3rd trimester

It is already the 32nd week, finally the 8th month.

Tummy is growing bigger as days go by. Baby is also getting heavier. I am also slowly feeling the weight in my tummy. Bending and squatting get more tedious.  Feel as if I am big fat elephant, wobbling my way through the streets, fat and clumsy. Nevertheless, I like my tummy.

Thankfully, throughout this period, I managed to get seats on the train. Maybe every 7 out of 10 times, I will meet some kind souls who willingly will give up their seats to me. Well, the world is never perfect, there is/are always some irritants who pretends to fall asleep or engross in their readings and conversations and chose to ignore me. Sigh....I am just too lazy and tired to fight with them. Is a karma, I always believe, whatever goes round will come back to you. Sometimes, we just have to take things as it is. And I always tell myself, the world is not perfect, everyone is unique.

Looking back, life is so amazing. It started out as an embryo, a tiny little dot inside your tummy and slowly grow into something with heartbeat, followed by the hands and legs and finally a full-grown baby.

The 3rd trimester is not as easy as it seemed to be. Most of the discomfort comes from my tummy. Tummy-ache almost everyday. The fear of eating too much, as it forces my ribcage to expand as the uterus expand. This expansion causes a lot of discomfort. Leg cramps and back pains are minimized with the help of regular prenatal massage, as it helps with the blood circulation.  

Experienced a lot of "soccer kicks" from the baby. On some occasions, baby can give up to 3 continuous kicks at one time, hahaha. And I will always tell my hubby "I bet this baby is going to be a good soccer player. He is already practicing his kicks in my tummy." I love the feelings of these kicks and always yearn for more. Hubby also loves to feel the baby kicks. Baby kicks more when I am taking a rest. The kicks are not painful and I am enjoying it. 

Baby grows more and more accustomed to classical music. It will be sleeping soundly, no kicks, no motions whenever I switch on to classical music. 

Braxton hicks gets more after the 30th week. The feelings of regular expansions and contractions of the uterus as the body prepares for delivery. At times, I could feel the tummy goes sideway, moves up and down, as if there is an earthquake or a groundshake going on in my tummy. hahahaha

This is what I feed my baby with on a daily basis - fish oil, good for brain development.

2 December 2010 - 6th visit to the gynae

Ohhhh, this is an interesting one.

Dr Ho wanted to capture a 3D shot of the baby. Several attempts were made but unsuccessful. 

When we finally managed to get a shot, we realised that baby was actually sucking its thumb. Soooooo cute. Thus, we were not able to get a good picture of its face. Sigh....no choice, have to wait for the next visit.

The November month was not an easy month. 

1st, it was my exam period and I was going at full gear for my revision. 2nd, I was already 7 months into my pregnancy. The strain on my tummy plus the stress of wanting to pass my last 2 papers made it very strenuous. 

On some days, I could hardly study because of the pain in the tummy. Sitting for too long caused the tummyache. And not being able to study on that day, makes me more stressed. Thus, exam stress and tummyache added on more stress and more mood swings. Well, these mood swings affect my hubby.

Furthermore, our maid went for homevisit for 2 weeks, and it was during my exam period. Thus, there is a need to help out in the household chores and laundry.

Thus, this visit to the gynae lightened up my mood. Seeing the baby makes me laugh and drives the stress away.

By the way, baby is already 1.5kg, still going strong =D

I am thankful.

4 November 2010 - 5th visit to the gynae

I am always looking forward to see my gynae because that will mean seeing my baby as well. Looking forward to see the baby in the ultrascan. 

I am always amazed by the technology. How does a simple ultrascan machine detect every of baby's movements, its heartbeat and its weight? However, it is this technology that enables anxious parents like us to monitor the baby's every single movements, to monitor the baby's growth, all done to give the parents a peace of mind. Well, we do get a peace of mind whenever we see that our baby is growing well.

We love our baby, we love the sight of seeing the baby on a monthly basis, especially my groggy, grumpy hubby. The sight of the baby literally lighten up his mood. You can see his smile whenever he sees the baby. Well, that sort of made Mummy jealous ("hahahahaha"). 

Like most anxious fathers, he will get nervous when the baby's mom gets tummyache, gastric pain, accidentally caught a cold, accidentally knock herself. His first reaction was to look at the mummy's tummy, as if asking "Baby, are you ok? Did mummy give you a fright?" 

"_____""""""

Mummy will look at the baby's daddy and "Hey, look, mummy is also suffering."

Nevertheless, it was a fun process with all the little hiccups, the unanticipated.

As usual, baby was active throughout the session, kicking and tossing in its limited and confined area. It is really surprised how the baby is able to confine itself in the small space throughout the 9 months. 

This is where, I wouldn't be able to understand the anatomy of the human body.

Baby is already 900grams and I have gained another 2 kgs. 

This is my favourite ultrascan. Because I can practically see the baby's face. See the nose, the mouth, the eyes. =DDDDD

What a 2nd trimester: Part III, 14 October, 22nd weeks and 4 days

I suddenly had an acute pain in the centre part of my tummy, the area below the chest and above the uterus. 

This was the 1st sign on 13 October 2010, 130am. Everything was ok, until I woke up with an acute pain in the tummy area, followed by a burning sensation. Throughout the pregnancy period, this was the first pain, I encountered such a pain. It was unusual for me. And being first time mother and a paranoid, I started to wonder if something had happened. The pain lasted for about 15 minutes.

The pain has disappeared in the morning, until it came back again after my lunch. The same area and the pain persisted until evening. Before that, my hubby had advised me to call up Dr Ho and checked about the pain. I did as I was told. It was gastric pain, as advised by the nurse. Trying to be a brave spot, I endured the pain, thinking that it will disappear by itself without any medication.

