Ok, I'm a day late in wishing all peeps a Merry X'mas but that can't be helped. I was so busy yesterday. We had a mahjong session that ended late on X'mas eve where I was Santa Claus dispensing money and the next thing I knew when I woke up the next morning was that we have to rush to Desmond's grandma's place. It is apparently a tradition (for his parents) to be at his grandma's place on X'mas day and since little Alyssa and I are new to the family, we were expected to be there as well.
The visit started normal, we were told to help ourselves to the goodies they have prepared for X'mas (the crabs were HUGE and JUICY! Slurp!!!) and I even had half a glass of wine (I was very guilty about the wine though, since I'm breastfeeding and am really not supposed to consume any alcohol at all. Luckily nothing happened to Alyssa.) Excitement started when they decided to have a game of mahjong and I was part of it! Desmond sponsored the seed money and instructed me to be a not-too-generous Santa Claus, how good is that? :D
The game started really well, I had a game of 4 tai 'zi mou' which is enough money for me to lose for the rest of the game (the more tais you have when you complete the game, the more money you will win, and the same goes for 'zi mou' as well, which is to get the winning card on your own from the deck.) I had a couple of other small wins as well. I had some help of course. Desmond's brother Emmanuel makes quite a good mahjong adviser. It was a good arrangement until someone came and I had more than one adviser. It was Desmond's 'tua yi' ('tua yi' = big aunt = Desmond's mum's eldest sister)
She is the most classic of characters I've ever met. The second thing she did when she went into the room was to ask very loudly 'MARGARET, YOU WEAR HALF CUP IZZIT!' For a moment, I wondered if I was supposed to say 'no, it's just the breast shells' to the rest of the people at the mahjong desk. Then she started playing mahjong for me. She first loudly told me what cards to discard, then she went on to discard the cards for me without my consent. When we didn't heed her advice on the cards to discards, she made even more noise. When she wasn't dispensing advice on the cards to discard, she would be spewing vulgarities at her brother who was according to her, 'disturbing her'. I wasn't annoyed by her though her siblings were, but I wonder how anyone could be unaware of the effect she has on other people. I was glad nevertheless, when the game came to an end and we had to head to Desmond's friend's home for another X'mas gathering, after having the tua yi scream into my ears for almost half an hour or more.
The rest of X'mas was just, well, boring.
Until we went home and changed diapers for Alyssa. There is was, the best present Desmond and I received this X'mas: Alyssa's poo. She pooped!!! She didn't poop for the past one week and we were contemplating inserting the last glycine suppository to help her bowel today. Luckily she poop on her own and we didn't have to do the dirty work. We can also stop wondering for a moment if she is normal.
I went for a massage today with Desmond's mum. I received a mailer from Citibank where they have a promotion with Spa Infinity for Clear Platinum Card members - 33 bucks for a massage. My masseuse was nowhere near fantastic. She had strength for a hard massage, but it wasn't exactly comfortable. I think it's because her hands were too bony and it felt more like she was trying to poke me rather than massage me. Desmond's mum however, had quite a good masseuse who told her which areas of her were problematic and focused on helping her 'rectify' her problems. Damn, why didn't I have a masseuse like that? Furthermore, I was the one who paid for the massage. -_-" Nevertheless, I was tempted to get a package with Spa Infinity because they offer couple spa too. I thought I could go for massages with Desmond till I remembered that that husband of mine will most probably not appreciate such fine things of life and it will be a waste of my money to do so. I also came up with another plan: I could just go for massages only when I receive such promotions the next time. I could probably save more money this way than getting a package, and I get to try other spas as well, isn't this a great idea?!
I'm just getting smarter by the day :)
Note for mums:
wine: my Paediatrician actually told me to avoid alcohol if breastfeeding (for obvious reasons right, unless your baby cries too much at night and you want to knock your baby out with some alcohol). Alcohol, if added to food and well cooked is fine, but not when ingested directly. Of course, I disobeyed my Paediatrician but I don't think I'll try that again. It's really best to stick to this alcohol no-no advice to avoid any guilt you may face later on. If you really do have to drink, drink really slowly and take only half of the drink (that's my idea, not the Paediatrician's).
Breast shells: These breast shells saved my life! Mums-to-be, if intending to breastfeed, should get these breast shells. Breast shells keep the bras away from your boobs so that the bras will not stick to your boobs and aggravate the sore nipples. The only problem I faced initially with these breast shells was that it didn't ventilate very well (it wasn't the shell's fault, it was the bra because it was too thick) and water vapour from the skin tend to condense and collect in the shells, which makes the boobs a little soggy. So, other than the breast shells, get a nursing bra that ventilates well! (Definitely not the Moda bras from Mothercare, but I must admit they are very convenient bras to wear while nursing.) I'm using the Philips Avent breast shells now and they work fine. Each pack comes with a pair of breast shells (with holes for ventilation), a pair of breast shells without holes (to collect milk if you have too much dripping while feeding. Don't waste!), and a pad to be used with their pumps (Aren't they smart - get their breast shells, might as well get their breast pumps too!)
Baby didn't poop for the past week: The GP showed me a guide on the feeding and care of babies. It stated that it is NOT considered constipation even if the baby didn't poop for a week. That's just the way babies are - irregular bowel movement. This is fine for breastfed babies, in fact, it's a very common phenomenon (I've already heard of 2 babies who experienced this condition e.g. my aunt's grandson and Desmond's friend's newborn baby). The worst case of no-poo the paediatrician saw was a baby who didn't poop for 10 days!!! In such cases, the breastfed babies' poo will still be soft. They didn't poop simply because their bowel movements are too sluggish. However, if the baby is formula fed, more care should be given because there's possibility their poo gets too dry and hard and makes it very hard and painful for them to poop. Glycine suppository is normally given to help these babies. Duphalac will be given as well if these babies have hard poo. This is to soften their poo. Do give formula fed babies water, but that isn't really necessary for breastfed babies because breast milk is high in water content.
That's all the notes for today! :)
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