The Membrey's Blog

Haven’t posted updates for a while since daddy’s birthday! Here’s some pictures of Kaydyn, recently he’s been taken a good liking of his own hands, always eat his hands rather than his milk bottles for some reasons. At night he’s really sucking it, so loud that always wake us up

One day we were having our meal and he looked at us, moving his lips and tongues, looks like he wants his share too…but since we can’t feed him solid, so of course we didn’t give him any. Today we were having oranges, again he’s looking at us desperately, we even tried to hide ourselves eating that lol. Then he was making impatient noise. We finally decided to let him suck on the oranges. And he loved it! Here are some pics

After orange, we have a happy Kaydyn again, here’s him sitting on the sofa for you

Here’s the shot before we head out to the supermarket, Kaydyn is super cute here

Isn’t he cute there hehehehe….

I was born on January the 20th and as is considered socially appropriate we had a bit of a celebration – well, a nice quiet dinner out. Because such things are quite stressful and require a lot of energy, Kaydyn made sure he had plenty of sleep:

Kaydyn getting ready

We had to go and apply for his Home Return Permit so he can enter China from Hong Kong without needing a visa. This is only available to Chinese citizens and so I am not eligible. We have to go back in 12 days to collect. After applying for that we went out for dinner to the Australian Outback Steak House in Tsim Sha Tsui. The food there is excellent and they do serve steak alternatives. Very nice – Kaydyn was also rather excited:

Kaydyn keeping a close eye on things during dinner

Needless to say he had a lot of people looking at him too as he’s a very cute baby. For some reason though he took a dislike to the colour of the back of the sofa we were sitting on and was doing his best to destroy it with his fists. As he only likes to look to his left, turning him around solved the problem as he could no longer see the back and had no interest in turning his head to find it!.

The meal was topped off with a very special Bao inspired dessert:

Custom Birthday Cake!

All in all very pleasant. Thanks to Sarah for a very nice birthday dinner

Again it’s been awhile since I last posted. I am now officially announcing Kaydyn weighs 6.6kg!! :D  last week daddy took him for his second vaccination. We couldn’t ask for a better baby, he was asleep most of the time, even when the needle went in, he didn’t cry. Only when the nurse injects it, did he cry a little bit, not before long, he was asleep when daddy dressed him. That day he had 2 jabs in one go, poor xiaobao…we were told that in the next couple of days, he might have fever. I was a bit worried…and the next day his temperature went up to 37.7 – his usual temperature was 36.6 – daddy made sure he wasn’t wearing too much and thank god his temperature was back to normal that evening. We are very happy that he has such strong immune system! Able to fight and sustain the temperature within one day!

Last weekend was the first weekend since I started work. I have to say I was surprised why I didn’t even yawn at work in the past 5 days, now I know why, cos my sleep (or lack there of) is catching up on me during weekend! Last Saturday I couldn’t open my eyes in the morning even when Peter said we’ll go ‘yum cha’ – I liked the idea however my body just wouldn’t listen to me and thus move my limbs….however …

When Peter woke me up and said ‘you have to have your breakfast’, I was like ‘I know…but I don’t wanna and buy dim sum I am very tired’ – you see, usually I went down and order the food since it requires cantonese as you can imagine. Before I could go back to sleep, Peter said ‘well at least get up, eat something, then sleep again, ok?’ – so I dragged myself up and crawled out to the living room. Guess what I see….

Box and box of dim sum spreading out on the table, there were har kou, siu mai, char siu bao and even chicken feet!! Of course my first question was ‘how did you do that?!’ I know he can say char siu bao and siu mai no problem. Probably can say har kou (not sure) but chicken feet? He himself doesn’t eat chicken feet, how did he know….so I asked. Turned out he went inside the restaurant and manually lifting up each steamer and find what dim sum’s there. And he found chicken feet. He even said ‘ngor lo po chung yi sik’ – awwwwww I can imagine those dim sum ladies’ face and how much they must have laughed upon hearing. Btw, it’s a good laugh not despised laugh

So that was a very lovely and sweet breakfast I have there last Saturday!

