The Beginning @ 5 Weeks Along
It was the morning of 13 October 2012 that I decided to take a home pregnancy test since my period was late for about 10 days. Prior to taking this home test, I had been fighting fatigue for days and hadn’t been able to sleep just the night before. So I woke up earlier than usual and went to the toilet with that stick. Read the instructions carefully and tried to stay calm. Half of me wanted 2 lines, half of me wanted 1 line. But regardless of the result, I would have to accept it, no?
The hubby was still happily in dreamland when I was in the toilet fretting away and thinking how my life would be soon over at 29. I had wanted this; I had wanted a child with my man for as long as I could remember and especially after we got married barely 5 months ago. Often, it is the fear of the unknown that shakes our decision and choices. So there I was in that all-familiar toilet cubi that I was about to meet the result that would rock our whole world and the rest of our lives. The first line came out strong and obvious, while the second one took awhile to appear in a very faint blue. First thing I did was to wake the hubby up and showed him the stick and all he did in his semi-conscious state was smile as if he was in a sweet dream. *bleah
I quickly took a picture and texted some of my buds and they all congratulated me. One buddy even called to tell me what to do and we did as told. After the hubby finally woke up and reassured me that everything would be fine, we went to the GP to get it verified and I went home to tell my mother the wonderful news of her being a grandmother soon! Needless to say she was overjoyed and yet at the same time found it a little hard to believe. Then my father, who was also asleep but was slightly aroused by the commotion only said one word to me “congratulations” and he fell right back to sleep.
Men.
The next thing was to tell my sisters of course. But how? Just the night before I had a huge fight with my second sister and we were not exactly on talking terms but informing them was the only right thing I knew I had to do because I grew up with them; they were the closest people to me. The fact that I was the first in the family to conceive wasn’t exactly gonna make me any superior or look any better than either of my sisters and I just wish they would - like when we grew up playing with each other - know that I have zero ill-intention. And so I took the plunge, and informed them of the news. They were both in a state of shock but still congratulated me and were happy for their little sister, or so I thought. Even people closest to you would sometimes misunderstand your happiness for arrogance.
Now there was only one problem: I had been spotting the last 3 days and now I knew for sure it wasn’t my period, then where was the blood coming from? We got worried and felt something wasn’t right and went down to KKH’s 24-hour O&G department where they supposedly had "qualified" gynecologists on shift. We waited close to 2 hours before we finally saw that rude doctor and confirmed that there was a yolk sac and that I was indeed pregnant at 5 weeks and that the yolk sac and water bag were exactly where they are suppose to be – in the uterus. So we had dismissed the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy. However, spotting at 5 weeks with no clear sign of a fetal heartbeat because it was too small signaled many things, of which the most uncompassionate doctor told us nonchalantly to prepare ourselves as there eventually may not be a heartbeat and there was a high chance I will miscarry my baby.
In a span of 1 day, we had fallen into 2 complete opposite dimensions and wondered if the day could get any worse?
On the way home, we were both silent save for the phone call the hubby made to inform his mother of our new creation. In my heart, I was both scared and worried for my lil one’s well-being and if the baby is growing healthily.
The next day, we went to visit our usual TCM doctor and she looked worried when she read my pulse. Her diagnosis was this: there was a severe lack of hormones supporting my pregnancy, hence the spotting. She urged us to fix an appointment with a private gynecologist as soon as we could to see how he could help us. We called and the appointments were full; we could only do a walk-in which would be hours of wait but we did not have a choice, our lil one was of top priority now.
After close to 2.5 hours, the gynecologist finally saw us. It was only a very short consultation and the only thing he said, apart from what the TCM doctor already told us was to have complete bed rest. No work if possible, no more walking (read: no more shopping) and no more chores. I could not do anything all day but just sleep and rest. He took my blood for some tests on 2 separate occasions and we saw him a week after and the “enhancement” treatments started. Apart from the oral hormone pills that would make me drowsy, I was to religiously go for a jab in my buttocks, twice weekly. The pills made me miserable; I couldn't work without feeling sleepy and sometimes nauseous. And up to now, I have had to endure this for another 2.5 more weeks.
