Emmaline's First Birthday

I can’t believe I’m blogging about my baby’s first birthday! It felt just like yesterday when I first held her in my arms. Fast forward a year, here we are, planning and executing her first birthday party. I was pretty stressed a few days before the celebration but so thankful for the people in my life who helped made the party a smooth one - you know who you are :)

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Emm’s favourite song since she was a few months old is ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. So I thought why not make that the theme for her birthday? But I didn’t want it to be so literal. I decided to go with pastel hues for the theme. As usual, I was on Pinterest a lot just curating her birthday mood board and getting ideas. Oh the possibilities are endless!

A lot of the things/decor that I want, I couldn’t find the exact image with the exact colours. Lucky for me, I found vendors whom I could trust and everything turned out like how I imagined it to be. I knew I wanted an elaborated balloon arch at the dessert table. So my focus was to make the dessert table area look good, the rest of the venue stayed as is without much decor.

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I even thought of a brilliant idea for party favours when I came across these Kmart star cups. Initially I wanted to put fruit juice in it but thought Berries Infused water was a better option. It turned out NONE of the kids liked it! HAHA! One even came up to me and insisted on giving me the cup back cause he didn’t like the water at all. Oh well I tried! The cups were also personalised with ‘Emmaline is ONE’ stickers which I ordered online [will be linking all the vendors I used at the end of this post] and at the back it has the names of all the kids who attended the party.

Now for my favourite part - the BIRTHDAY CAKE! Another easy task that I ticked off my list early on during the planning process. I wanted a cake that’s pretty naked on top so I could put a fancy cake topper on it. But I also didn’t want it to look completely naked. Jess from Little Madame’s Gateau nailed the design and the colours. I wanted a watercolour buttercream cake with stars accents and in pastel pink, white and lilac hues. So in love with cake! It tasted so good as well. I ordered their Coconut cake with Raspberry Cream. It was DELISH!

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Cookie cake from LaManna

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Cupcakes from Cupcake Central

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Personalised cookies from Kek&Co

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Purple drink is Calpico Grape

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Moon and Star wands from Cotton On Kids

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Star cups from Kmart AU

I got this wooden name plaque pretty much at the VERY last minute! I can’t believe this one slipped off my mind and it’s one of the main decor for the dessert table. I ordered this from Etsy, from Mint Graphic Designs 5 days before the event and I’m so thankful it came on time. It’s so beautiful and very well made! We’re keeping this in her room.

The only thing I decided to DIY this time around, with a baby pretty much attached to my hip, is this high chair garland/bunting. It was really EASY to make but unfortunately for me, Emm still doesn’t sleep through. On the night I was making it, she decided to wake up every 30 minutes after 8pm right up til 12am. I was slowly, but surely going insane. I got there in the end. Only took me 5 hours that night to complete it. No regrets though, it complimented the decor really well.

My other option was to purchase on Etsy but they didn’t have the colours that I wanted. So I bought all the ribbons and tulle from Spotlight and followed this tutorial on YouTube to make it. And thanks to my bestie Cheryl for pushing me to do it, but NEVER again!

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I also recently came across Little Party Play in Melbourne. They basically have really stylish toys for hire like this Scandi slide from Jupiduu. I wanted the kids to have an area where they can play while their parents mingle and eat in peace. Gloria, from Little Party Play was so easy to communicate with and she even let me have the slide for a few more days so Emm can play with it in her own personal space. Because, well look at her expression in the picture above.

That says it all.

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I hired a slide, a teepee, an invisible play pen and a birthday board from Little Party Play. The invisible play pen was an instant hit! The kids loved it! They loved it even more when the balloons were in it. It made me so happy to see the kids enjoying themselves as well.

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Oh I also hired this monthly birthday photo banner from Little Party Play for the Grazing Board area. I didn’t want everyone to crowd in one area so I decided to set this space up since it was empty. I ordered the board from I am board Melbourne. They delivered it to the venue on time and my oh my, it was so delicious.

We added some gum leaves and fairy lights to give this space some character.

