Category Archives: Being parents

The traveling bubba

Posted by Misty Mom on 23/11/2007 5 comments

We’ve been thinking about going back to Malaysia for a vacation and for me to catch up with family and friends. What can I say, I miss home and I always will. The one thing that I’m glad is that I live in Sydney. It must be tough for Aida especially since she is so far from home but is doing great despite the homesick-ness and what now with another tot on the way. You really are truly one tough mama – hats off to you, woman. Really.

So today, we’ve officially started planning our trip by purchasing our tickets to Malaysia. Since Jetstar was having this super sale on cheap tickets, we’re gonna give it a go. The plan is for Mum and Sis to come down for Ella’s baptism on 8th March 2008 and then me, Ella, Mum and Sis will go back to Malaysia first, then Ted will follow in a couple of weeks after. That would give me more time to spend in Malaysia.

If you’re wondering what baptism is, in short it’s a Catholic thing. It’s the sacrament in which, by water and the word of God, a person is cleansed of all sin and reborn and sanctified in Christ to everlasting life – taken from here. It’s just something that we do to welcome Ella into the Catholic community and life. So, yes, it is a big event and not to be taken lightly. Sis will be her Godmother [Godma] and a close friend of mine from our hometown will be the Godfather [Godpa], not the mafia Godfather please! lol :P Grandma [Ted's mum] is already planning on making sure the cake is ready for this big day. So you see, it’s a biggie!

Anyway, the tickets have been purchased BUT Ella’s passport is no where in sight so I got on the net to get a move on it. The good thing is that everything is done electronically which means that me making ink mistakes is very unlikely. I can even complete it at my own pace so although the form is 85% complete, I still have a couple of other information to get before we can actually send it in for processing. It’s going to cost us AUD100 for a normal 32 page passport for 5 years which I think is great coz I do foresee us travelling between Sydney and Malaysia often. Have to make sure Nanna and Ella keep in touch, see?

Next thing I need to find out is what type of photo will be required of Ella. I’m sure it is a must and how I’m going to take it is another worry. Aida & Vien….how did you ladies do it? Do tell. That said, although I’m happy that we managed to get those cheap tix, I’m wondering how it’s going to be like on this 6-7 hours flight from Sydney to KL. Then it’s another KL-Penang flight after that. I hope Ella can handle it after all, she would be 7 months by then and big enough I hope to handle the so-called stress. Jetstar is a budget airlines just like Air Asia so I really dont know how it’s going to be like. My cousin mentioned that it’s ok enough for babies so that a little reassuring. Not only that, if you need a basinet, you are considered priority, which in turn means that we get extra leg room so that’s really good news coz at the moment, we are seated somewhere in the middle. Fingers crossed, it will be ok and not something which I will regret. I told Ted and I ain’t getting back on Jetstar if it sucks which means that I’ll be back on SIA for the retun flight home.

I really, really hope that Jetstar is good coz the fare including air port tax and what not is just a small fraction of what I need to pay to fly on SIA! :) Keep your toes and fingers crossed for me ya. :D

Party at the park

Posted by Misty Mom on 21/11/2007 6 comments

Ella attended her first birthday party on Saturday, 17/11/2007. It was Sean’s 2nd birthday party, I think. Sean is one of Ted’s friend’s son who is Malaysian married to a nice Indonesian girl. It’s really nice to be able to sometimes talk BM with her although we normally don’t. Ella was excellent that day. She was fuss-free and was the star of the party despite not being the birthday baby.

Even though is was rather stinking hot and there was insects all over the place, she did very well…..I think I was the one who was fussing more than her!! I was complaining about the insects, the heat….haiyo, bad mummy! But over all, it was a nice and fun party because of the company. I only wished it was that hot because when we came home, it was still hot and that was when she started to fuss a little but after a feed, a nap and some cuddles – she was all happy.

Girls day out – Dana, Caitlyn, Ella and me.

Happy trio

That said, I think I might be expecting some teething soon. Can’t believe how fast my baby is growing up! She’s started chewing on her hand and drooling a lot more now too. I’m not sure when her teeth will start coming in but I’m dreading the moment!! I’m so scared of facing her whinning and whinging and all that – I’m sure you know what I mean. I’ve got my baby Panadol all up and ready to go for this. To make matters worst, her 4 months vaccination is due in 2 weeks or so, and that’s another thing I’m not looking forward to BUT have to face it all the same. Anyway, to give you an idea of how much she’s grown, coz it surprised me too, here’s a pix :

She’s filled out the bath!! Daddy, time to fix a PROPER bath please! :P

My baby’s growing up too fast!!!! WAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…… *sniff sniff*

Back breaking

Posted by Misty Mom on 09/10/2007 5 comments

Today was the first time I took Ella out on my own. I only dared to do this because it was just a short trip to the shops and I made sure she had her feed before I strapped her on and made our way to the shops.  It was a good idea to buy a Baby Bjorn baby carrier. In the beginning I wasn’t too keen on it but Ted insisted that we get it coz he has this vision of seeing himself walking to the shop with her in tow or having her strapped on while he modes. Sad to say, none of this has yet to materialize but we’ll see.

