Thanksgiving service

Last Sunday was the last service for 2009, which was also the thanksgiving service. This is the first year that I am not able to attend the thanksgiving service in the main hall.

But the presence of God was so strong even in the nursery.... i was feeding baby in the nursery and half way through the worship, tears started to roll down my cheeks.

The feeling is so wonderful.

As I sat there, i started to think back of all the things that have happened in 2009. Family, Career, Ministry.... many things have taken place in 2009. Fruitfulness is the word. But of cos, there are unfulfilled goals as well.

Never mind, in another 3 days time, 2010 is here. Time to set goals and visions for 2010!!!

Oh, I must say.... last sunday, Justin was a super good baby. Best behaviour ... cos after his feed, he actually slept all the way till the end of the service!!! Woohoo!!!

And Kor Kor Nathias was there on sunday too!!

The 2 babies sharing one bed.. sleeping peacefully.

Looking forward to the year end party on thursday and after that, welcome 2010!!!!! =D

Sleep Baby Sleep

Last night is definitely one of the toughest night in the past weeks... because it was so difficult to make Justin go to bed!!!

I rocked him from 1130pm all the way until 2am.... then finally his eyes were closed.. put him onto his bed. But .... 30 mins later... he started crying!! Sobs.... Got to restart the whole process again... so rocked him and feed him... hopefully he will sleep (because usually he wiill fall asleep quite fast once I latch him on).. he finally closed his eyes at 330am...... i thought i finally can have some rest.. guess what???

He woke up at 4am again!!!! ARGH!!!!!

Frankly speaking, by now, I am as cranky as him.... feeling pretty irritated..... cos its worse than the 2 hourly feeding schedule... i have not even rested for more than 1 hour.....grrrr.....

the battle went on until close to 5am... before he is finally so tired and fall asleep beside me.... by now, i am strengthless as well......

and the cycle starts again at 8am...~yawns~

Post dated entry

Ya, this is a bit late. But i still want to blog about it, because its a once a year thing.. and to me, its the most beautiful service every year.

Every year, CHC has its candle light service and i love it totally. All the lights in the hall will be switched off, and pastor kong will light up the first candle. He then pass on the light to the rest of the pastors and the pastors pass on the fire to the rest of the congregation to light up all the candles in the hall. Eventually, every candle in the hall be lighted up and the whole place looks awesomely beautiful!!

I thought I would have to spend my candlelight svc in the nursery this year. But thank God for my mum..She agree to take care of Justin for the morning.. So after passing him to my parents, off we went to expo for the candlelight service. Come to think of it, it has been a whopping 6 weeks since i attended service in the main hall. It feels so GOOD to be able to worship God in the hall, rather than singing praise and worship by watching the tv in the nursery.

Anyway, once the candlelight service started, every one started snapping away with their cameras... me was no exception!!

So merry xmas everyone!!! Today and tmr is the xmas service.....looking forward to the greatest xmas production!! =D

First little milestone

Baby Justin is 40 days old today. =)

A few days ago, he still could not lift his neck. But today, he could lift his neck and using his hands to support his hands to lift his head up for 5 seconds before he take a rest. I thought, its really not too bad yah, for a 40day old baby... claps claps baby!!! A small milestone for Justin. =)

Took some shots of him today after his bath, while he is playing on his own.. really love my little boy.. his actions never fail to make me luff...

Justin: Its a happy day!!

Justin: Are you taking my picture?

Justin: Okie.. lemme pose for you

Justin: Okie...enuff for today.. i am tired already.

Thats all for today from my cutie!! Bedtime. Ciao

it is back again.

Many of you knew that previously, baby justin was admitted to hospital one week after he was born because his jaundice readings was way above the acceptable range. After the 3 days 2 night of phototherapy, he was discharged and after the review, we thought that his jaundice has been cleared.

We realised that he seems to getting pretty tanned. Initially, we thought its was due to us sunning him for the past 3 weeks. B ut yesterday, I dunno is it a matter of coincidence or not, 3 different groups of people told us that Baby Justin is looking a bit yellowish.

And so, we decided to bring him back to Dr Yip today for a check again.

And true enuff, Dr Yip confirmed that Baby Justin is slightly jaundish... uber sianz!! So he is not tanned afterall. Just yellowish. =((((

But thankfully, this time round, the blood test result show that his jaundice reading is within the acceptable range. *phew!* And the doctor confirmed that he is actually suffering from Breastmilk jaundice.

