This is my current favourite picture of Joel. His eyes wide open and sucking on a "pacifier".
Some said he looks like Zachary, some said he looks like Dave. Whoever he looks like, he's my charming little boy like Zachary is.
I love him so much already. I'm just waiting for the day he gets discharged and goes home with us.
I love the three boys in my life. I also love the one little girl Hannah who was in my life for a few days but who will remain in my heart forever.
There must be some form of dark clouds hovering over my head. Things are just not going right for me.
On the 24th, we went for dinner at Pow Sing. When I got off the car, I tripped over the umbrella in the car and fell right over onto the road. Big patch of wound on my left knee and a small patch on my right ankle.
As thought it wasn't bad enough, on the 26th when we were in Best Denki, after getting off the car, walked barely a few steps I fell down again on the road. Tore more skin off my already wounded left knee, right knee and twisted my right ankle this time. It was a dramatic fall. I would have laughed at myself watching me fall.
Why are these things happening to me? What have I done to deserve all these? Or is it just because I am tired and I am not paying enough attention to my surroundings? I wish I knew the answer.
I hope that my ankle is OK as I still need to march on daily for the three boys; wounded or not.
In the midst of all the chaos, Serene and Weihao kindly offered to help us with Zachary for a night.
Zachary had his first sleep over at a friend's house. He had heaps of fun.
First they had dinner, then they took a bath in the bath tub where Weihao washed their hair and they bathed themselves in the tub, then brushed their own teeth and went to bed.
In the middle of putting themselves to sleep, Jerome suggested a snow party. He destroyed a pillow and managed to fill the whole room with snow, I.e. cotton from the pillow destroyed. According to Zachary, Jerome asked him if he wanted to have snow in the room and they did. They didn't get a scolding fortunately for the kind Serene and Weihao but just a laugh of helplessness to the situation. The poor helper sure had lots to clean up the next day.
They chatted throughout the night till they fell asleep.
I'm happy that in the midst of everything Zachary still managed to keep his happy self which is something I wish for him forever - happiness.
Thank you Serene and Weihao.
Our most precious daughter Hannah left to be with the Lord on the 3rd September 2015. We embraced her after she breathed her last. We had her memorial service on the immediate Friday and her cremation service on the Saturday after.
Cell and church friends from FCBC attended her services and sent her off for the very last time.
It is painful to have to send your daughter off. A daughter whom you've not done anything for, a daughter whom you've carried for months with you doing everything. A daughter so precious that nothing can replace.
I had so many plans and stuff to do with Hannah. It will only be in my imagination now. Every time I think of her, my heart bleeds. It really does.
How do we get over the death of someone so dear to us? Someone who is so close to our hearts yet foreign to us? The answer is we will never ever get over that someone. We will only be able to hold her dear forever in our hearts. Occasionally when we think about her, we will probably cry. That's the best we could do after losing someone so dear to us.
On the 28th August 2015, I started having weird pains in the afternoon. Had a chat with sis and family in the afternoon after picking Zachary up from school.
When Dave got home I told him that something was not right and I was having contractions. My babies were only 27 weeks old. Dave called the hospital and we were told to go to Thomson Medical Centre to get it checked.
I was admitted immediately and put on medication to delay the labour. The medication causes heart palpitations but it should stop the contractions. After a day, or two, the doctor did an ultrasound scan to check if I was dilated. Unfortunately I was already 2cm dilated. So all we could do was hope and pray that we delay the birth as much as we could.
On and off for about 3 or 4 days I was on the medication and contractions stopped. But when medication was halted I started contracting again. I could sense that the babies were going to come sooner or later. Doctors were saying that perhaps what I was feeling weren't contractions but just tummy ache due to constipation. On the 30th August, I was administered laxatives and through out the night of 30th I was having pains on the abdomen which I thought was due to the laxatives. Unfortunately again, they were contractions. In the morning of the 31st August, about 630am, I felt a gush of water below and my greatest fear became reality. My water bag broke and I was in full force labour. I called Dave immediately and told him to come quickly.
I was wheeled to the delivery ward and everything happened in a flash. The pain of my contractions were excruciating and I just felt the pain and more than that the fear of my twins being delivered so much earlier than edd. My worst fear became real.
Dave arrived and I was wheeled into the operating theater, the anaesthetist gave me the epidural and I felt the cut below and soon after I heard my little girl's first cry in the midst of feeling I was going to pass out from everything happening. Shortly after my baby boy was also out of my womb. Doctor stitched me up and I was wheeled back to the room.
Dave went up with the babies to the NICU and came back to my room with pictures of my precious twins. We decided on their names - Hannah Zhen Juan Ng for cece and Joel Zhen An Ng for didi. They were doing fine in the NICU. I was so desperate to see them but I wasn't allowed to move after the cesarean operation. So I had to make do with pictures taken by Dave. He assured me that both babies were doing well.
Next day I finally went down to the NICU to see my twins for the first time. I was in pain seeing them all in tubes and ventilators to help them breathe. Hannah and Joel were both doing well. I was at peace.
