A Woman Confined: Day 28

Today is the last day of my confinement period. It's hard to believe that 4 weeks has gone by just like that. Yes, it was 4 weeks to this day that Mia came out to this world... screaming (both Mia and her mama!).

With Teresa as my driver, I went to Warisan Square specifically to order cake at Secret Recipe that Fred and I forgot to do yesterday.

The traffic in KK was horrible and there were traffic police to divert traffic at the roundabout in between CentrePoint, Warisan Square & the Waterfront therefore, we had to go all the way to the traffic light near Segama then make a turn back into Warisan Square.

What I wanted was the baby Looney Tunes cake - just tweety bird to be exact.Upon reaching the restaurant, I was so disappointed that they only do Ben 10 cakes now. WHAT?!!! It was only a couple of months or so ago that I took a brochure from them and they DID offer baby Looney Tunes and Power Puff girls cakes as well.

My daughter already looks like a boy, I can't get her a "boy" cake as well. I didn't order any cake there and decided to just walk in on 22nd & 25th December and buy any cake for Mia. Oh, did I mention - there are 2 sets of celebration for Mia's full moon.

After lunch and ice-cream, Teresa and I walked into Times Bookstore for a browse and I ended up buying:

A Woman Confined: Day 27

Just 1 more day of confinement! Yay!

I got permission to go out today (again) to go shopping for Mia with husband. The plan was:
1) Go to Kids Avenue (get a stroller etc)
2) Go to Mothercare (buy baby carrier)
3) Go order cake (@ Secret Recipe)
4) Go to church

Well, we went to Kids Avenue and bought:

The Cybex Topaz stroller

Then we went to Mothercare and bought:

A 3-way baby carrier

It was coming to 3.00pm so we hurried home to get ready for church.which starts at 4.00pm. Happy were we to make it home with all our goods and then I realised, oh crap! We forgot to order the cake. Guess it'll have to be done tomorrow.

A Woman Confined: Day 26

For Christmas this year, my husband and I agreed that we'd share a Christmas present from/to each other....

However, when he came home from a meeting in KL, he surprised me with another Christmas present. Gold. Yeah right! Gold is a gift for Mia from his colleague:

A gold buffalo.

I got a different kind of gold. 3 pieces of gold:

Sweet! The husband and the chocolate!

That and the December 2009 issues of my most favoured local magazines: Female & The Malaysian Women's Weekly

A Woman Confined: Day 25

Avie & Mia... together at last!

Ever since finding out I was pregnant, my niece Avie has been wanting to take care of my baby. Today, she finally gets her wish.

A Woman Confined: Day 24

My second attempt at making my boy-like daughter look more girly-girl.

A Woman Confined: Day 23

Our baby loves to smile and play these days. Here she is early this morning at around 7am after her feeding:

A Woman Confined: Day 22

Daddy's away, so it's just mummy and baby having fun today before bedtime.


Amy managed to wiggle her way out of her snug towel sometime during the night. She really doesn't like to have her arms and legs "trapped".

A Woman Confined: Day 21

Our poor Mia had to endure 2 hours of no electricity at home (6.30pm - 8.30pm) today.

She's so used to being in air-conditioned room (oh yes, our latest electricity bill has thus more than doubled this month). Even with all the doors and windows opened, she was still restless.

It the end, we let her lie down closer to the floor for it was cooler with our tiled floor - 1 person holding her cu-cut (pacifier) to her mouth, 1 person to fan her, and 1 person to rock her. What a princess... After 1 hour, she finally fell asleep. But we still had to continue fanning her.

A Woman Confined: Day 20

Finally, the umbilical cord has totally dried and dropped off!


My first attempt at making my boy-like daughter look more girly-girl. I don't think Mia was very impressed!

A Woman Confined: Day 19

Another lazy Saturday. Husband spent most of the day out of the house running errands.

Mia and I decided to just hang loose... until I got bored and took pictures of her feet!

As part of my spring cleaning project, I decided to clear out my e-mail clutter and came upon these pictures sent by a very dear old friend of mine.

Identity theft, password theft, privacy could be a thing of the past by going back to basics in innovative protection techniques.... plus you'll be able to save quite a lot on heating costs!

