Family of four

I’m 15 weeks pregnant! I’ve been trying to sit and get this post written for weeks now, but it was always pushed aside because other things felt more important…I know I may regret it if I don’t write about my pregnancy, as if I owe it to the baby. You know, some years down the road, a little voice may question me: “mommy, why didn’t you write about me but you wrote about jie jie?”. Oh well.

Queezy was my first name during the first 3 months, which explains the lack of posts… Most of the days were spent in bed and feeling grumpy as almost no food could go down well with me. My sense of smell heightened as I resented strong food odors especially garlic (my love)!. The peak was when I found daddy M smelly. It was difficult for him.. poor daddy. We couldn’t even sit together to have a decent conversation, without me covering my nose! It was not body odor but if I had to describe, it would be similar to old furniture in a damp room full of spoiled moth balls. The weirdest thing was, two of my colleagues started to develop the same smell!!! Bizarre.

Thank God all these are OVER! I’m back to being NORMAL! My appetite is back and my bump is showing!

Difference between the 1^st and the 2^nd:-

- I had minor bleeding during the 5th week.

- I teared when I saw the sonogram. I was clueless during the 1st.

-Morning sickness extended to 24 hours vs. only puking at night during the 1st pregnancy.

- I’m more sentimental – cherishing my days of three more – the last Mother’s Day / Father’s day with one kid, the last birthday celebration as a family of three, the last trip to Penang for 2013….

- We are more relaxed and less paranoid (aka more slacked?). We tracked the baby’s growth weekly during the 1^st!!

This is an answered prayer and we just KNOW that all will be well! It shall be a smooth pregnancy with painless delivery. The baby shall be sweet natured, healthy, beautiful, intelligent and we will have a easy post-partum with more than sufficient milk! Amen!

Mom

I’m not sure if hormones are still at their peak during these very last days of pregnancy but I’m feeling sentimental today.

Today is the day that I finally feel how my mom feels and finally see how she sees things- how her care towards her children, her love, her worries and protectiveness over her children are often being construed as naggy, unreasonable and incommunicable. I’m guilty as charged because I have always been closer to dad than mom mainly due to our invisible communication barrier. I often find it hard to talk to her and find her unwilling to accept my opinion or understand my views in life. I know that motherhood tends to spawn a renewed sense of appreciation in women towards their moms, but I was expecting it to happen to me much later, probably when I see mojo. I guess it came earlier than expected.

What’s the triggering point for the shift?

It all started from the confinement nanny issue. Mom found a replacement for me – her friend from Penang who is not a professional confinement nanny but has done a few jobs before. To mom, I believe she thinks this is the best choice for me– someone whom she knows, someone who probably has the same confinement practices as she does and someone who speaks her lingo. But being a control freak, I was skeptical of her friend’s experience. It’s only after I turned mom down that I started to feel bad. She probably thinks that her effort of getting me the best person in such a short notice is not appreciated.

I am imagining, 20 years down the road, I may be in her situation where I go all way out to help mojo but only to be declined by her… or when I give some advice and want the best for her but being interpreted as ‘naggy’, ‘unreasonable’ or incommunicable. Will I be hurt? How will I feel if mojo is closer to M and can only confide in him?

Thank God for openining my eyes today and see clearly. Thank God for making me realise that it's not too late to appreciate mom in a different level and see the roads she has traveled, her sacrifices and endurance in life for the benefit of her children, and hopefully make me a better daughter…

Hunting for a confinement lady

The ONLY thing that I felt secured and well planned in my preparation for mojo's arrival was having the confinement lady booked way in advance. We even planned to have her for at least 2 months. Despite having lots of loose ends to tie up eg. hospital bag, cot, clothes (ALL NOT READY), I still had this 'under control' feeling as long as there's a 'trustworthy' helper around.

Well.... things happen... My confinement lady pulled out on me last night - she needs to go for a surgery.

Angry? yes
Anxious? yes

Disapointed? yes

Worried? yes

Felt sabotaged? yes

Made at least 20 calls within a night and got 1 who is on 'standby' ie, if the next mom-in-line pops, she gotta go.

