~ 1st milestone ~

the progress of a baby was measured by milestones. since the day the baby was born, he will be subjected to some milestones e.g. loudness of cry, movement of limbs etc etc... even after birth, there are milestones for every important period in the baby's development....

here is isaac's.........

it's a smile!!! ok ok ok ..... you'll probably can't tell from this pic because that's the closest i can get to his smile. (can't be holding my camera phone each time i look at him right?) anyway, this is somewhat a smile la... but what actually happens is that this smile later evolves to a cry... hahahaha..... he wants his 2 hourly fix...

~ something missing ~

how would you feel if someone tells you that something on your son is missing?

how would you feel if someone tells you that something on your son has dropped off?

how would you feel if that something was like a life tube to your son?

how would you feel if someone shows you what is it?

well, the first thing i said was yucks... then i looked in amazement because i don't remember mine looked like that. in fact, i don't even remember what mine looked like. all i know is that my mom kept it in her safe box for whatever reasons. there're no health properties, there's no good luck charm what-so-ever, it's not something that smells nice, it's just like a piece of fingernail that you just cut. no reason why you should keep a cut fingernail right?

my mom asked me to keep it and she don't know what it is for. "just keep it for the sake of nostalgia", probably something for you to pass on to your child when he's old. anyway, i'm still wondering if i should keep it or just throw it away. it's actually a remnant of what's left from the umbilical cord that i cut when isaac was born. yours looked like this? maybe you can asked your mom to show you yours. perhaps she's still keeping it for whatever reasons.
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perhaps you all can tell me why should i keep it?

~ home sweet home ~

we went back to our own home today. we stayed in lili mom's house over the weekend because that is the initial plan. however, it is quite taxing for the family as they take turns to care for Isaac at night which is very tiring. the first night, i took care of him till 4 am. the second night, aunty lisa took care of him the entire night and finally the third night, aunty liling took care of him whole night as well. all of us got knocked out the next day...

i finally decided to get a confinement lady and thank God, she's available. so far so good... =)

anyway after decided to hire a confinement lady (her name is "ying che"), i need to make sure that everything in our home is in place like Isaac's baby cot, clean place (not that it's not clean...) and stuff like that. i took the whole on sunday afternoon to get it all done and i must say that i'm quite proud of my achievements. here's one of it...

tadaa..........

how's that? i fix that all by myself and mind you fathers to be... please get someone to help you. you'll save at least 1 hour from it.

the evening was good since we had ying che taking care of all the baby chores and that allows us to have some rest. i was really exhausted and need a good rest urgently. we decided to let the Isaac sleeps with ying che but only after i manage to convince lili that this is the best option. i would love to have Isaac with us but since lili is still recovering, it is best that she gets all the rest she can get (especially at night!) and once she's well, we will let Isaac sleeps with us.

looking at him sleeping is just soooooooooooo wonderful. no words can describe the feeling. if you want to know, be a parent.. =)

~ i wanna go home... ~

this morning as i was driving to the hospital, my thoughts travelled back to the day when baby Isaac was born. the way lili is pushing to bring out Isaac was really wonderful and when Isaac comes out, his gaze and cries just put smiles into my face. that's what we want his life to be... always able to put a smile on our Father in heaven's face.

grand aunty # 2 & 3 (aunty christina & aunty betty) came early this morning. haha… sounds like very old?? no way. they are quite young actually. anyway, aunty christina's is going to be a grandmother soon as well!! somewhere next year i guess. sounds like a baby boom in the family... did i hear one more coming?? jie fu???

lili was talking about going home already today. and when the doc examines her and give the all clear sign, hoola.... WE ARE GOING HOME!!!!! daughtry... daughtry... daughtry...
after completing all the check our procedures, we reached home at about 2 pm. he’s been sleeping soundly during the whole journey.

things were disorganised in the beginning because there’s like so many things to be done, i.e. getting the bottles ready, making sure all his stuff is in the right place, making sure mommy’s things are there. surely we need some time to get things organized and it is getting so as time goes by. by around 4, me and lili were exhausted. i slept on the couch while lili rest with baby Isaac. Whew… didn’t know that a child can drain your energy so fast!!!! don’t even have time to recharge.

by now, there’s one thing very certain… baby Isaac got big eyes, very cute big eyes… =) everyone that sees him or his picture, that's the first comment they made. "wow, very big eyes hor..." "wah, bak chew anni tua liap eh?" after a while, we kinda get used to it. grand aunty swee bee and june came for a visit together with uncle benson and aunty heidi… haha… yeah yeah, they are still young. that’s what you get when a new generation was added into the family. tonight I’m sleeping with mommy and baby, so hopefully won’t have sleepless nights thinking of them.