1) Others can't see what those fingers are crunching.... but hey, it'll appear on screen.


2) To improvise on the screen covers seen at ATM machines may be an idea.

3) If your budget and vanity is not of an issue, try the ultimate protection:

A Woman Confined: Day 18

A Night of Firsts


The first night that it's just the 3 of us.

The first time that daddy feeds his very first baby.

A Woman Confined: Day 17

Chins! Alamak...

Positioning Mia for burping after her feed.

OK. Burped!

Now she's comfy.

A Woman Confined: Day 16

We had visitors!

It's so great to have our Church council members from BCCM (E) Kolombong visit us tonight. Thanks so much to sister Lillian Tan for making the arrangements (and the gifts; they're so cute & yummylicious! Thanks BCCM (E) Kolombong).

Rev. Chong & Amy

Kevin, Evelyn & Amy (you can do it Evelyn!)

Kevin & Amy, Evelyn (Natural father in the making... hehehe)

Gosh, little Amy aside, I'm the shortest one in our Church group!

From BCCM (E) Kolombong

From Nicholas/Peter (Pamelo. Internet pic.... yet to take pic of the actual one!)

PS. I cheated 2nite and washed my hair!

Mia's feeding 2nite:
7.30pm: 2.5 oz
9.15pm: 2.5 oz
12.30am: 3 oz
2.30am: 2.5 oz
4.30am: 2.5 oz
5.45am: 2 0z (unexpected wake up call! Thank you Fred for holding her while I prep her milk)
7.15am: 2.5 oz

Aside from the 5.45 am "wake up call"... the nite was a breeze. She didn't wail. Somehow from 12.30am, I manage to automatically wake up and prep her milk when she just starts her "engine". After each feeding, burping and putting her to sleep was easy. Hope she'll be just as good tomorrow nite :* And yes, when baby sleeps, mummy got to sleep too!

A Woman Confined: Day 15

Tonight is the first night that Mia is sleeping in our bedroom as cPG does not stay overnight from here onwards.

When cPG left around 6.45pm, Mia was sound asleep. Then, operating like a Swiss clock at the stroke of 7pm she woke up for her feeding. That and the fact that she pee-d. I was changing her diapers while being watched by my curious niece (cousin's daughter) - Faustina. Faustina suddenly said out loud, "Oh, a girl. I thought the baby's a boy!"

Note to self: Must get some accessories for Mia's head to make her look more like a girl.

The evening went smooth. After the 7pm feeding, she didn't sleep. Then it was her 9pm feeding, after which she went to sleep. Good girl, I thought.11pm. I was a little slow preparing her milk and she wailed as if she wanted the whole neighbourhood to know. After her feed and burping, she went back to sleep.

The rest of the night went without a glitch. She continued to wake up for feeding:
2.00am : 3 oz
3.30am: 2 oz
5.00am: 2.5 oz
7.00am: 2.5 oz

Let's see how she does later....

A Woman Confined: Day 14

Yay! I got to wash my hair today. Finally.

I spent a good 40 minutes in the bathroom scrubbing my scalp with warm ginger water. I don't know whether I was allowed to use shampoo, but who cares. I used shampoo anyway. I washed three times using shampoo in that 40 minutes. It felt gooooooooood!

Tonight is also the final night cPG is staying overnight. She said I'm "Selooooong suda" (Strong already) so I can take the night shift for the remaining 2 weeks of my confinement period.

Double yay! 1) I get to spend more time with Mia. 2) If I feel that I can't take itchy scalp no more... I'll cheat and wash my hair at night, then quickly dry it with hair dryer.... hehehe!

How's Mia doing?

This is Mia on 26th Nov after her 2oz of milk:

This is Mia today after her 2oz of milk:The ugly cry. 2oz per 2 hour cycle is really not enough for her anymore.


We gave her an extra 0.5oz, and this is the kind of face she gives:We'll be starting to give her between 2.5oz to 3 oz from today. She's a growing girl.

A Woman Confined: Day 13

Had a relaxing day today.Watched cPG give Mia her bath again. She's becoming quite a waterbaby. Her umbilical cord still hasn't fallen off yet. Soon I hope.

