Amazingly Still

Timeout Thursday: Project Happy Feet Slipper Race 2014

March 6, 2014 by mabel :) 2 Comments

Project Happy Feet Slipper Race 2014 Total Defence Edition

Last year, I participated in my first ever race (paid for and comes with a tag and goodie bag) – Slipper Race by Project Happy Feet.

When I received email notification that it’s happening again (barely 6 months since my first!), I was super excited! But alas, the timing wasn’t as perfect as the last and so, it was just me and my elder sister who went for it. It was still fun though! We had a lot of fun, mainly catching each other up on the latest gossip. Hehe!

The reason why this year’s Slipper Race was held so early on in the year was because they were part of celebrating 30 years of Total Defence!

And guess who got the ultimate race tag number for this Total Defence edition of Slipper Race?

ME!
Yes, I was very, very happy with my race tag number! Hehe!

Before flag-off

Flag-off!

We waited for the very last wave before setting off

When I stop to take photos, my sister won’t. I had to play catch up several times!

What goes up…

… Must come down.

At the end of the race!

This year’s race was much shorter at 3.6km, but because we were walking around Fort Canning, the up and down of the hill actually made it a little more tiring than last year’s 5km walk along the beach. It was more sheltered though, with all the trees surrounding us. And with my handy walking mosquito repellent – that would be my sister. Haha! – I was free of bites!

But the really funny part came after the race, when I saw these two photos posted on Facebook:

Image from Dr Maliki Osman’s Facebook Page

Image from Project Happy Feet’s Facebook Page

Time to play “Find Clara and Mabel”! See if you can spot my sister and me in these two photos! Hehe.

And with that, I’ll leave you guys with my sudden and abrupt end to this post.

As usual :P

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I just realized that I totally missed out on last month’s Timeout Thursday! I blame the Lunar New Year festivities! Hehe.

But last month’s Timeout Thursday was somewhat summarized in my Wordless Wednesday post, about two weeks back. I managed to meet up with my cousins :D

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There is only one rule for Timeout Thursday, and that is,
STRCITLY NO KIDS ALLOWED!
This linky is all about indulging us, the parents!

Grab the code below, link up back here with your post URL, and it’s all good to go!
Linky party will be open for 3 weeks from the first Thursday of every month.
For more details, please read my first Timeout Thursday post

Filed Under: photos taken with xperia z1, runs and races, timeout thursday

Why I Breastfed for Three Months

March 4, 2014 by mabel :) 17 Comments

This is part of ‘Why I Breastfed for…’ Blog Train

I was a first time mom, beaming with pride and joy when my baby boy, Blake, entered our lives in September 2010.

Little did I know that the very first thing that I would ‘fail’ as a mother was being unable to provide him with milk.

You see, my milk didn’t kick in till more than a week after giving birth. I had a terrible, terrible time trying to breastfeed him, even though he latched on well. And, he had the cutest way of latching on. He would shake his head with his mouth wide open before attacking my breasts. I never knew how he could aim so well, even though his eyes were closed most of the time!

Despite the good latching, I suffered a bout of dry spell.

This dry spell in the first week nearly drove me, and everyone around me, nuts. Blake was constantly crying, and constantly trying to go at my breasts. I tried pumping to see how much milk I had, but there was nothing. I was so caught up in the whole “breastmilk only” concept that I refused to give Blake anything else to drink. On hindsight, maybe this was why he was colicky. My poor baby was just sucking air into his stomach. I’m so sorry, Blake!

When the dry spell was finally over, I was hit by twin floods.

The minimum per pump, every 2 hours

It just wouldn’t stop flowing! I should be glad by now, that I had all the milk and more to feed Blake with, but I’m not. I became even more miserable.

If I’m not breastfeeding Blake, I was attached to a single breast pump (please buy twin pumps, fellow moms-to-be). And if I slept, I woke up in a pool of milk – 3-4 breast pads placed together on each side soaked all the way through to my clothes and bed.

I felt dirty and sticky all the time.

And in case you’re wondering how I woke up in a pool of milk, it’s because I tried my best to sleep through the pain of engorgement, while Sean wakes up for night feeding duties (we gave Blake formula for night feed).

