Sunday 29 November 2009

Week 9: Fierce Daddy and Repulsive Smells


I am developing a belly already. No it's not my normal blubber around the tummy. I can actually feel my womb area tighten as it stretches over time. My uterus is now allegedly the size of a grapefruit and Bean is as big as a raspberry!

I have been having trouble sleeping. My back aches and no matter how I turn I can't seem to get comfortable. Last week, cramps in my uterus kept me awake so I told R about it. He lifted my t-shirt and whispered to my belly, "Please be good and let Mummy sleep or I'll spank you when you come out." Shortly after that the pain miraculously went and I fell asleep.

On another occasion I complained to R that I wasn't getting enough sleep because I was going to the toilet three to four times a night. He asked Bean very nicely, to "Please don't keep Mummy awake, she needs to go to work tomorrow, and she's trying to help you grow." That night I slept all the way through. Which leads me to conclude that, Bean is afraid of his father, and bullies his mother!

I notice I keep referring to Bean as "he" and I don't know why. From the moment I found out I am pregnant, I have been getting this feeling that it's a boy. And a boy with a real appreciation for Asian food too.

I have been raiding my cupboard for the different sauces I've collected during my various trips home and they are depleting at an astonishing rate. I have had Ma Po Tou Fu, Braised Chicken, Mushroom and Potato, Nyonya Sambal Prawns and Garlic Chilli Vegetables.

I was never a big meat person but I find myself eating and craving a lot more meat as I find the smell of some fish extremely repulsive. Poor R had to brush his teeth after eating some mackerel the other night. I was normally an orange juice lover but now I only want clear apple juice. I also feel I am alot more emotional. I cried twice last week over some small setbacks and for once I actually felt I couldn't stop wailing!

This week's major developments include:
  • I went to the clinic to do a blood test to check my thyroid levels as I know women need to increase their dosage of their medication when they are pregnant. My results are still satisfactory, although it has shown a dip and that means I will need to up my medication sometime soon after another blood test in 6 weeks.
  • The midwife came to see us on Sunday and told us Bean's estimated due date is 28 June 2010. She's also booked me in for my 12-week scan and a series of blood tests.
  • I met my Finnish friend, K, for lunch last week and found out to my delight is she pregnant too! She is five months now and we have arranged to go maternity clothes shopping together!

Thursday 19 November 2009

Week 8: Dealing with change


After I did the ultrasound at the hospital we told our families the good news. R's sister was so happy she cried but my Mom was so shocked she went all quiet on the line. And then it was followed by, "I don't believe it! How come so fast?" I gave her a few days to take in the news and I think she is slowly coming to accept she is going to be a grandmother. 

The truth is we didn't exactly plan for this baby. It was the morning after our wedding, we were still dizzy from the euphoria, we were still in our wedding suite in the hotel and we decided on impulse 'hey let's just do this one last thing before we check out of the hotel'. And so Bean was created. On our first attempt to have a baby. 

I was so convinced that even though we didn't use any protection I wouldn't get pregnant, even though I was fertile then. I mean, come on, who gets pregnant on their first try?! Everyone usually moans about having to stare at the sad lonely pink line on the dipstick for month after month after month. 

And here I am with Bean in my belly, even before the wedding photographer has finished editing all the day's pictures. No wonder my mother thinks I got pregnant before I was married. 

But anyway that aside, I think this is destiny, so we are welcoming it with open arms and cheerful smiles. Apart from having sore breasts, occasional cramps and backaches and an overwhelming feeling of tiredness, I feel fine. I am lucky I still love my food and can keep it down, although I must eat slowly or I'll feel sick. 

Sometimes, the feelings of hunger and nausea hit me at the same time, so I get really confused. Should I eat or be sick? But one thing for sure is, I have totally gone off Western food, especially salad. I used to love my salads with a dash of balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and olive oil, but now even the thought of it makes me gag. I hardly ever used to cook a lot of Asian food but these days that's the only thing I want. 

So I have been making noodles, braised chicken, fish curry, vegetable sambal, and ... white rice. I have developed this thing for white rice. We have always bought and eaten brown rice for health reasons but since getting pregnant, I badly craved HOT FLUFFY STEAMING WHITE RICE. 

And now and then I also have mad desires for really unhealthy foods, like chips, fried sausages, Cheezels, crisps, deep-fried items. But I haven't succumbed. I am trying so hard to suppress these unhealthy desires, or I might become a whale even before my second trimester. 

I don't mind these random crazy cravings at all, I am just so thankful that I haven't felt or been violently sick. 

Friday 13 November 2009

Week 7: A rollercoaster ride



I phoned the clinic on Monday to make an appointment to see my GP. She needs to induce my period as it's now been two weeks and my boobs are so painfully tender. This has to end! But later that night out of curiosity I read up on early pregnancy symptoms. They include: tender breasts, late period, nausea, fatigue, frequent need to urinate etc. I have some of these symptoms so could I be pregnant?! Surely...not?

On Tuesday I couldn't wait any longer. I popped into the pharmacy before work to get a box of two pregnancy test strips. I wee-ed on one in the toilet in the office, and saw with my eyes literally popping out, the two pink lines developing, indicating I am pregnant. I hyper-ventilated in the toilet as I looked and looked at the pink lines again and again. I paced around the small confined space, thinking, oh my god, oh my god, what am I going to do now?!

Later that evening when I got home I wee-ed on the other stick and R and I watched the pink lines appear, again. (Mommy, I'm here!) Two pregnancy tests can't be wrong. But why am I cramping and spotting? Is there something wrong?

My GP booked me for a transvaginal ultrasound right away when she heard about the pain and the discharge. I'm told that pregnant women don't usually get scanned this early unless there is suspicion that something is wrong. R and I prepared ourselves for the possibility that little "Bean" as I've affectionately named him, could be no more.

The nurses at the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit were very nice and I had my scan very promptly. Once the nurse saw Bean on the monitor, she turned it around for me to have a look. "You can see it here. That's the heart beating," she pointed to a white blinking spot. I went, "Aww.." and started tearing. There is a living thing growing in me! My baby!

Friday 6 November 2009

Week 6: Nauseated


I have no appetite in the mornings. And I am starting to develop these weird cravings. One evening on my way home on the train, I started to fantasise about Tom Yum Soup. The first thing I did when I got home was to make some, even though R and I already planned to have something else. I didn't care. I NEEDED to have Tom Yum Soup. And boy was it satisfying after I slurped up two big bowls of it, on a cold rainy night.

I don't feel particularly hungry in the evenings, which is weird because I normally am. On some nights I have to coax myself into having dinner, just because I shouldn't go to sleep on an empty stomach. But nothing really interests me so I wait patiently for me body to tell me what it wants to eat.

The other night it was sausages I wanted. So for two evenings in a row I had bangers and mash. And I ate good healthy portions too! There was one afternoon I felt like having Fizzy Cola bottles, so I sent R to the shop to get me some.

R keeps asking me if I am pregnant but I am so sure I am not, and my cravings are merely a severe case of pre-menstrual syndrome. Afterall, my breasts are tender and I have been cramping and spotting. I just want my period to come so I can stop feeling so horrible!

Sunday 1 November 2009

Week 5: Feeling more normal


I'm starting to get over my jet-lag although my tummy is still weird. On Thursday I felt a little unwell toward the end of the day as if I was going to come down with something. But after a good night's rest I was better on Friday and was well enough to watch a movie in town with R. Over the weekend, I went about my usual chores- food shopping, laundry, cleaning and tidying. On Halloween we carved a pumpkin and I made soup with the flesh. I've never felt better!