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Memory.. Little threads that hold life's patches of meaning together. ~ Mark Twain

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Slice Of Watermelon @ 19 Weeks

We're now on our 19th week!! Back to the fruit bowl, Baby should be the length of a slice of watermelon.

Gee... Speaking of that, I haven't had a single bite of watermelon ever since I found out I am pregnant! All because of these Chinese superstitions that a pregnant woman cannot consume anything cooling like :-
* pineapple (because it will flush out your baby like how it will speed up your monthly period flow if you consume it before your period)
* all kinds of melon like watermelon and honeydew
* papaya
* coconut (*gah*! My favourite!!!!)

I try to be obedient.. If I can avoid, then I will. But so far throughout my pregnancy, I've taken coconut once. So it's still ok. Hehehe.. Besides, pregnant women tend to be very heaty, so why can't we take cooling stuff to cool ourselves down, right? *wink*

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Cheeky Baby

We got to see Baby today!!! Was awake quite early in the morning actually coz I thought I felt some movement in the womb. Wasn't sure if it was Baby or gas bubbles though..

Anyhow, got to the clinic with Hubby, feeling so darn excited. But while waiting for our turn, Doc had to speed off to the hospital to conduct a delivery. We had to wait for an hour or so until he got back to attend to us. Aren't we just so patient? Hehe..

We did the usual weight measurement and I'm so happy to say that I'm now 41.3 kg, which means I gained 1.2 kg!!! Well.. It's still far away from my 4 kg target but at least I'm not gaining grams now! *Joy joy*

Got propped up onto the bed and we finally saw Baby!! Baby was sleeping upside down and kind of showing the left profile of the body. Doc needed to be able to see both legs clearly (which wasn't so at that time) so he couldn't tell us the gender as of yet. :( Just when Doc was moving the scanner across the tummy, I felt a kick. Doc asked if I felt the kicking and indeed, all of us saw Baby kicking in the screen!! So that's how it feels like!!!

Baby was moving a bit and Doc showed us the legs, hands, tummy and did some measurements. Doc said that Baby is growing well, some parts of the body is showing 18+ weeks but some other parts is showing a few days late which is actually not too bad after all. Baby is indeed catching up on his/her development. Great improvement (thanks to Isetan's yummy bento sets!!) but I still need to gain more weight. Darn!

As we tried to tell Baby to show us the private parts and Doc tried to move Baby a bit with the scanner, Baby cheekily turned his/her entire back to us! We saw the perfectly formed spine and the buttocks!!! So naughty!!!!!

Baby at 18+ Weeks

That's Baby sleeping upside down, showing us the left profile. The head on the right where as you can see the big tummy on the left. The little black thing in the middle of the body is the heart. A brief explanation on the measurements :-

CRL : Crown-rump length, measures from the top of the head to the buttocks for an accurate estimation of the gestational age.

BPD : Biparietal diameter, it's the diameter measurement between the two sides of the head.

FL : Femur length, measures the thigh which is the longest bone in the body and reflects the longitudinal growth of the fetus.

Well, hopefully we'll be able to see the gender during the next check-up but if Baby just wants to keep giving us suspense, then let it be a suprise. *Grin*

Friday, January 25, 2008

Yummy Chili's

We celebrated birthdays for Har Ku and Elf (his is a slightly early one!) at Chili's Grill & Bar.

A few of us decided to share 3 heap dishes amongst ourselves and it was more than enough to fill our tummies!! Not forgetting the complimentary birthday hot fudge. So sinful!

Chili's Grill & Bar

A look at this picture practically made us drool again...

Thursday, January 24, 2008

My First Maternity Wear!

Was so happy that Thaipusam was declared a holiday for KL yesterday. :)

Took the opportunity to try shopping for clothes. There were so many nice clothes on sale everywhere especially those lovely cheongsams from Somerset Bay.. But the darnest thing is that I can't fit into them! *Sighz* What's more, I have to shop for clothes that are loose so that I can still wear them in the months to come. And I don't quite like the collections they have in the usual maternity shops.. They seem so err... Old-fashioned.. Hehe..

Anyhow, I still ended up in ModernMum and finally decided to buy a pair of kangaroo-pouched, low-waisted jeans. My very first maternity wear. *lol* It looks so funny yet comfy. There's a pouch which you can either tuck it inside the jeans, fold it outwards or when the bump gets much bigger, you can just fold the pouch over the bump. After delivery, you can remove the pouch from the buttons and wear the jeans like normal. There's also a garter attached with buttons around the band which is adjustable according to the size of your growing hips. Very nice! It costs quite a bit, but at least I can be rest assured that I can still wear the jeans till delivery and maybe for my next pregnancy. *lol*

Maternity Jeans
My kangaroo-pouched jeans

Now that I'm happy with this purchase, I've got to look for other clothes! Aikz!!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

18 Weeks

Baby is 18 weeks today and we're going for our check-up this coming weekend! Yay!