For some reason unknown to me, I became really disgusted with my own breastmilk. I never kept any of it longer than 24 hours in the fridge. The idea of freezing it, and then giving it to him months later really made me gag. Insane, right?

Besides throwing out and wasting all that milk, I was battling with myself internally, and clearly pushing myself to the brink of post-natal depression.

Sean told me that it’s okay if I decided to stop breastfeeding. My mom came forward and told me it was okay to stop breastfeeding too. But nope, I didn’t want to listen to them. All I could think of was, “What do they know? They are not the mother of my child! I know what’s best!” And by best, it’s whatever strange articles I had been reading online back then, which told me that I must and only breastfeed my baby for 6 months. Nothing else!

That is, until Sean snapped and said something along this line:

“Your breastmilk is only as good as what you eat, and how you feel. It’s basically rubbish if you’re not eating well and not feeling right!”

My mom also revealed the following to me, most likely not in her own words, but I remember it as:

“I breastfed all of you for two weeks only, and you all turn out well what! We don’t have the privilege of having 4 months maternity leave in the past, ok?”

I reckon they didn’t have breast pumps back then either, or are at least crazily priced!

For some reason, after hearing Sean and my mother snap at me (I was very vulnerable, so just raise your voice a little, and I’ll consider it snapping at me), my head cleared.

I decided to stop breastfeeding once and for all, and go full on formula for Blake. After the breastmilk stopped flowing, I felt better. I felt more like myself again. I was definitely happier and actually enjoyed spending time with Blake. Before that, all I could think of was horrible things to do to him and myself to end my ‘suffering’.

It took me three months into motherhood to learn that I should love myself first, before I can provide all the love and care necessary to Blake. It’s definitely not wrong to put yourself first in cases like these.

I like how my younger sister put it, “Even on board planes, you put on the oxygen mask first before putting it on your child in an emergency.” She’s 11 years younger than me, but so, so wise.

Back in December 2010, around the time I stopped breastfeeding

Needless to say, when Nakayla came along, I know better to listen to my own body and mind, than to take the advice on the internet as it is. I stopped when I decided it was time to, which was after my confinement, as I had to resume full on baby duty in the day, and my usual household duties. I no longer have the luxury of someone else doing my work for me. Thank goodness for the husband who shares the load with me!

I hope by sharing my breastfeeding journey, it will help fellow mommies, who might be caught in the same situation as I did. Do know that it is okay to stop breastfeeding any time. Remember, Mommy first! :P

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Tomorrow Jiahui will be sharing her 6 months breastfeeding journey. Do drop by to find out why she breastfed for 6 months!

Jiahui blogs at Mum’s the Word. She’s a self-declared brand new mum of 3, having realised each day marks a new lesson about her kids. She blogs to help herself remember each experience, so she can pick out what she did right, and with that, what went wrong.

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This post is part of a Blog Train hosted by Madeline at MadPsychMum. Head on over to read the other breastfeeding stories by Singapore Mom Bloggers!

Filed Under: backdated, blake's first year, blog train, new parents, trip down memory lane

Whatsapp Pass: What’s It About?

February 28, 2014 by mabel :) 2 Comments

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about Singtel’s latest add-on service – Whatsapp Pass.

I’m not sure if many of you know this, but Singtel is not charging you to use Whatsapp. You can still use Whatsapp even if you don’t purchase this add-on. I’m serious!

Before any of you think I’m working for Singtel (Haha! I wish, cos then I’ll have what people consider a ‘job’), I’m not. Last I checked, I’m still pretty much considered the unemployed since I’m a stay-at-home mom :P

However, I am a Singtel user, and I use Whatsapp.

And, if Singtel is going to charge me for using Whatsapp, I will definitely kick up a big fuss. But they are not.

It just takes one person to misunderstand something, then blow it up in epic proportions, and everyone else gets sucked into the same belief without first doing their own investigations/research.

This applies to a lot of things, and trust me, I know this particularly well. A little too well for my sanity, in fact. But let’s not go there.

If you’re still not sure what the Whatsapp Pass is about, let me break it down for you:

It’s an unlimited data plan specifically for your Whatsapp.

That is basically it.

“Who might need this add-on?”, I hear you ask.

