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.

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?

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.