Of Slipped Disc and Falling Off the Bed

The two above are not related.

Shuyin is growing very well and she’s quite tall for her age. She’s not chubby but certainly getting heavier by the day. With that in mind, I was still not careful when carrying her last week when she was crying for attention while I was making breakfast. I just swoop her with my left arm while holding a piece of bread with the other. That did it – a snap on my back, but I just didn’t have the heart to put her down and so I continued putting cheese on the bread, placed them in the oven and proceeded to making two mugs of Milo while enduring the sharp pain on my lower back. Then I smelled a schtinko... probably the reason why she cried in the first place...

I went to the store room to look for a new Dryper pack. Struggling to hold her in my left arm while trying to pull the heavy jumbo bag with my right hand. Had to bend down too to tear the bag with my finger nail and... a second snap... Yeouch!

Managed to change her but didn’t manage to salvage the burnt breakfast in the oven!

I still drove to work but by midday, I just couldn’t take the pain and told the boss that I needed to get treatment for the bad back.

At the chiropractor center in Subang Jaya, the doctor had a good look and coolly said “Ahah! This is not your first time!”

“First time of what?” I retorted.

“Slipped disc” the reply came with a painful poke on my spine.

“Arrgh that hurts!!! I have slipped disc?”

Oh man... come to think of it, this wasn’t the first time I had the same acute pain at the same spot. So it’s true, I had it before and I just didn’t know it!

So my daughter is not to be blamed. My spine has had years of abuse – a childhood of selling bananas at pasar malam, then continued with the family-run satay business during my teenage years. All those heavy liftings and hard labour...

Now that I have a family, chores like cooking, cleaning, mopping the floor, gardening, cutting the grass, etc. I would do them all without much hesitation, and putting more stress on my ageing spine. It’s just a matter of time and needed the last straw to finally break my back...

Maybe now is a good time to consider getting a maid?

A Hard Thud!

That’s what I heard early morning yesterday, followed by a loud wailing. I was half asleep, half panic and half blur. It took us more than an hour to calm Shuyin down. We inspected her head for signs of bruising but could not find anything visible under the flashlight. I was really worried and wifey kept saying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry...” to Shuyin while cuddling her to sleep.

I was perplexed as Shuyin rarely make the same mistake twice. She has fallen off the bed when she was 3 months old, and that was her first and her last. Since her first fall, I think subconsciously she’s aware of the possibility of falling off, and so, even when she sleeps on the edge of the bed with her hand dangling down, she’d never fall! How come this time she did?

All of us fell asleep after an hour or so and in the morning, I was glad to see Shuyin springing back to her usual self. While I was making breakfast, wifey confessed that she had accidentally KICKED Shuyin off the bed!

What? KICKED SHUYIN OFF THE BED?!! Hmmm... Now I know why she repeatedly said sorry to Shuyin and the mystery of her fall finally solved!

Shuyin usually climbs out of her cot, onto our bed in the middle of the night and would normally park herself between her parents, but that night, she slept near wifey’s feet. Wifey said that she felt a “pillow” at her feet and was not comfortable sleeping with her knees bent and so she kicked the “pillow” off to straighten her legs. She felt strange that the “pillow” was rather heavy, but before she could think any further, well, you know the rest...

To fall off the bed is one thing, but to be kicked out before the hard fall? That must've been a double whammy, not to mention the psychological trauma of being “violently rejected”! No wonder it took Shuyin more than an hour to calm down – it was double the pain with the awful thought of being hurt by the very person she trusted most! *Sigh*... I really can’t imagine...

I’m really glad that Shuyin is a-okay but she sustained minor cuts on her left knuckles. She must have blocked her fall with her left hand – clever and agile little girl!


Poor little girl!

Wifey called me up for lunch yesterday. She felt sooooooooo guilty and wanted to talk about it. She was late coming back from work yesterday but when she came back, she took out something from the boot of her car...


And for that, you get a tricycle! Mommy went all the way to Puchong to look for this!

I heard wifey said to Shuyin “When you’re all grown up and need a real set of wheels to move around, mommy will gladly pay for the down payment of your first car!”

Well mommy, I’m recording your statement here... *grin*
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At Month 11, She Wants to Fly!

Aiyah, I don't know what to do with this girl lah. She's way too fast for her parents to cope! Shortly after mastering how to walk, she now wants to fly! But we have to be responsible for giving her the name Shuyin, which means:

Shu: Unique
Yin/Ying: Hero, heroine or talent

You see why she's like that?


