What shall I eat?

As the days go by, my bladder is getting more adaptable to the feeling of my pressing womb. Although I do go to the toilet a bit more often, it's much better and I guess I'm getting used to the feeling already. Quite glad about that. Also find myself getting hungry a bit more. Especially in the morning. Somehow, my bread for breakfast don't seem to last very long. Sometimes the hunger comes close to lunch time as well. Eating might affect my appetite for lunch so I don't really snack too much then unless I can't help it. Then in the late afternoon, sometime around 4pm, I tend to get hungry again. I've been fretting over what I should eat. Well, for one, I've been buying buns for my tea snack. Sometimes I have biscuits too. But after a while, you just wish you had nicer food to eat. It could be hot desserts, or even things like a chicken pie, muffin, chee kweh, etc. Unfortunately, like no such options at where I work. Walking to the canteen is just too troublesome too..Wish I could have easy access to lots of nice food easily! Sigh...

Mixed feelings

Went to see my gynae yesterday morning. About my bladder being pressed issue, he reassured me that it's part of the process of the expanding uterus and my discomfort should get better by 4th or 5th month. I certainly hope so. Anyway, after this visit, I'm having mixed feelings because firstly, I did not seem to put on much weight, so I find that a bit strange. Gynae did not highlight it to be a problem though. On doing the ultrasound scan, so glad to see baby grown again. :) This time we were able to make more shape of the baby. From the head to the hands to the legs. We could see that it was in a position where the hands were over its body and legs covering its genital area. Haha...so still don't know gender yet. Baby measures about 9.13cm now which is roughly about 15 weeks. Wonder if you can make out the shape in the shot below? :)

Another mixed feelings that overcame me was because the gynae noted that my placenta looked a bit low at the moment. He told me not to worry, as it has possibility of moving higher as the baby grows and uterus expands. At first I was not quite sure of the implications of this, but I went back and read up some information and understood. Well, in the worse case scenario, there's this pregnancy complication called Placenta Praevia, where the placenta is in the lower segment of the uterus and covers part or all of the cervix. Bleeding may be a symptom of this especially in the later stage. Ultimately, it also means that only caesarean section is possible for the baby to be born. However, the info that I read up also stated that at the early stage, it is almost certainly not Placenta Praevia, because as the baby grows, the expanding uterus naturally pulls away from the cervix. So there's still hope. For the knowledge of some, I thought I'd just share this picture...

Source: Babycentre.co.uk

Finally, we also did the antenatal blood test and triple test procedure in this visit. This requires drawing of blood which was just slightly painful. Guess the poking wasn't done too well as my arm is a little bruised in colour due to slight blood clot. Anyway, hope that results turn out good for us.

With all these in mind, I will still remain optimistic and really pray that as I progress along, I will continue to have a smooth pregnancy. Must have faith that all will turn out well.... Dear Dear also tries his best to encourage me. Well, grow well babe, mummy and you will be fine...

Waiting for next Gynae appointment...

Well, I decided not to see the gynae this week ahead of my planned appointment. Although I still feel the difference to my bladder since the start of this week, it became more bearable with each day. Not as bad as the feeling I had on Monday. Since I did not spot any blood, decided to just wait for my appointment this Saturday to see how things are.

Still feeling rather bloated too...though I do feel hungry a bit more often, eating always results in lots of burping which I've been experiencing throughout my 14 - 15 weeks..sometimes I wonder if this will ever stop?!?!

Ok, looking forward to seeing you on Saturday babe....

Another different experience

Today I felt something different which I have not felt for the last couple of weeks. It all started on the bus trip to work. It was crowded but I managed to get a seat. I recalled that I sat down a little suddenly or in a quick movement. And then I felt it...the extreme pressure of my bladder. Within seconds, I felt like I really needed the toilet!! This was quite shocking to me as I did not experience this before. At certain angles which I sat, it made it feel worse. Thankfully, I was able to bear with it till I reached office.

After relieving myself at the toilet, the rest of the day still felt really strange. My bladder was still having this feeling like it was being pressed against by my womb or something. I called my gynae and he suggested 2 possibilities. One was a bladder infection, which could be the result of lack of water or holding my pee for too long. The other one sounded a bit more possible, and it had something to do with the growing uterus that has pushed against the pelvic bone or pushed out of the pelvic area causing more pressure on my bladder. That was normal according to him, but he did suggest that I could observe for another day and see him if I want to.

Tried reading some pregnancy books and they don't seem to really indicate a possible reason that I could be sure of. Some even mentioned I should feel less pressure on my bladder as the womb moves upwards into the abdominal cavity...

Have not really decided whether I want to see my gynae tomorrow just to be safe...will observe and think about it.... : |

Getting a bit excited about baby stuff

Thanks to a friend's recommendation, we took some time to check out 2 wholesale outlets at Kaki Bukit that sells baby stuff like - baby cot, pram, car seat, toys, etc. Although it's still a bit early to buy some of these stuff, we wanted to see if it was really cheaper at these 2 outlets - Baby Kingdom & Baby Hyper Store.

