Rainbow Cake

...so after a couple of months of not blogging, the first post to break the drought is going to about a cake. A rainbow cake.

I decided to make one of these for Matthew's end of year/Christmas party tomorrow morning after seeing my friend Christine post a picture of the rainbow cake she made for her husband's birthday. It looked so pretty that I thought I've got to give that a go!

Hunting online produced this link from the tasty kitchen http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/rainbow-cake/  So pretty right???

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For the Cake...
I tried looking for White Cake packet mix but couldn't find it so I used a simple white cake recipe which I had handy. This make a nice dense buttery cake. The ingredients below is enough for 3 layers of the rainbow cake, so I whipped up two batches of batter to complete one cake (6 layers). I did it in two batches cos it was far easier for me to contain the mess in my small kitchen - you can whip up one batch of cake batter, just double the quantities below.

1 cup sugar
125g butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup milk

preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line and grease 3 round cake tins, either 7 or 8 inch round tins will yield a lovely result.

1) with an electric beater, beat the sugar and butter until nice and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time and stir in vanilla essence.
2) add the baking powder to the flour and combine with the wet mixture. Add in milk.
3) now that the batter is ready, divide the mixture in to 3 equal portions.
4) colour the batter purple, blue and green.
5) pour or spoon into the cake tins and bake for approx 20-25mins or until a cake skewer comes out clean.

Repeat steps to make the yellow, orange and red cake layers.

Once you are done with the baking you might need to trim the cake with a long serrated knife to ensure that each layer of the cake is nice and level. A small note about food colouring, the best type to use is the 'gel' form, you need a whole lot less which means no bitter taste in the batter in order to achieve the right colour.

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For the Frosting
a nice white frosting provides a nice contrast again all the lovely colours of the cake. For my cake I also decided to use cream cheese but with WAY less sugar (the tasty kitchen recipe calls for 5 cups of confectioner's sugar!!!) and I also like to add the juice of one lemon to make a lovely sweet lemon cheese frosting.

4 x 250g of Philedelphia Cream Cheese
1 1/2 - 2 cups of caster sugar
Juice of one lemon

Beat all the ingredients together until soft and fluffy.

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The assembly

This is the fun bit, spread frosting between each layer of cake, repeat until you've got frosting between all 6 layers. It's helpful to check that each layer is level before moving on the next otherwise you'll have the Leaning Tower of Pisa on your hands. Cover top and sides of the cake with more frosting then decorate some more :)

Tada!!! I had a lovely time making this cake for Matthew.

Maya 6 weeks old

Maya has not changed much in the last week. Still spending quite a lot of time awake compare to the 'norm' and she's still sleeping beautifully at night. We had the longest sleep out of her to date last night 5.5 hours followed by a nearly 4 hour sleep after that. Though sadly I didnt manage to capitalize from this as I was up doing chores then went to lay beside her expecting her to wake for a feed but ended up nodding off because I couldn't keep awake any longer!

She's got a cold and cough that Matthew had kindly infected us all with, but she's still nursing well and hasn't affected her much apart from being congested. Breastmilk is the best to help her get over her cold as it contains antibodies that my body has produced to fight off my cold.

Maya turning 6 weeks also means that its been a week since my mum left to head home to Sydney after spending 3 weeks with us to help. I'm so thankful to have had her around to help me out and Matthew missed his Poh Poh.

The last week managing Maya and Matthew solo has had both ups and downs. We've only had one bad day when Matthew refused to walk to the car, refused to get in the car and then refused to put his seat belt on and decided to throw the biggest tantrum in the car which of course set Maya crying too. Listening to two crying kids in car is very stressful! But what I have learned is that I can do the 20 metre dash to the car carrying 20kg of kids and bags all on my own. I can feed, bath and put both of them to bed too and did this twice last week on my own last week. I can (breast)feed one and spoon feed the other. I can put Maya in a sling and bath Matthew and still manage to stay relatively dry. I can pat one while singing 'itsy bitsy spider' complete with actions to the other. Oh and I still managed to cook every meal last week!

Just don't call me around 5pm, it's highly unlikely that I will answer :)

I have had to let some things slide like watching helplessly while Matthew wiped his snotty nose on the couch, finding a suspicious smelling puddle of 'water' in Matthew's room and finding Milo splattered on the wall (then wondering if it was poo or choc)

It's tiring, but fun.

Matthew is doing fantastically, he's not only talking lots and forming complex sentences but asking questions and 'debating' with us. You will have to have a chat with him to begin to grasp the leap in development that's happened in the past few weeks. Gone is my little baby boy.

For example we had a little play on words one Sunday morning,
Matthew: (eating a slice of toast)
Me: Matthew, can Mummy  have some toast?
Matthew: Yes, Mummy eat the toast.
Me: (pretending to munch on Matthew's toes)
Matthew: No Mummy! no toes, TOAST!!
Me: Yes Matthew, Mummy would like to eat toes.
Matthew: (thinking for a second before replying sternly) No, Mummy eat the bread, not toes.

