Dear Jellybean-January 2011

Dear Jellybean,

This is daddy and mummy, before you came along. We went on dates and did spontaneous things. 

Then you made mummy become a balloon before coming along and predominantly hiding your parents within four walls.

The End.

Just kidding!

Truth is, you've given daddy and mummy so much joy within one month- well, that and lots of diaper changes and colouring your parents clothes with yellow and white. Uh huh- poops, wees and milk vomits.

We've lurved every moment of seeing you grow from the tiny bundle into a slightly larger bundle. Within one month, you've learnt to smile and laugh at spontaneous things. You've also made a point to be carried throughout the day, though at night you've been sleeping in your bassinet. At one point, every second night you chose to keep your parents up with you, but then mummy discovered it might of been the coffee she drank- so we wont blame that on you. 

You've learnt to make funny sounds and coo back at us when we talk to you. You fall asleep while being bounced on a fitball and love hearing anyone sing songs to you. Mummy sings funny songs that she doesn't really know the lyrics to, but you find that entertaining anyway. You make daddy talk to you during night feeds as if you understand what he's saying. You make Gong Gong and Poh Poh carry you by making weird shrieks- and ofcourse they succumb to your funny whimpers.

Oh, you hate the pram! You've already made yourself noticeable when you loudly cried at the local shopping center and spur spontaneous strangers to make comments. And car seats? You only like them when the car moves. When the car stops during traffic lights, you make noises too.

You've got 1001 facial expressions. But your favourite one is where you perk your mouth as if you're whistling. That usually means you're wide awake and ready for play.

When dawn comes, you want to be placed on daddy and mummy's bed. Thats when you fall back to sleep again within the comfort of your parents. You also love being on daddy's chest. You find that relaxing though mummy freaks sometimes wondering if you can  breath.

But Jellybean, despite everything, we love you to bits. Grow up quick cos we wanna play with you.

xoxo.

Mummy & Daddy

Out Of Jail Celebratory Food

Last month felt like forever! Between broken sleep and chicken wine, it felt like Groundhog day. What I did enjoy was seeing Jellybean having growth spurts and discovering her new tricks of the day- she's definitely got a few more rolls down the leg than before!

Just a few days ago, we celebrated Jellybean's Full Moon. Full Moon celebrates baby's one month from their birth date, followed by some simple rituals before presenting friends and family with food. It's also my out of jail card as my confinement finally ends! Hurrah! We decided to give food parcels to close friends and have a celebratory meal with our family.

Our modernized Full Moon food parcel contained:

Red eggs, BBQ chicken and some cakes. Obviously we chose the easy way out! Frankly, I chose to spend my time washing my hair in the morning than to slave over making kuehs and cooking chicken.- And this is coming from someone who loves her time in the kitchen!

Sorry friends. Please understand. Confinement makes one wacky. Really.

Cakes were chosen instead of the traditional Ang Ku Kuehs.

My favourite of the three- Sponge Fruit cake.

Mango Mochi Cake- Glutinous skin with sponge cake insert.

Black Forrest.

Deepest thanks to all, for the lovely gifts and red packets! Jellybean is truly spoilt!

Longan & Red Dates

It's been a long Chinese tradition to do one month of confinement after giving birth. If you ask me, it's like one month of house detention with limited food. No fun.

I wouldn't say I have a strict confinement, but it's definitely restricting.

Confinement procedures [yes, I say it with much formality!] vary in different ethnic groups- different foods and doings. I'd say my mum more or less followed the Hakka tradition for my confinement. These include:

-Drinking red date and longan tea for the whole duration. No plain water. Amazingly the body does survive without one month of plain water though I don't know whether its good or bad.

For the past few weeks I've only drank boiled water submerged with dried longans and red dates.

-Eating foods with cooked chinese wine and ginger. Bleh. Imagine a repetitive menu for one month and everything loaded with ginger. This is suppose to repel wind and help sweat out excess waters.

-No showering. Well, technically I bathe with boiled herbal water. But I'm not allowed to touch un-boiled tap water. Let me tell you now- this is virtually impossible. From washing baby bottles to washing my hands before feeding- how can I not touch tap water?

-No hair washing. Urgh! Maybe this is one of the worst rules ever! It is believed that pores on the head 'open' after giving birth. So exposing these 'open pores' to water will induce headaches and other problems in the future. True or not, I'm not sure.