That's right! I'm a Superbaby - Faster, Smarter, Cuter! I just turned 11 months last Saturday and look at what I can do now...


I'm an expert climber now...


Easy peasy lemon squeezy...


I'm looking at daddy, to show him that I have no fear!


Here I go, UP UP AND AWAY...

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Victims of Child Abuse

Me and wifey, we are both victims of child abuse! Look at how our child abused us...



So many teeth mark on my shoulder. This adorable cookie monster suddenly turned vampire when that four cute buds developed into sharp teeth! Coupled with her strong jaw, it ain’t good news! Wifey bled a few times being bitten unexpectedly. This, this kung fu kid would jump on you and start biting without warning. She draws pleasure in hearing you scream... hurrr...

She also knows no fear – climbing up and down the bed from month 7, climbing all the way up the stairs when we’re not looking at month 10 and now, nearly month 11, she can WALK and I shudder to think what kind of activities she would do with that ability!

Who says changing diapers is easy?

If you can change Shuyin’s diapers without getting any bruise or claw marks on your body, then I really salute you lah! She would twist, turn, kick and wriggle her way out coz she refused to take it lying down. The only way for me to change her diaper is to distract her by giving a piece of the wet wipe for her to shred into thin strips using her sharp teeth, and I’d have less than 10 seconds to quickly take off her pants, diaper, wipe her bottom of any poo stain, put on the new diaper and put her pants back on! Half the time we have to do it in the dark when she needs changing at night!

So yeah, I think we are the holder of fastest-diaper-changing-in-the-dark-half-asleep world record!
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Mengigau

Four long years of sleeping on the job, suddenly Pak Lah blurted out “Don’t challenge me!” in response to the BERSIH’s Nov 10 peaceful rally (no link here, go read The Star...).

Is there a point, really, in challenging a mentally-challenged person?
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6 Months Old

Half-a-year old already – time sure flies!

Shuyin is now 70cm tall and weigh approximately 7kg (measured using our old spring-loaded bathroom scale) – that’s a bag-of-rice bundle of joy!

We had a very tiring weekend handling this, this, I hate to say it, little monster! She can reach the top of the cot railing while on her knees, put forward her right foot and push herself upward while simultaneously using both arms to pull herself up and quickly straighten her left leg to stand up and achieve stability.

Now, where on earth did she learn how to do that? Maybe it is all part of the Newborn Operating System installed at birth. Amazing, yeah?

She’s ahead of her peers by 2 months. Come to think of it, all her physical developments are ahead by 2 months! For her to strategise and sequence her movements in order to stand up, she must have grasp the concept of left, right, front, back, up and down. Clever little cookie, eh? Must be the potent breast milk from her mother...

As with all her newfound tricks, she would be so excited to do it again and again and again... even when she’s half asleep, driving her parents up the wall! Can you imagine what we had to go through with this ‘hyper’ baby? Already she’s a high-speed super crawler and now?

She just looooves obstacles. She likes to crawl and climb over pillows. She uses the Bumbo chair or anything 1 foot high to practice standing up. Even her tired parents trying to get a little snooze are not spared being climbed over or used as a push-up bar!


I love this new Bumbo chair from Aunty Whai Whai!



Look! One of my one-hand-yoga trick!



Ah! A snoring giant for me to climb over and attack!

The child minder at the nursery says “Aiyah, lei geh loi hou lau lek ah!” (Aiyah, your girl is very hardworking lah!). Shuyin tries very hard and does not know how to give up. You can’t stop her from what she’s doing and you can’t let her out of your sight coz she likes to perform all sorts of one-hand yoga moves that will surely tilt her balance. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she has this uncanny immunity to bumps and falls. At the end of every day, you can spot some new blue-black marks on her head. She’s not bothered by pain (dunno whether she feels it or not) and would still continue with the acrobatic acts. Good thing that the bruises would always disappear when she wakes up the next morning.

So there you go. Now you know why I just can’t find the time to blog. Our little cookie monster is just too much to handle!

Anyway, here’s a summary of her progress so far:

29 April 2007
The day she was born and she was very alert. Thanks to mommy’s insistence that no drugs should be administered into her system as this would indirectly drug the baby too. Shuyin could immediately suckle, moments after birth. 2.7kg, 50cm long.

