Having a peaceful mind..

The recent visit to Dr Lim on June 13th really set my mind at ease, because he said that there will be no more tests to do besides a pelvic/cervical check on week 37 (I suppose he needs to check for dilation?)
During the past few months, I read through a lot of articles and posts online about pregnancy and I was puzzled by quite a few things:

Gestational diabetes
2 of my colleagues got this symptom during pregnancy, and since all along I am on the more plump side, I was quite worried about this. I asked Dr Lim when is he going to test my glucose level? "We've done that test, let me show you.." He brought up the blood test result which I did during week 16 from that whole stack of my records. And there I saw the "blood sugar level" indicated as 81, and he said, "see, your test result is very normal, and we did not find any sugar in your urine so far, so not a problem!!". And based on my research, normal blood sugar level during pregnancy should be around 60-130 so I am definitely safe. Win is not surprised to hear that because he always thinks that I am having a very healthy diet, I've never been seduced by a slice of swiss roll or a spoonful of Haagen-Dazs ice cream so far.. Anyway, I am extremely happy, because some studies showed that women eating more chocolates during pregnancy have happier baby who shows less fear of new situations. Now I can enjoy 1 piece of my Ferrero Roche Chocolate every two days without feeling guilty (I bought a box of 30 pieces and finished 12 of them in 1.5 month)..

Water Retention
I started to have water retention around 4-5th month, but it was not really that serious. At least I am still able to wear my wedding ring and squeeze into my same pair of size 37 shoes so far. But for sure, I noticed that the mark left on my body (from my clothes after sleep) won't disappear in hours. I am already drinking about 2 litres of plain water at work everyday, and trying to have fish soup or Yong Tau Foo for lunch and dinner (since Dr Lim suggested me to eat less salty stuff, you know in Singapore that is almost impossible..), but it still doesn't help much especially after I sit or stand for too long. Good thing is Dr Lim commented that my situation is not too bad, if I want to see improvement, I can try to sleep on my left side with my legs lifted up.. Wow I tell you it worked like miracle!! I slept for about 6 hours and my water retention around my feet and ankle just disappeared completely!! But it doesn't sustain for long of course, so the conclusion is, the permanent cure for it is.. STAY IN BED.. Oh, come on, I am not Isabella Leong.. Oops..

Excessive weight gain
Needless to say, I was slightly overweight even before pregnancy, and having heard so much stories from friends and colleagues who gained almost 20kg during pregnancy, I am quite immune to it when Dr Lim said "I wish our economy also goes up like your weight.." =P.. Normal weight gain for women with BMI 20-26 should be around 11.5-16kg. At my 30th week, I've already gained 9.3kg despite that I only eat 3 normal meals without any snacks. So the best way for me to maintain a healthy weight gain is through exercising. This "Leisa Hart's FitMama" DVD set I bought from Amazon.com really works great. The prenatal workout includes a 20 minutes salsa dance, 25 minutes yoga fat burn, and 15 minutes body stretching. So I try to follow it at least 3-4 times a week (this is not easy man, and it is the only exercise that the more I do, the tougher it gets because my tummy is growing bigger and bigger everyday). But I think it really helps to build strength on my thigh muscles, and some tips on strengthening pelvic floor muscles and proper breathing during contractions must be really beneficial during labour.

Now the only thing left which still worries me a bit, is my relatively high blood pressure. It used to be around 120/80 during the first 2 trimesters but shoots up to 130+/80+ now at my last trimester. Should I eat more celery?

Relac no more~

Heading towards City Hall after our Gynae visit was just the beginning of our check-out-all-the-items-on-Renzo's-shopping-list day. But of course, how can we start the day without a proper breakfast (or brunch, judging from the time...=P)? So we derailed and took a left turn from Marina Square into Suntec, only to realise that a good % of singaporeans are in the damn building just for the PC show. I can never understand why people come to such shows to squeeze with another thousand others just to buy a thumbdrive or a rim of DVD-R (yes.. i know and heard of people who do just that). Anyway, pass the crowd and to Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao we went~

Brunch was good and perked us up for the shopping journey ahead. Though we did stop by Domanchi and bought 3 shirts and a pair of pants for your's truly, but we eventually did stop at Kiddy Palace where all the shopping spree started.

Thankfully, through a potent combination of GSS (that's Great Singapore Sale for you non-singaporeans) and Kiddy Palace Membership, the shopping did not burn too big a hole in the wallet. Let me just briefly go through the shopping done on this day...

- A set inclusive of an Electronic Breast Pump, Breast pads, pacifiers (which we didn't intend to get actually) and a baby carrier... for $279.

- Ear & Forehead Thermometer cum room temperature device... $96

- Various pieces of towel, nappies, mittens, bootees, fasteners, grooming items... $157.90

Quite a pleasurable shopping experience if you asked me. The Kiddy Palace staffs were friendly and helpful and really know their baby stuff. Ask them a question and you'll get a notebook full of answers..=P

Because one can only have so much carrying power, we decided to get these things first and continue our purchasing at Kiddy Palace Century Square the following day. Again, they had friendly staff and useful tips which is enough to make me trust them enough to come to them again if there's more baby items i need to grab.

Had to take a taxi back cos the tub and mattress were just too bulky for comfort. And immediately Feli did the calculations.. and looks like we managed to hit an all time low..=P... looks like we are still quite the relac parents afterall...haha

Lecture by Dr Lim Teck Chye ~

Following our previous post self-proclaiming to be relac parents, Feli and I decided that it was time to be less relax and time to kick start our shopping for Renzo. And when better to start the day then to do it that after a Gynae visit...=P

So 13th June it was, and if you have been following our posts religiously, you would have known that the last few visits weren't as interesting as the first few... and yes, this one was no different. Wake up, bus ride, long stroll, wait in queue and finally the consultation.

Though Dr Lim seems to always be in a good mode, the louder and sharper whistling seems to signal that he was more cheerful than usual. After his simple ultrasound scanning, he proceeded to give us a lesson on the symptons of labour, stating that there are 3 kinds.

(Again I must emphasize, this is from our experiences, please consult your doctor for clarifications and details)

- Bleeding: if bleeding occurs (he refered to as 'Bloody Mucus' -__-' ) ... it is a sign, but we were to wait and not to immediately rush to the hospital... We were suppose to wait until... the next sympton shows... which is:

- Pain: the pain he was refering to was regular (every 15-20 min) of pain, inclusive of cramps, backaches and the urge to pass motion (eh?... why is that classified as pain? heh..)... in any case... GO~!

- Water leaks: well... if you watch drama and shows enough, you'll know what this is... it means the waterbag burst! the liquid may be clear like tap water, or slight greenish (from the baby's excretory waste)... this too, is a "GO~!" signal.

So after his short 5 minute lecture, we made our next appointment (next 3 actually... haha...kiasu singaporean..=P ) and was on our way to City Hall to do some baby shopping.