It's a GIRL

So much for dreams and everyone telling me it would be a boy. Well, it's a girl.

I had a through scan in the hospital to take all the baby's measurements. It's estimated weight is 265g. Not very big but my bump is definitely getting lots bigger. My sister didn't see me for about 1 1/2 weeks. The first thing she said when she saw me again was, "Wow! You're lots bigger!"

"Really, no I'm not," as I sucked my tummy in.

Ah who am I kidding. My apettite is a lot better. I cooked some nourishing sharksfin melon soup with lots of garlic yesterday. Drank it all by myself too.

So Peimin came with us to the hospital yesterday. Aunty Princess, my daughter will have to call her. Peimin was so convinced it was a boy that she'd already suggested a list of 20 boys names. The baby was squirming around in my tummy the whole time which, was both good and bad. Good because the sonographer could get lots of different views. I mean, some women were told to walk up and down first to get the baby to "wake up". Bad because she often wouldn't stay still long enough for a proper look at her. This seems to be worrisome trend. Every time I get a look at her with the ultrasound machine, she's moving...a lot.

We asked the sonographer if she could tell the sex of the baby and she had to literally shake my bump so that the baby would turn. Finally she pointed to these 2 protrusions and declared that they were the folds of the libia (at least I think that's what she said). Anyway, all I saw was that there wasn't a pee-pee so it's time to think of girls names.

Afterwards, I just sat there and contemplated having a daughter while Kelvin and Princess sms-ed friends and family.

"She-ra, princess of the universe!" I offered. Kelvin looked at me like I was crazy. "Ha ha. How about we call her Evilyn," he countered.

Sigh...I would have found a son amusing but somehow when I pictured myself as a mother in the past, I always thought about what I would share with a daughter. Deep down inside, I think I'm a girlie mommy.

Baby too Active and 1st puke

For the second time in a row, Dr Fong couldn't get a good look at our baby because it was moving about too much. I didn't realize how eager I was to find out the sex of the baby till that point. Even Peimin came along because she wanted to find out. Almost everyone has told me that they believe it to be a boy. Dr Fong made a very hesitant guess--a girl. Sigh....so now it's 50-50.

I'll have to wait till I do a through scan at Thomson medical on 29th Nov. Then I'm scheduled to see Dr Fong again right before we leave.

I'm feeling a lot better now. After I fixed sponge grips to the arms of my new specs, my headaches are diminishing. I still get them in the morning though. Must be dehydration. My appetite is improving. Unfortunately, I have to eat a LOT of starch in order to keep my energy level constant. Things with too much sugar are a no-no so fruit, nuts, rice and noodles are a must. According to some colleagues who've just had babies, the 2nd trimester, when you're supposed to feel glowy and lovely, can start as late as the 5th month. I'm at the 17th week now so this is the start of the 5th month. I do have a little more energy and my naps are not as long as they used to be.

My bump is seriously obvious now. It was quite unnoticable right till the 15th week and now it's suddenly inflated. I can no longer see my toes when I look straight down. When I spill something which I think will fall to the ground, I actually stain my shirt instead. My colleagues all give way to me, let me cut queue and spend time telling me all sorts of things that I shouldn't be doing.

Had quite a traumatic experience on the way to work on Thursday. We ate breakfast at Macs. It was perhaps the 2nd day that I'd noticed my appetite was getting better. It was raining and it was getting late so I didn't eat at a snail's pace like I usually do. Anyway, it may have been the bumpy car ride or the fact that I was drinking water in the car just as air was trying to escape out. Before I knew it, I have puked into a napkin I was holding. Kelvin had to stop at the side of the road so that I could expel my entire Big Breakfast. I was quite upset because (a) it takes a lot of effort to eat these days and (b) I didn't want the car to smell of vomit. Sigh. We had to return home so that I could soak my sweater and shirt which was stained. Kelvin had to call work to say that he'd be late. I managed the entire 1st trimester without puking and then this happens. Don't know why it was such a big deal but it just was.

Flowers, Books and Flatulence

I finally got my flowers. These pictures were taken 2 weeks ago and the flowers are still there. I just changed the water a couple of times. Will probably throw them out tonight though. Yes, they did make a difference in my mood.

Last weekend I insisted that we start to clear the den for the baby's room. Poor Kelvin. We just did up this room as the final room in the house. It was his MAN's room with dark walls and curtains. Perfect for an isolated video game of gore and violence.

So we cleared out our books (this is only half of them) and cleared a space for another shelf (below) from IKEA which is exactly the same except it's got a compartment in the middle big enough for a TV. Kelvin moved all his gaming equipment into the bedroom so as he says...he can watch the baby while he's playing games.




Here's where we moved the old shelf. As you can see, it's just display for Kelvin's toys at the moment. I felt it important to give him some space for his toys considering he'd be losing an entire room.

Flatulence

"Just call me Farty," I declare after my shower one evening. "Farty McShorty." I was pretty fed up with chaos going on in my digestive system. However, I'd decided that it's best to have a sense of humour about the whole thing. Kelvin laughs as he gives me a side glance. "Whatcha doin?" I ask. He was deep into a session of WOW but he was more focused than usual. "I'm on a quest with my colleagues," he replies. "Oh, that's nice. I'm on a quest too. A quest to expel as much air as I can before bedtime."

