Auspicious date for c-section

We've finally decided on the date for my c-section although we would very much prefer that the baby chooses his own time of arrival. But you know lah, doctors these days will try to talk you out of having an emergency c-section so no choice, have to still give a preferred date and time. Since we aren't strong believers of Feng Shui, we didn't want to pay to get the baby's delivery date chosen by some random sifu. But then our kiasu side also couldn't get over the fact that we may end up picking an inauspicious date. It's fine if he chooses his own time of arrival and seals his own fate (like his two older siblings), but if he's forced to come out on the day we choose, what then?

So just to satisfy ourselves, we've resorted to using a simple DIY method to choose the auspicious date and time of birth for our baby based on the Astrological Birth Weight system. You can find the birth weight calculator online by simply googling.

This is what it says for the date and time we chose:

"A wealthy life. Exceptionally smart and bright. Life is easy for you. You don't have to depend on your family and will be able to establish your own life. You will enjoy excellent family affinity and you will enjoy lots of prosperity luck. An angel has been with you since you were born. Whatever you do will be blessed. Lucky stars will always shine on you, helping you achieve all your wishes"

Let's hope that's true. But I still hope he chooses to come out when he's ready, hopefully before the scheduled c-section (we've scheduled it as close to my EDD as possible).

Sleep training

Training L to sleep on her own seemed to be easier than I imagined. It's been a week plus now and she's already sleeping on her own. I think this has very much to do with her personality. How should I describe her? Hmmm... can't say she's as brave as her brother cos she doesn't like the dark and would never ever venture upstairs on her own if everyone's downstairs. "I'm too scared!" she always says. So I figured it must be her kiasu-ness that made up for her fear of the dark. She's one who never admits defeat, and loves to show off.

The first two nights, I had to stay with her until she fell asleep. 

The next two nights, she became more confident. Although still a little scared of the dark, she insisted she can sleep on her own but as soon as we left the room she came out and started sobbing quietly, not wanting to alert anyone. 

Lots of praise and encouragement went on. "Mummy's so proud of you. Although you were scared but you still tried to sleep on your own!"

Big brother H also chipped in "Kor kor is also so proud of you!"

We then got her a night light and set up the baby monitor in her room.

"See, now you have light so your room's not dark anymore. And you don't have to come out of your room if you need anything, you just need to sit up in your bed and call and we'll hear you!"

She was extremely fascinated with the baby monitor, running between her room and the nanny's room to test if it worked.

And the next few nights were a breeze. "You can go back to your room, I can sleep on my own!"

And that was it, L's sleep training is done!!!  So proud of my little girl!

Oh no, my CL bailed on me

Yes you heard right, my confinement lady has just bailed on me. Got a call from her 2 days ago informing us that she fell while spring cleaning her house and has broken her collar bone. Said it's unlikely she will recover in time to take on the job. Oh well, I guess it's really not her fault but at such a last minute, how to find a replacement?!!

We've been frantically calling up other CLs recommended by friends but as usual, all good ones are taken. Worst case is to take her friend whom she's referred us to as her replacement but that means we'll be taking chances since we don't know her friend. Thinking positively, this may be a blessing in disguise. Who knows, maybe her friend will turn out to be a gem of a CL :-)

Keeping all my fingers crossed!!!

Week 33

I'm already into week 33 of my pregnancy, how time flies. H is getting more excited and has been asking if we can get the baby out NOW! L is more cool about it. I think she's still too young to really comprehend how a new baby will affect her life. At least she's nice about it but I can really see the difference in H between this baby and when I was pregnant with L. He seems to really care and love the baby. Every single moment with H, he will be touching, kissing and talking to the baby (my belly).

It's now time to 'train' L to sleep on her own. I've told her nanny she'll be sleeping in the spare room starting tonight. L will have to sleep on her own. Hopefully she won't resist. I told her last night that she's now a big girl and she has to sleep all by herself and she said ok. Let's see how it goes tonight (keeping my fingers crossed)!

I'm also starting to feel the strain of this pregnancy now that my belly is getting bigger. Apparently the baby is starting to gain ~1 kg a month. A month ago during the check up it was 1.3kg, last week when I went for a check up it was 2.2kg, so in another 3 weeks when I go for my next check up it should be around 3kg already. My obgyn is trying to get us to schedule a c-section date - anytime between 18-22 Feb she said. I'm gonna try to schedule it as close to my EDD as possible cos I still think it's best the baby decides when he's ready to pop.

teaching kids values (part 2)

One of the biggest arguments against sending kids to an international school is this whole thing about cultivating strong values. No doubt the school environment plays a part but I think the home environment plays a much bigger part. It is unfortunate that we don't spend enough time with the kids on weekdays. Hubs normally only comes home when the kids are already asleep. As for me, I try to get home as soon as I can. It helps now that my travelling time is shorter since we've moved closer to where we work, but still, by the time I finish dinner, it's almost time for the kids to get ready for bed. So at most, I only get to spend 1-1.5 hours with them before the lights go off.

H will always want to chit chat and I always feel bad that I have to cut our chit chat time cos he needs to get enough sleep.

H: Can we chit chat some more?
Me: Nope we can chit chat tomorrow, you need to sleep now!

As I close his room door I always feel guilty. What if he stops wanting to chit chat with his mommy? What if he thinks I don't care enough?

The saving grace is that we can chit chat in the car on the way to school. Hubs feels that we should get a transporter since the traffic getting out of H's school to work can be horrendous in the morning. On average, the travelling time from home to school to office is about 1.5 hours. But that will mean losing our precious chit chat time. I really don't mind the travelling time, at least it gives me time to talk to H. By understanding what went on during his day in school or at home (e.g. something someone said, or something someone did, or simply something he encountered, etc.), I'll be able to provide him with the right perspectives or help him set things right.

This morning while driving to school, we drove past a construction site. Then he saw a few foreign workers walking towards the site and asked "Are they going to work? Why aren't they driving?"

Kids are so simple minded. Just because they get driven everywhere and they see mommy and daddy and the people they know drive to work, they automatically assume everyone has a car.

"Not everyone has a car, dear. Some people walk to work, some people take the bus, some people take the train"
"Why?"
"Because buying and maintaining a car is not cheap. You have to pay for the car and pay for petrol"

Then came my lessons about having to work hard, to be prudent, cannot waste, blah blah blah... Hopefully having these daily short chit chats is good enough to reinforce the right traits and values in H. Now I have to think about L. How do I find time to do the same with her?