Nov - Dec 2006
My mommie’s recount VI: After the baby shower, my 4-weeks of confinement was finally over. And you can see tt my precious deardear is botak. My mil shaved off her beautiful baby hair the following Monday after the baby shower.
Oh ya, my mil will go back to her own home today. Suddenly, I was left all alone to take care of Ashley. Alan still has his overseas project in China/Malaysia and is often flying off on Sunday nite and back only the following Friday nite. The feeling that I was the sole caregiver for my month-old baby was daunting, but at the same time, immensely satisfying. Finally, I can have my baby all to my own. I was very very tired, body aches everywhere, eyes so dry and gritty tt it hurts to keep them open. Despite all these, I never once thot of asking for help. I just want to treasure the time with Ashley and give the best care and attention to her.
I bathed her every morning, give her milk milk, change her diapers, wipe her poo-poo, sing/rock her to sleep… I was happy, although I always look forward to Friday nite when Alan will be back, so that I can share my experiences with him…
It’s really no joke to take care of a newborn alone, especially I had no prior experience. No time to bathe, go toilet, eat, sleep… everytime, Ashley cries, I would be there for her.
My daily routine would be:
6~6.30am : Ashley would wake up and need my attention…
7am : Give her milk milk.
7.30am : Bring Ashley out to buy breakfast.
8am : Give Ashley her bath.
8.30am : Put Ashley on the bouncer and have my breakfast. If she dun wan, then I’ll carry her and have my breakfast at the same time.
9.00am : Rock her to sleep in the sarong. While she’s sleeping, I would go wash up the plates, Ashley’s clothes and then rest awhile on the sofa.
10am : Ashley wakes up and needs my attention. Will give her milk milk.
10am – 12pm : Play with Ashley.
12pm : Bring Ashley to buy lunch.
12.30pm : Back home. Give Ashley milk milk.
1pm : Take my lunch. Again, if Ashley does not want to sit in bouncer, I will carry her.
1.30pm: Rock Ashley to sleep in the sarong. Will try to sleep abit too.
2.30pm: Ashley wakes up and needs my attention.
3.00pm: Give Ashley milk milk. Play with her.
4.30pm: Give Ashley a full body wipe and change her clothes.
5pm: Tingkat delivery for my dinner.
6pm: Give Ashley her milk milk. Play with Ashley
7pm: Sing to Ashley to make her sleep
7.30pm: Ashley is asleep and I go take my bath.
8pm: Eat my dinner, sterilize the day’s milk bottles, watch tv.
9.00pm: call alan on his mobile, talk a while.
9.30pm: Give Ashley milk milk, while she’s sleeping.
10pm: I go to bed.
12.30am: Ashley cries, give her milk milk
3am: Ashley cries, give her milk milk
6am: Another day begins…
The above was my daily routine, until Ashley turns 6th week. On 1dec, it was a Friday evening, for no reason, Ashley started crying n crying hysterically… I panicked, not sure what had happened, whether did I hurt her accidentally or wat…
Anyway, to cut the story short, she had COLIC… my worst nightmare.
From then on, everyday, from 5pm-7pm (worst case was until 8pm), Ashley would cry n cry n cry non-stop. I tried all ways, still couldn’t soothe her. In the initial days, I did get frustrated and once I shook her abit. And straight away, I felt SO SO GUILTY and WORRIED that I had hurt her. Kept checking the internet on the shaking baby syndrome and monitoring her for symptoms… fortunately, I was just being paranoid… she was fine, and after tt one time, I could no longer get frustrated with her. Instead, I juz carried her and keep stroking her back for 2hrs. I cried along with her, on days when her crying was especially sad.
Ashley's colic went away when she was about 10weeks' old, lasted abt 4weeks.
On hindsight, I think my experience for the whole of my 2nd month of maternity where I was alone with Ashley, made me a stronger and better person. I handled a lot of baby crises, including her colic, alone. And I think it also strengthened my bond with my daughter.
