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Monday, June 30, 2008

Me @ 19.5 weeks


Judge for yourself whether I put on weight and/or have a big tummy for my stage...Mummy dearest said she guessed I was having a girl when I told her my tummy's quite huge. Colleagues who see me think my complexion has not been marred (so old wives' tale fathoms that's a sign of a girl), and me Sis thinks cos I do not have the "cauliflower" nose syndrome (where if you have a boy, your nostrils flare up and look like... a cauliflower...ewww...), they all point to a girl. Heh...even Wayne told me before he thinks it's a girl, and I always felt this baby in me is quite obedient, so it's sort of a sixth sense huh (guess Daddy and Mummy know best!).

Other "tell-tale" signs (or they'll have you believe), can be found on sites like this.

Blessings from loved ones


This is a very sweet picture that my sis sent me upon knowing I was pregnant, keeping us all in their prayers all the time. Although Wayne's and my families are far away, they are kept close to our hearts and their love and concern are felt at all times...

There's always a first time for everything...

First Blog. First Entry.

Ha. I've finally gotten down to doing "it". Jumping onto the blogging bandwagon, or as people in my profession put it, contributing to this "new media" thingey.

WnW's First.

But this blog is not about me and my online escapades (or till now, lack of it..), but more of my other "firsts" - especially dedicated actually to Wayne's and mine other "first" - our first baby. :) (It must be the hormones - every time I mention "baby", it's automatically suffixed by the smiley icon....out, out, you demons of goo-goo-gah-gah..). Anyway, I digress. I figured with so much happening with our lives now, what better way to post developments/thoughts online for all my family and loved ones to keep track of what's happening, and for baby to view the postings in future (fingers crossed servers don't get wiped out, or some post-Millenium bug comes and cleans out my entries/pix).

A very quick "status recap" of where we are now with Baby to answer any FAQs you may have (aiyo, don't blame me or my job for "blogging" in such "email to Client" type of style...)--


About Baby:
  1. Our baby's almost 21 weeks old (EDD's 12 Nov 08) - a *sexy* Scorpio like my brother, her Uncle Terence (or so he is led to believe he is - erhem.) At last scan at 19.5 weeks, the weight is akin to a small bag of milk powder - 300 grammes. How cute is that?! We first confirmed the pregnancy at about 5 weeks and we broke the news to almost disbelieving grandparents who could not believe their ears after we had the first check-up.

  2. It's a girl (yaay!). Boy or girl is actually fine, so long as hale and hearty (but surprisingly, Daddy's family was inclined towards having a girl as they have too many "boys" in the home, haha!)
    Both Chinese and English names are still TBC (Daddy's inclination is towards an English name starting with "R" - any nice suggestions welcome).

  3. Baby's getting active (actually from about 17 weeks), though the movements aren't regular - I feel kicking, turning, and even hiccuping (when the "kicks" are less intense, and rhythmic). Daddy also got to feel them when he laid his palm on my tummy, hehehe, so fun. My sister, Aunty Pearleen, said in the later stages, you can even see shapes of elbows sticking out from the tummy...OMG...poor Baby will be so cramped inside!

About Daddy & Mummy:

  1. Yes, we are coping great on our own (for now..), although homecooked food is missed, and I also SORELY miss affordable healthcare in Singapore (don't get me started on how cut-throat the "expat" medical facilities are here - in my brother-in-law Matthias' words "you fly back to Singapore for your check-up also will be cheaper...").

  2. Baby Bonus, here we come! Baby will be delivered in Singapore (my Mum's the best confinement lady around as she was a professional staff nurse in this area, and Matthias is a doctor, and I'll be in familiar surroundings, I get covered partially by Medisave, AND overall it'd cost me much, much less than if I have birth here...). This is not due to us wanting to get her "Singapore citizenship" as even if she is born in China, the Singapore government will claim her as their own (haha!), and I can get her registered at the Embassy here.