He's mastered his alphabet and counting to ten and more complex shapes eg pentagon vs hexagon etc. Through learning phonics at school and at home, Matthew can remember the sound each letter makes and will often refer to the letter 'F' as the sound 'Fuh'. We are working on counting to twenty and beyond and especially love 'twoteen' (for twelve) and 'threeteen' (for thirteen). It tells us that he is thinking about the numbers and not simply memorizing. He knows how to spell his name and recognise his name when written. He also recognises the word 'Daddy', 'Mummy', 'Maya' and sadly also the word 'Loading' (as in an App is loading on the iPad). We are working on his writing skills and simple math next - I'm thinking (although I've been told it is quite ambitious) of teaching him simple fractions. 

Matthew is also picking up words and phrases in Mandarin which he will interchange with English in conversation sometimes. He surprise my Mum by saying 'Baby is sleeping' in Mandarin randomly one afternoon - I would have missed it if it werent for my Mum being there as I would not have understood him.

Thanks pretty much it for my Matthew and Maya brag for now :)

Maya 5 weeks old

take a look at how much difference a month can make.

The picture on the left was taken a couple of days ago (5kgs) and the one on the right when Maya was 5 days old (3.4kg).

Happy Children's Day!

Yesterday we were invited to attended Matthew's first school concert, it was a 'Wild Wild West' themed concert. All the kids look so very adorable in their outfits - as pint sized Mexicans, Red Indians and Cowboys. Matthew was dressed as a Sheriff and was wonderful on stage and we are very proud parents. We've got a couple of videos to post which I will do sometime soon on YouTube.

In the meantime, enjoy some of the pictures taken after Matty's concert.

Here he is seated next to his best friend Lynn.

Can you tell that we are very proud parents??

Hypnobirthing in review (Marie Mongan Method)

It's been a month since D-Day and I thought I'd do a post birth post about my birth experience using Hypnobirthing. I came across Hypnobirthing when I started researching methods by which I could achieve a natural birth that was drug free and hopefully pain free as well. I talked about doing it 'natural and drug free' with Matthew's birth but in hindsight I didn't do much aside from pre-natal yoga and acupuncture to prepare me for a drug free (albeit persistent posterior) birth. So this time round I was much more motivated to achieving this goal and knew exactly the type of birth experience I'd wanted for Maya. My research into natural child birth and water births also brought me in contact with one of the most (if not the most) recognized pro-natural/pro-choice obstetricians in Singapore - Dr Lai FM, Ginny Phang of Four Trimesters and the lovely staff at Mt Alvernia. Both Ginny and Dr Lai were present for the first water births in Mt. A and NUH (National University Hospital). To understand why I went to these lengths to locate Dr Lai and Ginny, you'll have to keep in mind that caesarean rates are presently more than a third of all births and episiotomies are practiced in nearly all natural births in Singapore. Finding pro-natural/pro-choice obstetric care in Singapore is a rarity and finding the right support and being able to trust that they will respect your decision and wishes is an important part of the process.

I decided to take Hypnobirthing (or Calmbirth as it is also known in Australia) classes after meeting Ginny who teaches classes and having a chat to her about the type of birth experience I'd wanted. Ginny had been recommended to me by Dr Lai who I'd been seeing for since I was 6 weeks pregnant. I'd seen her Tedx and birth videos on YouTube and was suitably convinced that a 'Hypno water birth' was exactly what I was after. Hypnobirthing seemed to take the most calm and gentle approach to child birth. Quite a lot of the literature and foundation of Hypnobirthing is intended to purge your mind of any fear associated with child birth. It is widely accepted that FEAR creates tension which then creates PAIN when thus creates more FEAR and the cycle continues... It works on premise that the birthing mum prepare for comfortable easy birth through self hypnosis, relaxation and visualization. It does however also state quite clearly that it does not promise a pain free birth rather, when a mother is deeply relaxed child birth need not necessarily be painful and have shorter labours.

How does this differ from the information dished out at antenatal classes run my midwives everywhere? well it does go beyond just telling the Mother to remember to breath through the contractions.  To get to this state of relaxation and to work on removing any lingering fear I may have had subconsciously I dutifully read my Hypnobirthing book, attended classes and spent weeks listening to two hypnobirthing recordings - birth 'affirmations' and 'rainbow relaxation' (from the Marie Mongan Institute). The affirmations track spoke of releasing/removing fear associated with child birth, looking forward to the birth of my baby, about birthing easily etc. The second track guided the listener through approximately 20 mins of breathing and self-relaxation for which I can only remember the first few minutes, the rest is blur. For some reason, without fail I'd fall asleep while listening and wake as soon as the track ended, apparently it's very common and is also a sign that at a conscious level I might have nodded off, my subconscious was still at work. I listened to the same two tracks most nights before bedtime as this is when the mind is supposed to be most receptive. 

Was my labour short and not necessarily painful? Yes, my labour was very very short. I don't think my labour could be considered truly precipitous (less than 3 hours from start of labour to birth) as I did have contractions which began the day before Maya was born but could not feel them so I'm not sure whether they count? As to child birth being pain free, some women speak of the surges (that's the other thing, contractions are called 'surges' in hypnobirthing) as being very intense but not painful, I'd like to call a spade a spade, yes, during birth I experienced pain especially during transition but it was manageable pain.