Month 1
Received her second inoculation jab on the thigh. She didn’t even cry and as expected, she was strong enough not to get any fever for that day. 4.3kg, 55cm long.


Full Moon with Popo

Month 2
Tremendous growth spurt coupled with a remarkable physical ability. She could kick her blanket 2 metres out of the cot. She could smile back and has begun to “baby talk”. Mommy had to go back to work after her two months maternity leave and we sent her to the nearby nursery, just two blocks away from our house. The child minder there said that Shuyin has started to “ang gu gu” and loves to “talk”! Received her 5-in-1 inoculation jab and she didn’t cry but suffered a mild fever at night that lasted until early morning. 5.2kg, 59cm long. Shuyin also flipped for the first time at 2 ½ months.


Feeding her the super special formula - EBM

Month 3
Shuyin has mastered her motor function and could grab and hold things in her hands. By this time, flipping and rolling around on the bed is something that she enjoys doing. She could also lift her head high while lying on her stomach. Received her fourth jab and still no cry! 5.9kg, 62cm long. The teething tantrum has begun!


A new play mat for her to roll around

Month 4
She developed a powerful kick with a deadly fisting and clawing! She could bruise you with her kick and leave a claw mark on your body! (Did I mention she has very hard nails?) She started to lift her stomach in a prostrating position and 2 weeks later at 4 ½ months, she got on all four and started crawling! 6.6kg, 65cm long.

Must send her to learn wushu when she’s a little older – she’s one strong and agile baby!


Time to lift up my bum bum!

Month 5
She could sit up straight while playing with her toys. Received her fifth immunisation jab on the thigh – this time she cried for a minute and fortunately, no fever after the jab. 6.6kg, 68cm long. At this stage I can only cut her nails while she is sleeping, otherwise she would do the backhand kung fu and slap me silly!

ZZZzzzz... Eh, when is the next holiday after Deepavali, ah?
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Pictures to Congest Your Bandwidth

Every parent thinks that their baby is the cutest in the world... Well, same here!

Sorry to overload your browser... *grin*


Shannon's 'open' house: Eh daddy... How come you're there? Who is this person holding me then?



5 months old: Look! I can play with my toys while sitting down!



Shuyin meets Yann Bin: Eh, who are you? Why you play with my toys one?



Raya at grandma's: So happy to see her Tok Mak



Supermodel pose: Amber Chia who? My lips are deadlier!



Check out my new wheels! Actually, mommy and daddy use this to restrain me while loading/unloading the car. They said it's not really good for my legs to learn to walk this way...



Her favourite activity: rolling, rolling rolling!



That's a cheeky smile!



When is mommy gonna feed me?



Early days of slithering around before she could crawl...



Mine, all mine!



Peaceful wake from her afternoon nap...



Bleagh!



Our first family photo at 2 months old



5 days old: While she sleeps...



1 day old: Alert
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Shuyin’s Latest Trick

4 months, 17 days.

Look at me! I can crawl on all four!

This picture was taken last week on Saturday, 15 September 2007. One thing about Shuyin, once she learned a new trick, she would immediately master it. Her second and subsequent attempts would be a breeze.

Now that she can crawl, she just looooove to show off her skill, even when she’s half asleep with both eyes closed!

Last Friday night, while mommy and daddy finally had the chance to relax and read the newspaper in the living room, suddenly we heard a loud thud coming from above in the master bedroom, followed by a loud screech.

Shuyin managed to push up the tudung saji a.k.a. mosquito net, crawl out and push one of the heavy pillows that we have placed as a barrier to the edge of the bed, and then fell down forehead first onto the ceramic tile floor!

All of us were shocked, of course, more so for Shuyin. I was even thinking of rushing to the nearby clinic to get her checked. Fortunately, she ceased crying shortly after and started to sleep again.

I could see the red mark on her forehead but surprisingly, there was no benjol (bruise) to be seen the next morning. Wow! She also inherited my hard skull! My mother used to tell me that I was a very keras kepala (hard headed) child. If I didn’t get my way, I would start to head-butt things or people around me. There was once I head-butted onto the wooden wall of a kampong house and the thick wooden strips broke in two. Then my dad dragged me out and tried to throw me into the car. I struggled of course, and head butted on the fender of his old Fiat in the process. Big dent on the fender and not even a scratch on my forehead! Hmmm… so, will Shuyin end up being hard headed like me when she grows up? Hope not…

Here are some pictures of Shuyin’s earlier attempts to lift her stomach and get on all four.

