14th - 17th week of pregnancy (II)

Food cravings are getting stronger. Nothing will seem right until I get to eat the food I have craved for.

On one occasion, I craved for fried chicken wings. Not the fried chicken wings from MacDonalds or KFC but those from the hawker centre. My hubby has no choice, but to bring me to the western food stall at a hawker centre to savour my chicken wings. 

On another occasion, I craved for economic fried bee hoon. I had that craving for one week but I had been unable to satisfy this craving. Either because, I already had a heavy breakfast or I was late for work, so as a result not able to savour the fried bee hoon. The craving was so strong that, I dreamt of it on one night. The next morning, I immediately went to get the bee hoon. It was very satisfying and everything starts to revert to normal.

My girlfriend asked, "Why did you crave for all the inexpensive, unhealthy food?"

Well, how could I answer this?

14th - 17th week of pregnancy (I)

This is not an easy month as it seems to be. 

On a positive side, there were no naseaus or giddiness for the past one month, except for one occasion, where I almost fainted because of low insulin level, else, everything is good. On the negative side, I have been having tummy pain, especially on the lower left rib area for the last 2 weeks. The pain can be so acute that it can affect your movements. Being 1st time mother, I started to get paranoid "Did something happened to the baby?" Or is it my body posture? Laying side way helps to eliminate the pain, but it ends in neck ache. Sitting face up, with back support, is not helpful, as there is continual strain in the tummy area. Thus, this month the challenge is on the tummy. Sigh...

I had dreams of miscarriage on 2 occasions too which I realised that such dreams denote anxiety and fear. This maybe correctly depicts my current state of emotions. It is not easy for a woman to be pregnant. On a positive side, it is a happy and joyous occasion of the arrival of a new life, something to celebrate, something to rejoice. On a negative side, the woman has a great responsibility of ensuring the new life stays healthy and carry the pregnancy through.

Well, someone said this to me. "Don't stress yourself by thinking of pregnancy as a negative thing. It is all in the mind. Pregnancy is a joyous occasion, make yourself happy."

That is some truth in it, though...

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.