The last report ...

Yup, that's right, the LAST report - baby's gonna come out tomorrow!

I wasn't feeling very good over the weekend - starting to have headaches and my sudden sensitivity to loud and sharp noises (even the Hubby's whistling grates on my nerves), so I thought, no harm going to see Dr Y today - anyway he did say to go and see him if I wasn't feeling very good. Besides, my BP isn't getting any lower - hovering 130/80 +++ even on medication, so hmmm, with the slight and occasional buzz behind my ears, I decided to take a risk on the 2 hours wait at his clinic just to make sure baby is still doing ok.

I reached there about 1 plus pm, did the usual stuff and since I had like 5 other patients before me (the best guess was a minimum of 1 hour wait), I decided to go shopping (how else to kill 1 hour other than to snore in the clinic, but the seats were not very comfortable for that ;P). Anyway I popped over to Tom & Stefanie and realise "oppps" I forgot to buy some stuff for the baby! So I got the following:

1) Cloth diapers plus liners (1 pack each)
2) Rubber changing mat
3) Cornstarch powder plus powder container

I think this should be sufficient although I did ponder if I should get the bolster and the pillow too! I guess I could get those later after giving birth ... so no hurry ...

So I slowly waddle back to the clinic, resisting the urge to step into Eu Ren Sen to buy more herbal stuff ;P .. boy, was it HOT today ... and the seats inside the clinic were full, so I sat outside and was yawning my head off (with lots of tears!). Finally I had a seat inside so it wasn't so bad, I had some nice cool air blowing on me!

Waited for another 30 minutes (about 3 to 4 more patients in front of me) and finally got to see Dr Y. Took out my records for BP and showed to him, and he said it's not very good - seemingly on the increase. Then I asked him about if I decided to have a C section (having second thoughts about natural birth) and he said that it was possible, but it would have to be really soon, by next week latest. Then he decided to check on baby's weight and guess what, she GAINED 600G! My goodness ... so she's weighing in now at 3.2kg and if it goes on, I would have to go for C section too anyway, because she would be too big for natural birth. He asked me to consider then, if I wanted to go ahead with the C section on wednesday, thursday or even friday. So I said I'll think about it and inform him later. He did tell me that any later, we should do a blood test to make sure that the BP is not affecting the rest of my organs. I told him I'll skip that anyway since it's only a few more days to 1 or 2 weeks.

Then I flipped through my notebook for the things I need to ask/ tell Dr Y (since I am SO forgetful these days) - Dr Y will settle the anesthesiologist, we are storing with Cordlife (the stemcells), and that I was experiencing slight headaches, and my sensitivity to loud and sharp noises. He promptly said that it wasn't good and I should do the C section tomorrow. Now it's my turn to be taken aback - tomorrow?!?!?!?!?!?!? He said YES since the symptoms are showing that my BP is affecting my other organs already - anyway I tried to bargain for a few more days and he said the earlier the better - because we never know when I'll throw a fit and put the baby in harm's way (this is despite me promising to take my medication on time!).

So I went out - called my mum and asked her to check which of the 4 days are better, Tuesday to Friday, and she came back with "Saturday". Dr Y refused and said that's too late, even if I took the whole week off and rest at home - "Too risky". *sigh* So I called my mum again, that it had to be Tuesday to Friday, and Saturday is out of the question. The final decision - Tuesday, which means tomorrow. The only final thing to confirm, 8am in the morning or in the afternoon?

This I left to the Hubby to decide, and we had a quick discussion (I already knew his answer anyway) on the way back to my office (he was so sweet to come and pick me up from the clinic). So I announced to my colleagues and I changed the sign on my door - they were surprised by the sudden announcement that I won't be in tomorrow but I guess it should be expected, since they were all betting that I would have to deliver before my planned maternity leave.

So ... I guess I'll post again after the baby pops out ... hopefully everything will go smoothly and I can endure the pain that comes with it!

I'm a very late bloomer *rofl*

I just discovered singaporemotherhood.com.sg's forum - all because I was surfing about my obgyn (saw this old pic of him, he has since put on quite a fair bit of weight *chuckle*).

I'm about to give birth and I just joined the thread on April MTB ... so how late can I get?

Although my hubby will be very thankful, since singaporemotherhood does have quite a fair bit of BP (bulk purchases) going on - it means I have less time to join the BP groups!

In that very short time that I've joined (less then 3 days), I've joined the BP groups for 1) Carter's bibs (OOO SO CUTEEEEEE - so cute that my sis even bought for her 4 yr old dotter ;P) 2) Bumbo seat - although baby's supposed to be 3 months old before sitting in it but I guess it's a good time to get it at a 20% discount NOW. The only thing I'm resisting is the baby shoes :P but it's getting harder, each thread that features such lovely pink shoes *argh*

Time to just stare at the baby books rather than at my computer screen!

Aching body ...

I went for pre-natal massage yesterday at Goldwellness and my body is aching today =(

Not the bad sort, but the feeling that all the knots and lumps are being all "dissolved". Yesterday, after the massage, I felt so much lighter already! The lady who did it for me, most probably the owner of the place, Rose, was telling me about the various "underlying" muscles that will be used during the birth and she needed to get those muscles to relax, so that they can "stretch" as required. So my butt is hurting like mad - probably put a heat pack later to soothe and to further relax the sore muscles.

I also booked my post-natal massage package - a series of 8 sessions at my place. I doubt the massages will be the soothing type, but anything to get my body back in shape quickly! I am not a rich nor celebrity mum, so 1) no slimming centres will want to sponsor me 2) I cannot afford a personal trainer to whip me back in shape (actually I doubt I would even opt for this!).

I'm seriously considering the option of having a C-section instead of having a natural birth. I'm scared - scared like a baby rabbit confronted by a hungry predator! Besides my BP is still relatively on the border line, although I've been a good girl and taking my medication regularly. Well, work related stress is another thing, but as it is, I'm already closing one eye and to remind my colleagues what to look out for (if they do encounter the same crap as I do).

Baby's Name

It's down to Ashley versus Vanessa now, with the consideration of Sara/ Sarah as well.

My colleague laughed and said that at the rate we mulling over the name, we may not even decide within 1 month of the baby's birth!

Decisions, decisions, decisions ... let me sleep on it and see if anything pops up as inspiration in my dreams tonight!

Report for 37th week

1. I gained weight! 600 grams but I guess it's to make up for all the losses I had over that past 2 week with the vomitting and diahorrea.

2. No report on baby's weight since Dr Y says baby wouldn't have gained much over 1 week.

3. Amniotic fluid? LOTS of it, so level is very high - again, he asked me to walk more to bring on the labour earlier.

4. He commented that since my BP is so high - a very scary 180/110 for the upper reading and a 175/95 for the lower reading, and my feet is so swollen, I could do a test to check on my kidney and liver. Since it involved drawing my blood (meaning pain), I declined - after all, it's just going to be a few weeks more right? As long as I am a good girl and remember to take my medicine. right? Dr Y laughed when I took out the remains of my BP medication, "Judging from the amount of medicine you have left, you must have forgotten to take your medication quite a number of times!" Which, er, *blush* is very true - I tend to missed out the slot in the afternoon ;P Anyway today the BP could be higher because I was fuming away at work for almost the entire day. Not sure why but I was quite easily agitated today.

5. As for no. 3, no, I need baby to wait till the maid is here! Which means I need to keep her happy and cushy for 2 more weeks at least!

6. Dr Y said I have to keep count of baby's movements - he seems quite surprised that we said he didn't instruct us on how to previously! Anyway, now I have to keep track of her movements every morning from 9 am. *sigh* I just hope I can remember to!

7. Did I mentioned that the 2nd maid we shortlisted is not coming? hopefully we will be THIRD TIME LUCKY ... we shortlisted the 3rd maid today and assuming MOM is not going to question why this is the 3rd application we submitted within like 1 month (and cancelling 2 others), we hopefully will really get the maid BEFORE baby decides to pop out.

I'm looking forward to 6th April! My maternity leave will start on 9th April, so hopefully I will get to enjoy some rest at home before all the diaper change and milk production starts!

Test Run No. 1

We had our first test run to TMC on Sunday - because I thought my water bag might have burst or leaked. I woke up at 5:38am on Sunday morning because I felt some trickle in between my legs - thing is, despite me being a heavy sleeper, I do wake up and visit the loo as often as my bladder needs me to. I did the smell test, amniotic fluid is supposed to have a sweetish smell as compared to urine, which well, smells like urine. What I had a whiff of was best described as carefree's scented panty liner, which I am not using. Anyway, as they all had drilled in during the pre-natal classes, I put on a big overnight pad, in case of futher trickle or the big burst ;P

This is the funny part - I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't. So at 6 am in the morning, I was frantically trying to pack my hospital bag - until my hubby complained and asked me to go back to bed. Well, I did eventually, after gathering the basic stuff on the list (had to refer back to my previous posting!), and I conked off till almost 10 am! I checked the pad and it was dry, so anyway we decided to complete packing the hospital bag (ended up using my pink trolley overnight bag) and amazingly everything fitted in, including my hubby's change of clothes! Then we gave a call to Dr Y since we wasn't sure if it was really the water bag or my bladder couldn't wake me up, so he said to go down anyway for a check for just in case.

So we collected the doggies and deposited them at my mum's place enroute to TMC. So I waddle in and sheepishly told the admissions that I wasn't sure if my water bag had burst. So the lady kindly escorted me to the labour ward, and I got asked the same question 4 or 5 times, "do you have the doctor's letter?" I was quite baffled, and asked what letter they were referring to? In anycase, I don't have any and Dr Y did say that TMC will call him directly. So anyway, I had my FIRST ever cervix check and man, it was SO BLOODY PAINFUL! I'll never want to go through another and poor Dr Y is going to get lots of resistance from me! They strapped me up to the monitor (not sure what they are called) and asked me if I felt any contractions, to which I replied in negative.

