Pregnancy Progress

Hmm...I should have resumed blogging earlier so that I can keep track of the progress of my pregnancy. Now I don't even remember when I first found out I was pregnant and when I did all my important scans. See what pregnancy does to one...It's true, you lose your short-term memory!

Here's a rough timeline:

15 May 2010 - I only remembered I found out on a Sunday but can't remember the exact date. I had missed my menses for two weeks (i think) but didn't really think much about it since it has always been irregular. Tim suggested to test for it but I was a little hesitant at first as I didn't want to waste money on a pregnancy test kit After a little persuasion, I gave in. Better to find out earlier rather than later.

The instruction manual indicates that it will take about a min before the results will be out. But all it took was a couple of seconds. I was shock and my first reaction was to laugh (a weird laugh). I wasn't sure whether to be happy or not since this was unplanned. Meanwhile, Tim who had realised by then I wasn't in the room came knocking at the toilet door. When he heard my weird laughter, he demanded to know the results immediately. When I showed him the test kit, he was elated.

The next two people I informed were my sis and dad who were sitting in the living room. They didn't sound particularly excited but I knew they were happy. When I told my mum about the news when she came home, her first reaction was to congratulate my dad for becoming a granddad. What a weird family!

18 May 2010 - After checking online for a gynae around Chai Chee area, we found Thomson Women Clinic @ Katong. There weren't that many reviews about the gynae, Geraldine Tan, but at least there wasn't any bad ones so we decided to head there for our first ever gynae checkup.

When I first met Geraldine, I thought, boy, this gynae is so young! She is also very cheery and always smiling.

Since I was only late for a couple of weeks, she suggested to do a vaginal scan instead of an abdominal one. True enough, we couldn't see anything except for a tiny bubble (hence the nickname, He Qi Pao). There was no heartbeat but the bubble proved that I was indeed pregnant.

Then came the shocking news...I have never heard of the term fibroid in my entire life. Apparently it is a benign tumour that affects many women and I was one of the unlucky ones. Usually a fibroid wouldn't cause too much of a concern. However, given that the size of my fibroid which measured about 8cm (the size of an orange) at that time and my petite frame, it could potentially take precious womb space away from the baby. And depending on the location of the fibroid, it could affect my chances of having a natural birth.

Anyway, given that we could only see a bubble, we were told to come back a week later for another scan

27 May 2010?? - It was an amazing feeling when we first saw the heartbeat. The flashing on the screen gave us so much joy. We couldn't wait to see the little life in me grow.

I also learned that what I had is known as andenomyoma. A kind of fibroid that does not have a clear demarcation.


Sometime in June - Was supposed to have a checkup on one of the Thursdays i think but
I began to experience some spotting. After asking my friends, I decided to call the gynae and was told to go for checkup immediately. That was when I first saw the baby kicked. As it was a last min checkup, Tim couldn't join me and totally missed that. He was pretty disappointed.

Early July 2010 - It's been a while since Tim last saw the baby and he was very excited about going for the OSCAR scan at NUH. The sonographer several measurements including the thickness of the baby's neck. I also took a blood test. I was relieved when the results showed that there wasn't a high risk of the baby having down syndrome.

Late July 2010 - We found out the gender of the baby. It's a boy!

Trips this year - Part 2

After finding out we are pregnant, Tim and I thought that we should have one last holiday before the baby comes.

That's when we conceived the idea of having an overseas trip with not just the two of us but together with our parents. Yes, both sets of parents! We were thinking that since it would be a while before we travel again, so why not make it a family trip!

So off we went to Phuket!

I guess many couples would be a little hesitant to bring both sets of parents on a vacation together but not us. We were sure it would turn out fine. And true enough, the trip was really enjoyable and we got to spend some quality time together.

I even found out more about my FIL. I now understand why Tim is so physically adventurous and always full of energy. He inherited these traits from his father! When my FIL saw a rope hanging from a tree, after tugging at it for a few times to make sure it was secured, he promptly lifted his body from the ground by grabbing onto the rope and asked Tim to take a photo of him. Something I would not expect a man of his age to do!

When we took longer than expected to reach Patong, my FIL became restless. But when he saw the beach, he immediately took off his clothes and jumped into the sea. Exactly what Tim would usually do! The father and son were the only two swimming and wrestling with the waves from our group of seven (or should I say eight). The rest were happy just lazing around on the beach.

Tim probably also inherited humongous appetite and high metabolism rate from his father. The amount of food my FIL eats is probably more than a man of Tim's age would eat yet he remains skinny. I am suspecting our son has also inherited his appetite from Tim cos I am constantly hungry after getting pregnant.

