Cianah has rash on her face for few days now. We went to the doctor on Monday and it was diagnosed as Newborn Rash (Erythema toxicum). I have been told that it happens to 50% of the newborn babies and it will go away by itself. Doctor told me to put some sorbolene cream on her if I’m concerned. We cleaned her face with warm water after every feed and bath her everyday, hoping that it will speed up the “go-away” process…
29 Feb 2012
We finally got Cianah’s birth certificate today, we chose a package which included a fancy certificate for display and one as a real thing. Chris chose a pink bunny one as Cianah is a ‘Year of Rabbit’. We plan to put it in a frame and display in her room.
Today Cianah is 38 days old and we visit our GP today and she’s 4.2kg already! She has put on almost 700 grams in 20 days! She grows so fast… she still needs to be fed around 2 to 3 feed every night so I tried to get as much as sleep as possible. But I found harder to fall asleep at night as I often has heat rash at night due to breastfeeding. So I tried to have little naps during the day as much as I can. Thank you to my mum to look after Cianah while I’m catching up sleep… It is easier for me to get grumpy now (due to lack of sleep), sorry Chris for getting grumpy at you quite often lately.
Cianah also started to have tears when cry… no more fake crocodile tears!!
Real tears!
Little foot!
Day 38 Cianah
I had a doctor appointment on 18 Jan 2012. It must be the pregnant brain, I thought I had the appointment booked at 1:30pm, arrived at the hospital at 1:15pm but the appointment actually was 2:10pm. Anyway, it turned out well because I ended up staying at the hospital until 4:30pm!
I saw the doctor at the antenatal clinic first and she got a tiny ultrasound machine to check my fluid and she said she can’t see any fluid and suggested that I might need to have my operation early, like tomorrow… she told me that before she checked my blood pressure and she joked that my blood pressure must be high now… it was 110/65 so it was perfect. She immediately sent me to the birth suite for another ultrasound scan and CTG (By the way, I already booked an ultrasound at the Imaging Department for 9:30am tomorrow but she doesn’t want to wait so I freaked out a bit)… this time I got a proper birth suite room and the midwife strapped me for CTG… then the doctor came in with a better ultrasound machine to check the fluid again. She found two good pockets of fluid so she’s happy but then the baby heartbeat dropped in one occasion so she wants to keep monitoring me… 30 mins later, the doctor came in again with a sonographer from the Imaging Department and had another ultrasound and tried to measure the fluid and it was still around 7.3 so the fluid is still the same as last week and didn’t decrease. They also want to check the location of the umbilical cord, in case the baby is squashing it and try to explain why the baby heartbeat was dropped before… so they want to monitor me under CTG for another 30mins. Baby was very active and couldn’t settled down, and the doctor wants to see the baby settle down to show the heartbeat pattern…. and then I realised it was already 4pm and I haven’t had any snack yet so I had a nut bar… then baby started settled down, she must be hungry hahahahaha!
The doctor and midwife checked on me every 10 mins and happy with the CTG result and they think that the baby must have been playing with the umbilical cord so her heartbeat dropped in that one occasion. So I was free to go at 4:30pm…. what a day…
I went to the Imaging Department for the proper ultrasound scan at 9:30am, it was done by the same sonographer yesterday so it was nice. She was very gentle with me and even teaching a student sonographer at the same time so I got to know more about what I was looking at at the black and white screen. After the scan I went upstairs to the Birth Suite as I has been told to do yesterday. The midwife strapped me for another CTG while we were waiting for the ultrasound result from the Imaging Department. I was a lot relax this time because the baby heartbeat was fine and has been very active inside. After the CTG scan, I was waiting for the doctor to review my ultrasound result. I was waiting for so long that it has passed lunch time. I only had a nut bar in my bag so I ate it while I was waiting. I was hoping to finish early so I can have lunch at the Mall, but I was wrong. The doctor came in and told me the news. They want to move my caesarian forward even the ultrasound and CTG results are good. Because the fluid was so low that there is a risk of stillbirth. They reckoned that I’m now 37 weeks and 4 days are good enough as the baby will do better outside the womb. I was very shocked as I was mentally prepared for the caesarian on the 30th. But not tomorrow!I was a bit upset as both of the grandparents won’t be around on the 20th. I called Chris right away and I was a little emotional so Chris offered to come to the hospital to be with me in the afternoon. I waited in the Birth Suite for another hour to get the pre-surgery preparation done – blood test; urine test; measurement of the leg (for the stockings); paperwork and etc. By the time Chris arrived, I was almost done, but it was a relief to have Chris with me. We left the hospital at around 2pm and I was starving by then. We went to the Mall, grabbed something to eat and went to the shop for last minutes shopping for baby stuff, then went home to finish packing the bags.
