1 week old.

Jerome turns a week old yesterday. the past 1 week has been rather hectic and an emotional roller coaster ride.

as parents, der & me have been estatic at the arrival of the baby. daddy, as before, is very  smitten by his newborn and stayed glued to baby ever since he popped out.

I had a terrible first night stay at the hospital in a double-bedded ward, whuch also meant i didnt have the husband with me. the couple beside me was rather inconsiderate, chatting non stop past midnight and the husband only left at 1.30am. they also shut their bed lights and switched on the main lights which I have shut previously and were shining right into my eyes, resulting in me not able to sleep. I tolerated for 30mins before struggling to sit up in bed (just 4hrs post birth), stretched myself to draw the curtain between us and nicely requested that they switched it off. I did attempt to ask the nurse to help but she just shrugged and told me the switches to off it myself. if that wasn’t bad enough, the TV was also switched on the entire time and I could hear the programme playing. at about 2am, she finally shut the noise out but left the TV on the entire night. OMG. I could see the flickering lights from her TV throughout the night. 5.30am, the room phone rang. make it 3 times. I was so ready to scream but they chatted on the phone. 7am, her husband arrived and the non stop chatting started all over again. when I finally fell asleep from fatigue at 9+, I was awoken by loud, thundering snores shortly after by her husband. the snores were reverberating within the room, I woke up startled. I was sooooooooo ready to scream and throw my mobile phones over for the rough time they put me through. I sounded like a spoilt brat but if you are dealing with pain, discomfort and fatigue, I bet you’ll roar like a lion. I could only blame on the fact that the hospital was really full that day and there were no single rooms available at all except the super expensive 1.3k suites left. urgh. I kept pressing the bell asking when I’ll be able to change out my room, kept texting der and asking what time he is coming and whined non stop through whatsapp and twitter. well, I finally got my single room (and rest) at 3pm and it was bliss thereafter. 

Friday morning. my world fell apart. Jerome’s pd popped through the ward door and gave an update on the baby’s condition – jerome has got jaundice and is also diagnosed with g6pd.

that came as a rude shock. I didn’t know what g6pd was and because I previously went through the CVS earlier, I thought we had his DNA all checked and cleared (OK, not very sure if g6pd can be checked through CVS though). so apparently, its hereditary and I’m a carrier. I have no clue who I got it from and none of my cousins know anything about this nor their kids are affected. i’m pretty sure my parents aint allergic to moth balls! I didn’t suffer any symptoms either so i was pretty dazed and shocked at the news. jaundice is also more serious in g6pd babies because it is harder for them to clear it so baby has to stay back in hospital for phototherapy while I get discharged. very very sad.

daddy looking pensive while I hold my baby for a while longer just before we discharged.

parting shot with mummy.

we visited baby once a day over the next 3 days to provide breastmilk for feeding as well as to catch our precious baby and spend some time together.

Friday evening. as I sat looking at father and son, I almost teared knowing that baby will not be home with us that night.

sat morning. my super hero looking baby.  jaundice level 7.7.

he look angelic amidst the white sheets. my tiny wee little one.. he’s so tiny it hurts looking at the skinny limbs. every single time, we couldn’t bear to return the baby to the nursery.

Sunday morning. jaundice level 7.4. although his jaundice level are pretty safe for normal babies, he needs to be under constant photo therapy as well as observation so he cant really head home. we discovered a whole bunch of scratches on his face that morning. urgh. he probably scratched himself during the photo therapy since the mitten are off.

Monday morning! jaundice level 6.6. the happiest thing that happened was the call from the pd, giving clearance for discharge. YAY!

last shot of him in tmc’s level 6 nursery. he’s the last baby on the right at the row where the nurse is standing at.

I guess it could be a blessing in disguise in some ways because the first few days when we got home, Jerry was this super sticky, cranky and I-only-want-mama koala bear. I guess it had to do with the fact that I never left his side before and he spent 2 nights without me by his side and he was constantly asking for mama. he also developed a low grade fever as well. I suspect it was from the lack of rest since he sorta refused to sleep each night without me around. thankfully, he got well after 2 days and was a much happier boy.

so, when Jerome came home.. Jerry was filled with loads of curiosity and kept checking out  his brother. it’s quite cute and endearing to watch him as he saiyang the younger bro, played with his little toes, lifts his blankie to peep at him. I also caught him kissing Jerome’s feet!

he took his trains and gave it to Jerome to play with him, and even attempted to feed him a banana. quite a hilarious sight.

first night with the 2 boys went by like a breeze and just when I thought that would stay, I was so wrong. second night was a nightmare. Jerome couldn’t and wouldn’t stop crying and he’s a loud little one and Jerry got woken up instead. the woes of everyone being housed in one bedroom. Jerry was puzzled at the crying and when it went on non stop, he actually stared at Jerome, put a finger to his lips and went, “shhhhhh!”, before flopping back into bed to continue sleeping. unfortunately, the crying didn’t cease and we ended up with 2 cranky kids that refused to sleep. I had a hard time pacifying Jerry while the husband handles Jerome. I think I might have fallen asleep before Jerry did.

and just like that, a week has since passed!