ConFineMenT PerioD

uh-huh, no wonder i was told to be careful not to get fat during the confinement period!! 

seriously, i think i din put on much weight during pregnancy. but..... i cant say the same for confinement! 

i've been eating soooo regularly.. and have not been doing much...except breastfeedling! 

having a confinement nanny was as if like having a domestic helper. after makan, just leave everything there and she will clear. need snacks or drinks or fruits, just tell her and she will prepare. she will also help with the household chores like laundry, sweeping the floor, mopping the floor etc. im really like one queen now! woohoo! 

i guess i will seriously miss this period....how will life be after she's gone? ummmmmm... 

anyway, my confinement nanny can cook really well. 

and one of my fav - nutella crepe!! really yummy! kekekeke. i must at least learn this dish from her before she leaves!

knowing that the ingredients are all expensive stuff, i will make an effort to finish them all. so, tell me, how not to be fat huh?! 

the nanny was saying, if can eat, must eat during this crucial period. weight can be lose later on after the confinement period. ha, easier said then done man. if only weight losing is that simple.

anyway, i will enjoy this period while i can. i have engaged her for 40days and today is already the 17days. ahhh.. 

Jamu Massage by Babies & Bellies

haha, had my 1st house service massage yesterday. massaging at the comfort of home, not too bad an experience. 

my colleagues recommended me 2 massage ladies, but both could not make it in terms of timing. so in the end, use this company - babies & bellies - which i came across when flipping through those coupon books given to me in those maternity packs. 

i took the trial session 1st. not too bad. so i signed the 7days package with them. hopefully i can bear through having the wrap on me for 7days..

and i was quite impressed when she also massaged my head... touching that bun of hair which was last washed on 11 July.... wahahahahahahhaaah

according to my confinement nanny, she said it's way too expensive to pay $75 for 1 hour of post-maternity massage. uh-oh. but im kidda desperate already lah. and since this one is not too bad and within my reservation price, then just take loh. 

hopefully effective bah... do some favour to my 可怜的肚皮 bahhh... 

LaBouR @ Thomson MedicaL

uh-huh. so rayous baby arrived about 4days earlier than the EDD. the EDD was actually around 15 or 16July, but he arrived on 11July! hoho. win loh. i worked till friday and he came on saturday. no break for me at all! 

as said, we reached hospital at around 530am. the contractions werent very painful initially. i tot i could do without epidural, and i was silently thinking to myself that if i could tahan till 11am, i would most probably succeed in not having epidural. 

who knows... at about 9am.... the pain accelerated and there was a contraction which was sooo damnmmmnnn hell painful, that i knew i cannot take another of such contraction. 

and so... i succumbed to epidural. 

much to my dismay. 

but really. the pain was really madness. i truly sincerely salute to all those who did not use epidural during their course of labour. it's PURE madness. 

ok, succumbing to epidural is not surprising. much as i said i dont want epidural, i knew i would succumbed to it. i just wanna experience the pain before taking the epidural (and yes, it's proven to be ULTRA painful). 

the surprising and unexpected part was - the pushing of the baby out!!! 

the gynae came and checked and said im fully dilated already. before he left, he told the nurse to 'encourage her to push'. in my mind, i was thinking, huh... why need to encourage? just push and the baby will be out, isint it??

all the while, i thought the pushing of baby will be exactly like poo-ing. that's what everybody said. and that's what the nurse said too. but when i pushed like how i poo, the nurse said it wasnt correct! instead of pushing the baby out, im actually sucking him in. she said she could see the head, but the head was sucking back instead of coming out. 

wth???

so the method i tot was correct all the while, was in fact wrong at this very crucial moment??? so what's the correct method to push the baby out? i was at a total lost. and though i was on epi, i could still feel the contraction pain. so with each contraction, im supposed to deep breath in, hold my breath and puuuuuushhhhhh. but.. no matter how hard i tried.. the baby just could not come out. 

i was totally demoralised. in pain. tired. breathless. i pushed for like an hour.. but still to no avail.. i was so tired that i was hoping they could just do a c-sect on me and take the baby out.... seriously! 

and then, my gynae came and said since i've pushed for so long and still cmi, he said he'll assist me with the delivery. that means - using vacuum or forceps. which in my case, he used the vacuum.

