Baby Spurts - week 34

See the big picture

Welcome Week 34!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

See what your baby looks like this week.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

By this week, fatigue has probably set in again, though maybe not with the same coma-like intensity of your first trimester. Your tiredness is perfectly understandable, given the physical strain you're under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning, while trying to get comfortable. Now's the time to slow down and save up your energy for labor day (and beyond). If you've been sitting or lying down for a long time, don't jump up too quickly. Blood can pool in your feet and legs, causing a temporary drop in your blood pressure when you get up that can make you feel dizzy.


If you notice itchy red bumps or welts on your belly and possibly your thighs and buttocks as well, you may have a condition called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP for short). Up to one percent of pregnant women develop PUPPP, which is harmless but can be quite uncomfortable. See your practitioner so she can make sure it's not a more serious problem, provide treatment to make you more comfortable, and refer you to a dermatologist if necessary. Also be sure to call her if you feel intense itchiness all over your body, even if you don't have a rash. It could signal a liver problem.

Slide your way to slumber "In the third trimester, turning over in bed is a nightmare. The solution? Big satin pajamas and even satin sheets — the slipperiness of satin helps tremendously!" — Carrie

Momma Bump - 33 & 34 weeks

Hello!!

Here's momma bump taken on the 34th week =) Measurement: 104cm. Current weight 61kg... =(

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Darn those Hormones!!

I grew up believing that hormone-related moodswings were... a cop out. That is, it is possible to control those emotions. And I don't remember having an episode of the "once a month psychotic break".

Here I am in the final weeks of my pregnancy and I'm finding it hard to fight those emotions... This week has been especially tiring. Out of no where I just start feeling blue. No antecedent... It's just BANG, and I feel bad... and my tear ducts become oh-so-weak.

Now I'm sitting in my room and crying to Two is Better than One by boys like girls. Do you know how silly that sounds?? It's a happy love song for goodness' sake!! Sigh...

And today in antenatal class, I actually teared at a delivery video!! A lump in my throat developed when the lady in the video was huffing, puffing, and pushing. Then when her baby came out. My heart skipped a few beats and I fought so hard to hold in the tears.. and not risk looking like a complete idiot!

I just feel so out of control... Darn those hormones!! Oh Lord.. just a few more weeks... Hold me.. please hold me now...

The CTG Experience

Our last checkup was on Wednesday, and everything was great, except that she's still breech. =( Justin's still calm about it though.

Then yesterday, her movements changed a little. She was less active. Her normal pattern is such:

She wakes when I wake, usually around 8.15am. There are usually a few nudges here and there, nothing big or sudden (typical of a girl rite? =D).

At about 9.30-10.15, she really starts her morning aerobics. Lots of big waves on mommy's tummy, and it seems as tough she's really close to the surface. So a gentle rub on my tummy and you'll be able to feel her! This continues on till about 11.30 or so. Usually she finishes her 10 movements around this time.

Then there's a short break for lunch and after lunch, she's probably energized by the food or annoyed by the sounds of my digestion, so she moves and squirms again!

Then it's lots of rest till about 2.30pm. Rest again till 3.30ish -4pm. That's when she's super super active again! Then we leave office, she enjoys the car ride and falls asleep again till 6pm when daddy comes home. She moves about when he's back. She most probably misses his voice after a long day of listening to screaming mommy and her screaming students.

After that, she's quiet till after dinner. And in the past week, has been awake somewhere around 9pm. When I sleep, she sleeps. The routine continues.

Yesterday she didn't follow the routine. In fact her 10 movements finished at 1pm. And at 4, she wasn't moving much. This carried on till the night. Moved about when daddy came home, but after that, nothing much... My night was spent trying to relax, prop my legs up, lie on my side, everything, to try to make her move. And nope.. nothing much.. I prayed and prayed... But my emotions were all over the place and it was just so hard to listen to Him...

That's when we started to really worry. cause we've heard how these atypical movements can signal that the cord is entangled, or around baby's neck etc... and the midwives in antenatal class and at the hospital mentioned to just go to the emergency ward should any variance in movement happen.