Was my birth fear free? Yes. Maya birth was approached with much excitement and anticipation and joy. I certainly felt confident and relaxed as D-Day approached. It was often commented by friends and family how relaxed and laid back both Duncan and I were about Maya's birth and how 'prepared' we were. But the reality was that the only preparation needed was to simply accept that birth is a natural and a beautiful miracle rather than a medical event. We often talked (and I visualised) about how easy the birth was going to be, little did I know at the time that Maya would literally pop out. The only time fear or worry crept into my mind was when we had to decide when and whether to head to the hospital. I did not want Maya born somewhere between the apartment and the hospital. 

Did it work for me? Well I think my birth experience with Maya speaks for itself. For the most part, for the parts which I was able to labour on my own and put into practice the weeks and weeks of breathing and relaxation conditioning I was perfectly comfortable. It was hard to maintain relaxation and focus while moving around from the apartment to the car to the hospital, in hindsight we should have probably head to the hospital a tad earlier or had Maya at home.

Is birthing easy? Yes, the way nature intended it to be, intervention free and drug free. I do acknowledge that in some cases medical intervention is required, but this does not mean that birthing is not easy and the birthing experience need be a negative one because of it. Matthew's birth is a perfect example of this, quite different from Maya's (synthetic oxytocin/pitocin, epidural and episiotomy) but a wonderful cherished experience nonetheless. The best part about an easy natural birth is a quick recovery and being able to bond immediately with Maya and the benefits of skin to skin is well documented. I was up and about within hours and discharged from the hospital the next day. By the 3rd day I was out grocery shopping with Maya.

Would I use hypnobirthing again? Yes. Although I must give credit to the support of Dr Lai and Ginny in helping me carry out my birth plan. Besides feeling confident and relaxed about birthing, the added side effect I've found from using the relaxation tracks is that falling asleep after Maya's nocturnal feeds is much quicker and the end result is a much more relaxed and less sleep deprived mother during the day!

Maya's first month

Wow, wasn't that quick? Can't believe she'll be a month old tomorrow. She's settling well into life with us and we love her more each day if that's at all possible. To celebrate her first month we held a small gathering at our place, with all the yummy food catered by my Mum, including red eggs (hen eggs dyed red) which symbolizes harmony and fertility. Pictures have been posted on my Picasa album.

Awee she's just gorgeous and so lovely to photograph!

She's growing very quickly too, like all healthy babies her age, going through rapid growth in both physical and mental development. She no longer has skinny chicken legs but is filling out nicely. She also feels much heavier, I won't know how much exactly until her 6 week health check. At tummy time she can lift her head and turn from side to side. She loves to look at the light out the window and watch the flashing lights under her play gym. She's also starting to bat and kick the rattles that dangle from it. She's still rolling up on her side so we have to keep a close eye on her. Over the past week she's broken out in little spots all over her head, face and neck but it looks to be starting to clear up. I've put together a short photo compilation of Maya first month which can be view on my YouTube channel or by clicking here

I forgot to mention that Maya started smiling back at us a couple of weeks ago, real smiles and not the ones brought on involuntarily in newborns by gas/wind ;)

Matthew is starting to get used to the idea of having Maya around. There's been a dramatic and positive change in his behaviour in the past few days. He's been giving Maya plenty of kisses and cuddles without prompting or suggestion from us. He's VERY polite, sweet and affectionate towards everyone including his friends at school. His teachers are suitably impressed and so are we. He's also showing concern over people's feelings eg. asking his Poh Poh 'are you happy Poh Poh?'

On other news, we've booked flights home to Sydney on the 22nd of Oct for 3 weeks and we are all very excited about the prospect of seeing family and friends and showing off our new addition. Maya looks incredibly cute in her new passport photo and Matthew is new a frequent flyer member.

Maya's first couple of weeks

So Maya's now 2 weeks and a day old.

Maya as you would expect from any newborn SHOULD sleep a lot all the time... But she doesn't. She does sleep very well just not a lot during the day. Fortunately for us she sleeps BEAUTIFULLY at night, waking 3 hourly almost like clockwork (touch wood!!) at moment to feed and fall back asleep. We've even had a 4 hour sleep between feed which is very encouraging! I'm co-sleeping with her at the moment and because of this I'm getting anywhere between 6 to 9 hours broken sleep a night, which leaves me quite refreshed most days. A couple of days after birth, Maya worked out the whole day and night all on her own.