I’m so happy we managed to pull it off. We were so close to hiring a planner/stylist to organize the whole thing but so thankful we didn’t because I really wanted to do it myself, for Emm, but really more for myself hehe! I really do enjoy hosting and planning small parties.

Thankful for a supportive husband. Without him, this party wouldn’t have happened.

Thankful for a supportive family. Without them looking after Emm while I was busy prepping for the party, decorating the space would have been impossible.

Thankful for supportive friends. Those who came earlier to help me really eased the load off my shoulders, so thank YOU! You know who you are.

Also, a big thank you to Asma’ who flew down to Melbourne from KL just to help me capture Emm’s birthday. Forever grateful! She also helped with the finishing touches to all the decor. If there’s one person that I can count on to make things even prettier than they already are, it’s definitely Asma’.

As promised, here’s the list of vendors/things I used for the party:

Venue - Torissong, Carlton

Balloons - Leona Party & Home

Backdrop stand - Ali Express

Backdrop curtain - Spotlight

Wooden Name Plaque - Etsy, Mint Graphic Designs

Cake - Little Madame Gateau

Cake Topper/Mini Confetti Balloons - Poppies for Grace

Flowers - Casa Verde

Cookie Cake - La Manna

Toys hire (Slide, Playpen, Photo Banner, Teepee,Birthday Board) - Little Party Play

Table Cloth- Kmart

Cupcakes - Cupcake Central

Cookies - Kek & Co

Grazing Board - I AM BOARD Melbourne

Moon and Stars Wands - Cotton On Kids

Star cups - Kmart

Highchair Garland - DIY/Spotlight

Emma’s dress, Headband & Party Hat - Bardot Junior

My outfit - Shop Hanya

Birth story

This was the last day I was pregnant with Emmaline in my belly at 1 day to 40 weeks.

Contractions started at 12.30 a.m. while sitting on a fit ball. 

Went to bed, it got stronger and stronger. Decided to call the hospital at 3 a.m cause the pain was starting to get unbearable. Midwife on the phone told us to stay home as it's still the early stages - but I was pretty sure I was dilating! She told us to take a couple of Panadol and just wait. 

Went to the toilet, there were clots of blood in the toilet bowl, and every time I'm using the toilet, I have contractions- strong ones and that's when the blood clots passed. We called the hospital again, talked to the midwife, she said its normal, still seems like the early stages (WT#!) so she told us to stay home and wait.

It was 5 a.m., contractions were getting more and more frequent. All I could do was 'oohhh and ahhhh' the whole time I was lying on my bed. 

At 6 a.m I couldn't take it anymore and called the midwife one last time, and if she keeps saying it's still the early stages, I WILL INSIST on coming in anyway! This time, after the 5th time calling in, she finally let us come in. So we gathered our things and did a last minute repack of our hospital bag. I hopped in the shower for a quick rinse and relief from the contraction pain.

At  7 a.m, off we went to the hospital. 

The whole time I was contracting at home, I was also down with the cold flu and eye infection. I also somehow managed to sprain my right hand (and my left too as I'm currently breastfeeding - it's a condition called Carpal Tunnel). It's like everything decided to happen during my last week of pregnancy. Le sigh. 

So we reached the hospital at around 7.30a.m., and checked in to the birth suite at Frances Perry House straight away. The room felt a little hostile and it was huge. I think my contraction stopped for a while due to the nervousness and changed of environment. I sometimes wonder would I have a higher chance of a vaginal birth if I continued to go through contractions at home. But all i could think of during that moment was I NEED EPIDURAL NOW!

I asked the nurse immediately, when can I get my epidural and she told me to hold on until my obstetrician  is here first then we can discuss drugs. I was so ready to stop the pain. My obs didn't arrive until late morning, so yes I was contracting in the room while waiting for my obs. 

My obs came in, assessed me and told me I was dilated 4cm which is a good sign. We then proceeded to break my waters to speed up the process as I've been in pain for almost 9 hours since I first felt my contractions. 

Breaking my waters was such a weird feeling, it wasn't painful at all and once she's done I felt a gush of warm liquid underneath me. Apparently my baby pooped in the amniotic sac but baby's heart rate was normal so she wasn't stressed or anything like that. It just meant that at one point she was probably startled and pooped but we don't know when and why. 