Steady…

Whoops!

Must… not… give up!

Eeeeyah…

Steady… must… lift… my heavy head…

Ahh… I think I’ve got it!

Now that she can crawl, she won’t be allowed to sleep on our bed anymore. She just have to be contented rolling around in her small cot. Hmmm… I may have to lower the position of the mattress base – it looks like she’s aiming to stand up, next!

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Late Postings...

Here’s a piece that I wanted to post right after Shuyin’s birth, but soon after, got caught up in the rollercoaster ride… looping across forever… to the realm of parenthood!

Week 39


The Penultimate Day: “Hang in there babe! Mommy wanna go shopping…”

Last Saturday, 28 April 2007:

The bags were already packed. CD player and some soothing music on its side. Birth plan signed by two obgyns, folded nicely in the pink appointment book and placed in the front pocket of my backpack. Slipped in our secret stash – some mineral water and Kit-Kat for energy boost, coz the hospital has this strange policy of not letting you eat nor drink during labour… Sheesh, how is she gonna have to ENERGY to push?

Baby basinet fixed firmly on the back seat of my Satria. Tyre pressure… check, water, oil and fuel… check. What else?

Ready to roll!

Last Sunday, 29 April 2007: 39 weeks pregnant

Mild contractions started at 6 am. I woke up for morning prayer, and then made a mug of warm Milo for Adeline. Stayed with her and we breathed slowly.

Cooked some hash brown and omelette for breakfast at 8.30 am. Another cup of Milo for her and a latte for me. She didn’t finish her breakfast – didn’t have the stomach for it.

I timed her contractions – the length of each contractions and the duration between contractions. By 10 am, the contractions were 60-70 seconds long and 4-5 minutes apart. Hmmm… It was time to go…

Switched off everything in the house, locked it, and I held her hand as we walk down the stairs to get to the car.

We took a slow drive from Cheras to Serdang. By 11 am, we have checked-in to the Serdang Hospital and they took her into the observation room. I was told to wait outside at the lobby as husbands were not allowed in, as that was the ‘transit’ room where they monitor closely and intimately all the women that was due for that day.

And so, the nail-biting and finger-gnawing began. I felt restless sitting on the hard plastic chair. I wanted to be by her side and to fend off nasty midwives who were there to run procedure just for the sake of running procedure without any care whatsoever on the merits of it. It was our wish not to have any drips, drugs or gas. Episiotomy and epidural were strictly out of the question unless it was absolutely necessary and life-threatening. But deep down, I knew my wife would never take it lying down – she’d fight her way to achieve what she has set out to get. That’s my Adeline!

I moved to a more comfortable sofa at the corner of the lobby the moment it was vacant. I took out the Sunday Star from the backpack and tried my best to concentrate on the pages. *sigh*… futile attempt… I don’t even know what I was reading! My mind kept wondering off to my wife in the observation room. Did they manage to strap her up? Or did she put up a good fight? Dammit… So much for bringing the relaxation CD. Questions and more questions - Was she relaxed? Was she breathing okay? Was she visualising a gentle birth?

At 12.30 pm I saw her from behind the reception counter. She was walking across from the observation room to the toilet. She raised up her hand and opened up all 5 fingers. I couldn’t hear her loud whisper, but from the movement of her smiling lips I could ‘hear’ she said “Five centimetres dilated!”

Wow, that was quick! From what I read, it’s usually 1 cm per hour…

At exactly 1 pm, the lady at the reception shouted “Suami Chang Wee Fong? Mana suami Chang Wee Fong?” I nearly fell off the chair and quickly pack the bag and made my way to the receptionist.

“Ya, saya!”

“Sila baca, isi dan sain borang ni”

“Ok… Macam mana isteri saya? Dia ok ke?”

“Dia dah masuk labour room, dia panggil awak masuk sekali”

“Oh, cepat nye?”

I flipped through the forms and tried to speed-read the content. Dammit, why so many clauses one? Bloody hell, it’s a standard form! Just friggin’ sign it and run to your wife! She’s waiting for you!

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Here’s another late posting…

Hello, I’m Shuyin Arif and I’m Ready to Take on This Crazy World!

Day 1: Back at Home

Hi everyone!

I made a surprise debut 8 days earlier from the doctor’s EDD. Haha, nothing could stop me once I am ready! I’ve been waiting for quite a while for my vital organs to develop and for all systems to function properly. Once all systems were at ‘go’, I just had to give one last kick to my mommy to signal that she would be expecting me soon.

I sure miss my old place – it’s snug and warm, and I get my nourishment automatically on demand via a tube. Over here, I have to kick up a fuss just to get my feed!

I was born on 29 April 2007 at 13:17 hrs, weighing nicely at 2.7kg and measuring 50cm in length.

I could not see much on my way out to this world as I was delivered with the water bag intact. All I saw was a sudden bright light when the membrane popped on the midwife’s hand. Brrr… it was cold and I let out one loud shriek to mark my arrival – I’m here!!! The midwife was kind enough to immediately put me on my mommy’s chest, so that I would be snug and warm again. But that was after some shoving of tube down my throat to suck out the remaining amniotic fluid out of my lungs. How rough!

I was still covered in vernix and a little blood when mommy lovingly embraced me. She doesn’t seem to mind from the look of her reassuring smile. I could see my daddy standing by her side too, smiling proudly while putting his arm around mommy’s shoulder.

Day 0: Few Minutes after Birth

The midwife snipped the umbilical cord and I was officially on my own to look for my own feed. I was not afraid as I knew exactly what to do from that point onwards. Mommy also helped me by guiding my lips to the McB Happy Meal and soon I was enjoying this strange new source of nourishment. I spent more than an hour bonding with my parents before the nurses took me away to gently wipe my body, took all the necessary measurements and dress me up nicely before delivering me to my mommy’s ward.

Day 0: Back to Mommy’s Ward

The first night at the hospital was not really pleasant because it was really cold! I signalled my displeasure by sneezing a few times, but my parents didn’t seem to get it! Luckily I still had my layer of vernix and some padding to keep hypothermia at bay. I decided to teach daddy a lesson by letting out a big poo-poo at 1 in the morning! It was green, oily and sticky and oh boy, daddy wasn’t ready! I could see his panic-stricken face as he tried hard to clean my bum-bum and all crevices from the yucky sticky stuff! He finally had to run outside for some help by sweet talking the nurses on duty to assist him with his new task. Well done daddy!

Early on the next day, I was taken away for my first bath. Shortly after, I was given my first inoculation jab. I didn’t cry you know! But, but, but… I did let out a loud shriek as I felt the cold needle poking deep into my left arm. Daddy was so proud of my bravery, but I was already prepared as mommy had informed me earlier about the jab.

At noon the doctor came to do more tests on me. She probed everywhere and then she flexes my arms and legs. She did so many things to test my reflexes and I didn’t like it, not one bit! The doctor wrote in the pink appointment book – 9/10 for Apgar test, no visible signs of jaundice or any other abnormalities. Hey, why tell something that I already know? My daddy told me earlier that I’m a ‘Superbaby’!

At around 3 pm, the result of my blood test came and the doctor gave a 100% clean bill of health! It meant that we could finally leave the cold room and go home!!!

After some packing, we left the hospital at about 4 pm. Daddy took a slow drive as he was very nervous when driving with a precious cargo onboard. We arrived about half and hour later to our home in Apple Court. Mommy held me in her arms while climbing up the stairs four storeys high to get to our apartment. Daddy was already in front with bags slinged all over his neck and shoulders, struggling to open the front entrance and turn on the lights and fans.

I landed on the bed in the master bedroom and immediately, mommy took this picture of me:

Day 1: Do I look like an alien? Daddy said that I looked like an alien…

I’m so glad to be born in this loving and happy family. Mommy was so brave coz she didn’t even allow the hospital to use the knife on her, strap her up or even drug her! She gave birth to me calmly, naturally, free of pain and free of drugs! I was out just after two pushes with the labour lasted for less than half and hour. And daddy was always there supporting mommy giving birth to me the HypnoBirthing way.

Day 0: 1 Hour after Bonding and Still Beautiful!

Uncle Adrian Tai said that he’ll put a “100% Organic Baby” stamp on my foot since I was conceived on full vegetarian diet and delivered without the use of any chemical or drugs. I can’t see any marks on my feet… Can you?

Day 1: I inherited daddy’s long feet!

So hello everyone, I have arrived and I’m ready to take on this crazy crazy world!

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