On December 18, Tino turned one!! Well, one month that is. The next day (Monday), she was baptised at the St Theresa Lepea Catholic Church.
Priest: Fr. Simone Ah Lo
Godmother: Catherine Logo Chu Ling Faolotoi
Godfather: Iluminado Aloaina
Present: Elita & Leilua Aloaina, Nydia & Cheeku Chu Ling
It was a simple ceremony with just the six of us. And Tino of course. She was fast asleep throughout the entire thing, even when her head was dipped in water and oil. A tornado couldn't have woken that little baby up. She looked so pretty in her baptismal dress, courtesy of her grandma.
We decided to choose one person of each family to be the godparents. Logo is Tino's aunt, and Cheeku's closest sister, and Ilu is my one and only brother. They are also both Catholics, though one is a non-practising one, and the other is a staunch church-goer and plays an active role in their church community. As godparents, they must be responsible in bringing up their godchild to be strong and knowledgable in the Catholic faith and live a good Christian life. I hope they do a better job than my godparents did...hehehe.
After the baptism, Logo gave us some gifts for Tino - dresses, photo frames and shoes. What a lucky girl!
And then we went home to Malie, to celebrate with a feast of stew elegi.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Not enough "tutu"
Tino's paternal great aunt arrived in Samoa from LA for the unveiling of both Cheeku's parents' graves. Yeah something like that. Her name is Aunty Lucy. Now Aunty Lucy is partially deaf and wear a hearing aid. I'm not sure if it works, because we talk to her and she turns the other way, and when she talks to us, the other side of Malie can hear her loud and clear.
Aunty Lucy loves holding her great niece. At this stage, Tino was 3 weeks old and had colic. Colic is characterized by incessant crying with no known cause. Tino didn't cry all the time, but she hated lying down and always wanted to be held, and sometimes no matter how much I fed her, she seemed unsatisfied. It was frustrating at times, and people had also sorts of diagnosis - it could be "la'ofie" (some Samoan infant sickness which required a fofo to have it removed), or gas, or the heat, or not enough milk.
Not enough milk. It annoyed me to have someone tell me I wasn't producing enough milk for my baby. I was, dammit! Total self denial huh. No really I believed that Tino was crying because her tummy hurt, and she automatically turned to my breast as a comfort zone, and she continued to cry even after feeding because...it still hurt! And that was one of the symptoms of colic. But no, Aunty Lucy kept saying "o lega e kagi le keige leaga ailoga o suasua lelei ou susu." I had the perfect retort to that, but felt like keeping the peace.
I always intended to feed my baby with breastmilk alone. The thought of formula never entered my head. Cheeku bought a breast pump so I could express milk if I had to go somewhere and leave Tino. When these people suggested that perhaps my milk production wasn't enough, I started thinking seriously about putting baby on both breastmilk and formula. And it would be convenient too. I even researched on the ingredients and whatnot of formula milk. The clincher: I was fed formula milk from birth because mother didn't have any milk at all. And see, I didn't turn out too bad.
I bought S-26 Infant Formula. At first Tino scrunched up her nose at the taste. Yep, at 3 weeks she could do that already. Gradually she got used to it. But of course her main source of comfort was my breast and I only gave her the bottle when I wasn't around.
Aunty Lucy loves holding her great niece. At this stage, Tino was 3 weeks old and had colic. Colic is characterized by incessant crying with no known cause. Tino didn't cry all the time, but she hated lying down and always wanted to be held, and sometimes no matter how much I fed her, she seemed unsatisfied. It was frustrating at times, and people had also sorts of diagnosis - it could be "la'ofie" (some Samoan infant sickness which required a fofo to have it removed), or gas, or the heat, or not enough milk.
Not enough milk. It annoyed me to have someone tell me I wasn't producing enough milk for my baby. I was, dammit! Total self denial huh. No really I believed that Tino was crying because her tummy hurt, and she automatically turned to my breast as a comfort zone, and she continued to cry even after feeding because...it still hurt! And that was one of the symptoms of colic. But no, Aunty Lucy kept saying "o lega e kagi le keige leaga ailoga o suasua lelei ou susu." I had the perfect retort to that, but felt like keeping the peace.
I always intended to feed my baby with breastmilk alone. The thought of formula never entered my head. Cheeku bought a breast pump so I could express milk if I had to go somewhere and leave Tino. When these people suggested that perhaps my milk production wasn't enough, I started thinking seriously about putting baby on both breastmilk and formula. And it would be convenient too. I even researched on the ingredients and whatnot of formula milk. The clincher: I was fed formula milk from birth because mother didn't have any milk at all. And see, I didn't turn out too bad.
