Mixed feelings...

I'm going back to work this evening...part of me feels relieved that I can finally get back to work, yet a part of me feels really bad about "abandoning" Hunny to take care of Cherise alone tonight. Will she be able to cope with the feeding, the changing and the pacifying all by herself? What if Cherise refuses to sleep after the night feed? Will Hunny be overworked? Sigh...sometimes I wish I can quit my job and be a stay at home dad. I like being at home with my family. i enjoy the fact that I can watch Cherise sleep. But a man's got to do what a man's got to do. God, please make your angels work overtime today....

The gift of burping...

I think I have a gift...my success rate of burping Cherise is 80% - 8 out of 10 times it works and my little angel is hiccup free! Her favourite burping position? This....
When you need...a shoulder to burp on...when you need... a..

*BURP* Heh heh...

Cherise has been having a lot of wind in her tummy these few days. Not sure if it is because of the food that mummy ate, yes it does affect the breast milk. We suspect that it could be the cabbage...research has shown that "cabbage flavoured" breast milk do cause some gas build up in breastfed babies. So we are going to lay off the cabbage soup for the time being...see how it goes.

Just came back from the PD, she said that Cherise still has a little bit of jaundice but it is under control so we need not do anymore blood test. Thank God...no more needles for our little darling...at least till Sept when she goes for her jabs. We just need to sun her whenever we can though...God please let there be light! Anyway, really thank God for His healing power, Cherise is looking a lot better now...
She's getting fairer by the day...looking more and more like mummy!

Both mummy and baby are sleeping now...poor Hunny, so exhausted after last night's prolonged feeding. The weather is cool and wet, perfect for an afternoon nap...but no time for me to sleep...need to do some grocery shopping, plus I really need a haircut!

Daddy's little Angel - Part 3

I thank God that my office have allowed me to take 2 weeks leave to attend to my wife and baby, it really gave me a chance to bond with Cherise and to reconnect with Hunny emotionally and spiritually.
Cherise listening to Daddy's heartbeat...

I've learnt so much about the Father's love from my own experiences with my little girl. How she depends totally on mummy and daddy to meet her every need, is exactly the way God the Father was us to be with Him. When she cries, she knows that someone will come to her rescue. At times, she does not even need to say anything and mummy and daddy will know exactly what she needs and meet that need at the right moment. Isn't it just how it is with God? He's never early and never late...always right on time.

Speaking about being right on time...it is not always easy to capture those "Kodak" moments of Cherise because it always happens so fast. But once you learn always to arm yourself with a camera when "handling" her, you get rewarded with priceless pictures like these...
Can you guess what she's doing?

That unmistakable pout...

It's getting more intensed....

Ahh...free at last....

A contented baby...after her poo session.

Daddy's little Angel - Part 2

Now and then, I like to lie Cherise on my lap after she feeds and look at the different expressions on her face...I managed to capture them a few days ago...was she dreaming?
1 second she was looking like this...

the next second she looks like this...check out that cheeky grin...

she probably knows that I was laughing at her...

she gives a big smile...

an even bigger smile...

suddenly she feels like crying...

Wait till you see her when she's doing her big business...you'll laugh your head off!

Daddy's little Angel - Part 1

It's been slightly more than a week since Cherise has invaded our lives in the most beautiful way ever. Our lives pretty much revolve around her now...I don't really feel like doing anything else other than to stay at home and carry her in my arms. She's such a joy to look at, both when she's sleeping and when she's awake. You just can't help but to stop everything you are doing and just watch her in her cot, exploring the strange new world in her own way. Now I truly understand what they mean by love at first sight.

