My First Clothes Swap

When I first received the 'save the date' for a clothes swap, I honestly did not know what to expect. Because it was fundraiser for youth projects at church, I initially thought  maybe I will just pay the registration to support the project since I couldn't think of anything of value that I could swap with.

One time in a meeting I discovered that I was not the only one feeling the way I did. Good thing the organizer who has done the event successfully  before, was there to reassure us and help us understand and answer all our questions.

The fundraising part was collecting $20 from each person which then allows them to pick 10 items that they like. All funds collected go to the youth project. The fun part was a relaxed time with friends, having afternoon tea together and sharing a good laugh. And then there's the swapping. The idea is to bring stuff that's new or mint condition ranging from clothes, books, jewelry, shoes, bags or whatever that's been sitting somewhere, occupying space at home but not really getting used as much. At the venue, someone will then sort the items for everyone to look at and choose from. But even for those like me who didn't think they

little miss sorting the blings for me 

had  anything to bring, it still works out because there are others who are decluttering and bring lots.

So I invited some friends who I thought might be interested, and thankfully three said YES. And boy, were we all in for a surprise! I arrived early because I helped set up and already there were so many items from friends who couldn't make it but wanted to support anyway. When my friends arrived, it was buzzing and

Photo credits to Tess and Linie

with a room full of 25 women, excluding children, you can't expect any less.

We shared a scrumptious afternoon tea, met new people and enjoyed the view. Indeed it was an afternoon  

come and eat with us :-))

can you see the view?

well spent. In the words of one of my gorgeous friends, she went there wanting to support the youth projects for the community and not expecting to get anything but she left feeling good, with a bag of loot to boot. From the looks of it, it will not be our last clothes swap too. On our drive home, we were already talking about the next one, and from what  I have seen that afternoon, I will have heaps of clothes to bring then.

she is officially ThRee!!

..and she had been asking me if it was her birthday or birthday party yet (which she used interchangeably by the way haha) two or three months ago. i must admit she must have gotten the vibe from me - we wished she was three early on so she could have gone to various kids program at  events that only accepted kids from three onwards. It did not help that her big brother, just by 11 months, gets to go to those programs while she has to stay with mama and get shushed at the slightest sound she makes.

Today things are different. She is officially three and gets to share the same age with her brother for a solid four weeks, to his displeasure, but much to her delight. Naturally, my thoughts drift back to three months after the taxing birth of our first born and finding out that we were pregnant again. To say that we were shocked would be an understatement. She must have known how we felt because she was in her best behavior from the womb. It was a very easy pregnancy, except for my history of pre eclampsia that I had to be checked more often I had a blood test almost every week on my third term and an ultrasound just as often. A few days after my 36th week, the doctors declared I was having pre eclampsia again so I was scheduled for an emergency ceasarean  and at 3:30 pm on the 16th of April in 2010 a healthy baby girl

Photo Credit: Isaac Wong

weighing 2.25 kilos was born into our young family and we thanked God for the opportunity and privilege to raise another beautiful child.

Although we had "almost" twins, I must say that having an easy baby like our little girl was such a blessing. She must have known because when she first came home she spent her times sleeping, unless she was hungry or needed a nappy change. She was not fussy with her food and at two and a half she decided she was over with nappies and it is time to tell mum she needed to go toilet, which she conveniently labeled "poop" for both wees and poos.

I am not saying she is perfect, like all mothers generally know, she has her stubborn streaks and we certainly endeavour to train her up in the way she should go so when she is old she will not depart from it (Prov 22:6).

But we love her dearly and we feel very blessed to be entrusted with her life and wouldn't change the timing of  her birth any other way.

i WORE green for my premmie..

I found a link to an online community supporting premmie families that reminded me of our own journey in 2009. It also made me wish we had access to all this information at that time. Don't get me wrong, we had great support from friends and their encouragement and help certainly  eased things for us.