I bought S-26 Infant Formula. At first Tino scrunched up her nose at the taste. Yep, at 3 weeks she could do that already. Gradually she got used to it. But of course her main source of comfort was my breast and I only gave her the bottle when I wasn't around.
Immunization tears
At birth, Tino was administered with two vaccination shots on either thigh to protect her from Hepatitis B. When she was one week old, we took her back to the hospital for her next dose of pain and tears. This time it was for BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guerin) to protect her from serious forms of Tuberculosis.
Before her shot, she had her well-baby check with Dr John Adams, the hospital paediatrician. Everything is perfect, he told us. However, her navel was slightly infected because water had accidentally gotten into it (remember at this stage a tiny part of the cord was still attached to her nacl with a clip and it was supposed to eventually dry and fall off, and voila, a nice tiny puke). He prescribed an antibiotic for it.
She was also looking slightly yellow, meaning she had jaundice. John said he wanted to have her blood tested first for the amount of bilirubin in her blood. Bilirubin being a yellowish-red pigment found in the bloodstream. When in excess, the skin colour turns yellow. So my baby was pricked in the big toe for blood. She screamed and a tear came trickling down her cheek. Poor baby. We waited for the results. 20 minutes later, John came back and said she was fine. The jaundice was caused by our different bloody types. Mine is O and Tino's is AB. All she needs is a little sunlight every day and the colour will return to normal.
And now for her BCG shot to her left upper arm. Yes it's the scar that we all have on our arms. Baby took it well. She cried pitifully for about 30 seconds and then decided that it didn't hurt that much. Coz she's a tough little cookie.
Before her shot, she had her well-baby check with Dr John Adams, the hospital paediatrician. Everything is perfect, he told us. However, her navel was slightly infected because water had accidentally gotten into it (remember at this stage a tiny part of the cord was still attached to her nacl with a clip and it was supposed to eventually dry and fall off, and voila, a nice tiny puke). He prescribed an antibiotic for it.
She was also looking slightly yellow, meaning she had jaundice. John said he wanted to have her blood tested first for the amount of bilirubin in her blood. Bilirubin being a yellowish-red pigment found in the bloodstream. When in excess, the skin colour turns yellow. So my baby was pricked in the big toe for blood. She screamed and a tear came trickling down her cheek. Poor baby. We waited for the results. 20 minutes later, John came back and said she was fine. The jaundice was caused by our different bloody types. Mine is O and Tino's is AB. All she needs is a little sunlight every day and the colour will return to normal.
And now for her BCG shot to her left upper arm. Yes it's the scar that we all have on our arms. Baby took it well. She cried pitifully for about 30 seconds and then decided that it didn't hurt that much. Coz she's a tough little cookie.
Bloody Nappy
When Tino was about 4 days old, I noticed a bloody discharge in her nappy. It wasn't much, only a slightly reddish tinge but still I was worried. What was happening to my poor baby??
I showed it to my dad, who happens to be a doctor, and one we never ever consult when sick...lol...and he said I should take her to see a paediatrician straight away.
That evening, Cheeku and I took Tino to see Dr Herbert Peters. He was surprised to know she was only 4 days old and already coming to see the doctor. He checked her nappy and laughed. Like WTF? I'm worried sick here and the guy laughs it off.
"Your baby has what is called pseudo menses", he told us. What's that? It's like she's having her period, and is a result of maternal hormones, and should pass very quickly and you'll see it again when she's menstruating. My God, my baby has her period and she's 4 days old. How's that for development? Lol.
Dr Peters was right. The very next day it disappeared.
I showed it to my dad, who happens to be a doctor, and one we never ever consult when sick...lol...and he said I should take her to see a paediatrician straight away.
That evening, Cheeku and I took Tino to see Dr Herbert Peters. He was surprised to know she was only 4 days old and already coming to see the doctor. He checked her nappy and laughed. Like WTF? I'm worried sick here and the guy laughs it off.
"Your baby has what is called pseudo menses", he told us. What's that? It's like she's having her period, and is a result of maternal hormones, and should pass very quickly and you'll see it again when she's menstruating. My God, my baby has her period and she's 4 days old. How's that for development? Lol.
