my very first pre-natal massage

didnt eat my magnum yesterday. was too full. woke up earlier this morning to go buy breakfast for school. there are no kidos in school as its in-service day, so i ate bkf with my collegues. then i was off to hurry with the pile on my table. quiet and peaceful... from past experience the time creeps past, so i kept my pace and kept checking the clock! attended my 1st union talk. em... times are bad. many tots went thru my head. finally after school i head down to angie's spa.

i sneezed non-stop in class and body aching badly. i am in need for a knead. i was nervous as i always wonder if its safe. i read its safe and its good to circulate the blood.... bad news for me is that i have developed stretch marks... pretty deep purple in colour. haven been good at applying the oil on myself and gx does it about twice a week for me. apparently not good enough. once i touch the bed, my eyes shut immediately...

started the pre-natal treatment with a leg soak. followed by a body scrub. then a rinse off and the massage starts. i was so tired that the lady told me that i went into deep sleep. she said that my body is very tensed. what she did for me will help blood circulation. then i had a layer of mask on my whole body, i was still in lala land didnt hear what its for, my guess prob to firm my skin? after another rinse, anti-stretch mark cream and together with another lotion was applied all over. it was soothing and i felt very relaxed after the whole treatment. i still have one more session and spa credits left. gog to consider the post-natal confinement massage package.

do check out the website for the services! i like the service here and most of all i always feel refreshed when i stepped out from the spa. http://latouche.com.sg/index.html

WEaK 25....

Week 25 = Weak 25
went back to work on monday 23rd feb... it was so difficult to get myself out of bed! had a heavy heart when i arrived school. but the kidos did cheer me up when most of their faces light up when they saw me. why some... of cos those who always try to be funny won't be happy to see that i am back! thou very tired, after school, head to vivo when ann as we need to discuss some party details and we had kolo mee. decided to check out the WOF shop and BOUGHT my new cricket! glad they had stock this time round! this is to ward of XIAOREN! not just for that reason, it meant as a protection too. before cny i discovered my last cricket had a broken wing. dun mind carrying one just to give meself a pc of mind. Tuesday 24th feb, was exhusted after easa, decided to throw in the towel and forego my shopping money, at least $300+! decided that thursday easa would be my last... no more shopping boooohoooooo! reached home and rested my tired legs and aching body! then mil came home with a surprise. my paternal side cousin K really got me 2 baby bags from Naraya! lucky me got got 2 new baby bags!

wednesday 25th - sneezed non-stop! aching all over! my students are coughing non-stopped! sneezing non-stop! ergh!!! had no choice i had to pop a flu pill. my little baby is not as active this week. got me pretty worried. she got more active during the nite during 9pm+ but for a short while. thou tired, i cooked. using a packet of premix for buffalo wings i grilled them for dinner and they were nice! maybe i used a pack of mix for only 4 wings. wanted to try cook carbonara but didnt have any spagetti when i got home. instead gx and i shared a cup noodle and had fish fingers. did up the list of things to pack for the delivery stay at the hospital. slept with discomfort.

thurday 26th feb was the last day i am working after school for easa. am glad in a way that i can go home on the dot to rest early... been feeling very clumsy!!! keep dropping stuff and its so difficult to pick up stuff! the happy thing that happen today has to be my wish that magnum is on %! thou i have been eyeing to try the white choco magnum, i somehow still thinks i should stick to my favourite - almond milk choc ice-cream. wonder if gx is gog to allow me to have one on my own... for a healthy choice, i did buy apples and nectarine for tomolo's lunch. i have been having yogurt everyday during lunch. tomolo there will be no kidos at school. it will be a quiet day at work. wish i didnt have school too! looking forward try my pre-nantal massage tomolo, expo baby fair and looking forward to the surprise this wkend.

baby's weekend

Feb 21st Sat - slept... till i started after 1pm to clear my clutter in the room. been buying too much and dumping at my corner. then we left to have dinner at mum's place. everyone ate non-stop! mum was at home thus prep alot of food. ate yummy dishes with rice, then we had bobochacha! took a few spoons as i am avoiding eating too much sugar... it is so difficult! then aunt took the bengawan solo kuehs to the garden table where gx, uncle k and i were chatting... i didnt eat any but gx took the tapioca. then came the pears and strawberries and i was so stuffed. tot mum didnt prep any soup for me but i was wrong! i took home a hotflask filled with herbal chicken essence. slept with a very full stomach!

