21 June 2007

Stone Dancer Greets The Dawn
Originally uploaded by tarotastic

Today's supposed to be the day "Little Mungbean" is out to join us.. but from the looks of it, she's still quite contented staying in!

Today is also the Summer Solstice for the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year (and hence, the shortest night). It would have been nice too, if "little mungbean" is born today - such an eventful day it is :)

Perhaps she just needs a few more days' rest in the warm womb. Like her mom, me, I was overdue a few days as well :P Like mother like daughter, eh?

Week 39

Our "little mungbean" (our affectionate nickname for baby since she was 12 weeks old) is due in 2 days' time. But judging from the way she is engaged (3/5 engaged), she may not be arriving so soon, much to my disappointment. :( Yes, I'm a little impatient, but only because she is getting heavier (and putting much strain on my back). I know this sounds abit selfish but walking now is taking more toll on my back and also my legs - which leads to frequent oedema (swelling).

While waiting in the antenatal clinic watching baby-tv during today's weekly visit, here's what I learnt : "Duck's quack doesn't echo, and nobody knows why". A very useless piece of information, but I decided to check it up. Here's what I found. Apparently, not so true.

Also, another piece of information I learnt from baby-tv was that "Sharks do not get sick". Hmm, I wonder if there's any truth in this?

My last week's ultrasound scan (Credits to come soon...)

It is not normal practice that NHS will do more than 2 designated ultrasound for a normal pregnant lady. I was referred to this one last week as the midwife was worried that the baby might be on the "small" side due to my tummy measurement. Well, turned out her weight's just fine - at an estimated 7lbs!

Friday, friday...

Joy, originally uploaded by tearoom.

Don't you just love fridays? More so if you are a working class... :)

I just had a session with the diebetologist (didn't even know such an occupation exists!) this am and looking at my Glucose Monitoring diary, she gave me the all clear and assured that I DO NOT need insulin injection - phew! What a relief. The high readings that I get once in awhile was due to dietary reasons (once I had dessert after dinner and the reading rocketted to 9.0).

And I'm just so totally absorbed in doing my digital scrapping! I've been warned by Mom2Ashley that it is addictive... :) It definitely is. Somehow though, I take about a day or more to complete a scrap. (Going at a snail pace)

Have a good weekend! It's a long weekend here, hopefully can persuade the hubs to bring me to the park. He hesistates due to the high pollen count these days. But I tell him it's good for the baby too! Hopefully that will sway his decision. :P

Waddling at 35 Weeks

Swarovski-Horse
Originally uploaded by Tsu Lin.

Last Mon an old friend Sanny came to London for a visit. Actually, she's just stopping by London on her way back to Holland from a long weekend visit to her husband's cousin's place over in Bath.

We decided to meet up in the city since it's only a bus ride away from my appointment in the morning. We decided to meet up near Oxford St and i thought of making our way to try out the new jap restaurant that took over my favourite jap place (their lease expired so now there is a new owner). This new place doesn't seem to be opened most of the time (Hubs & I wanted to try it out during one of the weekends and they were closed)... And i thought of just walking to the other jap place nearby - Sakura.

Sakura is such a crap place! First of all, they told us that they don't serve Sashimi & Sushi anymore (maybe cos we were there at 3pm). Fine, then when the manager came to sit us, we requested to sit at the back of the restaurant as there were people smoking near us at the tables infront. He had the cheek to say this to us "Sorry, that section is closed. I know of your condition (ie pregnant), but if you don't like it, you can walk out & go to another place." I would have walked out if I wasn't quite hungry. Anyway, Japanese are known to be top notch in their service! That man has obviously been in Britain for too long (although his English is passable). Anyway, the last straw was when the waitress came to take our orders and said that it was their policy to take orders of main dish for every patron on the table. Sanny & hubby was still full from their lunch just an hour ago. We took our coats and walked out of there. Snob restaurants do not deserve anyone's patronage...