Then, this midwife who was "watching" over me came back and exclaimed, "You just had a contraction! Did you feel anything?" Again, my reply in negative! She pointed out the monitor picked up that I had a contraction just then, and after a while we got the hang of the contraction thingy - it felt like the urge to go pass motion! The first few times were probably very mild contractions, hence I probably only felt discomfort, but everything was OVERSHADOWED by the after pains of the cervix check. They said it's probably reactive to the cervix check, but at least I know how a contraction is suppose to feel like! I just hope I won't mistake it for wanting to sit on the throne :P

Anyway, after 1 hour, they said I could go back and monitor the situation (I had fallen asleep in the meantime) since it's likely that water bag is still intact.

So what did we do? Went shopping - sorta, the Hubby had to pick up his phone from the repair shop and I picked up a scrapbook from SDU. On the way back, we also picked up the baby cot, and the dearest Hubby will fix it up after we clear out the nursery room tomorrow.

On a scale 1 to 10 for Operation Baby Vanessa, I would say we are around 7. Only problem is still the maid not having arrive and having to pack up both rooms - so hopefully I'll cmplete it by tomorrow.

I've submitted all the necessary forms to the HR today, and starting to complete my handover - I'll start my maternity leave by 9th April provided she doesn't decide to pop out early - just crossing my fingers really. Everyone's betting she's going to come soon, since the lightening is really really very obvious and my tummy is so low now. On a scale of 1 to 10 of how scared I am of the pending childbirth, I'll rank myself at 8 - very apprehensive, very nervous and just plain fearful of the pain =(

Nesting instinct?

Didin't really had the time to go down to the Baby's Fair at Taka today, just popped by to collect my annual gift from Swarovski and collected the 2007 prices/ product listings. Now I can plan what to use my $250 vouchers for :P

Anyway, I decided I had to get a pair of comfortable and non-slip shoes, and I bought a pair of Birkens ... and it's PINK ... of course the Hubby is complaining about buying excessive shoes as usual, but to me, as long as it's non-slip and comfortable for this last stage, it's worth it! Anyway it's adjustable, so when my swelling goes down, I can always tighten the straps.

Been thinking about packing up the house, and basically that's it. I bought groceries and cleaning products today (over $100 worth) - I guess it's time to throw out my mouldy sauces and what nots ;P in case my maid gets so horrified at what we use for cooking!

I plan to clean out the kitchen tomorrow, followed by the maid's room. Then when the maid arrives, it'll be cleaning out of the baby's room. I really hope baby will just happily continue to hiccup inside my belly till we are ready :P Oh ya, I need get around packing the hospital bag tomorrow!

Report for Week 36

1) My weight remained the same - 70.5kg

2) My little girl gained 200g to weigh in at 2.6kg now (I was worried she would gain another whopping 600g!)

3) My blood pressure, unfortunately, isn't doing as well - it shot up again. Yesterday it was averaging about 150/95. Tonight, it was dinging the alarm bells at 165/107. Since I wasn't aware of the complications of having HBP, Dr Fong did tell us that he's worried that I may have fits, and that would cut off the oxygen supply to the baby. OK, time to put a neon pink sticker to my "what to do if I'm in labour list" in office. SEND ME STRAIGHT TO THE HOSPITAL!

4) Water level in the water bag is still high, which he says is good. He did ask me to walk more to bring about an earlier labour, but I wasn't too keen, since walking up and down the stairs with my swollen feet is quite a painful affair.

5) We talked about labour pains again - since he was saying that I may need to be induced. So i happily said that would mean C-section! He asking why I wasn't keen on natural, so I replied I guessed it's the fear factor of pain. He said there's always epidural. Labour pain will be the MOST painful thing I ever experienced (OK, at least he's a lot more honest about the pain level here than the blood test), nothing compared to the monthly pains I experienced. Then again, that was probably the wrong thing to say to me, since I always feel faint from the pain! So I said, "Won't I then faint from the labour pains???" "Epidural" was his short and sweet answer.

6) We won't know if the baby will be coming early or late, but she's low, very very low.

7) Things to look out for over the next few days - persistent ringing in the ear, headache, blurring of vision, and something else ;P I cannot remember! That happens, to go down to his clinic for a visit.

8) Time to clean up my desk, move everything back into my room, and note down all the outstanding things to be done!

Hopefully my maid comes in by next weekend!

Preview of Week 34 Pregnant belly II

My girl is going to be a little piglet and since I had this cute happy piggy bank (courtesy of Suntec and my shopping), I thought it would make a great picture.

Anyway got the Hubby to take the shot I wanted, and here it is! I wish my little girl will be as happy as the piggy bank!

2 days to 36th week

Scary - I'm inching closer to the D day and I feel like I'm really inadequately prepared.

The maid issue is partially resolved - met up with the agent today and shortlisted 2 candidates. Let's see how it will work out - hopefully everything will turn out OK *cross fingers* If OK, I'll get the maid by next weekend and she can really help me to clean up the rooms!

I finally recieved my package from USA, containing some pressies for my baby from her baby cousin Emily. It got mis-sent to Osaka, hence the "long" wait. Going to wash it later then pack it into the drawer.

How am I feeling? Erm ... tired and irritated with my bowels/ stomach. I threw up my breakfast/lunch/dinner yesterday in 2 major sessions in the evening and my tummy was aching almost the entire night - all the gas and intestines churning away. This morning had a run, but thankfully that was it. Lunch I took some bee hoon and nothing came out. I took 3 kueh dadahs and 1 fishball later at 3pm (was too hungry) and thankfully it's retained. Came home and cooked instant noodles (100& Ramen) and it seems to be happily digested by my tummy. I just hope it stays that way - for now i'm just slowly pumping in water, to make up for all the water loss.

As for baby, she's busy hiccupping now - she's sluggish today, probably due to a sleepless night (all the rock music from my organs), but if she was restless, I didn't really notice since I'm quite a heavy sleeper when I'm dead beat. With irritated bowels and stomach acting like they did, I am just so exhausted - I'm just glad I didn't had to run to the loo today. I wonder how much weight I've lost and how much weight baby has gained over this last week. Not that my face looks any slimmer though =(

Countdown: 5 more weeks to go

Yup yup, to be exact I'm 35 and 1/2 weeks preggie now. So that's 4 and 1/2 weeks to go before full term *gasp* but she could come early by the 37th week, so that's really more like counting down to 2 weeks *GASP* and anymore than that is kind of bonus time to me.

Why? Obviously I'm not ready - the maid decided not to come last minute, so which means we have to do a search for a suitable maid. Hopefully we can get one to come in by end of next week. The rooms are still UNPACKED but at least I've already asked my part-time cleaning lady to help out sometime the week after to do massive packing.

My fallback plan? If the maid really can't come on time, then I'll just rely on the confinement lady, as well as my part-time cleaning lady. Just that, I won't have the maid in on time to learn some cooking and babysitting stuff from the confinement lady. I guess cooking is still OK, I can cook and teach a bit of that - just that I would prefer someone with experience or the know-how to look after the baby, since I'm a 1st time mother.

Ah well, just keep the fingers crossed then - I've come to a stage that I just want to finish up all my office work first, so that I can concentrate on the homefront. It's too distracting and tiring to be worrying on both ends.

Preview of the 34 week old pregnant belly

Yes, it's all mine. I finally got around to persuading the Hubby to take a few pictures of my tummy before "lightening" becomes too obvious (then the shape won't be as nice). Anyway, I was having so much fun playing with 1 picture using Adobe Photoshop, that I came out with the above. Truth is, these above are only a few of the variations I've cooked up. I'll probably print an A3 size picture later with some of the variations, like an pop artsy poster.

There's another picture I'm working on, but it's not as fun as the picture above. I guess I hadn't touch Adobe Photoshop for ages, and it's like discovering a new play thing when I was doing the above.

Some of my friends were "shocked" by how big I am, but truth is, I think the camera makes everything looks bigger (read "fatter"). Anyway in reality, I still have people who seem to be oblivious to my huge bump!

I'll post up the rest later.

P/S: I very free? Haha. nope, just that "Photoshopping" has always been a great way to destress for me - cuz once you're working on something, everything else gets forgotten for a little while. I manage to complete most of the work I brought home too - just a final round of touch-up before I submit the stuff tomorrow. Yes, I'm still having the runs =(

Knees aknocking

Yesterday, I went back to work, had about 8 to 9 runs to the loo. Didn't really leave my seat other than the tiolet and the pantry, since my legs were feeling a little weak - managed to complete some work, but not as much as I like.

On the way home, I popped by a clinic - I figured out my runs probably won't stop on its own and I probably needed some help. Anyway got some medication, took it, and I still had the runs!

This morning, I had 1 run, following by vomitting out all the liquid I had put in this morning - so I am guessing I am really VERY dehydrated. So, now I'm sipping a warm cup of water - hopefully it gets retained, then I'll get a drink of 100 plus to replenish on the lost salts too.

*sigh* Yesterday a colleague told me that her sister-in-law/ sister delivered early because she had tummy upset too - apparently the tummy cramps triggered off contractions. I hope it doesn't happen to me - I'm not ready, the house is not ready, the nursery is not ready, and the maid's not here yet!

I'm just feeling miserable because of the tummy pains, as well as the pee - I need the water so that the baby can use it to flush out the waste too. It's really not fun. *cry*

Welcome to the family!

Dear baby Emily,

Welcome to the big family! All your cousins are waiting to huggy and kissy you! So are all the grannies, uncles and aunties!

My new sweetiepie of a niece!

The wait ...

*note: this posting can be quite gross!*

After 1.5 days, finally my tummy aches will be gone for good, I hope! I had to rushed to the loo just now, and relief came fast! I just hope this is the last load of crap that has been processed and my system is back to normal. It's just not nice to have a big belly and tummy cramps that keeps me from sleeping well.

Some people have instant gratification, what goes in, if it's wrong, comes out almost immediately. In my case, I always have to think hard and long what I had for the past few days that could have caused the tummy trouble.

