Week 22: Yet another emotional rollercoaster ride

It has been a crazy 7 days.

On Sunday we went to Penang for a couple of days and I found that all that walking plus being in the hot sun really tired me out. My ankles swelled and became painful at the end of the day. But I enjoyed the daily swims in the warm pool and I'm hoping to continue swimming in the UK.

I had a real craving for Japanese food so on our last night in Malaysia we went to a Japanese restaurant in the hotel and I ordered this HUGE dinner set. I gave my sashimi to R and I tucked into the hot nabe, steamed egg and tempura. I was so gastronomically satisfied at the end of the meal!

Before we left, my aunt brought me a box of bird's nest and a ceramic pot. According to her, taking this expensive delicacy will give Bean a beautiful fair complexion. She told me, "Just take as much as you want, if you don't have enough, let us know and we will DHL it over." Goodness, I was so overwhelmed by her kindness and generousity!

We got back to the UK on Wednesday evening and found that my mother-in-law's health had deteriorated suddenly. She slipped into a coma and passed away on Saturday morning. Dealing with this on top of the jet-lag is very difficult, and I am trying so hard take control of my emotions so I don't stress the baby. But sometimes this is easier said than done.

On Friday I went to see the midwife to get my Maternity Certificate for the employer (to claim maternity pay) and got to hear Bean's heartbeat (142 bpm). My uterus is now 1.5 inches above my belly button and my fundal height is 23 cm. Although I am not very big, it already is difficult to carry around the bump. My skin gets so tight and I can feel my belly weighing me down as I walk.

At this stage, Bean weighs around 430g, has developed a sense of touch and taste. He may be able to detect strong flavours in the amniotic fluid, which probably explains why Bean was somersaulting like crazy when I had my Assam Laksa in Penang.

I feel tired, sleep-deprived, emotional, overwhelmed and totally not up for going back to work tomorrow.

Things often all happen at once, don't they?

Week 21: Hot and bothered!

Happy Year of the Tiger!

I continued to gorge on the delicious local dishes this week and enjoyed being around family and friends. My belly has become more noticeable and on a few occasions I have been offered seats on the train and bus, which is really nice. 

The heat however, is now more unbearable for me as my metabolism increases. It is very uncomfortable for me to walk about in the humid weather and I can't seem to tolerate being in the sun anymore. The solution: holding an umbrella wherever I go. 

I am also now finding it impossible to lay flat on the bed as my uterus would stretch out uncomfortably, so I need to be propped up with several pillows, including one to support my bump as I sleep sideways. 

On the plus side, my skin and hair is less greasy than normal and when I went for my facial session in Singapore, my beautician commented that there is nothing much to extract and I was so thrilled! 

On Thursday I went to Changi General Singapore to see my consultant endocrinologist for my annual thyroid check-up and he increased my medication from 75mcg to 100mcg per day as my levels have clearly dipped in pregnancy. With the additional boost in thyroxin, I do feel better and less fatigued. On learning that I am expecting a little boy, the doctor said, "Well done, that's the way!" What a typical Asian male! 

My family really looked after me when I was back home, always warning me if the toilet or floor was wet, refusing to let me carry any heavy items, making sure I was eating and sleeping properly. 

We booked an air ticket for my mother to join us in the UK in the middle of June, and she'll be staying till the beginning of September. She's not that keen on looking after the baby but at least she can take charge of my meals and help me around the house. 

I'm just so thankful she retired in time to be able to be around when the baby is born!

Week 20: Food glorious food!

I'm sorry, this has to be a short entry.

I have been too busy pigging out on the delicious local food since I got back to Singapore on Wednesday and who has time to blog? And oh, my bloating and indigestion? WHAT bloating and indigestion? It has been miraculously cured since I got back home! These days I simply walk around smacking my lips and wearing a contented idiotic grin plastered on my face.

The flight home was smooth and uneventful, and I even got to have chicken rice for dinner on the plane. However I found it difficult to sleep or get comfortable as I constantly felt hot and breathless on board.

Bean was well-behaved throughout the journey but he was very restless on my second night in Singapore, kicking me so hard during the night that I could actually see my tummy move. I know it when he is unhappy because he affects my mood too and when he starts throwing a tantrum in my belly I will be grumpy the whole day.

Yesterday afternoon we decided to test if Bean could respond to touch and I tried tapping my belly. After a little while I could feel Bean wriggling around and then he gave us a few good strong kicks which proved he could sense vibrations.

I am already starting to have trouble getting comfortable in bed even now when I don't have a particularly large belly and I am seriously wondering how I will be able to cope as I enter the third trimester.

I don't know how to explain the feeling of carrying all this extra weight around my waist. I suppose the closest description would be: it's how one would feel after having 10 big plates of food at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Week 19: We see Bean again!

I had my 19-week scan on Tuesday morning and because the foetus is now considerably larger, I didn't have to do it with a full bladder. My sister-in-law came along with us, because although she is the grandmother of two young children, she hasn't actually been to an ultrasound scan.

Bean was wriggling around as usual when the scan was done and the first things we saw were his spine and ribs as he had his back to us. Later on, the sonographer located the heart, kidneys, bladder, brain and checked that all vital organs appeared normal.

As she moved down to check his legs, we could see him playing with the umbilical cord. And then the sonographer told us, we are expecting a little boy! This came as no surprise since I'd already got a good feeling it was a boy right from the start. We even got to see his little testes and tiny pecker, all already fully formed even at this stage!

I wasn't really overwhelmed at the scan but my sister-in-law was quite tearful. But I must admit there's definitely something special about seeing a tiny little life on the screen, so vulnerable yet so perfect even though it is so small and delicate. And seeing that surely reaffirms the fact that I am REALLY pregnant, and not just getting fat.

My sister-in-law dropped me off at home after the scan and several hours later, popped by again with some newborn baby-gros. You could definitely tell how excited she was about her nephew!

I spent last weekend taking some teenagers away to West Wales for two nights to work on our project and that really tired me out. To make matters worse, I slipped on an icy mild slope one morning and hurt my ankle. Bean wasn't hurt thankfully, but I spent the week limping around in agony.

This week I also had a meeting with my HR coordinator to go through a risk assessment form for pregnant women, which highlighted what I should/should not be doing at work. E.g. no moving of heavy items, take regular breaks etc. Now with my bump more visible, everyone at work is looking after me a bit more, which is really nice.

My sense of smell is heightened this week, so if I smell food when I am not having a meal myself it, makes my stomach turn. Poor R had to eat a bowl of cereal for dinner one night when he came home after a late shift because he said "it's the only food that has no smell".

I have also discovered that if I stick to small portions of food throughout the day, I have no problems with heartburn and indigestion, so that's what I have been doing the whole week. I've also been religiously practising yoga at home every other day just to keep my body flexible.

With Bean growing bigger by day, his kicks and punches are also a lot stronger and I can now feel him moving about every few hours, having fun in the womb.

Next week, we will be flying back to Singapore to spend Chinese New Year with my family and it will be the first time they are seeing me with a visible bump. I do hope they don't find it too weird, as I do sometimes, when I look at myself in the mirror and wonder, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED THERE?

Zzzzzzzzzz

Fell asleep when R read Roald Dahl's Charlie & The Chocolate Factory to Bean. We love bedtime stories. And I realised how much I love my husband.

My first wave

I'm Bean. I'm 19 weeks old. My hobbies are swimming and kicking. I'm naughty but I think I love my Mummy. It's nice when Daddy reads to me at night. Hope to see you in a few months.