What we've learnt about living with Maya so far... Well, she doesnt behave like your typical newborn. She has strong arms and legs and has been able to roll on her side since birth. I watched her do this after a feed while still in hospital when she was half a day old. At 3 days old she nearly wriggled herself off the couch. 2 days ago Duncan decided to give her some time on her tummy and to all our surprise, my Mum, Dunc and I watched as she tucked on knee under herself and inched forward. I'm by no means claiming that Maya is crawling but she can get up on her knees. Her vision is still fuzzy but she certainly know's her Mum's voice and her brother's. Did I mention how beautiful she is? She poops a lot and has showered me (and the wall) with yellow breastfed baby poop. She also chucks a little after a feed which I'm not used to as I never experienced this with Matthew. Speaking of feeds, she's another efficient feeder and as a little breastfeeding team we can get this done with a nappy change included in under 30 mins ;)... Oh yes, with all that mummy milk, she's getting chunky. She is demand fed, which means she gets boob whenever she wants it and during the day she wants it lots.

Here is a preview of some of Maya's stunning professional photo shots;

One of my favourites!

Life with a newborn and a toddler certainly has it's challenges, luckily for me I've not yet been tested. By this I mean, I've not been left to do the school drop/pickups, mealtimes, bath time and bedtime solo yet. Duncan took 3 weeks leave to spend time with us and my Mum arrived from Sydney a few days ago to help for the next 3 weeks so I'm pretty much covered until mid October. Then I'm sure I will be maintaining blog silence for a bit ...

Out of the 4 of us, Matthew has been hardest hit by the change in family dynamics, being extra difficult and pushing the boundaries whenever he feels the need. 'No' and 'I dont want it' is heard multiple times during the day. He has also been showing his frustration at school, by being rougher and whiny than usual. On a positive note, he is always very gentle and careful with Maya. He did get jealous of Maya breastfeeding once and tried to stop her. I'm not certain whether it was the act of feeding which upset him or not being able to have access to Mum whenever he feels like it. As with all of the little hurdles we've experienced with Matthew, like his biting which he no longer does, I'm sure it will pass. However negotiating the emotional mine field of a 2 year old is new and very foreign to us, and both Duncan and I are doing the best we can to tread through this part of our parenting journey.

Maya's Birth Story

This is the birth story of our daughter Maya Elizabeth Bradey, our beautiful bundle of loveliness and little sister to Matthew. She's a standout especially compared to all the Singaporean black bushy haired babies. Maya is pink skinned with blonde fuzzy peach hair all over and barely there fluffy brown hair on top.

Her birth was super fast,  Duncan and I still can't believe it went so quickly. The day before (Mon 5/9) I had an OB appointment with Dr Lai FM and an exam showed that my cervix was nice and soft and 2.5cm dilated. Essentially ripe for birth very soon, both Duncan and I had discussed over the previous days that we would agree to a sweep of the membranes as a natural form of induction if the conditions were favorable, which they were (Bishop Score 7) After Dr Lai did a quick sweep I was sent to have CTG monitoring at his clinic. Over breakfast and a paper, the CTG result showed that I was experiencing contractions or surges 9-10 mins apart 90 sec duration, Dr Lai's last words as we leave is 'I'll probably see you soon'. As I  couldn't feel any surges, Dunc headed to work and I went on my day doing grocery shopping, picked Matty up from school, did laundry, dishes and what not. Dunc took the afternoon off work to make sure that if anything did happen he would be near.

At 6am the day Maya was born (6/9) I woke up feeling mild surges 3-4 mins apart 50 sec duration. Even though they were close they were not intense so I didnt think much of it. I went and had a shower and got ready but didn't wake Dunc to tell him till 710am that I was in pre-labour. Dunc tells me I should ring Ginny my doula to let her know. I'd hesitated ringing as the surges were not uncomfortable, but in hindsight I'm glad I made the call. I rang Ginny to update her as to what was happening at 712am but told her they were not intense, she asked if I could keep her updated as to what we would like to do next. At this stage I could still chat on the phone and even got on Skype to wish my sister a happy birthday thinking that it was the 7/9 :). While leaving a message to my sister, the surges suddenly got more intense so I tell Dunc to get the car packed and Matty ready to head to the hospital. Thankfully I'd called Ginny as at 737am I receive a text message from her saying that she'd rung ahead and called the hospital to reserve birthing suite 1 for me, knowing my desire to birth in the water, suite 1 is the only room in the hospital with a birthing tub - but it was in use. We decide to leave for the hospital anyway and by the time we head out the door it is nearly 800am. On the way out while waiting for the lift, I have a really strong surge and the two people already inside the lift hold the doors open for me long enough for my surge to end before stepping in.  Needless to say it's an awkward lift ride to the basement carpark.

