Cleo Pets day care centre

We left the two girls at a day care centre.There were many doggies there that day.The girls seemed to enjoy their new friends.

My first Christmas

I took Immanuel to Orchard today to admire the decorations.Its his first Christmas with us and I feel so special now that I'm a mommy.Although it can be quite troublesome to have him along (esp. when he is cranky) but the joy of having him close by overrides everything.Just wanna take him everywhere I go.Seen here in Pa

ragon.

Immanuel and his potty training at 3 1/2 mth

Immanuel is seen here with my aunt Susan who takes very good care of him.He seems to be ok with it and didn't make a fuss. He usually sits on it after his morning feed. Sometimes, it takes only 5 mins; sometimes, nothing at all. This potty has been used by myself, my brother and three wonderful cousins ... Manfred, Metis & Melanie.

Segar Care Group Xmas party '07

Immanuel is tired after all the partying that he feel into a sweet slumber in my arms.These days,he will sleep at about 8pm and that gives us plenty of time to do our stuff.All thanks to Aunty Susan.....Zzzzz.....

God has bless our family very well.Xmas to our family is to celebrate the love of Jesus who died and rose again for us.Thank you Jesus for giving us an abundant life!

Our care group friend, Desmond and Noelle with their beautiful twins, Isaac and joseph.Isaac and Joseph are only five months older than Immanuel.

This is our care group leader's wonderful wife and also a close friend of ours, June Ong.June brought a very yummy! turkey to the party.

Immanuel at 3 1/2 mth

Immanuel with uncle Wilson.We went to the airport to fetch my mum, uncle ronnie & family and aunty marilyn & family. They had gone to Australia for their vacation.IL is wearing the hat that I bought for him....seems a bit too tight now!Doesn't he look adorable?!!!

Juzz the two of us again ....1/11/07

A much needed break just b4 I go back to work.We went back to our all-time favourite place - PHUKET. Its great to be back here again. Except that this time, my heart is missing that special little someone called Immanuel.

2 mth 3 days old

Immanuel at Uncle Andy's 21st birthday party.Seen here clockwise from left with Aunty Evelyn Ashley and her daughter - Clara, grandma and great-grandma.

Immanuel with his proud maternal grandmother

Immanuel is 2 mth 1 day old in this picture. His doting grandma is all smiles even after a hard day's work. The power of a grandson ..... ;)

1 mth 21 days

Little Immanuel smiled at me today.Dabo told me that Immanuel giggled at him too.IL seemed to respond more today.His visual and hearing seemed to be getting better.He will turn his head to look at us.We left him at my aunt's place today before we went church.I missed having Immanuel home with us but at the same time, we feel very tired.Its comforting to know that I will be seeing him again later.I enjoyed breastfeeding him very much but worry that he is not filled as I have very little milk.I hope to breastfeed him for 6 months.I will be going back to work on 5 Nov and I know I'm gonna miss him like crazy.

Dabo and I will going off to Phuket on 30 Oct. We also discussed about going to Venice in Jan next year.

Immanuel's 1 mth old celebration

We held a celebration party for Immanuel at Emerald Garden clubhouse - Ken Ne's dad place.We invited all our family, church & caregroup friends and mainly Ken Ne's friends.All went well.It was a great party.

Ist Month celebration invitation cards

This is a hand-made invitation card to all our guests for Immanuel's 1 mth old celebration. I started doing them as early as June! There are about 40 to sent out. I chose to design my own as its expensive to buy from the shops and its more personal. I did everything from scratch and spend just under $30. I found the milk bottle shape in the Internet and re-design it myself on the computer. Then I use crayons to fill in the colours before pasting them onto the cards. Next I use the scissors to trim the edges for more shape. I received quite a number of praises for the cards and hope to show them to Immanuel one day. : )

Emergency treatment at KKH

Immanuel had been crying consecutively for 3 nights now.We tried everything but nothing could pacify him.He was crying so hard till his face turns black/red.It was very frightening for us.We were so afraid that he'll go into fits.So, we decided to bring him to the hospital.He had also been constipating for the past 2 days.We reached KKH at 9pm and stayed until 2 am.At first,the docs suspected colic so they gave him some colic drops.But the crying continued.Then they suspect it could be constipation.The doc then inserted a pill into his anus.The moment the pill was inserted,a lot poo-poo popped out.After that,the crying somewhat subsided.We stayed on in KKH for awhile more to make sure Immanuel is alright before going home.We were both exhausted but relieved.

Our Chinese tradition .....

It is our Chinese tradition to shave a newborn baby's hair at 1 mth old.We believed the new growth will be darker and much more.Here,daddy is doing it personally for l'l Immanuel (although at 3 weeks old).

Immanuel at 4 days old

Still can't believe this is real.I have a baby now.Looking at him, I'm filled with both joy and fear.Joy that I have brought forward a beautiful human being into this world - Fear of how am I going to lead him to the right path of God?Its an awesome responsibility!

Immanuel Liron means "God with us, I have joy" in Hebrew

Immanuel weighed a hearty 3.310kg and 49cm long.He made sure everyone knew his arrival by his loud cry!Such strong lungs for a newborn!

