The Baby Bump @ 12-13 weeks

From book and relatives' experiences, I knew that subsequent pregnancies usually see baby bumps earlier than the first. Now, I am a living example:

The above was me at a friend's wedding when I was 12-13 weeks along with Anya. Pardon me for the strange expression on my face - I suck at posing for pictures. I tried to find the clearest picture that depicts me looking relatively bump-less. I recall my baby bump then was visible to naked eyes only coming to 18-20 weeks. And now, my second pregnancy at 12-13 weeks:

A small but no doubt visible bump!

The Best Guy Friend's Wedding

Over the weekend, we attended my closest male friend's wedding luncheon. Since I fell pregnant for the second time, I have hardly dress up or wore make up during the few occasions that I do go out. This pregnancy, together with my daily chores, has really zapped me of my little energy and dressing up is no longer a priority. So long I'm decently clothes, I'm thankful to be out without having any discomfort nor the need to use of the plastic bags I carry with me. So now that my condition is stabilized (with the aid of medications), I was looking forward to this wedding where I can get dressed up, look pretty and celebrate my dear friend's nuptial ties.

Unfortunately, things did not go as expected. Well, I was hoping to have the whole morning to bathe and preen myself leaving The Husband to take charge of Anya. BUT. The day before, Anya had sudden bouts of throw ups with low grade fever. So what really took place yesterday morning was a mad rush of feeding her and ourselves breakfast, charging to our family doctor (only to be in a 45 minutes queue), picked up some groceries (might as well, since we were already out), rush back home, I prepared her porridge for lunch & dinner, packed the diaper bag while The Husband gave Anya her bath. By the time we put her down for her nap, we were due to be out of the house again in less than an hour's time and we were still uncertain if she was well enough to go for the luncheon.

Eventually, we decided that she was okay enough (as the throwing up had stopped for the day). So, our little family made it though embarrassingly late - All the guests were already seated while the bride and groom were waiting outside for their grand march in. Thankfully, things went uphill thereon. The wedding was really sweet. The couple put in much effort and thoughts in preparing for their big day. My favorite part was when my dear friend played on the keyboard and serenaded to his bride. Oh, and I was gushing to The Husband how gorgeous the bride's evening (afternoon?) gown was. Well, the color and the simplicity makes it a irresistibly elegant and eye-catching dress! Unfortunately, I did not manage to take a nice picture of her with my 3GS iPhone. :(

Not top notch quality since I was using my iPhone

With my feverish trooper

With our dear junior college teachers

Anyway, attending the said friend's wedding set me reflecting on our friendship. This is the friend who stood by me during my lowest point in my teenage-adolescence years. Though our character and thinking were like poles apart, he was sensitive to sense my vulnerability when I withdrew myself. Because of that, our friendship grew. And so did we. I recalled the days when I started dating The Husband, and this friend (together with a girlfriend) were the first to 'check him out' and mark their sign of approval. Likewise, when he first started seeing his wife, he arranged for us to meet so I could mark my stamp of approval. One unique point about our friendship is that we have a blatant honesty towards each other. When we disprove the other of something, we are quick and direct to point out. This is something that I have been appreciative off. In some ways, he is like a brother to me.

However, it seems that we have drifted in recent years. We have been in different seasons of life in past few years, and I came to realize that when we do talk on the phone or meet up, he had been the one who made the initiative. In fact, our last meet up (a double date) was more than a year ago when I was still preggy with Anya! Right, I haven't been a good friend after all though I always verbally maintain to people that he is my best male friend. Hopefully, it is still not too late to make amends. It is about time for me to do my part, if the moment is still there for us.

Anya's lunch

Thought I'll do a short post on what Anya eats these days. Typically, her breakfast is a bowl of cheerios / cheese sandwich with milk formula. Occasional variations are homemade pancakes, yogurt or raisin bread. Lunches and dinners are porridge (50% brown rice / 50% white rice) with steamed fish / egg and vegetables on the side. The in-laws and I notice that she is starting to be picky about the greens though. Occasional variations are cheesy pasta, mee sua and rice.

Now that I'm feeling better, I am inspired by lil'Tummy Yummies to create more variety for her meals. When I do, will sure to update with pics here. :)

P.s. As I was uploading picture for this post, I received a call from TMC regards my OSCAR results. (I find myself drawing in a deep breathe when I identified the source of the call)Woohoo! Low risk, all is good!  Cya in 28 weeks, Mini Bun!

A week of downs and ups

Last Tuesday, my body gave in to the bouts of throwing up that has plagued me for the past few weeks. Dehydrated and having slight gastric pains, I was admitted for hydration drips during my regular prenatal appointment. I was actually all prepared for it and had packed myself an overnight bag.

So there I was, in Thomson Medical Centre, for two nights. I was on bag after bag of saline and multivitamins drips while the doctor administered a couple of different anti-vomiting medications to test its effectiveness on me. On the first evening, right after I was admitted, I broke down and cried. Silly of me and probably hormones-charged, my reason for crying was because it was going to be the first time I was separated away from Anya in the night. The wonderful husband immediately assured me that he would go back to fetch her to visit me to say goodnight.

For the three days and two nights that i was there, I was pretty much bed-ridden for I was perpetually strapped to a drip (that was attached to a machine that only the nurses can operate it). So every time I had to go to the bathroom, I had to call for the nurse. I could not bathe on my own and had to be wiped down by a nurse. So there I was, lying / sitting in bed, watching my two fellow ward neighbours who just delivered their babies, watch copious amount of TV on the coverage of the General Election, as well as read copious amount (and repeated) news coverage of the General Election on my Iphone. Now, I do not want to share my views about the GE here. All I will say is my prayers are fervent for this nation I so love and call home.

While immediate family members and close friends were aware of my hospitalisation, I was firm to tell them not to visit. After all, it isn't anything life-threatening what-so-ever. It was really just to get myself better and I really wasn't in any physical pain. Just emotionally-charged by the physical toll the vomiting had taken on me. The hospitalization did me good for the anti-vomit drugs administered did prove to be effective. So now here I am, slowly back on my feet again (yes, literally! Instead of being in bed all the time)! I am starting to eat normal again, the vomiting and stomach churning has stopped. The only downside is that one of the medication makes me sleepy and I have to fight real hard to get myself out of bed in the morning to prepare Anya's breakfast. Oh, and plus I salivate a lot. - This is a condition that usually comes together with hyperemesis gravidarum ( I had it in the last pregnancy too). Anyway, salivating (socially awkward as it may be) and sleepiness are much manageable issues as compared to being  bedridden and excessive vomiting.

 I am thankful, for my spirit is high, I easing back into the normalcy of life with renewed faith and strength. And I have another baby for multiplications of love 7 months down the road! :)

All in the hope of a cute baby...

A couple of weeks ago at bedtime, The Husband and I were lying in bed and chatting about random stuff. Then I remembered.


I said: "Dear, where are the posters of those cute ang moh babies that we pasted at my bedside during my last pregnancy? Go bring them out, we need them again."

The Husband's firm reply: "Why do we need them?"

I counteracted, "Huh? What do you mean? I'm pregnant again what!"

The Husband's even firmer reply, "But we already have a live and cute Anya at full display!"

"Ooooohh...! Yah..!" I was subdued.


Well, just when I thought the matter had been put to a rest. A few days later, I was on the line with my mom.


Mommy: "So did you put up those cute baby posters at your bedside again?"

Me, indignantly: "Why should I? Like what The Husband said, I already have a cute Anya to look at everyday!"

Mommy, not before chuckling a bit: "Ermm... Not if you want a baby with bigger eyes..."

( - ____-;)

"Popo, are these big enough?"