Tired Eyes/Open Eyes!

Just realized that Kay's open alert eyes are a big contrast to Sching's and mine. But looking at the pics above , could not help but chuckle at our lack of sleep - it's all worth it!

Cats are neglected

Our poor cats - Tea and Milo. Our 'original' babies have been banished from the bedroom ever since Kay is home. They are also not receiving the normal 'jump into our laps and get tickled' treatments.

The cats are still getting used to having a new 'body' around the house and I cannot wait to see Kay grow up and start playing with the cats.

The Sarong

Been using the Sarong over the last few days. The Sarong is amazingly comfortable for Kay and she loves to be in it – often keeps her sleeping for over an hour without crying. I think the snug feel of the sarong reminds her of her time in mommy’s womb.

The sarong was brought over from Singapore and it comes with an instructional DVD – DVD is actually quite funny as it shows us the features of the sarong, including the availability of a pouch that you can keep your cell phone and tissues conveniently. Of course these are the 2 most essential items that a mom/dad needs to carry in Singapore :-)

I like the sarong too – with the sarong, both my hands are actually free and I can actually do simple tasks like typing this blog entry. Pics above shows the Sarong in action (Paul is a witness to the Sarong's advantages)

little miss sunshine...

Finally, both cheeyuen & i have mastered the art of typing with one hand...and falling asleep at mid-day when it's bright and sunny out.

Just wanted to say how thrilled i am with the new journey. Sure it's painful for me literally, with all the healing wounds and soreness from breastfeeding...but it will all pass soon. Especially when you see that "button-nose" of hers and her tiny eyes staring back. The "Small-eyed girl" has finally become someone's mummy...

oh thanks for all the flowers and gifts !

Sleepless nights have just started!

Sching and I thought we have a pretty quiet baby - that thought was quickly banished on Kay's first night. She is pretty demanding when it comes to feeding, diapers , or just attention. All the advice/feedback from friends seem to make sense now :-)

However it is all worth it especially you see her. Some sample ones above.

Proud Parents

I am falling asleep as I finish this post - just want to share a couple of pics that shows how happy we are to see Baby Kay for the first time. Our lives have just changed forever!

The CALM before the PUSH

We like to display some pics that totally belies the whole traumatic(for me, at least) labour process.

Pic 1: Me sitting really relaxed reading the Expectant Father(thanks Lucas, for the book), trying to crap in last minute info on how to handle the birth process

Pic 2: Sching sucking on some popsicles to keep hydrated

Pic 3: The cool Jacuzzi tub that Sching did not get to use as she was on epidural.

These pics were taken at around Mar 18 - 3pm .

Super Sunday Mar 18

This has got to be better than the Chiefs winning the Superbowl!

Essentially, Mar 18 can be summarized as:

• 5 am: Sching waking up at screaming: 'Hon, My water broke!'
• 6 am: Arrived at hospital after panick-packing the hospital bags(we are supposed to do it this weekend)
• 8 am: Told to go home for 8 hours as the cervix is not dilated enough
• 11 pm: Contractions are so bad that Sching cannot open her eyes.
• 12 pm: Back to the hospital again - and there is no way we are leaving
• 2 pm: Epidural administered; suddenly labour seems better.
  
• 6 pm: Hey, cervix is ready - Baby Kay wants to be born
• 7ish pm: We officially welcome Baby Kay to the world.

About Kay's name

This is what Kay's name will look like in Chinese - Lin Qi in Mandarin and Lam Kei in Cantonese. Lim is of course my surname and Kay means a kind of jade or outstanding; extraordinary; distinguished; admirable in Chinese.

Basically we started thinking about the name after we first moved to Toronto a few years back. As most of you will know, names are normally expressed as first name, last name in this part of the world. So a typical name like mine will be read as Chee Yuen Lim, with Yuen being normally ignored and Chee Lim is not exactly how i like to be called. I ended up combining Chee Yuen into a single word and of course Sien Ching has came up with something cooler like Sching. My name is still easy with friends but it gets a bit frustrating when I am speaking with strangers. So I have resorted to 'Nigel' when i am ordering pizzas or cabs, or anything that does not require me to be truthful.

Anyway, back to Kay - we decided to go with something simple to save her the frustrations of her parents, but more importantly, we like her name to somewhat link back to her Chinese name and voila Kay, as it sounds just like the Cantonese version. It will also make it easier for us to name her siblings(this is a BIG if) - eg Fay(next girl), Jay(boy), May, etc.

p/s:One more note for Singaporeans reading this, because of the Hanyu Pinyin name on my passport, I have Chee, Yuen, Lin, Z, Lim on my drivers license here - result of the Canadian Immigration when I first landed in Toronto, they actually went out of space because they cannot squeeze Lin Zhiyuan into my official documents.

Baby Diapers!!

With the purchase of diapers, baby wash, & baby lotion today, preparation for Baby Kay's arrival is almost complete! Kay has been moving around pretty regularly and it looks like she is almost ready to face the world. It's been a whirlwind few months, when we start stocking up on baby stuff - big items like stroller, car seat, crib, and a house at Stouffville but of course plenty of smallish items like receiving blankets, onesies(thanks to the list from Andrew). Definitely more things to consider compared to playing golf :-)

Just a quick thank you...

Already before her arrival, the celebrations and well wishes have poured it.
Thanks to all the friends and family for their gifts and happy happy thoughts.

will keep everyone posted when Kay is here !

Spring is here !

March 11th... we move the clock forward to mark the arrival of spring.
This means we are closer to welcoming the arrival of Baby Kay. She is growing big and kicking a lot....