Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Mamarazzi: 32 weeks on



I feel the bump growing bigger by the day.

If Karen Cheng talks about her possessed son, I stare at the nocturnal activities of Bud these nights and think about Poltergeist: my tummy shifts from side to side, blob-like movements traces like a rat under a carpet or a jab of the elbow/kick of a leg from under the skin....it really is quite a feast for the eye.

Will get Wei to video the movements.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Pop Goes The Belly

If you'd followed my blog, you'd know I have this mortal fear about seeing the inside-outs of my belly button.

I know this will render mummies around the biggest laughter, but I really wonder what happens when my innie is turned inside out?

Will it go 'pop'? Will there be any fanfare? I am touching it ever so often to ensure that it's still the same.

How will it be like when the day comes?

Friday, January 22, 2010

Breaking Up With Edna

I had been dreading this moment for a couple of months now.

How do you break up with someone when there's nothing wrong with them? You've grown under their wings, changed priorities somewhere along the line & now have to take a different way - a separate route?

The words, "It's not you, it's me" comes to mind.

The time has come for me to tell Dr. Lee, also affectionately known as Edna (Mode), that I have opted for water birth and will have to go with Dr. Chong Yap Seng in NUH, the only place now that offers water bithing facility.

I had asked her opinion before on water birth and she laid down her thoughts/apprehension on it; she might have suspected that I was partial to this natural but uncommon birthing method and anticipated this day to come.

She was very sweet and professional and offered a doctor's note plus my records to be given to Dr. Chong and wished me the best for my delivery - to let her know when Bud enters the world.

I was choked with emotion.

Let's give it up for Edna, my loving respect:

Mamarazzi: Glam Cam on LBD

I have never been able to wear a wrap-around dress: pear-shaped, short-waisted - it wasn't my look.

Ironically, now with humps and lumps on the body, this mummy can now rock a wrap dress.





Dress: Swell (courtesy of Sharon)

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Smooth Business

The romance has gone out of the window and it is my fault.

Since I've gotten hemorrhoid, Wei had taken it upon himself to ensure I get enough roughage for the day.

Every morning, he takes a small tupperware of cereal from the fridge which he'd prepared the night before and pack milk in the thermal flask for me to take to work.

And I feel I owe to him to provide (cubicle) reports - if I'd had a smooth day, if I've had a hard (pardon the pun) session.

Then there's the aftermath. Boy oh boy.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Choosing Water Birth

After a couple of weeks of reading up, asking fellow hypnobirthers on the experience, weighing the pros and cons, I have finally decided to go with water birth.

Currently at 31 weeks, that will entail switching of gyanes and hospitals.

Why do I choose water birth?

As a Piscean, water is second nature to me - nothing comes between us when we are together. I remember being in an onsen in Tokyo last April. While Wei hated the high temp (I guess he was thinking on behalf of his buddies) , I was in my own little heaven. The warm water in the birthing tub has been know to provide a sense of pain relief for mothers in labour and I know it will see me through them toughest of contractions.

Water birth is like a subset to hypnobirthing way. It is all natural (no drug assistance), minimal perineum tearing and it is the least traumatic way to introduce the newborn to the world (water-to-water). Not to mention because you get a tub to yourself, it's akin to having your own breathing space amid the craziness of labour pains.

So I tell Ginny, my hypnobirthing instructor and a doula, about my decision. As luck will have it, Ginny had committed to a teaching assignment overseas during my EDD. [All water births need to be assisted by a doula.]

It was a huge HUGE bummer for me. I couldn't think about not having Ginny there. Ginny knows us through the many hours Wei & I spent with her and I know Ginny - enough to know that she is good at what she does. To have another doula in her place is like having to know someone all over again and then inviting that person to one of your most personal events in life and you want everything to be perfect.

The hunt is on for that ONE (perfect) doula.

I hope we meet soon.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Mamarazzi: 31 weeks on

I didn't have any fancy clothing to put on, my cheeks had gone chubbs, the quickest pick-me-up was to visit my candy man, Ken.

"I want it short," I ordered.

Within minutes, he turned me from sham to glam.





"This (cut) should last you for 2 months," he said.

Before Bud pops, I will be sure to visit my candy man again.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Stay Go

This morning, Wei went to work with a heavy heart. Today will be his last day in the office.

He had been asked to make a lateral move out of the current team to a different department -- an end to 10 great years working under the guidance of a boss most hold in high regard.

As luck will have it, there was a last minute change with a silver lining in the cloud.

For one, he needn't have to re-locate outwith CBD area (which is great news for me...heheh).

