ARgh… so naughty but so CUTE!

Missy C is now 3 months, and doing every 3 month old baby does. Eat, poop, cry, smile,  drool, and some sleeping.

Actually, she was doing quite a fair bit of sleeping. At 6 weeks, I started her with control crying and the first session, she cried a good 45mins (OMG). But through the tough ‘ear blocking’ session, that night she slept 6 hrs! And then the night after, she sleeps 8 hours, and then the next 10!! Woohoo. Will write more later about control crying in a later post. BUT I have to say that she goes through cycles of good and then bad… and then good and then bad. Bleh… I guess its all part and parcel of being a baby.

She’s stable and really quite strong with her neck and back now… as you can see…

ARGHH!! She’s SO CUTE! CUTENESS OVERLOAD!!

Okay. The Missy A, if you recall, we were on Project 50. Where Missy A had to read 50 books and when she does, she’d be rewarded with a Nintendo DS. Well… She DID IT! And I am so super proud of her. She already has a Nintendo dog called Ally.

I love babies, and ofcoarse I love my children. Yes I love Missy C… BUT seriously…

First she takes over 9 months of my life. Deprives me of sleep before she even comes along, takes over my body and transform it into a walking giant jellybean, and then dictates what clothes I wear.

Then she comes along, rips more sleep form me from right under our noses… takes ownership over my boobs and dictates when I eat and sleep.

She takes over my cupboards…

She hogs the bathroom…

…she over-works not only me, but the poor washing machine…

…but what’s the worse?? She has now hijacked my pillow! Because she’s abit of a chunder-baby, I’ve had to prop her up while she sleeps and make sure the milk settles DOWNWARDS into her tummy.

It has now been two weeks since little Missy C has been… out, and we are just beginning to settle into a routine. She feeds every 3-4 hours, yes and even through the night. Her jaundice has cleared up which means that I can start stretching out her night feeds. We haven’t yet begun that considering her temporary cot is right next to our beds, so when she cries, I can’t help but get out and service her. Feeding her with a warm bottle of milk gets her back into a deep sleep and within 20 minutes from waking, she’s out cold, drunk with milk.

I have somewhat been well rested. All thanks to my wonderful family, and super husband, Dave. My family does all the cooking, hang out the washing, do the dishes and pretty much all the homely things. Super Dave has been that big support, emotionally and also been doing the diapers (kinda).

He also handles Missy A. He makes sure she’s fed, changed, and ready for school, and while she was sick, he was monitoring her temperature and played Doctor Dad. When I was tired, he’d watch over Missy C making sure that I had some peace to sleep. When I was feeling the blues, he’d cuddle me and see me through the tears and assured me. He also enforced my sleeping, making sure that when there was a time to take a nap, I had to nap (which kinda also didn’t work since I downloaded StoneLoops on my iPhone).

Today, he’s back at work so I’m flying solo. So far… so good but I am certainly missing him – we all are. Dave, I love you so much and thank you so much and  …come home soon!

I just love surprises, and if it was not enough to have a bundle of joy come on an unexpecting day, I received a very loving surprise from the team at NuffNang.  The darling Ming, co-founder of Nuffnang and his team of nuffies sent snail mail package to our place… and it was SOOO exciting and unexpected. I was so excited that I was naughty enough to handle a stanley knife to cut the box opened while holding Missy C in the other arm, and balancing her milk bottle carefully so that she didn’t suck air. Super Multi-tasking…

Thank you SO SO much Nuffies! It made me cry as it came at a very good timing to lift my spirits. Was going through mini baby blues from all the lack of sleep and having to also manage a sicky Missy A and her tantrums. So I would like you guys to know that I greatly appreciate it, and that the gesture was really God’s answer to my prayers for alittle encouragement.

Above: Haha, she was sleeping when I got the gifts and I was tempted to wake her and dress her in them… but I didn’t.

All hugs and kisses!

Once again… Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Naming your child is a very difficult thing to do, and there is a lot of pressure to get it right. Afterall, it sticks with them for their whole life. Unless ofcoarse they in their adulthood decide to change it themselves to something like Princess Consuela Bananna Hammock. So naming Baby #2 was rather stressful.

How we came to the decision? Well…

I think that a name and its meaning can be very reflective upon how a person may turn out to be like. Missy A, means “Lioness of God”. Its a pretty name, with strong meaning to it (but there’s also a story behind how we came up with that name which may be in a up coming post). We wanted something similar or as strong in its meaning for Baby #2 so I went through 4 baby books to look for the right one.

Many people suggest many names, all ending with “…elle”, so that we can keep with the theme. But I’m not up with that. Say why should child #1 dictate what all our children’s names should be, and afterall, this baby will be its own individual, why blend them in? I wanted something that was unique in their own right – so that ruled out many of the very pretty names like Giselle, Isabelle, Danielle… you get my drift?