I can still clearly remember that friday night of May 15th because I had difficulty sleeping then. I tried sleeping on the couch, made it to our bed and even tried the floor but the discomfort on my tummy just wouldn't let me sleep. By midnight I decided to wake my husband, bearing in mind what they said at our childbirth class that if we ever feel anything and we were not sure what it was, then we should call the maternity ward at the hospital. They advised us to go to emergency, and to tell them that it was not pregnancy related because at that time I was only 32 weeks and a few days pregnant. Of course when the nurse at emergency took my blood pressure, I was immediately wheeled to the maternity ward because my blood pressure was so high, I was having pre-eclamsia. At that time the staff started pricking me with needles but they couldn't find my veins because I was bloated. At some point they also decided that my case was more complicated, I had to be moved to another hospital. I don't remember what time we got to the other hospital which was about 20 minutes drive by ambulance. When we got there they worked on finding my veins again and after the head specialist came, they finally did some blood tests leaving me with lots of needle marks that took years to fully heal.

In the meantime a very nice nurse came to look after me, told me to have a shower and change into a nice dress, and then broke the news that I have to change back into a hospital gown because I was booked for emergency ceasarean on the same day.

It was a shock but a couple of months ago, a friend from work also gave birth a few weeks early so in my mind, as a first time parent, I thought some births don't happen as planned and I just wanted our little boy out or we both won't be safe. So on  May 16, at 2:55 pm we welcomed a 1.6 kilos little boy, held him briefly at

the operating theater and he was whisked away by the kind hospital staff to be looked after. In the meantime I was taken to recovery. I remember being woken up at 11 pm to have another look at our little

premmie before he was  taken to the neonatal intensive care unit at another hospital as he needed a higher level of care as the one provided at the special care unit in the same hospital where I had given birth.

The next day my husband drove early to one hospital to see our little boy, talk to the doctors and nurses to find out how he was doing and drive to another hospital to see me and update me of what was happening. There was talks that I was going to be moved to the other hospital, but getting a bed there was a real challenge and our baby beat me to recovery after a few days that he was well within the level of care of the special care unit at the hospital where I was.

His premature birth posed an issue - breastmilk. Inasmuch as the nurses were very kind and compassionate with my situation, I felt, as a new mother, an inner pressure to produce milk for my baby. However it just didn't work out and after getting stuck at 20 mls max  every time I expressed milk, I felt that maybe my baby was better off having formula. I think I felt more guilty for not having enough milk that I had to give him the next best thing, seeing how tiny he was and how much he needed the nourishment and fast!

A few days after he was moved back, he had issues with his feeding and while the specialists asurred us that he will be better off back in that other hospital because the doctors there deal with such cases all the time and they have a specialist that does his rounds regularly as opposed to one every week where we were. We had no choice but to agree because we just wanted our baby to be well and to come home with us. However that afternoon there was a distressing situation at special care and I was there. It did not help me emotionally at all and the thought that it could be our baby and he could be in a very bad shape. I knew we had friends and families praying for us, but at that time, in what was probably my lowest point in the whole ordeal, I remember telling God that if anything happened to our little boy, that I would probably be very angry (I think I used the word hate) but I also clearly remember thinking that at the end of the day, I knew that I will come back to God and He is the ONE who stays unshakable in the midst of our shaky situation.

A week after his birth I was discharged and we spent the next five weeks driving to the hospital early to feed him, do his morning and afternoon cares and leave just after dinner at around 7pm to go home and rest. We thank God for friends who made us homecooked meals. Without them we would have spent those five weeks eating hospital or fast food. After nearly two weeks, our little boy was taken back to special care at the other hospital for another three weeks til he was discharged and cleared to go home.

His birth was most certainly not what we expected but he has been a constant source of pride and joy from the time he was born. If he becomes a world traveller/musician/missionary/race car or ambulance driver - it wouldn't come as a surprise seeing that he had already been out and about in under five weeks. Or maybe he might choose the medical profession as he stayed long in hospital.

Mr Little No More

He was discharged healthy, easy and happy, the pediatrician told us during our last appointment to stop seeing him because he was very happy with his growth and development. The upside of his extended hospital stay was him coming home with a routine. Nearly four years later, he has caught up with kids his age, at times he even gets mistaken as older than his age.

In hindsight maybe it was good that we didn't have as much information, however helpful it could have been, and maybe it saved our sanity. Or God was just looking after us and being faithful like  He said in his word -  "..do not be afraid or terrified..He will never leave or forsake you" Deut 31.6