Last night I really thought that this could be it.
During American Idol I felt this continuous clenching sensation that lasted well over 2 hours. I was just praying that I'd be able to last through the night coz I was just so tired. Then I started to panic because the crib had not yet been made and the baby bottles had not been washed. We haven't gotten the new car so the baby car seat had yet to be installed. The car was supposed to come last week by the way. So while in pain, I started running about trying to get stuff ready. Couldn't ask Kelvin to help because he's got marking and 2 papers to set by morning.
In the end, I only slept 2 hours because I was just laying there monitoring the contractions which were about 15 to 20 minutes apart. I had no idea how painful they are supposed to be while in active labour but they were twice as bad as whatever I'd been experiencing so far. At that point I was thinking that they could either get worse or it could be that my body's practicing and by morning the whole situation would evaporate. At dawn I was still having the contractions but not to the point where I couldn't talk or walk (that's what the advice on the web says). I didn't want to run to the hospital and end up having a false alarm or have my water broken unless I was in active labour. It turned out to be the latter in the end; it's 10:30 now and no regular contractions.
It's not time to go to the hospital yet. Phew!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Bouncing Around
We went to see my gynae today and he found out that my cervix was already 1cm dilated. So I am in the early stage of labour. It's really not like in the movies where your water breaks suddenly and you get all these doubling over type of contractions. I still feel really normal except for increased pressure on my cervix (only when I stand though) and the contractions which, I must say are rather mild.
I've been literally bouncing around the house. This proves that walking for many hours on end is not the only thing that can get the baby to engage. What I did was just put in one of my regular exercise tapes and bounced around; modifying the movements to low-impact step-touch ones.
I actually dropped in weight by *drum-roll* 200g. Big deal right?! The nurses and my gynae were still pretty concerned. 200g is like the weight of a small packet drink. So they hooked me up to the CTG scan again to monitor the baby's movements. She was just fine. If her heart rate were low it could mean that she isn't getting enough oxygen. My gynae said if that's the case, he'd have break my water bag and get the whole process started. That's NOT an ideal situation. I want to enjoy the whole process and have this as baby as naturally as possible. Who knows, I might not even need the epidural.
Baby Lim's stayed about the same weight. At the moment, it's anything from 2.8kg to 3.1kg. My gynae had to do 2 readings. It seems that it's harder to tell for sure once the baby gets to a certain size.
At this point, I'm a bit worried because sometimes I'm not sure if I'm having a contraction or not. I know that they're there but sometimes they last 5 seconds and other times half a minute. Sometimes they're 10 mins apart and other days I just get them a couple of times a day. Whatever it is, my gynae told me that if the contractions come regularly for 3 hours at 30 mins apart, I need to call him. I think I need something a bit closer and more intense than that. Perhaps it's intuition but I don't feel like it's time yet. I think my body and mind will let me know when to go to the hospital so I'll just trust that. It could be a few more days yet. And I hope it is because I still have a couple of loose ends I need to tie up.
I'm getting a photographer to come to my house on Saturday to capture how I look while pregnant. I've been putting it off because I dare not spend the money but I've come to realize that it's something I really really want to do and I should get a pro to do it.
I've been literally bouncing around the house. This proves that walking for many hours on end is not the only thing that can get the baby to engage. What I did was just put in one of my regular exercise tapes and bounced around; modifying the movements to low-impact step-touch ones.
I actually dropped in weight by *drum-roll* 200g. Big deal right?! The nurses and my gynae were still pretty concerned. 200g is like the weight of a small packet drink. So they hooked me up to the CTG scan again to monitor the baby's movements. She was just fine. If her heart rate were low it could mean that she isn't getting enough oxygen. My gynae said if that's the case, he'd have break my water bag and get the whole process started. That's NOT an ideal situation. I want to enjoy the whole process and have this as baby as naturally as possible. Who knows, I might not even need the epidural.
Baby Lim's stayed about the same weight. At the moment, it's anything from 2.8kg to 3.1kg. My gynae had to do 2 readings. It seems that it's harder to tell for sure once the baby gets to a certain size.
At this point, I'm a bit worried because sometimes I'm not sure if I'm having a contraction or not. I know that they're there but sometimes they last 5 seconds and other times half a minute. Sometimes they're 10 mins apart and other days I just get them a couple of times a day. Whatever it is, my gynae told me that if the contractions come regularly for 3 hours at 30 mins apart, I need to call him. I think I need something a bit closer and more intense than that. Perhaps it's intuition but I don't feel like it's time yet. I think my body and mind will let me know when to go to the hospital so I'll just trust that. It could be a few more days yet. And I hope it is because I still have a couple of loose ends I need to tie up.
I'm getting a photographer to come to my house on Saturday to capture how I look while pregnant. I've been putting it off because I dare not spend the money but I've come to realize that it's something I really really want to do and I should get a pro to do it.
New nephew
My baby girl has a new cousin. Gary and Djin are the proud parents of little Brannon Mark born 24th March 2008.
It would have been so cool to have our babies born on the same day like Gary and I but well, within a couple of weeks is good enough.
Yeah!
It would have been so cool to have our babies born on the same day like Gary and I but well, within a couple of weeks is good enough.
Yeah!
Monday, April 7, 2008
March 31st: 1st contractions
I woke up with back pain and cramping in my bump as well as my cervix. Tried to ignore it at first and got ready for work but the pain just got 
worse and thought what if something is happening to the baby.
In the end, I decided that I should stay home and call my gynae when the clinic opened. It's a good thing I did because he said that even upper back pain could be a sign of contractions. Incidentally, I'd spent the weekend reading up on how to recognize contractions.