Anyway, the first name that I came across and liked was Javiera. Actually, I don’t know if I liked it more than I liked the meaning of it. It means “A new house”. When I first saw it… I thought… “Oh wouldn’t it be cool if during my pregnancy, an opportunity comes across, and WE BUY A HOUSE! That would be awesome!”. It turns out that THIS DID happen. We managed to sell our land, and we purchased a house. Soon to make it our home. All of this happened only in the last month or so in my pregnancy. Another thing too that has a strong connection to us is that Dave, without realising it, set the settlement date for the house, in the contract for the date that I found out that I was pregnant. To me, I was quite certain that this is THE name. Problem was… I never could really remember it (not good). Neither could Dave. He’d ask… ” What was that name again”… and I would have to think really hard to recall it (definitely not good if your parents cannot remember what they named you).

Another name, with much less “connection”, that was considered was Natalia. All only because we thought that it sounded nice. The meaning of it? Well, I honestly also cannot remember that, but to us…. it sounds nice.

And finally, the name Missy C. It means “Little strong courageous woman”. All through out my pregnancy, people kept observing that I was HUGE. So the “little” part definitely called out to me . Please God, make this a small baby to get out… The courageous part, well… it speaks for itself. Its a pretty name, feminine, strong and has a meaning that stuck. (Tick Tick).

However it was the conversation that we had during my labour that we really decided on the name. OH and there was also Juliette, which Dave and I absolutely love. However, both my mother-in-law and mother think that the name is ‘tragic’ because of Romeo and Juliet. Its hard to get them to agree on anything, and the fact that they BOTH agree on this is a big thing. SO yeh…

Anyway… conversation during labour…

G: Hey… so what are we going to call this kid that’s going to pop out?

Mum: Danielle!

G: No mum, I told you we weren’t going to name her a name that sounds too similar to Missy A. We have 3 in mind. We like Natalia.

M: Natalia? Kinda sounds like Nutella.

G: No it doesn’t.

M; Yeh all the kids at school are going to tease her… “Nutella, Nutella”

G: Hmm.. well the other one we thought of was Missy C. But Dave’s mum thinks that its like an onion.

M: Huh??

G: You know… Shallot?

M: Oh…

G: Oh but there’s also the other name. A New house one. Dave do you remember the name? ( I knew it was Javiera but was testing to see if Dave remembered it).

D: Uh, Ja something??

G: Ok well that rules that name out. Its Javiera.

D: How do you spell that again??

G: Grrr… J.A.V.I.E.R.A. Well, fine then. Its either Nutella or… Shallot. What do you think? I like Shallot because it means strong courageous woman. I dunno what Natalia means. I think it means born on Christmas Day?

D: Oh well, Shallot it is then.

G: Shallot it is. Haha… I mean Missy C.

My little Shallot…Missy C.

The wait is finally over, and I’d like to introduce Baby Missy C. If you had been following my TwEets, you’d know now that she is 1 week old! I’m doing well, and so is baby though she is alittle Jaundice… and well, with Melbourne weather, its been alittle hard to get her into the sun. Doesn’t help either that its freezing outside and I’m in confinement. Hmm… will update on her condition. Ah… chinese baby also have yellow skin problems…

Well, Baby Missy C arrived to no surprise… when we least expected it. Our family had just had a wonderful family time together playing Taboo and indulging in wine and cheeses. Boys won… and yes “They are the more superior gender*” (*Disclaimer: only applies to Taboo … for that night!). I went to bed first, and for the first time in so many weeks, I fell asleep really soundly and without much bother. But only to be awaken… to my water breaking. It was like I’d wet my pants, and I couldn’t help it, NOR stop it. LOL… turning to Dave, it took me 3 attempts to wake Dave. He’d had one to many glasses and was obviously in deep deep drunken sleep. As he woke, I could hear that he wasn’t too sure what to do (blame it on the sudden wake-up dream state feeling, or the alcohol), I had to instruct him to call the hospital, tell them my water broke, pack the car with the bags, pass me a towel, get me a pad, get dressed, and get mum, or someone SOBER enough to drive me to the hospital. All of which, was told while I was sitting on the loo….drip drip dripping away.

The ride to the hospital seemed like it took ages, although it was literally down the road, 7 mins away. My contractions started and mum had the pedal to the metal. As I watched the spedometer rise, my heart rate went up and blood pressure went up as the petrol light lit up. We hit two red lights. BOTH I asked if we could run. We waited. OMG… we’re having a baby! Adrenaline kicks in, my heart rate continues to rise. Contraction again, this time… more intense….panic! We reached the hospital, I get out of the car… and through my controlled deep breathing, I hear Dave huffing and puffing “heee heee whooo…”. I’m thinking WTF? I’m the one having the baby and you’re the one sounding like you’re having the baby. Ring the intercom, and the automatic doors opened. Sigh of relief. I’m in good hands now.

The rest of the labour, I will skip on the details, but it was pretty standard. Contraction, pain, contemplate on pain relief, which one?, contraction, pain, contemplate epidural. Contraction, pain, asked for gas. Contraction, pain, look over to Dave and mum… BOTH asleep on the couches. BLOODY heck! Contraction, pain, OH THINK of names! Wake the sleepy heads. Contraction, pain, discussed names (look out for the next post to why and how we chose Missy C).  Contraction, pain. Breathe. Contraction, pain. Check dialiation. 5cm… Contraction, pain. Half an hour later… PUSH… CONTRACTION… PUSH… PAAAAAIIIINNNNN…. and then… HELLO BABY CHARLOTTE.