The car ride to the hospital is uncomfortable to begin with, but I  after a couple more intense surges i realise that if i made a conscious effort to put into practice the hours and hours of hypnobirthing conditioning I'd put in to prepare for this day the surges were far more bareable. Dunc later tells me that he could see that I appeared to be in less pain and discomfort as I slipped quietly into a state of relaxation. We arrive at the hospital at 815am but the valet parking service isn't available till 830am so Dunc drops me off while I wait with the security guy in a wheelchair so that he can park the car and get the bags and Matthew out. Neither of us at this stage had any idea how close we were to Maya's arrival and I continue to labor in my state of relaxation, oblivious to my surrounding and strangely incapable of speech. Security guy wheels me up to the Maternity ward while Dunc carries Matthew and the hospital bags. Because Ginny had rung in advance, they were able to anticipate our arrival and we skip past the ward reception and park the 3 of us and our numerous bags at the lounges outside suite 1, which fortunately by this time is vacant and being prepped. We'd packed for the labor suite, one for my hospital stay, one full of snacks, one full of diapers and wipes & change of clothes including swimmers for the birth tub for Duncan and Matthew - my intention had always been to birth Maya in the water.  I tell Dunc to pass my iPod to me so I can listen to my relaxation tracks when Ginny arrives. Dunc holds my hand while I experience 2 more strong surges, Ginny reminds me to breathe. I recall thinking to myself that the lounges look more comfy than the wheel chair i'm sat in and wonder if I any one would mind if i continue laboring on all fours on the lounge instead. The surges are now at it's peak intensity as I continue to labor quietly. At 830am, Dunc wheels me in and somehow manages to settle Matthew into a chair in the corner of the room and I think someone lends Dunc a hand with all our baggage. Ginny starts preparing the bath immediately (she later tells me that she had the taps on full and by the time Maya us born the tub is only a quarter filled) and comes back to massage my back. Ginny then asks if after the next surge whether I can get on the bed so that the midwives can conduct the routine admission monitoring, she gets my bottoms off and I crawl up on the bed on all fours. The first thing I remember doing is sinking down on the pillows to try to ease off the intensity on my cervix but instead I feel this enormous pressure to bare down and my waters break all over the freshly made bed. I hear someone say 'her waters just broke' and the next thing I feel is Maya's head descending. The next thing I hear is Duncan's voice saying ...'the baby is crowning'

Ginny later tells me that there was no warning, there was no bulging that typically tells her that the head is descending. The midwife and Ginny ask if I can turn on my side, and all 3 (with by now stunned little Matthew observing) help me to my side. With the next surge, the top of her head emerges then the rest of her head, the midwife tells me not to push and to breathe and I managed to reply 'not pushing' (in Hypnobirthing there is no need to push rather you rely on you own body's natural expulsive reflex) I had my eyes squeezed shut without realizing so, while holding on to Ginny's hand, for me Maya's birth seemed to be like one long very intense surge and her whole body was out. Maya is passed to me for immediate skin to skin contact so that bonding can continue. I hold her for the next couple of hours during which time Dunc excitedly makes calls to family back home in Australia, I attempt to breastfeed and Matthew who took a little while to get over the shock of the birth is introduced formally to his new Baby Sister.

Dr Lai arrived 25 mins after birth to cut the cord, complete the 3rd stage and stitch my tear which I'm told is smooth and will heal quickly. I have no idea how many stitches I needed only that the entire process took longer than the delivery.

I finally agree to let go of Maya long enough for her to be weighed and measured some 2 hours later. She weighed 3.4kg, 50cm in length with a head circumference of 34cm - just perfect.

Due to Maya's speedy and uncomplicated delivery I was up and about within a couple of hours after birth and with our doctor's clearance we were both discharge from hospital the very next day.

Follow-up post available here 

Today is D-Day

Delivery Day has been very anti-climactic. I slept in till after 8am. Played with play-doh with the first born as he insisted on it. Fed him Corn Flakes and Milo, then 2 bowls of cherries for breakfast. Dad took over play duties so I could amuse myself cleaning in the kitchen. Then I made some lunch for the 3 of us and then the first born and I took a nap. That thus far is 'D-Day'.

I keep thinking that if I had a sleep and rest, I will eventually wake with labour contractions, as this is how Matthew's birth began. Sadly all the sleeping that I'm doing doesn't seem to be working but I'm very well rested!

At our last OB appointment during the week we were told that Baby M was fully engaged (as in there was no where else for her to go). I still have my finger's crossed that something might happen overnight!

39 weeks + 6 days pregnant

39 weeks+.... apparently only 6 days to go

I'm getting a little skeptical that this baby will come before her due date like my OB has predicted. We had another quick visit last week and Baby M is still 1/5th engaged (or 4/5th in my pelvis already). Same position she's been in for the last 2 weeks. My friends tell me that she must be very clever as she's waiting for her Mum to get over her cough and runny nose and for her Dad to finish up at work. The good news is that my cough is nearly gone and tomorrow is a public holiday here in Singapore so it would be an excellent time to come out and meet us sometime on Wed.

I don't have that 'sick of being pregnant' feeling, just bittersweet that this may be my last pregnancy and I'm trying to enjoy feeling the kicks and squirms while I still can.  On the other hand there has been so many babies born recently that I'm getting very very jealous of waiting for my turn. I've had wonderful news from a friend of mine in Brisbane who'd I'd only chatted to as recently as last Friday night, that she had her baby girl Olivia Neve today. She and I have been on this pregnancy journey together from the moment we discovered that we were pregnant (around 3-4 weeks along) at Christmas time last year, so the birth of her baby is particularly special.

Here we are sharing a funny moment in front of the camera on the computer.