It could be anything that I ate on Friday or Saturday - the first runny stools started on Sunday, but only a little. Monday, a bit more, but occasionally tummy cramps and the lethargy kicks in big time. Tuesday, the vomitting, giddiness and the sleepiness. Today, I've been drinking lots of water because the weather is hot and the pee is not the right colour. I thought I must be losing lots of water when the amount that goes in, don't seem to equate that amount that comes out. Then ... the explanation came - the body's saving the water for the last flush :P

The funny thing is, she's a lot more passive today - not so much swishing, nor jabs or kicks. I guess my tummy and the intestines are not making as much noise for the past few days, so she can sleep!

Hopefully this sigh of relief will last, and not replaced by a "oh no!" within the next few hours!

*update* Still running to the loo =(

the sleep monster strikes again!

I've been feeling really very tired lately, and taking the new medication doesn't help since it makes me feel giddy most part of the day (I can even feel my head revolving like a merry-go-round when my eyes are closed).

For e.g., on Sunday I took a afternoon nap for 3 hours, and I'm in bed by 11pm. On Monday morning, I could barely function at work - I was yawning my head off! By the time I reach home, I went to settle myself in bed and was promptly asleep by 9pm. Well, this morning the Hubby had difficulty waking me up again, but the cheeky girl helped him a bit.

I was half awake anyway, just waiting for him to finish his shower. I guess I must have dozed off again, when I heard him calling me through the haze of sleepiness. This cheeky girl, when he called me a second time, promptly KICKED ME! I was wondering if she was responding to him calling me, or she thought he was calling her, or if she just wanted me up, so she can continue her sleep without someone making noise in the background! *tsk* (she's having hiccups again now)

It's a workday, so I dragged myself to work (or to the car). At work, I was telling my colleague I wish she could just be delivered soon because I really find it very tough going now. I guess it had to do with me not feeling well. At 11am, I promptly threw up everything I had in the morning, my water, my tea, my prata, etc. I had to miss an office lunch event (free food! buffet somemore!) and I slept in my colleague's room - Dr Y's schedule's full so I had to do a walk-in at 3pm. I left about 2pm, reached there at 2.30, went to had some porridge (YUCKS! ALL MSG! NEVER EVER EATING IN THAT PLACEN AGAIN!), went back up to the clinic and this couple hogged all the magazines available for reading. Even they didn't want it, they just left it in between them, when they could have returned to the magazine stand. Ah well, I watched the TV instead but with my vision going downhill, I had to squint to read the subtitles/ translation. I was already dozing off when they called me in at 4 plus.

I had an initial BP done, and the reading was 145/90. So after discussing with Dr Y, I was told to stop the medication and observe the BP readings I take at home. The second set of BP readings were much better, in the rangs of 120+++ / 80+++. Anyway I'm on 2 days MC, he suspects that I may be coming down with a flu (I probably look liked when I did during the first trimester!) or food poisoning (I said I had runny stools and tummy cramps). Just hope I still have enough time to complete all the work due by this week. Sleep is sufficient but not pleasant, when all I dream about is work! I just hope the giddiness stop too, because it makes me so groggy and I cannot think straight. I need that clarity when I'm doing editing and proofreading!

Updated - Things to Do

1. Complete packing the hospital bag *sigh* let just say I'm washing the stuff to pack into the designated bag
2. To clean out the maid's room and get in new furniture for her - time to go shopping at Ikea! Done partially - the furniture's in but my stuff is still hogging the space
3. To clean out the nursery room and put up the cutesy pictures I bought - HAHAHAHAH absolutely NOT done
4. To disassemble cot and reassemble cot when nursery is cleaned out - waiting to clean out the room and to transport the cot parts back
5. Buy furniture for nursery - mainly drawers and changing pad (white!) - Ikea too! Done - got the chest of drawers that the top can flip open to work as a changing top, not white though. Already packed baby's new towels in it. Now sorting out all the little socks, booties and mittens.
6. To complete birth plan - to include some other minor details that I think should not be left to my hubby in case I get conked out on the epidural Done Done Done!
7. Wash and sort out hand-me-downs baby clothes - 80% done! Soaked the whites and pastels and managed to get most of the stains out, left the other 20% coloured clothings to wash, will try to do so by this weekend - left 1 small pack of baby hats
8. Clean out closet and donate old clothes to Salvation Army - must remember to be "cruel" to my clothes and if the hubby's still not doing it, to clean out his clothes anyway - Er ... let just say I've difficulty in packing even my own things =(
9. Clean out expired stuff in fridge and around the house - should I wait for the maid to do this? ;P I think I'll wait for the maid :P
10. Scan baby's pictures - before the hubby says,"But you kept them right?" Now he says he has no scanner *grrr*
11. Just let me SLEEP ...

It's not HBP!

According to the hubby anyway, he proudly corrected me and said it's "Elevated Blood Pressure". OK, so if the ex-medic says so ;P

Went late to the TCM today and I couldn't get a number to see her (she sees only 100 a day) but they were kind enough to ask me why I needed to see the physician. So I explained that Dr Y had said I had high blood pressure and my swelling due to water retention, in particular my left hand, won't go away. So they asked if I had been eating any particular salty stuff recently (everyone asks that question!) and I said no. It's true because I don't really particular like food on either extreme ends these days, and I don't slurp down the soup even if I take soupy stuff (all MSG!).

So anyway they said she will see me but I'll have to wait till someone misses their turn (as in someone took a number and didn't turn up). Waited for 3 hours and managed to see her. According to the physician, because of my PCOS and my genetic inheritance (tendency towards diabetes and high blood pressure, etc), even if I don't eat the "correct group" of food to trigger the HBP, I would already have the latent tendency to develop the "problems".

Ah well, at least I know baby is healthy and growing well, that's a very good consolation. I've only 4 more weeks to endure the stiff joints and swollen digits/ limbs, but I'm counting down. The good thing is that in this condition, they won't let the baby overstay past its welcome (the full term 40 weeks).

High blood pressure and restless limbs

The strange thing was, I remember reading this high blood pressure thingy from She Said/ He Said blog, and it was covered in the most recent copy of Motherhood. So I went to dig out my copy of What To Expect When You're Expecting and did some reading up.

The condition is called Preeclampsia. The following extract is taken from http://www.preeclampsia.org/

Preeclampsia is a disorder that occurs only during pregnancy and the postpartum period and affects both the mother and the unborn baby. Affecting at least 5-8% of all pregnancies, it is a rapidly progressive condition characterized by high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the urine. Swelling, sudden weight gain, headaches and changes in vision are important symptoms; however, some women with rapidly advancing disease report few symptoms.

Well, I know I do have the prolonged swelling of hands and feet (literally legs), that won't go away even if I've slept the night with my feet propped on pillows. The sudden increase of blood pressure (since my visit to Dr Y 3 weeks ago) also makes me wonder I have this condition. I'm not sure about the protein level in my urine, but I have this other condition, aka, restlessness of the limbs. Basically my legs just want to kick, and my arms just wants to twitch. Massage only partially helps to relieve the syndrome but sleep or rest seems to be the best way of getting rid of it.

I'm quite worried since the swelling of my fingers won't go away today - usually by mid-morning the swelling would have gone down quite a bit and I could clench into a fist - my right hand is OK, my left is not! I did borrow a blood pressure monitor and been taking my readings for today, but it did seem to indicate a "normal" blood pressure reading - around the range of 126/77 (for the few times I took). I'm going to try again an hour later, to check if the medication has any effect and if it's responsible for my giddiness. In any case, I'm going to pay a visit to the TCM tomorrow - hopefully she has something to get rid of the water retention plus twitching!

Report Card for week 34

1. I now am 70.5kg. Not too bad, considering the last 3 weeks covered the CNY period (food, food and more food). So I gained like ... 600g since the last visit?

2. I am guessing, whatever weight I gained, goes to baby, since she gained a whooping 600g since the last visit! She now is approximately 2.4kg!

3. Dr Y seems to remember my insistence on C-section when as the first thing he asked "So, you still going for the C-section?" I said "No, the plan is try for natural, and if the need to induce or any implications, then please cut me open." All this exchange was before the diagnosis (see 4). It seems I may get my wish afterall :P

4. I'm officially now being dosed with medication for high blood pressure. My blood pressure is now 150/95, and it's the lowest of the 3 readings done. The first reading, Dr Y eyes almost popped out. He asked me to please relax and he tried a second time. Still not satisfied with the reading, he switched to taking the blood pressure off my right arm instead and we arrived at the 150/95. So I'm medication for the next 2 weeks, before I go to see him again. I should have guessed, since swolleness of the legs have reached a stage that I can't even bend my right knee without being in pain, and sleeping with the legs raised didn't helped either (the legs are just as puffy).

5. The implications? I may have to deliver by 38 weeks if my blood pressure doesn't go down - so I have 4 weeks to get my act together. Could all this stress of preparations be the cause of the increase in blood pressure????

6. I was a bit worried that the reading is a fluke - because my blood pressure is normally on the low side, so I asked how would I know if my blood pressure falls below the normal when I take the medication. So I have to looked out for rapid heart beat and giddiness after I take the medication, in addition to monitoring the symptoms for high blood pressure like sustained headaches, giddiness and prolonged water retention .

7. I did asked if there was any medication for water retention since the swollen fingers and the pain in the right knee (when I bend it) is driving me nuts (ask the Hubby how nutty). I have difficulty getting in and out of bed, not because of the belly, but rather that I need to position my knee properly. Anyway the answer from Dr Y is "Delivery". *sigh*

So how do I feel? I'm glad baby is putting on the right amount of weight and is healthy (must remember to take my supplements) but I'm not sure if the high blood pressure will harm her development in any way. So let's see what happens in 2 weeks time....

The excitment of childbirth

Not mine, but someone close to me will be giving birth soon to a baby girl too! I'll say give take 1 week max before that little princess pops out!

So I've shipped over some herbal tea bags today (hope it's on time) as well as a little shopping at Amazon.com and the goodies should be delivered in a few days time.