i know the pics looks like a warzone. it was! i woke up on sunday, drag gx out of bed, opened the storeroom, got him to bring out baby stuff given by uncle k and aunt m. about 8 bags and containers.... started with the baby wear.... i took out endless of little baby wear! took each piece out, check the label for the size then i determine which group it falls into and i did this for almost an hour! YES! 1st group: newborn - 6mths. 2nd group: 6mths - 12mths and 3rd group - after 12 mths. the clothes in the box is for babies about 3-6mths. there are dresses, tees, sweet tops, shorts, tights, jeans, skirts, long sleeves, hats and i even got shoes! the pile below is mainly for newborns till 2mths... about maybe 20+++pcs in this pile?

glad we opened all the bags cos we realised we got 4 sets of bedsheet set that consist of blankets, quilt, bedsheet and the around the cot protection which i dun know whats it called. i have 2 cots and 1 playpen at my mum's place right now. i am gog to bring home a cot and the playpen. the otehr cot will stay at mums. i have a mosquito net which i mit not use. a whole bag of cloth diapers and 2 full box of diaper liners. i have a bag of toys too!

when i finally sort the things out and cancel the items from the list of things we need for baby, stuffed them back into the storeroom for the moment, we got ready to go out for early dinner and to check out mothers work at great world city for more baby items and to use my $200 vouchers i received from my students during christmas. atfer eating kenny rogers, we head to shop for baby! thou i always wanted a braun thermometer... and its also used by H and W as they wrote in their survey, gx tot it would be a good item to use the vouchers on. then i got to pick the cloth that wraps the baby, not sure its a common term for it, swaddles? found that on the packaging. not that i like the ones that have there cos i had a hard time deciding among 3sets, but it was something we need and can use the vouchers on. we bot a set of 3 mittens and 2 pairs of socks for our little gal. in total we use $150 vouchers and top $9 for our buy. we are keeping one $50 voucher to check out the other store at tanglin mall.

after shopping, i remembered to check out the ice-cream store dap recommended. its a small counter infront of all the cold storage cashiers. the serving gal prob had a bad day... asked to try 2 flavours - teh tarik and fresh banana. as i can't take tea and i was pretty sweet for me but had the nice exact taste of teh tarik, i went for my favourite banana which was very nice. they have other flavours like pulot hitam and chendol which must have been a huge hit as there was very little left. didnt stay long there to check out the other flavours cos the counter gal had a very long face and many people were checking out grocery with big trolleys. will definitely try something from here again. i didnt find this too ex. $2.80 for a scoop. with the ice-cream we roam about to check out the place, tried out a video cam which we are not sure which brand to buy and we head home to rest. i was exhausted and slept early!

Week 24 - homestay with my baby

so fast another week past! baby's entering her 25th week! monday suffered bad weather, it was scorching, made me feel so tired and i slept once i got home but with the help of airconditioning! mil was sweet to cook oyster scallop porridge but my appetitate was poor. you won't believe it. i slept at about 5+pm, woke up at 8+pm for dinner, showered and went back to bed at 10pm. i slept with an aching shoulder...

tuesday morning woke up with a giddy brain, aching body and i slam myself back to bed... gana flu again. i told gx my tcher is gog hate me but dun think i have any choice at all... went to gynae, sat there with a drumming head and went home by taxi, got comfortable on the sofa but somehow i couldnt sleep and rest till gx got home, i went to bed early.

wednesday 18th feb- off but i woke up when gx got ready for work... couldnt sleep so checked emails and keep gog back to bed to stretch and rest. proceeded to the sofa and on tv to keep me company... the weather was still hazy. i was with google box, the sofa and on-off with laptop till 5pm. went to get my dinner as gx would be late and gosh was feeling so hot when i got home! ate my mos burger dinner, showered and by 9pm, once i got on the bed... i knocked off!

thursday 19th feb- still sneezing really badly when i got off the bed to send gx out the door. it was my last day of rest. stuck to the sofa and i refuse to leave the house cos the weather is burning and glaring to my eyes. was glad i packed myself with fishfingers and yogurt from wed's buy. watched sis' wedding dvd and in turn i watched my own wedding short clips. my baby was so cute! she kept moving when i was watching the dvd! ate so much... fish fingers, leftover pasta, plums, grapes, biscuits, oats and i had many cups of barley... i wanted hot soupy food for dinner... gx had to work till 10pm! i didnt have appetitate to eat other stuff but baby was so active for a long time! hungry? i ate so much but to appease her, i took 2 little cube cheese and strawberry pocky and i waited for gx to come home with my inlaws, had my hot wanton soup and i went to bed.

