Little Blanket, Big Blanket

Dear Mummy Leong,

Lil Shauna and I wanted to thank you for the wonderful gift -- the handmade blanket (by your mummy), that was given to her during her full-month bash. For the past few months, she has been faithfully using it. However, Lil Shauna has grown much and has so inherited my bad "shui xiang" genes. We are sad to say that the blanket can no longer "contain" her. The blanket can still cover her nicely, but that merely lasted for 2 mins before her "wu ying jiao" comes into the picture. She has since upgraded to a bigger blanket.

Actually, she is still using the little blanket (in orange) underneath the big blanket. But as you can see, she just needs a bigger one to cover exposed areas. ;p
Lil Shauna loves her little blanket, but maybe it will have to go to Auntie S's baby for awhile. Or maybe into the cupboard until such a time that Lil Shauna's little brother/ sister comes by. Till then, Lil Shauna will lovingly pass on her little blanket. :)

With love (& lots of saliva),
Lil Shauna & Mummy Lim

Many, many pix

I took quite a few pix of Daddy Lim & Lil Shauna before I left for Qatar so that I have something to look at when I miss them. Then with Daddy Lim's new dropped-into-toilet-bowl-but-still-surviving 5 mega pixel HP, there are just more pix. Hehe.

The last 2 pix were taken when we were playing with her. Otherwise, it is just so hard to catch her smiling widely at the camera.

Mummy Lim

The Trip

The Qatar trip was a really short, rush & tiring one. Of the 3 nights, 2 were spent on the plane. Qatar is 5 hrs behind Singapore and the flight took about 8 hours. We flew on Sat night at 3am, reaching Qatar on Sun morning 7am. Bcos Qataris work 6 day week from Sat to Thur, we started work shortly after we arrived. Having not slept much on the plane and had been sleeping very little for the few nights before flying, I was reduced to a walking zombie. Our biological clock was all screwed up. We had breakfast at 3.30pm and dinner at 12md (Singapore time). I had my 1st experience of expressing in the toilet and in the middle of the air. My 1st expressed after leaving Sgp took place in the plane toilet. Luckily it was the night flight and at certain time, barely anybody uses the toilet and I was able to express at peace. The crew was also nice enuff to loan me some standing space in the fridge to chill my EBM.

This is my 1st time using Changi airport T3. I left so mountain tortoise.

Qatar looks pretty much like any other countries. There are so many cars on the roads.
Most of the cars were really dusty. Probably bcos part of Qatar is made up of the desert.I understand from a colleague working there, that there is basically no point cleaning the car. The car gets dirty basically by parking on the street. Nobody walks in Qatar. Everybody owes a car or maybe even 2 cars. That is probably bcos it is way too hot to walk. The temperature ranges from 37 to 42 degree Celsius when we were there and it is already considered as good weather. In Summer time, temperature can go up to 55 degree. There's winter too, where temperature drops to less than 20. It doesnt snow but cold wind roams the street. Other than that, car & petrol are dirt cheap. One litre of petrol costs only 40 cents!!! That is even cheaper that a bottle of 500ml of mineral water in Qatar.
I was fortunate to have my own room this time, especially when I am expressing.

On Monday, we travelled to visit some accommodation. This is what I saw on the way.

Vast area of nothingness. I guessed that is the desert. I didnt see any camels though.

As it was a really short trip and I manged to bring back all of EBM. I freeze them after expressed and brought them back in the newly brought fridge-to-go (FTG). I am so glad that the FTG didnt fail me. Although most of the frozen EBM stated thawing by the time I was back, they were still chilled. Lil Shauna helped to consume the thawed EBM. Watever that she couldnt finished was thrown away. We dun want to risk giving her a tummyache. I was so glad that Lil Shauna still recognises me when I came back. I bet the BM smell on me helps. Hehe.

Before I flew, I actually asked God why He wanted to send me. I think He wanted to give me a break. Hehe. I understand from my boss that this is the 1st of the many trips to come. -.o" It sounds tiring already. I seriously am not sure what to expect. Guessed I will take things as they come. I wonder if I should stop breastfeeding soon. It is really a hassle to have to express when I am out of Singapore or even the comfort of my office/ home. Attempts to bring back the EBM is a even worse nightmare. Haiz..

Mummy Lim

Mummy Lim is Back!

Yippee! So glad to be back. Going to see Lil Shauna soon! :)

Mummy Lim

Flying Off

I am at Changi Airport T3 now, using their free internet access. I mountain tortise, never come T3 before. ;p I am flying off. Oh gosh, I miss both my big and small baby. I will be back!

Yawnz... I need a good sleep.. I wonder if the food is good.. I wonder if I will be able to wake up to express. haha.

Pappy, En En, missing you... :)

Mummy Lim

er..erm..Yippy?

well, looks like i have a nice weekend to myself.. poor MummyLim has to go Qatar, where it's like 45degC n she can only eat curry all day.
So MummyLim, blog often, tell us about your days at Qatar, drink plenty of water (PLENTY cos u need to fabricate milk and keep heatstroke away) and have a safe trip!
I'll be having a buffet dinner on Sunday, maybe followed by some drinks(hahah gotcha!). Monday i'll go SweeLee and see if got anything to spend money on hahaha
Cya on Tues!!

Separation Anxiety

According to Wikipedia, "Separation Anxiety" is defined as a psychological condition in which an individual has excessive anxiety regarding separation from home or from people to whom the individual has a strong emotional attachment. I think I am suffering from it. -.o"

This morning, it suddenly dawned on me that I am flying off soon. It is not the 1st time that I did not get to see Lil Shauna for a period of > 24hrs. There are times that we leave her at Popo's place in the morning and only see her the next day evening. That is at least 1.5day and I am alright. However, the thought that I wun see her for 2.5days and I am so far away does put me down. I wonder why wun I feel that way towards Daddy Lim? I figure out if its bcos Daddy Lim can take care of himself and he can talk! We can communicate via SMS and calls. Talking about it, it will cost me $2+ per minute to call back and each SMS cost $0.50. On top of that, there will be a 20% surcharge for "pay as you roam" service. -.o" Luckily, I am only there for 2 days.

