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.

My new happiness =DDDDD

Achiever and a Mediocre, which one are you?

An achiever will become very successful in one area of life but may not be successful in the other areas. He/She sacrifices other aspects of the life for one main aspect of life. Take for e.g. a career woman, she is successful in her career, she has everything, from money to status to car to properties, but she has nothing to look forward to in life.

A mediocre, on the other hand, maybe not be very successful but he/she strives in every aspect of the life. Balance work, family and social life. Though he/she is an average person, but this person has everything. Not a lot, but enough just to satisfy him/her and motivate him/her on a daily basis to strive for more.

The man I know is such a person. A simple and happy life is all that he yearns for, that is why he may not be the richest man on Earth, but he has gained more things than what most people do. He doesn't work for money but make money work for him. He is not a slave to money but a master to money. He is not a slave to his job but a master to his job. Not that he is incapable for success; on the contrary, he is more intelligent than any of his peers. But that is the life he seeks, a life without much brain cracking and rat-racing, a life that allows him to do what he likes and spends his time with his loved ones.

Me, other hand, am ambitious. I strive to have a balance of everything while at the same time trying to be an achiever. And well, what is the result? Frequency burn-out and emotional out-break. 

I guess it all goes back to the very 1st economic theory that we learn - 

there are no free lunches in the world.   

 Things have changed for the better since the beginning of this month. Finally, throughout my 1 1/2 years in the current job, for the 1st time I feel myself growing; growing at such a tremendous rate that sometimes I find it unbelievable. This is all thanks to the intensive training by my big boss. Baked and grilled until it is well-done; this is how the training has been like for the 3 weeks. 

It is very tiring and mentally draining, but as compared to the past 1 1/2 years, I finally leave office feeling a great sense of satisfaction. One that motivates me to go on. Well, this is me. The more I learn, the more imperfect I realise I am and the more I want to perfect myself. Tell me what goes wrong, teach me how to perfect it and next time I will learn how to fish. However, this leaves me in a big dilemma.

Previously, the urge to leave the place is because of the environment and its policies and the lack of learning. However, the constant grilling by boss these 3 weeks seemed to make me slowly discard that thought. What should I do now? Should I continue to stay in a job that expands horizontally but I know that I will grow exponentially and leave the place becoming a matured adult? Or should I leave for a better job that allows me to expand vertically?

Well....I guess I know the answer. I will continue to keep a look out for better opportunity and won't leave the place until I know that the next one is able to allow me to expand vertically

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