7 Weeks old Tobey

- He loves looking around, more aware of his surroundings.
- Tries to pull himself up when we hold his hands.
- Loves sucking onto his fingers. Gets abit frustrated when unable to suck onto his thumb fully.
- Can stay on his rocking chair for up to 30 mins just watching Disney cartoons.
- Smiles ALOT!
- Tries to imitate mummy and daddy.
- Loves it when someone whistles to him.
- Body is 'straightening' up more.
- Eats 4oz every 3 hours. Have abit of reflux, so more frequent but small feeds. He loves his milk.
- Weighs more than 6 kgs.
- Beginning to 'need' entertainment during his awake times.
- Started on nursery rhymes.

Routine -revised ( Edited on 280707 )

Just for my own record, below's the NEW routine (changes every few days) as of today. Feeds are 5 oz every 2.5-4 hours (more frequent during daytime)

After 5/6 am feed: mummy wakes up to shower, sterilises bottles, empty nappy bin and prepares the meals for the day.

8/9 am: feed baby and if baby pooed, bath and change baby, else baby sleep till 10 am then mummy bath and change baby. Meanwhile, mummy slot in some housework.

11-2 pm: Baby alert and playful, watches cartoons and power naps between 11-12 noon. Mummy try to eat some lunch and do some housework whilst entertaining baby.

2-5 pm: baby does serious napping. Mummy sufts net, shower, sterilises bottles, does some housework, take a nap and completes dinner.

5-6 pm: entertain baby and watch some tele.

6-7 pm: Bath baby and daddy spend time with baby.

7-8pm: Mummy and daddy have dinner whilst keeping baby awake.

8/9 pm: baby start his night sleep

and the night routine continues...currently hoping that baby will sleep through his 2-3 am feeds so that mummy can have 5-6 hours continuous sleep. Fingers and toes crossed.


Urgh..might change again soon...

Routine

The first few weeks with a newborn are said to be the hardest. VERY TRUE in our case. Is it because our son is a 'High-need' or fussy baby? Well, could be, but every baby is unique an has his/her own temperament. For Tobey, all the pre-baby idealisms about not introducing a pacifier, of not letting him get use to the 'sarong' are thrown out the window from week 1. SK and I know that Tobey will grow out of whatever clingy-ness or fussiness he's having in a couple of months time. So from week 2, we've decided to do and use whatever method or gadget to survive these grueling months.

It's the end of week 5 today and glad to say that we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel...still a faraway light though, but nevertheless offered much needed relief. Words can't begin to explain what a shocker week 1 & 2 has been. Looking after a newborn/firstborn all by myself whilst recovering from a c-section wound was no fun, especially when this newborn only goes to sleep after vigorous bouncing and swinging on his parents arms. So much tears shed, so many sleeps broken and we still soildered on because of this immense sense of love and responsibility for this kid.

Anyway my point for this post is to record down roughly the routine we kinda fall into nowadays - our little light

7 am: mummy wakes up to shower and dress, sterilise bottles and empty the nappy bin and goes back to sleep.

9 am: mummy and baby wake up. mummy bath and feed baby.

10:30 - 12:30 pm: Baby does some serious napping. Mummy does some housework. Ideally get to eat some brunch.

12:30 - 1:30 pm: Feed baby and baby stay awake a little to play.

1:30 - 3 pm: Baby 'cat- naps'- meaning mummy has to put baby back to sleep a gazillion times. Ideally gets to prepare dinner.

3 -4pm: Feed baby

4-5 pm: more cat naps

5-6 pm: Play time for baby (if he feels like it, else he can choose to cry out his excess energy)

6 pm - 7 pm: Wipe and change baby into his night clothes. Feed baby. Quick dinner slot for mummy.

7 pm - 8 pm: Daddy spends time with his son after his dinner, mummy showers and do some housework

8 pm: Feed baby and put baby to sleep.

then the night routine starts....basically baby wakes every 3-4 hours for his feed. Then mummy spend the next hour feeding, burping and keeping baby upright for at least 20 mins before putting baby back to sleep.


...and back to the start......

4 weeks old Tobey

-Traces object
-Recognises familiar voice
-Lifts head when put on tummy
-Drinks 4-5 oz every 2.5-3 hours
-Want to be held to sleep in the day time. If put down to sleep, will stay asleep max 40 mins before crying
-Cries angrily when not fed when hungry or not carried properly
-My fav: chuckles when sleeping after feed

Mummy to 4 weeks old Tobey

-Don't cry that much anymore
-Has muscular arms
-Trying hard to set a routine for baby so that can slot housework in between
-Accepted the fact that couple life has to take a back seat at least for a couple of months

Master Tobey

He arrived on the night of the 10th June 2007 and changed our lives.

The Drama

Went in for induction on the 9th June at 9 pm, 10 days overdue with posterior cervix and baby head facing upward rather than downward. The plan is to bring on contractions and hope that it would fix both issues. Contraction started at 2.30am, 2 cm dilated at 4.30am and 6 cm at 8.30am. After 7 hours of labour pain, took Entonox and Epidural to block it out. 8 cm dilated at 12.30pm and baby's head faced the correct direction, water being broken artificially. Dilation went back to 6-7 cm and discovered that earlier dilation reading was partly caused by the engorgement of the sac to the cervix. Waited till 9 pm to be fully dilated, with the help of the augmentation hormone Syntocinon - a synthetic form of the hormone oxytocin and another dosage of epidural. Unfortunately, baby's head turned and faced upward again. Given the narrow passage of my pelvic, the size of the baby, the angle the baby's head was at and the long labour I had , it was deemed too dangerous and harmful to deliver the natural way. Hence, emergency C- section was scheduled. Was given the 3rd dosage of Epidural, shook uncontrollably, vomited bile and tried hard to stay awake and make them understand that I needed 5 mins alone with my husband to think things through. Of course I wasn't taken seriously after all the drugs they pumped into my system. Less than 2 hours later, I heard Tobey's first cry. I remember thinking that I was going to pass on if I fall asleep then and would not be able to hold my son, so I fought with whatever energy left in me to stay awake right until I have him safely by my side in the high dependency ward.


The Aftermath

Mixture of happiness, sadness, helplessness and most of all tiredness. Still coping one day at a time. Slowly but surely, we are getting use to this new 'normal' and finding more and more bittersweet joy out of this thing call parenting.