its the end of august!

(ok, i wrote it a few days ago but didnt have the time to post it)

if only, time didn’t pass that fast!

the last i remembered, i was still celebrating my birthday.. ok. it’s a hallucination. a lot of things happened between that and then, but i hardly have enough time to rest, lest put anything here on this space.

i did a trip to the US and back. long haul flights and breastfeeding are definitely not compatible. in fact, it was TOUGH. despite the fact that i have managed to drag the duration between pumping sessions to 6hrs in anticipation of the trip. i keep getting banged at while i was occupying the lavatory, regardless of whether i am on a SQ flight, continental airlines flight or united airlines flight. neither does economy nor first class makes any difference. people still bang on the door or give me the stares when i do finally exit (even though i have already chosen the best possible time where people are having meals or when most are in slumber). Or, i could hardly predict the air turbulence that would be happening and i have flight stewardess banging on my door and having me return to me seat. argh!

well, i was unlucky enough to be on a FULL flight 6 times out of the 7 leg journey i was making. the only empty flight was from narita back to singapore (it didnt matter anymore). what worse? i had to have male companions seated beside me on all flights and i wasn’t comfortable enough to do it at my seat and thought it was also equally messy since i needed to pour the milk away and wash the bottles. coupled everything here with bad weather, delayed flight.. it totally messed up my schedule and i suffered badly from mastitis (running a high temperature) in universal studios florida AND seattle. i think i almost died and at some point, i couldn’t even lift my right hand from the plugged ducts.

it was pure misery. imagine my agony when i needed to pump but i still had to run from different airport terminals to catch my connecting flight, board the flight, wait for it to be airborne and seat belt sign to be off and the lavatory to be empty before doing the deed (turns out to be more than 2 hrs past my schedule). just.because.of.bad.weather.and.delayed.flight (which cut my 3hrs transit time to 40 mins). my god. i am never ever gonna do this again. no more longer than 6 hrs flight during the time i am still breastfeeding or any transiting flights.

and guess what? my maternity leave ended last week and i’m now officially on annual leave (and childcare leave). *groans*

and while i was gone (i didn’t really miss my baby much cos i was too tired/sick to care – sounds like a really bad mum!), my baby grew more interactive but seemed to be on a nursing strike with my mum, so they only depleted 1 drawer of frozen milk supplies that i had back home. ok. too be fair, i also left 3 days worth of fresh supplies before i left so that was gone too. meanwhile, i’m back to feeding fresh supplies and monitoring his milk intake because it still seems rather low.

i lugged back 120pounds worth of luggage and left these behind in my aunt’s place (much to her horror!!).

actually, this was not all. there is a kolcraft wonderbug activity centre, an activity gym, and alphabet jigsaw rubber mat. all of which are super big/bulky items and have been pre-packed into a bag for my aunt to bring back.

this is the bag, because no other luggage could fit.

amongst the items i bought, here’s a sneak peak into some of them. i have yet to take photos of everything, but loads of clothes and shoes and toys and books. oh, and food. jars and jars of baby food. and diapers. ok. there were a lot more things.

gerber’s baby food in assortment of flavours, huggies demin diapers, mickey mouse shape sorter from disney world (couldn’t resist), and 2 learning trucks for different age.

toys, some lamaze ones, a fisherprice mirror for the car, a lullaby lamb that glows (the glowing light is cute and attention grabbing), books (i bought more but not pictured here) and a CD of nursery rhymes/lullabies. i ordered these stuff a while back and has been lying around in my aunt house so part of the reason for my trip is to lug my stuff back.

feeding utensils, in anticipation of starting him on solids when he turns 6 months. not far off now.

clothes! gap, tommy hilfiger, polo ralph lauren, carter’s, disney characters and some random brands that could jolly well see him through the next one year. -_-” they were so affordable that i couldn’t give them a miss.

errrm. sound ridiculous, but i also bought a huge box of wet wipes……….

only on the basis that i know my aunt & uncle will be making quite a few trips to singapore in the next few months and would be able to bring my stuff over for me and the fact being the 1k united frequent flyers that they are, they got a LOT more luggage space (210lbs each) versus my pathetic allowance of 100lbs. of cos, i am very very grateful for them and their help!

if case you are wondering about that macbook air that’s lying around.. that’s a present for my mum’s birthday. and oh, do pardon the showing of my brother’s feet! hah!

now that i’m back here. i think my trip feels a little too short. i don’t seemed to have done much! another 4 years before my licence expires again which would garner a trip back. just not sure if i’ll pop back sooner than that. i do wanna visit the grand canyon or the golden gate bridge. its just, i havent found the chance.