For the herbal tea bags, it's meant for the healing process after childbirth. If you hadn't had a child yet, I won't bother with the gory details. If you are pregnant with your first child, you will get to hear all the gory details in antenatal classes, so I'll saved my swollen fingers a little work.

Anyway this herbal teabags, which I bought from MomsinMind, are meant for "rinsing" rather than drinking.

Mothers' Soothing Herbal Soak - This is a herbal combination that can be used
after birth to help soothe and accelerate healing of the mother’s perineal area.
It can also be used to assist healing after a caesarean incision. These herbs
reduce swelling, slow bleeding, and quickly heal
tears.

You can read the rest of the details here.



As for the shopping at Amazon.com, I bought the following 2 items because I thought they are so cute! I would have bought the same for myself, except the shipping costs to Singapore = the costs of the 2 books!

Humble Bumbles' Baby Journal: A Keepsake Journal for Baby's First Three Years

by Amy Meyer Allen

and




My Life As a Baby: Record Keeper and Photo Album

by Virginia Reynolds (Author), Amy Dietrich (Illustrator)

Cool stuff really, but I guess I'll just make do with my own little baby journal. I bet this girl will cringe when I give to her as a present at the age of 21!

Preparation for the impending birth - bit by bit

Let me see, last weekend I've managed to

1. Confirmed the confinement lady - passed the details to my hubby and instructed him when to call her

2. Bought some of the chinese herbs she would need to use for the confinement (well, I rather get it done now, since my movements are already starting to be really awkward). While some of the stuff can be easily bought like sesame oil and old ginger, I bought the herbs first since the hubby will probably have problems with these:

• Dried seedless red dates
• Dried Longans (apparently there's 2 types and the darker one which is semi-wet is used for confinement)
• Wolfberries
• Tong Sum (or Dang Shen in chinese)
• Bak Kay (or Bei Qi in chinese)

I'll pack them up into my gladware boxes and dump into the fridge, probably later - I tire quite easily these days and I promptly conked out last night before 10pm.

Tonight the "attending" the online orientation course for employers (of maids) and I'll need to take a test later on *sigh* Let just hope my grey matter doesn't fail me.

Work wise, I've started some of the preparations of the stuff I need to handover - but the work that I need and want to complete is frustrating me. There's only so much I can do before I start to zonk out and stare blankly at the papers in front of me - so I'm quite glad I'm not spending time in my room, but a temporary housing in a cubicle where there's always things to distract me momentarily (my attention span is 15 minutes max before I blank out).

This weekend there's some events happening at work, but my colleagues had kindly slotted me in for the shortest slot/ event so I won't need to be on my feet the whole time. New furniture is arriving this Sunday too, so I guess I'll be spending Friday night cleaning up the room or making space for the new furniture *argh* Suddenly there seems to be a serious shortage of space in the house!

I still need to pack the hospital bag! *ack*

It's countdown time!

I'm in week 33 or 34, depending on which website I look at.

It means basically I have 7 or 6 weeks, until the EDD. However, she's starting to engaged, the process called lightening.

When the fetus descends into the pelvic cavity. In first-time mothers, usually occurs two to four weeks before delivery; women who have already givenbirth usually don't lighten until they begin labor.

Taken from: http://www.babycenter.com/glossary/L

So how do I know? From the changing shape of my belly - It used to be a nice "round" shape, but it is now shifting down and forward. The belly size seem to be stagnant, although baby is suppose to be growing a lot rapidly now.

What does that mean? IT'S PANIC TIME!!!! It means I had better stay late at work this coming week and clear up my outstanding work. It's also time to complete my "What to do when I'm on maternity leave" guide book for my colleagues. I may have 2 weeks to go, 4 weeks to go or up to my EDD, but with a baby in the belly, it's no guarentee when she decides she wants to see who's been playing touch with her!

Speaking of which, she's quite cheeky. I was playing with her by tapping my belly with my cupped palm - she responded at first by kicking where I had tapped, but when my hubby tried - she decided she was tired and went back to sleep. I tried a few more times, tapping rapidly 10 times at each spot for several times, but she refuses to indulge me. Anyway, while I was firing up the PC, she started poking me rapidly! She did that a few times and I was wondering what she was doing! At first I thought she was having violent hiccups, but I guess she's awake now and decides to let me know that she hadn't forgotten that she was playing with me earlier! *awwww*

By this time, if she's awake and not doing much of her stretching, I could still feel her little movements by placing both of my hands on my belly. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it's like a tank of water, any movements in it, I can feel the ripples, or water swishing around.

It seems to make all the morning sickness, the pain, the needles, the gore (sight of blood) and other unpleasantness all worthwhile, to feel her poking me with her tiny hands or feet. Oh, I'm going to miss this pregnancy for sure - I don't look forward to being allergic to prawns again. I guess it's time to do some cooking at home and indulge in prawns while I can!

My little song for the baby

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

One for the Papa,

One for the Mama,

One for the little baby named Vanessa.

I suck at singing, and my memory for the lyrics is even worse. Thanks to the hubby, even my version of "twinkle twinkle little stars" have been corrupted (he ended it with "next time won't you sing with me") . So this is the little song I'm best at for the moment, and my secret way of getting her use to my preferred name for her ... Sneaky, ain't I? *hehe*

I've been called a cheat!

Some of you might know I'm a die hard fan of CSI: Las Vegas. So to my dismay, AXN started showing CSI Season 7 last wednesday and I didn't know about it! However, luckily for CSI fans, we do know they show a rerun on Sunday, so all we need to do is sit in front of the TV from 9pm onwards. So, we got to watch the show afterall.

 

Not that I didn't know what was going on - I had already read the review of the episodes, thanks to MSNBC Entertainment site. The more I read, the more I wanted to watch the show! I mean, after the last season's final episode of the Grissom and Sarah's bedding in the same bed (implied), I'm more than eager to see how these 2 have progressed (yes, I'm supportive of this romance!). Then reading the review of the miniature replica of the murder scene, it's literally breathtaking to see on the TV, how exactly those items were replicated in the miniature and the murder scene. No description will do justice to it!

 

While some says I should avoid watching such bloody stuff on TV (I used to forbid my nephew to watch it with me and I had to grudgingly switched to Cartoon Networks for him), but er, she's too young to know anything right?

 

The hubby was quite upset when he found out that I had access to such "sacred" literature online and not sharing with him - he implied that I was "a cheat" when he described the MSNBC review as "it's like cheating in literature exams with a literature guide book!"

 

Frankly speaking, I have no idea why he's so upset, reading the reviews only piped my interest in the show and I look out for all the little insider information give, which I might have missed. For example, the glances shared by Grissom and Sarah, various times in the episode. And it is _funny_ when Sarah declared that the murder was done by the Malibu Barbie when she examined the miniature replica of the crime scene (the doll did look a bit like Ken!) and the hubby was going "huh?"

 

The only sad thing is, I probably will missed some episodes since the little one will pop out halfway the season *sigh*

 

Anyway, she was fast asleep when I was watching the show ;P because every little movement she makes is keenly felt ... I just wonder how much she has grown since the last scan :)

10 little swollen digits

These days, the swollen legs and the backaches don't bother me as much as my 10 little swollen digits - I wake up every morning to the humming of pain in my swollen fingers and palm (I removed my wedding band long time ago) and it's so bad that:

1. I cannot clench my hand into a fist - it's way to painful to even curl the fingers towards the palm
2. I cannot grip the door knob - any application of pressure hurts
3. I can't wash my hair using my fingers since I cannot curl them - I use my palms to rub the shampoo in
4. Gripping the toothbrush to do the deed is a painful affair to - so now I resolve to just gargle in the mornings with mouthwash and to thoroughly brush my teeth before I sleep (no more in between Milo!)

I tried doing some research as to how to reduce the pain and the swelling and some of which I came across were - soaking the hands (whatever apply to the feet should apply to the hands right?) in warm water (with added bath salts), massage (yoohooo hubby do you read this??), and placing the hands above the head (I tried, but how long can I hold it up? Not unless i handcuff myself!). Even typing on the keyboard is getting bothersome, but it is still manageable for now. However, using a pen or pencil to write, it's still a pretty painful affair.

In fact, I even noticed that the swollen areas on my feet, even if it's not swollen when touched, any slight pressure applied hurts too. I missed my foot massage this week and I hope I won't miss it the coming week! I really need the massages to keep my digits and limbs working with little pain/ ache as much as possible until the little one pops up!

In the meanwhile, I guess the soaking in warm water with added bath salt should be the best option for now - I only have a few more weeks to go ...

Our Birth Plan!

(Created from www.birthplan.com)

Our wishes for Childbirth
Due Date: 19 April 2007
Patient of Dr Y
Scheduled to deliver at Thomas Medical Centre.

Feb 21, 2007

Dear Dr Y and the staff of TMC

We have considered carefully the various options and procedures for childbirth, and we have arrived at the following decisions. Thank you for your help in advance!

Sincerely,

Labour

1. I wish to be able to move around and change position at will throughout labor.
2. I will be bringing my own music to play during labor.
3. I would like the lights in the room to be kept low during my labor.
4. I would prefer to keep the number of vaginal exams to a minimum.
5. I would like to be given ice chips and milo drink during the first stage of labour
   

Monitoring

1. I do not want an internal monitor unless My baby has shown some sign of distress.
2. I wish to have continuous fetal monitoring
   

Labour Augmentation/Induction

1. If labour needs to be induced, we prefer to opt for C-section (LA)
   

Anesthesia/Pain Medication

1. I may wish to consider to have a standard epidural

Cesarean

1. If a Cesarean delivery is indicated, I would like to be fully informed and to participate in the decision-making process.
2. I would like My husband present at all times if My baby requires a Cesarean delivery.
3. I wish to have an epidural for anesthesia
4. If My baby is not in distress, My baby should be given to me immediately after birth.
   

Episiotomy

1. I would prefer not to have an episiotomy unless absolutely required for the baby's safety.
2. I would appreciate guidance in when to push and when to stop pushing so the perineum can stretch.
3. I would prefer an episiotomy rather than a tear.
4. I would like a local anesthetic to repair a tear or an episiotomy.
   