We settled into a cafe instead and chatted away for 2 hours... then bade our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I did some window shopping along Oxford St, walking into Gap and looking at the 2 toys I'm most likely to get for the baby later - a monkey & a dog soft toy - both of which makes a sound when you squeeze them! Too cute!

Edit : I don't believe in getting too many soft toys for babies, but I do believe in "educational" toys, toys that will excite a baby's 5 senses.

Exactly 31 days..

..till the little baby emerges. Meaning only 1 more month before I can see, touch, smell, hear and cuddle her!

Exhilarating yet scary at the same time.

3rd Trimester

All the classic signs of being in the third trimester I've experienced/ am experiencing.
(click on it for a larger view) (Credits : All papers & embelishments are from ShabbyPrincess)

1. Mild oedema on both my legs. Sometimes it goes away after I had exercised (walking), sometimes it doesn't. The midwife reassured this is normal.

2. Baby has a funny way of marking her territory - if I attempt to sleep on my right, she'll give me a good kick! And if I still do not budge, she'll kick somemore until I turn to sleep on my left.

3. Backache is intensified by the weight of the growing baby. (I already have bad back before being pregnant, now it gets worse)

4. Groin pain - yes! One of the "joys" of pregnancy - I've been having this since week 24. The pain is usually felt more when I get out of bed or when I get up from sitting down.

5. Waddling - walking like a penguin is a classic sign of a pregnant woman, of course my waddle is more obvious due to my backache. -_-"

6. Gestational diabetes (GD - diabetes induced by pregnancy) : The most horror of all. NHS (National Health Service) requires those with GD to monitor our blood glucose level (within 4.0 - 7.0). To do this, I was given a glucose monitoring test kit - consisting of the GM Meter, test strips, lancelets lancets (ie NEEDLES!) and the lancelet lancet launcher (ie the thing tht pricks your finger). So far, I am on diet control. I've also been referred to the dietitian for this purpose (to tell me what I should include in my diet, and what to omit). SURPRISINGLY, chocolates (plain milky ones) and ice cream (all provided they do not have bits in it - caramel/chunks of sweet-coated stuff) are not bad for a diebetec! I've also switched to eating Basmati rice.

But pregnancy does have its "perks". People sometimes do give up their seats in the bus for me; At a retailer's check out counter, I get prompt service (at their counter for people with disability or pregnant ladies). :)

1st weekend in London

SAT :
Met up with the SIL, Alicia for yumcha on Saturday. For reasons i still do not comprehend, these Aussies (hubs included in this case) like to call their dim sums "yumcha". To us M'sians, as the phrase suggests, "yumcha" should only mean "Drink Tea/beverages", and it should not matter if it's teatime, brunch, breakfast, or supper. :P Anyway on Sat, we popped over to our favourite nearbyrestaurant. Dim Sum was good, we wanted to order the suckling pig but today, they ran out of it.

The SIL brought a little gift for the baby - a Baby Journal. Very sweet! Now.. if only I can bring myself to scribble on its pristine pages.

My Baby's Journal
The rest of the day was spent around this area... and even a visit to the local chinese grocery place where we stocked up on essentials.

SUN :
A busy day. We started the day early as we wanted to go to the Baby Show at ExCeL London before lunchtime. Had our brunch and was out by 11am. We quickly found a parking after paying £6 for 2 hours of parking and made our way in.

A truly good show with floors covering 2 football fields? The place was huge but luckily isn't packed to the brim, which makes browsing, product testing and walking more enjoyable. We first walked around the place looking at products we are interested and comparing prices. After deciding the model we want, we proceeded to buy them. Here, we managed to get all the baby essentials :

1. Maclaren Techno XLR Travel System - Stroller, car seat, foot muffs, rain cover.
2. Avent Breastfeeding solutions.
3. Tommy Tippee nappy wrapper - The sales pitch : "At the end of it, u just twist this thing, lift it up and throw this sausage looking thingy away!". Haha, nappy wrapped sausages, indeed!
4. Bath tub
5. Nursing pillow

Of course, there are samples galore. During halftime, we went out to grab something to eat & drink and made our way back in.

