Reflection on 2013.

It's New Year's Eve. A time to reflect again.

As always, I can't believe another year has passed by. Here are my highlights for 2013!

1. Moved in to live with hubba and my in laws at Tampines. It was pretty easy to get adjusted to our new home.

2. Celebrated CNY as newly married couple! This meant giving out Ang baos for the first time.

3. Embarked on a healthy eating and exercise lifestyle. Drew so many inspirations from Instagram and detox camp in Malaysia. 

4. Had an awesome trip to Seoul with mum. =D the cherry blossoms were pot of this world and we had such good food  and shopping. 

5. Found out I was preggie and I had a great pregnancy. Gave birth to our lil girl one day before our wedding anni!

6. Engaged our ID and started our home renovation! 

7. Had 3 staycations with hubba! 

8. Became a RO at work. 

Now for 2014, to be honest I have yet to come up with my list of new resolutions. But I have this feeling it will revolve around being a good wife, good mum, good family member and being healthy + happy! Will update soon! 

Happy new year everyone! 

Baby update =)

We brought leia for her check up with Dr Low at Parkway hospital yesterday. My mum and MIL came along to give us some additional help just in case we need it! Really appreciate the support they've been giving us. We really need all the help we can get! 

The clinic checked baby's weight and we were relieved to find out that she gained some! She left hospital at 2.35kg and now she's 2.75kg! phew. I'm glad that we express to give her breast + formula through bottle. She wouldn't be getting so much if I latched her. 

Dr Low checked for her jaundice and it was pretty much gone too! *happy* No need for her to go through phototherapy (I think that's the name of it? Haha). So all the sun tanning in the morning + breast milk helps! 

Now she's just left with her thyroid check so we're really hoping that she'll have normal, non elevated levels. *prays* When she had her blood test taken, my heart ached so much while she was crying in pain. So this is what it feels like to be a parent. You really don't want your child to suffer at all! I had to keep comforting her to tell her I'm there, not knowing whether she really understood me haha. At least there's a familiar voice to her!

Back at home, Leia's sleeping patterns haven't been the most ideal. She loves to sleep in the day so G and I had a few sleepless nights because she kept waking up and wanting to feed at night. I had a emo breakdown two nights ago because it was taking a toll on me and I felt so guilty and mean for getting G to help out. He's starting his new work soon and I don't want to be exhausted then. 

Then last night, my PIL offered to take over one night and thank goodness they did! My MIL managed to delay baby's feeding to midnight by using a pacifier and gave her a full feed. And baby magically knocked out for 5 hours! She also didn't switch on the light and go near baby even when she stirred and made a lot of noise. It was amazing. So we're totally trying this out tonight and hopefully it works! We were really getting desperate and considering getting a last min confinement nanny or maid to help out. *cross fingers* 

Anyway here are some pics capturing our lil girl's progress! 

The labour aftermath!

After 7 hours of labour, I was finally sent to our deluxe ward. The ward was very spacious, with a pseudo living room area with sofa for G to sleep on and guests to sit. Thank goodness we upgraded because the single wards were still rather small and less comfortable. I can't imagine how other patients can take double or four bedder wards. Must be so inconvenient and weird! 

I couldn't get out of bed for 8 hours as instructed by the nurse. Pain began to creep in because of the episiotomy that I had. My gosh it was painful compared to labour pain since I was on epidural. Lying down didn't help because I was putting pressure on the stitches. I really thank God that G was with me all the way. He really gave me the emotional support that I needed to ease the pain. 

Our first visitors were Sophie and mark because they were so nearby. My family and parents in laws visited me thereafter and brought me yummy confinement soup and longan tea. =D it was great to have them visit and see our baby leia too!

On the 1st and 2nd day, I must say the most difficult part was trying to breastfeed our baby. She couldn't stay latched on properly despite various positions and also refused m right side. I felt so horrible, as though I was starving my poor lil one. She was always crying on my chest =( in the end, both G and I made the decision to supplement her with formula milk at night so that she can fill her lil  tummy. I had an emotional breakdown on the 2nd night when leia was crying on me again. Guess baby blues were kicking in full swing! 

