Passport photo part 2

Passport to fly!!

Answer for which photo was accepted is: 

Pardon the screen shot picture.. am in a rush as I write out this post.

She looks so cute here!! And not at all like her brother, contrary to what I thought. Will compare and post her brother's passport picture soon.
Alright! All ready to fly!! Penang here we come... lets start with a short and easier flight yay.

At 3 months, our darling gal is really expressive. Love her grin that she generously flashes out at us first thing in the morning when she wakes up.
She is started to coo and giggle when we play or talk to her.

Hope to blog more about her developments soon... gtg for now. Some recent pictures here:

Tummy time with her gor gor! 

Always wonder what secret jokes she shares with her bestie- little owl 

Muackzzz

My little darlings! 

She and her owl again.. she would sometimes smile off sheepishly after looking at the owl. Ultra cuteness!

Holding her head up real steady at 2-3 months! Way to go gal! 

Fun time with her godma! 

Oh yah.. she is drooling big time already!! 

This is the kind of smile that will melt any heart.. 

Love ya baby!! 

Which of these will bring me overseas????

Mummy tried taking passport photos for me this morning.... I wonder which of these can I use as my passport photo?? 

All is good except that there is too much shadow!! 

Hmmm.. will this work? 

What a nice smile but why did I tilt my head?!

Can this work? Abit loop-sided but maybe I will find favour with the ICA uncle or aunty... 

OFF CENTER!! ARRGHHH!! 

I'm having fun!! 

Confirm fail... haha but mummy loves my smile!! 

Will I get to go overseas with any of these photos?!!! Stay tune!! 

10 weeks old!!

Love her smiles! 

I'm 10 weeks old! Yippie!! 

Eliora turns 10 weeks old today! Whatever happened to the past 10 weeks! Time is flying by way too fast especially during this period when we have been traveling to and fro SGH on a daily basis.
She is such a joy and sweetie pie... My heart just meltz each time she looks at me and flashes me with her wide grin!
She is increasingly getting more responsive. She can definitely hold her head up real steadily.. guess sleeping on her tummy has trained her muscles really well. She is also able to follow movements and would respond when someone talks to her, especially when she hears her name. Some sounds here and there, usually when she is excited.

Drinking wise, she is latching well though she still has her preferred left side which is super irritating at times. At week 8.. she suddenly wants to latch and was showing signs of rejecting the bottle which was surprising as just a couple of days past, she was showing signs that she preferred the bottle instead. Guess she changed her mind after a while... girls!!
She is still clocking about 3 hours feed .. .sometimes 3.5hrs. Bottle feed would drink about 100ml... (if her mood is good...)

@week 9... something awesome happened! Our darling gal decided to sleep through the night from 1130pm to 730am!! Wahay!! Was still stress about when it would happen and suddenly, last monday 13th October.. it just happened! Praise the Lord!!

A mountain of .....

14th October(Tues):

E woke up in tears and great pain at around 5 plus in the morning. He was crying real bad and kept repeating that his tummy was 'pain pain'. 1 feed of milk was given to him but that failed to pacify him. We also realized that his diaper was kinda dry considering that he had worn it for the entire night and it would usually be soaked to the brim. I was feeling so helpless as I have never seen him in such pain before. Should we send him to A&E or should we wait 1-2 hours more for the family doctor's clinic to be opened.
We decided to bring him to family doctor first since KKH A&E might be a long wait any case. Dad had to send Mok for treatment while me and mum would bring both Es to the family clinic.
EJ was still crying in pain and had to be carried in a particular way as other positions would just lead to pain. He managed to fall asleep here and there but would soon wake up in pain too.

Family doctor checked him but could not feel much, partly also due to EJ's ferocious struggling n hysterical crying. Some probiotics and medicine to ease the pain were given.
EJ was still crying really bad even after medication was administered and he was still not passing out urine and was also not taking in any food or drink. His lower abdomen felt really tense and I just did not feel good about it and we decided to bring him to Mount A's A&E. It was already about 1plus in the afternoon by then.
Dad came with me to A&E and thank God it was a really short wait as EJ was really in lots of pain. We were contemplating if we should see a PD instead of a MO but decided to go ahead with the MO first as advised by the nurses as the PD would mean another long wait and that would not be good considering the pain that EJ was feeling.
The MO that we saw was a senior MO... all he did was to feel his abdomen and then he told us that anal medication would be given to EJ to aid him with passing of motion.
So we were ushered to another room and the medication was administered and we were told to wait for a couple of minutes to see if EJ passes out the motion.
It seemed like eternity to me but about 5-10 minutes later, EJ started to pass motion and it was TONS of  it!! The entire procedure room was filled with the 'aroma' of his poo poo but who cares as long as my little one is fine!
When he was finally done and I was cleaning him up, I couldn't help but commented that it was a mountain of 'sai' and EJ caught on it and started to recite a story about a hill. MY LITTLE CHIRPY DARLING IS BACK and he was UNSTOPPABLE. He couldn't stop talking thereafter!!

