Food Cravings

Pregnant moms have food cravings, so do I. But sad to say, I crave for all the unhealthy food.

 1) Calbee Jagabee Potato Chips - my fav: the blue potato

2) French Fries

3) Instant Noodles

 5) Potatoes

It remains my favourite and it is still my favourite during my pregnancy. 

 4) Sashimi and salmon sushi

Too bad, these are raw, no matter how much cravings I have for these food, I cannot eat them. In the past, I used to buy salmon sushi from the Japanese kiosk once a week. Nowadays, when I walk past, I could only see but no touch. Cravings for salmon sushi has been going on for a few weeks and I can only curb the temptations by diverting my attention to other things.

I am not alone

Even though a decision has been made to continue my ACCA, which I target to clear everything by this year end, provided I am smart enough to finish everything in one attempt once again, sometimes the heart will still waver. Especially when fatigue sinks in; when you see people around you enjoying life, spending their nights and weekends merrying around and you are mugging. This is not a good feeling though. Then you will start to feel demotivated, feeling why life is so unfair, how you wish you can be like them. Well, life is that unfair. Everyone is born with a different life.

Thankfully, things do not get so disheartening. In my class, I am not the only preggie taking lessons. There are a few others, some are in their 7th/8th months or even the last month, due anytime. 

There is a pregnant lady in our class. She is into her 9th month, ready for delivery anytime. One day, I found her missing from lesson for around 2-3 weeks, which I presume she must have delivered.

I was amazed by her determination. Her determination to complete her course and continue the lesson despite her pregnancy. And she has shorten her maternity break of 1 month, just to ensure that she does not miss any part of the lesson.

I guess I am not the only one. Seeing these pregnant moms in class make me feel luckier and comforted.

To continue my studies or defer

When I told people that I am pregnant, their first reaction, other than "Congratulations!", was "What is going to happen to your ACCA? Are you going to continue or defer?" I know their concerns. And, I am very well-aware of that. Well, those who know me well, will know how competitive and how realistic a person I am. Two choices, I will have. 

One is to continue and strive to finish the remaining modules as soon as possible. It will be a tedious route to study and take the exams while I am pregnant. The energy level and the concentration power all have to take into consideration. But the benefit is, I have my youth. Studying when I am young with little commitment, i.e. when the child have not arrived, makes it much easier to manage. It is important for me to secure an ACCA qualifications before going on to another stage of life.

Second is to defer. That is, to concentrate on my pregnancy at this stage and defer my studies until my child has grown up. However, when is a good time to re-start the engine then? When the child is 1 year old? 2 year old? 3 year old? Or.....? As the 1st one grows up, there might be a 2nd one and a 3rd one. SO, when then is a good time? By the time I want to continue my ACCA, I may already be in my mid 30s and I will still be striving to start my career rather than build a career.

Time is money. Time is opportunity. Every decision I make now, will affect my future route. People who know me well, will know that I always adopt the delay gratification approach. I suffer first then enjoy.

So, well, I chose option one. The route will be tough, but I know by taking on this route, my future will be bright. Not only mine, but ours.

My achievements since June 2008. FInally, this is going to end soon. Wish me plenty of luck

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore Examination & Student Registry 12 Aljunied Road #04-02 KH Plaza @ Aljunied Singapore 389801 Tel: 65 67449865 Fax: 65 67497713

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants 2 Central Quay 89 Hydepark Street Glasgow G3 8BW UK Tel: +44 (0)141 582 2000 Fax: +44 (0)141 582 2222

Examination Status Report

Following the June 2010 session at 31-JUL-2010 your examination status is: Paper Details Status Date F1 Acc. in Bus. Exemption JUN 08 F2 Man. Acc. Exemption JUN 08 F3SGP Fin. Acc. Exemption JUN 08 F4SGP Corp & Bus Law Pass JUN 08 F5 Perf. Man. Pass DEC 08 F6SGP Tax. Pass JUN 08 F7SGP Fin. Rep. Pass DEC 08 F8SGP Aud. & Ass. Pass JUN 09 F9 Fin. Man. Pass DEC 09 P1SGP Prof. Acc. Pass JUN 10 P2SGP Corp. Rep. Pass JUN 10 P3 Bus. Ana. Pass JUN 10 P4 Adv. Fin. Man. To be attempted * optional 2 from 4 P5 Adv. Perf. Man. To be attempted * P6 Adv. Tax. To be attempted * P7 Adv. Aud & Ass. To be attempted *

Appraisal with boss

It was a fruitful and heart-to-heart appraisal with my boss. 

She has became more humane, more understanding and more empathetic towards our situation. A boss, who is gradually putting herself in her staff's shoes. No more of "If I can do it, why not you?" Perhaps, the high turnover rate makes her re-look into her management style. 

Throughout the session, she kept telling me "Be careful with your movements nowadays. Take good care of yourself. Don't be like me, so careless." I was thankful for that but at the same time, felt sad for her. 

"Do you know you write very well?" that was her 1st comment.