Had sweet pork trotters for lunch. I would have preferred the sour type.

Looking forward to tomorrow.... It'll be Day 14 - the day cPG allows me to wash my hair (after 2 weeks!). I've been pestering her with the "When can I wash hair?" questions since last Monday. Soon now...

A Woman Confined: Day 12

Woke up this morning at 6.30am to take care of Mia. Our curtains were still drawn, so it was dark in our bedroom. Mia was crying and refused to sleep. I slid my finger into her diaper to check whether she pee-d. She didn't. She poo-d! Aaaargh.... I got baby poo all over my finger.

When she's good, she's very very good. Mia playing peek-a-boo.

When she's bad.... she's horrid! Wailing for milk. 2 oz per 2 hour cycle is not enough for her these days.

The Star online news today:

Really now?!

A Woman Confined: Day 11

Picture(s) of the day:My darlings in bed.

Sleep tight baby... papa needs to go to work...

A Woman Confined: Day 10

Fred came home tonight and asked me again, "So which one is your favorite photo of Amy?" There's a lot of Mia's pictures which I liked... I really can't decide. But if I really have to choose, it would be this one:
Here she is on 25 November 2009 (just 2 days old) with her jaundice picking up, yet she's able to smile for the camera. She's just so sweet.

Here are some other photos of hers. Some have been shared already on Facebook! (If the slideshow does not play, please click on View All Images)

You'll notice, most pictures were taken when she's sleeping. That's what newborns do at this stage ie sleep, pee, poop, drink, pee, bath, drink, sleep, pee, drink, sleep, pee/poop .... cPG says, baby (or the way she pronounce it 'pa-pi') need to sleep otherwise how to get fat?!

A Woman Confined: Day 9

My cPG is such an emotional creature! We were seated in front of the telly, she sitting on a foot stool and holding Mia on one arm, me sitting on the sofa. The 2 of us plus Mia have been following a Chinese series for 2 days now. I don't understand Chinese but cPG has been translating for me. The show is called "The Single Mother" (she somehow got addicted) and today the tv was showing episodes 22 - 26.... a marathon!

We got to episode 25 and I heard a sob. I looked at cPG and she was crying, wiping her tears on her sleeves. She turned to me and said, "Uiyoooo, manyak kasiaaaaan oooooooh. Bikin nangis wuuuh!" with tears streaming down her cheeks. I wanted to take Mia from her arm but she somehow found comfort having Mia there as she kept on sniffing Mia's head. I wanted to laugh at cPG but I controlled myself. I was so tempted to grab my camera and take a photo!

After episode 25, she went to the kitchen to prepare lunch while I put Mia to sleep in the nursery. cPG kept on saying, she has to watch the last episode (episode 26) to find out the ending to the story otherwise it'll bother her. This time I laughed together with her.

I didn't watch episode 26 as I felt sleepy and wanted to take a nap. The moment I woke up and went downstairs, cPG updated me on the conclusion to the series. She just couldn't wait! Then I asked her, did you see the new series? She said, no.... she's scared she'll get hooked on it again. But there's another series starting this Sunday starring Chinese, Taiwanese and HK actors. Now that one she wants to watch! OMG!!! Well, so long as she does the work that she's employed to do (which she takes VERY seriously), I don't mind. Just don't expect me to follow the show with her from episode 1 to 20++.

On another note, Mia's belly button bled tonight... Seeing the worried look on my face, cPG told me not to panic, the umbilical cord is drying and will be dropping off soon. I just feel so sorry for Mia... must be painful...

A Woman Confined: Day 8

Big Amy meets Baby Amy! (Carole on the left, Big Amy carrying Baby Amy)

What a nice surprise.... we were paid a visit by Carole (Caroline Chin) and Amy Chee - two great friends and also past presidents of JCI Intan. We had a wonderful time catching up though it was only a short visit - these 2 are busy ladies. It was so sweet of them to drop by bearing goodies even though it was heavily raining outside.

Earlier on, we took Mia to see my Dr for the 1 week review.