  3. This means Daddy and Mummy will be in Singapore for awhile (Mummy from Sep till Mar, Daddy from Oct till Mar). And yes, we will still come back to Beijing (so bosses, if you are reading this, save our jobs for us!!), and we'll both then be working parents. Tentative arrangement upon return to Beijing is for Wayne's Mummy to come over and help us (Mummies dearest can always be counted on...世上只有妈妈好。。。)

  4. Daddy and Mummy, and Baby, are also very fortunate to be also expecting at the same time that Uncle Timothy and Aunty Vanessa are (these two are our good friends in Beijing), and at time of this posting, Baby is going to either have a Korkor or Jiehjieh!

About Mummy:

  1. I'm still working now, and it really helps to have a great bunch of bosses and colleagues, and of course, very importantly, a very supportive hubby, hehe. It's important to keep myself busy and feeling useful. (I even travelled in my 8th week back to Singapore for a meeting, and am planning a trip in July for the long-awaited company trip to Tokyo! The recent weekend retreats to the outskirts of Beijing have also been good as it takes us away from bad city air...). It was on my trip home during the 8th week that my nephew Simon (lovely first-born of Matt and Pearl - of course, he has a lovely sister too, Marianne), actually asked me a very cute question -- He was sitting in the car seat and looking out the window as I sat next to him. He then suddenly turned to me, as if having pondered on it a long time, "Yiyi, is it you have a baby inside you?". I just smiled and said "Yes, my darling. I have a baby inside me," and Simon turned away. The conversation ended there, but it was so innocent for a four-year-old to show such comprehension and sweetness.

  2. Those who know me know I have an extremely "unfit fitness regime" (read: none at all), so I'm trying to make time for slow walks every day, and also do standard stretching exercise for various parts of my body. I apply L'Occitane almond oil vigorously on my expanding belly now, so hopefully there won't be stretch marks, but in Wayne's words, I have "orange peel" skin already on my thighs/butt area (AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!).

  3. I did not suffer from morning sickness in the first 3 mths (almost), but before you say "So lucky!", I had it quite bad from 11 weeks on (right till about 16 weeks) - bad appetite (for somebody who loves to eat, it's such a torture); extremely acute sense of smell that could not stand the smell of almost anything and everything (my own shampoo, my own home!); "morning sickness" and nausea even at night (I threw up a grand total of 21 times, and hope the count stops there!).

  4. I'm now in my second trimester, and supposedly "having it easy" as I've regained my appetite - hubby even thinks I gained some weight, haha - have put on 6 kg since pre-pregnancy days! But my tummy does feel extremely distended. I'm making sure I drink at least two cups of milk, have my ample dose of vitamins and fruits, and an occasional bird's nest drink, heh. Although I must say I am seriously trying to curb my love for Coca-Cola (does not help that the drink is so "shiok" on a hot summer day in Beijing...).

  5. I was packing through my walk-in wardrobe of clothes yesterday and realized to my horror that if I do not regain my pre-pregnancy figure, ALOT, and I mean ALOT ALOT, of clothes will be going to waste. I admit though, I have succumbed to buying one of those ugly, apron-like anti-radiation vests that I ONLY wear within my cubicle at work (supposedly blocks against radiation from laptop/computer screen blah blah blah....). There are two camps who speak for/against its usefulness, but there is one thing they agree on - such ugly pieces of cloths are extremely EXPENSIVE (Vanessa and I wanted to get more than one piece each, but we omitted seeing the first figure in the four-figure tag, and luckily found out in time it actually costs RMB1,189, and NOT RMB189!! My wedding gowns aside, this is the most expensive top I own!).

  6. I read that from Week 16, baby can begin listening to sounds, so Daddy got us some Mozart-like CDs; I think I overdid it and listened to these 3 CDs on loop both at work and at home for a week, and there's only so much Mummy can take (sorry, baby, for now I am sticking to my radio at work, and jazz/oldies at home)....For those around me who suddenly think I have developed a knack for talking to myself, I try to talk to Baby, and describe what I see/do to her. For example, I have my morning song that goes to the tune of "Congratulations...":

Good morning baby
How are you feeling
Did you sleep well last night
Everybody loves you


(Repeat above with change of last line to "Daddy, Mummy loves you; ending with "Good morning, baby, today is XXXday, a weekday/end. Hope you have happy day!") So XIAO right??

This first and very long posting should suffice as a very quick summary, heh, and I can then go into details on my next few postings. Till then...