Janine - 2 months old

Janine is turning 2 months old in 4 days' time!

Yesterday (at 8 weeks old), she slept thru 6.5 hours without a feed at night! I was elated as I only had to wake up once at 3:30am to feed her! :) That's her record! Am thankful she sleeps well at night, or rather, better than in the day.

Previously, she was only able to clock 5.5hrs without a feed, at most. So am really glad for this! Praying that it will continue that way, or get even better! :)

Some developments:
- smiles readily at familiar faces, and even at unfamiliar faces, whenever people talk to her.
- "talks" back
- still gives very pitiful and cute cries! (i should attempt to take a video or a photo of her doing so)
- at 7 weeks old, she started recognizing people! Amazing! And it was quite terrible, for she only wanted me to carry her :( Would cry and cry if Gina or Royston were to carry. So now Gina doesn't dare to be left alone at home with Janine because chances are, she would cry without being soothed.
- as for her sleeping patterns, she would sleep till about 1:30am or 2:00am and awake for a feed, followed by another feed at 4:30am or so. Sometimes she would wake up at about 6:00am or 6:30am for another feed! But still, she generally falls into deeper sleep at night than in the day.
- her daytime sleep is still very light. She's a very light sleeper, and can only sleep for about 10 minutes at a stretch if put down on the bed :( Must be carried to sleep!
- at 6 weeks old, she was 56cm long and 5kg.
- now at 8 weeks old, I have no idea about her weight but she sure seems like a big baby! She's outgrowing those 3-6mths old clothings!

Recent Developments

Janelle - about a week or so ago, she has learnt how to open and close our room doors! Oh no...it means we can't "lock" her or ourselves in the room any longer. Sigh, she sure learns fast!

And she's responding really well in sentences. Now she can tell me stuff like "I like purple, I like Milo, etc". And it's no longer "Mummy, on TV!" but "Mummy, can you on the TV?". When asked if she had fun at Little Pals, she'll say "Yes I had fun". So grown-up already!

Janine - at about 2 or 3 weeks old, she could lift up her head and turn from side to side while lying on her tummy. She's got a pretty strong neck!

At 4 weeks old, she can make "ah" sounds and other baby gurgles. She responds really well to faces and loves to look at faces! She'll also move her head from one side to the other to follow an object held above her.

She still feeds 3-hourly during the night. Praying that she can sleep longer through the night soon! She's very sensitive to sounds and all, so she's got a big problem with her sleep. Sigh. Dunno how to train her also. She needs to be carried and cuddled to sleep all the time.

Thank God her rash (which developed and spread all over her body) looks slightly better today! I attribute it to prayer :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Janelle!

Today Janelle turns 2 years old!

We woke up early this morning and brought her to MacDonalds at King Albert's Park for a breakfast treat. After a hotcakes breakfast meal, we headed home to prepare for the family lunch party.

Our families arrived at 11am onwards with lots of food! There was fried rice & bee hoon (cooked by Gina), cod fish + duck + charsiew & meat (by my parents), fried chicken wings + chicken dish + vegetables + pig stomach soup (by Royston's parents), and lots of fruit.

Time really flies...our little girl is now 2 years old! When asked "how old are you?", she would reply "I'm two!" and try to make the sign "2" with her fingers. But of course she would not be able to do so, and end up doing "4" with her fingers and proudly saying "I'm two!" when obviously she's doing a "4"!

Our birthday message to our older little girl:

Dear Janelle,

We are so thankful to God for bringing you into our lives, for you brought lots of laughter and joy! Your cheeky yet innocent ways are so endearing, and so often you have made us burst out into laughter by the funny things you say and do.

You love to jump and run around the house, and are always game to try out new flavours and foods. (It is truly a joy to see you enjoying heartily tucking into your food!) Recently, you have become really imaginative, 'cooking' all kinds of food for us to eat/drink - amongst which milk, milo, raisins and carrots are your favourites! 

It is amazing to see just how much you have grown - not just physically but mentally as well. Not only are you able to hold a conversation with us, you have also taken on the role as an older sister to all other children you come into contact with.

We pray that the Lord will continue to nurture you in His ways, and that your life will reflect the grace of God - just like the meaning of your name "God is Gracious".  

Blessed 2nd Birthday to you, my darling!

Love,
Daddy & Mummy

Janine has arrived!