But things were not easy at first during the first 2 days when Cherise and Hunny got home from the hospital. We suspected that she was probably still trying to adjust to her new surrounding, thus she was quite insecure especially at night. We literally could not put her down cos' she needed to be cuddled to sleep. Both hunny and I were ready to be admitted into the zoo as pandas by the end of the second night. Hunny was the milk-cum-cuddle machine, and I was the burping-cum-diaper changing-cum-bathing-cum-cuddle machine. There was just no rest for the both of us cos' the cycle was continuous- feed, poo/pee, cry, feed, poo/pee, cry.....even throughout the night. Oh did I mention that Cherise was a "Barracuda Baby"??? She would literally champ down on mummy's breast and not let go. She had some problems latching on properly initially, so although she was getting plenty of milk, mummy was enduring plenty of pain, to the point that mummy had to express the milk cos' her nipples were too painful.
Also, Like most babies, Cherise was diagnosed with Neonatal Jaundice. Her condition was not too serious, however she still needed to be placed under indirect sunlight in order to break down the bilirubin so that she can pass it out via her stool and urine. But the weather has not been very cooperative this couple of days, thus there was very little or no sunlight for our little girl at all. After the first review by the paediatrician, the doctor said that her jaundice level had gone up. She suggested that we could either ward her so that she can go under the phototherapy bed, or we could rent a phototherapy bed so that she can stay at home with us. We opted for option 2 cos' we really wanted to continue with full breast feeding for Cherise, plus we didn't really like the idea of a hospital stay for her...not at such a young age at least. So we rented a Bilibed for 3 days. This system would have been more effective with the Bilicombi but the company which we rented the device from did not have it. The eyeband that came with it didn't really work as well as it should, thus we had to literally sit there and watch her while she goes on the Bilibed cos' we had to keep the band on her eyes so that they don't accidentally stare directly into the light. Here are some pictures of Cherise on the Bilibed:




Cherise tends to heat up pretty quickly so we cannot leave her on the Bilibed for too long, even though the instruction was to leave her there all the time except when feeding or changing. We had to constantly wipe her down so that she does not perspire too much.

But praise the Lord, after the check up today the doctor said that the jaundice level has gone down so she does not have to use the Bilibed anymore!! We still have to sun her whenever we can though...but at least she's getting better.

Thank You Hunny....

To everyone out there who thinks that a woman's job is to get pregnant, have lots of children and take care of the house, please think again...It really takes a lot of courage and love (for you!) to sacrifice her career (not all employers want a preggie to work for them), her body (the fear that she'll never get her shape back...plus some things are permanent), and her desires (this cannot eat, that cannot do....the list goes on) to carry that baby for 40 week! And she will probably have to endure bouts of backaches, swollen feet and loads of other physical discomfort even after the delivery. To all mothers out there...I salute you!

So this post is a tribute to my darling Hunny...

Hunny...
I said it before and I'll say it again, thank you so much for enduring the 40 weeks carrying our precious little one and bringing her into this world. I think you are so brave to even attempt going through the whole process without any form of pain relief..at least for the bulk of the time! I know that this experience has deepened my love and respect for you, and I want you to know that you are still THE love of my life and I still find you very sexy hehe...

Here are some photos of the day of the delivery...

This is the device that measures the baby's heart rate and the mother's contractions.

Mummy obviously in pain...she's been feeling like this since Friday night...

Ahh...epidural...a life saver!

Finally...no pain...

EPIDURAL...the husband's best friend!

Mummy's first kiss...a moment I'll never forget.

Mummy all cleaned up and back at the ward.

Mummy and baby reunited!

Ok, that's all for now...more updates later!!!

Our Latest Addition!

The wait is finally over! After a long 40 weeks in mummy's tummy, baby Cherise has finally decided to come out and meet us all on the 15th of July 2007. She was born at 0902H weighing 3.02kg. I brought my laptop along to the hospital hoping to blog about the birth and upload the photos immediately, but the hospital has no wifi leh... Anyway, as promised to many, here's a quick look at our little bundle of joy!


I'll write another post and put up more pictures later, really need to catch some sleep now cos' Hunny and I haven't really rested properly since the birth. Personally, I've been running around like a zombie for the past few days playing super dad-cum-husband-cum-cook-cum-confinement man for the past 5 days. For more details of the birth, check out her mummy's blog.

Ok lah, here's another pic!

Come Baby Come Baby Baby Come Come...

My dearest daughter,
Why aren't you coming out yet? Is it because mommy's tummy feels like a 5-star resort? Or is it because you are still enjoying all the tasty donuts that mommy has been feeding you? Maybe you are too shy to come out and greet everyone...or maybe you are afraid that daddy and mommy wouldn't know how to take care of you. Trust me my dearest, both your mommy and I are clueless but I promise you that we will be here to love you as best as we can. We are so excited to meet you, to hold you in our arms and kiss you. Your grandpas and grandmas are also eager to see you, so are your aunts and uncles. So my little angel, please come out soon and be a part of our lives, we can't wait to see you! Plus, I don't think your mommy can take your weight much longer...you are not exactly very light you know....and you have been making mommy visit the toilet every 10 mins...you naughty little girl....