Oh before I forget, I must say Parkway east hospital's service is excellent. It's run like a lil boutique hotel. For meals, we always get to choose between Chinese, western and Malay options. And the dishes were always great and delicious! They also have housekeeping services to keep everything clean and neat. Their staff is always so hospitable, friendly and patient. Super thumbs up! 

Anyways, G and I 'checked out' of this wonderful hospital on the 3rd day and went home with our lil girl! 

Here are some pics!

21 Dec 2013 - Our baby is born!

It's been a week since I posted and with good reason!

After my last appointment with Dr Heng, I  popped on 21st Dec 2013 at 11.21am! We suspect Dr Heng's membrane sweep induced labour that very night. I began bleeding slightly and started having contractions at 2am on Saturday. The funny thing was that I was uncertain whether I was having real labour or false contractions. We only waited till 3am when my contractions were 2 minutes apart to go to the hospital.

The entire process seemed so surreal. I can't believe I went through it! The birth process:

4am - Reached parkway east hospital and registered for admission. I could still walk to the labour ward without being wheeled.

4 to 5am - Was asked to change into hospital wear and do urine test. Shortly after, was given enema to clear bowels and also prepare for Epidural. I was encouraged to take Epidural early in order to benefit from its effect. The epidural process was administered by an experienced uncle looking doctor. Thought the process was pretty uncomfortable and painful! Had to viral myself into a ball for him to inject it in my back. 

Was only 3cm dilated.

5am - 8am - Epidural kicked in and I was feeling very relaxed. I pretty much slept through this period, listening to Jayeslee. But I still very uncomfy every time the nurses did a cervix check on me. Really really hate the procedure!

9am - Was 5cm dilated! Doctor Heng checked in on me and broke my water bag. Apparently the nurse who tried to do it earlier didn't do it properly.

9.30-10.30am - I began to feel more pain and contractions but they were still bearable. Nurses checked and I was already 8cm dilated! It was crazy fast!

10.30 - 11.20am - I was told to start pushing by propping my legs up into frog style. I had to push everytime contraction came and there was urge to poop. This part wasn't progressing well because the epidural lessened my urge to push an I was losing energy to push. 

11.21am - In the end, Doctor Heng had to use ventouse to vacuum baby out. Just one push and baby was born! 

Because baby was stuck in my birth canal for a bit, she didn't cry immediately when she was born! This totally freaked me out and I was so scared something was wrong with her. In the meantime, Doctor Heng was still stitching me up from the episiotomy. I was only relieved after baby let out a lil cry after they cleared her mucous and weighed her. Phew! 

Baby was born at 2.50kg exact and measured 50cm! =) 

After quick check by doctor, baby was finally placed on my chest for immediate skin to skin contact. It felt so overwhelming to have her in my arms. The nurse tried to help me start latching her on so that she can learn to breastfeed asap. After a while, they pushed me back to my ward to rest whilst baby gets cleaned up! 

Here's the first photo of our lil Princess Leia after she was born. 

Doctor's visit at 37 weeks!

Had our check up today! 

Lost weight from 61.2kg to 60.4kg. Not sure why but hopefully the weight loss is from me and not baby =(

Doctor Heng checked to see if my cervix dilated and I'm already 2cm dilated! And baby's head is so low that she can even feel it! My gosh. 

She expects baby to be due anytime soon but still scheduled an appt for me on Christmas Eve just in case. 

Ahh! Our lil one is arriving soon! Can't believe it!

Awesome day.

Had a lovely day today =)

I was craving for Din tai fung so we (G + parents) had lunch there! Oo my yummy xiao long bao. It was nice to eat together! 

Visited Strip to get my *fix* to prepare for labour. Thank goodness someone cancelled their appointment so I could do a walk in. Omg the process was soooo painful cause the skin becomes more sensitive during pregnancy. Glad that it was done chop chop!

