My Cute Niece

My sister organised a barbecue party at her place last Satudary evening to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday. I normally will not volunteer myself to go near the grill [Oh!... all that oil from the sizzling chicken wings that will be deposited on my face!] so the poor hosts have to do the cooking for us. Look how busy they got themselves!

I prefer to play with my little 6-month old niece instead. Isn't she a cute angel? I hope Chloe will grow to be like her - chuckling all the time and friendly to everyone..... : )

Baby's Coming Next Tues!

Visited gynae for check up again last Saturday morning and it appeared that baby was still not descending enough for labour to happen anytime soon. I don't know the cause of this, but suspect that because of my [old] age and lack of regular exercise, my pelvic bones are stiff as old rocks and couldn't stretch to accomodate the size of Chloe's head. (Um... not scientific, purely wild guess).

Gynae wanted to "observe" for one more week and I felt my heart sink. So I asked:

Me: Does it look likely that baby will descend nicely by next week? I'm already 38 weeks now.
Gynae: We can't tell, but as at now I still can't feel the baby's head yet. She's actually ready to be delivered.
Me: If there's not going to be any improvement, should we consider c-section soon and get it over and done with?
Gynae: Let me check my surgery schedule..... Ok, we can try next Tues.
Me: Uh, so I come and see you again next Tues and we can decide if we should proceed with c-section?
Gynae: "No, we can do c-section next Tues."
Me: ..ah....?!

So that's how quickly the decision was made. Gynae thought it was advisable not to delay birthing for my waterbag could burst anytime, or my placenta could start ageing and failing - both which would still require emergency caesarean. I asked for a few minutes to discuss with hubby and shortly after that the necessary hospital and OT bookings were made for Chloe's entry into the world! I was actually mentally prepared for that (except for the swift timing!), because I'm getting rather heavy and I can tell by baby's squirming that she's probaby getting impatient too. So in a few days' time, we'll have a little bundle in the house with us!

Got Keys to Our New Home!

We finally collected the keys to our new home last Friday evening! Hubby picked up the keys from the lawyer's office at 7pm and I couldn't wait for him to come and fetch me from home to go and take a look at the place.

With all the previous owners' furniture removed, the house really looked empty, and gosh, filthy (all that grime left behind the refrigerator and incense-smoke stains where their kuanyin used to sit). It was quite a sad sight. I sighed when I think of the money from our bank accounts that we will soon be emptied for the renovation works starting next Monday. There's really so much to do to get the place in a livable condition for us. My Dad and Mom dropped by on Saturday to recee too, and they seemed quite pleased with it. I hope following the transformation of the house following renovation, they would be enticed into staying in with us......

My Michelin Baby : )

Oh yeah, it's a girl alright - although the radiographer couldn't catch a very clear scan, she remained quite positive that it's a "XX". Everything was well with Chloe. We even managed to catch an image of her facial features - a triangular nose and almost Angelina Jolie-lips! Not quite like me (ahem, ok, my nose is not exactly sharp and narrow but it's not flat either) but lips may look like Daddy's! Ha ha ha! I'm hoping what we saw was just a distorted image through the ultrasound machine... Hopefully she'll have more petite features in actual person. Hee hee.....

What surprised hubby and I was that Chloe is now already 3.39kg, and she has another 2-3 weeks before full-term! A lot of people I meet comment that my tummy is small (or they put it politically-correct by saying "neat" or "tight") but hey, Chloe may just prove them wrong! In fact, my gynae said he has to watch me for difficulty of baby's descend into my pelvis because of the size of her head. While the aim is to go for natural birth, he can't preclude the necessity of a c-section eventually! Unbelievable! I've been ordered to walk more which would help in birthing later [Uh, this includes shopping? I wanted to ask.]. Anyway, there are pros and cons to c-section but I am not opposed to the idea. Let's see how baby develops over the next 2 weeks.

Sick on M-Leave Day One.....sigh!

I started taking the 4-week Government-paid maternity leave on 7 July although I'm not sure when baby will arrive. My right ankle was swelling too much from water-retention to make fitting into any shoe comfortable or pretty (no way am I gonna wear those Scholl or Birkenstock slippers!). Waddling to the toilet at the end of the office corridor every 15 minutes with the weight of a huge watermelon in front was also getting too tiring.

Timing couldn't be better - I fell sick on day one! The dripping nose started over the weekend and became full blown by Monday. It's strange, 'coz I thought pregnant woman seldom fall sick. Anyway, had to consult the doctor for a peace of mind before taking chlorpheniramine (those yellow tablets that knock you out), and I'd been sleeping for 3 days 3 nights. But hey, the resting did well for my swelling ankle! I hope I'll get better quickly so I can gather more energy to do some last minute packing or preparation for Chloe.

Oh, I'll be undergoing another OB scan tomorrow morning. Did I mention the last time when I did the OB scan, the radiographer barely made out the gender of my baby (girl) because it was a little too early (the blur clinic nurse booked the scan for me at week-18 instead of the usual week-20). And my gynae's (lousy) ultrasound machine cannot tell the sex of the baby! So all along, in faith, I assume I'm having a baby girl. Lately, many people have been asking if I'm having a baby boy judging from the shape of my abdomen. But I really hope the scan tomorrow can confirm it's Chloe, and not Jonathan!!!

Counting Down.....

Visited gynae for check up last Saturday and was told that my birth canal was shortening, showing signs that I am likely to pop earlier than baby’s expected due date. I was quite excited that the end of the tunnel is in sight! Contrary to what books say about babies moving less now since they are running out of room to wriggle around, Chloe has been kicking ever more vigorously. She’s so playful! But whenever Daddy places his hands on my tummy, she will remain still and 'kwai' as a rabbit. Ha ha… I hope she’s not afraid of Daddy, but more wanting to appear good-girl in front of him.

I have so many things to thank God for. First of all, this pregnancy is already a miracle! And all my pre-existing lousy health conditions just disappeared like that! For instance, I used to suffer unbearable migraine attacks at least 2-3 times a month – synflex and cafergot were part of my regular diet. Since becoming pregnant, I hardly have headaches that cannot be solved by the mildest-strength Panadol. My hormone levels have also been in perfect-balance since. Praise God!

Although I complained about nausea in the early trimester, looking back, it was not that bad after all. I have been looking and feeling good for a large part of the time. Well, my pig trotters are still attached to the lower part of my shin now, but hubby has been very diligent in messaging my legs every night – not a bad deal!

The baby colt has been set up, the baby supplies are in place and my hospital bag is almost packed. We’re more or less ready!