc, but as I have never tried them before, I decided to be safe and chose my favourite Sri Lankan restaurant and served my guests a Sri Lankan dish called Lamprice! Haha

I made two serves of salad, and also some fruit salad. My mum fried some noodles, I cooked chicken nuggets for the little kids.

Grumpy cooked malaysian style curry chicken to go with this home made nasi kunyit, prepared by a family friend.

My mum painted some hard boiled eggs in red - I love how these eggs look in photos!

I ordered a Brownie and Passionfruit Chocolate Gateau cake.. for myself mainly. Haha

As you can see, the food was a bit of a mix of everything, some we bought, some we made, but it was all very yummy!

Little Bambi was quite good, she slept through most of her party. Hehe which made it easy for the rest of us to move around and spend some time catching up with our guests.

We also squeezed in a family portrait with my parents, my brother, his girlfriend and my loyal dog!

When all our guests left, my parents spent the night at my brother's house, leaving Grumpy, Little Bambi and myself some alone time. It was really nice to have some quality time, just the three of us. It has been a bit crowded at the house lately, so we took the quiet time to relax at home, sitting by the sofa and cuddling our little baby. 

Happy one-month my lovely Bambi!

Four Weeks

Little Bambi is exactly four weeks old today! She is very cute and she never ceases to amaze me! Here is a recent picture of her. I sent it to Little-Miss-Whats-For-Lunch and she said "Oh my, gravity is pulling her cheeks down" hehe yes, my daughter has incredibly chubby cheeks.

Apart from Little Bambi being four weeks old, I was quite excited myself as it marks the end of my confinement period. I cannot wait to eat normal food and resume back to being a normal sane person! But much to my disappointment, my mum said the confinement does not end today, it ends on Saturday, which is Little Bambi's full moon celebration. My immediate reaction to that? AH PUTAIN!!!

If you are wondering how the confinement period went, let me tell you it is bloody awful. God only knows how all the chinese women in Malaysia did it, and especially for those who have many children! The hardest thing for me.. and for most people I know, is that I was not allowed to wash my hair for FOURTEEN DAYS! As I knew this was the case, immediately after Little Bambi was born, I kept my hair tied up high in a bun, even in the hospital. I slept with my hair tied as well, to keep my hair clean as possible. Also, as it is right in the middle of winter now in Melbourne, and considering how dry it is here, I guess my hair and scalp did not feel too bad the first couple of days. I bought four cans of dry shampoo, but I only used it on weekends when visitors were around. I found that dry shampoo causes the scalp to get a bit itchy after a few days. 

The first two weeks, my mum did not allow me showers as well. Instead, she gave me a bucket of boiled herbal water, and that was all I got. How miserable I was...cleaning myself in murky water. Considering how cold it is in Melbourne, I kept reminding her that using a bucket of water to clean myself is a million times colder than taking a hot shower with running water. After I would pour some hot water on my body, I would stand in the shower, freezing my arse off. I told her, this might work in Malaysia where it is 33 degrees Celcius every day, but it is now 6 degrees here, Mum! Finally she gave in, and I won the rights to taking a nice hot shower, like how people normally do in today's day and age. 

The food during confinement is not as bad as I expected, however, I was so conscious of my weight because my mum fed me six meals a day. Somehow I do not quite agree with the confinement diet as I did not find it very well balanced. The first week, I only ate pork, pork and more pork. No vegetables or fruits. The second week, I got a mix of chicken, and minimal vegetables. By week 3 and 4, I was able to start eating apples and kiwifruit, but no oranges. My taste buds have changed a bit, considering how much ginger and chinese rice wine I consume in the food. 

Drinks? I was not allowed to drink plain water. Instead, my mum boils me herbal tea every single day and I drink this most of the time. This tea is nice, it is not too bad. How about DOM? Ahhh, many people have told me that they refuse to take any DOM at all because of breastfeeding. I did not want to either, but my mum insist I drink a tablespoon each night before I go to bed. I resisted at first, but after a couple of days, I found that I actually liked it. DOM makes me feel warm, especially during winter. After that, I increased the amount to a bit over 2 tablespoons each night. Some people have told me they drank four bottles of DOM during their confinement and they were breastfeeding at the same time. Their children are fine. Apparently, DOM, like Redbull, gives you wings strength.

