6th Month | Life in Kyoto

6th Month | Life in Kyoto

• 11.29.2018

This post is definitely gonna be shorter than my usual “Life in Kyoto” updates because first of all, I’ve spent 90% of my time stuck either in the hospital or home recovering and taking care of lil penguin who’s finally here! The other 10% was finally able to go out even if it’s for 2 hours just to get a breather and exercise abit with some brisk walking (aside from hunting for house necessities) and I’m not gonna lie that it isn’t easy caring for a new-born despite having past experience before; it never gets any easier especially on the sleep part. 

Many would suggest “co-sleeping” for night feeds but sorry I’m not going to share my bed with lil penguin until she turns 1 years old at least. For now, she can sleep in her cot where the bedding isn’t very soft unlike my mattress, it’s not recommended for babies to sleep on super soft bedding as this can lead to suffocation especially when they can’t turn their bodies nor lift their necks yet also we are worried that we might crush her by accident in our sleep. Best to be safe than sorry but yea waking up in the middle of the night every hour or two does take its toll on one’s mental and physical state, at least there’s 2 pairs of hands now; I wake up to feed while the danna wakes up to change diapers. At least I get away with poopy hands (most of the time lol), it’s a good thing to train him how to clean lil penguin up so at least I can get abit more rest.

Arrival of Lil Penguin
I’m sure you guys had read my previous entry, if not click “HERE” to read it and it also reveals her name. So many people kept DM-ing me asking what’s lil penguin’s name lol. To be honest I rather just call her lil penguin online rather than using her real name. Sounds cuter also! 

The boss of the house & my oppai

She definitely takes after the danna’s looks more at this stage but we’ll see as she grows lol, they say the baby tends to look like their father when they are small and slowly take on their mom’s features later in life hehe! But no doubt I’m kinda envious of her natural double eyelids, mine were man-made through DST, the danna’s not really that deep so I’m not sure which genes she got it from, could be my side of the family because the nyonya side has quite big eyes which unfortunately I did not inherit but my older sister and youngest brother did. Bugger.

All I can say now is i’m trying hard to adjust to this new life having a baby stuck to my oppai almost 12-14 hours a day and there are times I do wonder whether I should start using formula instead so that I don’t have to worry about BF friendly clothes and milk stained tops because my baby tends to pull out (almost all the time) during a letdown causing milk to spray everywhere *rolls eyes* but for the sake of saving money on formula I should press on. Need all the support I can get at this point, it’s stressful T_T

Oh and for those of you who have yet to breastfeed before did you know that one side of the boobs leak whenever your baby latches on? Don’t waste this milk, get a silicon milk collector so at least you can collect some extras for rainy days. 

Cheaper alternative to Haakaa Silicon pump

And when they cry, your oppai will have this tingling sensation and start to leak. Whether it’s your own baby or other people’s babies. Very interesting find indeed.

It’s okay to mix feed especially if your baby is not getting enough wet diapers even after latching on correctly, most important they are fed and not dehydrated. I myself also do mix feeding on some days because I’m really exhausted until I can’t even wake up to pump out so the danna has to prepare formula for lil penguin.

Weight gain may vary because some babies are smaller built, not everyone is Michelin baby and as long your paed says everything is okay then you have nothing to worry about. If in doubt you can always get a second opinion. 

First Fever Scare

Babies in Japan are not given any vaccination shots the minute they are born unlike Malaysia where they give all babies BCG & Hep B shots, that’s why all of us have the marking on our left arm. Japan’s vaccination schedule is slightly different.

Then one evening we noticed her body temperature was slightly higher than usual but it hasn’t hit the 38 degree mark yet, the danna panicked and we rushed to the nearby children clinic. To me as long it’s below 38 and monitored every hour to make sure it doesn’t increase then baby is fine (this is what the paed we visited said as well). The danna on the other hand was super worried lol.

Also that one short trip to the paed cost us about 5000yen + (all he did was took her temperature and check her breathing lol) because lil penguin’s insurance card hasn’t been issued out yet, in Japan your insurance card is everything. 

Japan taxi we called for our hospital appointment turned up like this lol, super festive!