But the lateral move was still required under a different boss.

Somehow, by the time I saw Wei in the evening, he looked visibly tired (presumably from the emo roller-coaster ride) but slightly relieved and undoubtedly daunted on the challenge of this new role.

He'll do great in the undertaking.....he just doesn't know it yet.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Organic Almond Oil

A certain exchange today went as such:

GM: Jie, could I trouble you to get for me organic almond oil from Naturalist @ Esplanade?

Jie: Can…for your stretch marks?

GM:Pregnant women woes….for my perineum, the skin from my vagina to my backhole. The oil is said to soften the skin for baby delivery. Are you sorry you asked? Hahaha……

Jie: Ya, didn’t quite expect that. Sorry I asked…mental pix not that nice. Haha

GM: The mental picture will be lagi better if I don’t rub the oil and I ‘kena’ a tear from front to back. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jie: Ewww. THANK YOU! Enough already. OK, that’s it…need to call it a day

GM: Bet you’re rushing to get me that oil now.

The Aid Debate

Wei's been having some liquid in his left ear and it's been bugging him for weeks.

Naturally, he's afraid of an infection in there as a foreboding of something worse to happen.

He saw Dr. Chan, his ENT specialist, 2 days back as part of his regular check-up and luckily all worked out well.

They revisited the issue on hearing aid and it seemed more real now since Dr. Chan brought it up. Wei's hearing in his right ear is functioning at 20-30% now.

I tried not to be too depressed by the thought. There's no shame in having an aid, I thought. Adrian, a fellow NPC survivor, never quite regained his sense of taste. What will that be like?

When the day comes where Wei has to insert the foreign aid, so it will be.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Be Kegel-icious

Pregnant women have an exercise regime of a different kind.

I try to do my 50 reps of Kegel exercise on a daily basis. I have never thought about toning the group of muscles in there until when I sneezed one day or when I only gently coughed the other day.

Oh no siree, I was not prepared for the outcome.

Kegel is advocated to pregnant women to prepare the pelvic floor from the stresses of vaginal birth. But having said that, Kegel is said to increase...ahem... sexual gratification and more importantly to prevent urinary incontinence.

After getting some serious calf cramps where Wei had to jump into action to de-cramp me, I have to also stretch my calves before and after bed.

Then there are the half squats, said to open up the hip & pelvic floor. Sam, our yoga teacher, makes our legs shiver when she prolongs the pose for 2 minutes. She's also mentally training us to liken our discomfort in the awkward pose to labour and how we must use our breathing to cope with the various stages of birthing.

Of all the things I said, just remember one thing:
Do your Kegels

It may be small, it may not be visible but by golly just imagine how powerful it will be by the time you hit 60.

The female inside will thank you for keeping its modesty (as oppose to saying howdy do).

Monday, January 11, 2010

Knock-Knock

To my upstairs neighbour

Please stop your funky 0100hr activity of dragging your chair around and plonking weights or whatever heavy-duty stuff on the floor. It really doesn't help with your heavy footsteps which rattles my ceiling when you move around your room.

I know you're not an ape so you got no excuse.

A Must For Lust....

....says the gilamama.


I've never been one for shoe fetishes but several months of wearing flats has gotten me hankering for one of these babies.







Louboutin explains the inception of the signature red soles:
"In 1992 I incorporated the red sole into the design of my shoes. This happened by accident as I felt that the shoes lacked energy so I applied red nail polish to the sole of a shoe. This was such a success that it became a permanent fixture."






Something to look forward to in 6 months time!

So Not Picasso












Like the title says, the artist isn't me.

I was touching up on what was supposed to be black but had faded to ash-grey with time.

A task on my list completed.

A very fuflilling weekend for this lazy mama.

Friday, January 8, 2010

London Diaries: The Kensington Creperie

After a two hour walk-about at the V & A Museum, my legs and back were crying for some TLC. I was only 4 months pregnant then but my stamina weren't what it used to be.

Darren, always planning ahead for what to eat, asked us if we wanted to try some crepes just around the corner, not too far from where the museum was.

Crepes? I thought about the half-baked ones that I took once or twice at Marche and the thought wasn't very inviting.




The place was really small but they managed to squeeze about 10 -12 tables in there. We were at the tailend of the lunch crowd and the wait for a table, albeit outdoors, took a mere 5 minutes. It was a beautiful day to sit outside. The smell of crepes wafting in the air - it was heavenly.



I can't remember what we ate now but the crepe was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The mixture of the ingredients inside made the meal totally awesome. Of course with Oringina by the side.