I know it sounds grose- but I've survived 3 weeks of yucky hair. I think it's becoming a helmet now- stuck on me. And if you need a insect repellant, do visit me! Hmm..or maybe I'm the one attracting the bugs!

-Eating heaty foods. Once again, to expel wind, help return the uterus to its pre-preggers state.

-Lie down when possible to refrain from straining the back. This one I do believe in. I've felt my own spine being more vulnerable after birth. Having said that, a newborn being breast-fed and needy doesn't allow much resting time.

One month of fun huh? I told H if he ever expected me to have another kid, lets skip this confinement ritual.

Labour-2

..[continued]...

5:00am- I wake up once again with back pain and sore pelvis. This time it's worse as other womanly body parts make it less tolerable.

Once again I take a looong shower- washing my hair umpteen times in preparation for confinement. But by the time I put on my clothes, I'm in sweats again. Pregnancy!

6:00am- H and I get breakfast at Mcdonalds drive through. I'm not advocating this for breakfast before labour, it is just convenient and on the way. For a sheer moment I contemplate having a Mcdonalds pig-out, not sure if it was the hormones thinking or me wondering if a hash brown and a Mcmuffin will take me throughout the day of labour. Then I remember it might not be a good sight if Jellybean came with other bodily excesses- you know what I mean. Stop. Just eat the hash brown.

As if I know the hospital back to front now, I once again go into Baby Hilton. The midwives in labour ward know me- we left our luggage there the night before. They tell me to go into my own ward as if it's my hotel room.

We meet Anastasya- my first midwife of the day. She's young, pretty and distinctly Russian. I half wished I didn't get such a pretty midwife to do such a gruelling chore. It just made me feel so much worse. Don't ask me why. She was super friendly though and trust me it makes a whole world of differnece when you're contracting!

7:30am- my obstetrician comes in and checks my cervix. Urgh. My waters break and I feel like I should be wrapped in nappies. I feel revolting. I somehow wished H didn't see this side of labour. Hospital gowns look awful, feel awful and expose your butts!

8:30am- I start feeling contractions. they feel like mild period pain. I start counting but the contractions are mild and far apart. I'm in good spirits now. I'm over the exposed butt part and H and I are holding normal conversations.

10:00am- The contractions get stronger and closer, but still irregular. I'm now bored. The tv is on. I'm reading magazines to waste time.

11:30am- My obstetrician comes back in to check on me. I have a magazine on one side, a iPad on the other and a drink by the bedside. He jokes I'm on a holiday and looks so relaxed.

12:00pm- My contractions spur me to breathe heavily. They're still quite far apart but oh they are getting painful. Anastashya offers me heat pads. They help. Mildly. But I do with it.

12:30pm- Going to the toilet bringing in machines, with a exposed butt and broken waters aint fun. My back is hurting so much! I opt to sit on a fitball. After a few contractions I can't stand it anymore and return to the bed. I'm taking deep breaths now and it darn hurts! I still resist. Trying to be a hero.

1:00pm-All is a blur now. Contractions are close. Darn painful. I breathe like no tomorrow. I'm start to cry from the pain. Great hero I am! The midwife offers me epidural and I jump to it. I murmur 'Pain relief!' to H. I can't take it anymore.

The anaesthetist comes in and starts telling me the risks of epidurals. I tell him to just do it! He makes a comment about my bag and between my contractions and weepy eyes I tell him after labour I need lots of handbags! He laughs and says atleast I can still joke. After what seemed like a eternity, he places a freezing cold wipe on my back before setting in the needle. Darn it hurts!

I drift in and out of sleep after the epidural kicks in, but realize it didn't fully work on me. I can still partially feel the pain. I start having to move around because Jellybean isn't happy when I lie in certain positions. My cervix gets checked every now and then.

5:00pm- after a few doses of epidurals I ask for another because the pain is killing me and I'm weeping like a kid once again. They tell me I should be checked again before they administer another dose. Great.  Cervical checks while contracting are soooo not fun! The head midwife checks and whispers to H 'Shes ready'.

Urgh. How much longer will this pain go on for? H continually reminds me our baby is coming and let's look forward to that.

Three midwives come. My obstetrician arrives. I'm told to push. After a few pushes my ob decides to have a break. The moment he walks out the midwife yells Jellybean is coming. Emergency bells ring and my ob is back. Despite my pain, I yell he should of gone on his break earlier so Jellybean can come earlier. He just laughs.

5:14pm- I push so hard and Jellybean finally arrives. A few seconds later her eyes open and I'm so amazed. She's lovely. I count all her fingers and toes and check if she's really a girl [you never know?!].