Delivery

1. I would like My husband and/or nurses to support me and my legs as necessary during the pushing stage.
2. Even if I am fully dilated, and assuming My baby is not in distress, I would like to try to wait until I feel the urge to push before beginning the pushing phase.
3. I would appreciate having the room lights turned low for the actual delivery.
4. I would like to have My baby placed on my stomach/chest immediately after delivery.
   

Immediately After Delivery

1. I would like to have My husband cut the cord.
2. I do not want a routine injection of pitocin after the delivery to aid in expelling the placenta.
3. I would like to donate the umbilical cord blood if possible.
   

Postpartum

1. Unless required for health reasons, I do not wish to be separated from My baby.
2. I would like to have My baby 'room in' after I have had some time to recover.
3. I would like My baby with me during the day but in the nursery at night.

Breastfeeding

1. I plan to breastfeed My baby and would like to begin nursing very shortly after birth.
2. Unless medically necessary, I do not wish to have any bottles given to My baby (including glucose water or plain water).
3. I do not want My baby to be given a pacifier.
4. If I am unable to breastfeed after delivery for whatever reason and my baby is hungry, please feed my baby formula milk with a cup

*End*

State of the Hospital Bag

Let's take a look at how ready I am to dash off to the hospital if the baby decides to come early:

1. Hospital Notes - none (probably won't be doing one)
2. Birth Plan - in progress!
3. Nightgowns (Preferably the type you can unbutton in front of easy breastfeeding) - checked!
4. Maternity bras - checked!
5. Bra pads - checked!
6. Maternity sanitary pads - checked!
7. Small plastic bags for soiled stuff (personal hygiene) - to note
8. Bedroom Slippers - er I only have one side, the other side is still MIA :P
9. Nipple Cream - checked!
10. Dark coloured towel - checked!
11. Comfortable briefs or disposable underwear -checked!
12. Clothes for when leaving the hospital - to note
13. Favourite toiletries - checked! (except for toothbrush and toothpaste though ...)

8 out of 12 items isn't all too bad I guess - but I'm still working 1 item, and the other 3 items can be easily resolved, so I guess I am almost ready! Now to remember for the other 2 lists ;P when I get down to it ...

Things to do

1. Complete packing the hospital bag - ok this is a must do! hubby's friend just gave birth today and they had not packed their hospital bag yet (was due for C-section on the coming monday)
2. To clean out the maid's room and get in new furniture for her - time to go shopping at Ikea!
3. To clean out the nursery room and put up the cutesy pictures I bought - note to self: buy glue and frame for the pooh's jigsaw puzzle
4. To disassemble cot and reassemble cot when nursery is cleaned out
5. Buy furniture for nursery - mainly drawers and changing pad (white!) - Ikea too!
6. To complete birth plan - to include some other minor details that I think should not be left to my hubby in case I get conked out on the epidural
7. Wash and sort out hand-me-downs baby clothes - 80% done! Soaked the whites and pastels and managed to get most of the stains out, left the other 20% coloured clothings to wash, will try to do so by this weekend
8. Clean out closet and donate old clothes to Salvation Army - must remember to be "cruel" to my clothes and if the hubby's still not doing it, to clean out his clothes anyway
9. Clean out expired stuff in fridge and around the house - should I wait for the maid to do this? ;P
10. Scan baby's pictures - before the hubby says,"But you kept them right?"
11. *ermmmmm*

What was that again?

With the advancing of the pregnancy, my memory is getting progressively worse.

For example, at the annual poker game organised by my gf, I could scarely remembered what was my covered card, even though I had just looked at it barely 1 second ago. In the end, I had to look at the card constantly to make sure I got the card correct. *tsk*

Not to mention, I am failing to remember my various bosses names (yes, how bad can it get!) and I could only point to the room and say "that one!" and someone else fills in the blank for me. I am so worried now that I will forget to do something *ack* and then it comes back to haunt me BIG TIME ... for eg, "bad girl! no bonus for you! no pay rise for you!" *argh* So far I'm still ok, I have colleagues to remind me what I need to get done, but even with the constant reminder and my taped-up "to do list", I still feel very insecure. I guess I'll just have to scribble down when the "reminders" suddenly flash across my eyes - if I am fast enough that is, I might just hold the pen over the paper and wonder "what was that again?"

I'm told it will get worse, and it'll last for several months after the baby pops out even - it doesn't help that I have poor memory skills to begin with ... I should start getting finger tags soon, since I'll probably forget why I tied my fingers with a ribbon in the first place!

The personality of the baby

Strange but I'm beginning to discern a few personality traits of of the little missy ...

1. She's a sleepy head like me - can sleep and sleep ... she seldom kicks me at night, and she's usually awake for short spurts during the day time
2. She doesn't like meetings - she kicks non-stop whenever I'm engaged in a meeting (serious!)
3. She doesn't like to entertain people - only as and when she pleases!

She's sticking her feet right up in my ribs again!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Happy CNY! Baby sorta spent the first CNY quietly - she's hardly fidgeting except for a bout of suspected hiccups this evening (rhythmic "blips" continously for 2 minutes or so).

She's probably tired since I didn't have a good rest last night - hubby complained about me snoring and I complained about him snoring, Iwas half asleep throughout the entire night and was continously awoken by the pain on my hips (can't sleep on the left, can't sleep on the right!). After this morning visits, we came straight home and slept for a solid 2 hours! Then we made our way out again for more visits. Tomorrow is a quiet day, not much activities/ visits planned, so it would be a good day to rest at home.

She's moving alright - she stuck her feet/ legs up on my sides again and I felt her shifting a bit but she's just not vigrously actively kicking (which she always does when I am in a meeting).

2 more months to go - and she's out ... I'm excited yet scared at the same time ... of the childbirth, of the days ahead when I have to cradle her, feed her, bathe her - am I up to it?

Updates ... We're in Week 31!

1) I've gained about 4kg since my last visit *GASP* now I weigh in at 68kg so my total weight gain is now almost 9 kg! *ack*

2) Baby's gained 700 another grams, making her now 1.8kg. Dr Y says she's in a VERY good size (I assume for natural birth)

3) My glucose intolerance tests results are negative so I'm clear of gestational diabetes! *hooray*

4) Her head already quite "down" so unlikely to turn anymore (sideways or beech) - meaning she'll probably engage in the correct position for natural birth

5) Brought along the birth plan which I completed in less than 20 minutes *strut* Thanks to my Sis-in-law copy she did up for her birth and I found this website: http://birthplan.com/ I wasn't really sure about all the options, but I could remember some of the stuff from my SIL's BP and so I click on those that matter to me, some iffy ones and showed them to Dr Y. So we had a quick discussion what is possible and what is not, as well as those iffy ones that I asked him to explain, for eg, what is pitocin? So now at least I have a better idea, I can finalise the birth plan.

6) I wanted a picture of baby too, but she wasn't in a good mood. Her face is pressing against the side so we can't see what's her expression, so I wanted a picture of her hands or feet. Anyway didn't get a decent view, so we settled for the side view instead.

7) We remembered in time to ask him about booking the delivery hospital - so we settled for TMC single bed. Hopefully we will be able to get the renovated rooms when she's ready to see the world.

I'll see Dr Y in 3 weeks time again - hopefully I won't gain too much weight since there'll be plenty of CNY goodies to munch on. He did tell me to lay off as much as possible the Macs meal but it's one of the easiest food to lay my hands on. *sigh* Oh, and the swollen pig trotters of mine is here to stay till baby is out. *double sigh*

A tight fit and other random thoughts

I think it must be getting to be a tight fit for my girl, since she's in the habit of sticking her limbs at my sides. Unless it gets too uncomfortable, I'll let her have her way, since she needs the space to stretch a little. I can't see any fist or the foot sticking out like a print on my side, so it's a guessing game for now.

Some random thoughts:
1) I heard over the radio "I want you back, I want you back back" and I thought of my "wild" days ... I don't know why, but the image of my friend, Kenny (who happens to be a father of 2 kiddos now!), dancing away on the table top in Wong Sans (already defunct) flashed across my eyes so vividly. Then I thought, "What's my little girl going to be like when she's 25?" Then followed by, "Argh! I don't think I want to know!"

2) Am I going to be like my mum??????

3) Can I count on my hubby to play with her? I'm horrid at playing with kids - I just don't know how to amuse them! masak masak time will probably be the most tiring for me!

4) Would she grow up to be my little helper when it's baking time? Would she share my interest in reading and baking? Not collecting Swarovski stuff is fine with me - it is expensive enough as it is to have a collector! I just hope she won't get addicted to Warcraft :P

5) What is she going to be like when she's in her pre-teens and teens? I think this is probably the most scary bit =( boys problems, girlfriends problems, this 2 issues are enough to turn my hair white ...

*sigh*

Just another day ...

Woke up with backache and swollen hands/ fingers again ... but at least it's a Saturday and I can wallow in self-misery while snuggling under the blanket and extend the ZzzZzz hours. I still woke up earlier than my hubby who was basically almost dead to the world - fiddled with my orchids and pieceing some pieces of the Pooh's jigsaw puzzle. He had to go to work today and so we went for a quick breakfast at Macs then I dropped him off at work since I had a lunch appointment.

On the way back, I popped by Sunset Way to get some fishes (since all the others expired) and thankfully the nearest carpark had parking spaces available. In total, I spent $50, bought some fake plants (since real plants never last more than 2 weeks and in case the fishes wants to produce offsprings), 11 swordtails, 3 albino catfishes and 3 sucker fishes. Hopefully, tomorrow I won't see any floating bodies, I had dumped in 150ml of bio-starter liquid as well as 100ml of 5-in-1 water conditioner on Friday night.

Lunch was ok - saved for some young lady who doesn't know the meaning of being gracious to a pregnant lady, but it's ok. What goes round comes round :) Had fun catching up with ex-colleagues and my hubby graciously agreed to come down to town and to drive us back (traffic was horrendous and I horned no less than 20 times on the way to lunch - blamed it on the hormones?)