friday 20th feb - funny start for me. i seriuosly drag gog back cos i dun know what my healthy tcher thinks. i know i am weak. had a heavy heart on the train to shuttle bus and till i walked to class... am i well? before i entered class, i saw someone at my desk, sitting on my chair. weird! the subsitute they got me was doing work! i went into the other group room, and found out that the office put me off from tuesday till fri! think they heard me wrong! i said that i will be back by fri... not till fri... anyway i was advised to go home to rest, cos i looked pale! confused... i listened and walked out the school by the back door. its so weird... people saw me and suddenly i was gone. called gx and his reaction was HUH! he asked me to go back to school. but i told him what are they gog to do with the sub they got me? didnt wana get anyone in trouble. i took the bus and head home.

couldnt get off at tpy in time cos the morning train towards raffles place is JAM PACKED! i hardly could breathe thruout the train ride! i got off at novena and needed to use the ladies urgently! since ended up at novena and had to return later to head to TMC after lunch, i decided to hang around till i got my appt. i love my new haunt. when i called gx, he knew where i was at novena. Garden cafe to have my peace. had my kaya toast but i tried macadamia steamer but prefered hazelnut more! sat there read the whole straits time and decided to wake dap up! was suppose to meet her after school for early dinner! poor gal was awaken by me on her off day and she got up to prep to meet me for lunch instead.

love the quiet morning... then i head to supermarket, the only other shop that is opened besides breakfast places. then i strolled to united sq to meet dap. time flies passed so fast! dap was gog to be late so i checked out the baby-maternity shops and found the breast-pumps the ladies mentioned in the survey, true enough it had sale but i resisted remembering the good advises given. also i found the bean-pillow here, it was cheaper than the one i saw on the internet!

went to a small jap restaurant to have lunch... the row of shophouse next to united sq. Nara Jap Restaurant. when we got there we were the only ones. while dap ordered a salmon fish. i wanted variety so i ordered Sakana bento. the waitress was prob new, unable to tell me what exactly was in the set. was thankful they allowed me to change whatever tofu it was to tempura veg! was very excited when my set came! cos instead of the same salmon fish i tot i was gog to have, it turned out to be cod and what got dap and me excited was the fish was served with MENTAI on it! it was really nice! in my set, i had 2 breaded prawn fritters, tempura veg, miso soup, chawanmushi, a little bowl of veg salad appetiser, pickles and fried jap chicken bits. no pics, i didnt bring my camera... mine cost $28 and dap's $14. i love that there was plum powder on the rice, making the rice taste good! overall, i was happy with my jap lunch. glad i had dap to share my food with! i didnt gobble up the whole set on my own!

called the clinic and i was told to be there at 3pm! cos the surgery the doc was at in the morning was still on-going... we then head to a baking shop to check out the baking wares. was glad i came by to see the icing decors cos it smaller than what i had in mind when i saw on the website! head to my gynae and as usual, it was filled with people. got to talk to my gynae and he gave me anotehr day to rest as he said my nose still sound stuffy... after showing him the purple lines below my baby belly, its confirmed that i have stretched marks... head back to tpy and dap wanted ice-cream so we went to swensens to get a cone each.

i chose the chocolate peanut-coated vanilla cone while she had chocopop. we chose to sit in to finish our cone as we needed a place to chat. we had a long talk and i hope dap will get even stronger. why is there so many XIAOREN around? haiz.... parted and i head home, back to my sofa. stuck there till gx came home with my horfun! ate, watched madadasca 2 on dvd with him. showered and by 10+ i was in bed, dreaming away!

talking about dreams... this whole week i dreamt of different animals! snakes, lion and just yesterday - fruit bats! weird places and i see my family around. i dreamt of my maternal grandma... i missed her and i am sure she is happy for me that i am carrying a baby now! not sure if its because i dun feel well... my baby has been very quiet and got me pretty worried and i always look out for 5pm+ and 9pm+ when she tend to move alittle bit more! see worry starts once one becomes a parent!