Friends have asked what this was like, and I have now come to the conclusion that labour is like when you’ve consumed a heck alot of BAD BAD CURRY, and that with the feeling of being overly constipated… and you just HAVE TO POOP!

After a stitch here and there, and 3 hours later, I was up and walking all by myself… to my private room. 2 days later, we were lapping it up at Novotel Hotel. 2 more nights, and we’re at home… doing it solo.

Sup peoples! Lol… I feel all young and in with the GENERATION, as I NOW have a twitter account!

So … hopefully for each blow by blow when I go into labour, and if you’d like to know how or what I am doing… Come follow my on twitter! I tweet mainly from my IpHONE… so yeh…

Sorry, I’m not sure how to incorporate a button to make it automatically make you follow me but just search for me…

mrsgracelee

HANG ON!! I just figured it out! Check out my sidebar!! WOOT WOOOT!!

Each week in a pregnancy, especially when nearing the last ‘leg’ is exciting, scarey, tiring, fun, frustrating, annoying, and exhilirating… all at the same time. I have considered inducing this baby OUTTA my body, but at the same time, I keep thinking, maybe baking my baby for that little bit longer will give it that golden cripsy glow of perfection…. like a cupcake. You want to get it out, but waiting may just be better in the long run. Bla… I don’t know.

Anyway, I noticed that depending on what I wear, i get different responses from people. OBVIOUSLY… the fatter and huger I look… more people ask “Are you having twins??”, or “Oh gee… you’re ready to pop aren’t you??”. And then when I wear things alittle more fitted, I get people asking ” When are you due?”  and “Oh it must be a BOY!”. All of these responses I can control… muhahahaha… just by deciding what I clothe myself in in the morning. So while juggling my hormones and mood, I can carefully choose what my day may turn out to be and how I’d like people to react to my rounded watermelon body. Good or bad? I don’t know. But knowing I have that little bit control, does make me feel better.

One of my “big” outfits…

Haha… the more times I wear this dress, and as my belly gets bigger, the hemline gets shorter!

Yes… I am HUGE!

When I had baby Missy A, I was given a list of things to bring to the hospital. This time round, I had to ask for the list again because I was just getting so overwhelmed with the amount of baby clothes I had accumulated, and I was … well… just making things complicated. How? Well… before Missy A was born, she was scanned to be a girl. BUT EVERYONE had predicted that she’d be a boy. So I was alittle worried in terms of getting the colour of the baby clothes right. Can’t possibly pack all PINK stuff… just in case. BUT at that time, given the circumstances, Dave and I were in … well.. not exactly superly prepared to have a baby so we had hand-me-downs from very generous and lovely people, and to us… we had not much choice as to what Missy A would wear. Just wear whatever we have. It was simple like that.

NOW… not that we are super choosey, or high-class now, it is atleast at a time when I have alittle bit of choice. Not a stretch for us, but I can afford to buy a $2.30 baby jumpsuit t-shirt from Big W… that Missy A has happily chosen.

ANYWAY… my point being… is now that I have all these things in my head that has made things complicated like… OH WHAT size do I bring?? 0000? Oh better bring some 000 just in case is a big baby. Oh what colour then? Yellow is a nice choice. But Oh… when people visit… it may make it uncomfortable for then to ask whether its a girl or boy? Oh then, her gloves, and booties… what size again!? OH and its winter! How cold would it be? Long sleeve? Short sleeve, and layer? BLAH!!! hehehe… ok… anyway… because of how complicated I made it… FINALLY I just put ALL the questions aside, and stuffed it. Too bad, if baby is going to ’swim’ in her clothes…. be it. If its too small… then… Be it. If its cold… I’m sure I can change the thermostat in our room warmer… and well… if gloves are too BIG, then… BLAH… We managed with Missy A… we can manage with baby #2.

In the end… I packed all the essentials on the list.

Hehehe… ok maybe I’m taking a few more extra stuff…. I couldn’t help it.

Just a bit of advice, pack exactly ONE set of everything: Singlet, wondersuit, gloves, booties, hat and bunny rug… all in a zip-lock bag so that it makes it easier for hubby to just pull it out when you’re in labour for the nurses/midwives to put the clothes in the warming cupboard .. all ready for baby. This way… one less thing to think about. Make sure to brief the hubby what he’s suppose to do. I.E TAKE this out and give to midwife when baby is coming. SIMPLE instructions.

Don’t forget to pack for yourself. Hehehe… with Missy A… I did. So lets just say I learned my lesson. One other thing… in-regards to undies… honestly, I just found that buying a cheap set from BigW, or Target 6/7 pack is the best way to go. That way, you could really just throw them out a month after….. hopefully along with the bad memory . When I had Missy A, I requested for a few disposables from the hospital… hehehe…

If you’re planning to breast-feed too… I didn’t exactly leak within the first few weeks, or have any accidents BUT no harm in prepping for that.

RITE AID was my besty. It will serve as my besty… and the value 60 pack is only $8.30 at BIGW.