My MIL wanted to go to the Robinson's sale so we headed to Raffles city for some window shopping. G and I happily bought some decor and kitchen storage thingies for our home. We loved them cause they were so woodsy! Can't wait to use them =D

Then we bought some desserts from the basement to satisfy our sweet tooth! Tada! Bought cakes from two new dessert concepts before we headed to Starbucks for some lattes (green tea for me of course). Feels like we did many things eh! *happy dance*

Back at tampines, we visited Smiggle cause my MIL wanted to buy gifts for the kids. Smiggle has lots of colorful awesome stationery man! I think I would go crazy over the shop if I were in my teens. A lil too old for the brand now. 

We popped by body shop to get some pressie for SIL. I ended buying lots of cranberry shower gel cause they were on sale and smelled heavenly! Got the free membership card due to my big purchase hehe. Got G the sports shower gel too cause it smelled so clean and manly hehe. 👍

Ended our long day eating McDonald's together. Felt nice to spend family time with everyone. Glad that I managed to before I pop! 

Pregnancy: At 37 weeks and on Maternity leave

I just reached 37 weeks! That makes baby full term and it's safe for her to deliver anytime now. 

I started my maternity leave on the 11th dec and have been resting at home. Been trying to spend more time with G, sort out any last min errands + shopping and just have some down time. I've been trying to finish my preggie books too to be prepared for what's to come. 

I honestly feel like I'm playing some waiting game. Just waiting for the moment for baby to arrive! It can feel rather frustrating at times. The both of us can't wait to see our little one!

Symptoms wise, I started experiencing the tightening of my belly at 36 weeks but it's not frequent. And I feel lower belly stitch like pains too. I'm really not sure if they're Braxton hicks contractions or just round ligament pains. It's all very confusing to me! How do labour contractions feel like?! Even after googling, I'm still at a loss -.- I guess I will only know when I really experience them?

Maybe baby's just not ready to see the world yet. We'll probably be able to see doctor Heng this Friday!

Doctor's visit at 36 weeks!

We had our appointment yesterday! 

I think I ate a lot of sweet stuff for the past few days cause my urine test showed signs of sugar -.- not good. Shall cut down on my intake of sweet stuff and drink more water! Wouldn't want my diet to harm lil baby and my long term health.

Weight wise, I was 61.2kg yesterday. Kinda maintained. From the ultrasound, baby's weight has increased to 2.65kg which is good! According to doctor, she's a small baby so should be easy to deliver. We clarified on her head size and if an elective c section was necessary. She said that baby's head is big relative to her body but she's not big overall. So nature at delivery is still perfectly fine. Will trust her on this!

Based on Dr Heng's estimates, I will be due either next week  or the week after. Baby's head is already very engaged in the pelvis so looks like she's already preparing to meet the world! We can't wait to see you too baby! 

After the routine check up, nurse did fetal monitoring for me using this device to chart down baby's heartbeat and the womb contractions. We could clearly hear baby's heartbeat which was amazing! It was between 150-170. =)

Both G and I can't believe our baby is coming soon! Reality is finally sinking in for G cause he packed his stuff to bring to the hospital last night. And he started googling on labour signs so that we know when I'll in labour. Such a sweetheart. I guess now is really a waiting game for us! 

Staycation at Hotel Rendezvous =)

G planned a surprise staycation for us yesterday at Hotel Rendezvous. He wanted us to have one more before baby pops! MOE was having a promo for the hotel so it worked out perfectly. 

We checked into the hotel's highest floor Club room. Room was cosy and comfy, not super luxurious. Good enough for us though! 

We just spent our time lazing in bed, reading and watching TV. Felt very nua and relaxing =D That's what we love to do as a couple. Oh and of course there must be food! We ordered Mexican food from Baja Fresh and ate in our room. The food was so filling that we couldn't stop laughing at ourselves trying to finish it all. Totally reminded us of what happened during our holiday in Japan. 