Thank you so much Mummies Helen and Wendy!

since young, i have penpals from Sweden and Finland. i love waiting for the letters and parcels to come! its always a joy to receive and especially when its time to open the letter or parcel! so with the survey sent out, i was of cos waiting for replies. i was hoping to read the recommendations soon as gx and i need a shopping list! i dun expect immediate replies as many of my mummy frens are mostly working mothers. but lucky me! Helen re-emailed me this morning and also my dear fren Wendy, now staying in Australia, a lucky mum at home, emailed me within hours! i truly appreciate your time in sharing with me your experiences and thoughts! i sure hope that many more of my frens will reply soon before i put my shopping list together! for now, i am happy that i got 2 precious replies and i really am thankful to the 2 ladies for sharing! THANK YOU!

children! never-ending learning experience!

right now i am resting at home cos i am down with flu. due to the bad weather and haze, my gynae gave me 3 days to rest at home. can't nap at all with the heat! then started looking thru all the pregnancy books i bought and was given. decided to look through all the books as i have been really religiously reading only 2 books to keep up with whats happening to my baby belly and me! glad i did cos i learn new things again!

1st of all, before expecting, there are things to learn. how to take care of oneself. eating the right food esp taking folic acid, having the right care, exercise (took up a few lessons in pilates) and massages worked very well for me! right mind and attitude, guess we were really ready to settle down after all the fun we had.

then comes the good news and more to learn about one's body and the little one in the baby belly for the next 9months! of cos it doesnt end! when the baby is born, each and every month the baby grows there are new things to learn and experience! then comes other decision-making time, which nursery, where to hold bdae parties! endless...

for what i have learn so far, some things i know and some things surprised me! gx is also learning! amazing things happens but sometimes weird and unexpected things happens too! i am very thankful that i have aunts who passed down their books to me and one book i loved reading most - What to expect when expecting! its a good book to have! i am reading it slowly, by month and whenever i have questions and need an answer, this book works wonder!

well, amazing thing of cos has to be how a baby grows in the belly! every month, there are new things happening to me and to baby. the best thing that happen so far in these 5month+ is able to see baby move in scans and then of cos feel my baby move everyday! so far its gentle ripples. i was warn the ripples can become big waves! the thing i hate so far in my pregnancy is, not the morning sickness, being tired most of the time, nothing that i already know or expected or common problems beats me...

the one thing i didn't expect was skin pigmentation. i was aware that the moles, face, areolae of the breast, will be affected and will be darkenen. i am fine that its common and it will happen but the only area that i hate and didnt expect that pigmentation might hit was the armpits! hate it cos it looks ugly!!! i love sleeveless! but no choice i gota live with it for another few more months and i was glad i found the answers in the different books cos i dun want to ask my gynae about it! apparently, after giving birth, the pigmentation will go away! i sure hope it does!!!

the other book i like reading is pregnancy and childbirth, i bought this from popular bk store. this has a more asian touch and answers that we asians esp chinese need! unlike the western food list, in this book, it consist of asian food whats good and what to take less during pregnancy. the heavy hardcover Conception, Pregnancy and Birth book has the most images. its a good detailed book but i drag reading this book unless like now, pulling all the books out to flip thru! its HEAVY to read it everyday at nite! everynite i would flip either of the 2 books and read a few paragraph till i fall asleep!

as for the cookbook, started looking at it as i want to find what might help with water retension, as my legs are starting to swell alittle. also i wanted to find out if what a collegue told me was true. she recommended me to take barley water to ease my leg sores. What i found under Ginko Nuts and Barley Soup was this recipe is able to cleanse the urinary tract, getting rid of the toxic in the body.

In another book, it says Oats, of the barley family helps to maintain blood sugar levels. it helps keep one regular and boosts energy. contains more protein than other cereals and helps lower cholesterol. also it high in Vit B1 that is essential for healthy function of your nervous system and newborn baby's heart! also its high in fibre which is good for those who gets constipated easily during the pregnancy. not a fan of oats but seems like i gota give it a try! i am now afraid of getting gestational diabetes. so hearing that oats helps maintain blood sugar levels, i hope this helps me to maintain and i dun get diabetes! gx is very worried cos i have been having too much sweet during the cny.

since i can't sleep or lie down long in this heat, i am also going to prep the list of things needed for the hospital stay. found the list in 2 books and i am gog to take all the good advices and put it into my own list! still waiting for the mummies' replies to my baby survey! if you interested in taking the survey which i set up let me know! i will email it to you! elsie_thng@yahoo.com.sg it a survey where you can advise me on different baby items, from cot, pillow, mattress to mittens & botties to milk time (breast feeding and bottle milk formulae) to diapers! it would be great to hear all the advices and your very own experiences! children: never-ending learninig experience!

