Confinement Is Over!

Finally, after 1 month confinement officially ends today. But actually, I have gone out last Friday to 1-Utama to kai-kai already :) Then yesterday out again for lunch so I guess I'm a CL's nightmare.

To commemorate the end of my confinement, here is a summary of my routine in the past 2 weeks:

7am - Wake up (only cos Bryan jabs my eye and calls me "Mama" repeatedly until I open my eyes); play with Bryan
8am - Peace at home once VT takes Bryan to MILs. First expression.
8:30am - Breakfast comprising of Milo and half-boiled eggs. I have been crazy over the eggs as I had abstained from them during pregnancy for fear of Salmonella
9am - Blog and check out people's blog
11am - Shower (and sneak in a hairwash every 2 to 3 days)
12pm - Lunch
1pm - Check work emails
3pm - Nap
5pm - Watch season six "24"
7pm - Dinner
7:30pm - Watch more telly
9:30pm - Bryan returns home; puts him to sleep
11:30pm - Drink herbal soup; Last expression
Midnite - Tuck in
3am & 6am - Expressions

Quite shiok right? That is why I am quite sad that confinement is over because I have been enjoying myself! Never did I had so much time in my hands since the birth of Bryan. My CL is leaving tomorrow so the fun ends ha ha.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To...

....me shutting down my milk factory. Just when I thought I'd increased the expressing interval from 2.5hrs to 3.5hrs to slow it all down to face the imminent end, my supply began to show some improvement. Don't be too happy for me first because after the sudden surge (probably due to the increased waiting interval), I can tell that the supply is fast diminishing.

I would like to thank you all for both the advice and consolation - yes, I was extremely upset....not stressed, but just upset that this didn't work out the 2nd time around either despite my putting in more effort. At least I think I managed to make fairly good use of my Spectra 2 pump as the machine groans when I turn it on and off now.

As with any other mother who feels guilty about stopping b/f, I am too. But I won't let this come into my way of enjoying motherhood :)

My Stupid Boo-bies

What havoc this evening!

During my confinement month, VT has been bringing Bryan home from my PILs. Then I will put Bryan to bed while VT watches over Brandon. Today VT had to return to work for an emergency. So there is myself, the maid and my CL. It all started when Brandon pooped so much until terkena my CL so she had to go wash up. So I had to tend to Brandon. Bryan started crying and screaming the moment I picked Brandon up (who was also crying and screaming). When Brandon stopped crying, I put him down and picked Bryan up. Then the whole cycle started again - pick one boy up, the other one cries. WALAU!!!! (All this time, the maid was taking a shower)

At the same time, my boo-bies were also screaming to be relieved. After all the chaos settled down, I took a drink to relax and sat down to be a cow. I would have expected a good volume of EBM as it was way past my expressing interval.

But NO......I only managed to express 2 miserable ounces.

I am at my wits end. I did all the "right" things - drink lots of water & papaya soup, rest, distract myself, express regularly even at night, etc. But still, these two stupid lump of flesh refused to co-operate. Now, I'm the sort who expects to see results whenever I work hard at something. This just isn't happening.

I'm waving my white flag.
Subject closed.
Amen.

Coffee, Anyone?

Sorry, it's not an invitation to coffee, much as I love to but have to wait till post-confinement.

I sent a text to this breastfeeding expert-mama on whether I could drink coffee whilst still expressing BM for the baby. She thought one cup daily was ok and I should drink it right after I express to give 2-3 hours lag time till I express again.

I have and always been a big coffee- drinker. Even when I was pregnant, I drank a cup of mild 3-in-1 a day to jumpstart the day. It probably explains why Brandon does not sleep from 12am to 3am everyday! I stopped when I delivered but with me resuming night duties next week, I think I need some caffeine to stay alive during the day. It's sort of like a domino effect - drink coffee when pregnant, baby doesn't sleep, need to drink coffee to jaga baby, baby doesn't sleep, need to drink coffee to jaga baby, baby doesn't sleep, need to drink coffee to jaga baby...you get what I mean.

So, what do other breast-feeding mummies out there think? Can drink or not??

High Blood Pressure Week

Actually, I didn't want to b*tch about my 1st CL but I feel that I should warn people also lah. This is based on my personal experience.

I got my 1st CL through a confinement agency - Pei Ling (their formal business name is Daveleen). It was a desparate effort on my side as by the time I wanted to book a CL, all of the recommended names that I got from various people, have all been pre-booked. Moreover I heard that July/August was a popular month. So no choice lor. I had thought that at least the agency would maintain some level of standard hence it won't be so bad.

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

You know how you don't get a good feeling when you meet someone for the first time? I had this when I picked her up from the agency. Call it gut feeling, call it intuition. Firstly, she looked so young (she's only 38yrs old) and then her face expression was close to one belonging to a corpse. Never mind, I thought, as long as she's good at handling the baby and good at cooking.

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

Firstly, you can tell that she is not experienced in handling the baby. During bath times, she literally dumped the whole baby's body into the water. Of course the baby cried to no end. Then when I asked her why she wanted to be a CL, she said that she loved babies. What BS! She barely speaks or molly-cuddle the baby. She treated the baby like a commodity, doing about her tasks like a robot. Zero compassion. Obviously a mercenary.

Then there was one time when the plaster strips from the disposable diaper got stuck to the baby's skin because she forgot to paste them back when changing the diapers. My poor baby cried out in so much pain when she removed it!

Let's not even talk about her cooking - she herself confessed that she doesn't know how to cook. She doesn't even need to cook in her own home as her husband is a chef.