We came back and took a nap (in air con comfort since my bedroom windows faces the west). Then we headed out for dinner with the couple we travelled with to Japan. Dinner was DELICIOUS since basically I called the shots - had black pepper crab, druken herbal prawns, marmite chicken and fried rice with salted fish. It was a great excuse to make a trip down to G7 aka Sinma Restuarant (at Geylang Lorong 3) since the couple stayed nearby. After that, we went to their place to pick up some baby stuff - about 6 to 7 bags in total! So we would have to sort it out after CNY, hopefully the baby doesn't decide she wants to come out early!

I came back and potter a bit more around my plants - went downstairs and got myself a sprig of money plant (the hubby refuses to engage in "illegal" activities). It's now sitting in a pot of soil and I hope it will survive!

My orchids are growing lots of flowers shoots and I do hope they open in time for CNY - then the couplet on my main door would really ring true!

迎 花
春 开
接 富
福 贵

I'm 30 weeks? Wow!

How time flies, baby's just turned the big 3 0 inside me ... and I didn't even realise I'm so far in my pregnancy (10 weeks to go if she decides to come on the EDD).

Panicking? You bet ... I haven't pack the room meant for the nursery! I haven't cleared out the room for the maid! I haven't even pack my hospital bag *argh* I haven't even decided on the birth plan yet! OOOPS!

The only thing I've completed is .... washed the covers for the sofa ;P

Ouch!

Not any contractions, but rather my left hip. It's has been giving me problems since the day before and last night was so bad I couldn't walk unassisted. Tried to apply heat pack and got the Hubby to do some massage, but it was still quite bad. This morning I rested in bed but I'm still hobbling around ... Probably a nerve got stuck at the wrong place!

Talking about contractions, I just purchased raspberry leaf tea from MomsInMind and I was warned not to take too much initally - else I will be experiencing strong contractions before I'm due for delivery! It's suppose to help during the childbirth so hopefully I won't have to endure 12 hours of labour. We toured the labour wards at TMC on sunday (after watching all the delivery videos - while not as bloody as I imagined, but I was still pretty scared!) and was told we could bring in our own heating pads as well as CDs, etc etc etc ... I'll make another list for the labour ward ;)

The number of things to bring seems to be increasing hehe ...

Spring cleaning and other what nots for CNY

It's the time for spring cleaning - I've yet to packed up the mess in the house, but I've managed to nag the hubby to finally take down the Christmas tree. Yesterday was baking day - first I baked a cake for Phoebe's first birthday (wasn't fair that she doesn't get her 1st birthday celebrations when Rascal did!) then proceeded to make sugi cookies with my sister (her kids helped too).

It was fun, while I cannot do a lot of things easily, like squatting or bending down, but the measuring of ingredients, frying of the almonds and doing up the cookie balls (the sifting of flour was covered by my sister-in-law and brother and the mixing of the cookie dough was delicately handled by my sister) was still relatively ok for me. At least I get to taste the good old flavours of yesterday - flavours of CNY when I was a kid! We accidentally halved the raising agent as we forgot we were doubling the recipe, but all in all, still a crunchy cookie with yummy almond bits!

Then yesterday I decided to "overhaul" the water feature - I had bought a new pump but never put it to use and my "fortune pot" is just wasting away in the algae. So I got the hubby to help, pumped out the smelly water and pour in new water. All in all, the water feature looked a lot cleaner, neater (since I fixed up the new pump and placed the pot properly but my fishes couldn't take the trauma and all, as in ALL, of them just expired. *sigh* This means I have to do another water change and get new fishes ... I was quite sad since these fishes had been with me for more than 2 years (although I was never as attached to them as to my goldfishes). Either my pails were dirty somehow, or the shifting of my "Fisherman Jiang" were not very good to the fishes :P

So now, we are left with packing the stuff in the house (junk junk junk everywhere) and to hang up some of the pictures we have gotten (and picked up from the dustbin - probably dumped by my neighbout but it was a picture I had been eyeing from Ikea for sometime!), cleaning up the bedrooms to get ready for the maid and the baby ... I better settle all these before the 7% GST apply!

Yay! No more needles for the day!

I'm proud to say that I survived the "ordeal". I didn't hurl although my body was 2 minds about it. Scratching the skin of the lemon definitely helped. The whiff of fresh lemons sent my stomach the other way and the occasional lick of the lemon flesh (I took tiny nibbles on the flesh ;P) helped me to endure the 2 hour ordeal.

In between, reading magazines helped to pass time a lot faster, and looking at food pictures or thinking of what food to eat after that (I was dreaming of tom yum soup) helped to distract my stomach and my mind from the vile liquid in my stomach.

The drawing of blood - well, second time was the most painful since she took from the same vein. The third one was more painful than the first, but probably because I was so terse - I couldn't wait for it to be over.

So when she said I could go, I was so relieved - I was all smiles to the receptionists. Yes, and I hurried down to Thai Express and ordered my Tom Yum soup!

Blood and needles and yucky sugar solution

Here I am again, at the clinic doing the glucose intolerance test.

This time, I came armed with a whole lemon, that in the event they refuse to suck the lemon, at least I can scratch the skin and breathe in the lemony smell.

So far so good, the lady who is drawing my blood (different from last week) is more professional. She has no hesitation in poking the needle in and actually, it's not as bad as last week. It's actually bearable.

Anyway, she allowed me to lick the lemon (I brought my table knife ;P) so it's a lot more bearable - at least I can use a combination of smell and taste to control the urge to hurl.

My dearest hubby just bought a pastry from Delifrance (his breakfast) and asked "Do you want any?" then "Oh, you cannot!" Ya, thanks a lot dear :P

15 more minutes to my next urine test and then blood test. I'll update again.

Maternity Clothing in Singapore

I have some hand me downs but 1) my sister was so slim (her full term belly = my 6th month belly) 2) my SIL had loan hers to others so I had to wait a little while more to get some clothing from her - so I ended up doing some shopping for maternity clothes (although my sister bought me some new pieces too - I guess, any excuses for shopping ... have you ever been on the Victoria's Secrets website? It's very addictive ... and they accept credit cards from Singapore).

I decided initally to buy some from GAP but after the WORST ever service I encountered, I returned the order, borne return postage as long as I didn't have anything to do with them anymore. And till now, they still have not refunded the credit charges yet. This service from GAP deserve one full posting by itself - if I can bring myself to rant and rave over their lousy servive again.

In the end, I bought some of my maternity clothing from ... VICTORIA'S SECRETS! They were having sale so I bought the babydoll tees, and some tee-shirt bras (my favourite). Some purchases (like the dress) were so-so but generally the babydoll tees were a good buy. The idea was that I could still wear the clothes for normal wear after I've *slimmed* down after pregnancy.

I also purchased my maternity pants - 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of cordroy (?) pants and 1 pair of yoga pants from OldNavy Maternity. I also bought some tee shirt maternity blouses for work and some camis. Generally I consider my buy from OldNavy as the best - because I saw similar stuff sold in a local shops with the pricing doubled (this considering I include shipping costs for my per piece purchase from OldNavy.

Recently, I went shopping again (at Suntec), for CNY clothes and I spent about $400 :P so what did I buy?

The first shop I ventured into was Spring Maternity. Their jeans look like a good buy at $79.90 but I already have mine so I'm good. The rest of the clothes - er ... I thought look pretty blah ... maybe I was looking for brighter colour clothings.

1 dress $79.90 (which is really a maternity dress - you can't use it after the pregnancy as a normal dress)
1 pair of capri pants $39.90

Then I walked a bit more (looking for the loo) and I chanced upon Perfect Mum. Well, this shop looks like a local outfit (meaning more like Far East Plaza kinda shop) so anyway went in to take a look. The sales staff is superb at sales, so while I didn't buy everything they recommended, I came away with

1 dress $79.90 or $89.90 (which I can double as a evening dress or cocktail dress after I return to my normal size) 10% discount
1 black capri pants $39.90 10% discount
1 white capri pants $59.90 10% discount
2 tube tops cum nursing tops (PINK!!! YAY!!!!!!) $39.90 each or $49.90 each (which if I leave the nursing *hole* intact I still can wear as a normal casual top) 10% discount
1 pack of maternity undies (my current undies are getting *tight*) $36.90 no discount
1 strapless nursing bra $25 I think (with 50% discount already)

The Hubby ranted and raved for a while after I came home with the purchases - unfortunately that's the problem with maternity wear in Singapore - expensive investment for such a short period of time (I have slightly more then 2 months to go). The only good thing is really, I try to pick pieces I can wear after the pregnancy as normal wear (I think it will take a LOONNNNGGGG while before I ever get to slim down). Oh the capri pants is all the V front with adjustable straps, meaning all I need is to make it tighter if I want to wear post pregnancy, but it's a comfortable fit - I dun have to worry about the "rubber band" constriction during the last stage of pregnancy.

Don't buy on impulse, just make sure it's not overtly expensive if you are constrained by a budget and do look for pieces that can be worn post maternity.

URL for online maternity shopping site: www.oldnavy.com (only accept US credit cards, else make use of the VPOST concierge services) (only US$5 shipping to any US destination! I use VPOST USA shipping services to Singapore)

URL for online addictive shopping site: www.victoriassecret.com (look out for sales period - best time to pick pieces on sales or take adv of the offer of up to 30% discount or free shipping to any US destination. I use VPOST USA shipping)

Perfect Mum and Spring Maternity (and other shops) is located at Suntec City Mall - 3rd level, just round the corner from Toy R Us.

Ante-nantal Class No 2.

This class was more squeamish than the first - they showed a video on a various types of pain relief. Needless to say, the epidural looks like the most painful pain relief to be administered.

Laughing gas (Entanox I think) looks the simpliest, since it's just inhaling gas at the start of each contractions. The pain relief is of course a lot less than being administered the epidural.

The class also covered some more exercises which we had difficulty in grasping the concepts initally, but after a while, the hubbies were "trained" to helped their wives to do the exercies correctly.