Going out? The house arrest part did not bother me much at all. This is where my mum was a bit more lenient. If I had some errands to do, I would quickly sneak out after her feed, while my mum watches her. The weather is cold and wet here, and as Little Bambi feeds every couple of hours, I preferred to stay home during the first couple of weeks. We did go out together at Week 2, to visit the Maternal Child and Health Nurse.

Apart from that, there are some little 'luxuries' (as I call it). I was not allowed to do any dishes, or any house work at all. My parents would do most of it. Once Little Bambi is asleep, I would get sent off to my bedroom to catch up on sleep as well. I really do appreciate my mum's help and support on this, as it was all very overwhelming during the start. My mum would also take care of all the washing and cleaning of Little Bambi's clothes, towel, bibs, mittens, baths, etc. She has also taken charge of food shopping in the house, cooking all the meals for Grumpy, my dad and Dopey. Sometimes I really wonder how the average Australian mum copes, as many of them have minimal or no help at all. I am really blessed, considering how caring my mum is. She drives me insane most of the time, but regardless, she is very good with Little Bambi, and she settles the baby so easily. 

The Dairy Queen

Little Bambi is now three weeks old, and growing so very fast.

One of the most important things for me, which I have been prepping for the past 4-5 months before the birth of Little Bambi, was that I wanted to breastfeed my baby. Women in my side of the family somehow do not breastfeed, saying that they have hardly any milk. My mum did not breastfeed me either, choosing formula instead. Some friends warned me, saying that breastfeeding is extremely difficult and if it does not happen, I should not be so hard on myself. It works so easy for some, but not for others. Our last antenatal class was about breastfeeding, and they explained to us about what oxytocin (love hormone) and prolactin (stimulates breast milk) was. We were taught how to latch the baby on properly, how they need to have their mouths wide open... I never knew this. I always thought breastfeeding was as simple as put the baby on the breast and they start sucking.. VOILA! Haha I was wrong. 

Part of my preparations during the pregnancy was drinking boiled green papaya soup with fish (a recipe from my cousin in Hong Kong). It was quite gross, Grumpy used to boil this for me once a week. I would just force it down my throat. UGH! 

Anyway, fast forward to now, when Little Bambi was born, by day two in the hospital, my nipples were already very sore and bruised as she probably was not latching on correctly, and to make matters worst, Little Bambi was jaundiced on day three. Still at the hospital, Grumpy brought in my electric Medela Swing pump, and I tried to stimulate my boobs by using the pump. Only colostrum was coming out, but that was a good enough sign for me. Due to jaundice, we had to quickly put Little Bambi on formula, to ensure she has enough milk. I really am grateful that I had such amazing team of midwives caring for me at the hospital (two of them were men, and they were incredibly passionate people). They wanted to preserve all my efforts on breastfeeding, that they recommended that we feed Little Bambi formula using a little cup, instead of a bottle. Giving Little Bambi a bottle very early will only confuse her and she may refuse the breast completely after that. This is true - one of my friends has already experienced this. Despite that, feeding a newborn via a cup was quite stressful at the same time. 

When we got home from the hospital, we continued feeding Little Bambi with formula from a cup, I would occasionally let her latch on to my breast still, bearing the pain from my damaged nipples. I was given some Marcalan cream by the hospital for the nipples. Yet, I was determined that my milk will eventually come in. They say that milk comes in on day three. But in my case, not so lucky, I think it only came in on day six!

We had a midwife visit us at home each day, for three days in a row, and also a maternal child and health nurse. I was given a plan, which I had to write down the time of each feed, how long she would suck on each breast, if I had topped up her intake with EBM (express breast milk) or formula, and if she made a wet or a dirty nappy. Now on my third week, I am still noting them down. 

We also found a solution on day five to substitute the feeding with a cup. Grumpy found this Medela Calma teat in my Medela Swing pump box. This was a life saver!! We could now feed her with a bottle, but with this teat, Little Bambi still needs to work her jaw and suck, as if she was feeding from a breast.

At the moment, I can happily say my milk is in..! I am able to breastfeed my Little Bambi! Breastfeeding is still hard though, it requires a lot of patience, half the time she falls asleep while still latched on to my boob. It is very time consuming, and of course, there is only one person that can feed her, and that person is me! The 2-3am feeds, and the 6am feeds are not much fun at all (especially during winter)... Occasionally, if I am tired and sleepy, I will store some EBM in the fridge, and that way, Grumpy or my mum can help feed Little Bambi using the Medela Calma bottle. Having said that, little babies are very smart, Little Bambi will feed on the bottle, and after that, she will still scream for her mama, the Dairy Queen!