After that, I asked my obs again when can I have my epidural, she said any time but wait and see how you go first. We want to dilate as much as we can before the epidural comes in as it will slow things down. She told me to walk around the room and stand as much as I can. So I did but only for 2 hours as the pain was really bad and my eye infection has gotten worse, so did my flu. Let's just say it wasn't pretty, at all. 

At around 3pm, I decided I want an epidural and I was all hooked up by 4pm. I'm not sure about others, but for me, the epidural didn't really work. I could still feel the contractions - although not that strong but I could still feel the pain , it was just less intense. The anaesthetician had to pump in more dose as I wasn't completely pain free. 

Anyway, after the epidural kicked in, I was just lying in bed waiting. There were lots and LOTS of waiting that day. It felt like such a long day. And the entire time, my vision was blurry cause I had to put ointment on my infected eyes (yup both were infected, hooray! ) 

My obs came in again after dinner to check on my progress- we were really hoping for some good news but to our disappointment, I was only dilated to 5cm. It was then around 7pm. I've been contracting for almost 18 hours.  My obs said to give us another 2 hours to see how we progress as I do not want to go for a caesarean if possible. She also gave me another dose of hormones to induce my labour further. If nothing happens, we should call it a day. And that doesn't mean we pack up and go home.

At this point, I didn't know why - but I decided not to press my epidural button to release more drugs in to my body.

BAD MOVE.

Because from that point onwards, I could feel every single contraction and it was SO STRONG I had to squeeze my husband's hand every time and it was happening every 5 - 8 mins or so for 2 hours. That 2 hours, we prayed real hard that every contraction will get us closer to seeing our baby girl.

My obs came back at around 9 pm to check on my progress, because I could feel the strong contraction I was positive I made progress and would have dilated 1 or 2 cm. She checked me again and exchanged looks with the midwife and then back at me. When she said this, my heart dropped - I was still at 5cm. I was so upset and disappointed, I was also really tired from contracting and from the flu and eye infection. She gave us an oral report on what has happened, why it happened and what our options were. Of course, there was only one option left. I wasn't dilating because my pelvic bone and my baby's head just wasn't a good match. Everything was perfect - the baby was in position, her head was facing the right direction but I just couldn't dilate further even with the strong contractions I felt.

After debriefing us on what happened, she said those words I've dreaded to hear.

She said "We will have to go for an emergency caesarean". When she uttered those words, I burst out crying as it wasn't what I had in mind this whole 9 months of pregnancy, I was imagining myself pushing my baby out but I couldn't. Imagine my disappointment, going through all those contractions just to be told I have to go for a caesarean. My obs reassured me that there was nothing further I could have done and we have tried all of our options. She promised that at the end of this, I will have a healthy baby in hand. 

Our obs gave us half an hour to ourselves so I can calm down and for the medical team to prep for surgery. At this point, I didn't know what to feel but just accept that I will have to be cut open to deliver our baby girl. My whole 30 years of life, I've never had a surgery done so naturally I was nervous and SO scared of what is going to happen. 

There was so many medical staff coming in and out, introducing themselves and explaining to us what they were doing but I was just so zoned out. Before I knew it, I was in the surgery room. 

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At the Operation Theatre

In the surgery room, it was really bright, like REALLY bright. Maybe because I was facing the ceiling the entire time but the whole room just felt so hostile.

Another reason why I don't like surgeries.

But the medical team on hand was amazing. I especially love my anaesthetician - his name was Nam. He was just the most calm and reassuring person in the room and probably the only person I've talked to the most during the whole surgery. 

So again, I was pumped up with more epidural as I told you before I could feel the contractions. For the surgery, I needed to NOT feel anything or any pain from my breast downwards. It took 20 mins or so for me to be completely numb. The clever anaesthetician, Nam (I'm gonna call him Nam from now on cause anaesthetician is such a long word to type) was talking to me when my obs did her first incision and asked me if I felt any pain and I said no and then he said "In fact 5 minutes ago, Kylie has already made her incision and it's good you didn't feel that". 