One of the MOST IMPORTANT lessons learnt was how the baby will look like after being delivered. Apparently he or she will be darkish in colour as well as covered in white stuff. The instructor gave us the warning ahead of what to expect, in case we freak out when the baby is placed on us (for bonding). Next week, we will have a glimpse since we will be watching the video on birthing *groan*

Apparently I'll be the perfect candidate for epidural since I have such low threshold of pain - So C or N? *argh*

Suffering pain for nothing =(

We made our way down to the clinic this morning - me, hungry and thristy, and dreading the immediate future.

First thing they asked for was a sample of my urine, to which thankfully my bladder cooperated. I thought I had emptied my bladder as much as I could at home, but I guess my late night (before 12 midnight) binging on water/ soup helped a little.

Then as usual, my veins are kind of missing in action, so they could only choose one of the vein which was slightly more obvious. Yes, it was painful as usual, so I guess it's not a matter of skills, it's just too bad for me that the veins willing to present itself are the ones which will cause me more pain.

The sugar solution, which they had kindly added a little more water for me, tasted like very bad lime cordial. They won't let me suck or add my lemon, so I had to just drink it as it is. I had a total of 4 small cups, and I took almost 15 minutes to finish it. This is considering that I was already very thristy. Barely after I had finished the second cup, my head started throbbing. By the third cup, I was feeling queasy. Anyway, I managed to finish the 4th cup and rested in the room. I had the urge to hurl but got my hubby to pat my back, so I burped instead.

Alas, but all in vain. Just 20 minutes to go before they draw my blood again, I hurled out at least 1 cup of the solution. So the test had to be cancelled for today and to be done another day.

*sigh*

Hospital/ Labour Bag Checklist

Since I'm waiting for my herbal soup to cool down, I might as well post up the checklist of items to pack for the labour/ hospital bag (as long promised):

1. Hospital Notes
2. Birth Plan
3. Nightgowns (preferably the type you can unbutton in front of easy breastfeeding)
4. Maternity bras
5. Bra pad
6. Maternity sanitary pads
7. Small plastic bags for soiled stuff (personal hygiene)
8. Bedroom Slippers
9. Nipple Cream
10. Dark coloured towel
11. Comfortable briefs or disposable underwear
12. Clothes for when leaving the hospital
13. Favourite tioletries

For your partner:

1. Coins - lots of them for the vending machines
2. Camera, storage card/ laptop plus charger (film too if you are not on digital yet)
3. Handphones plus charger (if any)
4. Videocam plus charger (if any)
5. Change of clothes (if bunking in)
6. SHAVER (no scratchy chins allowed!)
7. Reading materials

For your baby (if the hospital is not providing any):

1. Baby Vests
2. Scratch mitts and booties (about 3 pairs each)
3. Wrapping blanket
4. Disposable diapers or nappies
5. Preferred baby tioletries (if you are insisting on organic products)

I think I've gotten most of the items above - just need to sort them out, washed them with the baby laundry detergent and then pack it nicely into a bag or two.

I'm almost there!

Why some names don't make it to my list

1) Deborah - reminds me of Nicholas Tse's mother (Patrick Tse's ex wife)
2) Megan - My friend's child's name
3) Jewel - as above
4) Jade - as above
5) Clara - as above
6) Natalie - as above
7) Esther - as above
8) Beatrice - Why would you want to leave you kid's future happiness in some cruel kid's hand? She's never live it down as "Beat rice! Beat the rice!"
9) Angelique - Thanks to a timely reminder of a child's cruelty, "Angel Lick Me!"
10) Ruth - Wruff wruff!

I'll update more when I can remember ... sometimes it's a child's cruelty that scares me the most.

The looming doom of the needles

I have this glucose test tomorrow - not sure of the actual test name - but it's suppose to test if I have gestational diabetes.

I am to stop all food and water by 12 midnight, make my way to the clinic tomorrow at 9 plus then (if I am not wrong) 1) take my blood, and drink the sugary solution 2) wait for 1 hour, take blood again 3) wait for another hour, take blood again. All with no other food or drink inbetween. I have a problem too, when I get a sugar high, my head splits apart in the form of a migraine. So the clinic says to remind them to give me a little more water. I am also bringing a sliced lemon, to suck on. I doubt I want to have the sugary taste lingering in my mouth for 2 hours.

It's the needles that's making me quake in my flats. I hate needles, I hate having my blood drawn, I HATE PAIN, period. I just hope I don't scream down his entire clinic.

:~(

Chinese name for my girl

This is the Chinese name I like ...

赖恺宁 lai4 kai3 ning2

恺 for happy
宁 for serenity

Why I like this name - Most of all, I want her to be happy in life. Serenity is important too, given my fiery temper so hopefully she can counter my stubborn streak with her serenity.

Hopefully my choice has the correct number of strokes, etc etc. Will ask one master to see if the name is suitable for her.

The characters should be not be too difficult to write too, since I already have problems trying to write my hubby's surname!

Er, say that again?

I was talking to a gf today and out of curiosity, asked her how she would pronounce the name "Keira".

Surprisingly, it was quite similar to my pronounciation, it would be "Key-Air-Ra".

Why? I happened to come across this forum thread discussing this very question and to be honest, I widened my eyes a little. You can access it here.

As my gf puts it, it is a problem when choosing a name for your child. You want it to be unique but you would want it to be easily pronounciable by others. She faced it herself, since most of us had difficulty in pronouncing her son's name "Liam". Most of the time, it sounded like the Hokkien word for "Sticky". However, she found a good way to help people like me remember how to pronounce it - the second half of "Wil-liam". I was like "Geez, that's easy!" I just hope I can remember it!

Someone also told me, a colleague of hers named her child as "Phoebe" but pronounced it as "Foe-Bee" until someone corrected her.

So that's lesson number 1 for me, so "Keira" is out. It's just too much work to debate how your child's name should be pronounced.

What's in a name?

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

Shakespeare

Ok, serving up the names in the family...

1 Alissa
2 Anjanette
3 Anna
4 Anne
5 Carol
6 Cecilia
7 Chloe
8 Denise
9 Diane
10 Elena
11 Elisabeth
12 Elizabeth
13 Emily
14 Grace
15 June
16 Margaret
17 Maureen
18 Melissa
19 Nichole
20 Olivia
21 Paula
22 Phoebe
23 Victoria

I'm sure there's more but I cannot remember at this point. I'll add on if I recall them.

So a list of possible names I've made out (I'm quite settled on the Chinese name already):

1 Alexis
2 Ashley
3 Charlotte
4 Charmaine
5 Emma
6 Ida
7 Isabelle
8 Kaydee
9 Kaylee
10 Keira

Somebody help me?

Ante-natal Class No 1

Just attended our first lesson on Sunday at TMC - quite happy actually because they taught the hubbies how to give back and leg massages to the wives. I should have went for the class earlier!

In the class, there were other ladies indulging in Coke like me (I don't feel so bad now but the instructed said we need to aviod all carbonated drinks) and there were some asking about eating sashimi and drinking alcohol. I'm just glad I'm already gone for my holiday in Japan and my obgyn gave me quite a leeway in my choice of food/ drinks. Oh and I'm not that late too, some ladies are about as advanced as me, so I don't feel so "slow".

We had 1 free Avent milk bottle (with some Avent brochures but I already bought my Avent electric milk pump and some milk bottles) so now i have a total of 6 Avent bottles. I really need to get down and sort out my baby stuff - I'm getting a bit overwhelmed already. My sis-in-law (hubby's side) asked if we need to borrow anything, but frankly speaking, as usual, I have no clue.

Oh ya, need to pack the hospital bag *argh* Now I'm just pre-occupied with the baby name - I made out a list of names in the family and I'm looking at 23 names (including my MS). Quite a list to filter out *sigh* I'll post up the names after this.

Pre-natal massage - HmMmmmM

Managed to get some time off from work today and rushed down for my first pre-natal massage ever.

To be honest, I was really looking forward to this since I'm really quite tired out this whole week (been having nightmares about work and for some strange reasons, dreaming about having to feed 3 doggies).

The place isn't too far off from the office, and thank goodness it wasn't raining, plus traffic at that hour was still quite bearable. Took me only 15 minutes to reach there, so I was in fact even early for my appointment.

The place is in a kinda strange location, in an industrial building and the entrance is in the carpark itself! But the place inside is nicely decorated and cosy, so it is quite a plus point.

The massage was about 60 minutes long and it was GOOD. I fell asleep and even snored :P As usual, after the massage, the sales talk begun. My hubby would be so proud of me, I actually resisted buying any packages. Anyway, it doesn't make sense. They won't do pre-natal massages for beyond 8 months and I'm going to be in my 7th month soon (I just found out - I thought I was still in my 6 months, so I am officially in my 3rd trimester!).

Besides I had some grouses about the place, which are: 1) The massage bed is so HARD that my hips hurt while lying on it - I even had difficulty turning to my sides because it's actually painful to do so. This could be solved if they had a mattress padding or some sort, but I doubt they had any. They said the bed was probably too new - so new that I could feel the board under? 2) The massage starts from the feet up, and they didn't even wipe down the feet or offer a basin of water to wash in. Not that I really mind, but if my feet is really hot and sweaty, I'll be really quite unhappy.

Still, for the massage alone, I may still make another trip down, just hopefully they won't try to sell me some packages. I came away much more relaxed and my tight shoulder muscles loosen. The back doesn't hurt as much either - I think I will have a really good sleep tonight! ;)

Baby's weighing in by the kg now!

Baby's currently in her 27th week, weighing in at 1.1kg. Me? I gained ... let me count, 64.2kg - 62.9kg that works out to be 1.3kg. Not to bad, in all, I've gained *erm* 64.2kg - 59.8kg = 4.4kg? My maths is really bad so if it's wrong, do tell me so ;P

Dr Y says baby's weight is of the "normal size" and my weight gain is ok. However, he did say baby will gain weight more quickly from now. I panicked a little and asked, "How much? 4 kg at delivery?" He laughed and said if anything beyond 3.5kg, he'll ask me to do a C section. That set me thinking a bit ...