Oh ya, on separation anxiety. It seems to affact my milk supply. It seems to have dropped. But I am not sure if it is bcos I am too tired. Was busy packing bag yday night. Waited for the 11.30pm express and dreamfeed Lil Shauna before turning in. Every single express is important now. Have to try to store as much milk for her now. My mum will also increase her FM feed to make the existing stock of EBM last longer. I cant sit still today. Then I get depressed from time to time when I remembered that I am fltying off. Haiz.

Ya, I know, I am only away for 2.5days and not 2 years. But, I am a newbie mummy and I have the rights to be anxious hor. I wonder if Lil Shauna even realises that I am missing. -.o"

Mummy Lim

Mummy Lim Going to Quatar

I am flying off to Quatar tomorrow night. I was told only this morning. It is a short trip and I will be back on Tuesday afternoon. During this time that I am away, Lil Shauna will be staying at PoPo's place. Daddy Lim dun think that he is confident enuff to handle the baby alone. He would probably drop by daily to see Lil Shauna for awhile.

In the past, I would be game and would be able to set off any time. Today, I was very much hesitant. I started asking questions like how am I gg to express, where can I express, how to keep my milk, how to store & bring my milk back, does Lil Shauna has enuff to drink in Singapore, etc. For a moment, I was pretty affected with the questions and I wonder if I should stop breastfeeding. Haiz. Then again, I guessed all things will work themselves out.

Both of us are suffering from separation anxiety. We couldnt stop cuddling Lil Shauna, knowing that we wun see her for awhile. Sob! I am also worried that she wun recognises us after that. Double sob! I will be gg straight to my mum's place to see Lil Shauna when I am back on Tuesday.

I hope all go well.

Mummy Lim

Why, why, why...

Why is short hair good.

1. I use less shampoo, conditional & water

2. I dropped less hair

3. Even if I dropped the same amount of hair, it looks lesser bcos each strand is now shorter

4. It takes shorter time for the hair to dry

5. I dun have to worry about forgetting my rubber band to tie my hair

6. I look refresh (I hope)

7. I can use hair clips that I bought long time ago

Why do I like dreamfeeding.

1. Lil Shauna is sleeping before, during and after the feed
2. She does not try to hit my hand which unlatches the bottle or squeeze her thumb into her feed, which is already full of the teat
3. I dun have to burp her after feed
4. She seldom vomit milk after feed
5. She will not cry for more milk
6. I can go back to sleep after that

I think Lil Shauna definitely takes after me when it comes to sleeping. When she is tired, she can sleep anywhere, even with the TV on and the nieces jumping, crying, laughing, screaming, etc. When she sleeps, her shui xiang is super bad.

This is taken last night. Her blanket is everywhere but on her. Haiz.. She will surely kick off the blanket. -.o" When she just fell asleep, we put the blanket nicely on her and we even used the little pillow to hold the blanket. Still... We so need the sleeping blanket/ bag. Heng, I ordered that from a BP already. Hehe.

Mummy Lim

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

Decisions, decisions... We meant to purchase Lil Shauna's insurance policy soon after she was borne. However, her stay at NICU kept us busy. I was also alittle angry with the insurance Companies for refusing to sign her up until she was discharged from the hospital. After she was "released", there were always more important things to do. Heng, we have 2 different agents after Lil Shauna's policies and would regularly check on us. After numerous chasers, we also pai seh and finally discussed and decided on the policy.

Daddy Lim & I both had all our insurance policies under AIA. Despite the AIG commotion, we have good faith in our Government to be financially prudent and not let AIA slided into financial difficulty and burnt all our policies. So, we were not part of those who tried to turn in our policies. Actually, we were stuck. Our policies are far from maturing. There is no way we could have terminated the policies without losing lots of $$.

I was quite tempted to put Lil Shauna under AIA as well. Frankly speaking, I quite like my insurance agent, who quoted us Lil Shauna's AIA plan. He has been an agent with AIA for forever and I like it that way. He has also track record for following up on claims. I was almost picking up the phone to give him the good news when we heard on radio that AIG spent $400+k on resort for brainstorming session after receiving the million dollars aids. -.o" That was the last straw. I am so not gg to put our $$ (again) into some Companies which do not know when not to be too employees' welfare-oriented and have bad financial planning. Thus, the other agent got the deal. I bet he is smiling from ear to ear. We have just signed the papers and are waiting for the policy paper. Yeap, Lil Shauna is well-covered.

Gu Gu Daddy Lim
Guessed wat? He dropped his brand new mobile phone into the toilet bowl... -.o" Yes, the same phone that he purchased on Sunday. No, he wasnt doing any big or small business on the toilet bowl before the phone dropped in and that is the greatest comfort.

I wasnt really angry with him. Anyway, he is sad enuff. It is a new model, brand new with 5-mega pixel camera and a 1Gb memory card wor. He hasnt even start snapping Lil Shauna's pix. Haiz.

I remembered reading from somewhere that the phone might still have a high survival chance. What to do next is to turn off the phone immediately and dismantle everything. Leave it to dry naturally, which might take up to a few days. Only try switching on the phone again after it is totally dry (inside out). Let's see if it works. Otherwise, it is so going to the repair center. I also read that the guarantee will still cover the phone but will be automatically voided after the repair bcos it was once drowned. Double haiz...

Mummy Lim