I am glad I went through it
Oh ya, my mil will go back to her own home today. Suddenly, I was left all alone to take care of Ashley. Alan still has his overseas project in China/Malaysia and is often flying off on Sunday nite and back only the following Friday nite. The feeling that I was the sole caregiver for my month-old baby was daunting, but at the same time, immensely satisfying. Finally, I can have my baby all to my own. I was very very tired, body aches everywhere, eyes so dry and gritty tt it hurts to keep them open. Despite all these, I never once thot of asking for help. I just want to treasure the time with Ashley and give the best care and attention to her.
I bathed her every morning, give her milk milk, change her diapers, wipe her poo-poo, sing/rock her to sleep… I was happy, although I always look forward to Friday nite when Alan will be back, so that I can share my experiences with him…
It’s really no joke to take care of a newborn alone, especially I had no prior experience. No time to bathe, go toilet, eat, sleep… everytime, Ashley cries, I would be there for her.
My daily routine would be:
6~6.30am : Ashley would wake up and need my attention…
7am : Give her milk milk.
7.30am : Bring Ashley out to buy breakfast.
8am : Give Ashley her bath.
8.30am : Put Ashley on the bouncer and have my breakfast. If she dun wan, then I’ll carry her and have my breakfast at the same time.
9.00am : Rock her to sleep in the sarong. While she’s sleeping, I would go wash up the plates, Ashley’s clothes and then rest awhile on the sofa.
10am : Ashley wakes up and needs my attention. Will give her milk milk.
10am – 12pm : Play with Ashley.
12pm : Bring Ashley to buy lunch.
12.30pm : Back home. Give Ashley milk milk.
1pm : Take my lunch. Again, if Ashley does not want to sit in bouncer, I will carry her.
1.30pm: Rock Ashley to sleep in the sarong. Will try to sleep abit too.
2.30pm: Ashley wakes up and needs my attention.
3.00pm: Give Ashley milk milk. Play with her.
4.30pm: Give Ashley a full body wipe and change her clothes.
5pm: Tingkat delivery for my dinner.
6pm: Give Ashley her milk milk. Play with Ashley
7pm: Sing to Ashley to make her sleep
7.30pm: Ashley is asleep and I go take my bath.
8pm: Eat my dinner, sterilize the day’s milk bottles, watch tv.
9.00pm: call alan on his mobile, talk a while.
9.30pm: Give Ashley milk milk, while she’s sleeping.
10pm: I go to bed.
12.30am: Ashley cries, give her milk milk
3am: Ashley cries, give her milk milk
6am: Another day begins…
The above was my daily routine, until Ashley turns 6th week. On 1dec, it was a Friday evening, for no reason, Ashley started crying n crying hysterically… I panicked, not sure what had happened, whether did I hurt her accidentally or wat…
Anyway, to cut the story short, she had COLIC… my worst nightmare.
From then on, everyday, from 5pm-7pm (worst case was until 8pm), Ashley would cry n cry n cry non-stop. I tried all ways, still couldn’t soothe her. In the initial days, I did get frustrated and once I shook her abit. And straight away, I felt SO SO GUILTY and WORRIED that I had hurt her. Kept checking the internet on the shaking baby syndrome and monitoring her for symptoms… fortunately, I was just being paranoid… she was fine, and after tt one time, I could no longer get frustrated with her. Instead, I juz carried her and keep stroking her back for 2hrs. I cried along with her, on days when her crying was especially sad.
Ashley's colic went away when she was about 10weeks' old, lasted abt 4weeks.
On hindsight, I think my experience for the whole of my 2nd month of maternity where I was alone with Ashley, made me a stronger and better person. I handled a lot of baby crises, including her colic, alone. And I think it also strengthened my bond with my daughter.
I am glad I went through it
1 comments:
Hi Jemy, having gone through the years with you as a friend, I can really sense that you have changed so much since the birth of Ashley. You have become so motherly, even more so than me who had more years of experience than you being a mother. I'm really happy to see that you are enjoying motherhood so much and wishing you many many wonderful years ahead with your little darling.
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