#OnlyinJapan

  

Postpartum recovery

Have to admit that I miss La Gracia Confinement center because I get to properly rest right after giving birth while the nurses feed the baby at night T_T

The first month of a baby’s life and a mother’s recovery (both body & sanity) if SUPER IMPORTANT!

Makes me wish I’ve given birth in Malaysia instead!

Hospital food tastes so good!

In Japan only the first week we get some slack because the nurses will take care, once we have been discharged everything is hands on our own. My mother & MIL can’t help out because one is 5000km away while the other isn’t in good health at the moment so it’s just me and the danna doing everything. The house is in a mess and I’m trying to turn a blind eye to it but it does irritate me to see everything all over but all this can wait I guess. 

1 day postpartum

2 weeks postpartum

I’m glad that the danna cooks and prepare whenever he can, other than that I mostly survive on Milo, oats and bread during the day because I can’t leave lil penguin alone for 1 sec or she’ll scream “bloody murder” till the whole neighborhood can hear. We initially wanted to get catering service but apparently need to “prebook weeks in advance” so we missed the window.

The danna's cooking is also delicious lol

This round my body didn’t heal so well on its own compared to the last, so many episodes of contraction pains that resulted me clutching my abdomen and sitting in the toilet for almost 45 mins each time because there are still bits of the placenta that refused to come out causing my lochia flow to be heavy for almost a month. Normally heavy flow only last during the first 2 weeks, and it gets lighter over time, mine was like period 2nd day for almost 30 days but thank goodness the hospital gave me some meds to help with the recovery. 

My side vitamins to make sure i get sufficient nutrient to breastfeed, in candy form so i don't have to swallow. Can get these at baby stores or pharmacy in Japan 

My perineal tear healed pretty fast, and only 3 stitches (still hurts like hell & very uncomfortable), took an average of 1.5 week before I could poop like normal again compared to my episiotomy last time which took nearly 1 month for it to recover. I remember being so paranoid that it would get infected & tear, so I had to change my pad every 3 hours and every pee/ poop session was torture!

Also I think experts forgot to include this in their research papers;

A baby’s job is to not only eat, sleep & poop but to also TORTURE moms. #truefact

Sleeping like a boss while i can't get up to pee or she'll wake up

The hospital gave us this "Tai" fish as it symbolizes "congratulations" in Japan because the Japanese word "omede-tai" sounds like the fish which is also an expensive breed & delicacy  

Mom in law gave us Sekihan (red rice) which is glutinous rice cooked with red beans & eaten with salt. This rice is usually served during celebratory occasions!

Reminds me of our symbolic Chinese red eggs lol.

The Danna

Teaching him how to bath lil penguin, she was small enough to fit our sink lol

Can see how equally exhausted he is trying to help out during late nights and having to wake up early the next morning for work. It isn’t easy for the both of us but I’m thankful that he at least helps out whenever he can, even if it means getting groceries sent to the house so we don’t have to bother carrying heavy groceries, food catering only came in much later after he realized that meal prepping is also tedious for him especially having to prepare breakfast, lunch & dinner (normal people would get helper for their food) before heading out to work, which I told him before lil penguin arrive that it’s gonna be a challenge lol. #itoldyousomoment 

Google ads are scary lol, this brand- Oisix popped up while i was swiping IG stories and right after i complained about food delivery too. Well they were having a first time discount that's why we decided to try them out.

Not bad, our first trial box was less than 2000 yen (original price 4000 yen) and it was filled with all sorts of organic produce! 

Prepackaged meals like this is really genius, no extra wastage and all we had to do is open and cook, they already prep all the ingredients for us. 

Truly blessed to have an understanding partner especially during my meltdown moments (mom blues), and some outside help to clean the house and watch the baby while I get 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. The first month of the baby’s arrival is definitely the hardest especially feeding almost every hour at night. 

  Thank you Bare Nuhcessities for the box of baby essentials!

Truth is when you become a stay at home mom, office work tasks seems like a breeze now lol. I have new found respect to all stay at home moms, how do you guys managed the house and keep your sanity in check staring at the 4 same walls 90% of the time.

Can share some of your secrets please lol.

That’s all my Oct updates (super late entry).

Yours Truly,