Poop in the Pot

Today was a good day. For the first time ever, John did a poop in the potty. :)

Just last night I was talking to my friend Chris about not being disciplined myself to potty train the little one and that there's no obvious carrot I can dangle to incentivise him to do the deed in the pot. But what a difference a day makes!

Kudos to James. It was really his effort. Every morning John spends some time with James so I can have a half hour more in bed. Thing is, every morning, James has been asking John to say "poo poo" if he wanted to pass motion. (Side note: I never ever thought I'd hear the words "poo poo" come out of James' mouth - EVER. I guess the hubs has loosened up a little eh. hehe) And today, John actually said "poo poo". So James whipped him off to the pot and voila! - He did it!

I was so excited I got out of bed to see the end "product" and I must say I have never been so happy to see poop in my life! I even took a picture, which I won't post, to mark the milestone!

John is by no means potty trained yet. In fact, he did 2 more poops in the day - in his diaper. But that was because we were out of the house and didn't have any access to a potty. But I'm so glad we're finally on our way to potty training. Yay!!!

Johnny Walker - Part 2

Our little one is finally walking - properly! It was initially just a step or two and then on June 17, just 2 days after his first birthday, he walked his first 5 steps. After that, just small bits of progress. But the last three days we saw an exponential increase in John's confidence and he's been taking many many steps at a go. And today at his gym mate Caius' birthday party, he walked so much I managed to get video clip after video clip of footage. Here's just one of them!

Of course, after the party, I was absolutely pooped. Chasing the little one around was no joke. I guess it's a little taste of what is to come. Hopefully that will help me shed the pounds. :)

ps. the voice in the background is birthday boy Caius' sister calling out to John. i can't understand what she's saying but i guess John does since he makes a 90 degree turn and heads straight for her.

First steps!!!

I'm slowly putting together my post on John's birthday weekend and i hope to have that up soon. I've just got lots to say and loads of pics to choose from. So stay tuned.

BUT, I'm so excited cos my little man took his first official steps today!!! 5 to be exact. wooooot! In attendance was mummy, daddy, mama, gong gong and our helper, Tess. He had been taking one or two tentative steps of late but today, it was proper walking. When he finally got back down on his fours again, we broke into a huge applause, which John of course loved. I'm hoping the positive response would encourage him to do it again. My cam's going to be blued to me tomorrow. Hopefully i'll catch his next steps on camera.

More developments

Developmentally, this week has been an amazing week for John. I am convinced that all babies really need to grow and reach their milestones is OPPORTUNITY. After we set up John's play yard and put him in there to allow him to engage in independent play, he started doing all these amazing things! Here's what he's achieved in the last few days...

Tuesday 3rd Feb: He started crawling.

Thursday 4th Feb: He sat up by himself without needing to support himself with his hands.

Sunday 8th Feb: He pulled himself up to stand (he used the wall that was mummy).

Look mummy! I'm sitting all by myself!

I truly am amazed at how he's growing and I am just looking forward to much more that is to come.

Watch me crawl!

Yes. John's hit his next milestone... crawling! Because he's just starting out, he needs a really big incentive to get him to move. At the moment, the rubber ducky does the trick!

result: very happy baby

Look who's 7 months old!

Wheeeeee... John's now 7 months old and he's thriving very well. He's 8.3kg now and is about 70cm long. He's also started to do baby push ups and will soon be crawling. He's also learning to sit on his own though that's coming along a little slower than average. He's still putting everything and anything in his mouth and droooools like there's no tomorrow. He's also got 2 teeth and is eating 2 meals a day. His most significant development is that he's now sleeping through the night!

Socially he's fabulous. He loves people and breaks into a huge grin when people raise their eyebrows at him or smile at him. He also loves playing peek-a-boo. His current favourite toy is the rubber ducky, which yes, he puts in his mouth too.

Personally, I can't believe it's been 7 months! I do miss the time he was tiny tiny. But I look forward to what lies ahead for the little active one. Now, i'm taking it one day at a time.

Solids...

We started John on solids on Sunday 14 December. We got the go ahead from his pd and decided it was time. His first meal consisted of home-made organic brown rice watered down with breastmilk. You'd think the bub would find it delish, but this is what he thought of it:

Well, he soon got the hang of it and he was eating much much better. Here's another pic of him after a few more meals.

Since his first week, we have introduced sweet potato and avacadoes, both of which he loves. On top of that, we've started him on two meals a day instead of one and he's still eating well. Mummy's having lots of fun making his meals and having the satisfaction of seeing him wolf it down. :) Oh, did I mention John's now a whopping 8kg!!! For a 6 and a half month bub, i think that's quite a load wouldn't you say?

Teething with a vengeance

Throughout our trip, we were anticipating John's teeth appearing and we can finally say he's no longer toothless. :) Last Tuesday 2 December, I noticed a hole in John's gum. 3 days later, we spotted the enamel appearing and on Monday, 8 December, the bottom left front tooth made it's appearance! John's bottom right tooth is also starting to show and it will be very soon before his cheeky grin will bear his very first two teeth.

Needless to say, the bub's been gnawing at everything! I can't imagine how it must feel like to have something poking through your gums but the tenacity with which he bites down on his teethers or my fingers is telling enough. He's not been the most easy baby, but if I had to grow all my teeth again, I'm sure I'd be grumpy too. I'm just thanking God he's growing well.

Next Monday we're celebrating his turning 6 months! Time really flies! He's up for a jab this Sat and we'll be starting him on solids either later on this week of next... EXCITING!

Heads up!

Here's my little man hitting his next milestone!