Matthew's doing really well and continues to amaze us with his Mandarin speaking skills. He knows his colours and basic phrases in Mandarin. I've had to learn random phrases like 'liú bí tì' (my nose is running) and colours like blue 'Lan Se',  red 'Hong Se', yellow 'Huang Se' and orange 'Ju Huang Se' in Mandarin just so that I can keep up with him. The downside of having a bilingual toddler is that instead of having 'No' yelled at you just in English, I get it in Mandarin too 'Pu yǒu!' - together we are teaching Duncan how to speak Mandarin ;)

Day off school

Matthew and I both have a nasty chesty cough so we've quarantined ourselves once again.

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to in our spare time, as you might be able to notice, he doesnt appear to be all that sick.

Where's 'The Matthew'? (38 week belly shot)

Oh there he is!!

less 3 weeks to go...

I'm still feeling pretty relaxed, though in the last couple of days a little bit of a tickle in the throat has turned into a chesty cough. I'm sure it'll clear up soon but it has made my practice of daily relaxations more difficult. It does however help me practice being able to slip into a state of relaxation in less then conducive situations eg. in a hospital birthing suite situation with nurses and doctors coming and going.

We had a doctors appointment yesterday afternoon and took Matthew along for the first time. I'd prepared a great big tub of baby carrots and another of blueberries in anticipation of needing distractions. Matthew was really well behaved and sat quietly on Duncan's lap while my Dr did the usual checks and scans. He wasnt particularly interested in the black and white ultrasound images, nor did he saw any signs of worry when I hopped up on the bed. He simply sat quietly and watched.

Doctor appointment was super quick and unremarkable. There are no scan pictures this time as Baby M's head is so very low and engaged already that it was impossible to get a 3D picture of her. She's ready and I'm ready so it's very likely that I won't make it to my due date according to my doctor. Doctors notations on my admission letter to the hospital are:

Antenatally: uncomplicated, kiv waterbirth and physiological 3rd stage, (EFW 3.2 - 3.4kg), ROA, No CRN

Let me translate - keep in view that I've requested for a waterbirth and requested for a natural delivery of the placenta. Estimated fetal weight is between 3.2 to 3.4 kg. Baby is currently 'Right Occiput Anterior' which means that she is head down with her spine curved along my right side, kicks can be felt under my left ribs and punches can be felt above my left pelvis - I've become quite the expert in figuring out what position baby is laying in. No CRN means that there is no cord around the neck.

Some of the other things we have decided to do differently this time is to request for delayed cord clamping and for Baby to be 'roomed-in' which means that she will stay in my room for the duration of my 2 day hospital stay rather than taken to the nursery.

My next visit to the doctors is on Tuesday. Will keep everyone posted.

Happy Birthday Mr President!

Hah... I just found out that President Obama and I share the same birthday.

I had both my doula and her trainee doula popped by last night and we did a run through of a unplanned home birth scenario. Duncan now knows all the important things to do if Baby M were to arrive so quickly that there left no time to get to the hospital. It seems that Duncan's main task is to 'catch the baby' and to make sure I don't birth on the loo! There's no running around boiling water or wiping sweat off my brow it seems. We were also rest assured that it's ok if baby is a little blue initially as she will pink up within seconds and given a brief description on how to hold the baby face down under the chin and rub her back to gently encourage her to take breath and cry. Oh yes, and for me to lay down after given birth so I don't pass out. Pretty straight forward (I took notes during our chat)... home birth anyone??

Duncan and I must give off a 'we are very relaxed about the birth' vibe because it's the 2nd time now she's brought up the subject of a home birth. My OB and Doula do attend home births. But we need to decide early-ish whether we are going to head to the hospital or have the baby in the lounge room. Just not somewhere in between like in the car on the expressway or the lift When I laughed, my doula mistook my amusement for disbelief, but I assured her I knew full well that that sometimes can happen as my Mum had two precipitous births (less than 3 hours from first contraction). My sister arrived in under an hour and was almost born in a taxi as Mum tells the story and I took two and a bit hours. This also not the first time it's been suggested to me that Baby M my come quickly. I guess I will find out soon enough if this will be the case. Only 30 more days to go.

5 weeks to go!

We've had such a great week this week. My sister Kim passed through Singapore (en route between London and Paris) for the 2nd time this month and it's just been really good to catch up and for Matthew to spend time with his Tai Yee Mah (translates roughly to 'Eldest Auntie' in Cantonese). We took a trip to the Night Safari, a first for Matthew and the next day he had the morning off school so we could head back to the Singapore Art Museum again to see the Art Garden exhibit which he loved just as much the second time around. The next time I see Kim will be in October when we return home to Sydney with Baby M.

Matthew has fully recovered from NOT having HFMD. I took him to his paediatrician for his 2 year health and developmental check and the doctor was also unconvinced that Matthew had HFMD. His paed. didnt have any concerns about Matthew's health. However we couldn't do any of the developmental checks as Matthew amusingly refused to answer any of the doctors questions. Amusing for me as normally, Matthew does not stop talking, he's either parroting what I say or babbling away in a mixture of English words, Mandarin words and toddler talk. He flat out refused to answer when shown a picture of a car and was asked to name the object, likewise when shown a picture of some cats. At the end I had to step in and tell his doctor that I had no concerns about his speech and cognitive skills and confirm that Matthew does indeed speak!