All other yucky things happen later but I'm just in awe of Jellybean. I no longer feel anything. I continually stare at her and know she's all worth it.

...And so the parenting part begins...

Labour -1

If you're not into knowing the details of labour- skip this post NOW! Jellybean is out this was the ordeal!

...(written on actual day)....

Due to some complications, I had expected a induced labour all along. It just depended on when. This was 'Induction Day 1'!

5:00am- I wake up. Pelvis hurting, back aching and desperately in need of the loo. H wearily wakes up, asks if I'm contracting. I reply no and he drifts back to sleep.

I get back from the loo and can't fall back to sleep. My whole body hurts and sleeping in any position doesn't help. I get fed up and decided to go online and distract myself.

7:30am- I have breakfast.

9:00am- H wakes and realises I've eaten breakfast. He cooks himself Maggi Mee [yes, this is important information I tell ya!] and we chat while he eats.

10:00am- I better finish Jellybean's playmat. It still needs sewing and hemming on the edges. But after a few minutes I just can't concentrate and was about to have a lie down when my mum comes and asks if I have any plans for the day.

I get dressed and we head to the markets and shopping center. I needed a walk. I'm getting agitated.

12:00pm- We get back home and I'm in sweats. Think pregnancy makes my body temperature go up by 10 degrees.

1:00pm- After lunch H and I decide to have a little 'naughty break'. This is meant to be a quick escape to eat whatever I want before confinement. We end up paying some bills before buying cakes, having coffee and buying some mags in preparation for hospital.

3:00pm- We get back home and I'm desperate for a scrub. Its hot. It's frustrating. I'm sweating like there's no tomorrow. I tell H to give me some time in the shower. I feel like having the scrub of my life with no interruptions and thats exactly what I do. I spend 30 minutes scrubbing, washing, scrubbing washing like there's no tomorrow. Cleaning every single inch of my body I can possibly reach.

4:15pm- We head to hospital. I'm super excited.

5:00pm- We check in and get interviewed by a super friendly midwife. We then get bored and H starts taking photos of everything! I mean everything! The loo. Our name tags. The monitors. 

...told you he took photos of the loo.

5:45pm- My obstetrician comes in and after doing a 'sweep' [those who've done it, yeah! u know what I'm talking about! Urgh!!] gives me the option of going home. He tells me I'm ready and doesn't need to be monitored through the night!

7:00pm- After doing more formalities signing in and out, we leave hospital and head home. Half wondering what happens if Jellybean comes at midnight. Half excited. Half nervous.

11:00pm- I try to head to bed but it's nerve-wrecking and I'm still in sore from the sweep. Gosh...what's life gonna be like with Jellybean? H snores besides me.

......

Jellybean

Hi Peeps! I've been lacking in the blogging world as Jellybean arrived nearly two weeks ago. She's kept us busy with midnight cries, constant nappy changes and ofcourse sleepless nights. But she's all worth it!

Oh! Her favourite past time at the moment is showering her daddy with pee while he's changing her diapers.

I'm lacking in the photos department so when I'm up for it I'll post some up. 'Till then, hope you had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Date Night

H and I were determined to fit in one date night before Jellybean arrives- in the advice of former non-parents. We thought we'd celebrate our anniversary early as we presume Jellybean will totally occupy our time [and possibly our sanity and hence forget events] on our actual wedding anniversary.

We chose Tsunami. A quaint Japanese restaurant tucked in Mosman Park- fully occupied on a weeknight! Mental note: Good food sign but bad preggers squeeze situation.

I would of chosen more sushi options if it wasn't for the food limitations during pregnancy. But ahwell, it gives me an excuse to go back next time.

Between us, we ordered Ebi as the entree. The prawns were succulent and crunchy, wrapped in filo pastry and paired with tomato salsa.
 

Ikura sushi. H orders this in basically any Japanese restaurant from sushi chains to up market dining. This was definitely not the frozen and defrosted sushi chain low-grade caviar.

Mains: We both decided to have Ishiyaki Teppanyaki Wagyu and Scallops. Copy cat! The Ishiyaki is a 400C rock which meals are placed on and subsequently cooked before your eyes. From this...

...to this.

And who could resist a little indulgence at the end? Don't ask me why- but after telling H I wanted the Kuro Goma [Black Sesame] Ice cream, he decided to change my order into a Ice cream sampler, a scoop each of green tea, black sesame and ginger ice creams. While he stayed with the traditional green tea ice cream. Huh?! I figured it was because he wanted to try the flavours but wasn't game enough to try it himself. Luckily I was delighted with the sampler- but a bit unsure if my palette really enjoys ginger ice cream.

