Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Hi everyone,

I’m writing this entry from the hospital =)

Here’re some updates from me:

I am officially 38 weeks now, and since I had a ‘show’ (ie. ‘pinkish discharge’) near midnight last night, the nurse I spoke with over the phone strongly suggested that I went to the hospital to have things checked, ESPECIALLY because it’s my ‘third’ baby.

(Read: Labour can progress quickly though there’re no strong / regular contractions just yet)

Anyway, apparently having a baby the third time round does NOT mean I would ‘know’ what and how things will take place!

Because, things happen differently this time round.

(Like, my water didn’t break and I’ve just been induced for the first time ever)

Anyway, I’ll be sharing real time updates on how things go with Baby no. 3 on my Facebook … and you’re most welcome to add me if you haven’t already =)

http://www.facebook.com/leonny.atmadja

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Okay. Back to waiting time for us here at the hospital! =)

To Baby : See you real soon! =)

I recently read that some pregnant women actually craved for strange things. And I mean, … strange.

Like, toothpaste and clay! (?)

Luckily, mine so far has been rather ‘normal’ (sweet dessert!), and thankfully, it’s also easily found here in Singapore! =)

Durian Ice Kachang.

Yummmm.

=)

Btw, Moms … do you believe in ‘satisfying your cravings’?

And, did YOU crave for any particular food / drink during your pregnancy?

…

PS: I am 38 weeks pregnant (as of tomorrow), have gained a total of about 8kg and am still waiting for the moment when baby decides to say HI to everyone! =)

I’ve been wanting to make something for baby since I was … about 6 months pregnant, I think.

Just something.

(It’s a longing that I somehow have, and it’s NOT because I have ‘nothing’ to do at home, obviously, hehe)

I wanted to make something that can be used daily.

BUT not something too difficult for me to make.

And, NOT something that requires NEW skills for me to learn too, please =)

So.

I decided to make … our very own handmade baby mobile! =)

And since we still are not 100% sure of the baby’s gender, I made something that’s suitable for both genders =)

Using colourful felt, I made a tree, two birds, a dragonfly, and two flowers.

On average, I only managed to spend about 15 minutes each time I touched on this ‘baby project’. It’s either late at night, or when I accompanied the kids as they did their homework or something.

And, it was done so randomly too.

Meaning, I could work on it on a Monday, and only managed to get back to it and continue with the work on a Friday!

Anyway, it’s more or less done!

*YAY!*

I only needed to sew fishing lines to it so that it can be hung from our ceiling.

Oh, there’s also one more thing.

I notice that some baby mobiles look ‘nice’ from OUR point of view, BUT not quite from the babies’ point of view.

Eg. If you have elephants, tigers and giraffes on the baby mobile, they’re often hung in such a way that the baby lying down on the cot only gets to see the ‘tummy’ parts of the animals.

So, I tried to avoid this when I made the baby mobile.

=)

One of the many good things of making our own things, I say.

… are often things that Mommies will never do =)

Like, throwing a little boy up in the air,

while having fun in the pool!

…

I’m glad that such simple actions inject so much more fun into a child’s life.

Thank God for Daddies.

Some people said, things should be ‘easier’ for us when baby no. 3 arrives, because Anya and Vai are older.

[ie. Since they’re much older, they would be of great help to us and the baby. They don’t need much ‘physical care’ from me]

Anya is 7yo and Vai is 4.5yo now.

Well, frankly, I have no idea how things will be when baby arrives.

I have no idea how the two older siblings will behave / react as they ‘adjust’ to the whole idea of having another baby in the house.

Because, with a newborn baby around, it does mean Mommy’s time and attention is no longer ‘just for the two of them’.

Mommy will be busy tending to the baby’s needs (not to mention the round-the-clock breastfeeding) and all other things that need to be done at home. And, Anya and Vai STILL crave for Mommy’s time too.

They may be able to do quite a lot of things on their own, but they have … emotional needs and demands.

You see, Anya and Vai CAN be independent, but they are not THAT independent.

They still demand my time. Unreasonably, sometimes.

They can whine and excessively complain if what they ask / want is not given.

They often choose to be defiant too (read: more often than not, I’d get such episodes from them both everyday these days)

And yes, this happens even when we do make the efforts to ‘prepare them for a new baby’ in the house.

(Read: Preparing older siblings for a new baby as best as we can doesn’t automatically mean they’ll completely be ‘unaffected’ by the change, because each child’s characters and emotional developments are unique)

…

Anyway.

We try to create a positive feel about the whole ‘new baby’ idea at home. And to (hopefully) better connect the older siblings with the baby, I try to get them involved in the preparation for the new baby’s arrival as well.

And this is one of the things they did.

They did simple drawings and colouring FOR the baby.

Anya did a little ‘poster’. She chose to write the word ‘Home’ to welcome the baby home.

Vai did a poster too, but errr … he insisted that I drew a picture of a car on it before he watercoloured it! =)

And, this is another idea we had.

We bought 5R-sized photo frames from IKEA.