Sunday I was really catching up my sleep, me and Kaydyn woke up at 11:34 for his feed, then around afternoon, I was sleepy again, so I went to bed at 3pm. Didn’t get up until 7pm. In between I remember Peter came in to ask me when I want dinner. I remember saying 7pm then fell back to sleep instantly. I faintly remember hearing the door closed. But of course I wasn’t awake enough to go and check what’s going on. When I got out of bed at 7pm, dinner’s already ready! It’s banger and mash ~~ mmmmm very nice! It just hit the spot nicely cos I was hungry when I got up. Then I said ‘I want pineapple bun witn butter, wish I can have one now’ and guess what lol – Peter managed to buy that too!!!! Now that really surprised me because I can never recall teaching him how to say that in cantonese. He said ‘I heard you when you ordered it’ – wow, now that’s something. For him to catch what I said and actually remember AND to go and buy it…wow. Apparently he went to the bakery, asked for ‘pineapple bun’ in cantonese, then pointed to the kitchen and the woman understood him. Of course whatever she was saying made no sense to him, though fortunately they managed to understand each other, heh! So yeah I had my pineapple bun today after oral assessment since I couldn’t eat anymore after the banger and mash

My weekend was filled with nice surprises and whatnot. I am sure now after using the cantonese in real life, he will remember the words much easier now Practice does makes perfect heh.

Kaydyn wise, he’s cuter and cuter (of course), heavier and heavier (did I say that every time I post? lol) but I can’t help it, this morning when I was getting ready, Kaydyn’s sleeping in bed looking extremely adorable. It’s really hard to leave him for work *sigh*

These days, Kaydyn’s been actively using his hands either to rub his face or his eyes.  One day I notice he’s been ‘eating’ his hand and deliberately push the dummy away. I thought he wanna suck on his thumb instead. Yesterday I took off his gloves and yes he was trying to lick/eat his finger, but not just his thumb. Actually he couldn’t reach his thumb since he held so tightly underneath his index finger. So all along, he only manage to lick/touch his index finger But he’s obviously very good with his hand now that he gets to touch and feel different things. One setback though, his hands now stink lol

Christmas this year was very nice. We had a great time in the UK and Kaydyn got a lot of pressies – we flew back home on the 31st, spending new year on the plane. As usual Kaydyn slept most of the way and again was the best behaved baby on the plane. Before we left, one of the passenger said ‘oh my god, you have a newborn there! What a great baby, didn’t make a noise’ , of course other babies/toddlers were screaming their heads off whereas xiaobao just mind his own business, i.e. asleep

First night at home was adventurous. Me and Pete were knackered as you can imagine after a long-haul flight without much sleep the night before driving down to Heathrow. By the time we got home and finished dinner, it was 8:30. Kaydyn was still fast asleep, we thought it’s time for us to retire to bed. After about 30 minutes. Xiaobao suddenly decided to scream his head off~~ :/ we didn’t know why. The cry extended til 4am, was about 6 hours continuous cry/screaming…poor xiaobao and poor us. At first we thought he’ll be tired and sleepy after one or two hours cry. But turned out he can cry for 6 hours!

The next day same thing repeat at around the same time. This time we happened to stuck our finger in his mouth and he started sucking it! So we gave him some milk and after that he fast asleep. We concluded that the night before was because he was hungry!!! It didn’t cross our mind that he might be hungry cos he has just been fed 2 hours before….but he can/could eat 4 ounces between 2 hours interval! Why? I don’t know…guess I don’t have a baby stomach lol- they seem to have a mind of their own

Yesterday, we went to Elements trying to find some clothes for me and there is starbucks. Peter can grab his chai-latte. I spent about 10 minutes in Zara looking around, quickly decided I don’t want anything from them. We went straight to starbucks for coffee. Shortly after xiaobao woke up 30 minutes before his feed. We fed him, he fell asleep again. By that time, I suddenly felt very sleepy and went straight home hoping to grab some sleep before Kaydyn decides to wake up.

Yesterday afternoon we slept from 3-5pm. Better than nothing. Though last night was again crazy. We didn’t go to bed until 12am cos we were busy cleaning and tidying the place. By the time we hit the bed it was already 12am. Kaydyn started stirring and then crying from 1-2am, no way to settle him unless being held. Since it’s my first day of work today, so I need to grab at least a few hours of sleep. Thanks to my husband who was holding Kaydyn all night making sure he wasn’t screaming his head off, fortunately I grabbed a couple hours of sleep.