I have always wanted to bring my parents on a road trip. Although Phuket is not exactly the place I had in mind, it was good enough. As we stayed in the north side of the island, we had to drive every time we stepped out of the resort. It was fun reading the maps, figuring how to get to places and exploring the island. Something which they probably never experienced before.

Trips this year - Part I

Japan

Visited Tokyo and Hokkaido in March/April this year. One of the best trips ever! There were so much to do and eat and best of all, the company was awesome!

1) Snowboarding

The standalone house we stayed has a nice, rustic feel with a great view of the ski slopes from the living room.

The ski slopes had fluffy snow although it still hurt when I fell. I had a terrible time on the first day as no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't turn. I was thinking to myself then how would I survive the second day.

However, on the second day, with a change of teacher from Tim to Zing, not only did I manage to turn, I could go down the slope backwards and turn on demand! When the others stopped skiing, I was still like an energiser bunny going on and on. I stopped only because I didn't want them to wait for me.

I had such a wonderful time that I told Tim I want to go skiing at the end of this year.

2) Food

Had the best sushi at the fish market. Waited 3-4 hours in the cold before we had a chance to savor the fresh catch of the day. From Ottoro to sea urchin...definitely a gastronomic experience!

The hokkaido ramen was to die for too. The small eatery outside our ski resort is manned by this middle-aged Japanese man. He patiently cooked the noodles only when he received the orders and each bowl came with a rich broth that nothing I had in Singapore could compare.

Matsuzaka beef was another gourmet food we had in Tokyo. Before we went to Japan, the only research I did was on food. We finally got to try this top grade wagyu beef on our last day in Japan. It literally melts in your mouth. The meal was extremely satisfying.


3) Shopping

To the shopaholics, Japan is probably a shopping paradise although the stuff can be quite expensive. But for Tim and I who do not shop, we spent most of our time resting or looking for food while the rest do their shopping. Thus, the things we bought were all food-related even the souvenirs.

4) Onsen

Experienced my first real onsen in Hokkaido. We had to first strip naked and take a shower before stepping into the hot pool. The first time we had to do it, the gals were all blur and shy. We didn't know what to do and it didn't help that we were all buck naked. We were very slow in taking the shower (sitting down), trying hard not to let our eyes wander too much. However, by our second onsen, we were all pro and bold too!

5) Sakura

The reason why we chose to go Japan during March/April is so that we could catch the Sakura. And ain't we lucky! The weekend we first touched down in Tokyo, the Sakura were starting to bloom and by the time we got back from Hokkaido the following week, the flowers were in full bloom. What a beautiful sight! It was quite an experience too seeing the Japanese out in full force to celebrate in the parks with not just a small picnic basket but their entire kitchen. Well, they were having steamboats and sake in the park!

Stalls were set up to sell food and drinks. Oh my, even these roadside food were delish!

6) Friends

After trying real hard to meet up with Angie for the entire day due to many hiccups that happened(remembering the wrong date, no phone connection, train stopped running), we finally got to meet her at 10 plus at night over a puffer fish supper. It's always to catch up with old friends especially those from afar.

I would however not spend so much just to eat the puffer fish again. The fish is really over hyped.

7) Overall experience

The service in Japan is always top-notch. The Japanese are ever so friendly. Although at times it could be hard to communicate with them especially when we were in Hokkaido, we still managed to get around.

Immediately after coming back to Singapore, I wanted to book another trip for the end of the year just to ski and eat. Alas, it is not meant to be!

It's been a while......

It's been almost a year since my last entry.

What have changed?

Husband - still the same hubby of course except that he doesn't have to travel anymore. Yippee! But he works longer hours nowadays and usually come home after nine. At least we get to see each other everyday!

Home - now permanently living with parents-in-law instead of staying over only when Tim is in town.

Room - we have taken over my SIL's room after she got married in April.

In-law - got a new BIL.

Baby - a baby tiger coming our way! Hmm...is that the product of Tim not travelling?

Nephew - a nephew coming our way too! A honeymoon baby! At this time, the EDD of our baby tiger is one week earlier than our nephew. But you never know who is going to win the race!

House - still no news of when we will be receiving the keys. That makes planning of who to take care of the baby when my maternity leave ends really difficult. We are thinking of a couple of options:
(i) hire a maid but Tim's flat is too small and we are not used to living with strangers.

(ii)infant care - this option is really expensive and which location should we choose (i.e., Chai Chee, Raffles Place or AMK)? If we choose infant care over maid, who is going to take care of the household chores when we move to AMK? By the time we get home after picking up little tiger, it will be too late to prepare dinner.

This is a big headache!

Income & expenses - One did not go up by much but the other went up by a huge margin. I am sure you know which is which.