For quite some time John didn't enjoy tummy time. He'd start crying as if really distressed and I'd immediately pop him back on his back. But I knew I had to persist if he was going to strengthen his neck muscles. So I put him on his tummy on my tummy and he seemed to take to that a lot more. Within a couple of days, he started to lift his head well so I moved him off my tummy. And viola! Difficult tummy time sessions are a thing of the past and he's loving looking at the world from a whole different perspective.

Welcome to the world Zac!

My sister Serena gave birth to her second child, Zac Havryluck on the 13th of August and he's another cutie. John's now got 3 half-aussie, half-chinese cousins... how wonderful is that?!! We're certainly looking forward to them (Serena, Mia and Zac) coming to Singapore next month.

He can smile!

John's now 8 weeks old and he's learnt how to smile, laugh and gurgle! Mummy melts everytime it happens and I probably can't live a day without seeing his sweet grin. Ahh... the joys of motherhood!

My Supernatural Childbirth

I want to give God the glory for my wonderful journey into the world of motherhood. From the time I conceived, I trusted God for a supernatural pregnancy and childbirth. I believe that Jesus took all our sorrows to the cross and that we are free from the curse of sorrow in conception and childbearing. Indeed, God proved faithful and He is a God who answers prayers.

I was at CVC on Friday the 13th of June (12 days prior to my due date) preparing for the Spiritual Growth Seminar when I had a leak of amniotic fluid. I told my mum, who asked me to go home to rest. That night, I had my show and I knew it was the first sign that the process of childbirth had started. I called Serene (Bro Henson’s wife who has had 6 children!), and she gave me advice and kept me calm.

I was concerned because my doctor, who was the only pro-natural doctor I knew, was away for the weekend. I had heard many stories of doctors inducing labour without the knowledge of the patient and I didn’t want any intervention in my pregnancy at all. I had to exercise faith and to put my trust in God and not in the doctor. If my doctor was not around, I had to believe that God would orchestrate everything for me.

Throughout the next day (Saturday), I experienced contractions on and off. For quite a while I wasn’t even sure it was contractions because there was no pain at all. By dinner time, my contractions were 5 minutes apart. It was about time to go to the hospital. I had actually booked my delivery at Mount Alvernia Hospital (Mt. A), but I had found out that my doctor’s replacement doctor at Mt. A was also on emergency leave! I had to go to Thomson Medical Centre (TMC) where a replacement doctor was available. I had no booking with the hospital and had to go in faith! Praise God, when I went to TMC at 10pm, they had a bed for me.

When I was admitted, I was only 2cm dilated. The nurse told me that I had a long time to go so they brought to my room to rest and wait. I fell asleep for a while but woke up at 1.45am with more intense contractions. The nurse then brought me back to the delivery ward at 2am. After a check, I was still only 3cm dilated. In theory, it would take one hour to dilate one cm, which meant I still had 7 hours to go. Because it was the wee hours of the morning, there were delivery suites available and so I was brought to my delivery suite at 3am for the rest of my labour. My husband James and I stood in agreement and asked God to speed the process up.

From the time I was admitted, the nurses kept asking me if I was aware of the pain medication available. I was so sure I was not going to feel any pain (I hadn’t felt any pain so far), that I told them I didn’t need any, and every time they asked me if I wanted any pain medication, I politely declined. Soon they got the message.

It was my conviction that God had created our bodies to labour naturally and so I didn’t want anything artificial such as induction performed. I especially didn’t want the doctor to break my water bag to “speed” things up. We prayed that my water would break naturally and at the right time and when I went to the toilet at 5.30am, my water on its own. I knew that it would be really soon before I would see my baby.

The nurses came in and checked me again at 5.45am and that was when they realized I was already fully dilated so they paged for the replacement doctor. The doctor appeared at 6.15am and by that time, I was already pushing. After 30 minutes, at 6.45am, our baby John Ch’ng made his entrance into the world with a bout hearty screams. He was a healthy 3.2kg and was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. God bridged time for me and what would typically have been 7 hours of active labour took only 4+ hours. And I had a pain-free supernatural birth! I didn’t need any pain relief… no gas, no epidural, nothing. And because I didn’t have any medication, John was really alert when he was born, and after being cleaned up, he was able to breastfeed right there in the delivery suite. It was the most amazing feeling.

In my birthplan, I stated I did not want an episiotomy and I thank God that the doctor didn’t see a need to perform one. I did have some minor tearing, but it was not painful and it healed well within a few days. I hardly even took any pain medication at the hospital.

John was born on the 15th of June, Father’s Day! What a present for my husband James!
It’s been 7 weeks since John’s arrival and I have not experienced any post-partum pain or cramps that we are “supposed” to feel when the uterus contracts. I still have all my pain medication the hospital sent me home with!

I want to thank God for this wonderful experience. He indeed answered my prayers and I am able to testify that He is an awesome God! Truly, Jesus had bore all our sins when He went to the cross so that we can live in victory. He is our wonderful Saviour. Hallelujah. I also want to thank my husband who was by my side throughout supporting me. Thanks also to my family who were praying for me. And special thanks to Serene (and Henson), who encouraged me long before I even conceived.

And he has arrived!

Baby Ch'ng has finally arrived! 10 days early! And on Father's Day (15 June) no less. He weighed in at a healthy 3.2kg (7 lb 1 oz).

Introducing our son, John Ch'ng...

I will be writing my birth story shortly and I promise it will be exciting... I experienced no pain and I delivered completely naturally. On top of that, my gynae was on leave and I delivered at a hospital in which I had no booking for! But for now I want to thank God for a supernatural childbirth. Indeed, we were redeemed from sorrow when Jesus died on the cross and He is a faithful God who hears our prayers and meets us at our level of faith. All glory belongs to Him and Him alone. :)