The Birth-Day Story of Alex Koay.

It has been a month (chun-chun) since the little man came out of my womb and into this world. Yes, at times it still feels surreal that he is already here but most of the time, it's super realistic. Especially during the night when we have to wake up every 2-hours to feed his little stomach. Hah.

Anyways, here's our little story of what happened on the day he decided to come out. 

I will try my best not to leave any details behind. 

It was 4:20am when I felt the first wave of contraction but decided to sleep it off as it was not unusual to experience one or two episodes at night, but then the second one came not long after that and I was like, "Could this be it?"

I remained lying on the bed and waited for the third one to come and truly it came.

That's when I got up and went to the toilet to check if got bleeding or mucus plug. None of that. 

Then, I prayed because I was genuinely confused. Not sure if this is really it or not. 

I walked around the room , waited for more contractions and with each episodes, I timed them. 

Then at about 5am, I shook Adrian and said, "Baby, I think this is it!"

He jumped out of bed and started putting on clothes and getting all excited. I was excited too but I needed to get a shower first. Need to wash my hair first knowing that I may not be able to do so for the next few days. Heh. 

By the time I finished with shower, I started bleeding so we wasted no more time to eat or whatever already. I was a little hungry but never mind that.

By the time we got to Adventist Hospital's Emergency Room, it was about 5:40am (I think) and I was wheeled to the Delivery Room while Koay went to do registration et cetera. 

At this point, the pain became more constant but still bearable. I thought to myself that I didn't need epidural whatsoever if it's this kind of intensity, only to have few nurses telling me that the real 'labor pain' not yet start. G.

I was 2cm dilated and since we just have to wait for the dilation to grow, we rested a while in this room before being taken to another room.

Alex was not moving so much at that point but his heartbeat was strong and constant.

I kept walking around so that I could get dilated faster and didn't need to wait for like 12-hours for the delivery to begin. I was ready to pop this one out. 

Then, when Dr. Soon came in to check at 9:30am, I was only 4cm dilated. Oh mannn. A bit too late for all the walking exercises heh. 

He took a long stick and poked the water-bag inside and immediately after that, he realized that Alex had pooped inside and his face changed.

That face.

He waited till Adrian came back from the bakery and broke the news to us.

Sometimes, babies poop while they are still inside the womb but it is not a good thing because we do not want the babies to inhale the poop into his lungs where it could partially or completely block the airway and potentially cause respiratory distress and pneumonia - not life threatening but can cause health complications.

This first poop of baby is called meconium.

Since I was only 4cm dilated, Dr. Soon highly recommended that we go for the Cesarean procedure to take Alex out instead of waiting it out because the meconium inside the bag was pretty sticky and there were quite a lot of them.

He noted that this would be a semi-emergency C-section because by 10am (which was 30-minutes later), I had different tubes in and out of my body and was wheeled into the Operating Theater.

I was completely naked and cold in the OT and more tubes on my body and machines everywhere - really like Grey's Anatomy moment hah.

Once the anesthetic specialist inserted all the necessary drugs into my body, that was when I started having a very mild anxiety attack. I could not move anything below my chest - it was super scary.

I was wide awake and I could not even move my hands.

At this point, Adrian was still outside the OT.

I felt better when Dr. Soon came in and started talking to me and I was like, "Ah, a familiar voice yes".

Then, Adrian walked in and sat next to me.

The moment I was being cut open, Adrian stood up, wanting to see every single thing but only to be told by the nurse to remain seated. Hah. But he was able to see the whole entire thing. How the cut was done, and when Alex was being brought out of my womb and stuff. It was insane. I thought he would freaked out.

The moment Dr. Soon carried Alex out of my womb, he started screaming already. I said screaming because please, he did not spend 9-months inside me to come out crying.

Have to make a grand exit okay. Even the nurse who cleaned him up said, "Wah, so loud har you"

That's our son, alright. Hah.

So, there you go.

Our first family photo.

Adrian left the OT with the baby while I was still being explored on the operating table. They were looking for the fibroid but after 10 minutes of searching, they could not find it and to avoid more bleeding, he thought it was best to stop and stitched me up.

I was being put at another place to rest for an hour before brought back to the 3-bedded room.

It was about 12pm when everything was over and I got to hold my son for the first time. I was feeling a little too tired and overwhelmed and was still in a lot of pain to enjoy the entire hold-my-baby-for-the-first-time but looking back, it did feel amazing for a while - before the pain kicked in again.