~ a day of firsts ~

i didn't have a good sleep last night, probably still reeling from the excitement yesterday. woke up at about 6 because I can’t wait to see mommy & baby! partly also have to thank my considerate neighbor for waking me up this early with the noise they make. i wonder what were they doing... hhmmm.....

i reached the hospital at 8 and Isaac was at mommy’s side already. he’s nicely cuddled and enjoying the attention that we gave him. we prayed as a family this morning for the first time. (note to self: must do this every morning). i started off by reading Psalm 1 to Isaac. khai mah says that this is very good, and provided some examples. i must say that the examples she quoted is quite believable. =)

i had the chance to carry him & talked to him for the first time. i looked intently trying to see any birthmarks or stuff like that. he’s so gorgeous and cute… i noticed that his head isn't that “coney” shaped anymore. less coney than yesterday actually and it will go back to normal in a few days. this is quite normal if the baby was delivered normally. daddy and son had a good time while mommy went relieving herself.. =)

aunty Lisa brought breakfast for lili today… sounds funny calling her aunty lisa cause she’s only 19!! anyway, that’s a promotion for her and the rest of the family. aunty Lisa carried Isaac for the first time today =) I think this is the first time she’s carrying a baby as well but have to say that she did very well. i think better than I did! =)

Isaac tried breast feeding for the first time this morning. quite unhappy cause he didn’t get any milk. =) well, milk production only starts 2-3 days later and what you get now is called colostrum (some kind of milk with lots of antibodies from mommy which is good for baby. helps with the development of his own defence system)

baby Isaac took his first bath today and I noticed that he has small teeny weeny hairs on his cheeks!!! soooo cute… =) soon after his bath, the doc let him experience his first pain… bcg & hepatitis B injection. hahahha… poor thing. i dare not witness this because i will definitely punch the doc for hurting my son. afternoon was rather quite, good time for mommy to get her much needed rest.

kenneth, daniel and su ann came in the evening for a visit. i took them to see Isaac cause he’s awake. the nurse carries Isaac to me and I carried him for the second time today!!! hooray!!! my policy before this is not to carry any baby before 6 months but all is broken yesterday…. =) for a good cause. baby Isaac was hiccuping (or hiccing up??) when I carried him… even his hiccup is sooooo cute.

The day ended with streams of visitors coming to visit lili. she’s been talking non stop since like 7:30 pm. i brought Isaac into the room due to popular demand but well, he got other ideas!!! He pooped and off he goes back to the nursery to clean up and then zzzzz… i tidy up the place a bit before i left for the day. tired, energy drained and sleepy but very very very happy.

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day 1 completed. tiring but full of joy.

~ welcome!! ~

Name: ISAAC ONG YI ZHE

Born : 17 October 2007
Time : 3:31 pm
Weight : 3 kg ~ 6.6 pounds
Length : 54 cm
Head Perimeter : 33 cm

it was a really long day that day. lili went into the labour room at 8:30 a.m. and that was the longest 8 hours in my life. i was just pacing outside the room and hopefully i get to go in and have a word of encouragement for her. i actually managed to went in twice to see her. all the while when i'm outside, i'll be praying and asking God to help her during delivery. i've never prayed so many times in a day before. i've probably prayed 3 times more than our muslim brothers did in a day!

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finally at about 3:20, the nurse called me into the labour room. baby isaac is coming. only God knows how many beats my heart skips. as i walked towards the labour room, i saw lili on the bed and was panting hard preparing to push. i walked nervously beside her and held her hand. the doctor was superb and his coaching was really great. lili only requires a few hard pushes and viola.... baby isaac is out!! =)

he was crying the moment the doc put him on lili and his eyes was looking straight at us as if he was saying, "why you get me out? it's so comfortable inside!"

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i cried when he first came out because he was such a beauty! he is perfect in every way and extremely gorgeous. God really answers my prayer as all i asked for is to have a healthy baby. Isaac’s arrival was quick and swift just like we prayed. All in all, God has been planning this moment since the day Lili was pregnant. The timing and arrangement was perfect and precise. PRAISE GOD!!! Lili have a good testimony on this.

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lili was going great as well. she's so brave and strong during the process. . I’ve seen a lot of women going into labor in Discovery Home & Health but no one is like her. No pain killers!!! Some mom would have saluted her as well. She’s a champion.

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after all the hoo haa... i was like totally drained. haven't had anything the whole day until 5 pm, my leg was aching because i hardly sit and i was dead tired. since i'm still in a state of euphoria, all this doesn't matter at all!! =)

of course all these feeling is like peanuts compared to what lili's been through.

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went home at about 10 something, had my bath and eat some food. i'm already looking forward to tomorrow when i can see baby isaac again and of course lili.... =)