haii. much as i do not want to use the vacuum, i had no choice. i really could not push him out. im so sorry baby to have to let u go through the suction. =(

and even with the vacuum, it wasnt an easy job. i still had to push (which i really had no idea how). i was super tired and my legs, being in that same position for so long, were super painful too. and at that moment, i regretted not doing the exercises which the pre-natal lessons had taught us. during the lessons, we were told to do certain exercises that will ease the pain in the legs and back during labour. but i din gave a hoot about it, cuz i tot pushing the baby is an easy peasy job and will be done in seconds. o my... how wrong i was!!

anyway, even with the gyane assistance, we took a while. and there was a point in time when the gynae said something like 'we have to deliver the baby this time, we are losing the fetal heartbeat....' i tell u, i almost died from it. 

and finally.. after one last scream and frustration... the baby was out!!!! and it wasnt until i seen him for myself and he started screaming, that i finally heaved a sigh of relief!

finally!! 

i still tot i would cry in tears when he finally came out. but alas, i was too tired and frustrated (from all the unsuccessful tries and the pain..) to cry..

after that was to wait for the placenta to expel out (luckily that did not take long.. i still tot i have to wait for another few hours again!!)... then stitches.. then breastfeed... before im being pushed to the ward. 

finally.... baby's out... really really relieved!!

they will push u to the ward with the baby beside u. that moment was like coming home after a victorious war. really really proud! 

tada! 

and so, that's my whole labour experience. all were quite within expectations except for the pushing part and the flowing of liquid with each contractions. yes, with each 'big' contractions, i can feel liquid flowing out, dont know isit blood or water. asked hubb to look and he said it's mixture of water and blood. i guess that's the water bag bah. it was quite scary really, cuz u dont know if it was blood flowing or what... and i guess that kidda affected my morale as well.. like losing so much blood like that... 

and the service at TMC, really wasnt as good as i anticipated. quite disappointed, really. 

anyway, im just glad rayous arrived safely and healthily. 

parenthood - here we come! 

blogging from the delivery ward.... Woohoo!

Contractions in the middle of the night.

Followed by bloody show.

And so, off to hospital we went.

Reached at about 5.30pm am. 

5cm dilated.

Have to wait till 10cm and apparently it's gonna be 1cm per hour.

So.. couple of hours more to go...

Pain still bearable so far. Hopefully I can do without epidural.

And... How come no one told me while waiting, it's gonna be so bloody huh?

Ok.. all the best!

Smooth delivery!

Maternity Leave

Ah, and so it's my last day of work before a good 4mths maternity leave!

Woohoo!

Finally my turn huh.

Original plan was to start on 8july, exactly one week before the EDD, but since no sign that baby's arrival will be early, I decided to work till Friday and start on 13july instead.

Afterall, one day more at work means one day later to go back to work, right?

 I definitely do not want to go back early. And also no point just to wait at home..

4mths... 說長不長，說短不短。。。

Will be back to work on 17 November

Hopefully a good break from work...

Though I got a feeling.... It might be worse than going to work!!

Hoho

Looking forward!

Bloated

my feets.... before bloating.. 

my feets... after bloating... ahhhhhhhhhhhh

and the bloat was so bad last friday... that i broke down crying! 

haha.. super emo xia.... yah.. it was just quite scary to see the feets really became one fully bloated bah zhang... =(

and my fingers are also bloated... ring cant fit anymore loh.... 

and my fingers even have problems clenching together.. ahhhhhhhh.... 

checked with some of the ex-preggie ladies and apparently i seemed to had it the worse - what's with the stretched marks... bloated feets... bloated fingers..... 

the only thing i can triumph over should most probably be the fact that i din ballooned too much throughout the process bah. had seen preggie ladies who had really put on alot of weight during their pregnancy.. i think on that note, im still doing fine. 

or least everyone else said so. 

hopefully no one is lying. 

keke. 

Ah...My baby's first present..

Coming from a colleague whom I kind of least expected...

人間有溫情。。。

Maybe my colleagues are not so terrible after all huh.. 

More Stretch Marks.... OMG!

Yes... Getting from bad to worse..... OMG!

And they really kind of appear suddenly........ Initially don't have at all... Then suddenly came out this much...... -.-

apparently they will lighten over time... But will never disappear totally....

Ah... 我可憐的肚皮。。。

Really terrible and scary looking.... At least for now... 

Haiz.

LOL

Ok, I know this is boliao and childish.....

But.....

I could do it too....!

coins on collar bones!