If you ask me, of course I would prefer for natural birth but his safety matters most so we did the right thing.

We spent four days and three nights at Adventist Hospital to make sure that the c-section scar is okay and everything else is accordingly. The few days in hospital also allows us to check and see if Alex has jaundice as it may come later on.

Good news is Alex never had to go under the photo-therapy for jaundice because his jaundice level kept going down day by day - he pooped a lot fyi so that helps.

I remembered feeling so nice on the day we were allowed to go home - of course I didn't wait till that day to shower and all but I was so looking forward to sleeping on my own bed already.

Yep, we spent the first night back at our own little house, then only headed over to my mom's the next day and started the "confinement" period. Heh.

Will blog more on that next.

So, that was it - our very first giving-birth experience. Nothing dramatic like water bag broke in the middle of a meal in a mall with strangers everywhere heh. Phew. I always thought that Alex would be a midnight baby but turns out, he became a morning baby.

We are so thankful that you guys have kept us in your prayer for safe and smooth delivery so thank you so much, prayer warriors!

Also, we want to thank all of you who have visited us at the hospital, the gifts and angpows that were received, the lovely messages on social media and thoughtful phone calls - please do know that we appreciate every single one of them. We feel the love for sure. Alex is so blessed for real. 

So everyone, please do meet our firstborn son.

Alex Koay Wey Ren

2.99 kg

Very hairy

Super loud

Pattern > badminton (sebiji macam the father)

Till next time, bye now.

To Alex Koay.

FYI: This post was written before Alex makes the grand exit - probably a couple of months before. I was supposed to post this but totally forgot about it until now. Oh wells. Better late than never.

Hello son.

Okay, the first few times when we had to regard you as son while trying to talk to you through my belly, it felt awkward. At least for me it was. Not gonna lie. 

My emotions were lost because I did not know how to feel. To finally have a somebody who is truly 100% ours. 

Maybe reality had not hit us yet that time but now that you are coming in less than 2-months' time, calling you son is exciting and fulfilling. 

I may have some experience taking care of babies (thanks to your cousins), but I am not sure how is it going to be like taking care of my own. Being in-charge of every single details and having to make all kinds of decisions - be it small or big. 

I am scared. We both are. 

But there is one thing that we are sure of - and that is to cover you in prayers day in and day out. 

We will (for sure) screw up a few things here and there while trying to figure our new life together, and you will most likely hear us argue like kids, but you need to know this - and that is I love your dad and your dad loves me and we both love you (probably too much) heh. 

We will not be 'the' perfect parents and we don't intend to. We want to be the best we could for you and we will always try our best to be the best we know how. 

Ohh and we both agree strongly that we will not (we will try kao-kao) use any electronic devices to 'bribe' you so I guess you stand no chance to try 'manipulate' one of us. No idea how that is going to work but like I say, we will try la. 

We have so many things that we want to do with you, ways to discipline you et cetera, but let's cross the bridge when we get there. We shall not put our hopes too high. Heh. 

I told your dad that you will never be able to leave Penang to further your studies overseas because you are not supposed to be separated from me, ever. Oh no. Unless I go with you. 

See. This is bad. 

You're not here yet, and I am like this already. Your dad constantly reminds me that I cannot be like this - that I must know when to let go. Err. 

Whatever it is, just know that we are first-timers in this and since there are no instructions on what to do or how to do it, we are going to use the wisdom God gives us to nurture you to be a God-loving man. 

See you real soon, Alex.

Coming Back Soon.

Oh hello comfortable space of mine.

It does feel good to be typing and staring at this white blank space.

I have been away for 3-weeks plus because well, I've been busy making life works. Heh. Life now, is different and demanding (in baby-sense) and boy, when there is a free time, even an hour - I would very much like to use them to shut these eyes for a while.

I will leave all that experience-story-telling for the next post when I actually have a little more time and focus for it.

I thought this little piece would take my mind off things for a while and it did. Oh how I miss blogging.

As we approach the 1-month's mark since the birth, this whole experience is still quite surreal because I have no idea how we (both Adrian and myself) survived the night routines with maximum 3-hours of sleep at one-go. Seriously.

I remembered it being so tough the first week - oh so tough. Then now, it's almost a month since. Next thing we know, it's probably going to be 3-months then 6-months, then Alex is going to be 1-year old. Hmm.

Oh wells.

I cannot wait to share with you guys on the next few posts on the birth and things. I hope I won't delay long on that.

Till then, bye now. 