To finish the night off? A stroll at Kings Park. Ahhh..... Ps. H wanted a note crediting he took this photo after several minutes fidgeting with the camera.

Ok Jellybean, you can come now.

In-Your-Face-Clue

Jellybean is due anytime now- and if you haven't figured out from my other posts [such as this one], you'll definitely figure out the gender from this post! It's a dead give-away.

Yeaps. We're having a pink Jellybean!

I couldn't resist making her a romper complete with matching flowers and snap buttons at the bottom.

I don't know if Jellybean will ever end up wearing it- because I got the sizing from one of her existing onesies and never got a proper pattern- I really should of got a actual pattern considering I wasted quite a bit of fabric from my first attempt.

Oh! And I have a thing for frilly bottoms. They make any butt look cute- girls butts anyway. Maybe tomorrow shall be a matching hat? Maybe.

Jus Burgers

 
I'm craving burgers just from writing this post. Darn!

H and I stumbled across this burger joint in Leederville just a few days ago- I've heard about Jus Burgers before and was eager to try. I lurve it when I stumble across a food joint and end up loving their food!

Both our burgers were juicy with just the right amount of sauce and toppings. What I also lurved was that they used quality local suppliers and products. They're also pretty renowned in the local scene too with several awards and achievements. You don't get a 'Best Hamburger in Australia' award for nothing!

So here's my Cheeseburger [left], and H's Half-n-Half lamb burger. His Half meal was so cute- it was a mini burger and mini fries but just enough for one- I should of ordered what he ordered!

I'm definitely going back! The bonus?- The Leederville store is near my Ob's place and the Subi store is near my soon to be hospital! Woo hoo!!

Cot Set

A few months weeks ago I got started on a cot set for little jellybean. After several delays I've finally completed it-with matching critters!

 I did the owls and other chirpy birds along with plain circle trees. Used the same fabrics to make a cot bumper, pillow case and cot sheet. I told H the owls are suppose to represent me and him looking at jellybean. He thinks its funny. Hmph.

The birdies are similar in shape to the ones on the wall, just a different design.

I've run out of patience to do anymore and I'm just waiting for bub's arrival any time now. I've got just one problem- when I'm not nesting I'm totally bored. So maybe I should whip up something afterall.

Rat Rice Noodles

Before you come down on me with some Greenpeace treaty - let me explain!

Where I come from, there's a round type of rice noodle that is literally called 'Rat Poop Noodle'. No, it doesn't involve harming animals of any kind- it's just named so because the original versions were ... well, shaped like rat poop. The 'rat poop' noodle is simply known lau su fen/lou shi fun in Chinese dialects.

H has a enormous attachment to these noodles. Its what he grew up with for breakfast nearly every week. When I asked him what he missed from our home town, he only told me he missed lau su fen. In a desperate attempt to make him feel more at home [and I believe my nesting instincts came hard too], I made the rice noodles from scratch.

Here's my take.

Lau Su Fen/ Lou Shi Fun

2 Cups Rice Flour
2 Tablespoon Tapioca Flour
Pinch of Salt
550ml boiling water

1. Steam rice flour for 1 hour.
2. Add tapioca flour, salt and boiling water and stir until smooth.
3. Allow to cool and knead until smooth ball forms.
4. Spread additional tapioca flour on hands/surface.
5. Take pea sized amount of dough and roll between fingers until its elongated in shape. Repeat with all of dough.
6. Lightly oil steamer tray and steam noodles for approximately 8 minutes or until noodles are cooked. [I steamed mine in batches]
7. Cook noodles immediately with condiments to liking or wait for noodles to cool and store in fridge.

I was inspired by a particular hawker style of cooking rice noodles from my home town- it's what H hearts. So hence, mine was just boiled and tossed with some basic ingredients. Other methods of cooking include stir frying or having it with dark sauce.

Heeding Advice

The funny thing about pregnancies is that total strangers come up to you, strike a conversation and even touch your tummy. It also spurs those who've known you for yonks to touch your tummy like they've never touched human flesh before. And then there's those who like to put in their two cents worth and give you some piece of advice.