In the afternoon, Hannah's condition took a turn and she was not doing well all of a sudden. The doctors did a cranial scan and found that she was bleeding in her head. My worst fear started ringing in my head again. How did all these happen? Why did I allow this to happen??? It's all my fault. I should have prioritised my twins above anything else.
Hannah started to deteriorate and from level 1 bleeding it quickly progressed to level 4 bleeding. On the 2nd September 2015 the doctor confirmed the worst news to us that Hannah will not make it. They will let her go at her own pace and timing. On the 3rd September 2015 morning, I wrapped Hannah's tiny fingers around my little finger and spent her last few breathing hours with her. Dave and I were grief stricken. We just cannot believe that Hannah will soon leave us forever and we will never see her again.
Hannah left peacefully and we managed to cuddle her for the first time after she passed on. It's such an irony. Heart wrenching. Heart breaking. Words cannot describe the pain that we felt. Our Hannah left us forever.
Despite all these, we had to be strong. We had Joel still in the NICU. Zachary is also waiting for us at home. We just had to be strong. There's nothing else we could do but be strong. Everyone kept telling me that I have to be strong for Joel for Zachary. I just had to be strong. I had to be strong.
We just came back from a Japan tour yesterday. I was so exhausted during the trip and we walked so much it wasn't funny. Overall it was a good trip minus the fatigue.
When we touched down yesterday, I was feeling awful due to the turbulence in the plane. We were sitting right at the last row of the plane and it was swaying left and right plenty of times. I felt so nauseated during the whole plane ride that I didn't even eat my meal in the plane. Bad idea as that meant that I had to suffer even more headache due to gastric pains.
After touching down, we headed straight home in a cab and went out for dinner. While talking to the friendly cab driver about Lee Kuan Yew and his policies and all, I felt that I was gonna puke. I quickly asked for a plastic bag and out came my guts and everything that could come out of my empty stomach.
At dinner I felt a strange gush below and wasn't feeling that great. Got home, was preparing myself to shower to find that I was bleeding bright red blood. I immediately told Dave. Zac was such a sweet boy as when he heard me saying that he came and asked "are you alright mummy?". After phone calls to the hospitals we ended up driving to Kandang Kerbau Hospital.
The doctor did a scan and said that everything looks ok and it's quite normal to bleed in early pregnancy. She showed me the baby's heart beat and that was my first encounter with the little one.
Next day, which is today, I called my doctor to find out if I should come in to see him. Scheduled an appointment and went straight to see him. More than an hour of wait as usual.
When I finally saw the doctor I was rather nervous. I want to know that the baby is doing well. I want to know that everything is fine. Doctor did a scan and did a measurement. Baby measures at 6 week 3 days today. He also measured the heart beat. They were beating at 150bpm. After I got off the scanning table, he then mentioned that I'm carrying twins. I was elated. Excited. Happy. Thrilled. I couldn't believe it as the day before the doctor only saw one sac.
Now we pray hard that both babies will grow up healthy and strong and happy. I can't wait to see you babies. I love you both already even before meeting you. Daddy, mummy and koko are looking forward to see you both. Stay healthy and happy in there.
Today is one of the happiest days of my life. I've been undergoing infertility treatment since Norway, to UAE all the way to Singapore.
I was on the edge the whole of yesterday obsessing about whether I would test positive or not. Contemplating if I should get a HPT kit. But I told myself to just wait another day since mum and dad would be coming in with my HPT kit supplies.
Last few nights, I have been having cramps and twinges in my abdomen. At times the pain felt quite strong. I was happy to have some symptoms than none at all. As I am writing this now I am feeling the cramps in and off. I've also been feeling cramps om my toes for some reason. My body must be lacking of some nutrients.
This morning, poor little darling Zac was running a fever so he didn't go to school. He must have been bored all morning and during the car ride to pick dad and mum. I feel so sorry for him. But he behaved really well today and didn't kick a fuss although he was unwell. He is my little champ, always and forever. I love him to bits. Hope he will fully recover by tomorrow so he won't miss out on all the fun in school.
The moment I got home after picking dad and mum, I went to the bathroom to test. I was staring at the result initially and felt rather disappointed because I didn't see the second line immediately. However, after about a minute and the test was saturated, the faint line started showing. I looked at myself in the mirror and gave myself a grin and said "oh my god! Two lines!". I couldn't believe my eyes. I messaged Dave immediately and gave him a call immediately to tell him the news. He was having lunch with his VP so he didn't sound exactly excited and told me not to put our hopes too high.
Anyway, I was elated! I just couldn't believe my eyes and kept walking to and fro the bathroom to make sure that the second line was still there.
To convince myself that the HPT test I first used is not malfunctioning, I decided to run another test since my dearest mum got me 5 tests. So I went to the bathroom again to test. This time too, I got worried. The liquid didn't flow smoothly to the test screen and I thought it was gonna be another dud test. But after waiting for a little while for the thing to settle, the second line appeared even brighter than the first test! I grinned to myself again in joy and happiness and asked mum to witness that I am not seeing things. She verified that she also saw two lines on both the tests.