So in summary, the harden stools had blocked his urine tract and thus preventing him from passing urine which was the root of the pain.
I'm so thankful that we brought him to the hospital as looking at the mountain that he passed out, EJ would not have been able to pass them out with just probiotics alone. I have to fight back my sense of guilt as he would have suffered much less if we had brought him to A&E immediately but oh well, lesson learnt.

Since then, we have been diligently making sure that EJ drinks enough water and gets enough fibre on a daily basis.

Here is a video of him chattering away right after he passes out the bowels.

The beginning of an unexpected yet blessed journey (1)

On 28th August, we received the news that Mok is diagnosed with stage 3 nose cancer. Still remember that he had gone for the consultation on his own as I was still on confinement. I was napping when he returned and he called me and my parents together before breaking the news to us in a calm yet sober manner.
Emotionally, the walls seem to be crashing down on me and soon, as much as I was trying not to, tears just rolled down from my eyes. Logically, I cannot believe what I'm hearing... ' how can one who looks so healthy, my husband... the father of my children... the one who runs marathons and triathlon... have such a disease...' yet, spiritually, I had an unexplained peace. A supernatural peace that could only come from the One above, the One who is above all things, the One who is able to calm any waves and storm. It is like I'm in amidst  of a great storm but the difference is I'm riding above the waves and the wind instead of being drowned by it.

How we found out: Mok had gone to see the GP for a blocked ear but the symptoms returned and that was when he thought that he should go to see a ENT specialist. During the scope, doctor found a growth and informed that it was highly possible for it to be cancerous. While waiting for the results, we prayed and claimed His promises and healing.
During the time of waiting, the song, In the name of Jesus, we have the VICTORY kept coming back and I would worship Him whenever possible. We have also been claiming God's promises about health and healing on a daily basis. Such God moments must have helped prepared us for the 'apparent blow' that came on 28th Aug. Mok himself also felt the peace. He just knew that all will be well as we commit it into His loving hands.

Treatment considerations: 

1) Veritas (alternative treatment)
God sent an angel Bea (Larry's colleague) into our path and she has been kindly journeying alongside with us all these while. Her mum had suffered and recovered from Stage 4 cancer and thus she had done tons of research on treatment and cancer.
She introduced Veritas to us, the place where her mum received treatment. It is situated in Bangkok and  it adopts the 'natural way' of healing instead of using radio and chemo. We were very inspired by her mum's recovery journey as doctors over here and pronounced that she would only have max of 6 months left but tada, now she is completely cleared of cancer after 4-6 months of treatment over there.
This was kinda our first choice as it was completely non-invasive to the body.

However, upon skyping with the doctor in charge over there, he recommended to us to go ahead with conventional treatement of radio and chemo due to the nature of the cancer and growth as their centre might not be able to rightly treat him due to the positioning of the growth. Both of us were stunned and dumbfounded. Another blow to us and yet, we thank God for his honesty and integrity.

Proton Therapy:
Mok was next most keen on this treatment as it is least invasive too but treatment centres are either in Japan, States or Switzerland which would cost us a bomb and also meant a long separation from the family as there was no way we could afford to bring both kids which included a newborn infant on such a long period of time.

Radiotherapy with Chemotherapy:
Lastly, the conventional way of treatment which we were initially hoping to avoid due to the harmful effects on the body. However, God once again sent another angel, Johnny into our path by getting us a appointment real quick with Professor Soo at NCC. Prof Soo is like the guru of cancer treatment.
To cut the long story short, treatment choice at the end of the day was conventional IMRT and Chemotharapy, the very treatment that we had hoped to avoid. It was as though God was telling us to trust in Him totally in this.

During the period of waiting and preparation for treatment to commence, God was also prepping our hearts on what ammo to use as we fight this spiritual warfare.

Ammo 1: Standing firm on His promises on a DAILY basis. God has somehow placed in our hearts to believe that God is able to shield Mok from the harmful effects of both treatment and to speak to his body on a daily basis.

Ammo 2: Gather prayer warriors. We are reminded to find like-minded people to pray alongside with us and that we need to surround ourselves with warriors and not worriers.
Thank God for blessing us with a awesome bunch of church close friends who have been of great support to Mok and the family.
I have it in my heart to accompany him to each treatment and to be praying while he was undergoing treatment.
Psalm 91, 23 and 119 have been great promises that we have been clinging to.

'My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.' James 1:2-4