So far I’ve worn it twice, once when I took Mum to the clinic while she was here and now is the second time. And both times, I am proud to say that Ella did well. She slept right through Mum’s doc appointment which was mere minutes but the waiting time was close to 2 hours. And today, she slept right through all the construction work and busy main roads that I had to walk past! Just amazing….

But the only problem that I am now facing is this bloody achy back I got from the carrying. Maybe I strapped her on wrongly and didn’t fit me well. Whatever it is, my back is aching at the moment. Hope it goes away. We’ve yet to try strapping her facing out because her neck is still weak but I’m really looking to trying that out coz she is such a curious little vegemite! Now that her focus point is more clear, her eyes are always darting all over the place and the most pitiful bit is when I walk away from her, she follows me until she can’t see me. She does the same when Ted is around too. Her eyes are always following his around and when he walks out the door, she has this sad look in her eyes. So pitiful!!!! That girl really knows how to work us….at 2 months, she has us wrapped around her little pinky, Lord knows what is going to happen in the later months! Habis la….. *pengsan*

 

Big ooppssie

Posted by Misty Mom on 22/09/2007 2 comments

I’m scheduled for my 6 weeks checkup on 25/9/2007 and I am excited to find out if all is ok where my overall being is concerned after that delivery drama. After quite a wild ride, many are surprised how well I’ve recovered and I am nothing but thankful that I turned out that way.

But we made a big oppssie as we forgot to make a paediatric appointment for Ella. I suppose that although part of it was our fault, shouldn’t our paediatricians office also keep track of our records? Like my OB, the nurse there called up to touch base with my progress hence we got the appointment and sorts but it was not so for Ella’s paed.

I’m not too pleased about it but what can I do? The clerk who took my call when I phone to find out about the appointment told me coldly that I was suppose to call up when we got discharged. I dont’t remember anyone telling me to do so and plus with all that I went through, this was not top of my list at that point so the earliest appointment that we could get with the paed is 5th Nov 2007 which is SO long from now. Ted isn’t too happy about it either so we are thinking about getting another paed. No point waiting for so long if there is another paed around, after all, the earlier the better, no?

The magic piece of plastic

Posted by Misty Mom on 18/09/2007 7 comments

Even before Ella was born, Ted and I had agreed that we wouldn’t use the dummy for various reasons which we won’t go into. The main reason for me personally was the worry that it would encourage her teeth to grow out of alignment, in another words, go wonky and crooked. For Ted, he just loathes it. Period. [But the irony is that he practically grew up on it!! MIL spilled the beans that day....hahaha!!]

Today, both of us think differently. I think the dummy is a godsend and although Ted still hates it, he has no choice but to agree with me. God bless the person who first created one in the first place! Parents all over the world would be in a mental institution if not for that magic plastic piece.

It’s amazing what wonders it can do for my Ella and for all babies I’m sure. She would be crying and screaming like as if we were skinning her alive but the minute we pop her dummy in, all is bliss. But we both agreed that it will only be used to help her sleep and she has already associated it with bedtime coz other times, she won’t take it unless she is totally inconsolable which is rare at the moment.

At this point in time, the most important lesson I’ve learnt as a parent and the 1st commandment of parenting to me is : Never leave home without a dummy – always carry one with you no matter where you’re going.

Forgetting to bring a dummy along is like walking into water infested with starving crocs! With all the love in the world for her, it takes a piece of plastic to calm her and Ted thinks that it’s an insult, I couldn’t agree more but in times of desperation, one really has no choice….

My dummy and me

Settling techniques gone wrong

Posted by Misty Mom on 01/09/2007 4 comments

As I’ve found out, breastfeeding and settling techniques are the 2 most toughest things to handle and deal with when you have a newborn. As new parents, we are currently facing this on a daily basis. I think the main problem at the moment is getting Ella settled during the ‘arsenic hour’ which is for us, between 4pm and 8pm. No matter what we do or try, she cries and cries and refuses to go to bed.

Because there are so many ‘experts’ around that often offer us advice, we seems to get so many variations and advice that it is hard to decide what is best. First the midwife at the hospital told us that we need to train her to settle herself to sleep which we both agree. Method was to allow her to cry for 5 minutes then go check on her, assure her we are there then leave. In the beginning, the 5 minutes were excruciatingly long and Ella would cry till she had no voice which tore my heart to shreds but Ted was adamant on following the instructions. And once she was worn out, she would eventually fall asleep. Very pitiful….

But I hated the fact that we had to let her cry so long, although by then, 5 minutes was almost nothing since we got used to her squawking. Then recently, we attend another settling class held at a Family Care centre in town and there, they taught us another method of settling Ella. We would need to wrap/swaddle her [which sometimes I did and sometimes I didn't because I didn't think it was important until I knew why it was a must - babies at this age are still prone to the startling effect hence the swaddling keeps them more calm] and then lay her in her cot. If she starts to cry, we would give her 2 – 3 minutes then pick her up and calm her down and back into the cot she went.