Lately I've been feeling something going on in my tummy. It's like as if something is moving within me, and sometimes it comes along with a soft knock against the tummy from inside. It's funny coz the tummy wobbles by itself. I know for sure it's definitely Baby's doing but seems like as if there's an alien growing in me (think of the movie Relic or was it Alien itself?).

It's exciting indeed. The more I re-read the lines from 3dPregnancy, the more I look forward to Baby's movement :-

"What is that fluttering, itchy sensation in your stomach? Could it be your baby who is telling you: "Mommy, do you feel me?""

"What is that little shock I feel there on the lower left, hey now I feel it again.. Is that my little one?"

"In the beginning it seems like the flutter of a butterfly but pretty soon it feels like he is playing soccer. But whatever it feels like it is still unique and lovely, so lovely.."

Very, extremely lovely indeed!!!!!!!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Baby Names

Hubby and I spent almost 2 hours in Borders today, browsing though baby names books. We ended up buying 2 books - A World Of Baby Names; and What's In A Chinese Name.

It's going to be so tough choosing that one special name for our little bundle of joy, but what's even tougher is picking the Chinese name! We came across a Japanese name - Kamenosuke - which, I tell you, you wouldn't be able to guess what it means..... A turtle's helper! With a meaning like that, no wonder Kamenosuke sounds so like 'kami not suka' (we don't like). *lol*

Hopefully we'll be able to tell Baby's gender soon so that we can choose only 1 name, but anyhow, we'll try to decide on a boy's and a girl's name just in case. Any suggestions?

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Jewel's Girl

Jewel delivered her baby girl yesterday. Moorish, Sue and I went to visit them at the hospital this morning.

Jewel told us that she was induced twice, contractions were a minute apart but her cervix could not open and the best part was that she didn't feel any pain! She decided that she had enough of the finger-poking and so was then wheeled in for Caesarean, half bottom of her body fully numbed with epidural. Her husband saw the entire process and the surgeon even took her uterus out and showed it to him! She said that she felt only pressure when they cut her up and she was still on epidural when we visited her. Everything was really pleasant for her. I pray and hope that mine is like that. I want to go for natural delivery but I know that anything can happen. I just pray and hope that when the day comes, everything will go very smoothly.

Back to Baby, am quite upset that I don't seem to be gaining weight. The check-up is just next week and for sure, Doc's gonna be unhappy about it. I have really been trying to eat a lot, taking a lot of balanced diet meals, but it somehow doesn't seem to be enough. This coming week, I must double my food intake. I must gain weight!!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

17 Weeks

Baby is 17 weeks today! 3DPregnancy stated that I might possibly be able to feel some flutterings.. I wonder how that feels like.. I'm trying real hard to recognize them.

Am so glad that I'm not vomitting anymore, or at least I hope not as frequent as I used to be. My appetite is growing and I'm not as tired as I was the past few months. Am still having short of breath whenever I take long walks, but at least they are more bearable now. Besides, I'm trying to find excuses to walk even more. Hehe.. Good for delivery mar!

A friend borrowed me the book 'What To Expect When You're Expecting'. Apparently it's highly recommended, very detailed and informative. Well, even if it's not, at least there's something new for me to read. Perhaps this way, I can cultivate the reading habit in Baby. :)

Am also trying to listento more music especially before I go to bed, so that Baby will be more exposed to sounds. Anyhow, it's really relaxing for me. Relax is good for me and Baby. Hehe..

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Avocado @ 16 Weeks

Baby is 16 weeks today, apparently should be the size of a large avocado!! So fast, yah. 4 more weeks and we're halfway through the journey! It comes with mixed feelings though.. I'm of course really excited to meet Baby, but I'm very worried about labor. *Sighz* I really hope I can get through it.. Must exercise more now... For me and for Baby..

Mummy boiled bird's nest again today. According to many, bird's nest is good for Baby's skin complexion - fair and all. But according to some as well, it's not good to take it too often. Reason being because it is good for the skin, too much of it will make the skin even more sensitive, i.e. very easily prone to marks when scratched and rashes too. So far I've taken it twice within a span of a fortnight, hope that's alright and not too much.

She also showed me some of the baby clothes that Muffins Uncle gave her the other day, so many on Sesame Street and Snoopy. They're sooooooooooo cute!! Can't believe that babies are soooo small and tiny!!

Speaking of 16 weeks, I don't know if it's a good thing that I'm not really showing yet. I hope Baby is small but not lacking of nutritions. I must eat but not too much. I read that Baby's toenails are starting to grow and the nose can tweak already. So exciting! If only I have some kind of machine that I can use to monitor Baby all the time. Then again, I guess I wouldn't be doing anything else but to watch Baby. Hehe!

I wonder how Baby looks like. Will Baby have Hubby's killer smile? Will Baby have smaller eyes than ours? Will Baby have long fingers like me? Ooohh.. I can't wait!!

And oh, I'm so happy.. I can drink Milo again!! Wheeeeeeee!!!! I don't know why, somehow during my first trimester, I would throw up everytime I drink Milo. But everything's back to normal now. Yes!! I'm so gonna try to eat and drink more..

4 kgs.. Here I come! Wish me luck!!