We tossed and turned, weighed the pros and cons and finally decided, at 12.30am, to visit the emergency ward for a CTG (cardiotocograph) which jots down baby's heartbeat. This can give insight as to whether there's anything wrong e.g. cord round neck, etc.

2 discs were strapped to my bump and I heard her heartbeat for a full 25 mins. It was amazing to hear her heart go. But then my heart would skip a beat when it became faster/slower. And I also heard her kick the discs, big "doof, doof" ... Must've been invading her space. =)

So yeap, the midwife assured us that she was very active, told me to get some rest and to learn to worry less (yeap... hehehe). And this cost us RM71.

We left the hospital at 1.20am and were seriously drained. But Justin reminded me, that trading a little sleep and money for assurance that our girl is fine was worth it. =) He even joked "Hey, so now we can say that we've had the CTG experience!" hahahhaha. I love my husband, he's just so cute!!!

To all my friends out there who are worry-warts like me... one thing I've learned, since we're no expert in this, and there's no way can tell if everything's alright... there's nothing wrong in being extra cautious. As the midwives said, once you feel off, just pay a visit to the ward and get a CTG done, it doesn't harm the baby, it's affordable, and most importantly, it's better to be safe than sorry. =)

Thank God everything's fine!!! =D


p.s, today, she's back to normal.. in fact, she's more active today... it's like she was making up for yesterday.

Feeling a little teary-eyed

I didn't enjoy today's antenatal class. Mainly because I've been feeling 'off' this whole day. For the whole day a cloud of heaviness has been following me. And I just realised it's the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Antenatal class covered topics on labor and breastfeeding. All of a sudden I just felt this great burden. I kept thinking, I'm not ready for this... how am I going to cope with... and with ... and with ... and then with....

Now it's just spiraled down to me wondering if I'll even make a decent mother. This tiny helpless, defenseless baby is mine to care for... I am her primary caregiver... Her life will depend on how well I do.

At this point, I just wish I could keep her inside of me... At least I won't need to stress if she's getting enough food, sleep etc.

And then there was a segment in the class where the trainer described labor and said that it will be painful... very painful... And all those horror stories I read and heard about came to mind... So right now I'm feeling... just overwhelmed.

On top of that, my laptop decided to crash. For no good reason, crash! Blue screens have flashed acrossed my eyes this entire evening. I've not mentioned, it's still new!

So I am teary-eyed now... All of a sudden... things just seem to insurmountable and scary... All of a sudden, I just feel so small...

Is this just the hormones?

Momma bump - week 31

Here's a pic of my bump for last week =)

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Waist currently measures 102.5cm =)

Baby Registry is Officially Open!

We would like to hereby announce the opening of our Baby Registry!!

We already have a few items taken up by wonderful wonderful friends (THANK YOU!)

Feel free to browse our page should you like to bless our little one with a gift =)

Once again, thank you for dropping by!

.:Baby Registry:.

Love,
Justin & Sher

Things people don't talk about

I've always had a habit of being a busy body. Especially when it came to things that I knew I would one day be a part of, e.g. relationships, marriage, parenting. So I remember listening attentively to older women talk (or gossip) about their marriage, spouse, parenting, kids etc. Kinda my way of researching if you'd like.

But I've realised that being Asian means that there will bound to be things people won't talk about. Afterall, we've always been told never to "show our dirty linen" to the entire neighborhood. =/ There are heaps of truths in that wise saying. But sometimes I can't help but wonder... whether the world would be a better and less scarier place if people owned up once in a while that life ain't perfect instead of trying hard to cover everything up and create this facade. But hey, this is just strictly my own opinion.

My husband is a very private person, whereas I'm a little more.. opened. Because we are one, a lot of my reflections, speed bumps, trials and such involve him as well. So how much to share, when to share, to whom to share has to be taken into consideration. I shall attempt today to share a little of what I've been going through these past 32 weeks and 2 days.

1st trimester:
Finding out we were pregnant was a bit of a shocker. I've always known when I ovulated. That September 09, we had decided to try again and to my dismay, no signs of ovulation emerged. Only thing different was that we argued alot. I was constantly angry at anything and everything. Poor Justin. =( When we got back from a short trip to Singapore, something just didn't feel the same, and I told Justin, i'm 2 days late (but that's nothing big cause I've been later than that before). Did a pregnancy test and a very faint line appeared, tried again 2 days later and voila, a nice positive mark. I was happy, but I think... at that point I was more anxious and worried than happy... afterall... we had just lost a child 3 months ago.