I am so excited to share this news with Zac. But I'll keep it in for a little while longer to make sure that everything goes well and give him a surprise news. Zac would be thrilled to know that he's finally gonna be a KOKO.
I'll remember this day forever till I die. It's a happy day for me.
Today marks our 10th Valentine's Day celebrations together. Our first, we weren't even a couple yet. We spent the night at King's Park that year in 2005.
This year, dearest hubby brought Zac and I to this dimsum place called Royal China at Raffles Arcade. The dimsum there is really good. The best we've tried so far in Singapore. And hubs was so gentlemanly today as he served me every dish that came to the table. A very nice lunch.
After lunch we went to Chinatown to sort out our trip to Japan. Whoohoo! All sorted and we will be flying in March during Zac's school holidays. I'm looking forward to the trip.
We then ventured on to Vivocity. Hubs wanted me to choose a handbag from there. Unfortunately though there wasn't stock for the one that I preferred. So hubs made a call and managed to find another store that had stock. We then drove on to Marina Bay and finally bought the bag that we were after. Poor Zac was exhausted by then.
After a long day of walking, we went to Cedele to get a cake to end our day. It was all in all a very nice day. A day that I cherish in my heart and will remember for a long long time.
Zac started Prep on the 20th January 2015. He is attending big boy school now. I really cannot believe that he's already 5 years old!
On the 28th January, there was a parent information session in Zac's school. I had to ask mum to come and help with Zac as the session was at night.
When we got home from the session, Zac was in his room while mum was out in the living room. We thought that he had fallen asleep so quickly that night, but we were advised by mum that he said he wanted to sleep all by himself.
So for the first time in his life he actually fell asleep without having us in the room with him. Another milestone reached. He did it again today on the 29th January. He was in his room telling minecraft stories to himself. He came out of the room asking for water a few times after that and to press my computer keyboard out of jest. He's such a champ!
It's a bitter sweet experience for Dave and I because we are so proud and happy that Zac is getting more and more independent. On the other hand, it means that he will need us lesser and lesser now. We are going to miss all these dependencies when one day he is fully grown up and self dependent for everything.
On a side note, Zac read nearly 80 percent of the book titled 'Scary Hair' all by himself. He's really improving by leaps and bounds. He also got level 2 piano books today. He was elated! He just wanted to dive into all the new pieces in the book.
Oh Zac. What would life be without you in my life? I love you so much!
Pictures of him in all his uniforms in school.
Today marks another milestone for Zac. He slept with Anne through the night. Although it's with his cousin, but it's still his first. My boy is really a grown up now.
After 9 crazy months in Dubai we finally arrived Singapore after a trip to Perth in March 2014.
Upon arrival, the humidity kicked in almost immediately upon touch down. The stickiness was something that I never looked forward to given the hyperhydrosis condition that I have.
The journey from Changi airport to Orchid Hotel in Tanjong Pagar was a familiar yet weird feeling. The streets lined up with trees, less aggressive drivers on the road, thick, white clouds in the blue skies and the Toyotas and Nissans brought back memories of the past both bitter and sweet. There was a sense of excitement of what's to come in the days ahead I'm Singapore.
The first few days were jam packed with house hunting, school visiting, hopping on and off the agents car, trying to decide the best place to rent. After the ordeals in Dubai, alot of thought were put into the decision for our next place in Singapore. After deciding that Zac would be attending the Australian International School, we narrowed down our search to just around Lorong Chuan and decided on Goldenhill Park Condominium.
While Dave started work a week after, Zac and I explored the Tanjong Pagar area, had haircuts, went crazy in the hotel room, ate different local food, perspired bucket loads and finally we got our house keys after 5 days to ease all the craziness.
We moved into our place after our shipment arrived and most essentials were unpacked. Our TV cabinet was damaged during the shipment and we went through another ordeal to get the insurance claim sorted. Apart from that everything settled in smoothly.
Zac started school a couple of days after and settled into Miss Lee's class well. He got on really well with Miss Soo when we first got to class and went in without a hint of hesitation. His first few friends in school were Zhehan and Shihang. We were so proud of him for being such a champ settling into a new environment yet again.
The first week was really a fun time walking to school with Zac. We didn't have a car yet and were still deciding whether we should or should not get a car. Although it was really hot and humid, the time spent with Zac walking to and fro school was really good and it's something that I will cherish as sweet memories forever.
The week after we got our temporary Toyota Axio. Life was so much easier after we got the car. I could finally do grocery shopping without having to worry about how to carry them home in a train.
Dad and mum also came to visit and spent time with us after we moved in to our new place. It is really good to have them near.
Dave and I often ponder, 'Are we really in Singapore?'. The feeling is surreal whenever we walked the streets in Singapore during the first couple of weeks when we first arrived. We never thought Singapore would be one of our adventures away from Perth.
Little Zac who is growing day by day would one day start protesting our frequent moves. But for now, we as a family of three would absorb as much experience as we can while in Singapore. It's a great opportunity for Zac to experience the culture of our roots and I'm sure this would be something that he too will cherish when he gets older.
Singapore, you have a special place in our lives now and when we look back down the years, you will definitely bring a smile to our faces.