I watched like 3 movies last night: Twilight breaking dawn, Life of Pi and Hunger games. Lol. G kept laughing at me for watching re-runs hehe. I couldn't help it cause he was sleeping like a pig most of the time! 

Anyways, it was a nice and short staycation that allowed us to spend some private time together. Not sure when we can do this again!

Our home reno: Lightings and aircon installed

Visited Punggol today to check out our lightings, air con and kitchen table top =D G's parents joined us since they haven't seen the carpentry yet.

Was so excited to see our lights up! Downlights for dining area, corridor and MBR were well done. 

Really really love the living room pendant light, dining light and MBR pendant light. Fits our theme perfectly! The rest of the lights were alright, nothing fancy just functional. 

Our Mitsubishi starmex inverter system was has been installed too =) we tested the aircon and it seems rather powerful! Haha. Didn't spot any leakages too so hopefully it will remain that way. 

Today, Bactera delivered all our toilet accessories so that we can tell them where to install them. So they did it on the spot and everything was done! 

Our home reno: Carpentry up! Sofa bed booked!

Major milestone this week: Our carpentry has been installed! This includes kitchen cabinets, living room shoe cabinet + TV feature wall, study room table + cabinets, baby room's wardrobe and master bedroom wardrobe.

Our room skirtings have also been changed so progress has been pretty fast! 

Living room:

We love love love the TV feature wall and shoe cabinet. The light wood grained laminate goes perfectly with the white laminate and the contrast is just sooo nice. Totally very scandi to me. The carpentry workmanship's pretty good I must say. Looks like they used quality material. 

Kitchen:

Though the kitchen was pretty dark due to the lack of light, we could still see our woodsy cabinets and drawers. We really liked the colour of the laminate used. The  white table top has not been installed yet but we can imagine it looking clean and scandi =) We were only kinda shocked that the corner piping has not been concealed by any cabinet door. Really hope it can be covered cause it doesn't look good -.-

Study room:

The carpentry looks exactly like the 3D and we really loved it. Gerald is super happy about his room hehe. We were just a lil surprised that the width of the cabinets is quite narrow so we might not be able to store so much inside. The oak skirting was also really suitable and fit the carpentry nicely. 

Baby's room:

The wardrobe is so pretty! Nicer than the master bedroom's! Lol. Laminates used were the same as the living room's and we really really like the colour combination. Was not really happy with the new white skirting though... Kinda really regret changing it =( somehow the skirting doesn't look as clean and because its light in colour, the joints are pretty obvious. Same thing with master bedroom. 

Master bedroom:

The carpentry for our wardrobe was pretty good but we kinda regret picking the grainy white laminate. Looks kinda plain and not as nice as the wardrobe on baby's room. This means we gotta work on the decor of the room to make it look nicer and cozier! 

Overall, we're pretty happy with the carpentry works! We spotted a few areas to rectify but they're not significant and can be changed fairly easily. Gotta give a thumbs up so far! 

Anyways, apart from visiting our Punggol home today, we bought our study room sofa bed too! Visited tampines courts to confirm an orange and black sofa bed which I saw online. There was a brown version too but G preferred the orange one. It's pretty comfy and easy to convert to a bed. It cost $470 in total but we managed to get it at $370 with the $100 courts voucher we got from our ID. Whee! 

Doctor's visit at 34 weeks!

We saw Dr Heng yesterday! Check up went well so I'm happy and relieved =)

Was slightly worried at the start after I was weighed. I lost 0.4kg and my weight was 60.8kg! I was afraid my weight loss meant baby was not growing and gaining enough weight. But the ultra sound proved otherwise so yay!

During the ultrasound, Dr Heng was showing us baby's position. Our lil girl has actually turned herself, with her head pretty low near my pubic bone. This means she's already close to be engaged. And her weight's around 2.23kg which is good! =) if she hits full term, she'll be around 3 to 3.2kg, heavier than what was projected at the last check up. 