We were running a bit late because we had to wait for Mia to finish pooping. Today she started to poop at around 9.45am and after much encouragement, finished at 9.50am. It was a lot of cheering on my part (me going "Come on baby... you can do it... go urrrrrgggghhhhhhh. Another one, come on...... urrrgggghhhhhhh!!!!") all to see poop coming out from her bum like McDonald's soft serve... only yellow in colour! cPG said.... "Bagus, cantiiiik oh taik baby..... gud gud gud baby!" Apparently, there's such thing as a beautiful poop.

When we finally made it to the clinic, I asked Dr about her eyes because the white part of both her eyes appear blood-red. Not all of the white part, just a bit... there's like a red line there on both eyes. Mia refused to open her eyes (she was enjoying her sleep). Nonetheless, I described the condition to the Dr and he said it was nothing to be worried about.

Dr said that it's a type of hemorrhage (subconjunctival hemorrhage) and will disappear after some time. When I checked on the Net for more info, I've found that this occurs when blood leaks under the covering of the eyeball due to the trauma of delivery. It's a harmless condition similar to a skin bruise that goes away after several days, and it generally doesn't indicate that there has been any damage to the infant's eyes.

Well, I noticed that the reddish colour is getting smaller but very slow. We'll see how it goes in the next few weeks.

He was also happy with Mia's 1 week development ie no jaundice. Yeah!

Then it was my turn to be checked: First my stomach - very good he said. Next, my stitches - healing nicely. He said, good.

As of today, my weight is 59kg. Very near my pre-pregnant weight (58kg) though I'd like to go down to 54kg at least.

I also weighed Mia. She's 3.3kg (up by 300g).

A Woman Confined: Day 7

Gosh, it was exactly a week ago that I was huffing and pushing Amy out of my body. H ow time flies. As I look into Mia's sweet little face, the pain and agony that I went through between the hours of 2.00pm - 5.13pm last Monday just disappears. Although I was in labour from 10am, I honestly did not feel much pain before 2.00pm. Yes, the pain was there, but bearable. Must be the swimming sessions. My advise to other pregnant women out there, it's good to take up Pilates and swimming. Both would prepare your body better for childbirth. The breathing technique really helps when the contractions hit you.

I've been allowed to go downstairs as of last Friday. Thank goodness. Being cooped up in the bedroom almost make me go crazy.

This afternoon I had a look at our kitchen which has been taken over by cPG. I opened one of our shelves and OMG, saw that it's turned into a mini Chinese herbal shop display:There were lines of Chinese herbs in jars for cooking. Then there's a line for my bathing as well in another shelf. One thing about our cPG is that she's really organised. She re-arranged the whole kitchen using her system for easy accessibility. Of course I had to thank her to which she closes both eyes, nods her head up and down and smiles in agreement. She's so cute!

One of the things I dreaded about the confinement period is the ban on hair washing. Before this I was determined to wash my hair. I even told my mother-in-law that I would be washing my hair during the confinement period. I think she got my sister-in-law to persuade me to "tahan tahan ah (have patience) .... for 1 week at least, then wash hair" otherwise "kena masuk angin". I was still determined. But one look at cPG, I got scared and decided to follow their advise. This has to be the longest period that I've gone without washing my hair. How do I feel? Well....

Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

So after a week of no washing, I decided to cheat a little and use a wet hanky to "wipe" my hair and scratch my scalp at around 7.00pm because cPG would already be in her room and not come out anymore until tomorrow morning. The feeling was so good. I tied my hair up in a bun and happily walked downstairs to get some warm water to drink. As I was walking up the staircase humming a tune, cPG came out from her room with Mia and called out to me, "Angeline, aiyaaaa, kau jaga baby dulu ah. Si-ya mau mandi."

I was horrified, would she notice my slightly damp hair I wondered. I was prepared for some scolding. I took Mia from her and cPG said, "Aiyaaaa, baby jahat oh. Beluuuuuuuum mau tidul. Jahat oh baby, jahat wuhhhhhhhhh!" and laughed before going back inside her room. Phew, luckily she didn't notice my hair! Hehehehe.... safe! I'd have to be extra careful next time.

Mia, time to sleep. You're a good girl. Mummy loves you.....