I was relieved. 

My husband was by my side the whole time holding my hand and telling me I'm doing well. 

I just kept concentrating on the ceiling the entire time as I was really nervous from the moment I heard "the first incision".

Everything happened so quickly.

I could feel every tug and pull my obs did and all of a sudden I heard my husband said "OMG bee, there's SO much hair!" and I was like "What?!" and then more tugging and pulling. 

All of a sudden, I felt this sudden sharp pain and started screaming. At the same time, I was presented my baby fresh from the oven - so many things happening all at once. I didn't know whether to concentrate on the pain, the baby or my emotions (I was crying again at the sight of my baby) But I was just so relieved my baby is finally out and is healthy. So all I did was look at my baby, and that was a pretty good distraction. I can't believe this whole baby came out of me. She didn't look tiny at all and was covered in a white substance with faint traces of blood still. Urgh.

Then, my husband said to me happily "Bee, I'm gonna go cut the baby's cord and I will see you in half an hour". This is a normal procedure for a caesarean where the husband/partner leaves the mom to do some admin work and the baby has to be with the husband/partner the entire time.

So there I was, left ALONE in the company of the medical team, half butchered.

Then I remembered the pain. I told Nam, I could feel pain and he said where and I told him when the baby was pulled out there was a sharp pain. He then pumped me up with more drugs. At this point, I was STILL shivering - my hands were shaking uncontrollably due to the amount of drugs I was pumped up in my body. I felt really cold all of a sudden, they had to put a warm towel on me just to make me feel more comfortable. 

After that, it was time to stitch me up. Again I felt movements around my abdominal area but have no idea what's happening.

And then I felt a sharp and long object was being shoved up my right rib and I let out another scream. This time the pain was SO bad, my obs had to stop what she was doing. I told Nam, I felt that, it was really painful and I felt like fainting.  He told me we have two options here, he will pump me up with more drugs and see if I can still feel pain or put me to sleep as my drugs limit was at it's peak already. I then asked him how long more until it's done and he said 15 minutes. In my mind I thought to myself, I cannot take another 15 mins of this pain cause I will definitely pass out. So I told Nam, put me to sleep, I can't take the pain. 

Again, Nam being the clever anaesthetician, talked me through the whole process (really he was just distracting me but I didn't know it at that point) and hooked me up on oxygen. He said to me any moment now you want us to put you to sleep, we turn this on and you will be in deep sleep and wake up in your room in the maternity ward.

'How do you feel?' Nam asked.

I told him I feel much better after the oxygen mask was put on. Then he said to me, in that 5 mins we were talking, Kylie had continued what she was doing and did you feel any pain? I said no and he asked do I still want to be put to sleep. I said no and it was all good from then on. 

After 10 mins, we were done. The whole surgery only took 45 minutes. If only I had known I would end up in with a caesarean, I would have gone for this option. But I had no regrets waiting it out and gave every option a try before ending up with a surgery.

I vaguely remember the medical team came up to me and said "Good job! Well done!" after it's all over. Then they were having a conversation about their daily life like it was lunch time at a cafeteria. I must have dozed off from being so drugged up, the next thing I know I ended up in another room just waiting. After 20 mins, I was wheeled to my room where I was reunited with my husband and my baby. 

Looking at her, I thought to myself this was all worth it.  :) 

That was my birth story with Emmaline. I'm so glad I wrote this as a draft when it was all still fresh in my head so I can revisit this story later on.

To all mamas out there, you are stronger than you think.

I remembered praying real hard that God wouldn't put me through what I feared most (the caesarean) but I ended up with in the surgery room despite all the praying. This was such a test for me, but I didn't blame God for not answering my prayers. In fact,  I am thankful He made me see that I was MUCH stronger than I thought I was.

1 Corinthians 10:12-14New International Version (NIV)

12 ... And God is faithful; he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

"God will never give his people trials in which he will not sustain them and bring them through to everlasting glory.” John Piper

The above statement has never resonated so much with me before this.

2016 Recap

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Happy New Year!