LOL

now, why are those bridal shops promoters still coming up to us and asked if we are married, when im obviously pregnant???

uh-huh....or isit only myself whom i think i looked obvious... 

and all the rest tot im just fat and that belly of mine is just a big fat tummy??

WTH?!

if in the past i would be quite happy if someone comes to us and ask, cuz that will mean we still looked young and unmarried.

but now with that belly of mine and someone still asking...... 

it's seriously offensive! 

at least in my view. 

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Pregnancy - Blood Streaks....

and so, i was put on mc for a week from 10 to 14 Nov, the 1st time i visited the gynae.

that one week was a turmoil really - worried about the blood test results, wondering why the blood never go away, popping hormones pills, and bearing the jabs.

and if i remb correctly, i still did not tell anyone of the pregnancy. just stayed home and worry alone! omg.

and the more i read online to find out on the bleeding, the more worried i got. so many scary stories online....

anyway, if i remb correctly, the 2nd gyane visit was on 22 Nov (yes, in b/w i still visited the clinic 2x per week just to get the jabs, administered by the clinic assistants).

and know what? the gynae gave me hospitalization leave for 2 weeks from 24Nov to 5Dec!! there were still steaks of blood and he couldnt really explain why cuz from the baby scan, everything seemed to be ok. this time round, we went to mum's place and stayed liao. too long a period, i couldn't be alone at home. 

turmoil again!! why with the pills and the jabs.... there's still blood???!!! whyyyyyy???

it really was vvvvvvvv worrying and demoralizing. so much so that i wonder if the whole thing will work out afterall. so much so that i cried a number of times. so much so that i had phobia going to the washroom, dont know when to see blood again. so much so that im wondering if the blood came from my baby's parts. so much so that hubb who was initially very positive, also started to have doubts if this will work out well afterall. 

super terrible, wasnt it?

and the pain from the jabs started to take effect on my tighs. the jabs were 2x per week, alternate tighs. the jab itself wasnt painful, it was the after-effect that was painful. like blue-black that kind of pain. then had to cover with warm towel to lessen the pain. 

and there was 1 time which i remb clearly.. the blood was quite abit... that i wondered if miscarriage was in progress. yes. really. 

lucky... it was just me worrying too much. 

anyway, believe it or not.... on the 6dec, we visited the gynae again. and this time round, he extended my hospitalization leave all the way till 26dec!!!! yes. so practically for the whole of dec, i was on hospitalization leave. huh. win right. 

and still... the blood never went away...... 

*to be continued*

Happy Fathers' Day @ Mellben Seafood

celebrated fathers' day at mellben seafood. had been wanting to try out. finally. but i think the famous outlet is the one at amk. we tried the one at tanjong pagar (inside bestway building) as it's much nearer. 

and yep, i think the food is quite good. sorry no pics, too busy eating. haha. they are famous for crabs and the crab bee hoon really v nice. crabs are selling at $65 per kg. 

it's actually a coffeeshop/foodcourt setting, but if u sit outside, u wont really feel like ur at a coffeeshop. more like at some outdoor resort. 

and no aircon... so except for the heat, all else is quite okay. price-wise also reasonable. 

recommended. 

i will definitely go back again for the crabs. yummmm.  

My back is so killing me!

痛，痛，痛，痛，痛！！！！！！！！！

The First Gynae Visit

as said, it was a sunday when i was tested positive, and there was no gynae available on a sunday. so on monday, i went to work as usual. at work, hubb was busy helping to call up the few gynaes clinics he found on the net, but apparently, most of the clinics said to only see them only after 8weeks. i was like.. huh?? so meantime, i do nothing and just wait mehhh??? cannot be right...........????

and finally, one clinic said they can fix an appmt for me on the same day in the afternoon, 3.30pm. so, we took half day leave immediately. went for lunch and off to the clinic.

and by the way, it's important to know when was the 1st day of your last menstrual cycle, as that day will be used to project your EDD and how many weeks of pregnancy u are in now. i used to have the habit of marking down the dates but not really anymore. can just vividly remember it was around 13 Oct or something like that... then i was trying so hard to think of the past events and whether i was having my menses during those events.. LOL 

anyway at the clinic, it's quite nerve wrecking, really dont know what to expect. as i was very early in the pregnancy, ultra-sound could not be performed. so we had to do trans-vaginal scan. i was already told before that the baby's heart is one of the organ that will be formed the earliest and you will be able to hear the heartbeat at very early stage. and indeed, during the scan, we saw a small thing flickering... and when the gynae turned on the sound of the machine, we heard the heart-beat thumping away... dont know why.. but tears just began to flow.. lol. drama-mama. 