Well, people who do not have data plans on their phone lines. Yes, there are people who still do not have data in their phone plans (my secondary mobile line is a classic example).

By just purchasing this add-on, they no longer have to rely solely on Wi-Fi to upload and download things from Whatsapp. They can do so anywhere now, without worrying about data charges. Perfect for people who really only use their smartphones for communication purposes only. Very ideal for my secondary mobile line, where I only use Whatsapp (if I can find Wi-Fi, that is) and nothing else.

The other group of people who might need this are the ones with data in their phone plans, and is able to somehow exceed their data limit or leaving close to nothing for other use, just by uploading and downloading things like photos, videos, voice recordings etc through Whatsapp.

For example:

Your current phone line comes with 2GB data usage as part of the bundle.

If you’re a heavy Whatsapp user, sending and receiving files all the time, you might use up 1GB of your data from this. That leaves you with only 1GB of data for other things – be it watching YouTube videos, downloading documents from your email, or apps from your Playstore (I’m an Android user).

Now, if you purchase the Whatsapp Pass, you will get to use unlimited amount of data specifically on Whatsapp.

That means, you can upload and download as many files as you want from Whatsapp, and you will still have 2GB from your original data bundle to do whatever it is you want on your smartphone!

If you’re wondering how anyone can use so much data on Whatsapp, you might want to check this out. Hilarious take for sure, but it made sense to me! Hehe.

For those who have been telling others to switch to other chatting apps because of this add-on by Singtel, I’ve got bad news for you.

Even if you switch to LINE, or WeChat, or whatever new chatting app there is out there, data charges will still apply when you send and receive files from within the app. Nothing is as free as they are made out to be. You are just being charged according to your data usage. That’s all.

I shall repeat this, you can still use Whatsapp even if you don’t purchase the Whatsapp Pass. You will just be consuming the data from your phone plan, instead of having unlimited data usage on Whatsapp.

Personally, I won’t be needing the Whatsapp Pass add-on.

I’ve got 12GB of data to use in my primary phone line, and I seldom exceed 2GB a month. That’s at least another 10GB waiting to be used! As for my secondary phone line, the phone is pretty much a toy to Nakayla so I seldom use that line… So I think I’ll pass for now.

Perhaps, when the children are older, and they require their own phones , I’ll purchase this add-on for them. This way, they can Whatsapp me and the husband freely. And with no data on their phone plan, they can only Whatsapp and do nothing else on that smartphone.

But, if they somehow activate and use data for things other than Whatsapp on their smartphones, the not-so-smart smartphone users will see their piggy banks being emptied to pay for these additional charges.

I’m so cruel, but I like. Haha!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Blake’s Swimming Progress Report

February 26, 2014 by mabel :) Leave a Comment

It has been about 13 lessons since Blake started his first swimming lesson. Currently, he is half-way through his second cycle of swimming lessons, and I thought that maybe I should update on his progress!

Blake has started using the kicking board in swim class from a while back, but he’s still trying to get a hang of it. He doesn’t seem to enjoy kicking as much as he used to. Maybe cos he can finally feel the weight of himself, or maybe he knows my dad will hold him afloat. I have to keep yelling from the sides, “Blake! You’re not swimming if you’re not kicking! You’re just floating!” to get him kicking for a while.

In order to get Blake to kick so that he can move and stay afloat, the coach got my dad to stand at a short distance away and gave Blake a push in his direction. We practiced that on the sides by having Blake kick towards me (I’m on dry land). The boy will be happy to play along, until he sinks underwater. Haha!

But the boy’s a trooper. He will get back up, scream a little, and head back into the pool for more. Hehe.

Besides learning how to use the kicking board, Blake has also been learning how to deal with the cold waters and holding his breath with his head under water. I’m really pleased to know that my boy is one resilient boy!

The only problem we have is getting him to wear goggles.

He hates the goggles and will cry when he sees it. I’ve tried getting him a new pair, calling it swimming sunglasses. I told him that he must wear it to protect his eyes from the sun. It worked the first time at home, but once we were at the pool… Sigh…

Goggles aside, I’m glad that Blake enjoys his swimming classes, even though he may not have been the happiest boy when I run into his room every Sunday morning and go, “Blake! Let’s go swimming!” Hehe. He usually perks up on the car ride over.