Did an online research on breastmilk jaundice and this is what it says:

Whereas breast feeding jaundice is a mechanical problem, breast milk jaundice is more of a biochemical problem. The term applies to jaundice in a newborn baby who is exclusively breastfed and in whom other causes of jaundice have been ruled out. The jaundice appears at the end of the first week of life and hence overlaps physiological jaundice. It can last for up to two months. Several factors are thought to be responsible for this condition.
First, in exclusively breastfed babies the establishment of normal gut flora is delayed. The bacteria in the adult gut convert conjugated bilirubin to stercobilinogen which is then oxidized to stercobilin and excreted in the stool. In the absence of sufficient bacteria the bilirubin is de-conjugated and reabsorbed. This process of re-absorption is called entero-hepatic circulation.

Second, the breast-milk of some women contains a metabolite of progesterone called 3-alpha-20-beta pregnanediol. This substance inhibits the action of the enzyme uridine diphosphoglucuronic acid (UDPGA) glucuronyl transferase responsible for conjugation and subsequent excretion of bilirubin. Reduced conjugation of bilirubin leads to increased level of bilirubin in the blood[citation needed].

Third, an enzyme in breast milk called lipoprotein lipase produces increased concentration of nonesterified free fatty acids that inhibit hepatic glucuronyl transferase which again leads to decreased conjugation and subsequent excretion of bilirubin[citation needed].

Breast-milk is now known to cause kernicterus, though this is uncommon. Serum bilirubin levels may reach as high as 30 mg/dL. Jaundice should be managed either with phototherapy or with exchange blood transfusion as is needed. Breast feeds however need not be discontinued. The child should be kept well hydrated and extra feeds given.


So thankfully, Dr Yip says that his jaundice is ok and should go away by end of 2nd month or so... nothing we can do also. So really got to pray that his jaundice will go off soon... otherwise, he will really look like a malay kiddo..=p

See his cheeky look (as usual..)... baby baby... get well soon ok?

And after we got home, he was so soundly asleep for the next 4 hours, except for the 15 mins that he got up for his milk and he was back to lala land again. Think he is really tired.. wonder what hard work he done hor?

I noticed, justin like to sleep like a frog!!! Dun get what I mean? Scroll down ....

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No matter how i tried to straighten his leg, in less than 1 min, he will be back to this position. Really funny. I love to see his sleeping positions. He never fail to make me laugh with all his funny sleeping postures... this boy ah.. really pattern a lot a lot!! *shake head*

Sleeping prince

People say babies sleep a lot.. in fact, their job is to eat and sleep.
I totally agree... just that sometimes, i wish that my little one can sleep a bit longer for his nap... preferably like at least 1.5-2 hours .. nowadays, his nap is as short as 10 mins and the longest is probably 1 hour..

This morning,Justin woke up with a bit of blocked nose and kept sneezing.. i pray that he did not catch a cold last night. Bleah. Apparently, he was in a super irritable mood, and kept fussing even after taking his milk. So i tried to put him to sleep on his stomach.... remember read somewhere before that babies tend to sleep longer if placed on their stomach.... but no leh..... he only slept for 25 mins... so no choice, gt to flip him back.

Babies at this stage, cannot really see clearly, but they are definitely more responsive to sounds... so we bot him a talking bee, that can produce different sounds... pretty cute!!

Truly, when he is asleep and not fussing, doesn't he look so angelic? Agree? =)

His Hep B Jab

Bought Justin for his Hep B jab yesterday... since he is one month old already.

Went back to see Dr YY Yip for the jab, and at the same time, to do a followup for his jaundice review. Praise the Lord!! Dr Yip gave the green light that his jaundice is now ok and no need to sun him every morning anymore. Good news.... cos my son is getting so tanned now after being in the sun every morning for about 3 weeks. =)


Back to the topic.... we were there for the Hep B Jab. Initially when the needle went into his thigh, there was a total silence in the room... I was thinking, what a brave boy i have.... Haha.. seconds later.... his face turned red and there was a loud wail that followed!!!!!! My boy was actually storing power and by the time he felt and understand the pain, he cried like no tomorrow... Hahaha....Took me about 5 mins to calm him down.... So this is the "huge" plaster on his little thigh.