"Huh?" was my reply. "I know I write better than I speak," I told her. "But seriously I don't deserve the "very well"" I thought to myself. 

I was very happy to have that compliment. Because I have always been trying very hard to improve both my communication and writing skills. Getting such a compliment, you know is an effort paid off and it motivates me to work even harder.

"You do things very fast but careless as well," was her next comment. "Gasp," I thought to myself. That was not the first time I heard that. My husband has always been penalizing me for that. "You never check your work before you submit." And well, I know whenever he says that, I will get a scolding. 

"But well, I guess because you are not a detailed person," she continued. 

"Yes, I agreed." I am not a detailed person. For years, because of my job nature, I have been trying hard to be detailed, to be meticulous. And being detailed is always a chore for me. On one hand, you want to get the assignment out as soon as possible, but on the other hand, you know that your job nature does not allow you to submit an assignment just like that - without much details, without much information. That is why, it often irks me when my superb detailed boss, wants an assignment to be changed again and again and again. It really pissed me off. That is also why, my husband did most of the planning for our wedding. Well, he is more detailed than me.

That marks the end of our appraisal, a 1 1/2hr. Though it is long, you know you get something out of it.

I would like to take this opportunity to show my appreciation to a young lady. Out of kindness, she helped me, a preggie to get a seat from a train, but in turn was scolded and shouted at by a young Indian man. I felt very bad for her and was aghasted by this young man's behaviour. 

This happened on 17 Aug around 130pm on an East bound train at Bugis Station. I was standing in the middle of the train, hoping that someone will give up their seat to a pregnant mum, but to no avail. I was neither surprised nor disappointed. Because taking public transport as a preggie for many months, I have never come across anyone who once offered their seats to me. Even so, I had to give up my seat to an elderly or a preggie whose tummy is bigger than mine.

It was at Bugis Station that someone finally left his seat and I was delighted. It was a reserved seat. At that moment, a 20+ year old Indian man rushed towards the seat. This young lady, out of kindness, tapped on him and asked him to give up the seat to me. 

"Why did you tap me?" shouted the man. 

"I wanted you to give up the seat to this lady. She is pregnant," replied the shocked lady.

He turned around and looked at me, but does not seem convinced and proceed to the seat. 

"What an embarrassing sight," I thought to myself and I told the young lady to "Let it go, I am fine. No point fighting with him."

In a rush, I forgot to ask for her name but this act of kindness gives pregnant mother like me a hope. A hope that, we do still have kind souls who are willing to stand up for the less privileged.

Once again, thank you to you, young lady.

From a very grateful mum.

Searching for a suitable milk powder for the mum and baby

Advice from the doctor - choose a milk powder with high omega 3 & 6 and DHA.

Importance of music during pregnancy

We have developed a habit to listen to classical music to sleep during the pregnancy period.  According to research, listening to classical music provides a soothing effect for the baby. It makes the baby feel more relaxed and also the mummy and daddy. Babies are more accustomed to rhythms  which is what makes classical music suitable. And that is the reason why if you put your baby close to your heart, it will fall asleep very fast. This is because of the rhythmic heartbeats of the adults that makes the baby feel relaxed. 

Samples we received from the clinic

The sketchbook

By the way, here is the baby's sketchbook, detailing every parts of its growth. The front page is reserved for its photo.

5 August 2010 - 2nd visit to the gynae

Finally, the long awaiting day is here. I get to see my gynae and my baby again. So happy.

"How are you doing?" asked Dr Ho. "Everything was normal, no more symptoms," I replied. "You were lucky," remarked Dr Ho. "So was it normal?" I sought for further assurance and me and my hubby started to look at each other. "Yes, you are," assured Dr Ho. Phew! 

Here you go. 6.5cm in size. Growth of 4cm in 4 weeks. Woah! Incredible. This time round, we were able to see the baby more clearly. The face, the nose and the mouth. The hands and its fingers. The legs and its toes. Throughout the scanning, the baby was moving up and down. Dr Ho said that we were lucky today, as the baby was lying on its back, so we were able to see a lot of the baby today.

Heartbeat - 162bm.

Week 9 - 12 (9 Jul - 31 July 2010)

The 10th week was a torture. The feelings of nauseas and giddiness were strong. Two days in the week, I almost fainted. I suffered from moments of low insulin levels, breakout of cold sweats and giddiness. This was not an easy week. I tried not to stand for too long and to take many small meals a day in order to ensure that the insulin level is normal. Thankfully, my appetite was normal and was still able to eat without vomiting. Given that my mode of transport is by train and buses, this was not exactly very helpful. The tummy was still not showing and thus, it was difficult for passengers to give up seats for you. Most of them will think that I am just being fat, having a bulging tummy, thus, nothing abnormal. 

Thankfully, the tough times were short. From the 10th week onwards, life was back to normal. No more nauseas, no more giddiness, no more bloatedness, no more tiredness, no more tummyache and no more constipations. Appetite was as per normal. The feeling of being normal, without all the supposedly pregnancy symptoms made us worried. Is it normal to be normal during this period? Is it normal not to have all these symptoms anymore? Did something happened? Thankfully, I am not the only one, some preggies also do not have much or any symptoms throughout their pregnancy. Hearing stories from these experienced preggies gave us a little comfort.