Sigh. So these pictures were taken later when Kelvin came to pick me up to see my gynae. I'm smiling because while I know something was happening. I didn't really think the baby was coming on that day.
So at the clinic, they hook me up to an ACTOGRAPH machine which is something used to measure contractions. You can also hear the baby's heartbeat. It was was a rhythmic squelching sound which almost put Kelvin to sleep. Turns out I am having contractions but they're pretty mild. My cervix hasn't dilated yet either but it's turning "ripe". The doctor says that it could be any day now so I'm given permission to lay off work.
It's been a week since then and I'm getting hot and cold from my body. One night I had contractions every 10 minutes which meant that I got no sleep at all. Then in the day time, nothing except 3 or 4 contractions. The contractions are intense but not anything where I'm doubled over in pain and I can't talk. Meanwhile Baby Lim's going strong and doing well. There was one afternoon when she kicked continously for 4 hours. I'd been playing back American Idol that afternoon. So perhaps she was responding to the music.
Almost feel that it was premature in stopping work last week cuz nothing's happening. Then over the weekend, I forgot to take my supplements and suddenly, I felt really faint and breathless. Like I couldn't stand properly. So perhaps it's good for me to be at home because I can't imagine taking my class and not being able to breathe. How would I cope?
I've come to the conclusion that stress brings labour on faster. Maybe if you're tense, your body thinks that the baby will have a better chance of surviving outside of you away from your skretchy shouting at teenagers all day. If you're relaxed and calm then the baby thinks it's better to stay inside where it's nice and cosy. Whatever it is, something and nothing is happening at the same time. It's just a waiting game now.
worse and thought what if something is happening to the baby.In the end, I decided that I should stay home and call my gynae when the clinic opened. It's a good thing I did because he said that even upper back pain could be a sign of contractions. Incidentally, I'd spent the weekend reading up on how to recognize contractions.
Sigh. So these pictures were taken later when Kelvin came to pick me up to see my gynae. I'm smiling because while I know something was happening. I didn't really think the baby was coming on that day.
So at the clinic, they hook me up to an ACTOGRAPH machine which is something used to measure contractions. You can also hear the baby's heartbeat. It was was a rhythmic squelching sound which almost put Kelvin to sleep. Turns out I am having contractions but they're pretty mild. My cervix hasn't dilated yet either but it's turning "ripe". The doctor says that it could be any day now so I'm given permission to lay off work.
It's been a week since then and I'm getting hot and cold from my body. One night I had contractions every 10 minutes which meant that I got no sleep at all. Then in the day time, nothing except 3 or 4 contractions. The contractions are intense but not anything where I'm doubled over in pain and I can't talk. Meanwhile Baby Lim's going strong and doing well. There was one afternoon when she kicked continously for 4 hours. I'd been playing back American Idol that afternoon. So perhaps she was responding to the music.Almost feel that it was premature in stopping work last week cuz nothing's happening. Then over the weekend, I forgot to take my supplements and suddenly, I felt really faint and breathless. Like I couldn't stand properly. So perhaps it's good for me to be at home because I can't imagine taking my class and not being able to breathe. How would I cope?
I've come to the conclusion that stress brings labour on faster. Maybe if you're tense, your body thinks that the baby will have a better chance of surviving outside of you away from your skretchy shouting at teenagers all day. If you're relaxed and calm then the baby thinks it's better to stay inside where it's nice and cosy. Whatever it is, something and nothing is happening at the same time. It's just a waiting game now.
Yann's wedding
Back-tracking a little:
It's the last week of the March holidays and I'm really tired from all the resting I've been doing. I think it's just hang-over from the whole of Term 1's mad rush to get my work load in order before I go on maternity leave.
It's an important day for Yann Ling who looks sensational by the way. I don't try too hard to get any good shots because my tummy is in the way and I can't do things like squat. Haven't squatted for 6 months in fact. What I do is spread my legs like a giraffe and bend from the waist down. In the beginning my back hurt a lot but now I'm quite used to it.
Managed to get this shot of Yann when she came up to talk to me.
Here's Kelvin enjoying a sip of champange. He looks good in white. It's been hard on him the last couple of months. He spent the first 2 months training at night 3 times a week. Forced exercise by the army becuase he couldn't pass his IPPT. You know this husband of mine has strong legs and forearms (from all the game playing he does) but can't do a single pull up. Oh well, the vast majority of Singaporean men can't do pull-ups so my husband isn't alone.
It's the last week of the March holidays and I'm really tired from all the resting I've been doing. I think it's just hang-over from the whole of Term 1's mad rush to get my work load in order before I go on maternity leave.
It's an important day for Yann Ling who looks sensational by the way. I don't try too hard to get any good shots because my tummy is in the way and I can't do things like squat. Haven't squatted for 6 months in fact. What I do is spread my legs like a giraffe and bend from the waist down. In the beginning my back hurt a lot but now I'm quite used to it.
Managed to get this shot of Yann when she came up to talk to me.
Here's Kelvin enjoying a sip of champange. He looks good in white. It's been hard on him the last couple of months. He spent the first 2 months training at night 3 times a week. Forced exercise by the army becuase he couldn't pass his IPPT. You know this husband of mine has strong legs and forearms (from all the game playing he does) but can't do a single pull up. Oh well, the vast majority of Singaporean men can't do pull-ups so my husband isn't alone.This was a meaningful day for me. Weddings are always special. However, I've known Yann for 6 years now. Who knew that we'd still all be friends? This ROM marks a new chapter in her life. She's quitting teaching this year. Throwing in the towel after so many years. It's sad because that's one less talented art teacher who really cares about the art education our nation's kids receive. At the same time I'm happy she's made this decision to free herself. Me, I'm passionate about what I do but I have many moments in the past and even now where I'd rather just throw in the towel.
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