Oh yes, and I am proud to announce, that my little boy is now 3.9kg!!! He has actually put on 1.2kg in a span of 2 weeks, as the last time when we went back for the jaundice review, he was only 2.7kg. =)

Justin is 1 month old!

Last saturday, we celebrated baby Justin's one month old! Yay!!

We had quite a busy day... as in the afternoon, we had a small gathering for some of our colleagues and church friends, and in the night, we had a gathering for the relatives. Was a super busy day, but the star of the day was the most busy - busy posing for pictures!!! Haha... He was so tired that by night time, he was so tired that he only woke up twice for milk at night, even though a few experienced mummies told me that he probably will be cranky because of the intense activities during the daytime. =p

Took quite a lot of pictures, cannot upload them all here.... but we really want to thank all those who came,especially those with a super busy schedule that day, for taking time to come and of cos, with your generous gifts for baby Justin!!

A family picture

And we made it!

Yesterday was the first time we brought baby justin out (excluding the trips made to the hospital for his review). I was a bit apprehensive and worried, and kept thinking what if I cannot handle him in public???

We had a night session with Dr John Avazini@ Jurong west church yesterday, and Dear suggested that we bring Justin for a rehearsal...cos we going to bring him to church on sunday.

Of cos, the preparation for the journey out was no easy feat!! Got to think of all the things that he would need and pack a huge bag..... My Oh My!!!

It was a great feeling to be back in civilisation after being confined for a month.. I love to be back in church... indulge in the atmosphere of praise and worship.. although, ya... i did not have much chance to listen to the preaching though, cos was keeping my eyes on the little one throughout the service.

And this little one...... actually slept through the entire service from the time we enter the nursery until the end of the service. He only woke up when Pastor Derek dismissed the congregation ... haiya.. this boy ah!! See how soundly he was sleeping!!

Strong lungs he got

One thing for sure.. Baby Justin has a strong lung power.... when he cries, he really cries.....or maybe, cry is too generic a word.. i should say... ROAR!!!! Already a few occassions where he cries so hard, that his whole face turn so red and his voice became hoarse for at least over the next 24 hours(no exaggeration.. tested, proven and repeated! -,-)

So a good time to catch him in pictures, is after he finish his milk and bath... just like today, he was self-entertaining for a good whole 1 hour on my bed, glaring around and fiddling with his little hands....

(strike a stylo milo pose... kekekkee!!!!)

and I am so looking forward to next saturday.....

why???

reason is:

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its the end of my 1 month confinement!!!! Woohoo!!!!

Wonder will I be able to fit into my jeans once again? =p

A tiring week so far

Past few days been super tiring.... did not manage to sleep well, both in the afternoon and at night. Baby been fussing a lot these few days. we suspect that it is most likely that he is colicky because he is showing all the symptoms... Things get worse especially from evening on wards.. and at night... after his feed 4am, it will be difficult to put him back to sleep....

last night.... i was so tired while feeding him that both of us fell asleep for an hour with him in my arms... until he suddenly let out a wail!! I literally jumped out of my sleep and got to pacify him until 6am. Then after 1 hr, he started crying again.... sigh....

Today the whole day, baby been fussing and refuse to sleep, even after his bath and feeding..... each sleeping session probably only lasted 1hr (or max of 1.5hr) after a good whole 1 hour of attempt to put him to lala land. My poor boy... he is so tired.. but i think he is so uncomfortable that he cannot have a good sleep.

So since he cannot sleep, i entertained him and snapped away happily...

And finally he fell asleep....

notice he know how to cuddle his pillow!! =p

and finally Daddy is home to take over the duty to make him sleep...

he is 2 weeks old!

Little Justin is 14 days old today!!!

Time really flies.... he is already 2 weeks old... and he has changed quite a bit from the time he just arrived. In fact, he looks different every single day. =)

Little Justin on Day 2

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Little Justin on Day 14

Of cos, it has not been an easy time taking care of him for the past 2 weeks.... everyday, we are learning and finding out his patterns and habits and not forgetting the frequent feedings (both night and day)... but its all so worth it whenever he let out a sweet smile at us... or when he amuse us with his funny actions .. like this below!!

BTW>>>>I am so looking forward to the end of my confinement in 2 weeks time!!! Woot!!!

And my baby is called

So far, most people only know that my baby is called baby Justin. We did not have his chinese name ready before his birth.

Finally, we decided on our little one's name and his birth certificate was done.

So let me officially introduce my little one....