It was a miracle for it worked when we tried it out the minute we came home. It was feed time so after the feed, we gave her some playtime, around 5 – 10 minutes before she started to get unsettled, then we did what we were told and voila! It worked….but sadly, it’s getting tougher and tougher to stick to this method. Sometimes it works like a charm, other time, pppfffttt!!!

But I have to admit that this is by far the most effective technique which I agree with and am willing to persevere and stick to. It takes time and honestly, can be a painful process but it will be a blessing for us in the future where we won’t have to walk her or rock her in our arms to sleep. Needless to say my Mum isn’t happy with this technique. She’s all for rocking baby till asleep then putting her down and of course, stick the pacifier in whenever Ella cries. But Ted and I both agree that we don’t want to use or rely on the pacifier at all. In fact, we’ve only used it twice and really hope that we won’t have to use it all, which I know is impossible but we’re willing to try our best to go without.

I’ve just put Ella down for the 3rd time – although this settling technique takes time, it’s  by far the best.

I’ve been promoted!

Posted by Misty Mom on 18/08/2007 20 comments

Well, if you’ve noticed that I’ve been missing…it’s because I’ve been busy. Yup, I’ve been promoted to MUMMYHOOD!! :D Yup, it finally happened….

Water broke at about the morning of 10/8/2007 but no signs until the night of 11/8/2007

Although having slight contractions, I can still eat. :D

Daddy playing the waiting game

The result of lots of pain and pushing, Arianna Michaela Petch born on 12/8/2007, weighing 2.831kgs. Thank god not any more bigger!!

Enjoying the company of an angel

Daddy’s little girl

Daddy’s multitasking…

Daddy’s tired…poor thing!

Nicely wrapped up and warm as toast!

The great supporters of the Parramatta Eels!

Grandma comes a-visiting!

The birth story will come later…be prepared for an enormous amount of information!! I have every intention of recording this great moment in my life. :)

Now if only Arianna would latch on properly on my right boob!!! I feel like I’m going to explode….blek!

The never ending emotion cycle

Posted by Misty Mom on 27/07/2007 2 comments

Lying lazily in bed this morning, I was just thinking about how I hate getting up to pee in the middle of the night and what a hassle it was coz it disrupts my sleep. And I find that it takes me at least an hour before I can actually hit the big Z. Although Ted says that I’m out like a light at night when we go to bed, which is true, it’s helluva tough for me if my sleep has been broken. I think it’s because my mind is alert once I’ve been up and about a bit and THAT is when all sorts of thoughts and images from the previous night come crowding in my mind.

I find that I have to literally tell myself to block them out.  I actually say to myself, ‘You have a blank mind. You are thinking of nothing. Your mind is blank.’ And only, then do I actually fall asleep. I kid you not! Anyway, it occurred to me that at this point in time,  I feel like  I’m on this never ending cycle of emotion.

  1. The exhilaration to find out we were pregnant.
  2. Enjoying the joys of pregnancy
  3. The great anticipation as time draws near
  4. Wondering what the heck I got myself into when I can’t reach my toes, put on my shoes coz I can’t reach my feet, the constant pee-ing sessions and the occasional aches and pains which are becoming more constant by the day
  5. The final league and the feeling of finally being ‘complete’ when I have Kecik in my arms in the near future.

The cycle I mention here would most likely be the repetition of the lot and reminiscing about it. I bet the cycle hardly ever changes as time goes by. Maybe the feeling and the level or degree of feelings will change but the basic will never. When your child smiles at you, all the bad feelings go away and you’re taken back to the time when you first found out you were pregnant, skips the awful bits in between and ends with bub in your arms for the first time.

But when they turn into little devils, you are taken straight to the bit where you wonder what the hell you were thinking to be having this demon child!! Although I haven’t reached this stage yet…..I feel that its bound to happen. That said, I think more often than not, parents don’t really regret having their babies. After all they are God’s gift, right?

Unless, they really are demon children!!! Then you’re better off without them….and at times like these, wouldn’t it be great to have a department store where you can return and exchange them for another? Hehehehe…..just a thought when I think of this ad that’s been showing on telly here. Couple has a nice child which turns out to be a monster by day 3 so they rush to the store to return him and get a more quiet looking and manageable child. I thought it was hilarious, however, I don’t know what the kids who watch it feel……food for thought, eh?

That’s Queen Pee to you!

Posted by Misty Mom on 27/07/2007 4 comments

It’s finally dawning on me [yet again] that the big day is near at hand. The tell-tale signs?

The extremely frequent visits to pee. At the moment, it’s like every half an hour and I wished I could let go of a nice fulfilling stream [sorry for the info overload here] everytime I go but sadly, it comes out in mere trickles and SO unsatisfying!!! Blek….

O, did I also mention that I have to go pee EVERY night at 3am? Well, thank you Kecik, for all the preparations, Mummy AND Daddy can’t WAIT to wake up at un-Godly hours for you. *sigh* What have we gotten ourselves into??? Lol…..