Date: 31 December 2007, Monday
Time: 1306 hours
Venue: Mt Elizabeth Hospital
Birth Weight: 3.155kg
Length: 50cm
Head Circumference: 34cm

Praise the Lord for a smooth delivery via caesarean under epidural / spinal block! It was an experience of a lifetime to be awake during a surgery with Royston by my side. The first thing that crossed both our minds when we first saw Janine fresh from the womb was that she looked exactly like Janelle!! It was simply amazing.

By God's grace, I was up and walking by the second day and discharged early from the hospital by the third day. However, the first few days at home upon discharge from hospital were a nightmare! Janine wouldn't sleep at night till 3 or 4am! And she would cry and wake the whole family up - including our helper. It was a real challenge trying to put both our girls to sleep. Thank God that the past 2 nights were much much better! I think Janine was just not used to our home environment at first, hence the crying at night. Last night, Janine even slept all the way at night (11:30pm to 7:30am), waking up only once at 3:30am for a feed. So proud of her!

Janelle has been a very adoring sister to Janine. She simply loves her mei-mei! She would sayang and kiss mei-mei, leaving Janine's face wet with her saliva! Yikes! And whenever Janine fusses or cries, Janelle would try to pacify her with her toys (which of course don't work) and say "mei-mei don't cry". And every now and then, when she looks at Janine, she would exclaim "mei-mei is sooo cute!". We're very thankful that Janelle is reacting to Janine so well.

Janine is simply adorable (well, of course to us who are her parents, she is adorable!). She's a very sweet baby compared to Janelle, who was 'fiercer' and tougher. And she charms us all with her endearing expressions while falling asleep...like this one....

Janine - newborn

31 December 2007

Next Monday, 31 December 2007, I'll be going in for a caesarean at 12:30pm. Finally, I can tell people exactly when baby is arriving! Countless ones have been asking when is baby coming, and now I can finally put a date to it!

After gynae visit yesterday, we decided that if baby doesn't arrive naturally by 31 December, I'll go for elective C-sect as baby is growing too big. Baby's estimated size as of yesterday was about 3.2kg. And based on previous experience with Janelle, baby will probably continue to grow exponentially in these last few weeks.

My hopes of ever having a natural delivery are all gone, but trusting that God has His perfect plan for us.  The good thing about a planned caesarean is that you can really plan everything. Royston has even so kindly helped me borrow several Reader's Digest books to kill time while counting down to the New Year all by myself in hospital. Will have to deliver at Mt Elizabeth instead of Mt Alvernia (our preferred choice) as my gynae's schedule is too packed to rush to Mt A for my surgery. Considering that I'd be bedridden at least for 1 day after surgery, I'm sure the Reader's Digest will come in handy! Still, the thought of being alone in hospital located in the heart of Orchard Road, unable to get out of bed, on a New Year's Eve where everyone's out celebrating - is really not too appealing. But I guess the Lord gave me this unique privilege for me to spend this special time with Him alone with undivided attention as I cross over the new year! New Year's Eves are always spent with lots of loved ones and friends surrounding you, but I will have the awesome privilege of spending it with my Master and Lord alone. How blessed I am!

So much to be thankful for!

It has been a really unexpected Christmas season for us.

For one, we thought that we would have 2 little girls to celebrate Christmas with, but seems like no.2 is still contented to stay in the womb. With that in mind, we did not manage to put much effort to invite any friends or family for all the Christmas outreach events.

Yet, despite our lack of effort, or rather, lack of planning, God engineered situations such that we had divine appointments! Managed to invite my father-in-law to the Hokkien service on Saturday, as well as invited 2 friends to the Christmas service on Sunday.

The most amazing thing is how God is doing a mighty work in my father-in-law's heart! He was unexpectedly alone at home on Saturday, and unexpectedly called us, so we invited him to come to our place. And then he brought Janelle down to the Zhenghua carnival, and unexpectedly wanted to go to church for the health screening, and then Royston decided to casually invite him for the Hokkien service that evening, and he unexpectedly agreed! Well, at least to us, it all seemed so unexpected. But I'm sure that to God, it was all engineered by Him!

He was really touched by the sermon at the Hokkien service, and has been raving about it to us and other family members! We believe that he actually did say the sinner's prayer at the Hokkien service, but was just too shy to admit it.

Yesterday my father invited my father-in-law on a last minute basis to his church's evangelistic service, and surprisingly my father-in-law went! My dad says that my father-in-law is very near to accepting Christ already, and we're really praying against the devil's schemes and praying that God will continue to do His mighty work!

Looking at how far he has come (in terms of religion), we can only give thanks to God for working in His time. For we did nothing, but it was all engineered by God. All we need to do is to avail ourselves and our resources, and to work hand in hand with God!