and so, pregnancy confirmed and double confirmed. but if so, how to explain the streaks of blood that were still occuring?? the gynae had no concrete answer for me. he just told me to rest more and on that monday itself, he gave me MC all the way till friday. 

uh-huh. and so you tot 'wah so shiok... mc so long...'

i tell you.. i was worried sick!! what's so big deal that i had to be put on MC immediately for one whole week??! y pple pregnant and i also pregnant, but my pregnancy seemed to be so troubled?? i really was stressed up when he suggested maximum bed rest..

and not only that, besides folic acid, he prescribed me hormones pills to be eaten 3x daily, 2 pills per time. and... he also told me to go for hormones jabs 2x per week. the jabs were to be jabbed through the sides of the tighs. according to him, the pills and the jabs will help to secure and stabilise the preganancy. 

i was like.... OMG... why..... why need jabs 2x weekly??? what is so serious now???

it defnitely was a morale pooper. for a 1st time preggy like me... i really was kidda shattered...

and i had no choice, but to follow. and the pills and jabs werent cheap at all! one box of 30pills was $30 if i remb correctly. and the jab was around $50 per jab. yes. but money is secondary.. it really was the morale and the kind of anxiety that all these had caused me.. immediate MC... pills.. jabs.... OMG.. 

and there was a blood test done to test my hormones level and the baby's hormones level. and 2days later, i have to do a blood test again. apparently, if the baby's hormone level doesnt double from the 1st to the 2nd blood test, then it means that the pregnancy will not sustain. and i tell u... that waiting period for the results was also nightmare!! i was soo damn worried sick!! lucky the baby's hormones did double... phew... 

and.. throughout that 1 wk mc... the blood streaks never did go away..... 

***to be continued***

Stretch Marks

Omg...

Streeeeeeetched maaaaarksssss!!!

Despite applying the stretch marks cream, they still appeared!! I gave up on the Palmers cream, just cant stand that cocoa butter smell. Eek. Been using mustela, but still the same....

Haii. Cant escape.

Will they disappear after delivery of baby? Oh no...

But as my gynae said, not too bad already, considering I'm already in my last mth of pregnancy. Some had them much earlier and much worse off.

Yeah 

Counting down!!!

Great catching up w ex colleagues at suntec marche

Surprisingly no queue on a Friday night! So unlike the marche at vivocity which is forever long queue.

ThE PreGGies

ahahahaha. how often do u get 2 preggie ladies in the same team? esp coming from a small team like mine. lucky we were from different sub-teams, else headache for boss. lol

her EDD is one month earlier than mine. and she's already on her maternity leave liao. hehehe.

and that kind of reminded me, when one of the colleagues got preggie last year, she bought the dept a cake to guess her baby's gender. and this was the photo taken. and now, both of us are preggie. haha. maybe the cake got power. =p

lol

Pregnancy - The Moment of Knowing

ok, as said previously, we planned for pregnancy immediately after marriage. of cuz, we did not conceive immediately. so we were just trying and waiting and yes, we did time the ovulation timing.

now, honestly i think our education system is not robust enough. or perhaps, it was taught during biology class in higher secondary/pre-u/uni, in which i was never a bio student. but i dont remember being taught at all, that in order to get pregnant, u actually have to meet the ovulation period! if you are not in the ovulation period, then likely you will not succeed in conceiving. what the hell? how come no one told me that at all? so i was in the blind all these while, thinking that pregnancy can and will happen anytime with intercourse. wtf?

ok anyway, we were trying. and month by month, i will update hubb simply by telling him whether the auntie came or not. so came the month, whereby i told him 'tada, we failed and gotta try harder again, cuz my auntie is coming'. yup. i honestly tot my auntie was coming, because like every other months, there were streaks of blood already.

and so, i tot it was another failed month. until..... the actual auntie never really came. it was always just small streaks of blood. hubb was saying, maybe we succeeded already and kept suggesting that we buy the test-kits, but i kept telling him it was not possible becuz those blood were obviously signs of auntie coming!! 

and.. it really wasnt until my breasts started to get sore, that i started to doubt about the auntie and yes, maybe we had already succeeded. 