Despite the little comfort that we get, I was still hoping that I could see my gynae as soon as possible to further confirm that the new life is still there....and I was normal to be feeling normal during this period.

8 July 2010 - Hubby's birthday and our 1st visit to the gynae

Kool, the day has come and here we are to Dr Ho's clinic for our "Ooopss! Gasps! Is that true?"

This day was specially selected because is my hubby's birthday. I would like him to have this birthday present - a birthday present that marks the beginning of our new life.

Dr Ho has a non-threatening, friendly and fatherly look. A look that makes me feel comfortable and wants to tease and joke with him. One whom I know, will give a shy smile for a joke cracked. 

The session was started with "Why were you here?" "Errrr.....what a question to ask?" I thought. "We had a positive test," I replied. And in my mind, I thought "This is equivalent to striking a lottery of a century...hahahahhaa" "We wanted to boost the birth rate," my hubby said. And 3 of us broke into laughter and the ice was broken.

"In the next few minutes, you will be able to confirm your findings," Dr Ho said. "Kool! That was what we have been waiting for." We looked at each other, caught a breath, finally....it is here. "What symptoms do you have?" asked Dr Ho. I started to "blah blah blah" about the amount of discomforts I had for the last few weeks. Those were discomforts, but they were blessing in disguise (I couldn't help grinning to myself). 

Scanning began. Look at what we saw! Amazing! Unbelievable!

A new life appearing inside my tummy. Look at the size - 2 cm big, the size of a pea. Ohhhh, so fragile, so vulnerable. A new precious life is growing inside me. I shedded tears of joys when I saw the new life and its movements. This is unbelievable. Now its well-beings are dependable on me.

Here's another one. Its heartbeat. At 182bm, that's very fast. So much more assured when we hear the heartbeats.

Week 8 (28 June 2010 - 3 July 2010) Part II

The anxiety continues throughout the week.

What can I eat? What can I not eat? What should I look out for? What should I expect? Every moment is spent on the website, searching for information on first trimester pregnancy. Things to expect, diet to follow, etcetc.

The days of nauseas, giddiness, bloatedness, tiredness and tummyache continue. The only difference is, I begin to be more aware of the symptoms and more cautious of my movements. No more running, no more dashing around, no more throwing tantrums. Everything is done with the baby in mind.

I am extremely careful with my diet now. No more raw food, i.e. no more sashimi (there goes my raw salmon for 9 months "__"). No more icy cold drinks or ice-creams ("__"). No more coffees/cokes/chocolates - so no matter how sleepy I am, I have to force my eyes open without any support from caffeine; but thankfully, I am not a caffeine addict, so not much effect on me. No more sausages and tibits and maggie mee ("__") due to the high amount of preservatives.

The mindset has also began to change. The hack care attitude of the past - you do not bother about what you eat, what you do, how you react - the temper, the tantrum - all these have gradually reduced. The life and mindset now are so different from the past. Whatever me and my hubby do nowadays take into consideration our baby. Because, whatever both of us do, act or say from now onwards will affect our baby. Our baby's senses are developing. Its ears are growing and it may already be eavesdropping our conversation =p

Week 8 (28 June 2010 - 3 July 2010) Part I

This is a week of anxiety, a week of uncertainty, a week of "Oooppss!" "Gasps!" "Oh no!" "What should we do next?"

Should we break the news and share this joy with everyone? Or "hush hush" until the most crucial period is over?

Being first-timers and being extra, superb cautious couple, we decided to be pandan ("superstitious") and let it remains a "hush hush" event.

The 1st thing we did was to search for a gynaecologist to confirm the test. Through website forums and researches, we decided to settle for Dr Ho Kok Kee from Mount Elizabeth  & Mount Alvenia Hospital. A good, caring and experienced gynae is important to us, as he/she will be with us throughout the 9 months; guiding young and inexperienced couples like us through the pregnancy process. However, we realised that choosing a good gynae is like going through a trial and error process.

Here's our gynae =D

"Dr Ho graduated with a M.B.B.S. degree from the University of Singapore in 1975. After serving National Service in the Singapore Armed Forces, he began his Ministry of Health traineeship in Obstetricians & Gynaecologists at the Kandang Kerbau Hospital. In 1984, he passed the qualifying examination for Membership in the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists of London, and subsequently received his Fellowship in the Academy of Medicine, Singapore. Dr Ho served in the government service for ten years before beginning his own practice at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre in 1998. Besides local patients, he also has a large number of patients from Indonesia, Malaysia and the ASEAN region. In order to improve the service, a branch located in Bishan was established in 1992. "

27 June 2010, 11:14am at First World Hotel, Gentings Highlands

This is a very special day. A day to rejoice, a day to celebrate. No words can describe our feelings at that moment.
And most importantly, this is a day that marks the new beginning of our life. A day to introduce a new member into our life.