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If you're new to this space of mine, each year I do a recap on my year and see if I've achieved my resolutions from last year. You can check out last year's post HERE

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So this was last year's resolutions: 

-To blog more frequently

-Get even closer to God

-Progress more and hopefully hit all the targets set out job wise

-Lead a healthier lifestyle

-Be a good wife and cook better!

1. To blog more frequently - Compared to 2015, I definitely made the effort to blog more than the previous year, but it is still not enough because I still have SO MUCH more to share!

2. Get even closer to God - I'll be honest and admit that Iv'e slacked in this area this year, I didn't manage to do my SOAP journaling as per 2015. This doesn't mean that my faith has weaken, I've just been distracted. But in 2017, I'm determined to get back on my journey with God. On the same note, I can't wait to receive my Horacio Printing 2017 planner! I've been looking for a Faith based planner for the longest time and here it is! Will share more on this on a separate post

3. Progress more and hopefully hit all the targets set out job wise - There's been ups and downs in this department in 2016 but I've learnt so much running a WeChat ecommerce store and is so grateful for this experience. (p/s: I work as a Buss. Dev. Manager for an Online Pharmacy)

4. Lead a healthier lifestyle - Oh 2016 was definitely a year I explored fitness and healthy eating. I went to the gym more, found a workout I really love (Xtendbarre), made a lot of green smoothies that the recipe is now embedded in my head and bought heaps of sports bra! BUT I've also fell off the wagon many, many times (lots of Maccas indulgence in between). Hey as long as you do everything in moderation, I think we're alright.

5.  Be a good wife and cook better- Proud to say I've succeeded in this department, I can now bake a decent Butter Cake (Jason's favourite) without complication. I've also learnt how to cook new dishes, thanks to Tastemade! 

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Resolutions for 2017:

1.  Be closer to God and continue my SOAP journaling
2.  Lead an even healthier lifestyle
3. Go out and explore more on Photography 
4. Be a better wife and have at least 3 signature dishes of my own

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This is probably one of my favourite shoots from 2016, my sparklers edition for New Year. Hope you guys will love these pictures as much we did capturing them magical sparklers and editing.

For those who asked for my camera settings, here it is:

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Gear- Canon 6D 50mm f /1.4 Settings- f/1.4, ISO 200, Shutter Speed 1/320. I shot these images during low light condition and I find it hard to edit some of the images. I'm no pro at this as I am still learning myself, but hope this will help you capture amazing sparklers photos.

Merry Christmas 2016

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you're having an amazing time with your loved ones this year. 

💫

One of the things I enjoyed doing this Christmas is definitely making festive drinks. I had a lot of hot chocolate already and thought I should switch it up a bit. So I switched back to coffee but added cinnamon powder and also replaced regular milk with soy milk (I used Bonsoy). Also added a dash of brown sugar to bring out the flavour more. 

This accidental concoction is so delicious and it goes so well with my Gingerbread men cookies! Try this recipe out if you have time and let me know if you like it! 

1. Instant coffee (espresso, whatever you prefer)
2. Soy milk. I usually froth it before hand, I like warm and thick milk
3. Cinnamon powder
4. Brown Sugar
5. Whipped Cream
6. Gingerbread cookies!

Girls who brunch together, stay together

Come brunch with us

We decided to take a fun video of our brunch date at Patch Cafe in Richmond when Asma' was in Melbourne for a short visit. This one is definitely going in to the album for sure. I've learnt to document moments in my life in a video form. Though it's a lot of work, but they really are precious. 

Special thanks to Salamah for putting this together for us.

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year 🎄

5 of my favourite things to do leading up to Christmas day:

1.  Watch ALL my favourite Christmas moves - Home Alone, Love Actually and Serendipit just to name a few
2. Drink lots of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows
3. Getting presents for my loved ones 
4. Putting up fairy lights everywhere around the house
5. This is a new one but I LOVE pinteresting Christmas ideas/decor to my 'All Things Christmas' pinterest board, while listening to Christmas songs of course! 

Hope you like this cosy Christmas styling shoot I did at home. Only 7 more days to go!!