Weeks that followed that were filled with lots of adjustments. Quite quickly I was tired, queasy all day long, and unable to do many things. Justin was shoved straight into assuming the new role of caring for me and himself, doing chores, ironing clothes, listen to my woes and worries etc. He had to (almost within 2 weeks or so) adjust to not having his "wife" and instead, having a sick and paranoid cat to deal with... On hindsight... I can't imagine how hard it must have been for him. As I grew more advanced into morning sickness, I also grew to be more demanding. Hence, took much much more than I gave. Lots of arguments broke forth in this trimester... I think both of us were just not prepared for the physical and emotional changes that came really really quickly after the positive sign appeared. It was as though we had stopped being a couple.

Second trimester:
Things were much better physically for me in this trimester. But for the past 3 months, a pattern had been established where I took and Justin gave. Even when I felt better, I got lazy... I stopped cooking and we stopped talking over the dinner table, we stopped spending time with each other doing couple things. Because all I could think of were things that we needed to get for the baby, baby names, and all things baby! With my new burst of energy, all I wanted to do was shop for all things baby!! Imagine the poor husband... who had his wife on temporary leave of absence for 3 months, to have her back.. only she's too caught up doing things for another person. Sigh...

We argued a whole lot this trimester too... it was a tug of war... On my part I couldn't understand why he was aversive towards the baby, and on his part he couldn't understand why everything changed all of a sudden and why he couldn't have his 'old' wife back.

Third trimester:
With days passing like hours, I admit having my head filled with worries about labor, birth, health and development of my child, the aftermath etc... But it has finally hit me... in 6-7 weeks' time, we'd never be the same again. Two will become three... then there's this sinking feeling that I've wasted many chances in the past few months to spend good quality time with my husband... my partner... my soul mate. Oh Lord.. I pray that we still have time left to mend whatever that needs mending. Amen.

Baby Spurts - Week 31

See the big picture

Week 31

How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

See what your baby looks like this week.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

Have you noticed the muscles in your uterus tightening now and then? Many women feel these random contractions — called Braxton Hicks contractions — in the second half of pregnancy. Often lasting about 30 seconds, they're irregular, and at this point, they should be infrequent and painless. Frequent contractions, on the other hand — even those that don't hurt — may be a sign of preterm labor. Call your practitioner immediately if you have more than four contractions in an hour or any other signs of preterm labor: an increase in vaginal discharge or a change in the type of discharge (if it becomes watery, mucus-like, or bloody — even if it's pink or just tinged with blood); abdominal pain or menstrual-like cramping; an increase in pressure in the pelvic area; or low back pain, especially if you didn't have it before.

You may have noticed some leaking of colostrum, or "premilk," from your breasts lately. If so, try tucking some nursing pads into your bra to protect your clothes. (And if not, it's certainly nothing to worry about; your breasts are making colostrum all the same, even if you don't see any.) If your current bra is too snug, you might also want to pick up a nursing bra. Choose a nursing bra at least one cup size bigger than you need now. When your milk comes in you'll be grateful for that extra room!

If you're having a boy, you and your partner will want to take some time to think about whether or not to have your baby circumcised. Find out the pros and cons from your doctor, and what the procedure involves.

The fun stuff: CLOTHES!!!

Here's the difference between having a baby boy and a baby girl (in my opinion): there's so much more fun shopping for baby girls!!!!

I admit I've been drawn.... very very drawn to little clothes and little shoes!! But.... I haven't bought much. =) Thank God I haven't, cause a month ago, some nice church members blessed our girl with a bag of baby clothes - mint condition and pretty ones too!

I have a small box of clothes I've bought... the real special ones. And here's a peak at my favorites. =)


Last Sunday, my mother in law showed me the fruits of her labor part one! 100% hand sewn and knitted. Isn't she amazing?? Check out the detailing! Her workmanship is out of this world!! Pictures don't really do justice though.