Doctor again told us that baby's head is quite big and round! I hope that doesn't mean a difficult birth -.- Gonna check with doctor in 2 weeks time to see if I should opt for elective C sec. 

Based on baby's measurements, my edd moved forward again to 22nd dec! Our wedding anniversary date lol. But it might be even earlier cause I've been experiencing some brownish discharge sometimes, which is a sign of the cervix opening. Getting really close now! Can't believe it! I'm actually starting to feel scared yet excited! 

More updates in 2 weeks time! 

Pregnancy: At 33 weeks!

I'm now 33 weeks preggers! Gonna be 34 weeks in two days time. Here are the most recent pics of me!

As baby grows, I've been experiencing a myriad of changes:

1. Due to the increasing weight, I really move around by waddling from side to side. It's just easier to walk like that!

2. When sleeping, I find it difficult to get into a comfy position due to my expanding bump. I often toss and turn at night now. And I always have to wake up once to pee! *groan*

3. Since two weeks ago, purplish and reddish stretch marks started to appear beneath my belly button. Argh, so frustrating! So much for slapping on so much clarins stretch mark cream and body oil. Guess stretch marks are really hereditary.

4. Baby's movements are so strong nowadays that they shock me sometimes. Just that day, I saw her elbow/arm sticking out of my belly and it caused my belly to look oddly off shape. G saw it too and we found it hilarious. Sometimes she also pokes my ribs. And recently, she's been having hiccups quite frequently and they often feel like strong, rhythmic pulses in my belly. Just yesterday, I felt her hand/foot against my fingers and when I put more pressure, she moved against my hand. It was an amazing feeling.

5. Been getting these stitch like pains in my lower abdomen. Not sure what they are really. I don't think they're Braxton hicks since that's supposed to feel more like cramps. Hopefully nothing to worry about! 

6. I've still been getting CTS so my fingers still hurt during the nights and mornings. I think I'm getting used to the pain though! Cause it doesn't quite bother me anymore. Sometimes G massages my finger joints so that's really nice and comforting. 

7. My shoes are getting a bit snug so I guess that's my feet becoming more swollen as the day approaches. Still no need to change my shoes yet so I'll monitor my situation. 

So far, I've been facing these new things and challenges. Just taking it all in and cherishing these moments because they will come to pass and I will surely miss them. 

Our home reno: Got our bed and mattress!

G and I popped by Star Living today just to walk around and digest our lunch. Little did we know that we would end up buying the bed and mattress for our Master bedroom! 

We started out checking out some of their coffee tables and sofa beds actually. We saw one green sofa bed that seemed pretty  comfy and easy to fold out. And it didn't seem to big to fit into our study room. It cost about $670 which I guess is a decent price. But I guess we wanted to make sure our study's big enough for it and that its colour would match the carpentry laminates. 

So we ended up in the bed and mattress area of the place. G and I decided to randomly try out the different mattresses and ask about their differences. The sales auntie who served us was very helpful and patient. She explained to us the different mattress types (eg. Innerspring, pocket spring, memory foam) and told us the differences. Basically, if we want good back support, go for pocket spring mattresses because they are firmer. Memory foam mattress (eg. by Tempur) are very soft and comfy to sleep but they're not good for the back. G loves the soft ones but I thought it's better to get one that's good for health! I guess I've been brain washed from young that firmer mattresses are better in general. 

We were introduced to one King Koil mattress and it seemed pretty good! Firm enough for good back support and comfy enough for us to sleep on. It's the Ultra pedic series. Not sure what made us decide so quickly but we went ahead to confirm our order! And we even got the bed frame even though I've wanted a woodsy scandi bed frame. 

I suppose I was swayed when the auntie told me that wooden frames are not good when we are gonna have a baby since she may hit against the hard surface. My maternal instincts must have persuaded me to get the plush bed frame instead. Decided to get off white colour to try to fit to the theme hehe. 

We also opted for the frame with storage so that we can hide all our barang away. 

