i shall not stop writing.

I was due for my 1st post-natal check up yesterday. And since my confinement has ended (well, sorta hehe...) we decided to go shopping at 1-U before the check-up. *yeay* :D

Well, let's just say I managed to get what I wanted to get for myself and little jj was so well-behaved. But what kinda surprised me was the fact that everyone (I mean, everyone!) that I passed by would look at our stroller to see little jj. I wondered why... I don't remember myself looking at babies everytime they pass by... so, we had our theories la on why people do that. Let's just hope it is a positive reaction... whatever it was, one woman did give me such a jubilant reaction when she saw little jj crying for a bit wanting us to pick her up... this woman was so excited looking at our little girl. I thought that was pretty enlightening - that if I were out shopping alone, I could easily make new friends amongst the ladies who love the sight of babies ;)

Anyways, the doctor said my uterus has gone back to its standard size and that I am very fertile (errksss!). She showed me the yet-to-be-fertilised eggs that I have in the scan, much to my delight... She was also amazed at how sehat little jj looks now (she weighs in at 4.8 kilos at 6 weeks!) and commented that my milk probably contains plenty of fat! Hehe... but of course... after all, I did gain 20 kilos at the end of my pregnancy and have shed at least 15 kilos so far...

So... how has little jj's arrival changed us all so far...

Well, firstly, the little munchkin now no longer plays with his friends after sekolah agama and head straight home to be with little jj. This is such a positive change in him since we've tried so hard for him to learn the idea of 'limitations' since he could be pretty ignorant of time limits.

Secondly, all of us in the family has learnt to take 'better care' of our appliances, furniture and fittings... well, everyone now closes the cupboard, doors, microwave oven, even the fridge very very slowly since little jj gets startled pretty easily initially and still do once in awhile now due to the startle reflex of a newborn. I'm pretty glad with this change as I sometimes get pretty annoyed when cupboards, especially, gets slammed every time when attempting to close them.

Thirdly, the little munchkin no longer rings the bell when he comes back from school. Instead, he knocks on the door so that little jj won't get startled. Still, it is quite a feat for us to tell our guests that unless they call us in advance.

Fourthly, the one now no longer delays his bath time (yikes!) upon reaching home from work so that he'd be thoroughly clean before playing/holding his little girl. This, I cannot say more of how pleased I am :D

Fifth, we all know who's the queen now... hehe. Although she's a princess and I am supposedly the queen, we know who's boss. We do things according to her mood... like why can't I put her down?? - cos she's uncomfortable... or why do our guests have to wash their feet and hands?? - so that they'll be clean for her... or that I can't eat yet - cos she's hungry... or why does the one need to do that silly dance?? - so that he could amuse her and make her forget that she initially wanted us to pick her up... etc.

Sixth, we no longer sleep late as we get so tired before midnight. But surprisingly, the one also gets up at night feeds if she refuses to sleep those days when the weather was quite heaty, and would work hard to calm her so that we could all get a good night's sleep.

Seventh, since I've been on my own since last week, I've had to efficiently manage my time... not that it should be difficult on my part since I always manage my time well but having a newborn can make managing time pretty challenging as everything (and I mean, everything!) revolves around her. Like what time I should wake up to shower before bathing her, what time I should pick up the clothes from the dryer, the time frame for me to cook lunch, when I can have tea, when I should fold the clothes and so forth (interesting, eh?).

Eighth, with the time-management, I've learnt to slice the beef/chicken/fish into specific compartments in the freezer, complete with the necessary herbs and ingredient for marination as soon as the one comes home from grocery shopping. Seriously, it makes life more convenient since I am able to cook lunch/dinner in a jiffy... plus, the meat tastes juicier due to them being marinated beforehand. All I need to do is the simple additional preparation of cutting the onions and garlic, and fresh veges.

Ninth, although initially, I swear by the idea of 'conditioning' the baby, ie. not picking the baby up unless necessary, I find it a little difficult to walk that talk. This probably boils down to not only having a baby at a perfect time when I'm much more mature and ready, but also the fact that she is just oh so cute and precious that makes it difficult to not pick her up at the slight sound of her 'ooohsss' and her 'urrghhhss'. Still, we try to put her down at her crib or the fisher-price vibrating bouncer that her pak long keramat gave her whenever we can. I mean, we have to so that I could do the house chores with ease when I'm alone with her. So far so good...

And with that point of picking her up, I had also come to terms with the fact that babywearing can be beneficial and absolutely positive to the growth and well-being of little jj. I've learnt that during our ante-natal class previously and this is further reinforced by what I read in the net about babywearing. I'm not sure how practical it is in the long run but I don't see why I shouldn't try. I think the one is also pleased with this since he agreed with Christine, our ante-natal instructor, who is against the idea of conditioning our baby before the baby fully understands the word, "No". Although I did tell him how successful it was with this method on the little munchkin when he was a baby, I guess it is true that it is too early to condition her.

And, seeing that little jj cries less and how I observed the volume of her cry at a very tolerable level (as compared to how loud babies can be) since she's always near me, I decided that I would wear her while doing my work or house chores when need be. She's less stressed and therefore, we would all be less stressed too. Thus, since I was in my confinement and unable to go out shopping, I bought a sling from thebabyloft.com (this website is awesome!) and have tried wearing her. Was also amazed at the many ways to wear a baby as posted in U-Tube.




And tenth, my goals are now based on little steps... I cannot be too ambitious and the only goals I can make is for example: I'll do her laundry (hand-wash) as soon as she sleeps in the afternoon... or I'll take my shower as soon as she's fresh and relaxed... or I'll have lunch after she's fully shaved, no matter how long that'll take me ;D