Bad back, back home, and going back

Poor Wayne is suffering from a mysterious onset of bad back - he only starting feeling the pain late yesterday afternoon, and had to take time off work to see two doctors today - of whom diagnosed him with a bad spinal ache, and also that he could have worsened an existing condition with bad posture/recent exercise. He has been given three full days of medical leave! Hopefully, the doctor's medicines can alleviate the pain, and it does not worsen further (we have friends whose conditions are so bad they are permanently hunched as they cannot straighten their necks/backs due to the pain - yikes!). I also suspect it got aggravated with his recent visits to the blind masseuse parlour in our neighbourhood (nothing sleazy), though Wayne swears by it...

Before he experienced the pain, Wayne and I went for my 30 week routine check-up at the hospital yesterday morning. This time round, I took a heavier breakfast of two toasts+milk since my glucose level was too low in the previous visit, and as I needed to fast for my two-hour glucose reading. Since there was also a trace of protein in my previous urine sample, I also took a urine sample at home after ensuring I had a good wash-down so as not to taint the specimen (haha, oops... too much info!!!). My two-hour GTT this time round was a healthy 6.6, so doctor advised I maintain such levels of breakfast intake, but there was still a trace of protein in my take-at-home-urine-sample, so guess I need to monitor closely when I get back to Singapore.

Since it was our last trip to Amcare Hospital (as my next check-up due in two weeks would be back home in Singapore's KK Hospital), we took the chance to ask our last few questions with the local doctor:

• Q: Is there any basis to what the trainee Chinese physician had told me about cutting down on cooling stuff (Yin types)? (A: No such sayings in Western medicine.)

But Wayne thinks there is still some truth somewhat, so moderation is key lah!

• Q: I at times feel baby kicking more when lying on my sides - is it because I am pressing on her? (A: You could run into the danger of pressing onto the umbilical cord, so just shift positions if she's kicking more actively than usual. Monitor carefully and go to the hopsital if after a bout of violent kicking, the foetal movements do not resume a normal level.)

Yikes, I was so conscious of my sleeping position last night as I wanted to make sure I wasn't hurting Rosabelle! However, it's been really uncomfortable sleeping flat on my back now (which I have to do when doing simple stretching exercises) - I can feel my chest area becoming heavy (NOT to be confused with being heavy-chested), and feeling short of breath.

• Q: I've heard of side effects from taking medication before getting on the plane. Will it affect baby's oxygen levels? (A: Nope. It's safe to take such medicine.)

We also did our last ultrasound of Rosabelle in China at the check-up yesterday (no photos this time round as our girl's face was closely adhered to the placenta, and she refused to face the screen, haha!). But according to the doctor, everything is in order, and she is actually bigger than predicted by my LMP - calculating with the latter, she should be 29 weeks 4 days old, but according to her size, she is a full 6 days ahead at 30 weeks 2 days. Wowee... she is growing fast and strong, attagirl!

She now weights 1,464 grammes (how cute is that?!), and doctor also remarked that the length of her thigh, at 6 cm (how cute is that as well?!) is quite long - good girl, go take after Daddy's height! We also caught sight of a sequence of her opening and clutching her fingers closed (think the action you do when singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Stars')... (again, how cute is that?!).

Well, Rosabelle and I have been given a clean bill of health to get on a plane in two weeks' time, and we also made copies of our case file so that I can share with the doctor back in Singapore. Thank goodness I've been rigorously taking my own notes after each session, so it's a case of summarizing key findings/concerns (or I'd just faint from having to translate all the medical reports/terminologies from Chinese into English!).

After the check-up, we went for a magnifique, oh-so-wonderful lunch at WISH restaurant in the area (slightly pricey by China standards, yes - about SGD60 for two persons), but our ordering of a divine pumpkin/cod soup (below pic) + beef (below pic) + mashed tofu + kailan + cheese dumplings + signature chocolate cake was all... so.... good. Yummy... and it helps that the service was good (attentive, but not imposing - i.e. not the kinds that whip your plates from under your nose when you are putting that last morsel of food into your mouth), and the ambience was nice... Good food, coupled with good service, always make me really happy, heh! Will try to make another trip there to try out other tempting foods on the menu before we head back!