Life of a yummy baby ... and now there are 2!!!!!

Christmas isn't christmas .. till one's visited the Christmas markets in Strasbourg! We were there on the first weekend of December when the christmas decor and lights were just coming up.

It was quite easy to get to Strasbourg from Nancy in a day. It's a 1.5 hr train ride on the TGV (yahooo! for morgan) direct one way. We stayed over for one night in Hotel Pax, near Le Petit France, just because we have children and thought that would cut us to an early start on a Saturday morning. Then again, we did not arrive at the hotel breakfast bar till after 10. Afterwards we had a nice lazy stroll about, went on a tourist boat ride along the canal and finished with a bit of Christmas shopping.
It got more crowded towards evening time when the lights came on.

I find Strasbourg particularly charming in the winter. Many decorations from window displays of restaurants and cafes were just too sweet! Alot of effort is put into laying out each corner, dressing and creating the christmas mood ... yet there is uniqueness about the things on display, full of hand-made crafts and simple, neat ideas! I would love to spend hours window-shopping!












We bought some delicious-looking biscuits from this shop that are naively painted by hand. Biscuits of angels, teddies, TRAINS, christmas trees, elves .... so many varieties for your picking! And of course, all Morgan ever wants for Christmas is a ... choo-choo train!

I love moments like these ... would Elun do the same for her brother when she's older, I wonder?

When Morgan celebrated his birthday this year, I could hardly believe that he turned 3!

He seems to be growing up too quickly ... and after Elun arrived, he no longer seems like a baby - or my baby!!! Yet another part of me is just feeling like the good times are looming because Morgan is becoming more independent every day.

We did not have a big celebration for Morgan as he did not know many friends yet. Having just begun school in St-Jean Baptiste , we invited only 2 friends from his class, Epvre and Marin. Funnily the 'r' in french is kind of difficult for me when I speak, as you have to sound like you are not saying it when you try to pronounce it. Complicated lar - just like the french!

And then I realised too that Morgan's birthday is really close to Elun's (only a month apart) so we doubled up the weekend with Elun's 满 月 or the notable first-month's celebration. In traditional belief, it is said that infant mortality rates in China were high and a baby after reaching the first month, ensues a greater likelihood for survival. Hence the call for a celebration.

We did this for Elun because we were so pleased that she arrived safely, albeit getting chicken-pox and chest infections from Morgan later on ... *sigh* as early as 2 weeks old too. Nonetheless she recovered from all that! We even prepared red eggs (we couldn't find red-dye in the french supermarket so we used red water-colour paint to paint over the eggs instead!) and made a little feast. The custom of red-dyed eggs are traditionally handed out as take-home gifts for guests - symbolising happiness and a renewal of life but in our case, we did it for display purpose only.

Special recipe books my mother and good friend Jo sent me to help me during my "confinement" period - or better known as postpartum care. Me eating my fill of pork, vegetable and eggs in herbal soup. Its actually improvised from a Bak Kut Teh recipe. Very delicious.













Morgan and a new haircut - entertaining Elun with his choo-choo trains.














An attempt by Morgan to 'share' his precious toy-trains with Elun. Schweet ; ) very funny to see Elun chewing his train sets.








Elun outgrew her plastic bed very quickly and she has learnt to "take over" our bed whenever she needed it. I noticed that she loved to suck her hands and fingers too, rather early on!













... and a peaceful sleep after a good feed!!!!!!!

MAMGU & AUNTY ANN comes to stay (8 - 14 April)

Mamgu and Morgan throwing pebbles ... by Lac de Madine.




























Excellent day out with the family. Only problem is that we seem to be missing Aunty Ann in our pictures for some reason ...

Before I had children, I could not imagine what it would be like to have any. So like many first-time mothers, I did alot of reading up and talking to other women - to find out what it's like to have a baby and to give birth.

Through having Morgan, I then discovered that I'd harboured many negative preconceptions - I was afraid to experience labour; scared of pain, scarring and tearing; and of losing my figure to child-bearing. Which led me to figure that it could be the reason Morgan was late arriving. I had to be induced in my first pregnancy because psychologically I was just not ready for labour!

However, in my second pregnancy I was definitely more prepared and positive. Besides all that was going on, moving home and jobs, I had to also keep active because of Morgan. The birth and delivery of Eluned came swiftly and smoothly. And I DID ask for an epidural at the end ... I didn't think yet I could do without!

So... on 26 March 09, Thursday early morning

2am : Contractions began like period cramps - thought I was suffering from last night's dinner.

2:10am : Went to the toilet to empty bladder. Found slight spotting and realised I'd lost my mucus plug. First sign of things being 'different'' this time.

2:15 am : Went back to bed and told Lewis. He replied "that's great" and went back to sleep.

2:20 am : Woken up by another contraction - this time, Lewis sat up and got dressed. We started to time the contractions together.

2:40 am : Contractions came about 5 mins apart and my breathing was getting heavy. I called my dedicated midwife Claire on the phone, and she told me to get to the hospital.

3 am : In between contractions, I walked about, packed my hospital bag, called the babysitter for Morgan, and even reminded my husband to take the house keys while I got changed before the next contraction. But as soon as I got another one - I went into strange primal positions. I stopped whatever I was doing and started kneeling by the bed or going on all fours, like some sort of ancient guru performing strange ritualistic moves with my body.

3:15 am : A luxurious Mercedes taxi arrived for us but it was no comfort cab for me. Let's just say - I did not get to the stage of sitting down at all.

3:30 am : Once we got to the hospital, the nurse at the emergency entrance asked 'premium au deuzium?' (meaning first or second delivery?) and on hearing the reply, she flew me to the delivery room on a wheel chair. The contractions were starting to get more intense by the minute.

3:35 am : Major communication problems - midwives on duty spoke little English and I spoke even lesser French! I was already 5 to 6 cm dilated and asked to go to the toilet but was told this was impossible. Later on, I realised it wasn't wee that I was passing, but with each stronger contraction my waterbags were bursting. In the meantime I was told to 'respirer, par poussez!' meaning 'breathe, not push!' but it was hard even to not bear down at this stage.

4 am : After what seemed like a long wait for the anesthetist, couple more blood tests and me grabbing for dear life by the hospital bed, I finally got the epidural. It didn't work straight away ... and I had a little button that I could press, to control the strength/dosage of the epidural.

At this time, my dedicated mid-wife Claire also arrived. She was like the angel sent from heaven. Alas someone who could speak alittle English and knew all the right things to do and say. The epi was starting to take effect and I could just feel the contractions with lessening pain. Lewis continued to remind me to breath deeply with every working contraction. When it was finally time for the baby to crown, I was ready to push with all my might. But it felt like 3 steps forward, 2 steps back. I pushed for about half an hour before Eluned arrived!



When we were holding little Eluned, she reminds us of how far we've all come ... and to feel this little life in our hands, is a miracle we are most thankful for.

Baby number 2 has come to greet the world.

Eluned (pronounced as 'Elin - ned') Chan hui 曾慧 Jones is born on the 26 March 2009. She weighs at 3.19kg and like her brother, she is a happy breast-feeder. She was delivered safely in Nancy Maternite hospital with the help of 2 caring mid-wives and the presence of her father. It was a morning of great joy and pain.

Morgan is totally thrilled with his sister's arrival. He begs to go to the hospital to visit her everyday after his morning school. He simply adores her to bits ....

Mummy is tired but recovering well. We are all feeling elated and overwhelmed by the recent happy event but very relieved and fortunate to be blessed with having such lovely, healthy children!