I'm now recuperating from the 2 days adventure. :P Can't wait for next weekend.

Temptations

is also ironically MAS's shopping magazine.

"Sweet in Pink"

Anyway, the day before I were to leave to London, Soo Yin invited us over to her place for a small gathering. The usual suspects were thr : WS & M, me, ES & Jac. It's there that I was introduced to the device that is DS Lite. They all had one each : WS & ES with their black or dark blue ones, SY with her very delicious PINK one! Apparently CKP has a white one. I'm so tempted to get the light blue one so we all in the group have all the colours. We networked up the 3 DS's and played a few rounds of that-game-which-name-I-forgot.
Should I, should I not? The hubby reckons not... but yesterday he showed me the cool Bose headphones (noise cancellation) (I think it's this model) tht he probably acquired during his trips to the US! He refused to tell me how much.. Anyway, the DS Lite sells for £99 at Amazon (with free delivery). Definitely worth thinking about - I want the game we played tht Saturday. (There's a guy on the same flight as me who brought out his white DS Lite.) Truly a good companion on flights.

Anyway, thanks SY & E for being the lovely host and for the lovely tea! The Suanson's Orange Chiffon Cake was absolutely lovely. If not for the diabetes, I would've finished the whole cake. (Must_have_self_control! Arrgh)

London : the flight went smoothly and i didn't get to sleep much in their almost-flatbed bed. I probably slept for 2 hours. I did manage to watch some shows though - Happy Feet (fell asleep halfway, oops!), Stranger Than Fiction (didn't finish watching it despite Praveen's rave review) and Deja Vu. I quite enjoy Deja Vu - The concept of time travel in the show isn't very convincing nor belieavable to me BUT despite tht, (and let's assume tht I bought into the concept).. the movie's storyline and acting are very enjoyable. I also watched a little of "The Banquet" at the last 20mins of flight. I found myself fast-forwarding every now & then. Don't think I'll quite like it.

Arriving at Heathrow, the assistance i requested promptly brought me from plane - immigration - baggage collection in less than 20mins. :) Hubs waited at the arrival hall and spotted me straight away! We were however, caught in the traffic and took 1.5 hours to reach Docklands. We had dinner before coming home. Love the car we bought! Yayy.. no more buses and DLRs and Underground for me. :P

Baby : The little one kicked me halfway through the night. I think she was awaken by her daddy's snoring. Haha. And I felt her kicking at 10kicks/min last night. "Daddy, stop snoring!", she must be signalling. But she must've taken a liking to her dad as when he puts his hands on the tummy, she displayed her football skills to him. :)

More temptations : The hubs opened the fridge yesterday and showed me the 2 tubs of Haagen Dazs he bought (one for me)! ARGH. (Must_have_self_control! Arrgh)

View from the top...

This is the view from where i sit. A pretty big mountain right infront of me. Haha!

Last weekend was productive - It was Spring Cleaning weekend. To de-clutter for receiving the coming Chinese New Year! I re-arranged and threw out (donated) 1 bag-full of clothes to make way for the clothes i somehow "acquired" these few months. As it is, the cupboards are bursting to its seams with clothes.Also, I managed to do the much-needed filing which I've been procrastinating for the past year. Now the table is freer from bits of salary slips, papers lying around.

CNY is just around the corner and I do LOVE this festive season. (Of course i loved it more when I didn't have to give out ang-pows. Damages are quite severe!) I like CNY because it's one of the rare time that all my close relatives will get to congregate together from overseas and catch up on each other's lives. And yesterday while reading the papers, I came across this article abt this centenarian who misses firecracker, it reminded me of the days when firecrackers weren't banned. I do miss slightly the "noise" and hustle and bustle of how CNY used to be - firecrackers going off everynight for about 2 weeks.. But am also glad that now, I get peaceful sleep most of CNY. However, I don't quite like the hot weather that comes with CNY though- scorching.

This will be my last week of work. After which I'd be a free-bird again. It's bittersweet for me. I love working but I do not mind a long break as well. And of course carrying a baby AND working at the same time can put a toll on someone. I salute those who works till the day they deliver.. I don't know how they do it.

