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.

My new happiness =DDDDD