good things in FEB!

since pregnant, mum and mil has been pampering me with loads of goodness. stressless home stay and of cos good food for baby and me. the most expensive delicacy i have been lucky to have is BIRDNEST. mum bought the raw pieces and brew them for sis' for her wedding and for me. gx sponsored partially, cos mum didnt want to tell us how much. i still remember sis had an ugly episode with me. she took her stress out on me. my start was rather painful with people making my life so diffficult. i had my last bowl just on Saturday feb 14th , mum finished her stock and i told her i had enough bottles of birdnest to last me till birth. i can have 2bottles a week! it was very clear and i love it that the sweetness was just right. i am thankful for having 2 wonderful ladies who takes care of me very well during my road to motherhood!

Sunday 15th - meetup with my preggies frens for lunch at novena tcc! they are due in a few weeks! both of them are having boys! A is having her fourth! a boy, 2 gals and now expecting a boy. P has a little gal and a boy would be joining their family soon! dun ask me what was the conversation about... somehow when i took this photo, somehow gx face was having this "HUH" expression!

catching up with the ladies with their long 9months experience. somehow i seemed to be lucky with my pregnancy. they suffered longer than 3months of morning sickness and dun have stable good appetitate. the 2 little gals entertained themselves throughout the whole session. can't imagine when we meet again with all the little ones in the group! 4+2+1! A had to leave earlier, back to her spa, leaving P and me to continue our baby talk.

after the session, gx as promised for my VD, he brought me to orchard to shop! he was sweet as he wanted to get me anything that i wanted as a gift to thank me for carrying our baby. couldnt find what i want and i simply dun know how to spurge so much money on an item alone... but in the end i did buy things i needed. got 4 mothercare pjs at metro and enjoyed very good discount! 20%+7%+2% which helped me saved alot!

just before leaving, i spotted this little CK wrislet, so gx reluctantly let me have it. no 20% but got 7%+2%. to me it wasn't expensive. he thinks i have way too many bags... dun think any gals would ever agree that they have enough bags! we got one item on our baby list striked off, we got a electrical hot flask. we were happy with our buy cos there was a discount and what we liked about it was, it came with a button that controls the water temperature and there was one set for milk! with the buy came a free waterbottle hot flask, which will be handy for bringing hot water for baby's milk in months to come!

Valentine's Day 2009

Valentine's day 2009. it is a very special VD this year. Its our last VD alone, just the 2 of us and VD with baby in my belly for now and next year we would have a little one celebrating VD with us! woke up early and send gx to work. then i started working in the kitchen. I prepared spagetti for lunch. packed up the items for our picnic and went to meet him at vivo. went to collect the cake i ordered for our VD celebration.

we changed our plans as i was getting hungry thus we turn into labrador park instead. i think i prayed too hard, it was so sunny! didnt want to get out of my comfort zone, so we had our picnic in the car back seat! so in my cooler bag, i packed 2 packets of spagetti. the disposable bear boxes are from daiso!

i brought additional sausages, parmesan cheese and mandrin oranges! i have been eating a mandrin orange a day! right after we finished the spagetti, i was eager to eat the cake and yah gx fainted. but we still went ahead! so glad the ice-packs i got from daison kept the cake and drinks cool!

amour eternel - this was craved on our rings. it means eternal love in french. when i collected the cake, they piped the word eternel with a A instead of a E, eternal. that happened to our tiffany rings too! they have tot it should be spelt with a A instead of a E! the cake's from Awfully Chocolate and i love this banana choco cake! felt that its better than the original! love it! we had a tiny piece and kept the rest for home as we are too full!

we went for a walk in the hot sun but we were glad that there was wind. it was high tide and i love to listen to the sound of the waters! there were people bbqing, finshing and yes there were 2 sets of couples who were having picnic on the grass! Gx was in no mood to have his photos taken! many were very moody! he was complaining about the hot sun! but he was alright when he started taking pics of me! many of the pics had my arm so BIG!

these are the few shots that i liked alot! esp the one he was holding my hand! love that shot! me and my 5th month old baby belly! very fast times past, from next monday, i would be in my 6th month, 24th week! he was exhausted from working late at home, so we head home, had another slice of cake and while he fell asleep watching tv, i started loading photos, blogging and continue to do my cny video! a simple VD day but i was glad we had our outing.