At the right place...at the right time he will appear

Its 7am in the morning now and I'm waiting for my gynae.I'll take a bottle of essence of chicken first.....God bless us!

A St*ar Is Born

Fast forward on 24 Aug '07 ............
1:30am: I went to the bathroom and found that I had a very bloody show.Woke Dabo up and we decided to wait and see if there are anymore signs that I should go to the hospital.
3am: Again I went to the bathroom and found more bloody discharge.My heart was so confused and anxious.Should I wait or should I just go to the hospital?Would my BB be in danger?I kept praying and searching to hear God's direction.I couldn't sleep anymore.Just kept wondering......
5am: Again I found more bloody discharge.This time we decided to go to the hospital to be safe.It was supposed to be my last day of work,I've applied for 1/2AM for check-up with Dr Jeanette Chen at KKH and return to office in PM to wrap up my stuff.The journey to KKH was both exciting and frightening.We did not know what to expect.6am: We arrived at KKH.I was told they need to monitor my contractions and BB's heart beat.Everything seemed ok.They informed Dr Jeanette and she would come to see me at around 7:30am.I was wheel-chaired into a delivery suite as I continued to have a bloody discharge.
7:30am: Dr Jeanette came and broke my water bag.We were not ready to deliver that day but it was too late.They had to induce contractions in me as mine was weak.It was painful to insert the needle into my left hand.I still have a small scar until today.
8:30 am: Water begin to flow out slowly and I had to get the nurses changed my maternity pads.They also helped me to relieve into a potty as I could not get out of the bed.Contractions finally began.Feels like menstral cramp.But still bearable.I remind myself that its just pressure and not pain.
9:30am: The contractions were getting worse and we were both very tired since we have not really slept since 1:30am.Dabo prayed over me.We also prayed in tongues.
11am: Contractions got very very painful and I was suffering.I tried the 'laughing gas' but decided to have the epidural as Dr told me I was to deliver at around 3pm.The epidural specialist came in 15mins.Surprisingly,the procedure was not in the least painful.I felt so relieved after that.I dozed off and in between nurses came in to check me.
2:30pm: The nurse told me I had dilated to 8cm and should be ready to push soon.
3pm: A nurse and Dabo helped me as I started pushing.Dabo held my leg as I tried to push very hard as each contraction came on.I pushed very hard but it was not enough.
3:30pm: Dr Jeanette came.I did not progress much so after 15mins,she called another doc to come to assist me.The Indian doc pushed my belly as I pushed my baby out.
4:00pm: After 2 tries, our precious little Immanuel Liron arrived!What a wonderful feeling.Our little miracle is here.He has such loud and clear voice.He cried so loudly.He is so handsome too.IL weighed 3.310kg and 49cm long. After that,I was told I had to wait for my room as it was full.
7:00pm: I was wheeled to my room.I had to take panadol as I was beginning to feel the pain from the stitches.The nurses brought IL to me to be breast fed every 2 hours.My family all came to visit me that evening.The next day, our care group friends and my colleagues came to visit me.
6:00pm, 25 Aug 2007: We checked out and little IL came back to his own home. Its great to have him home.Thank you ABBA!

Knock Knock! Is that Immanuel in there?!

As my due date is getting nearer,I'm getting more excited about that l'l fella inside my tummy.How does he look like?Will he have my eyes or daddy's nose?I pray that he'll be a good-looking boy who is 1.8m tall.

Our Peg Perego stroller

We decided to invest in a sturdy stroller as we already have plans to bring Immanuel on holidays with us as soon as he turns one.So, after much shopping around,we decided on the Italian brand Peg Perego.It can be used from infancy until around 3 years old.And it is still made in Italy (instead of China like most stuff now).Costs us SGD560-00.Now we can't wait to bring him for hols!

Me at approx. 7 mth preggo weighing a hefty 68kg!!!

I thank GOD that I did not suffer any morning sickness or cravings at all.Overall, the entire pregnancy was a breeze and I enjoyed every moment of it. The only problems I had was bleeding during the first trimester which got me very worried. I remember hidding in my office toilet and cry. I had grown emotionally attached to my foetus and didn't want to lose him. The other time was when my gynae diagnosed I had a low placenta during the second trimester. Dabo and I prayed over it and my placenta moved up in the third trimester. On certain nights, I'll experience cramps in my legs.Sometimes, it gets so bad that I'll cry.My expected due date was 29 Aug 2007 but IL decide to arrived on 24 Aug 2007.

How we found out.....

8pm, 2 Jan 2007: I had been feeling nauseous for the past few days so we drove to clinic at Jurong East MRT station but it was closed.We went to another clinic at JE but it was so crowded.We bought the cheapest pregnancy test kit at Guardian pharmacy.Results showed a blue line and another faint blue line - POSITIVE. Dabo nd I couldn't sleep that night!Am I or am I not?What if I am really pregnant?!

11:45pm, 3 Jan 2007: First day of 2007 back to the office,I went to check again with Raffles clinic.They confirmed I was pregnant.What a wonderful way to begin 2007!Hallelujah!Praise Jesus.I remembered that my hands were shaking as I broke the news to Dabo over the phone!