Sunday, December 28, 2008

Sweetie Sisters

Don't you think the sisters look alike as newborns?



Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Eve

Caryn's facial expressions

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Full Month!


Labour Story

18 Dec 08 (Thursday)

This is The Day!

9:30am
Reached Raffles Hospital level 8 maternity ward
My weight before delivery is 64.7kg. I had gained about 11+kg. Same as my previous pregnancy.

10:30am
Had the epidural. Really regretted not asking for the previous anaesthesist durig my previous delivery, that old, experienced Indian doctor who just jab me once & it's all done.
This time came a younger doc who inflicted much pain ... imagine being poked in the spine for 4 to 5 times! I was so much in pain then... and very scared! Knowing that the worst that may happen is paralysis!
Guess what? He said it's due to my spine being too narrow! Darn! Let's just say the fact is that he's too inexperienced.

12pm
Lunch is served. I chose fish porridge from the menu and it turned out to be so yummy that even hubby was singing praises for it long after my delivery. The fish simply melts in your mouth! The porridge taste like it's being cooked by some restaurant chef. It's just so good that makes me & hubby yearn for more.. hehe

3pm
Gynae came to break water bag. She says the water is quite clean & clear.

6pm
8cm dilated. No dinner til delivery is over.

8pm
Gynae arrives & said that I'm fully dilated! Finally! After about 4-5 pushes, baby is out! She cries almost immediately upon being delivered. When the nurse placed her in the incubator for the routine newborn checks, she could actually turn her head left & right to look around the room! What a curious little baby!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Pregnancy Diary

Since this will be my last pregnancy (I've decided to stop at 2), I'll pen down my pregnancy milestones for remembrance.

End April 08
A BFP on the home pregnancy test kit! I’m gonna be a mom again! Another December baby.. Woo.. Cool!

May 08
My first gynae visit is at 6 weeks. My little darling measures 0.49cm! Such a tiny life is growing inside me... really awesome!

Body changes:
#1 - I had developed an appetite for hot, spicy and sour food, especially tom yum! Yum yum... hmm... I crave for it every meal :p

#2 – Sometimes I had the nauseous feeling of wanting to throw up, but it all ended without vomiting. Perhaps I may feel better if I really puke it all out.

#3 – I hate leg cramps! It’s the most painful experience during pregnancy. My first cramp in the calf started in end May. No more please, I beg!

#4 - My bulge begins to show, so much so that some observant colleagues are asking if I had 'good news'. My 3-month belly looked like I’m in the 4th month. No wonder people says the belly will be more obvious for 2nd time pregnancies.

Mid June 08
It’s the start of 2nd trimester. My little darling now measures 0.63cm, still very tiny, but growing.

At the beginning of the pregnancy, deep down in my heart I was wary of the possible risks associated with my age. Imagine the great sense of relief after knowing I pass the OSCARS test with a very low risk factor. Phew *wipe sweat off forehead* Yay! My baby’s gonna be healthy, that’s indeed a great blessing! Thanks God.

At the same time, the sonographer asked if we wanna know the gender of the baby. Why not? Curious as we are, we would like to know as early as the 3rd month.
70% girl, he said, as the genital area is wider, and so his prediction is a girl. But, he added, can’t confirm yet. Okie, there’s still hope of being a boy huh…

Mid July 08
4th month visit. Gynae is gonna reveal the baby’s gender during ultrasound scan. A girl! Ohhh…

Mid August 08
Detailed scan.
Baby is now weighing 308g. Everything’s fine, and I need not go for amnio test as my baby has very low risk of Down Syndrome. Excellent!
Sonographer confirmed baby is a girl. Ahh…

September 08
24 weeks
At 6 mths, baby is 680g. I look like I’m 7 months preggie! My tummy is swelling so much that I had difficulty in turning on the bed. My ankles also started to swell a little.

26 weeks
Gosh, rash attack! Horrible red patches appeared all over my tummy, spreading gradually to my back & upper thighs, & even on my lower arms. Yucks!
I suspect I’m allergic to the stretchmark cream. Even the dermatologist at Raffles Hospital observed that this brand of stretchmark cream had created many allergy cases that he had seen in his practice. I was prescribed with a steroid cream that was supposed to be safe for preggie woman.

October 08
3rd trimester
28 weeks

Baby weighed 1088g. Nice number to buy 4D huh? Hehe
Can’t stand the itch on arms & legs! Visited my fave skin doctor – Dr Loke at his brand new, posh clinic at Novena Medical Suite & incurred damages of >$100 as expected. But I had confidence in him & he prescribed me another steroid cream that suited my skin better.

30 weeks
My little wiggling darling inside me is now 1.2kg. Had a blood and urine test, and eventually both was alright. My weight had shot above the 60kg mark!

I love ice cream! My body always feels warm & I love the icy sensation of ice cream flowing down my throat! Cool.

Gynae was empathetic towards my irritation of the itchy rashes and so she suggested to induce me at 38 weeks to relieve me earlier from the ‘suffering’. Yes, yes! Now I can look forward to it. That also mean I could end my confinement before CNY 2009. Great!

Mid November 08
34 weeks
Baby is underweight at 1.98kg. How come I swell so much but not my little one inside? Why hasn’t all the nutrition from the yummy food I ate gone to the baby? *sad*
On the bright side, my rash condition finally stabilized. Phew!

Early December 08
36 weeks
The antenatal visits are now scheduled weekly. My ankles & feet started yo-yo swelling, ie swell on and off. One day it swells, another day it’s back to normal, and the next day it swells again, and it repeats itself.

Up to this point, hubby and me still can’t agree on baby’s name. He likes names such as Kimberly, Melissa, Jane.. blah blah.. while I prefer 2-syllabus names. I thought of Brenda, Pearlyn.. much nicer hor, but he can't see eye-to-eye with me.

37 weeks
12 Dec (Friday)

Last day at work, hooray!
Gynae detected that I had slightly high blood pressure and confirmed my induction on the 18th December.

14 Dec (Sunday)
I had ‘show’ in the morning which made me kinda excited if I’m gonna experience natural labour pain. Did some reading on the internet and realized that the waiting time between a show and real labour varies from a day to 2 weeks! Oh my, so my induction day on Thursday may come before the nature labour kicks in.

Because of the ‘show’, I was prohibited by hubby to go anywhere further than the mall opposite *disappointed* I was confined to an area of 200m radius within my house. Had earlier thot I could go to Orchard for some last minute shopping spree before I pop, but alas, that was just a dream.

The waiting continued for the next few days as I continued to have ‘show’. I was secretly hoping that I could experience natural labour instead of being induced.