With 3 weeks left, only God can give me a miracle.

BST

This is the book for Mojo’s nightly BST (Bible Story Time), around 10-11pm read by Macho Daddy. It’s a combination of all-time favourites from old and new testaments. Each story is followed by a devotion and short prayer. I think I'm enjoying it more than Mojo as the stories serve as reminders to me and more importantly I love the fact that we are spending time in the word of God like doing daily devotion together as a family :)

Mojo Chocolate

TG sent me this picture – an ad by Sins Chocolate. Not sure if the promotion is still on :)

For those who are new, Mojo is the nick name of our baby.

Getting crafty

I'm proud of my latest project - rice socks. Homemade heat pack with own choice of design that molds into  body parts. I was inspired by a blog where rice sock was one of the items in the hospital bag for labour! 

What you need:-

• A pair of new socks (preferably knee length ). I used cute baby tights and cut them into 4
• Uncooked rice – as much as you want, depending on the size you want to create
• A couple of drops of essential oil

Scoop rice into sock, add a few drops of essential oil and tie a knot at the open end. DONE!

Heat the filled pack in the microwave for 1 minute or freeze for 45minute as cold packs.

I am using one for my back ache now .  Nice!

I think a few of my friends are getting this for Christmas this year!

FAQ of my pregnancy

I answer some of these questions at least once a day.

1. When are you due? 4 December
2. Girl or boy? Girl
3. Any craving?  Croissant and bagel in the morning
4. How much weight have you gained?  +-8 kg
5. How many months already? 26 weeks
6. Can you feel the baby kicking? Yes
7. Which hospital are you delivering? Thomson Medical
8. Have you thought of a name for the baby?  No but shortlisted a few
9. Are you taking 3 or 4 months maternity?  Have not decided
10. Have you booked your confinement lady? Yes, one of the first few things we did
11. Have you bought your baby stuff?  Nope! Only bought pump and pram

Book worm

A present that Kate's mom gave me during the baby shower. Step one to kiasu parenting? Neh... I like the idea of kids learning how to read at young age. I prefer my kids to love reading than loving Barbie doll :)

Kate who is going to 24 months knows how to read simple words. I won't be ambitious. If it works for mojo, praise God, if not, it's ok, she will learn to read EVENTUALLY ;)

Mojo moves

Thought of summarizing how it feels when mojo moves in the tummy to capture this nice sensation and memory. I'm amazed by my powerful imagination for some of the descriptions :)

• Fluttering gas
• A poke
• A gold fish swimming around
• Strumming of guitar from within
• Serving of a volley ball
• Light twitches
• Tickle from within
• Popcorn popping

“Babies” Shower

Had a "babies" shower over the weekend. The party was for the two preggers Aleve (due in Oct) and I, as well as a get together of the piglets or big babies – Kate, Zephy and Xiao Suen (all 2 year olds). Having 3 little piglets running around the house made me realize that our house is not child-friendly at this point with the steps, stairs and corners...It looks like we've got a lot more home improvement to do :)

3rd tri

Today marks the 1st day of my 3rd trimester. How time flies! Counting down, I think I have another 110 days left. Rounding up of what I love about my pregnancy and not:-

Things which make my pregnancy enjoyable
- Pampered by M (top of the list!!)
- Spend on good food and don’t feel guilty
- New wardrobe (mostly from friends)
- Nails are less brittle – from the milk consumption I supposed
- Being read to zzz every night (riding on mojo’s bible story time with macho daddy)
- Surprise fluffy kicks by mojo during the day

Things which I’m still adjusting to
- Slower physical movement and the penguin walk (at times)
- Outbreak of pimples
- Having random people touching my tummy
- My wedding band and watch are getting tighter
- Emotional swing (mild)

Daddy's girl

Mojo is definitely going to be a daddy’s girl!

Macho daddy recently bought a 1-month old romper for S$29.90.

