CNY?

After a weekend of extreme fussiness and discomfort,

our little boy is finally on the upturn.

We visited the chiro again yesterday afternoon,

and the good news is that he's looking much better :)

Xander baby now has great movement in his neck, 

and he seems to be comfortable with turning towards the left again.

Hopefully this means that the flat spot on his right will even itself out with some time,

and that his little pointy elf-ear  on the right would unfurl itself again :)

Aunty Chloe, remember his pointy ear because he kept sleeping on that side? :p

The sacram is still not 100% yet,

so he did another slight adjustment but we're hopeful that he will gradually grow out of it.

We know, though, that it's much better already,

because when the chiro pressed down on the spot, 

Xander baby only whined a little, didn't cry like the last time.

To help with his digestive issues like gas and reflux,

he made a couple of adjustments on his back,

so hopefully we'll see some improvement soon.

We'll give him maybe 2 more weeks to settle down again before we take him back to see the chiro...

gotta let the little body heal and rest up well first :)

In the morning,

I took him to the GP.

I wanted to ease the discomfort of his reflux symptoms while the root of the problem gets resolved...

Didn't want any hardcore medication,

just some antacids to neutralise the acid in his tummy so that his regurgitation wouldn't hurt his GI tract and throat.

So we got Zantac for that, and boy does he not like it.

Screams like we're poisoning him when we feed it to him.

Oh well.

But the upside is that he slept and fed like a baby last night.

Last feeding at 7pm, 

slept at 8pm till 1am,

then up every 2 hours after that but that's about it.

Proper feeding and then back to sleep with minimal fussing.

Looks like it's working :)

Also because he developed that hoarse voice over the weekend,

and I didn't know if it was from his crying,

or whether it was something else.

Didn't wanna chance the possibility that it could be a throat infection or something else that was making his throat hurt and making him not wanna feed.

Dr checked him for ear infections but there's none.

He said his sore throat is a consequence of the reflux,

cos the acid that comes up with his regurgitation is irritating his GI tract and back of his throat, 

causing some inflammation.

Nothing that can be done about it cos it's because of his immature digestive system...

he just has to grow out of it with time.

So it's nothing to worry about and with the Zantac,

hopefully it'll get better.

Seems like it already is :)

After lunch and after baby came home early from work,

we went to Chadstone and the Medicare office there.

Had to add Xander onto my Medicare card so that we can claim benefits for his medical expenses.

So far, his pediatrician visits have cost us almost $500 for just 2 visits,

and the GP visit that morning was $56.

Had to get back what we deserve right?

We got back about $300 by the way, so yay!

The main story here is how the Medicare customer service lady treated us.

Long story cut short,

she was rude, discourteous, had a terrible service attitude,

and if it wasn't for the fact that I was gonna get money out of the visit,

I would have seriously given her a piece of my mind there and then, 

and walked right out.

She didn't bother listening to what I had to say,

spoke to me like I was stupid or something,

then proceeded to act all condescending to me.

She's probably one of those "F*** off, we're full" kinda aussie hillbilly,

but seriously, if that's the case, 

she needs to find a different job and not in Medicare.

Ugh.

By the way,

let me explain the "F*** off, we're full" issue.

Driving along the roads,

once in a while we'd come across a car with a bumper sticker in the geographical shape of Australia,

with that phrase plastered across it.

It's obvious what it's saying,

and it's obvious what kind of person is driving that car.

All I can say is,

excuse me,

I pay taxes too you know.

I pay taxes so that you idiots can get welfare payments and unemployment checks from the government.

I probably contribute more to the society and the country than you.

Plus, Australia is a country made up of immigrants.

Unless you're aboriginal,

you're not a native and don't have the right to claim that you are.

Where you think your ancestors came from?

England, Ireland, other parts of Europe, Middle East, etc.

So shut your redneck trap.

Baby joked that some Singaporeans might be happy to steal this idea from the Aussies and adapt it for use in Singapore though.

Haha!