English: Justin Tay

Chinese: 郑颖泽


Checking through the naming websites, the meaning of Justin means Righteous, Just and Fair.

As for the chinese name, both of us like the name a lot, because the name encompass the things that we hope for Justin when he grows up.

颖 - means clever and with wisdom.
泽 - means '恩惠' which also means Grace of God.


So thats what we hope our little one will grow up to be... to be a righteous person, be filled with holy wisdom and most important of all, having the grace of God and be God fearing. =)

9 days of parenthood

This is the 9th day of motherhood. I must say, it is a really steep learning curve..
almost everyday I am learning something new about my baby, how to take care of the baby, how to recognise the needs of my baby, went through emotion roller coaster when baby got to be warded because his jaundice level was pretty high, how to burp the baby, how to check whether is he hungry, how to breast feed, how to increase milk supply and etc etc etc.

And of cos, the shiong-est part of all is the 3 hourly feeding, esp night feeding. The first few nights of night feeding nearly drove me and gerald mad... cos we were still trying to find out justin's drinking pattern, and we did not know how much was sufficient for him and whether was he even drinking.


But having said all that, I must say, parenthood, or rather, motherhood, has been a fulfillin experience so far.... no matter how tough it is, the moment when i see a grin or smile on Justin's face, all tiredness is worth it. Just like this:

E arrival of Baby Justin

Finally have some time to spend to blog about the arrival of my dear baby, Justin.
Better to blog down as much details as I can recall now.. will serve as a good memory and to let my boy read about it when he is bigger. =)

Last friday morning, in the early hour of 430am, i felt a discomfort feeling and what greeted me with a great morning surprise was ... MY Water Bag was Leaking!!! Initially i thought I did not hold my bladder, but after 30 seconds, I was quite sure it was the water bag that was leaking. Immediately, I wake gerald up.. thinnk he was shocked too. I then remembered that I have not done my handover as well.. haiz.. was meant to do it on friday itself... but my baby is simply too gan cheong to see this beautiful world. So i quickly log on to my office email and started to send all the handover emails as fast and as much as I can.

By 645am, i was done and went to have my bath... knowing that I won't be able to bath for at least the next 3-4 days, better to bath and wash my hair as scented as I can. After that, called my gynae and confirmed with her that I should go to the labour ward. Before admitting to the hospital, we drove to Macdonald's to buy my breakfast (must have strength to push later rite? grins)

By 830am, we were in the labour ward. Gynae came and checked and said that I was only 2cm dilated. Sianz. Must wait for another 8cm dilation before can start pushing. Going to be a day of waiting. One thing i must say, the invention of epidural is the best invention by mankind!!! Kekeke.. i opted for epidural without second thoughts, cos I want to have a natural birth. Now thinking back, if I did not opt for epidural, I think I would really have a deep phobia to have a second kid manz.

And so, after injecting the epidural (which I thought the whole process was much less scary than expected), they started to induce the contractions in me. That was 10am. And for the next 12 hours, it was nothing but waiting and waiting and moree waiting..

Finally at 10pm... the nurse said she going to call my gynae!!! Means its time for the real action liaoz. By now, I already felt the full effect of the contractions. Was shivering like crazy (so again I am soooo thankful that I had chosen epidural right from the beginning!! Hahaha!!!).


And after a 20mins push, my little prince is born!!!!

Welcome Baby Justin!!!



Our first family photo!!! =)

counting 4,3,2,1

its been 13 hrs since my water bag has ruptured, 8hrs since i am admitted to labour ward, sleeping on this bed. I was 2cm dilated when i started.. Now last checked, only 6cm. 4cm to go.... Counting down counting down... I really hope that within next 2 hrs or so, i can start pushing liao....

4 or less? Counting down

Rightfully speaking, 4 weeks to go. But since gynae and almost all the experienced mummies and daddies around me tell me that I am likely to give birth earlier than my EDD, now is really kind of a waiting game for me. =)))

Of course, I still telling my boy, be good and take his time. Don't really want him to come out now, cos I prefer him to come out when he is full term. Haha.. not like I can control when he wants to come out though. But other factors really also because workwise, I still have one more project to target to finish at least 60-75%. Going to start to do my handover today onwards, just in case anytime i will pop. =) Many people already started asking me when am I going on leave, or why am I not taking leave to rest at home and wait for delivery. Eh..tough question to answer.