Go try it when you visit London. All those people waiting in line for a table can't be wrong.


Find it:
1. 2 Exhibition Road, South KensingtonLondon SW7 2HF
http://www.kensingtoncreperie.com/
2. Sister restaurant: The Marylebone Crêperie at 71a Marylebone Lane, London W1U 2PJ
http://www.marylebonecreperie.com/

Happy Weekend!

Says Baby A

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Cord Banking vs. Delayed Cord Clamp

I was bent on going for cord banking before I was pregnant. What's there to think about? Cord banking is about saving lives, isn't it? After Wei's medical history, there was no doubt that we were letting the cord blood go to waste.

But Hyponobirthing changed certain notions I had.

Torn, I sought my cousin's view on cord banking. She has a young baby, is married to a GP and also deeply religious. I thought she could shed some light on where she stands on the medical vs religious front. Instead, she wrote to me to pray for the right answer to come.

Right......I did ask for it, didn't I?

Wei & I did some research and the answer was pretty clear.

1. Cord Banking collection requires the gynae/father to cut the cord soon after the birth of the baby.
2. There is debate on how long the cord blood is viable.
3. The stem cells will be useful for baby's suffering from blood disorders like leukemia, thalessemia. As for the growth of organs etc, this may be light years ahead and we are talking about the possibilities, not the reality.
4. Cord blood is too little to be of use for an adult.
5. The likelihood for the child suffering from leukemia using his own cord blood is ineffective as the stem cells are 'young'and likely to be rejected by his own body.

From CSL Cartoonstock


The blood inside the placenta and the cord belongs to the baby. Bud will need all that oxygen to his organs. If the cord is cut too early, all that oxygenated blood will splatter all over and go to waste. Once all that blood goes to Bud, the delivery of the placenta will be easier and smaller. Most times, hospitals hasten the cutting of the umbilical cord for the baby to be cleaned quickly and then move on to their next task.

The only thing we can't be certain of is the occurence of jaundice in Bud since his blood may become too thick from Polycythemia, causing excess blood to produce bilirubin, the yellow pigment seen on jaundiced baby.

When the time comes, I guess Bud will just be a sunny baby then.

Huh?

I went to visit my regular news vendor whom I hasn't seen for a while.

In the middle of my sentence, he interuppted, "Is something poking out?"

"Huh?"

"Is something poking out?" he repeated, with a toothy grin.

It took me a solid 5 seconds to think. Is my boob peeking out? OMG, my belly button is sticking out, isn't it?

"Oh, this?" I rubbed my bump.

I have never had someone asked me in that way before.

I guess there's always a first.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy 2010!

We wanted a nice quiet dinner this New Year's Eve. It will be home-cooked, no doubt, and we were going for Asian (enough of the turkey, pork, beef...).

Then Wei sent an sms: we were invited over to MIL's for dinner.

I weighed my options and decided to join the ILs. It's been a while since MIL last invited us and I did miss her cooking somewhat.

On our way home, I asked Wei what he thought of the year - what his achievements were.

He jokingly said he managed to get me pregnant.

This year undoubtedly flew by in a blink of an eye.

We were lucky to make 2 beautiful trips to Tokyo & London.

I managed to take my interest in tennis as far as I could go before Bud decided I was too heavy to run for the balls. I know Wei misses me on the courts.

We got to embrace some friends to dropped by our sunny island for a visit. We also said goodbye to a couple of people:

Roz, whom I lunched regularly with to share office goss and talked about life in general, moved thousands of miles away. Facebook and emails can never bring back the sessions we used to have. I could tap into her experience of being pregnant and birthing..but mostly I miss my friend.

Linsey, also another regular lunch date, decided to say good-bye to the corporate world and challange herself as a full-time mummy. I get to catch-up with her a little more often, only when she has help from a babysitter.

The many colleagues who'd decided to part ways with the company. Some, I was glad to see go. But mostly, leaders and counterparts - whom I never really gotten a chance to know but I am certain would make great people/friends - leave in groups. The departures had a sleeper effect; I would never have guessed that I was depressed by the situation.

To the dearly departed: MJ, FF, JH, Marcus, A Chin...you will be missed; I'm sorry I never got to know you, Marcus.

Next year will be a challenging year for Wei & I...not only with the expectant arrival of Bud but each of us with our jobs.

It will not get easier but I pray that we will be strong enough to sail through....

Only with Wei by my side every step of the way.

Nanas & Fluff


Our breakfast special today.
Wei liked it as it is but I preferred the pancakes fluffier.
At least it is slightly healthier than the fry-up last week.
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