Week 37 plus 5 - morning of 20 Jan
Waiting @ waiting room
During c-section
Just being born - Cianah
Chris and I had breakfast at 6:30am (I had to fast until the c-section – no food and no water), and we arrived at the hospital at 7:30am. We went to the public ward S3 and the midwife lead us to a single room to wait. Chris and I was so tired that we had naps in the room. The midwife told us that during Jan/Feb, there are many transition of doctors as the experienced doctor will be transferred to the bigger hospital and the student doctors will graduate & start practising. So the doctors are very busy transiting during this time of the year.
We completed all the paperworks and I received the gown and stockings at noon and been told to change into them by 12:30pm. I’ve done that and we waited some more.
Suddenly, the midwife and a ward assistant came in and told me it is time to go, I was shocked as I wasn’t prepared and thought that someone will brief me what will happen prior to the c-section. So I freaked out a bit and went to the bed and being wheeled to the theatre downstairs. Chris also got changed to the gown as well and we were waiting at the waiting area for about 30mins. By 1pm I was wheeled into the theatre to have a spinal block so I was fully conscious during the c-section. I personally thought that the drip needle was more painful than the spinal needle, and I was glad that the spinal was done 100% accurate and my legs had the warm sensation immediately. There were so many people in the theatre – an anaesthetist; two doctors; 2-3 midwife 2-3 theatre assistants and hubby Chris. A screen was put up in front of me so I can’t see the operation. Chris was on the right hand side trying to comfort me but I couldn’t stop shaking. I was thinking that if I shakes so bad in my upper body, will my abdominal shakes as well and cause problem for the doctors… I told the midwife that I can’t stop shaking and she said it is normal, it is the reaction of the drugs. I was relief to hear that coz I thought I was so nervous that my body shakes uncontrollably. I felt many pushing and pulling on my tummy but there was so pain and I wondered how long it will take for them to take the baby out. At 1:56pm, Cianah Ruth Smart was born and she was 2.84KG and 47cm long. She had a little trouble breathing by herself and due to my gestational diabetes, she required special care at the Nursery.
First bottle feed from mummy
Chris went with Cianah to the Special Care Nursery while I was being stitched up. By the time I was released from the Recovery Room, it was more than 1 hour later. Cianah’s blood sugar was okay and was fed by the formula because of my gestational diabetes. I had the first cuddle in the Nursery and tried to breast feed but I do not have any colostrum yet. By the time I went back to my room, it was already passed 4pm. I was exhausted and numb – it was nice to have the leg massager to keep my blood flowing… I was very blessed as I got a private room so Chris can stayed overnight with me. Cianah was released from the Special Care Nursery that late afternoon and I be able to bottle feed her for the first time. It was the precious moment and the reality of having a baby and being a parent finally sank in.
I later found out that one of the doctors who stitched me up will move to one of the big Melbourne hospitals on the following Monday so it was her last day on the 20 Jan 2012, and I believe it was her last c-section as well. I’m glad that an experienced doctor operated on me instead of a fresh grad and who knows, maybe that’s why God moved my c-section 10 days early 
Week 37
I’m week 37 today and if the baby is born now, she or he will consider full term. I measure the small of my back to the biggest part of my tummy is now 43 inches! Basically the baby now will only pack on fat to prepare to come to the outside world and I wonder how much bigger will I be until I have my elective c-section on the 30 Jan 2012.
Chris and I also agreed on the first name last night if it is a girl. We now need to look for a boy name just in case it is a surprise. I’ve started looking into some Chinese characters as well and got some ideas on girls name… but hasn’t confirm yet. That will be my job in the next week 
Chris and I outside of cottage
View from the Mountain to Berry
Interesting art work @ Kangaroo Valley
Grand, Mum and Aunty Ro
We took it easy on our last day in Berry, we woke up late and Chris prepared breakfast again. We packed our bags and decided to take some photos before we leave. We said good bye to the owner and head off to Kangaroo Valley. The weather was perfect on the last day – blue clear sky with some white clouds. We stopped by at Kangaroo Valley for some ice-cream and looked around the shops.
We then drove towards to Moss Vale and bought take away pasta for lunch. I was so hungry that I was eating the pasta in the car while Chris was driving because we wanted to go to Bundanoon to visit Chris’ Aunty and Uncle. Chris’ parents also happened to be in Bundanoon to pick up Grand that afternoon to drive her back to Canberra. So it was a good opportunity for us to catch up with all of them before they head off. After the visit, we drove back to Canberra together and Chris & I ended our Babymoon trip.