Well, the trip down helped us to decide on the type of baby cot that we will likely buy...it would be those wooden type with adjustable height and can last for quite a while as the mattress area could be lowered all the way down as the child grows older. With all the lovely pillows and cushions placed in a cot, I could not help feeling very excited about how our little one would feel so cosy lying inside :) Even looking at the tiny little newborn clothing also got me looking forward to that day I can carry our little one in my arms.

We also checked out the prices of baby prams and baby car seats...all not cheap indeed. Hopefully we will be able to receive some items as gifts...haha...Anyway, I guess we will continue to do a bit more market survey before deciding on some of the basic necessities to get. Update again on this next time.

Crossing the First Trimester

On passing the first 9 weeks, I guess you could say that I was slowly getting used to my slightly expanding stomach and womb. I'm starting to find some of my skirts and pants tight and slightly uncomfortable to wear. Such a headache finding clothes to wear to work at this stage when I'm neither that big, nor that small...

Hence, I started shopping around for maternity clothes, particularly bottoms. Managed to get a few pieces here and there. For the tops, interestingly, the fashion at the moment seemed to favour large and long tops, which can be quite suitable for preggie mummies. So that's what I bought so far too. We also started looking at the possible hospital to deliver our first baby. It was between Thomson Medical Centre (TMC) and Mt. Alvernia (MtA). We did some 'hospital touring' on one weekend and very likely will settle with MtA.....

Anyway, by the time I had my next gynae check-up, the ultrasound showed a growing baby...with CRL now at 6.96cm. During this session, we were able to see our little one quite active! His or Her limbs were moving quite a bit and the doc was commenting quite active! So happy to see that. Too bad I don't feel anything though. Soon I will..I'm sure. :)


With that, it sort of marks the crossing of the first trimester. A grateful moment to God for taking me through what most people say is quite a tough period of pregnancy. The second trimester is suppposed to be the best period of the whole pregnancy, which I really hope so! My appetite is getting slightly better, but I won't say I'm got more energy. Still feel tired and sleepy on weekend afternoons. Especially since nowadays I practically wake up once every night to visit the toilet...they say it's nature's way to prepare for after birth when you have to be up several times a night!

I wonder if I'll ever get peaceful and restful sleep again...No matter what, I love you baby...Daddy and I hope you continue to grow well.... :)

At 9 weeks

The next visit to the gynae was at 9 weeks. Before that happened, I went through various experiences during the early stages of my pregnancy. Somehow, after the confirmation of my pregnancy, I started to be more aware of the changes happening to me. I experienced cramping which seemed a bit bad, but already started checking out forums and books and it seems like it's quite natural as the womb starts to expand. Then came the indigestion and very bad bouts of gas in my stomach. So much that I could not tell if the uncomfortable feeling was due to the womb expanding or my flatulence. I guess it's a bit of both.

My appetite was not that great too initially. I ate, but not like I really wanted to eat. I felt like I was just eating for the sake of eating. Eventually, I started to have some form of morning sickness. I would say I'm again quite fortunate in that I probably had a pretty mild case. Feelings of nausea hit me every now and then, not necessarily in the morning. It happened anytime in the day to night in fact. I didn't actually puke, but just felt like it at some points in time.

Finally on seeing the gynae at my second check-up, I was able to see the baby quite a fair bit more taking some shape! CRL measured around 2.74cm according to the ultrasound scan. The doc also allowed us to listen to the baby's heartbeat for the first time and it was so loud and fast!! Really happy and interesting to see all of that :) Anyway, he advised that my bloatedness should get better with the weeks. Could only hope so!

Oh yeah, it was also at around this time that I fell ill with sore throat, cough and cold. It turned out to be quite a bad cold as I tried to avoid taking medicine in hope that it will just heal with time. It took me 1 week to get well...so suffering!! All in hope that our little one will still be ok....

My Journey Began

The discovery of my motherhood journey began officially on 26 May 2007 when we went to a gynae to confirm my pregnancy. Well, before that we actually did our own home pregnancy test and it showed a positive. Not really believing it to be so, we also went to a normal GP for urine test. Again, positive. For the record, we conceived in April, but it's interesting not to feel anything until around the 5th - 6th week.

I guess the feeling was great at that point in time. Interesting, nervous, exciting and quite unbelievable! I was really thankful to God for this blessing that came half unexpectedly. You could say we were trying, but at the same time leaving it to the right time for things to happen. In any case, I was also getting a little nervous, not knowing what to expect for the next 9 months ahead!

Anyway, the first official trip to the gynae gave us the opportunity to first see the pregnacny sac, confirming that yes, the baby is there and existing! So small, but so interesting...:) You can see our first ultrasound picture below..can you spot where is the sac? :) We shared this joyous news with our family and decided to keep it as that for the time being. I was after all, only about 7 weeks pregnant at that point. We will be expecting a Jan 2008 baby (most probably for now at least based on the EDD), so still in time for the year of the Pig.

Well, from here on, my journey began...