Dr Peters was right. The very next day it disappeared.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
First Visits
On the day Tino was born, she (and I) received her first visitors.
First of course was her grandmother. She wasn't there at the birth because Cheeku called her only when my contractions began to worsen. Hello, we thought it would take hours. My mom rushed to MedCen. She met one of the nurses outside who guided her into the room (where we were to sleep) and they changed the sheets and pillowcases. My mother kept asking "How's Nydia? Is she okay? Where is she?" The nurse looked calm and smiled at her. "Yes she's fine. We'll go and see her now." As they neared the delivery room, Mom heard a baby crying. Surprised she asked "That's not Nydia's baby is it?" The nurse laughed and said "Yes it is!" Mom was like, "But why didn't you tell me! You made me help you fix the bed and she's already had the baby??!" The nurse laughed again and said "Sorry but I didn't want to excite you. What's the point of rushing when she's already had her baby?"
Second set of visitors consisted of Erika, Des and Henry. After being taken back to the room, I immediately called Erika and told her the news. She couldn't believe. No, she didn't believe it. She'd seen me two hours ago and it didn't look like I was about to have baby yet. Well she sure had to believe it when she walked in and saw baby lying in a cot next to me. "Awww she's got your colour Nyd," were the first comments. Thanks, I really needed to be reminded that Tino is a blackie like me.
Third group to arrive was Logo and her whanau. Logo is Cheeku's sister. She was all smiles and carrying baby and "she's long", "she's cute", "she's...rah rah rah". She brought a huge bag of gifts and baby clothes for Tino. Her kids JR, Chardonnay and Edith were all taken with the little baby and kept wanting to touch her face.
Lastly was Apo and my mom again. Apo is our housegirl at Siusega. She practically waited on me hand and foot every day when I was sick during my pregnancy. She was very teary-eyed when she saw the baby and she and my mother took care of Tino while I had a nap.
Tino, basking in the attention, sighed and exercised her jaw, opening her mouth, pursing her lips and letting out a tiny wail every now and then. Oh what it is to be loved and adored!
First of course was her grandmother. She wasn't there at the birth because Cheeku called her only when my contractions began to worsen. Hello, we thought it would take hours. My mom rushed to MedCen. She met one of the nurses outside who guided her into the room (where we were to sleep) and they changed the sheets and pillowcases. My mother kept asking "How's Nydia? Is she okay? Where is she?" The nurse looked calm and smiled at her. "Yes she's fine. We'll go and see her now." As they neared the delivery room, Mom heard a baby crying. Surprised she asked "That's not Nydia's baby is it?" The nurse laughed and said "Yes it is!" Mom was like, "But why didn't you tell me! You made me help you fix the bed and she's already had the baby??!" The nurse laughed again and said "Sorry but I didn't want to excite you. What's the point of rushing when she's already had her baby?"
Second set of visitors consisted of Erika, Des and Henry. After being taken back to the room, I immediately called Erika and told her the news. She couldn't believe. No, she didn't believe it. She'd seen me two hours ago and it didn't look like I was about to have baby yet. Well she sure had to believe it when she walked in and saw baby lying in a cot next to me. "Awww she's got your colour Nyd," were the first comments. Thanks, I really needed to be reminded that Tino is a blackie like me.
Third group to arrive was Logo and her whanau. Logo is Cheeku's sister. She was all smiles and carrying baby and "she's long", "she's cute", "she's...rah rah rah". She brought a huge bag of gifts and baby clothes for Tino. Her kids JR, Chardonnay and Edith were all taken with the little baby and kept wanting to touch her face.
Lastly was Apo and my mom again. Apo is our housegirl at Siusega. She practically waited on me hand and foot every day when I was sick during my pregnancy. She was very teary-eyed when she saw the baby and she and my mother took care of Tino while I had a nap.
Tino, basking in the attention, sighed and exercised her jaw, opening her mouth, pursing her lips and letting out a tiny wail every now and then. Oh what it is to be loved and adored!