Well...this is called, "Do not act strong, if you are not." The pain continued until evening, until it was so unbearable that my hubby decided that I should go to KK Women's A&E for a check up.

What a lousy mummy. Gastric pain - go to A&E. Sigh....

The main purpose was to check on the well-being of the baby, to ensure that everything was alright. Most importantly, is to have a peace of mind. And I finally understand what being mummy is about. When the nurse gave me an option of whether to fill up my stomach with food 1st, in order to stop the pain or to check on the baby 1st, I insisted on checking on the baby 1st, knowing that I will have to endure the pain for another 1 hr. 

This is the mother instinct - everything is done with the child in mind 1st. You rather suffer, then have the child suffer. I am sure my hubby will agree with what I have done. It is ok for the adults to endure the pain, but we should not let the young ones suffer.

The nurse suspected the pain to be either gastric pain (which is common among pregnant mothers) or uterus contractions (which is a danger sign and could mean early delivery).

In order to confirm the findings, I was put on a machine for an hour plus, where I was being monitored for signs of uterus contractions. 

It was close to 9pm after the test was completed. Poor hubby has to rush from home after receiving my call of the persistent pain, skip his dinner, accompany this lousy mum to A&E and wait at the hospital for more than an hour. Well, I felt guilty towards both the father and the baby for not taking good care of myself. 

There was no signs of uterus contractions, thankfully. It was just a gastric pain. 

Now, I am more aware of the different types of pain.

If the pain occurs directly above the uterus, in the middle part of the stomach, that is gastric pain. If the pain occurs directly below the uterus, it is uterus contractions. If the pain occurs on either sides of the tummy, directly below the rib areas, it is due to the stretching of the uterus. 

Well, it pays to be curious and question about everything under the sun. At least, after spending all the money on consultations, on a piece of mind, on advices, my hubby and I became more aware of the different signs of pregnancy. 

We will soon become seasoned mum and dad after this round of pregnancy.

And there you go....my gastric medicine.

What a 2nd trimester - Part II: Visit to Thomson Medical Centre, 9 Oct 2010

We did not manage to get any slot on Saturday. The earliest one will be the following Tuesday. Being anxious, 1st-time parents, we could not wait any further. Thus, with the advice of the nurse, we reached TMC before 830am (opening hour of the clinic), hoping to get the earliest slot.

The centre was packed. Nevertheless, we managed to see the doctor after waiting for 1 1/2hr. 

Like I mentioned before, this is an active baby, constantly moving inside my tummy. But I was happy that it is active. Active = healthy. The doctor did a detailed ultra-scan of the baby's developing organs, everything was good, as per Dr Ho's diagnosis. However, when it comes to the examination of the baby's brain, the doctor has a bit of difficulty. The baby was lying on its tummy, face down (hahahaha.....). No matter how much the doctor tried to talk to the baby to look up, the baby just refused, until the mummy came in. 

"Baby baby, be good. Listen to the doctor and let her look at you. The more obedient you are, the faster we can get out of this room and meet daddy who is waiting outside for us." 

It works. Baby slowly turned its body and looked up. There it went. Doctor finally managed to get a good view of the baby. No cyst. Phew. What a relief. 

Baby tried to be a little funny before we ended the session. It stretched one of its legs and tried to use its hand to reach the toes. "So cute."

Once again, we heaved a sigh of relief. Baby is good, active and healthy.

Here are another snapshot of our pretty baby. For a moment, I thought the baby was blowing bubbles...=p

What a 2nd trimester - Part I: 4th visit to the gynae (7 October 2010)

2nd trimester, to most people is supposed to be a very easy-going period, the most relaxing period throughout the entire pregnancy. However, it does not seem to be the case for us. 

The 13th - 16th weeks were good period, not much complaints, except the regular pain in the lower left part of the rib area, appetite was good, everything was manageable, life was as per normal, business as usual.

The regular pain in the lower left part of the rib area persists. The pain will come whenever I start eating. It could last from a few minutes to 1/2 an hour, sometimes bearable, sometimes no.

This pain, as assured by Dr Ho, during our 5th visit on 7 Oct 2010, is due to the expansion of the uterus which causes the ribcage to expand. This is why, if I eat too much, it will cause my tummy to stretch and affect the rib area, thus causing pain. Thus, it is important that I take many small meals and moderate my food and/drink intake at any one time. 

We were shown the results of my blood test and the Triple Blood Test for Down Syndrome. Everything was good. 

The 2nd part was followed by a detailed ultra-scan of the baby. Examining in detail, every single developing organs of the baby. This has always been an active baby. Constantly moving about in my tummy; stretching its legs and arms; trying to reach its toes with its hands; lying side way on one moment, and lying face down on the other. Sometimes, it seems to be waving its hands at us. The detailed scan was good, except for the presence of a cyst in the brain, which was detected in the last visit. The cyst, however, has disappeared. But to be assured that everything is good, Dr Ho suggested for a 2nd opinion, i.e. for us to head down to Thomson Medical Centre to do another scan. 

We were shocked to hear the news but did as were told, and immediately fix the earliest appointment to TMC.

Baby is already weighing 400+ grams and it is within the acceptable range. We were glad to hear that. And I have also gained 8kg.

 

It is such a funny world. hahahha

On the train, some people will be afraid to give up their seat to a person for fear that they may give the seat to a wrong person, i.e. when the person is just being fat and not pregnant.

In roadshows, promoters of slimming companies maybe skeptical of approaching someone for fear that they may mistake a pregnant woman as being fat.

This is such an amusing world.