Then we discussed a bit on the birthing bit, and I told him I'll try natural (he nodded and said,"Good.") but if I had to be induced it's confirmed C for me. He went, "Ah ... but we won't know if you need to be induced." So I said, "Ya precisely, so if I had to be, I definitely want C!" As usual, we will discussed that at a later date. Then he asked about the choice of hospital. So I told him we had already signed up for the TMC FBI thingy plus completed tour BUT ... I had visited my colleague who just gave birth in Mt A and I did a site visit of the tiolet. I told him, based on the tiolet alone, I'm so tempted to pick Mt A. I think Dr Y is probably wondering what a weird patient he has, but anyway he said, "the tiolet is not the only one that's old, have you seen the labour ward?" We replied we've looked at the place so we know it has not been renovated yet. We also talked about the nicely renovated rooms which is not likely going to be given to us, since it's upon request and they will try to acceed to the request if possible (sounds like a hotel upgrade). I think he's really pro Mt A for whatever reason. However, he did say the single bed is very popular too so it can be quite hard to get it. Sometimes they convert a double room to a single room because they cannot cope with the demand for a single room.

Frankly speaking for TMC, if I am paying the same amount of $$ for the renovated and unrenovated rooms, so why can't I have a choice? So another plan that has become unstuck and back to the musing board.

Oh and the hubby complained that I never discuss with him about going for natural now and the change of mind in hospital. Well, I'm blogging it my dear, and if you are too busy to read this, what makes you think you won't be too busy to listen to my musings? =)

Before I forget, WE FINALLY HAVE THE FIRST PICTURE OF THE BABY!!!! Dr Y asked, "Oh none at all? Not even the 1st trimester?" We chorused, "NO!!!" I'll post it up later when hubby has gotten around to taking a picture for me.

The discomfort of a very comfortable baby

I'm not sure how she's curled up in me but it's sure uncomfortable for me. It has been like this for the past few days and it's simply not fun to stand or walk.

My colleagues have told me to coax her gently by talking to her and rubbing my belly. I've tried the method - I guess it only works if she's awake and not zzZzzzZ away.

For now, I just hope the discomfort doesn't increase. Tomorrow it's the routine visit to Dr Y and We'll see how she's lying (I suspect sideways!) and how much she has grown. Frankly speaking, I feel I have lost weight, even my double chin looks smaller - all this despite my Coke chugging habit/ craving.

My appetite has also changed - I tend to prefer soupy stuff now. All the fried and spicy stuff is giving me heartburn *sob* and if I take something really heavy for lunch, I'll prob burp out sometime at 7 or 8 in the evening. To begin with, I already have a weak disgestive system.

What I am looking forward to though, is my first pre-natal massage. I called up after seeing an advert in the magazine and for 50 minutes of massage, I pay $48 (applicable only for 1st timer). Sounds like a good deal and a good way to relax (I can snore my way through a 50 min foot massage too!). I guess it's time to pamper myself a little, before the harsh reality of sleeplessness sets in.

Only 3 months to go ... I'll panic over the weekend and stress my hubby too, if I'm in the mood. I'm actually planning to go and get a facial done on Saturday *wink*

The N word or C word?

Wondering why I suddenly had a change of mind again? to consider Natural Birth, since I was so strongly advocating for C Section.

Well, partly it had to do with a family conversation with my sister and my sister-in-law (sil for short). My sis had to go through C section because she had a low lying placenta. However, she encouraged me to go for natural because after the op, it's when all the pain starts and plus having to carry a urine bag around. The way she describe how the urine bag is attached is pretty gross! Then my sil said, actually I should try for natural first, but if it's not possible, then go for C section. I recalled reading somewhere that some mothers want to go alnatural but because of some complications, they had to under C section and they were so devastated by it. Hmmm, makes sense actually. So I guess I will try natural birthing, but will opt for C section (I wonder if I will jump at the offer at the slightest excuse) if need be. I know for sure, if I had to be induced for labour for whatever reason, then I'm going for C section.

Anyway I'm due to see Dr Y this Thurs and we'll see what happens. For all I know, after having to do the blood glucose test, I'll be screaming my head off and refusing to think about natural birth again. It could well go back to square one!

After all, we can plan for everything, but not everything will turn out as planned.

And oh er, baby is in her 26th week, or I have about 3 months to go before the EDD. It's starting to scare me a little :P I still have yet to find a maid and a confinement lady *argh*

are you going to give birth soon?

That's it - first I get people commenting that I am carrying twins, then not 1 but 2 shop sales assistant got very worried and asked me "Are you going to give birth soon?"

 

I got a bit crossed but i replied humourously, "I hope not! I'm not due till 3 months later!" Then I patted my tummy and go, "Not now ok?"

 

Then as usual they all went, "But you are so big already!" Yes I know, but I'm not about to snap back "Yes, about 99 other people told me so already!" I just smile.

 

Apparently I take after my mother, who was according to the legend, as huge as me when she was carrying her first child, my eldest sister, June. So I got this part of the genetic heritage right but none of my sisters had pig trotters feet like me! *sob* Maybe I should find out what else happened in the legend - for example, if she had a 25 hour labour period, no way am I going to consider natural birth!

 

Talking about that, I am now considering natural birth again - still without epidural if possible, but I have no idea. All the best plans can be scuttled if the little one in me doesn't cooperate or my body refuses to respond to my needs. So ... I guess back to the drawing board - we can have plan A, B C or even D if necessary, since things always don't go as planned. It's getting hard to turn in bed now, it actually hurts to sleep on my back! So I am beginning to feel the urgency and the pending arrival of the little one. I hope I don't go into the panic mode anytime soon.

The Big Foot

Not the Abominable Snowman's feet, but mine =(

I hadn't realise how BIG it had swell up to until I was waddling down the stairs on my way home. My feet felt "funny" so I look a look and I was so horrified. It's so swollen even flexing my toes felt strange. I had never seen it so huge before and I guess it's off to bed early for me and resting with my feet up on a cushion, as much as I dislike doing that. Probably need to persuade my hubby to give a foot massage and hopefully I'll get around to going to Traquility Cove to get a proper foot massage.

I guess it means I would have time to read up on the checklist for the hospital bag. Tomorrow's the last day of Robinson's preview sale so hopefully I can get something worthwhile. Just hope my feet won't be as swollen else I will have difficulty moving around.

Prioritising my Priorities

I know I should be getting ready for items in my nursery and my hospital bag - I already have the checklist from TMC as well as one from MotherCare. But, I seriously haven't look at it yet.

My part time maid is a lot more organised than me - she made me put all my baby stuff together so I can take stock as and when I need to and she organised them in piles - clothing, disposables stuff and "equipment". So next thing is once I've gathered the necessary clothing, it's time to wash them before packing them into the bag. I did some shopping for mittens and socks, but that's about it :P

I'll post up the list once I've actually gone through it.

So what have I done so far? Er, hehe I've actually shortlisted the company I am going to order my baby full month's cakes from. I know it's VERY VERY early, but it's something positive for me to focus on other than the scary thought of giving birth. I've more or less decided on www.sweetestmoments.com.sg - I like the packaging and the pricing is quite reasonable. Plus I am a FBI card holder hehehe.

The weakest link - the bladder

It hadn't happen for sometime already, but since I've forgotten repeatedly to do the exercise, I guess I was looking for trouble =(

 

So what is the "it" that I'm referring to? It's the leakage of the bladder when I sneeze or cough or even have the urge to hurl. Today was particularly bad since I was in the office when I choked on a pineapple tart. Needless to say, I had some floor cleaning to do, just lucky that no one noticed where the drops of liquid came from (it happened along the corridor *sigh*).

 

Anyway back to exercising or wearing maxi pads to work =(

Restless baby ...

She isn't kicking hard but she's just restless it seems, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep. I just hope she doesn't get this restless when she grows bigger in the 3rd trimester!

Went down to TMC and signed up for the FBI (1st born incentives) and antenatal class. The FBI membership came with a goodie bag and I've yet to rummage through what's in it. After that, I wanted to go for my foot massage too (right foot starting to swell again) but we have a huge pile of laundry waiting for us at home, so let's not waste the sun while it shines brightly I guess.

I ordered this Pregnany Belly Salve, in place of the jojoba oil I've been using on my tummy. I thought it might be less messy but let's see how good it is. It's suppose to be organic too, which may be a good idea since my thighs are still prone to rashes.

showing off the belly

Today I finally had the chance to go swimming and since I didn't buy any maternity swinwear, I had the perfect excuse to wear my bikini! I only wore it once when I was at Bintan and never quite had the courage to proudly flaunt my fats at the pool.

Lucky that my bikini fit! My bust seems a bit overwhelming for the top, but it managed to cover the vital parts perfectly and without exposing to much of the fair skin.

However, the pool was COLD ... and I took more than 15 minutes to finally accept the cold, but nevertheless, was still COLD. I didn't really swim, since I was having tummy twitches which made it quite hard to swim. So I made my hubby walk across the pool while I hung from his shoulders. It was still quite nice, since floating in the pool made me forget how clumsy I am become for a while. But *sigh* once I had to get out of the pool, I felt like an elephant =( Basking in the sun for 5 minutes while waiting for my hubby to complete his "exercise" made me feel quite good though.

There was a baby boy "swimming" in the pool with his parents, and he must have enjoyed himself. He was giggling and laughing when I went into the pool, and by the time I was basking in the sun, he was fast asleep on his father's shoulder (well wrapped in a towel).

The swim was a good break from the "spring cleaning" we were doing. Actually we were just trying to relocate the computers to another section of the house but it's quite a major exercise, considering that I'm not helping with the shifting of the furniture. I could only helped to pack the barang and relocate them to another corner. Now, I am just staring at the pile on the floor. It's suppose to be an weekend to rest and to catch up with some office work, but it's more like a rampage through the china store and now having to pick up all the pieces.

*yawn* I think I'll take a quick nap first before continuing with the cleanup operation.