On a happier note, I am finally done with the stroller and sling!! Now just waiting for the delivery. No more urgent items to be purchased for now...mission for this weekend would thus be to wash all bb's clothes and finish packing my hospital bag!

Ho-ho-lick

I dunno why.. but this whole week, I have been having a craving for.... HOLICKS!!!!!

That is one drink that is lowest to-drink list, at least before I was pregnant or even during my pregnancy so far....

but somehow, I falling in love with the drink!!! Kekekeke

Blessed Birthday Part 1

I always love the month of october, because it is my birthday month!!! =)

And once again, this year, my birthday celebration started 4 days before my actual day.. hehee...

Early in the morning when I step into the office, a lovely huge bouquet of roses was already on my desk from my dear hubby!!

I always love to receive flowers... though ya, it is a bit impractical la, but, I think every girl will love to receive flowers, isn't it? ^ Grins^

And at night, my cell group members also celebrated for me. Really blessed by their generosity and love for me... really got a shock when I opened the gift.

The rest of the photos are taken by Tris' camera.. but I must say, the ice-cream cake is awesome!!! Delicious leh!! Not too sweet... and very unique!!! =) Thanks Tris, for gg all the way to get the cake despite you were not feeling well and was actually busy studying for your upcoming exams next tues. =)

So thats the end of Day 1 Celebration.

Shall continue on Day 2 celebration in the next entry.

* Happy Kristie*

Project A

Project A is finally coming to an end soon!!! Yippie Yippie yea yea!!!

although there is still the second part which is mainly the training session, but i am truly relieved that the most difficult part is finally over!!

Project B is also about 60% done.

Now left with project C... must work faster on that.... and then will be the Q3 consol..... which technically by the 6 Nov... it should end...


Finally start to see some light.... but i know there is stilll more to go.. oh baby.... be good... take ur time okie....come when its only time to come.... alth0ugh daddy and mummy cant wait to see you!!!! =))))

mixed feelings at week 32

Its week 32 ... which means technically, in 8 weeks or less.... Baby going to see us liaoz!!!! Time really flies! Maybe its because I have been so busy for the last 8 months, somehow, I just feel that my pregnancy flew past me , just like that.

Gosh!!!! I am all excited, anxious, happy and stressed all at the same time. Seems like there are still 1001 things that I have not yet done and I am starting to feel uncertain whether am I ready for the new lifestyle. Many people been asking me whether am I ready. Frankly speaking, i don't know the answer to that question. Mentally probably a yes, but i think emotionally, probably only a 50-50 bah.

I think if I list down the things that I want to do in the next 8 weeks, I probably will scare myself even more. So I decided I shall not do so now. Just make sure I fulfill the critical missions and off I will be gone for my maternity! =))


And today, my girlfriend told me she is 4 months preggie!!! Woot!! so happy for her. Second kid for her. But she is one hot mama. Totally don't look like someone who has given birth before, if u know what I mean lah. But am really happy for her.... means one more kiddo to our girlie group!!

*Cheers*

Food lovers

In Singapore, apart from going out for a good meal on a special occassion, cannot really think of other good places to go or things to do.

This year, because of my heavy bump, basically we are very restricted (note the word: Very!!) to the things or places that we can do or go. Actually have quite a few plans for our 2nd wedding anniversary celebrations, but in the end, mostly were being ruled out due to one reason or another.

Nonetheless, to me, nothing beats spending time together with my beloved one. So even if its just doing the most routine things, I still think that the time spent was great!! Kekeke...

Basically, the whole day was spent dating each other!!! Hahaha... After going for the maternity tour @ Gleneagles last tuesday, we decided to go over to Great world City for lunch. Had one of our fave food.... FISH!! And of cos, we went to Fish & Co...

Dear's Peri Peri Catch
My Captain's Catch


And after lunch, we decided to just go and relax and catch a show that don't requires too much brain.. so we went to catch "Aliens in the Attic". Not too bad a show, probably worth like 3 out of 5 popcorn... =p

And of cos, our main highlight was Dinner!!!

The meat platter: Wagyu beef, Ribeye Beef, Sliced Pork Belly and Sliced Chicken

Sashimi... which I cannot eat.. boohoo!!

Vegetable Platter

Seafood Platter

Ice-cream for dessert

And of cos, must take some pictures of us !!

And that ends our day of celebration...... short and sweet... =)

Happy 2nd Anniversary!! Woot!