In fact Matthew has been singing a whole lot more these days, with lots of songs in his repertoire, some of my favourite being 'Sing and Hum, Bumble Bee' (available on YouTube), 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', 'Oh Mr Sun' and 'I Love You' (from Barney). As I'm blogging this, I can hear Matthew singing 'The Wheels on the Bus' with Duncan in the bath! Counting to ten and his reciting the alphabet is a bit hit and miss, he recognises some letters and most numbers but will still sometimes get them wrong. He's excellent with colours and shapes and is definitely not colour blind like his maternal grandfather.

Pregnancy is going well, I feel huge even though the scales and the estimated size of the baby says otherwise. I'm still tracking a good couple of kilos less than I was with Matthew's pregnancy and Baby M is predicted to be an average sized baby. Everyone tells me should be pleased about this as birthing should be a breeze this time round... wouldn't that would be nice!

less than 7 weeks to go....

Wow, D-Day is drawing near! That's 'delivery day' not 'dooms day' - just to clarify. We can't wait to meet her, of course I've bought a few more dresses in preparation for her arrival.

Here is a 3D picture of Baby M taken last Wed.

she looks like she's smiling!

That afternoon when I arrived at school to pick Matthew up, I was told by his teacher that they had to send a child home that because of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD), by Thursday morning there had been 2 children. Both of these kids were from Matthew's class. We've been keeping a very close eye on Matthew over the weekend had thought that Matthew had escaped being infected by his classmates but unfortunately Matthew had a restless night sleep on Sat with a very mild temperature and on Sun a single nasty looking blister/ulcer formed on his tongue. We took Matthew to see a doctor yesterday but because his symptoms were so mild that a clear diagnosis that it was HFMD was not possible and were asked to return again this morning for a further review.  When we spoke to his teacher over the phone yesterday afternoon the number of confirmed cases had climbed to 7. When we took Matthew back to see his doctor today he was already feeling much better with no further symptoms hence, Matthew's medical certificate officially states that 'there is no clinical evidence of HFMD' and has been cleared to return to school. Although he's feeling much better, we highly suspect that he has or had HFMD and the ulcer on his tongue clearly causes him pain when he's eating and as responsible parents, we are keeping him home for another day or so at least.

It's been a while since I've had to manage a grumpy 2 year old all day on my own and he's making me work hard. So far today he's thrown a ice popsicle at me and blueberries and grapes on the floor, then asked for biscuits. When I asked him 'how many? one? two?' his reply was 'seven'. When I said 'seven?! that's too many.' he replied wishfully 'eight?'

I'm waiting to see what tomorrow brings...

Art Garden Exhibition 2011@Singapore Art Museum

For those of you who have been reading my blog might remember that this time last year I took Matthew to a wonderful exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum called Art Garden. This year's exhibit is no less interesting and fun for kids and those young at heart! It's just a great way to spend a couple of hours with your little one and watch their little face light up with glee.

Here are some pictures from our visit, the full set is posted on picasa Matthew 25-26 Months

Posing with Walter the rabbit, you may remember him from last year's exhibit! You can actually buy your own inflatable Walter from the SAM shop.

Ticket for entry are $10 for adults and $5 for children aged 6 years and above. A real bargain compared to the ArtScience Museum. Museum tickets also entitle the holder to discounts at the cafes and shops on the premises.

Matthew stopped short when he walked into the first room, he was in awe and went really really quiet trying to take it all in.

Matthew "I like choo choo train"

Fruit made out of paper, with each paying adult ticket, you can trade this in for a cut out template for making paper fruit. Once completed you can trade your paper fruit for a real one :)

Matthew and Dad hard at work making a paper apple and banana.

Eventually Matthew (and I) got a bit distracted and started drawing on the papier mache trees... which you were encouraged to.

Less than 9 weeks to go...

It's been an uneventful week for me with the usual pre-baby things to get done like a hair cut and a trip to the Dentist. I was actually told by my dentist to NOT brush my teeth as often - irritatingly, I love brushing my teeth. On the other hand the past week has been an extremely busy one for Duncan. We've resorted to catching up over a coffee and pastry in the morning just so we can have time together. Sadly I've had to go so far as to stipulate that with coffee I expect conversation to take place at the same time and for Duncan not to be multitasking during this time and take conference calls on his Blackberry while we are out!