Koay's Love Language #40 - #41.

#40
Him: Ayo, started raining heavy again (while getting ready for work).
Me: Why? Your car no roof ah?
Him: Nolah, scared later my wife cannot fit under the umbrella!
Me: YOU DID NOT JUST OKAY THAT CARD MISTER!

#41
Him:Baby, I cheated on you.
Me: What? You ate Kayu's nasi kandar, didn't you?
Him: HAHAHA yeah I cannot resist.
Me: Tsk tsk tsk.
Him: Jack is my cheat-mate (or mistress)! HAHAHA. 

Pregnancy Update: Week 36.

And we are finally here - the ninth month's mark.

As I am typing this, we are already at the 37th week so that means that should Alex decided to come out anytime now, it will be alright because he's already a full term baby. Every part of him is fully formed and healthy and ready to face this world.

Are we ready though?

Some days we feel like we're not, but on some other days, we would get all hyped up to hold him already. So it's really a mix of everything for us.

As we reached 37-weeks, I realized that there were 2 main things that bothered me - a lot.

First, it's eating. It has to be the gestational diabetes that has been going on inside me. It is really hard to stay away from food items that can help me stay full (for a longer time) such as rice but I really had to stay away from it because it's sugar.

Even when I eat a normal portion of white rice with dishes, my blood sugar would increase so I've been advised (many times) to stay away from white rice and take more protein things. The problem is if I don't take rice, I won't feel the full-satisfied-kind of feeling so I tend to keep finding other things to eat - which is also not advisable.

And I crave so much for soya bean but the only time I can have them is with really little brown sugar or none at all. This is torture.

I know you may think that it's only food, but try be a pregnant person and try to ignore these cravings. TRY.

My blood sugar profile readings have been increasing - suggested by the doctors at Klinik Kesihatan to take insulin shots, but still they would like to monitor me for another week. The thing is I have been pretty disciplined (in my opinion of course) in my food taking but still these readings are not showing that.

So, if that's the case, maybe I really need to take insulin shots in the end - I don't know.

What we know is that we would do whatever is needed to make sure Alex does not get this diabetes thing from me - even if it means getting him out early. Hm.

So yeah. Less than a month to go before I can sink my teeth into a slice of Secret Recipe's Chocolate Indulgence cake.

Second thing is sleep.

I am already prepared for motherhood please with all the sleepless nights I get on a daily basis.

I try to make sure I have at least 8-hours of sleep every night because in the span of that 8-hours, I actually only sleep for like 4-hours. I kid you not.

Alex weighs about 2.7kg now, and with the water and bag weight inside, it has to be like at least 7kg that surrounds my torso.

That means, at this moment, no matter what kind of position I do, I will still have difficulty in breathing - all the time. Sleeping on my right side used to be the comfiest position ever, but no longer, sadly.

No need to mention about lying on my back or left side because it's worse.

This is a real struggle and I find myself (sometimes) have tears in my eyes thinking of going to bed because I can get so frustrated middle of the night trying to sleep. It's just insane.

I get so tired by the time the clock hits 1:00pm.

So, basically the main struggles now are mainly my eating and sleeping - which are two big parts of life please.

If you don't eat well or sleep well, things go haywire okay - and with the raging hormones, it's a nightmare. Thank God for understanding husband who gives massages without complaining.

Here's to 'anytime' and 'anywhere' now. Hopefully no drama water break in public all please.

Prenatal Class with Adventist Hospital Penang.

I am so sorry if most of my posts are now related to baby, pregnancy or baby. Heh. It's the season now you know. Heh.

Okaylah, I not very sorry la. I enjoy these things now. Next thing could be cooking or something I don't know. Hah.

Anyways, we signed up for Adventist Hospital's Prenatal Class and paid RM159 per couple for 4 sessions in the span of a week. It was all his idea to attend these classes as he had no experience whatsoever in taking charge of a tiny human being. Neither do I actually, but I did helped my sister with her two kids when they were born and I sort of know what to do and stuff. Hah.