In that one week, my blood pressure literally shot up. Luckily I had some experience in handling an infant. It ended up with me teaching her how to go about doing things. The tipping point was when I saw her eating some medicine. Turned out that she was having a fever and sore throat! Immediately I called the agency up and asked for a replacement. They then told me that it would take up to a week because it's "peak" period then. Unfortunately I had to pay the full RM2,880 up-front so I couldn't ask for a refund. I converted the service to a food delivery package instead. I was totally fed-up with them by then.

Then the food delivery is another cerita. The entire package for 28-days of lunch & dinner costs close to RM2,000. Delivery charges are separate - RM7 per day (daylight robbery!). This comes up to RM78 per day. You would expect some pretty great stuff, right?

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

A typical lunch comprisez of beans/cauliflower (all-time favourite with the agency, it seems) and a tasteless meat. Then dinner, which mind you is delivered together with lunch, is some taufu, another piece of tasteless meat and a soup. Oops, sorry it doesn't even qualify as soup since the it is so diluted. Rice I have to cook myself.

After the CL left, my trusted Indon maid told me that the CL took our chocolates and ate them without our knowledge. Not like I would have said No, but it would be polite to ask. Plus the CL also told my maid that Malaysians treat Indon maids as "dogs". GEEZZ!!!! What kind of a person would say that???!! It just shows you what kind of a person she is. Really, if I see her around (afterall, she is from Puchong), I would give her a big piece of my mind.

After sharing my experiences with a couple of other people, I found out that I am not the only disgruntled one. Apparently, this agency already has a bad reputation. If only I knew earlier, I could have avoided suffering for one week.

Enjoying It!

My new CL came last Sunday, and true enough, I have been enjoying every single minute of it!! The food that she cooks is good (Cantonese style) and I can nap anytime of the day. If only I got her from the start, I would have avoided a week's worth of high blood pressure. More about that later. The only thing about this CL is that she doesn't allow me to wash my hair. So what do I do? I do wash it but after that, I will blow-dry and tie up my hair again. Naughty, hor? Then there was one day when I told her that I had a check-up but scooted off to Tesco to kai-kai abit!!

Brandon is growing by the day. He is already 3.2kg 6 days ago when the midwife came to the house to weigh him. Too bad I can't take credit for it since he's drinking formula at night. I am still diligently expressing BM 8 times daily. He's more wakeful during the day now and somehow, doesn't sleep from midnight to 3am everyday. I am going to suffer when the CL leaves, that's a fact!

Bryan is warming up to the fact that there is another baby in the house, but he still doesn't allow me to carry Brandon. I suppose it will take some time. If anyone has any tips, appreciate them!

First Night Duty

Since the CL left, VT has been responsible for doing the graveyard shifts while I accompany Bryan to bed. The problem with Bryan is that he still wakes up a few times in the middle of the night looking for me (or rather, my thumbs!). Somehow even in his slumber stupour, Bryan is still able to distinguish VT's thumb from mine!

Anyway, as you know Brandon is much of a night owl. He fusses from midnight to 3am, then makes a symphony of weird groans and cries throughout the night. Last night, VT had to go outstation so Bryan slept over at my PILs. I spent my first full night with the little one. I'm totally smashed today as I've become a very light sleeper so I awaken with each whimper.

By the way, there is another twist to my CL situation. My mum hired a new one for me and she's coming on Sunday. VT & I are not too keen since we can manage but my mum pok-pek pok-pek about me not having enough nutritious food. So what to do, take only lor...somemore she insisted that she pays for this CL. *Sigh* hopefully this one doesn't raise my blood pressure like the previous one.

Going to catch 40 winks now. I left Brandon in his cot downstairs and came up to shower (and blog!). Sounds quiet - think he's fallen asleep :)

The First Day

Ok, I'd survived the first day alone with Brandon yesterday. Pretty uneventful, I am pleased to report. He is on a 3-hour feeding schedule and sleeps pretty much in between, which gives me time to express BM, have my meals, watch "24" and nap. Brandon is still taking EBM during the day and formula at night.

Poor VT, who is responsible for the night-shifts, has not been as lucky. Apprently last night, Brandon was up from 12am-3am. Possible that he slept too much during the day. So today, I'll try to interact with Brandon a bit more. I can tell that his awake time is getting longer - unlike the first week where he literally slept, ate and poo-ed.

Only 20 more days to go. At least after the confinement period, I can kill boredom by taking him to empty shopping malls and also my folks' place for some relief.

Twist To The Story

Just as I was about to have another diarrhoea moment about my confinement lady, this morning she told me that she started having sore throat and a cold. I think she is also not too happy working for me. As I got her through an agency, I called them up and immediately asked for my package to be converted to a food delivery package. I could have opted for a replacement nanny, but didn't because they said it would take up to 7 days because July is a "peak" month and I think I can cope without a stranger in a house. I'd promptly sent the CL off to the LRT station this afternoon.

So here I am - all alone with Brandon now. I won't b*tch about the previous CL since she's now gone. As a result, I may not have as much time as I thought I would (still hope that I can watch the 2 seasons of "24", which VT bought for me) but fingers crossed, I would be able to cope with the baby AND still go blog-hopping. It's a bit nerve-wrecking to think that I have to care 24/7 for this helpless little boy. Thank goodness I have Chanel (supermum!) for support. Anyway, watch out for me in your blog soon :)

P/S: By the way, I've almost stopped breastfeeding. Panjang cerita....but mainly due to my laziness. It's a shame but I won't beat myself up on this one.