Good Conversations and Bad Conversations....

Sometimes I find it a lot easier to share the Gospel with a non-believer than to discuss about the bible with believers. Especially when they are older, supposedly better read and self-proclaimed teachers of the word. I really cannot stand it when a person cannot agree to disagree when it comes to teachings in the bible. It is a fact that many teachings in the bible CANNOT be read at face value without understanding the context at which it was written and the historical landscape at that point in time. If we were to take everything literally, then according to the following passages:

1) Luke 14:26
We will have to hate our loved ones in order to be a Christian.

2) 1 Tim 2:8-10
Women cannot wear jewellery, and cannot have any fancy hairstyles.

3) Numbers 31:15-18, Isaiah 13:13-19
It is ok to kill the innocent and commit rape in war.

4) Matt 5:38-42
When someone slaps you on one side of your face, you MUST stand there and let him do it to the other side as well.

5) Matt 19:12
It is ok to self mutilate in order to serve God.

And a whole lot of other "questionable" scripture verses I'm sure we've come across at one point or another. Isn't it scary if we were to follow these words blindly?

I truly believe that when we read the word of God, we cannot simply read it like a story book. Some people say that the bible is shallow enough for a baby to waddle in and deep enough to drown the greatest theologian...I totally agree. There is so much to the bible. We have to consider the nature of the human writer and the target audience etc, so that we can fully appreciate the message that God is trying to tell us. But more importantly, we should always allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us through His word. Let God reveal the truth of His word to us, that's when it becomes exciting isn't it?

What does one do when the Spirit of God suddenly challenges your fundamental religious beliefs? Dismiss it as heresy from the very pit of hell? Or do we seek God and allow his Spirit to convince us and reveal to us what we may not be able to see with our natural eyes? I would choose the latter because when Jesus came, he stirred up quite a storm and pxxxed off many religious leaders in his time as well.

I have a big problem with pious people, they tend to be quick to judge and they always think they are right...and they often don't acknowledge that they are the ones who have the "holier-than-thou" attitude. Sadly, because they think they are always right, they tend not to listen to your arguments because they are always trying to form a counter argument. And they often say the same things over and over again...and they leave you wondering.."yah, you said that just now, but didn't I already say that...oh right, never mind."

So to every possible traditionalist out there who is reading this, please answer this question:

If God has clearly anointed a WOMAN to teach, preach and pastor a church, who are we to stop it from happening? Feel free to quote bible verses and substantiate your argument.

And for the record, I believe in seeing fruits. You judge if a Church is growing by its numbers, because God draws people to Him and they stay there.

Anticipation...

My baby will be arriving anytime now! A part of me is so excited about our new addition, yet a part of me is worried about whether or not I'll make a good father. Anyway, I made two more purchases for baby this week...finally found this at Mothercare after a long hunt....

The Baby Jungle Mobile!!! Our baby's first playmates will be Blupo the Blue Hippo, Raf Raf the yellow Giraffe, Mr Trunks the Orange Elephant and Greenie the Green Tortise. Here's a baby's-eye-view of how it will look to our baby....

We will be trying the Baby Whisperer's E.A.S.Y method of baby care...so hopefully, the mobile can aid us in the "A" - Activity portion.

Hunny and I also bought a Bean Sprout Pillow for baby...It's supposed to be quite cooling for baby to sleep on, it can also be placed on the baby's chest to give them a sense of security.

It feels like the Sobakawa pillow that they were advertising on TV Media many years back. Only that the Sobakawa pillow is made with Buckwheat husks. Anyway, the Bean Sprout Pillows can be purchased from Spring Maternity at Plaza Singapura.

Oh...by the way, did I tell you that we bought a mosquito net for the cot? You can't be too careful nowadays. Now, the cot is almost complete...all it needs is the baby!!!
All done up...

I'm really excited about the baby...can't wait to hold her in my arms and sing her to sleep...