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.