SK: what!!!? so ex?
Macho daddy: Issit ex? this is after discount
SK: Some more after discount??!!!!
Macho daddy: I think it’s ok mah…
SK: ok, this shall be her coming-home outfit

A few days later…
Macho daddy: hey where is the romper for mojo?
SK: What romper?
Macho daddy: The one that i bought that day
SK: In the pigeon hole together with the clothes from Ah Mai, why?
Macho daddy: I want to hang it
SK: Huh? Do we need to hang a romper???
Macho daddy: Ya, it was my intention when I bought it
SK:.....................

Week 22

I'm in a growth spurt. Last Saturday my weight was 54.8kg at the gynae. 1 week later, I'm 57kg! The good news is I can still see my feet although I feel like a burstable-watermelon after meals.

My current tummy size in week 22 (for the sake of Dylan and Alyssa who have not seen their small Ah Mai being preggers)!

Quick facts about Mojo

Got a special request from a friend to update more about Mojo.

Quick facts (latest sonogram is unclear to post on blog)

Nick name: Mojo

Sex: 100% girl

Weight: 350 grams @ 21 weeks

Height: 14+cm

Features: Sharp chin like mom. Round nose. Her tummy size and overall body frame is 10% below average for now. I'm supposed to EAT MORE to help her put on more weight/grow

Personality: Rather active. Fluffy kicks here and there. Loves to be read at night*

* Erm...this is my own deduction. M reads to her everynight before I zzz. One night we were watching TV and past the normal reading time, she started to kick non-stop. So I asked M to read to her :-

SK: "Babe, i think mojo wants to be read"
Macho daddy: "Hey, we cannot give in so easily, we read when we want to read"
SK:...

Less than 5 minutes later

Macho daddy: "Ok, let's go and read to her." , "Mojo, you cannot bully us ah..."
SK:....

I'm having an Indian baby

"Mojo's an Indian baby!"- the latest joke betwee M & I. It sounds silly given that I'm MARRIED to an Indian... This is all due to my significant change in appetite. For a person who doesn't have sweet tooth, I like ICE CREAM now! (only vanila flavour). And I caught myself eating Roti Prata 3 days in a row! PLUS I crave for Chicken Vindaloo because I finally found a match to the ones in London at Shahi Maharani, Raffles City, though a bit pricy. Last night, we went around Little India hunting for more affordable versions but couldn't find any. There were mutton Vindaloo but not chicken...

I wonder if the day will ever come to see M jumping for joy as I ask for mutton (no.1 in the food-i-dislike list pre-pregnancy)...

Mojo

Ladies & gentlemen, meet Mojo at 11.5 weeks (48mm). Mojo- tentative name before a better one comes along.
Given that I'm a die-hard romantic, I surprised a few friends for not crying when i first met Mojo at 5.5wk. I think I was supposed to go "awww..." and start tearing but I didn't. 2nd time at 8-9wks? No tears either. 3rd time at 11.5 wks? Neh. I was just glad that the fella is growing despite my puking.

2nd pix shows the back view of mojo with legs, dancing and swaying around...

We're preggers

I’m into my 13th week. Yes for those whom have not spoken to me lately, I’m pregnant. That explains why I’ve not been blogging busy coping with hormonal, physical and emotional changes. So how has it been? See below for a compilation of FAQs to me.

Do you have morning sickness?
-YES. There were the worst in wk 9-10, mainly because I was sick for 1 week with virul fever. My morning sickness was especially bad at night around 9pm.

How did you cope with it?
- Eating became a very critical event which had to be handled with care. Some food were ok on certain days but became poison on other days
- I settled better with home cooked food (thanks Shih for your yummy food!)
- Bread and lemon & manuka honey lollies were my best friend
- Chili became my enemy
- I ate every hour and 3-5 mouthful max

Any craving?
-NO

Have you put on weight?
-NO. Lost a little from the above

Are you excited?
-Was excited on day 1 or 2 when I found out. But the joy slowly worn out over the past 2 months because of the puking. I’m hoping to gain the joy soon as the nausea gets betta

Is M excited?
- YES. Very. And has been very supportive and tolerant

Do you prefer girl / boy? Why?
- Boy. Maybe just used to boys from my sis

Who will look after the bb?
- Infant care? Still undecided

Yes, I'm back!!