Zak is 1!

Has a year already gone by? It has been an unforgettable year full of happiness and frustration, and it really is amazing watching Zak grow up from a tiny helpless newborn to a 1 year old capable of doing so many things. Zak is now no longer a baby, but a little boy who is constantly bringing such joy and delight to our lives. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we had a small gathering at our apartment with my younger sister Honey (who arrived a few days prior) and a couple of friends.

A couple of simple entree that Honey quickly put together - Camembert Cheese with Crackers, and Pineapple Ham; and Chicken, Spinach and "Ricotta" Cannelloni (Rob bought mascarpone by mistake, but it worked out well), salad and Improbable Quiche prepared by Rob, Honey and me - yes, it was a tight fit in the tiny kitchen with the 3 of us in it.:


The birthday boy and the birthday cake - Apple and Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, which is baby-friendly and perhaps a bit too healthy for a birthday cake:


Happy birthday my little Zippy!

Hello World!

Hubby and I welcomed our little boy into this world on Wednesday 15th October 2008 (incidentally his due date too). He weighed in at 4068g, setting a record as the biggest baby born at Aiiku Hospital in Tokyo. He was measured as 55cm tall with a head circumference of 35cm. If you asked our opinion, this little baby is one of the best looking newborns we've ever seen as he didn't have that wrinkled, squished look that many newborns have at birth.

With 1-day old bub at the hospital:


Though bub was scheduled for an induced delivery on the same day, he managed to beat the clock by a few hours when I started getting active labour contractions at 3am in the morning. I underwent 12 hours of back labour, unmedicated, before it was decided the labour wasn't progressing sufficiently and caesarean was opted. All I can say is that it ain't fun being prepped for surgery in the middle of advanced labour stage.

Both of us are doing well, and we were discharged from the hospital yesterday. I never thought I could survive on only 4 hours of sleep a day, but that is how little sleep I've been getting since last Wednesday morning when I went into labour. You'd think that I'd be able to get more rest at the hospital, but my hospital stay was more like boot camp to prepare me for motherhood. I'm sure my recovery period would be quicker with more sleep, but I get what I can. This little guy has a huge appetite (not surprising if you look at his parents!), and thankfully I've been able to meet his demands, although this wasn't without some initial hiccups with breastfeeding in the first couple of days.

Unfortunately until I've established a routine, I won't have much time for blogging. But do occasionally check back for updates.

Back to the daily grind

So we're back in Tokyo after spending 1 week in Queensland: 2 nights in Cairns where there were so many Japanese people (and Japanese signs!) that it felt like we'd never left Japan; and the rest of the time in Brisbane where we met and hung out with lots of wonderful friendly Greek people and ate plenty of Greek food. The main highlight of Cairns for me was spotting crocodiles in the wild, and in Brisbane I experienced my first Greek wedding!

Of course I took hundreds of photos but they will take some time to organise before I can share them on my journal. In the meantime, here's a shot of us atop the canopy of the beautiful Daintree rainforest north of Cairns. (Friends and family back home in Australia have been bugging me to see photos of me looking pregnant, but I don't have many shots of me because my place is behind the camera, not in front of it.)

Enjoying the fresh rainforest air:


Speaking of looking pregnant, here are some amusing things I've noticed:

- I really ought to steer away from wearing light-coloured tops. My protruding belly (which I sometimes forget I have) catches dripping food and juices - a problem because I often don't eat at the table.
- I often bump my protruding belly on table corners, chairs and other waist-high objects as I walk "around" them because I do sometimes forget I have a belly now. And yes, it hurts when that happens!
- I don't really look pregnant if you look at me front-on, but my profile shows a definite pregnant belly. I suppose it's a good thing I'm not growing sideways instead!

In the Perinatal ICU..

On Tuesday, I underwent a minor surgery at my maternity hospital. It certainly was an interesting experience as it was the first time I'd ever been admitted to any hospital as an 'in-patient' (perhaps due to God blessing me with good health, but also perhaps due to my aversion doctors and hospitals).

In preparation, I had to go without food or drink from 9pm the previous day. Needless to say, I was absolutely starving and thirsty when I was waiting for my surgery. The IV drip did little - if anything at all - to help. At 5:30pm (I'd been waiting since 10am), I was brought to the surgery room where there were two OB/GYN, one anastheticist and at least 3 nurses, which was a little surprising because I was under the impression that it was a minor procedure. I guess the risk stakes are always higher whenever pregnancy is involved.