Anya and Vai then did more colourful drawings and we framed them up.

[They also wrote something at the back of each of their drawing to make it even more personal. It’ll help us remember WHEN these drawings were done too, and how their handwriting was like at the time =) ]

So.

Four frames will soon be put up next to the baby’s cot!

Courtesy of the big sister and the big brother =)

We were all getting ready to go for our swim, and as I walked pass our big mirror, I thought, hmm … I really should get shots of the kids with the baby, while it’s STILL in the tummy.

[Believe it or not, as much as I take photos everyday, we have very few photos of the kids WITH my big tummy]

Anyway. I personally like this shot of Vai putting his ear on my belly! =)

And just for fun, I played around and made the shot look more like a ‘painting’ =)

[Click HERE to view baby no. 3 week-by-week pregnancy journal]

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PS: Shared this photo on my Facebook too. Click on the ‘Daily Photos’ link (left sidebar) to view more photos and our everyday things stories.

I’m 36.5 weeks pregnant now.

So, if baby chooses to follow big sister and big brother’s timing (ie. At 38 and 37.5 weeks respectively), it’d mean baby no.3 will actually be in our arms … NEXT WEEK?

Can’t wait!!

[Yep, IF I could choose, I’d prefer to deliver sooner than later =)]

Anyway.

With regards to THE BIG DAY itself, I’ve always wondered about this question – How do YOU know that it’s time to go to the hospital?

I know that this is my THIRD time round, and some people feel I should really know what to expect and all, yes?

Noooo.

Each child birth story can be totally different.

…

The stories of my first two ‘child births’ were pretty much ‘similar’ :

> Anya
Water bag broke (ie. trickled down my legs) at around 10am when I was at home. No spotting. No contractions. Called the hospital and was asked to come over. Casually showered, ate breakfast, then Wilson and I took a taxi to the hospital. Reached the hospital at about 1pm. Contraction started to get worse at about 5pm, I think. Anya was born at about 11pm.

> Vai
Water bag broke at about 6am when I was in bed (more like a ‘mild gush’). No spotting. No contractions. Dropped 2yo Anya to a friend’s place, took a taxi with Wilson to the hospital. Contractions got really intense after the nurse ‘completely’ burst the water bag at about 9.30am. Vai was born at about 1pm.

[Me holding onto the ‘laughing gas mask’, in 2006, a few hours before Vai was born]

…

You see, I’m hoping the water bag would break again this time round, just so that it’s obvious enough for me to know that it’s time to go to the hospital =)

BUT, things can always be different this time round.

I mean, how would I know if the contractions I’m getting are the REAL thing? (ie. NOT just the usual Braxton Hicks contractions that I experience every so often these days). Because the contractions will be increasingly intense, longer in duration, and the ‘intervals’ get shorter each time too, yes?

If it’s THAT obvious, well … then I guess, it’s okay (because I know I can be a bit ‘blur’ when it comes to such situations =)

Thing is, I’ve also heard of stories where the mom only experienced ‘discomfort’ on her lower ‘area’. Water bag didn’t break. No spotting. No contractions. And when she casually went to see her gynae because she happened to be near the clinic, she gave birth TWO hours after that!

So, out of curiosity, I asked this question to the moms on my Facebook today :

“How did YOU know that it’s time to go to hospital? Did your water bag break? Spotting? Heavy contractions?”

Check out this blog post’s comment section to read what many moms have shared on my Facebook!

[Btw, if you’re not yet on my Facebook, you’re most welcome to add me =)]

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And, I would LOVE to hear MORE stories from the many moms out there!

How was it for you?

Please do share yeah! I’d love to hear them!

Thanks, everyone!

I woke up today,

thinking,

perhaps I’d be hugged,

perhaps I’d hear a loving whisper,

perhaps the day would start wonderfully

for today’s Mother’s Day.

But no.

I heard complaints,

I heard whiny noises.

I heard expectations.

…

As I laid on my bed , I thought,

truly, children are children,

they are not yet parents,

they may not realise

why we do what we do,

they may not understand

our love, actions and sacrifices.

And, it’s purely because, they are … children.

And most probably,

they’ll only realise and appreciate a parent’s love

in twenty or thirty years time,

when they themselves become parents too.

[Vai and his artwork]

…

I was reminded again,

that today will not be super different than any other day

simply because it’s ‘Mother’s Day’.

We live in reality.

And yes, in reality, mothers go through ups and downs everyday.

It’s part and parcel of being a parent.

Of being a mother.

…

We love our children not because they appreciate us.

Nor because they return our love proportionately.

We love our children because, they are our children.

We become ‘parents’ because we have been entrusted with children.

We undeservingly become God’s representatives in this world.

We, who are weak ourselves, have been assigned with this ‘bitter-sweet task’ to teach our children according to His ways.

…

On this Mother’s Day, let us remember that we love, we care, we willingly make sacrifices, because we are ‘the’ parents. The mothers.

And with His strength and grace, let us be living examples to our little ones.

Happy Mother’s Day!