This morning daddy went to the immigration (like a zombie deprived of sleep) with xiaobao who’s of course sleeping (well – doh! sigh) to get his SAR passport. He even has his ID card!! Just that his ID card doesn’t have a picture – awww, how quaint

Kaydyn isn’t drinking much today since last night til this afternoon. He’s mostly drinking 2 or 3 ounces at a time. By 6pm, when I got home, he’s again just drinking 3 ounces, then a smell wafted past. We know what he’s up to lol. Changing nappy time followed by a sudden decision of bath – those who knows understanding what’s going on lol. Yes the ’soft gold’ went up this chest lol. After shower, he drank some more milk then we put him on the sofa, Peter suddenly said ‘look look!’ apparently Kaydyn’s trying to sit up on his own!! Powerful neck and back muscle:D (of course his big heavy head helps pulling him along lol)

We managed to take lots of nice pics on Xmas day, here are pics of Kaydyn smiling, sleeping on various people’s lap, again he’s looking very cute and adorable. I’ll cut the talking short and let the pics explain themselves

Kaydyn sleeping on Gramsie – comfortableeeee:)

Feeding time - yum yum yum:)

Kaydyn goes walkies with Daddy

Aren't I adorable

I also like to sleep on Auntie Possum

First time after pregnancy that I actually like a pic of myself - thank you paz!

More updates are on the way including new photos and video footage of Kaydyn. For now though, here is another photo to keep you going

Kaydyn

Kaydyn is about 1.5 months old and it’s been such a steep learning curve for us first-time-parents that I really didn’t get round to post what happened on the day I was submitted into the hospital for my c-section. I shall recall it now before my memory vanish

On the 1st of November, after a very ’scary and sleepless night’ we got up at 7am since I have to have my breakfast by 8am. I’ve been ordered not to eat nor drink after 8am. After breakfast, I was still trying to hold back my tears every time I saw myself in a mirror, at that time, I just wish time will go faster…

With worries and fear, we went to St. Paul’s on ferry, then MTR, the journey sort of distracted me until we got to the maternity ward. The staff asked me questions and filled in forms and they put labels on my left hand, then I was asked to go into this room, mom and Peter weren’t allowed in. I had to ask whether I’ll go back out before my surgery since I didn’t want it to the last time I see them, if that’s the case, I’ll say goodbye properly you see… But turned out that I was just going in to do a simple pee test and blood pressure and then get dressed into the hospital gown.

After the tests, I was told to lie down on the bed and a nurse came to me and said they are going to shave me :/ eeeeek shave me…. the nurse didn’t use any cream…you can imagine how it’ll feel like… sigh

Very soon, I went out to join mom and Peter again, after taking a couple of pictures, we were told that my room is ready to check in. Time passes sooooo slow, I was constantly checking my watch since I need to go in at 2:30, my surgery was due at 3pm.

Finally it’s 2:30, a nurse came and instructed me to go back to the previous room and it’ll be time to hook me up with all the necessity before I go in. I was very nervous at the time. Lying in those surgery bed was a daunting experience. My heart beats as if it’s going to pop out of my chest! Only husband was allowed in the waiting room before they wheeled me into the lift, onwards to the surgery room :/

Before I was wheeled into the surgery room, bunch of nurses gathered round my bed, one took out a white bag, I didn’t know what it was, didn’t dare to ask thinking they must know what they were doing. Until the nurse said to me ‘I am going to insert the catheter in you’ – I thought wait a second, it should be my doctor, Dr. Fong insert that AFTER the anesthetic! So I said ‘no, I think Dr. Fong should be doing that…’ then one of the assistant said ‘oh yeah she’s Dr.Fong’s’ – then the careless nurse said ‘oh really? Sorry about that’ – I thought she could have lost her job had I not pointed out and then found out by my doctor later…

Lying in that bed was scary as hell, a nurse was walking by the head side of my bed, before I realized we were walking through this white corridor, when I asked the nurse if I can say goodbye to my family, only found out that they were already outside. Sigh – couldn’t even say goodbye properly, isn’t it typical.

My bed parked at the waiting area, a fully suited up nurse asked me who I am, why am I here and why I had to have the c-section. After answering all the questions, they put a surgery hat on my head and told me to wait for the doctors to arrive. My tears uncontrolably streamed out of my eyes, I was chanting in my heart wishing to calm myself down. After a while my anesthetist arrived and asked me couple of questions, then he explained his role in my surgert. He saw I was crying and sneezing, since I was wearing a mask, he asked me if I have flu – maybe the poor man thought I had swine flu or something lol. I told him that I was really scared about the surgery. He pat my shoulder and took my mask away then said ‘oh wow, you are really that scared eh?’ well yeah!!

Shortly after I was wheeled into the surgery room, there was a clock on that door which says 3pm sharp, that was my time … *shivers* the room was fairly big, 2 bright lights on the ceiling, which looks like Dr. Octopus’ arms, scary eh? After my bed was parked, my tears screamed out some more. Then I heard Dr. Fong walking through the door calling out ‘Hello mother!’ Dr Lam (my anesthetist) said ‘oh need to speak English?’ Dr. Fong said ‘yeah her husband’s British, we are going to have a mixed this time!’ Dr Fong held left hand asking me my the tears, I couldn’t put myself to even speak, though his presence gave me confidence. Dr. Lam said to me ‘there will only be one jab on your hand, but you mustn’t move, OK?’ Dr. Fong then said to me ‘that’ll be the ‘most painful’ bit in this entire surgery, so there’s nothing to worry about OK?’ Before he finished, Dr. Lam has already inserted the tube onto my hand, surprisingly it really wasn’t painful at all, it was just like one of those blood tests which I am so used to now

Next thing after the insert was sticking round thing on my collar bone, that should be to measure my heartbeat during the surgery. After that, a nurse gave me the oxygen mask and Dr. Fong said ‘we are going to give you some oxygen, OK, just breathe normally and try to relax’ – The nurse said ‘take a deep breath’ So I did, I remember I took three deep breath, and after that I didn’t know what’s going on, the next time I open my eyes, Dr. Fong was standing beside me saying ‘it was such a big baby and he’s really high up in you, there’s no chance he’ll come down even if we induce you, so we’ve made the right choice to have the c-section!’ sounds like my surgery’s finished!!!! I really didn’t feel a thing.

Next thing I know, I was wheeling out and then I saw this bright light and there I saw mom, I was trying to speak but I couldn’t move my muscle and my mouth, what a strange feeling! I was trying so hard to call ‘mom’ but failed. At least I am going back to my room, this time nothing to worry about but rest!

Not very long, I saw Dr. Fong came visited us, I saw him and heard everythin he was saying but I couldn’t respond, so they thought I was asleep. Dr. Fong said the operation went very well, the baby was not engaged at all, so it was the right decision after all. Throughout his presence, the only muscle I could use was my right hand which was holding Peter’s tight and wouldn’t let go…

I forgot how long after into the night, I woke up and mom asked me how I felt, she said she was really scared seeing me coming out of the room since my face was as white as sheet and that my face was covered in tears. She thought I was in severe pain or something…I was just wondering when I can see my baby, a nurse came in with Kaydyn!! I couldn’t move but just see mom holding him, and indeed he does have a big head lol…

Til now, I have gone through the scariest part, my surgery. The following days was just me resting and recovering. On day two they have to take out my catheter, was a bit scary as well but I thought I went through the c-section, nothing should scare me more than that now! So I was sort of just waiting and try to chill. Having said that I kept asking people and nurse ‘does it hurt? Does it hurt?’ I am sure after awhile they got fed up with me and I just wish they’d just come and take it out already lol. And yes it turned out I didn’t feel a thing.

My students sort of asked around for me before the day I went in, that what a c-section will be like and that how does it feel to be inserted a catheter. Some of my students’ parents said they felt the catheter and that it hurts pulling it out. That’s why I was a bit nervous when it comes to mine..though I was glad that I didn’t feel a thing

The third day, I can leave my bed and walk around, Doctor said the more I move, the faster for my wound to heal, the first time leaving my bed was the most painful experience since I was in hospital. I couldn’t move but hold onto my wound the second my back left the bed. I thought oh my god how can I possible move with such pain. I was told that I have to try and use the toilet or else they’ll have to insert the catheter in me again >_< fortunately all was fine just very painful…

I think it was my bravest moment because I said to myself no matter how painful it is, I have to pull myself together and walked to the nursey to see my son. Peter was holding me and we walked ever so slowly, the pain was really strong that normally it took me 5 seconds to walk to the nursery, now it feels like it'll take me forever! Loads of people were standing outside the big window waiting to see their baby. Mom was already there holding up our room plate signalling we want to see our xiaobao. Finally I parked and there I saw Kaydyn lying in his little plastic box, other people starting to stand closer to us and try to take a peek of Kaydyn and forgot about theirs lol. Yes Kaydyn is that cute and spendid he's bigger than other babies and definitely is the cutest among all ^_^

Kaydyn was born 4.125kg, now he already weighs 5.5 kg last time we took him for his second vaccination. I think he's now probably about 6 kg

Kaydyn is a very busy boy and he likes everyone else to be busy too. When we asked for time off to update the blog, he was not impressed:

You want to do what?!?

More updates soon… we promise

As readers will be aware, over the last few weeks, I’ve been running the paper trail trying to get everything ready for Kaydyn’s visit to the UK. We opted for a UK passport simply because it did not require his presence at the consulate. The HKSAR passport would have required us to take him along to immigration and that’s something we wanted to avoid in the first month or so. Otherwise we’d have probably sorted out both passports by now.

However on Sunday night I came up with a problem. How do we get Kaydyn out of Hong Kong? Certainly he has a British passport and is free to travel – but he has no visa in his passport and he doesn’t have an ID card or other documents to demonstrate that he’s a HK resident. This might not be such a problem leaving Hong Kong but certainly when coming back he’d end up with a visitor’s visa even though he has no need for one.

I posted about this to the GeoExpat forum here. Fortunately “Pekkerhead” had been through this before and found the email that the Immigration department :

Children under the age of 11 with their Hong Kong permanent resident status established as indicated in their Hong Kong birth certificates normally need not apply for verification of eligibility for permanent identity card (VEPIC). They may apply for permanent identity card directly when they reach the age of 11. Such children if holding valid foreign travel documents may apply for an endorsement to be made in their travel documents stating their eligibility for a permanent identity card verified for travel convenience.

Such application can be made by way of submitting an application for verification of eligibility for permanent identity card (VEPIC) by their parents or guardians. The child is required to be PRESENT in Hong Kong at the time of application for VEPIC as well as when such endorsement is given to him/her. The fee for such endorsement to a travel document is HK$165.

The application form for VEPIC is ROP145 and the endorsement is done by completing the form ” Application for an Endorsement to a Travel Document ( For children under 11 years of age only ) ID683. The form ROP145 & ID683 can be downloaded at the following website:

http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/rop145.htm

http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/id683.htm

For information of application for VEPIC, please visit the website : http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/hksarvepid.htm

For information on the permanent residents and right of abode in HKSAR, please visit the websites:- http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/topical_3.htm

So, I printed out the forms and took them down to Immigration tower. The Right of Abode section is on the 25/F – you need to go down to the ground floor (MTR “skywalk” takes you to 1/F) and take the lift. There is a drop box for ROA verification applications so there’s no need to queue up or get a ticket to see an immigration officer unless you have complicated circumstances.

Right now I’m waiting for a call back which should happen within two weeks. Hopefully I can explain that we need it for the 17th of December and all will be okay. Alternatively we can just use his HK birth certificate which does state he has ROA – but this could be more time consuming and hassle than just having an endorsed passport.

Kaydyn is now 3 weeks old! He’s definitely getting bigger and bigger, heavier and heavier for me, holding him for more than 20 minutes, my arm will go numb. The reason is he doesn’t like people holding him sitting down, he likes us walking around in the flat. It seems he can tell whether or we sit or stand. Never fail! That’s why sometimes it’s really tiring if we have to do that half awake and having to trod around in the middle of the night…

This morning, I was holding him since his feeding time. After that his eyes were wide open, I was trying to settle him and after 2 hours, he’s still wide awake when my arms were completely dead, so as my back. Finally after 2.5 hours, I put him to bed and when you thought ‘ahhh finally’…there he goes again, stirring… he slept for about an hour and now he’s having his next feed.

From last time I updated til now, apart from his obvious physical change, he’s making more and more noises. Especially those at nights, it’s mixture between pissed off noise and giggling. Not to mention when you burp him and spin him round, his standard ‘ah ah’ noise it’s ok during the day but at night, it sounds extra loud. Kinda difficult when we try not to wake everybody up at night

Oh he’s getting naughtier too, whenever he’s awake and lying in bed, he’ll pretend to ‘cry’ and oh he’s getting louder and louder. Once you go and pick him up, he stops right there! Again never fail…You’d thought it’s more comfortable to lie in bed where is flat but no he’ll sleep happily in our lap (if he decides to sleep that is!) in most awkward position. But of course we have to wait til he’s in ‘deep sleep’ before we put him to bed, or else once his bum touches the bed, he’ll wake!

About bathing, he’s getting more use to it now, but he’s still very ’scared’ before we put him down to the water, especially when he’s naked lol. He’ll clench his fist onto our top (front and back lol) guess he just doesn’t like going into the water naked lol. If I put my hand or the towel on his chest, he’s better when we finish, we lay him in bed and he’ll start crying again but once we put his undies on, he’ll stop, it’s like as if he knows ‘the job is done’ – he’ll happily wait for his milk and let us dress him and the rest

Lately he’s having one poo poo every day. Unlike other babies who use to have several poo poo every day. During the first week, he poo every time we change his nappy, now only once a day! Of course it’s also getting smellier and smellier