My OB/GYN informed me last Friday that anaesthetic would be applied via the IV drip, but as I was laying on the surgery bed, this same OB/GYN told me that they'd decided that local anaesthesia would be used instead. I was fine with that until I was turned on my side and the anaestheticist began disinfecting an area on my spine. Bewildered at what was happening yet helpless to do anything, I was told not to move (assisted by a fairly large nurse holding me in place) and I felt anxiety growing when I felt the needle pierce my spine (not as painful as it sounds but it was every bit as unpleasant as it sounds). I hated being conscious yet not being able to move nor feel anything from my lower abdomen downwards.

Anyway, the actual procedure lasted only about 8 minutes, but the anaesthesia took about 2 hours to wear off. And I've been suffering a massive 'post-dural puncture headache' which takes at least a few days to heal (without getting too technical, the only things I can do to help the headache is plenty of bedrest and hydration). Kinda makes me wonder if the spinal anaesthetic was worth having (not like I was given a choice!!). This headache is just as bad as the horrible migraines I used to get, but longer lasting. The doctor was happy with my recovery and I was discharged the morning after the surgery. Other than this rather debilitating headache, I'm in good health, the baby's doing well and is very energetic in my tummy - I can feel its movements through my belly now.

I do have a couple of foodie stuff to blog about, but unfortunately they'll have to wait until I can sit upright for more than 30 minutes before this headache forces me back in the supine position. Speaking of which, I need to go lie down..

Flutterings..

This post is not related to food, travel or the usual things I write about, but I was so excited to feel the faint sensation of the baby's movements in my lower belly that I could not resist sharing it on my online journal! I didn't expect to feel any movements this early (I am only 16 weeks along) and I'm looking forward to feeling more pronounced movements later on as the baby grows :)

My previously flat tummy is no longer flat, instead it always looks like I just ate a huge meal. So far I've put on only about 1.5 kg more than my pre-pregnancy weight, so I still look relatively normal but after a pig-out session and a boob job :P

A bad encounter with gastro

There is a reason why I've been out of action from my journal for a week. Last Thursday, I caught some tummy bug. I don't often get sick, and the last time I had bad food poisoning was a few years ago (contracted just before a flight, making for a very unpleasant journey), which I recovered from within a day or two by just drinking clear fluids and starving the bad tummy bug. I was back to eating normal food within 48 hours of falling ill. This time, however, I got so weak that I was almost completely bedridden on Saturday and Sunday. Lack of food meant that my stomach didn't feel too bad after the first 24hours, but it also meant zero energy to do anything other than sleep. It really sucked that I spent most of the weekend in bed, but on the other hand I was glad that it was the weekend because it meant that Rob was home to take care of me.

Rob was amazing and really looked after me, doing the grocery shopping, stumbling around the unfamiliar territory of the kitchen to cook and ensuring that I drank enough fluids. I was on my own on Monday when Rob went to work, but I was still so weak that I didn't cope very well by myself, so he took the day off work on Tuesday to look after me. I went out for the first time in 5 days on Tuesday afternoon when Rob took me out for some sunshine and fresh air, but we only walked for 5 minutes before I was tired and had to head back home. I'm getting better, and was out for the whole day yesterday to do my lessons and go to the clinic for a check-up. I lost about 2kgs in 3 days, and since I am almost 15 weeks pregnant, I was really worried about the unborn baby. The check up yesterday revealed that the baby is doing fine, perhaps even better than me, which was a tremendous relief and load of my mind. I'm a pretty healthy person, blessed with good health and also conscientious about living a healthy lifestyle, so I have never been this ill and weak in my life. I guess being pregnant has changed how well my body recovers from illnesses (baby is put priority before mother's health).

(By the way, Rob and I are expecting our first baby due in October!)

In this recovery period, I've been eating simple-to-digest food like rice porridge (congee). Rice porridge is perhaps my favourite comfort food. My mum would sometimes cook porridge (different kinds like chicken, pork, fish or plain porridge with sides) on weekends for lunch because it's really easy to prepare, delicious and nutritious. In Japan, rice congee is known as okayu, but unlike the Chinese culture where it is common to eat congee for breakfast or lunch, okayu is almost exclusively given to the sick and to babies because it is easy to eat and digest. Simple to make, delicious, nutritious and easy on unsettled stomach - I've been happy to eat porridge for dinner these past few days!

Chicken porridge: