With an infant in my carrier, we heard loud clanking sounds before the steps popped up right before my eyes. I was just a step away from that dislodged step.
I hugged my baby with my shivering arms and turned around asking the crowd to go back up.
Can’t believe this happened again at Waterway Point because the last incident happened exactly 2 months ago! The building maintenance team seriously need to look into the maintenance of the escalators.
** Update on 2nd December 2019 **
I was told that the cause of the dislodgement was due to the use of strollers on the escalator. I looked back at Waterway Point’s FB page and saw this notice :
In fact, I have also read up and found that most of the escalator malfunction cases are due to the use of prams. I believe most parents are pushing their prams on the escalators because the lifts are usually packed. But for all others’ safety, please use the lifts instead. Read reference from CNA.
To prevent further incidents as such, perhaps the malls can start putting up barriers to stop users from pushing the strollers on the escalators.
Four years after being a mum for the first time we welcomed Ian into our lives as our second baby. The experience with him is totally different from what we experienced with Isaac. One of the things I wondered during my pregnancy was how Ian looked like because he’d turn away every time we did the ultrasound. But I thought to myself, how different can he be from Isaac right? After all, they are both from the same “factory”. Boy, was I wrong. I saw no resemblance in the two of them the moment we met Ian.
Looks aside, Isaac was an easy to manage baby. He is probably the perfect baby anyone would wish for. He was smiley, his cries were soft and best of all, from when he was over a month old, he slept through the night without waking up for milk. When I say through the night, I mean from 8ish pm to almost 7am the next morning.
I always thought how lucky we were that Isaac was so easy to handle and was hoping Ian would be somewhat similar but of cos, all babies are different.
The first month with Ian was extremely challenging. He had a huge appetite and we were feeding him every 2 hours instead of the recommended 3hrs. I find myself with almost no sleep because feeding him and putting him back to sleep took about an hour and a half. This also means it was almost time for him to feed again. With no confinement lady, the hubs and I took turns to watch him through the night. However, even on nights that the hubs took the night shift, I will still have to get up to express the milk so there is enough supply for Ian and also to avoid engorgement. Many nights I find myself questioning when this situation will get better.
When Ian was 18 days old, he got hospitalised for close to a week because he came down with fever. After admission, his blood test revealed that he had bacterial infection in his blood. It was a major heartache for me seeing him with the plug on his little hand and later, lumbar puncture was also done to check if the infection went to his brain. We spent the long nights together being woken up by the nurses to have his temperature taken every hour. Thankfully, he got better and finally discharged from the hospital.
After a month of having the hubs at home, he finally went back to work. The first week of being home with just Isaac and Ian was trying. I tried to juggle between the household chores and the kids’ demands and I kept telling myself that I can do this and I did. I managed to plan the day according to Ian’s sleeping timing. Every time he took a nap, I would attend to Isaac, cook lunch (dinner on some days) and have some house chores done. Some days I’ll take them out too. On days that I am tired from the broken sleep, I will just cook lunch and watch over the kids. After all, the kids’ and my well being is more important than the housework. I did not want to suffer from a burnout myself so I can continue to look after them. The housework can wait.
To be honest, I am surprised myself at the confidence I have to manage them on my own and I am really glad that I have the opportunity to. The nights are long but the years are short. I shall cherish every moment with my babies.
At 34 weeks pregnant, I was told that the baby was lying very low. Our gynae recommended bed rest just so we can keep the baby in till at least 37 weeks when it is safe to pop. Being stuck at home, that 3 weeks went by extremely slowly for me. I thought to myself that I had not expect to spend the last few weeks with isaac this way. I wanted to bring him out to have fun so we could have some quality time together before the baby arrives. Luckily for me, isaac is someone who enjoys staying at home. Hence, we played games on our mobile phones, the ps4 and watched shows together. I guess that worked too.
I missed my dad’s 70th birthday celebration on 2nd August, which I had planned and prepared for just to meet my 37th week mark which was the next day, 3rd August. It was a struggle for me because I really wanted to be there.
I am extremely grateful for the support from my family during these few weeks. My mum would buy groceries and bring them to my place just so isaac and I have food to eat. When I missed my dad’s birthday celebration, my family came over to my place just to cut the cake with me. These may sound like the small stuff but being surrounded by loved ones meant alot to me.
We made our way to the hospital on the 3rd of August at 2cm dilated. Arrived at the hospital close to 4pm was prepared for the baby’s arrival the next day. Our gynae who happened to be at the hospital for another delivery jokingly told us that she will fly down even if the baby decides to come out at midnight. Read about our awesome gynae here.
We spent a few hours at the delivery suite only to find out that I was still 2cm dilated at 9pm. I decided I should get some sleep since the baby will likely only arrive in the wee hours the next morning. Less than half an hour later, we were taken by surprise when the medical staff who checked on my said that I was 10cm dilated and she was going to call my gynae. True enough, our gynae flew down for the delivery.
After pushing for an hour, our precious baby arrived. We also fulfilled big brother Isaac’s wish of having a sibling. Took the three of us (isaac included of cos) two days after the baby’s birth to settle on his name.
