of course it's been awhile.

it's no secret that life gets in the way as we wade through the waters of life, with a husband, 3 kids, a household to run, work.

still, every now and again, i try to check in. if only to keep the blog active. for posterity. especially for all the entries on my firstborn.

... which dwindled markedly for the secondborn.

...... which became nil for the thirdborn. poor little guy.

since i'm here, i might as well.

hi everyone.

my name is aidan.

i was born on wednesday, 26 march 2014.

weight: 3.4kg

height: 49.0cm
pantai medical centre

aidan was due to officially arrive on 6 april 2014. however, as expected, he was early by 10 days, just like his elder siblings. this pregnancy had been, by far, the most challenging of the three kids. i was already showing a bump very early in the pregnancy; suffering from back aches and generally other aches & pains associated with weight gain. the weeks before aidan came, i was missing work every couple of days until eventually, the doctor agreed to give me an extended medical leave up to the delivery. i was on medical leave for a total of 12 consecutive working days.

unlike his abang and kakak, aidan arrived mid-week. thankfully though, it wasn’t in the middle of the night or during peak traffic hours.

at 8:45am on the day of his arrival, i discovered blood after using the toilet. before that, as i was getting up from bed i was thinking “aiyo, when is this baby coming out?”. luckily, the husband hadn’t left for work yet.

so, while i showered, the husband got me some wantan mee ;p. after breakfast, i took some pictures with the kids before we headed to the hospital at 10:30am.

we arrived at the emergency room at 11:20am and i was promptly deposited into a wheelchair… they wouldn’t let me walk although i told them that i could.  at 11:43am, i was only 4cm dilated so the doctor broke my water bag to hurry me along. by 2:15pm i was ONLY 5cm dilated… so lambat. so they decided to accelerate the process by giving me some drips (not sure what drip this is but it’s to induce labor) at 4pm. despite the drips, i was still able to deal with the pain which basically meant that the process was still going slow, and thus, the pain was still bearable.

because it was taking so long, they decided to increase the dosage of whatever drip it was that i was on. after that, wahhhh… the pain… the painnnnnn…

somewhere along the line i was given a pethidine jab AND the oxygen mask for pain management. all these were supposed to just help me relax but not take away the intensity of the pain, when it came. and boy, did it come. it felt like i had to “run” away from the pain… so i was thrashing on the bed; sucking in oxygen in a most un-ladylike manner; chest heaving in and out, in and out; drooling all over the oxygen mask; crying; praying to Mother Mary; moaning; groaning; asking the nurses WHY we women choose to go through this; grabbing & punching (once) the husband; blubbering on & on about how i should’ve opted for a c-section; asking if it was too late to have one.

at 5:25pm, it was time to push, and i was screaming in pain. literally screaming. i believe i also said “aidannnn commmmme ouuuuuuttttt!!!!”. baby finally came out at 5:36pm.

when the doctor said he was 3.4kg, it finally made sense to me why i was in so much pain during the pregnancy and delivery.

the nurses took aidan out of the room to tag him and run some tests (i think). i could hear him screaming from inside the room and doctor commented that he would probably be able to sing like daddy. while doctor was stitching me up, she told me that she had to cut me because of the way i was screaming.

moments later, they came back with aidan and placed him on my chest. aiyo so cute… and the love was just… there… as if this child has been with me all along.

surprisingly, i wasn’t too tired and didn’t sleep much until the night. i could even entertain guests (with lip gloss on ya ;p). ethan and ava came for a visit that night and were happy to see their little brother.

this time around, the husband stayed on in the hospital too. aidan was hungry and nursed during the night. ethan didn’t drink at all during the hospital stay. ava nursed more than ethan but not as often as aidan.

we stayed in the hospital for just one night. the next day, i was able to get up & use the bathroom a couple of times and was even able to shower on my own.

when we got home, the maid came down with the 2 kids to welcome us. i am pleasantly surprised that both ethan and ava took to aidan so well. no major jealousy-induced tantrums. ethan didn’t seem too bothered by his baby brother, often doing his own things and occasionally checking up on aidan. ava on the other hand, was the perfect big sister. always affectionately stroking his face and giving him a peck. i do feel that, despite not being jealous, ava misses me. sometimes she’ll wait for me to put aidan down for a nap before she sidles up to sit on my lap for some attention. kesiannn…

in the first few weeks, aidan was hungry almost every hour of the day. he gained weight so fast and really looked like a bola. at 1mo, he was wearing 3mo-sized clothes. at 2mo, he was already wearing 6mo sizes. so new clothes were needed quite fast.

breastfeeding is easier this time around but it’s still a mix between breast milk and formula feeding. my milk supply is still going strong although I have begun weaning him off now that he’s 7mo.

unfortunately, aidan got sick a couple of times and had to be admitted to the hospital twice. Once for bronchiolitis in sept 2014 and once for an acute eye infection leading to high fever in nov 2014. poor guy. still, he was and is in good spirits and i hope we won’t be faced with too many more visits to the hospital.

so there you go, the arrival of my last child.

christmas is fast approaching and we’re all very excited to get to the decorations and gift wrapping. till the next entry! hopefully not too far off from now.