I've been finding this pregnancy harder than the previous, the difference has to do with the fact that I no longer have a sedentary desk job and have been far more active daily. Spending 1-2 hours on my feet going about my morning routine negates the need to hit the gym 5 days a week like the last time!  Bearing in mind this time round I also have a 14+ kg toddler to assist me with my weight bearing training. The Singapore heat and humidity doesnt bother me much as I dont generally step outdoors unless it's absolutely necessary. Baby belly also feels much larger now than it did 3 weeks ago at my last OB visit. We shall see how much of the additional girth is me and how much of it can be attributed to our Baby Girl.  I'm still working on my preparation for my drug free, calm and comfortable natural birth both at home and at classes, all is going well if the desired effect of listening to the relaxation CD is falling asleep. I've checked with my doula Ginny and she tells me it very normal. I've listened to the CD about 10 times, by the 2nd track, I'm asleep. I've yet to listen to the whole thing in it's entirety. Duncan jokingly said to me that at the rate I'm going I may sleep through the birth ... somehow I doubt that. Looks like we will have not one but 2 doulas present at the birth, in addition to Ginny, a trainee doula will be there to observe. This is of course in addition to a secondary doula, Catherine, on standby (24 hours a day, 3 weeks prior to by estimated due date). I didn't say no to an extra pair of hands as I think it will come in handy toddler handling during birthing.

Matthew's been doing really well. I think he might have clued on that there's a baby on the way. We can also close the chapter on big bed transition. He loves his new bed and the new furniture, and stickers and art on the walls in his room and it's been a breeze for him to fall asleep on his own. The hard part is keeping his bed covers on overnight as he moves around so much when he sleeps! (he still enjoys a bit of a chat and a lullaby with me before bedtime, but that's OK as I love our time together before bed).

Matthew's Auntie Kim (my sister) is arriving this Sat and will be staying with us for a few days. We are very excited to have her come and visit. There'll be 3 people to share Durian with! She'll also be logging many babysitting hours while she is here ... I think I've briefly mentioned that to her ;)

10 weeks to go

Big bed transition is going really well with the exception of last night where he called out 'Mummy!' in the wee hours of the morning. I walked bleary eyed into his room expecting to see a little body curled up in his bed but couldnt see anything and wondered for a second where he could be. Then I spotted him. Laying face down on his playmat, he'd rolled off his bed on to the mattress on his trundle and ended up on the floor on his mat. I was really lucky not to have stepped on him. The next words out of his mouth was 'mummy, hurt the knee' so obviously he'd taken a little knock somewhere on his cascade down off his bed. After a quick kiss on the knee, as I always do with all his 'owwies' he went straight to sleep again on his bed. Too lazy to go back to my own room and besides it was much cooler in Matthew's room last night I fell asleep on his trundle. Sometime in the early morning, I had no idea what time it was but it was getting light outside, Matthew fell off his bed again and this time on me. Not sure if it was accidental or deliberate, as after a week of sleeping beautifully on his bed and not falling out once, he'd fallen out not once but twice in the one night. Anyway we'll see how it goes.

The other funny thing about no longer being confined to his cot is finding Matthew waddling down the hallway still in his sleep bag on Saturday morning looking for us. Again, we were alert with a curious sounding 'Mummy?'. It was 8:30am by this time and both Duncan and I had slept in (Yes, I know how lucky we are to have a child who likes to sleep in occasionally).

He's still extremely chatty with me at bedtime though and continues to talks non-stop. 'Mummy sleep here' patting the space he's left for me on his pillow or 'Matthew loves Mummy'... the child knows exactly what he's doing. Duncan finds our conversations hilarious. It takes Duncan no more than 5 mins to get Matthew settled into bed compare to my 30mins, sometimes an hour.

Fun stuff we did on the weekend was go to the Art Science Museum again on Saturday to see the Salvador Dali and Van Gogh exhibition. Duncan and I enjoyed the Dali, whereas Matthew enjoyed the Van Gogh. It was more of a visual biography of Van Gogh through the use of projectors rather than a display of his actual works. Matthew enjoyed walking through the installation of images projected on the walls and floor and listening to the music and sounds of the period.

Outside the Dali exhibit

Matthew staring at the lifts at the Art Science Museum (the Lotus inspired building in the Marina Bay area)

Baby stuff is getting there, after the enormous furniture move last weekend, I set about getting on with the task of sorting out Matthew's old baby clothes and linen. Sorting out what to wash, what to store away again  for later, what to throw out and what to give away. Still a couple of loads of washing to be done but not much else to do really. We really are exceptionally prepared this time round. The next job is to make sure I have all the bits and pieces for sterilising breast pumps and bottles ready. Hopefully like with Matthew who was a hearty little feeder who latch on like a champ immediately after birth we wont have to mess around with bottles.

Birth preparation is also underway. I met with my doula, Ginny during the week. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a doula is someone who helps provide support to the birthing mother during childbirth. During my meeting with Ginny, I also met a newborn girl who had been birthed 5 days earlier in the water in her backyard surrounded by her 4 siblings, talk about inspirational! Ginny came upon recommendation from my OB some weeks ago and after much consideration and discussion with Duncan having a doula made a lot of sense to us. Depending on the time of day I go into labour we would very much like to have Matthew with us when we welcome our new baby into our family. In preparing for this and knowing that Duncan may have his attention divided between Matthew and I, enlisting the services of a doula was a perfect solution for this situation. My OB, Ginny and the hospital all have experience with children in the birthing suite, and all three were specifically selected so I could have a drug-free waterbirth here in Singapore.