Meet the "Breast"
Tino's first encounter with her food factory was about 2 hours after she was born. The nurse didn't even bother to show me how to breastfeed and said instead "kuu iai lou susu." How's that for professionalism. I held Tino to my breast and her mouth immediately opened but she didn't know what to do with it. Heck, I didn't know what to do with it either! Eventually she latched on and was able to suckle for a bit. I won't go into any nipple details for your sakes. Gradually she became a pro at it, as she is today.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Entrance into the world
Name: Tautinoga Felicity Chu Ling
Born on: 18 November 2005 at 2:10PM
Weight: 7lbs 14ozs
Height: 56cm
Where: MedCen Hospital, Vailima, Samoa
Proud Parents: Nydia & Cheeku Chu Ling
I was admitted to the hospital on Thursday 17th November. During my pregnancy I was diagnosed with pre-eclempsia, a pregnancy disorder characterized by high blood pressure, edema (fluid retention) and kidney malfunction. Yes I was one big sick momma. The scan predicted my birth to be on November 21. However, Dr Emosi Puni (my obstetrician) was worried that my condition might create difficulties during birth so he told me I would be having an induced birth.
I was given an IV of some sort which would speed up the labour process. This was at 12PM on Thursday. I waited until 6PM and I was having a few pangs but that was about it. Emosi came and checked how far I was dilating (don't ask how he checked). Hello, 1cm and I'd been sitting there for 6 hours. I was running up the bill in my head. I knew I should've gone to the public hospital but then again, the doctors were on strike. I waited some more. At 10PM they wheeled me into the delivery room to have my tummy monitored. Still no change. I was tired and frustrated and pretty much terrified. 1AM...2AM...dammit still nothing. So they took me back to my room to sleep until morning.
At 7AM on Friday, Emosi increased the dosage of my IV. At around 12PM, I was starting to feel stronger pains. Erika and Des came in to visit and see how I was doing. We chatted and every now and then I'd take a deep breath while a wave of pain rushed over me. Clearly I was in labour. Not long after they left, I was taken into the delivery room again. This time it was for real. I was so scared I wanted to cry. The pains were getting longer and closer apart. I was 5cm in dilation. Emosi came to check on me and told me that by 6 or 7PM I should have had baby by then. It was farking 1:30PM. I told him, "what about 2?" and he just laughed.
The pains were killing me. The midwife went off to have a chat and I was about to die. My whole body was wracked with extreme pain and my back felt like it was shattered to bits. Cheeku was so worried. He didn't know what to do and I was too incoherent by that stage. And then WOOSH! My water broke. It felt like I'd peed ten times over. It was warm and sticky. I immediately jumped off the bed and screeched at Cheeku and the nurse to change the bedsheets. I felt like I really badly needed to take a crap so I made a dash for the toilet, Cheeku running after me carrying the IV connected to my hand. I sat on the toilet and pushed as hard as I could and only blood and water came out. At this point I was crying and whimpering and had the worst back cramps I had ever experienced. The midwife, probably back from her smoke break, fucking-bitch-couldn't-she-see-I-was-in-pain-ahhhhhhhhh, rushed in and dragged me back on the bed.
It was 1:50PM. How do I know? Coz while I was trying to rid myself of the pain and think rainbows and ice cream, my eyes were fixated on the big clock on the wall across from the bed. I desperately wanted to push baby out. The midwife was like "sela! sela! aua ke oogo e lei oo i le kaimi e oogo ai. Sela!" Easy for you to say, dammit! I didn't know what to do. I was in agony and Cheeku was almost in tears, beside himself with worry. I felt like kicking the bastard for doing this to me. The nurse told me it was finally time to push. She said to take a deep breath and push as hard as I could. I did. And I let out a scream as I did it. The nurses and midwife were like "se e le lava ga kamaThe nurse said that as I pushed the second time, she was going to cut me to allow passage for the baby. Oh farking hell no. I was more afraid of being cut than anything. So I pushed. Hard. And the pain was excruciating. I wanted to die. "Think of the baby, think of the baby", a voice in my head reminded me. So I pushed with all my strength, and with a woosh, water gushed out, and so did baby. The midwife was soaked and almost didn't catch the baby in time. I don't know who was more surprised - the midwife, me or the baby.
And there she was, Tautinoga Chu Ling, bawling to the world, wondering where her warm, safe haven had disappeared to. She was placed on my stomach, while I pushed for the afterbirth. She was a dark red, pinky colour, all fuzzy with soft downy hair. They wrapped her in a warm blanket and handed her to her father, who was by this time, mentally exhausted, physically hurting from the punches I threw, and relieved that our baby was perfectly fine.