Went for my week 21 scan on Sat and little baby chose to cover her face with her hands! But i did get a peek into her nose and mouth.. it's still too early to see her face though. My obstetrician says Week 26 and above will be ideal. Well, I'll just hv to wait for the 24 weeks 3D and 4D scan!

:)

Can't wait to usher in the Golden Year of the Pig!

Rollerblading and skateboarding chicks @ Marmalade!

Drawings on the wall @ Marmalade, BV2
I'm now at my halfway mark - completed 20 weeks of pregnancy (another 20 to go!). I can't wait till the little baby comes out! I expect alot of hardwork and sleepless nights, but they (friends who are parents) say it's all worth it. :)

The 3 musketeers had lunch again today. We decided to check out the new place - Bangsar Village 2 (BV2). And decided on eating in Marmalade but turned out the food was bland, tasteless and not worth a second visit. :P
Today, the boys talked techy, I had NO input what-so-ever into the conversations, sorry Prav! I've warned you about the blank look if you want to "pick my brains" on technology.

This has been a good week :
> New developments at work, unfortunately I am turning it down.
> 4-day work week!
> Weather's lovely - breezy with low sunshine. Hope it lasts till after CNY!
> Met the other musketeers for lunch - Always a highlight!

So yummy....

.. you wanna lick it!

A diaper bag that's available at sparkability. Too bad they deliver only in the US. Love the berry colour too! But doubt the sling will be comfy for all tht weight - baby bottles, diapers, extra clothes, etc!

Another "nice to have" but isn't this too pweety??!
My frog prince

Slow Sunday...

Today is a slow sunday for me. Woke up to send dad out to the LRT and then came back to have breakfast. At 11am, I headed out for a much needed haircut. I've been struggling and contemplating on where to go for a trim - nothing fanciful as I need to leave the hair long-ish during confinement as I heard short hair causes irritation esp with the chinese custom of not having to wash one's hair for 10-14 days (?). My gd friend Eil advised to have a length long enough to tie up to last for the week or two. Good advice, me thinks!

I decided to go to a nearby hair salon in Atria. I've never stepped in thr since secondary school but tht place is still open - i guess it isn't bad, huh? I went in and told the lady abt my trim.
She looked at my hair and said "you have oily hair". -_-
"No, It's because I haven't washed it for 2 days" (I lied, it was 3 but no point causing panic among the staff, huh?)
45mins later, I came out with a fresh newly cropped hair and I must say I'm pretty happy with the RM49 spent! I have been going to haircuts tht costs more than 10 times more previously (I permed my hair..) so this is actually quite good.

I then went over to look at some clothes in a boutique and found a lovely empire-cut top (for normal ladies). But since it's empire-cut-ish... it suited me well for my new-body! And looks classy as well. I've been having headache on wht to wear these days - Especially to work. I've been wearing too unfashionable clothes to work these days. N has been calling me "MOMMY" (much to my amusement)... cos of the "aunty clothes" i've been wearing. I can't help it. I can't be buying Maternity clothes as they usually are quite big and I've not been putting on much weight.. or they are downright auntie.. or 3rdly, the nice ones i felt were abit on the pricey side. No, i am not spending obscene amt for clothes i'm only wearing for another 5 mths or so.

Then after that, I went over to Planete Enfants to get my hands on 3 Baby Einstein vcds. I know it's early but since i'm around the area and they were having a promo - bought 3 vcds for RM48 only. Got Baby Mozart, Baby Galileo (discovering the sky) and Baby da Vinci (from head to toe).

Got home and popped Baby Mozart into the player.. and boy, that was a boring 15mins (the amt i can endure). Eil told me babies love them. I sure hope so! She said it's an interactive vcd and you should spend time with your baby pointing to him things that are going on on the VCD. I hope i can do tht! I have a feeling i might doze off halfway. But we'll see... I hope the other 2 are more interesting!

Then got home and spent time doing my 2nd most favourite thing - SURFING (the net)!