The First Week

Fighting the jaundice battle is really no joke. We escaped having to stay in the hospital for longer than 3 days (We had to stay for 5 days for the previous 2 babies) but because Jaide's jaundice level is still climbing, I have to work extra hard to help her fight against it. Since my milk supply is not enough to do the job, I'm supplementing with formula and pumping regularly to increase my production. This means a lot of washing and sterilising.

Also, I have been sunning her as much as the weather permits as our home version of phototherapy. Due to the constant changing position and intensity of the sun, I keep having to adjusting the bouncer in which Jaide is in so that she will not get the direct sunlight and yet is not too much in the shade.

As of now, we've brought her to the polyclinic to check her condition twice and she is on the verge of being sent to the hospital again. If it goes beyond the permitted levels tomorrow, she'll have to be hospitalised. My worry is that without her latching on, my milk supply will decrease and it'll make it even harder to maintain total breastfeeding. All I can do is to continue the hard work and leave the results to God. I'm sure He'll know what's best for Jaide and our family.

Romans 8:28
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose."

Despite all that, there are many things to be thankful for:

1) Despite not having a confinement lady, Joshua and I are coping pretty well with the kids.
2) Without any interference from others, we're able to continue with our own family routine and the older children have minimal adjustments to make.
3) The older children are taking to the new addition very well and are even affectionate towards her.
4) I am able to start sleep training straightaway for Jaide and she has been able to respond to it with much less crying than the first two.
5) My body is recuperating faster than before.

To God be the glory!

Jaide during her awake moments

Sleeping while being "sun-tanned"

Lovely flower arrangement from church

Cute booties card from the children's Godma
(And yes, the card arrived at the right time! *grin*)

初次见面

Today being a Saturday, Joash and Jayna have a chance to meet their little sister at last. When they arrived, Jaide was still undergoing phototherapy for jaundice so they showered their attention on me who has been absent for 2 nights in a row. After playing together, pretending to be different types of animals, Joash suddenly remembered and asked, "Where's 小妹?"

It just happened to be the time when Jaide was due to be back in the room so, hand-in-hand, we walked to the nursery to pick her up. Their first encounter was so filled with delight! The both of them kept reaching out to stroke the little newborn and Jaide seemed to enjoy all the attention she was getting. In fact, Joash asked me to bring her out of her little cot and put her on the bed so that they could be nearer to her. I'm so thankful to God that they are getting off to a good start. I pray that they will continue to develop their sibling love for one another. :)

Eager to show little sister their affections

How about being even more
'up close and personal'?

The first time as a family of five *beam*

Jaide with her paternal grandma

Spot the differences!

Joash

Jayna

Jaide

Jaide's First Day on Earth!

Tada! Here she is!

Our dear little princess sure took her own sweet time to come out. But when she did finally decide to make her appearance, she came out fast and furious!

The birth story

0600 hours

I felt the sudden urge to clear my bowels and did so after much difficulty. The pain was very similar to labor contractions but after having multiple false alarms previously, I decided not to alert Joshua till I was certain. However, after going to the toilet for the third time, the pain did not go away and intensified instead. That was when I realised that this could be the real thing.

0700 hours

I told Joshua that I was possibly in labor. The kids were already awake by then and both of them, especially Joash, were really weepy and fussy. I think they must have sensed that something was different about today. They were particularly clingy to me and kept asking me to do things for them. Imagine having to dress 2 toddlers for school while having contractions less than 5 min apart! I tried my best not to distress them further and brought them to school as they requested. The teachers were pretty taken aback that I was actually already in labor. The children kept sticking to me and by the time I could leave, I was no longer able to move whenever the contractions hit me. They were getting to be 3 min apart!

0930 hours

We arrive at the hospital but despite the intense pain and high frequency of the contractions, I was barely 1 cm dilated. Thankfully, because they knew that this was my third kid, they took me seriously when I told them I was really in pain. They straight away put me on antibiotics for the GBS infection and asked the anesthetician to prepare for my requested epidural.

1100 hours

By the time I was injected with the epidural, I was halfway done at 5cm dilation. The pain was already so great that the medication merely took the edge off the pain. I could still feel everything. Sigh... I struggled through the insertion of the catheter and constant barrage of the contractions. I hardly had anytime to breathe.

1200 hours

Although the gynea said that I had to wait for the full 4 hours of antibiotics before she'll burst my water bag, I was already feeling the urge to push. I kept telling them, "I need to push, I really do!" but the nurses encouraged me to hold it off till 2pm. The irony was not lost on me. I was actually having to fight against the natural flow of things! But for the sake of the baby not getting infected, I moaned with all my might to NOT push when my body told me so urgently to.

1230 hours

My gynea did an internal exam to check the dilation. The water bag broke. Then, there was nothing anyone could do to stop the process. Within minutes, I was preped to push. By merely the second push and a loud cry from me, Jaide burst forth with such speed that I had multiple tears that required many stitches. It all happened so fast I doubt anyone actually noticed exactly the time when she was born. (Okay, I exaggerate. I'm sure a nurse must have recorded it somewhere.) When Joshua stopped taking pictures of our long-awaited child and looked at the time, it was already 1pm.

Me after enduring the horrendous stitching-up process.
(And did I mention that I could feel
EVERYTHING despite the epidural?)

Praise God that although it was by far the most intense delivery I've had, it was mercifully short. Who would have thought that it would be all over in 3 hours?

Now is simply a matter of waiting for the doc's verdict on whether Jaide has contracted the infection since I did not manage to finish the whole course of antibiotics before delivering. We'll know in 2 days' time. Will you pray with me that she can go home with me this Saturday with a clean bill of health? TIA!!!

Jaide, cleaned up nice and pretty!

P/S: Joshua and I both feel that she looks like a combination of her elder siblings. What do you think? Here are the links to their birth stories: JOASH and JAYNA

My Bumps

Getting bored with waiting for her royal highness to come out, I looked through my preggy photos. Here's how I look at week 38 for all three pregnancies. Can you tell which is which? I suppose other than the differences in clothing, hairstyle and pose/smile, my tummy looks about the same...