so, off we went to watsons to get the test-kits. we bought 2 clear-blue. then went home and try. and... the lines started to form... one line formed first, and slowly, the 2nd line started forming too. so....... it's positive!! 

yes, we tried both kits!!

i tell you, the moment, was not happy nor sad. rather, it's like a state of disbelief and questioning. it's like -- 'omg, is this for real? how huh??'. 

yes, despite wanting and being ready, when we really learnt about it, this was the reaction i had! it really was a moment of 'oh no... how??????'

and really, we did not know how. i did not tell my mum or sis. somehow, i just didnt want to tell anyone about it. we knew we needed to consult a doctor - but will a GP do? probably not. so we on the computer and started searching for O&G. and i tell you, apparently, NO O&G works on a sunday! yeah, 9 nov was a sunday and no one was available to see me.. =(

so we had to wait till monday before we can call and find a gyane to consult. meanwhile, it continued to be a state of disbelief plus a pinch of worrisome and a tinge of anxiety. it really wasnt happy or excitement. i also wonder why i werent all that happy in knowing. lol. and hubb wasnt that happy too. he was quite cool about it i remb, not really the kind of happiness and wow-ness which i was expecting. 

and, believe it or not, we went ahead to buy a third kit to test again! this time we tried a different brand - the guardian brand. lol. and yes, it's still positive =)

**** to be continued**** 

Pregnancy - The Decision

alright, it's actually not so much a decision of 'want kids' or 'no kids'. rather, it's a decision of 'when to have kids'. this was a question posted to me by one of our friend, married about a year ahead of us. she was asking me 'how do you know that it's time to have a baby?' 

if i take a time review of my life so far, im definitely a 中规中矩 person - i will define myself as one who does not deviate too much from the norms of life. im never exceptionally good, nor am i exceptionally bad. i completed my pri/sec/pre-u/uni studies. ive gotten a decent job. then i've got my house. then i got hitched. and the only right thing to do next, is to have babies! so, my life has always been within norm, and having babies or not has never really been a question. Rather, it's just natural to me. 

yes, im a pro-babies person. 

there are people around me who are 'anti-babies' for all kinds of reasons. some will say it's a terrible world, why bring more lives here to suffer. some will say they dont even have enough for their own, how to provide for babies. some will say they enjoy the freedom and spending power and couple-ship and are not going to have to give up any of that.. blah blah blah... 

sure, very valid reasons. but to me, husband and wife will always be just a couple, never a 'family'. and the crux of the whole issue is, there is a time essence. if you missed the time frame, u missed the time frame. there is no way u can turn back the clock and say that 'yes, i want to have a baby now!'. 

you get what i mean?

so back to the question posted - 'when do you know that it's time for a baby?' 1st thing 1st, u have to determine if you want babies or not. being me who do not deviate in life, yes, i know i want babies. and so is hubb. good, the consensus reached. so when? 

yes. immediately. to be honest, we tried immediately after marriage.

afterall, we had been in courtship for 10yrs before we tie the knot. we had travelled to many places and had spent more than enough time being a couple. needing 二人世界 is not an excuse for us. and, i have heard of so many cases where couples tried for a very long period of time before they conceived. so... since we do want children, why delay? 

and we even had a plan. we told ourselves that we will try for a year. if still no results within a year, we will consult a doctor. 

but luckily for us, on 9 nov, we tested, and it was positive!!! 

這絕對不是理所當然。孩子是上天賜的禮物。感謝上天肯賜給我們。

but despite being a pro-babies person, there is a word of advice - never stress yourself into the decision of having a baby. do it when and ONLY when you are ready and when you really want. DO NOT be stressed by anyone or anything. ultimately, this is a big decision which will really change your life for good. in fact, from the moment you know you have conceived, life has already changed. and you will be the one going through it - physically, mentally, financially -  not anybody else. so, really really do not let anyone psycho u into having a baby. it will be a turmoil and you will not be able to come to terms with the sacrifices you have to make, if you are not even ready. 

and of cuz, when you eventually do conceived, do not blame anyone else except yourself and your spouse. because it is a decision made b/w the 2 (hopefully!) of you and you just have to bear responsible for it. if you are not ready, then it's really just too bad. 

yup. so, creating lives is never a easy decision. be ready!! 

*** to be continued ***

Happy Mother's Day!

@ paradise inn marina sq =)