i have delivered!

i only remember that i was v v v sleepy after the procedure. in fact like halfway through it i think i was telling the anesthetist Yvonne that i feel very sleepy.. haha.
YW told me that after ZX was born, they brought him to the side and counted his fingers and toes and asked YW to confirm that there were 10. haha. i think it's a standard procedure. YW wanted to stay for the weighing but the staff hurried him to go and make payment. he was quite @#&*(#!@.
and i recall that he came by and told me alot of things.. say that they will bring baby up to the ward when he's ready and he will go make payment. i was really like falling asleep le and i don't really know what he talking about and i think i just fell asleep le. hahaha. it's the epidural lah. i think during/after the op they just increase the dosage to knock me out so i will rest.
i was really clueless as to what's going on, and the next thing i knew after i woke up i was in this... cubicle? it was just all curtains and i seriously don't know where i was. i was connected to a machine and i think i didn't see any one when i woke.. so i was quite lost. but i heard movements and sounds la. so i just waited for some staff to come attend to me.
and this indian nurse came, she recorded some measurements off the machine and then asked me to call my husband. i was like ???? . i think he said he will call him to tell him that i'm ready to go up soon.. and then he asked if i remembered my husband's number and so i gave it to her, then she called him.. and she even asked if i wanted to speak to him. i just said no... and thought in my head... "aiyah faster call him and get me out of here, then i can see him le why still need to talk to him??" i really had no idea where i was and was sleepy and grouchy. hahaha. but the indian nurse was q nice lah. she wasn't rude or anything. i think she did make some small talk with me.. i can't really remember le.
i think after that (or was it before) i waited for sometime before someone finally pushed my bed out and we took the lift to my maternity ward!
#903! so later i realised. haha.
by then my whole family had arrived! i saw YW, my parents and sisters who were v excited to see me. i can't remember if i saw my baby then... i don't think so.. think he was only wheeled in after i settled down.
and the nurses asked if i wanted to nurse my baby.. i actually wanted to nurse him as soon as he was born, but i think i was too sleepy then i didn't really push for it. so now that i've recovered, of course i wanted to try nurse him!!
but i'm a first time mom!! i dunno how to!!
but thankfully the nurses at MEN were all very nice and encouraging!! every single one of them were very patient in guiding me how to latch baby on, how i should be holding him, how to guide his mouth, etc etc. and i'm actually really grateful to the entire team at MEN. I don't think i ever met any staff who was NOT super nice to me, and it was really important because it's my first delivery and i was totally clueless on what to expect and do. especially when breastfeeding my baby, i was very thick skinned and i got the nurses to come help me latch like almost every single time. i was determined to breastfeed even at home and i thought i should use all the help i could use during my stay in the hospital.. so that after i'm discharged i would be more familiar already. and it totally helped.
and of course, like some nurses and also the lactation consultant also all praised ZX for being a very good sucker! he was totally cooperative and very eagerly sucking so it helped in my breastfeeding process. i've read many many stories on how some mummies find it so tough to breastfeed so i was rather worried. so when it came to my turn i was more than grateful to have all these odds in my favour so that i could have such a smooth breastfeeding journey.
the nurses were also very diligent in bringing ZX to me every 4 hourly for feeding, and at no time did they ever ask me to top up with formula, even when during the starting when he wasn't latching very well yet. i still remember, he always refused to latch on my left side.. i dunno why! he was latching well on my right but i always found it difficult to latch him on my left. haha. the nurses were very encouraging and told me that babies have enough in their bodies to tide them through the first few days so don't need to worry about him going hungry. just keep trying can le. so awesome the nurses. :)

my lovely boy so sound asleep + me in the maternity ward

oh and i have to mention this... the food at MEN is SOOOOOOOO GOOD!!! i think i'm very lucky.. there are many who totally cannot eat sheet sleep rest after the C-sect but my appetite was like normal, or quite good lor! i finished almost everything every meal because everything was so yummy! and the portions are rather generous! as i think about it i also drool. and YW's menu always look very sumptious too.. and he also said that the food is good lor. (actually i tried some.. and it's true!) i <3 <3 <3 the food there!

like totally 好吃 can?
those with pink slips are mine while the white slips ones were YW’s

and yup, apart from the first day of heavy bleeding, my recovery was quite good after that. i think i started to walk around from the 2nd or 3rd day onwards with YW's help, and i could go to the loo as per normal since i think the 2nd day? only one thing was that i felt exceptionally WARM all the time!! and i had the temperature of the room tuned very cold, and i didn't even realise. so on the first night actually poor boy boy was very cold in the room! sorry boy!! and the nurses told us that his feet were very cold so they took him back to the nursery to sleep. so actually throughout the stay ZX was in the nursery most of the time, but he came out every 4 hours to feed and when there were visitors.
so the next few days were mostly just entertaining visitors - our families (YW's side and mine) came by everyday.

Clara was so sweet! She even made ZX a bday card! So it's his first ever birthday card! well technically it's not his birthday yet but hmmm... issit his birthday?? HAHA i dunno. so nice of her. <3

my baby is a real sweet and gentle baby... he's quite easy to care, just that he will cry when he needs milk... like any other baby. but other than that he seems to be rather good tempered. my darling little baby.


oh and i forgot to bring mittens and swaddle for him for discharge. WHY NONE THE PACKING LISTS I GOOGLED MENTIONED THESE ITEMS? my boy was born with rather long fingernails and so he was almost scratching himself already. so we got MIL to bring some mittens and socks from home and they look so big on my tiny baby. he was a little small at birth, as you can probably tell from the pictures. then when discharge the nurse asked if we have a swaddle for him and we were like.. err..... but luckily the hospital gave us a free one but it's not washed.. but bopian have to use that lor. #illPreparedFTM
and time fles, 4D3N has gone and we are off to discharge!

my baby is wefie shy

so shiok in papa’s arms

all changed and ready to go home!

i brought a dress thinking i would be so slim after i deliver, but i think i still look very pregnant. and it was a bad choice because i'm supposed to be all covered up and i'm still wearing those compression tights so i look rather unstylo. oh ithink the compression tights are v solid, it doesn't feel very uncomfortable but i think it helps to reduce the swelling of the legs. and off we go home, as i begin on my new journey of motherhood.

looking like a whale still.

go home lo!

and i never imagined how much change a little baby can make onto someone.

and we are home!!

first few pictures on our bed

burping baby. still so 陌生 and untrained. lol.

we later asked my cousin who’s a renowned fengshui master to help boy give his name, based on his 8 characters. from a list of 10 we shortlisted to two. YW and I then wrote our first and second choices on a slip of paper and then we compared them, but alamak our choices were opposite.

so in the end… we wrote each name on a slip of paper and got boyboy himself to draw lots and pick his own name.

BWAHAHA. so yes! he picked his own name one okay!! LOLLL.

and he got good choice! cos 哲熙 is such a beautiful name isn’t it!

<3 <3