Making waves on my Tummy

Lately our girl's movements have transformed from hard kicks to long strokes. Kinda like those you make when you stretch your limbs, or shift position. With her current size and space constraint, her movements are really visible - they look like waves on my tummy!! hehehehe.

Even now as I'm typing, she's wide awake, busy shifting position and finding a comfy spot for her next nap. =D

This is my new stress relieve during work. I get to watch her move about, and try to imagine which part of her's doing the moving. =D I get this morning shift all to myself. Whereas the night shift belongs to daddy when she entertains him with more waves and heartbeats!

I love this part of pregnancy... Sometimes I wish I'll stay pregnant longer =/

Becoming a father

A father? Aren't they the guys you see on the expressway during school holidays, perched behind the wheel of a Tarago [MPV] filled to bursting with mattresses, bikes, and assorted domestic detritus and through the fingerprint-encrusted window you can see the slightly crazed look on their face... the kind of look that only comes as one enters the eighth hour of listening to repetitive jangly songs about rabbits and choo choo trains?
Taken from "So you're going to be a dad" by Peter Downey.

If you follow my blog, you would notice that I hardly talk about my child that is due delivery in June. Even on the baby blog, I only posted a single entry. This is partly due to the fact that I am quite a private person, keeping most of my inner thoughts and emotions sealed away, privy to only the closest people in my life. Secondly, I wasn't clear about the many emotions I was feeling and was hesitant to share them. I was also feeling some guilt because I was not rejoicing over the fact that I was going to be a dad. But changes to the way of life and problems adapting to it drove me to find ways to adjust. One of them being reading about becoming a dad.

Reading about other dads and their reactions towards the change of their lifetime, I was comforted by the fact that my not-so-enthusiastic response was common among many of them. Here's a line I found represented me very well, almost word for word.

A father? Me? My father is a father! His father was a father. I'm only a son. Worse, I'm just a boy, a child. I've only just left home. I can't even iron my shirts properly. Panic! Changing nappies? Me? - Downey, 2005.

Believe me, it is quite a paradigm shift changing from someone who takes to someone who gives. Being a son denotes having shelter, provisions, and essentially having someone to lean on in times of need. It means having the comfort and total confidence that this someone will take care of you and not let you down. Being a parent means becoming that someone, having your life revolve around your child, providing for and teaching this midget that (should) looks astonishing like you. It means bearing the well being of someone other than you, firmly on your shoulders; that without you, they will surely not survive.

This is a huge responsibility, especially if you were provided for very well by your parents and it was one that scared the heck out of me. I thought I was being selfish and not such a good husband/father-to-be for thinking all these things. But it seems, I am not alone. I too had to learn how to iron my clothes ever since Sher-Mayne got pregnant and was more tired.

So, I will be a dad in less than 2 months time. That is when I will get to hold my child in my arms for the very first time and my life will never be the same again. Believe it or not, it will be the first time I will be holding a baby in my arms. I really do not know what to expect.

One Year Later

Yesterday, exactly one year ago, I vividly remember waiting anxiously at the gynae's office for more than an hour, and then hearing the news that we were indeed pregnant, although it was still too early and no gestational sac was seen yet. I also remember announcing it at my grandma's. I still think of that baby, we refer to him/her as our first child. Never knew if it was a he/she. I still miss that baby. We named him/her Bubby.

It seems that in the short span of 365 days, we've been through a few years' worth of stuff. And one year later, here we are with baby no. 2 at 30 weeks and 6 days. She's a healthy and strong one who is mostly awake at 10.30am and 10.30pm. Who jiggles a lot when there's smooth jazz or daddy's gentle guitaring in the background.

Looking back at the past 365 days, it's been a heck of a journey. Scares, tears, fears, joys, you name it, we've probably had a sample of most emotions known to man. And after all these days... I find that the only thing I can think of is how Faithful our God has been. He is simply amazing!

Today as I look upon the cross on Good Friday, there's a new understanding on the vastness of His faithfulness... The Crown, the Cross, the Blood, the Salvation, everything is just amazing. To think that the Lord of the Heavens would care for me is just so... Wow.

Lord You are Amazing, exceeding, abundant, above and beyond everything!

p.s Here's a peak of the proud daddy and the bump @ week 30 and 4 days =)