Total cost was $2,000! Part of it was the $600 top up for the storage space. We kinda feel more broke now -.- But I guess we have one less thing to buy and worry about! We intend to only get it delivered in Feb since we won't be moving in do soon!

Some me time.

Just had some me time today! G had a magic tournament at Dhoby Ghaut so I decided to tag along to do some shopping alone. I figured that I might not have the luxury to do so when baby Leia comes so I seized the opportunity! =D

It felt awfully therapeutic to walk and shop around by myself. I could go wherever I wanted and spend as much time browsing without feeling like I'm wasting another's time. And I didn't feel bad about walking (or waddling) at my super slow preggie pace. 

I shopped at John Little, Marks & Spencer, Mothercare and Spotloght! Love that John Little carries a lot more stuff now compared to below. They even have pretty decent clothes! I was also overwhelmed by their beauty section which carried so so many brands and different products. Was so tempted to buy and try some new brands which I've never seen before. Thank goodness I controlled myself! They also have a baby section carrying quite a bit of stuff (they have luvable friends =) 

Bought super comfy jammy bottoms from M&S cause they were on sale! And they had such cute flowery prints so I couldn't resist. And I finally decided to get my cushions from Spotlight! They're both a textured beige with red and yellow stripes. Think they'll be perfect for our beige couch =D

Felt really tired from shopping for two hours plus. I guess that's the difference when you're carrying a baby in your womb hehe. I took a break at Secret recipe and had my favorite chicken Cornish + lychee drink! 👍So gooood.

Really enjoyed my me time =)

Our home reno: Room laminates and painting done!

We made our way to our Punggol home today! Our id told us that our room floor laminates have been done so we wanted to take a look. =D 

When we arrived, we had two pleasant surprises. Firstly, they removed the cardboard protection covering our living room area, so we could clearly see our finished homogenous tiles! We were pleased that they were white enough and made our space look a lot bigger. Secondly, our walls were also painted!  Our living room and master bedroom were painted snow white. Study room was painted darker beige. I wasn't quite used to the color but Gerald was fine with it. Afterall, he wanted a dimmer feel for his study + gaming room. Baby's room was painted a very pretty pale yellow color which would go very well with her white cot! 

We were also very happy with the light wood floor laminates. Very scandi to me! But I didn't like that the room skirting was a different color (lighter and more yellow) from the floor. Just seemed a bit off to me. G helped to call our id who said he knew about it and will try to find a closer skirting. I didn't quite understand why the skirting can't be of the same color -.- Really hope he can change it!

G and I felt that our rooms see

a lot bigger after the flooring and painting works have been done. It's just quite amazing. Our home also seems like it's almost ready for move in! I suppose it will feel even more so when carpentry is done =D

Now we're waiting for the next milestone! 

Here are the pics of our home progress! 

Doctor's visit at 31 weeks!

I know, I can't believe I'm already 31 weeks preggie! 

We had our routine doctor's appointment yesterday. Had myself weighed and I'm 61.2kg now, gaining about 1.4kg. Thank goodness I didn't hit 2kg! 

When Dr Heng saw my preggie bump, she kinda exclaimed 'why so small!' and to be honest, my heart kinda sank at her words. I've been receiving quite a lot of such comments from my colleagues who see me the most. But I felt much better when she did the ultra scan and checked baby's weight. Our baby girl weighed 1.6kg which was a good weight according to her. I asked her about the expected weight when baby's full term and she estimated about 2.8 to 3kg which is fine and not difficult to deliver. She may even be heavier if baby pops later! 

Also did a blood test (nurse just did those finger prick procedure) and vaginal swab test. Oh man the latter procedure was so uncomfortable! It made me wonder how much more uncomfy delivering would be. Anyways, my blood test result wasn't too ideal =( apparently my iron levels dipped and I gotta start eating iron tablets! The doctor didn't say that it's something very alarming so I'm hoping it's not that serious. Gotta start eating more iron rich foods! 

Gonna see doctor in three weeks time next! 

Here's the latest ultrasound and baby bump pics!