Right.

I'm sure some people wouldn't mind doing that.

But in SG, at least people are not so obvious about it even though the sentiment is there.

No matter what,

there is some level of courtesy and civic-mindedness.

From the native Singaporeans lah, that is :p

Ok rant over.

Ugh.

Pisses me off just to think about it.

On to happier stuff.

Xander baby is finally recognising us and socialising with us regularly now,

and it's the best thing in the world right now :)

Every morning,

when he fusses in his swaddle and is ready to wake up for the day,

I unswaddle him and put him on the change table to get his nappy change.

A big sleepy grin and a cheerful (though sometimes forced) 'Good morning Xander! Good morning baby boy!" from me never fails to illicit a big wide gummy grin from the little man.

That is usually accompanied by his coos, 

as though he's trying to say good morning to me too.

It is exactly what I need each morning,

when I'm battling to wake up after a largely sleepless night.

Makes it all worthwhile, so very very worthwhile.

This can also be less of a good thing because he has started getting super distracted during feeding times,

when all he wants to do is look at my face,

smile at me and chit-chat with me.

That's a little hard to do when he's trying to maintain his latch,

so he ends up latching on and pulling off and not feeding properly.

It's frustrating,

but oh so cute at the same time.

Sometimes he would happily feed away if he can see me looking at him out of the corner of his eye,

but once I look away at something else,

he would pull off and "talk" to me to get my attention again.

Once I look back down at him,

he would happily latch on again.

Frustrating, but I can't help smiling at that.

This little man is turning out to be a talkative chatterbox it seems.

He tries to talk to us all the time,

and I can imagine how one day,

he would be attached permanently to my ankles while I do things around the house,

and the background noise for me would be his endless chattering.

He would be one who won't be silenced, mark my words.

Haha!

Maybe it's because we talk to him all the time.

Even if he is just sitting and chilling on his rocker while his daddy is cooking,

baby would still narrate his every action to the little one and Xander would listen ever so intently and make little noises of his own in response.

It's the cutest thing :)

He'll be 8 weeks old tomorrow,

and though I'm sad to see time pass so fast and to see him grow up so darn quickly,

these new developments are so exciting and it's what I look forward to everyday.

Speaking of tomorrow.

It's CNY eve.

I can't help but feel a twinge of sadness that I'll be missing out on the mega-feast that ah ma prepares for reunion dinner for the 4th year in a row.

I'm sad that I don't get to see my beloved cousins and catch up with them.

I'm sad that I don't get to experience that CNY eve excitement with new clothes, jewelry, lots of yummy tidbits, staying up past midnight to usher in the new year, waking up early the next morning to get dolled up for visiting, going to wai po's house for lunch, etc.

I wish I got to experience all that again.

But I doubt so anymore.

Even more crappy is that baby still has to work the rest of this week,

we got a midwife appointment on Thurs,

and the worse is that there is a scheduled power outage in our apartment block for 8 consecutive hours on Thursday, 

from 8am to 4pm.

WTH.

Meaning it'll be a hot day,

with no aircon,

no fan, 

no nothing.

Even the fridge won't be working.

Piece of crap.

So not only is CNY just another day for us here,

it's not gonna be a good day.

Sorry mummy,

I had definitely planned on Skype-ing you guys on the morning on 3 Feb,

also for ah ma and the guys to finally see baby in action.

But it can't be helped.

We can't do it.

Gotta find another time.

I guess I'm just sad that my new baby won't be able to experience that kind of family love and the excitement of chinese new year.

And also that the family won't get to share chinese new year with this new addition to the family.

If only people here worked at a faster pace and we could have gotten Xander baby's passport already,

then we would have gone back for chinese new year.

It's been exactly one year since I've been back to SG,

and I really truly miss it.

The food, the CNY atmosphere, the family, the friends...

I've never been away this long before.

Hopefully soon, we'll be able to make it back for a good holiday break.

It's time Xander gets acquainted with the motherland too ;)