Born on: 18 November 2005 at 2:10PM
Weight: 7lbs 14ozs
Height: 56cm
Where: MedCen Hospital, Vailima, Samoa
Proud Parents: Nydia & Cheeku Chu Ling
I was admitted to the hospital on Thursday 17th November. During my pregnancy I was diagnosed with pre-eclempsia, a pregnancy disorder characterized by high blood pressure, edema (fluid retention) and kidney malfunction. Yes I was one big sick momma. The scan predicted my birth to be on November 21. However, Dr Emosi Puni (my obstetrician) was worried that my condition might create difficulties during birth so he told me I would be having an induced birth.
I was given an IV of some sort which would speed up the labour process. This was at 12PM on Thursday. I waited until 6PM and I was having a few pangs but that was about it. Emosi came and checked how far I was dilating (don't ask how he checked). Hello, 1cm and I'd been sitting there for 6 hours. I was running up the bill in my head. I knew I should've gone to the public hospital but then again, the doctors were on strike. I waited some more. At 10PM they wheeled me into the delivery room to have my tummy monitored. Still no change. I was tired and frustrated and pretty much terrified. 1AM...2AM...dammit still nothing. So they took me back to my room to sleep until morning.
At 7AM on Friday, Emosi increased the dosage of my IV. At around 12PM, I was starting to feel stronger pains. Erika and Des came in to visit and see how I was doing. We chatted and every now and then I'd take a deep breath while a wave of pain rushed over me. Clearly I was in labour. Not long after they left, I was taken into the delivery room again. This time it was for real. I was so scared I wanted to cry. The pains were getting longer and closer apart. I was 5cm in dilation. Emosi came to check on me and told me that by 6 or 7PM I should have had baby by then. It was farking 1:30PM. I told him, "what about 2?" and he just laughed.
The pains were killing me. The midwife went off to have a chat and I was about to die. My whole body was wracked with extreme pain and my back felt like it was shattered to bits. Cheeku was so worried. He didn't know what to do and I was too incoherent by that stage. And then WOOSH! My water broke. It felt like I'd peed ten times over. It was warm and sticky. I immediately jumped off the bed and screeched at Cheeku and the nurse to change the bedsheets. I felt like I really badly needed to take a crap so I made a dash for the toilet, Cheeku running after me carrying the IV connected to my hand. I sat on the toilet and pushed as hard as I could and only blood and water came out. At this point I was crying and whimpering and had the worst back cramps I had ever experienced. The midwife, probably back from her smoke break, fucking-bitch-couldn't-she-see-I-was-in-pain-ahhhhhhhhh, rushed in and dragged me back on the bed.
It was 1:50PM. How do I know? Coz while I was trying to rid myself of the pain and think rainbows and ice cream, my eyes were fixated on the big clock on the wall across from the bed. I desperately wanted to push baby out. The midwife was like "sela! sela! aua ke oogo e lei oo i le kaimi e oogo ai. Sela!" Easy for you to say, dammit! I didn't know what to do. I was in agony and Cheeku was almost in tears, beside himself with worry. I felt like kicking the bastard for doing this to me. The nurse told me it was finally time to push. She said to take a deep breath and push as hard as I could. I did. And I let out a scream as I did it. The nurses and midwife were like "se e le lava ga kamaThe nurse said that as I pushed the second time, she was going to cut me to allow passage for the baby. Oh farking hell no. I was more afraid of being cut than anything. So I pushed. Hard. And the pain was excruciating. I wanted to die. "Think of the baby, think of the baby", a voice in my head reminded me. So I pushed with all my strength, and with a woosh, water gushed out, and so did baby. The midwife was soaked and almost didn't catch the baby in time. I don't know who was more surprised - the midwife, me or the baby.
And there she was, Tautinoga Chu Ling, bawling to the world, wondering where her warm, safe haven had disappeared to. She was placed on my stomach, while I pushed for the afterbirth. She was a dark red, pinky colour, all fuzzy with soft downy hair. They wrapped her in a warm blanket and handed her to her father, who was by this time, mentally exhausted, physically hurting from the punches I threw, and relieved that our baby was perfectly fine.
Why I'm doing this
Well 4 months after her birth, I have decided to be a copycat and steal Reesa's idea to record baby's life in a blog. This is really for my benefit because I have a very forgetful memory, and also for Tino when she grows up and wants to read about the terrible parenting she received as a baby. Hehe. So really, I do not expect anyone to read this because it's all baby and goo goo and diapers and milk and...do I hear you snoring? I warned you!
My baby's name is TAUTINOGA FELICITY CHU LING and this is her life.
My baby's name is TAUTINOGA FELICITY CHU LING and this is her life.
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