Here are the sessions and what they are about:

Session 1 (5-hours with light lunch provided)

• Healthy pre and postnatal diet
• Breastfeeding benefits and techniques
• Baby bath demonstration
• Tour of maternity ward (3-bedded, 2-bedded, private room and VIP room - under renovation)

Session 2 (2-hours with a cinnamon roll and a box of organic soya bean juice)

• Care of baby at birth
• Pain relief methods in labor

Session 3 (2-hours with a red bean bun and a box of organic soya bean juice)

• Antenatal care
• Development of baby
• Screening of fetal abnormalities
• Changes during pregnancy
• Complications during pregnancy
• Labor and delivery

Session 4 (2-hours with no refreshments - bring own pillow day)

• Prenatal and relaxation exercises
• Breathing techniques in labor

Also, one thing that excites us and we so look forward to everytime we have a class is the freebies they gave out. We will always try to guess what they will give us because it's different everytime. Once, they gave us a bag with a green-box-thing missing in there - we know because Koay was eyeing on other couples and they were all taking photos of it and then we realized we need to ask for it also! #kiasuparentslailiau

I told him that since I am carrying his child, he should take that walk to the registration table and asked for the missing 'gift'. Haha and he did with his face being all shy and red. Heh.

We received so many types of diapers from various brands, food items that are good for mothers-to-be and some baby items like bibs and mittens.

Most mothers-to-be in our classes are in their second trimester and onwards - only a few in their third trimester and probably one 1 couple who is very near to their due date.

I would recommend mothers-to-be to go during their second trimester so you know these useful information much earlier. For example, like the correct techniques for your husband to learn to massage you every night before bedtime or the kind of food that you should take that is good for you and the baby.

Of course you can get these information online, but it's somehow different when you and your partner hears it in person from the pro themselves.

Highly recommended.

Some couples registered for this Prenatal Class although their usual check-ups are not in this hospital so I guess Adventist Hospital must be quite famous for their Prenatal Class. Heh.

Till then, bye now. 

Bumpfit Maternity Fitness Leggings.

I am currently eight months plus pregnant (35-weeks to be exact) and one thing that is not a friend of mine, is the hot weather.

No matter where I go or what I do, sweating is inevitable.

Once I start sweating, my cranky mood will soon follow, so I really try my best to do whatever it takes to avoid me from sweating.

The pregnancy hot flashes happen even in a very well air-conditioned restaurant okay so it's just super unavoidable.

Because of that, I rarely wear leggings or pregnancy jeans out. VERY RARELY. I prefer to wear dress.

Then, I got this leggings from Bumpfit Maternity Fitness Leggings and upon touching it's fabric, I was pretty convinced that this will be the kind that does not keep the heat in - if that makes sense to you. I needed to find a suitable occasion to try it on. I said find occasion because like I mentioned earlier, I really don't wear pants out to avoid sweating. Heh.

There were 2 events that were coming up which I thought was going to be good to try this legging out - full day 9am-6pm Pastors' Prayer Gathering and Pre & Post Pregnancy Exercise Session by our Adventist Hospital's Antenatal Class.

Even though I sweat easily now, I was still afraid that it may get too cold for me in the church settings since we would be in there the whole entire time, and FGA NZ is known to have the coldest air conditioning - and it did. It kept me fairly warm the entire day.

Also, I was hoping that this leggings would allow me to move around everywhere comfortably - not that I was going to do a split and big movements but I do want to feel like it doesn't limit me in my moving around.

I do have a number of pregnancy leggings that are not so stretchy and becomes super uncomfortable and sticky after a while.

Also, one thing I like about this Bumpfit Maternity Fitness leggings is that its length is very chun-chun. The one I got from H&M was so long that I had to fold it every time I put them on - so that's not really my favorite.

So, I wore it again to our Antenatal Class and no regrets whatsoever.

Super stretchy and I feel that it enables my legs to breathe. Serious. I hate it when leggings start to get wet (because of sweat) and then it just sticks to the skin - super annoying.

This one does not give me that - at all - surprisingly.

When I first heard of the price, I was shocked to be honest.

I felt that this price is really too expensive for a pair of leggings, but after trying them out (two times), I think I would recommend it to mommies-to-be because if you are someone who really gets annoyed with the hot weather and always only wear dresses because of that, you should give this a try.

Throughout my pregnancy, I always try to find ways to make it a comfortable one so I feel this money is worth spending okay.

On a side note, I recently found out from Cheeserland's Instagram about how comfortable Uniqlo bra is and how she (and many other mothers) so strongly support it - so I went ahead and got one for myself although I haven't started breastfeeding okay.

Highly recommended also because Uniqlo bras are super comfortable and gives really good support even though they are wireless. I only got one nude color and I may (anytime soon) gonna get 1 in all their available colors. Heh.

GO GET ONE AND TRY PLEASE.

Okay, that's all for now.

Till then, bye now.