I've done my consensus and realized the two most common tips are:

1. Sleep as much as you can now. Key word being now.

2. Go on dates! Do stuff as a couple! It's all going to be different after bub comes!

Pointer 1: I try. But a growing belly unfortunately leads to growing insomnia, geared with a painful spine and pelvis.

Pointer 2: What I'm working on.

Taking on Pointer 2- I took H to a scenic spot, we strolled along the riverbank and sipped coffees.

Now this is when you notice the difference between a initial courtship and a few years of marriage- with a jellybean on the way!

Let me give you the scenario: A couple is walking along the river bank, absorbing all the glorious weather and feeling the sand between their toes. All of a sudden, bursts of wind blow through blasting sand across their faces.

A couple in the midst of initial courtship and dating days will most probably have a silent moment, shyly smile and walk on amoungst the blowing winds. It is romantic after all! Maybe the guy will even conveniently hand over his jacket and cover the girl? Or so one thinks.

A couple who's married and been together for a while will do the following:

Husband steers wife back onto vegetated areas then says 'You took me here to eat sand?'
And as the wife opens her mouth to comment on what her husband just said, husband says 'Shut up- or else sand will get into your mouth!'

No prizes for guessing which scenario happened to me. Uh huh!

Cioccolato Espresso

I think I've found a great coffee and hot chocolate place! I haven't had such nice hot chocolate for a long time. It's actually called Cioccolatte- which was like a big mug of hot chocolate served with chocolate flakes and marshmallows. I'm talking about the real deal too- not just milk with some measely cocoa- this is good stuff!

I had their BLT bagel which was done with the right blend of oven tomatoes and avocado. Yums!

H had New Norcia toast with a serve of fresh mushrooms.

I'm definitely going back! What a lovely start to the day.

Cioccolato Espresso
31 Ardross Street
Applecross Perth Australia

Fat Quarter Burping Set

I fell hopelessly in love with some cute fabric but didn't know what I'd do it with it!

My justification: it was on sale; it was only a fat quarter and it was cheaper than a Big Mac.

Being impulsively hormonal- as everybody is during pregnancy, ahem, I made a burping-feeding set in about one hour.

It consisted of a drawstring bag which held everything together: one that could even hold future cutlery.

A burping cloth so the little jellybean won't spill over momma...

And a tiny-weeny bib for a newborn so she doesn't puke over herself.

All for the cost of a Happy Meal.

Nesting

My friends term my new state of life preoccupation as nesting.

I busy myself with making things, baking and cleaning. When I go shopping I automatically go into the children's section or worse yet, my insomnia gives me a great reason to shop online- there's great Christmas sales at the moment!

Bursts of thoughts fill my mind and then I go around savaging things to make it.

For example, I wanted to make lemon cheesecake- just because I wanted to put fruits on top. ...Mind you I did exactly that.

Then my mind proceeded to constantly think about this 'green kueh with rice on the bottom'. So I made that. Mind you, I didn't even know the name. Only later did I find out it's Seri muka.

And today I wanted something savoury. Full of flavour. So I made a radish cake.

I made all of these within 4 days of impromptu thoughts.

I don't even attempt to finish the food.

I force them upon my friends. I make them have it even though I most probably haven't refined the recipe. Yes. I'm erratic and admittedly hormonal.

Cookie Pops

Sorry..I just really liked this image so had to incorporate it! It's as if there's a invisible cookie monster!! Maybe someday it'll become my header!

Anyhows..

I had a compulsion to put things on pops. The idea was seemingly cute! I just needed to get it out of my system. And while I was making them, it was therapeutic- after I made them, I felt relieved. Weird.


They were basic chocolate cookies with fondant- on a stick. Great as baby shower gifts! 

So here they are all bundled up and ready to be given. Goodbye onesies!

Tuna Melt Copy & Paste

Whenever I dine at Miss Maud's, I have a uncanny tendancy to only choose two things from their menu. One of which, is their tuna melt. I can't really explain. It's one of those things I just do.


Then today, I felt the compulsion to replicate it.

I even bought their cajun mayonnaise! 


I was pretty stoked that it came out the same- durh! But I should of added pickles and onions.


Easy lunch!

Where's My Toes?

Would you like to know more about pregnancies? Ok, I won't elaborate, but can I just show you this?

You'd think seeing your toes was a natural thing. But in actual fact, this photo was taken with me bending over.

The real truth is, this is all I see from tummy down. I guess it's a good thing too 'coz my water retention toes and non-pedicure toenails are most probably not a pleasing sight right now.

I now know what Homer Simpson goes through everyday. I feel for pot-bellies.