Maddie Moments: Her Birth and the First Few Weeks

Mommies have an insatiable desire to document their child's development, especially the first year of life when most of the "firsts" and important milestones happen. Hence this series I will call Maddie Moments :) It's quite a job trying to go back and recall the happenings from 1 year ago but I'll still do it because one day, I know I will visit this blog and be thankful that I took the time.

Here goes...

For someone who works overseas, I consider myself fortunate to have been with my daughter for 6 months. Some parents had to leave their children as soon as they have recovered but me, I got the chance to be with her for half a year. So even if it's not the most ideal set up, I am thankful. I have to say it was really challenging being a new mom but hey, it was also the happiest I've been in my life!

So friends, please allow me to share with you some of my treasured moments with our pride and joy, Maddie =)

February 13, 2014, Thursday, 5:50pm

Raffles Hospital, Singapore

After 12 hours of induced labor including those few minutes (but felt like forever) of administering the epidural, we said hello to Jayanne Madison, a cheeky princess who changed our life in every way possible. She weighed 3.23 kilograms and is 50 centimeters long at birth. My first impression? She looked so much like Daddy!

What her name means

Jayanne is a a combination of her dad's name ("Jhay" but I opted to remove the h) and that of Saint Anne, the patron of the church where we regularly attend mass here in Singapore. I've been praying to Saint Anne for her good health and safe delivery throughout the 9 months and she granted my request. On the other hand, Madison means "child of Maud" so tell me, what could be more fitting than that? :)

We had the privilege of taking our first family picture on Valentine's Day 2014. What a precious day of hearts for our little family! =)

And here's Aunt Haley... she's okay about not being the bunso anymore. She's in fact excited to have a new playmate! =)

One thing that I liked about the Women's Center in Raffles Hospital is that they have this hands-on experience for daddies on how to give newborns a bath. They said that caring for the baby isn't always the mommy's job. Daddy has to have the basic know-how too! So there's J trying to conceal the nerves with a smile.

The nurse giving Daddy a hand. Maddie is already crying her lungs out at this point so you could see that Jhay is getting really tensed. Good thing the nurse was very helpful throughout the session -- she explained the process and also demonstrated the right way to do it. She's Filipina, by the way, so she was extra nice to us :)

That's the winning smile! :D Good job on your first challenge, Daddy! More to come!

The day we brought her home

On February 16, after a 4D3N stay (parang bakasyon lang! haha), we were discharged from the hospital. Some photo ops before we left...

The first-time grandma! And she doesn't want to be called Lola ha, it's for the oldies daw.

Hence, she is Maddie's "Mamita".

Out into the world you go, little one!
Fear not because Mommy and Daddy are here for you. Always =)

Welcome to your Singapore home, Anak!!!

The first night
The whole idea of Jhay and I having our very own baby girl still felt surreal until this very first night. It was the moment all new parents dread -- Maddie crying and crying and not wanting to stop! We did everything to soothe her but to no avail. We tried all possible breastfeeding positions but she won't even latch. We were all at wit's end but after so many tries and calling all the angels and saints, she started to feed. It was a glorious Mommy moment! Thank God for a husband and a mom who supported me all the way!

Note: No photos here because we were too tired and too stressed to even think about getting a camera! T_T

The following days
Slowly, the next days got a little bit better. We enjoyed watching her every move and loved her a lot more! And true to my first impression of her, as I kept posting photos on my social media accounts, more and more people were telling me that she takes after her Daddy. I was trying to argue at first but inch by inch I was convinced that the only thing she got from me was her eyes. The rest were from her Daddy!

Her first bath at home.

Off to her first check-up!

Her eyes and skin are still a bit yellow here due to jaundice but the pedia said it's normal for newborns. It went away after a couple of weeks with regular exposure to Mr. Sun :)

 I could stare at this forever.

 Her first time to meet Jollibee! This is after one of her pedia days. The hospital is near the only Jollibee store in Singapore kasi.  :D #para-paraan

 Cutiepie in her very first onesie! ^_^

 Oh my, she is growing up too fast!

Trying out her first ride :)

 Hurrah for milk time!

 We love you too, Anak. More than you will ever know.

 With my ob-gyne, Dr. Tony Tan. At first I was reluctant to have a male OB but as I was contemplating on switching doctors, I thought of googling his name and found out that he is the president of the OB-Gyn Society of Singapore! How cool is that? And yes, he lived up to that title. He's really good! If you are pregnant and staying in Singapore, I highly recommend Dr. Tan :)

Thank you, God, for the two greatest loves of my life.

 Hello, virtual friends of Mommy! Glad to meet you! :) 

And that, friends, is Maddie's first few weeks of life. Thank you for bearing with me as I take a trip down memory lane. There's more to come! Hope you stick around! :)

Cheers,