Feeling Safe and Balanced

What Keeps you Balanced?

There shouldn't be any real reason for my positive change in mood. I don't feel like throwing up so much but I still feel bloated every time I eat. This means instead of eating for 2, I've been reduced to eating for 3/4ths of a person. To cope and make sure we all get enough, I've taken to snacking on dried prunes, nuts, fruit, ikan billis, lavender-orange ice cream (which is what we're driving to get in this picture) and yoghurt.

I'm not as tired as before but then again, it could be attributed to the fact that I've been resting all week. Just walking at a steady pace through a crowded shopping mall left me winded today. Not like I'm the kind to run a marathon but I used to be able to a half hour of medium intensity exercise without feeling like my heart was going to pop out of my chest. I'm beginning to 'show', although the baby at this point is really only 10cm long which makes the whole lot of extra padding down there really disconcerting. By the time the baby is born I should have gained anywhere from 25 to 35 pounds. A baby is really only between 7 to 9 pounds which means the rest is ambiotic fluid, placenta and 'padding'...sigh.

Still, it's good to have a definite in your life. Most of us have our paths laid out for us in early life. It's school, job, independence from parents, house, car...but then what? I know it seems trite but I was starting to think I had achieved most of what I wanted in life. Nice place to live, husband whom I love, enough cash to cover my needs and wants. The only thing missing was a real sense of pupose and fulfillment. Of course I'm connected to people whom I love and who give my life meaning but I kinda wanted something more. Not that I wanted to envangelise, fight deforestation or build schools in neighbouring developing countries. I'm sure those are all noble causes but I feel as if I already fight the good war on the home front. Fellow teachers will know what I mean.

So I was beginning to ponder what to do next with my life. Sometimes, having total freedom to do what you want with your life can be a little scary. It's totally up to you. You choose your own path but it's the uncertainty of the what could happen that scares me. Somehow for me, it's always been about opportunity cost. If I make a decision to chase one course of action, have I missed out on something else of value? It's strange how I used to think that in having children I'd be giving up, no sacrificing, a whole lot of things. Perhaps, right until we found out we had a baby, I still felt that way. Recently though, I've been feeling safe and peaceful. It's as if I'm 6, enjoying life at school and looking forward to fried chicken wings, curling up with a book in my bedroom and then torturing my baby sister. Hee Hee.


The supplements

From left to right: The metallic foil pills are calcium which is literally like eating chalk because I have to chew them first. The bottle contains multi-vits and minerals. The rounded ping pong pills are progestrone, for my strained muscles. The pills in the centre are for wind. The capsules are DHA for brain development (baby's brain, not mine).


Just an Update on the Landscape

Well, they've finallly attached all the viewing capsule-pod-whatevers onto the wheel.

Since we were in the Marina area, I took some photos. The picture above was taken from inside Marina Shopping Centre to give you some perspective how big the thing is.

These were taken while driving past in the car. They unveiled the viewing pods only this week. Last week they were wrapped tightly in plastic sheets. I believe the first 3 months of operation for this thing are fully booked. Although, I have no idea when that will be.

The Voice of Truth and Reason

What started out as an attempt to look after myself almost turned into a nightmare. Today, I went swimming with my sister. Everyone, even the pregnancy books said that swimming would be safe. I rationalized that there wouldn't be any extreme pressure, impact or strain since I was going to be supported by water. I figured that I would just paddle around and walk in the water. Which was what I did. I also lay on my back and just kicked myself from one side of the pool to the other. In my teens, I had been pretty good. I trained 3 times a week under a coach and even considered going competitive at one point.

Perhaps in was the fact that I hadn't swam in years. When I got out of the water, I noticed a slight cramping sensation in my groin, somewhere on the right side. Being totally paranoid, I kinda freaked out and insisted that we should call the doctor.

Kelvin was as white as a sheet. He had told me that I shouldn't go swimming. However, his reason was more to do with chlorine water getting inside me so I had reassured him that under no circumstance would our baby be choked by chlorine water and that swimming was the safest exercise next to walking.

After calling the emergency number my gynae had given me, I lay down in bed. I suppose when you're paranoid and pregnant, you really imagine the worst. My gynae finally called me back and I don't remember what I said, I suppose I was rambling. He told me to take some of my hormone pills and call him in two hours. I couldn't wait so long so an hour later, I called him up and agreed to meet him at the hospital. All I wanted at that point was an ultrasound just to make sure the baby was okay.

In the end, the baby was fine. However, I had strained a muscle in my uterus and was experiencing a mild contraction. My gynae looked at me yet again as if I was the most ridiculous pregnant woman he had ever met and commented, "That must have been some swim!"

"Heah-hee," I protested. "All I did was wade around and do some kicking in the water."

The doctor told me to take it really easy. He gave me a week of MC and instructed me not to do housework even.

When we got home, Kelvin patted my head that said, "What have we learned today? If anything, it's to always listen to the voice of truth and reason--ie, me. No more swimming for you."

"Yes dear," I sighed.