First Trimester @ 11 Weeks Along
So I officially turned 29 two days ago and I will be 29 when I deliver beanie. Not too bad in a society like ours right? Oh and for your info, "beanie" is our new nickname for our lil one, hehe ;p
I am really thankful for everything that is happening in my life right now save for the hormone jabs that cause me pain and then bad rash after; as well as the hormone pills that make me drowsy all the time because I need to take it 3 times a day.
And other than the fact that I’ve been given a new job scope at work because a pregnant lady (a Japanese) simply requested for a lighter workload even though I raised the point that I am also now pregnant and in a far more delicate situation than her, but they didn’t seem to care because this company is bias and it sucks! Since this is a contract position anyway, and they will most probably not want to renew my contract after I deliver beanie then I may as well just resign, recuperate, spend time with my new born and find another suitable job..or not. I could be a stay-at-home-mom to spend real quality time with my newborn in the first 2 years of his/her life! Ooo sounds interesting HA! I only have that much of time I could influence in their growing-up years and I sure hope I’ll do a good job of teaching them godly and biblical values so that they will grow up to be god-fearing man/woman. Of course I would definitely need the man in my life to help and guide me along the way as well.
“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve; as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15
So anyways, according to the many baby apps I have on my iPhone, today officially marks the start of the 11th week of my pregnancy. We were worried about beanie because all my pregnancy sickness miraculously went away by itself one fine morning after we had one huge (and very bad) quarrel the night before. I kept getting paranoid and the hubby decided to call almost every gynecologist clinic in Singapore just to see who had available slots to see us yesterday. Finally he found a Dr. Lee @ Gleneagles and so we went. The nurse was so much friendlier and nicer and the doctor was also chattier than Dr. Fong..but maybe a tad too long-winded? Anyway so he did the ultrasound scan on my abdomen and first thing we saw was our lil beanie jumping up and down on the screen!
Amazing.
And for once, I think the reality of beanie's presence and life finally settled down with the husband. He melted at that scene of course and couldn’t stop marveling. He said he even wanted to photocopy beanie’s picture and hang it on his work table.
The price of assurance cost us $204.
Because it was the doctor’s new ultrasound machine, he hadn’t had time to figure out the buttons and so we were really lucky to look at beanie for a good 15-20 mins. From the time we saw beanie jumping up and down, until the time he fell into slumber mode and dozed off, it was barely like 5-7 mins. Beanie must have been playing by himself in there prior to us catching him on screen bouncing up and down. Haha how cute! According to Dr. Lee, babies usually wake up every 20 mins to play and stretch before falling back into slumber. It’s like we could almost see beanie’s facial features since his hands and feet were almost developed! I am really so amazed by God and His wonderful creation. I think the hubby must have been very impressed by God’s creation too. Having said that, I hope the hubby will finally mature and grow up and let the reality of beanie sink into his head and the fact that carrying beanie aint an easy feat so during these 8 months or so, he had better learn to accomodate accomodate and accomodate!
Second Trimester @ 17 Weeks Along
Pregnancy is a whole new adventure for us. To think I’ve survived 17 weeks. I’m pretty amazed myself.
Looking back, the horrible morning or rather, pregnancy sickness that did not look like it would ever go away but finally did at 10-11 weeks with occasional vomiting thereafter. The constant nausea if I didn’t have food going into my system every 2 hours. The great aversions I had towards some of my favorite food like fish, prawn and mushroom. The sudden love for meat (beef in particular) and fruit juices. Equally as sudden was the outbreak of hives all over my body plus the acne and pimples that never seemed to go away. My erratic emotional outbursts and mood swings which the husband still sometimes forgets when he feels the need to showcase that his ego is bigger than his own child and pregnant wife.
Does that sound like im ranting and complaining already?Haha rest assured I am not.
With all the downside that pregnancy brings along also comes the beautiful side of life and the abundance of it.
Our lil beanie communicates with me when he doesn’t like certain food by making me puke it all out. Carrot juice especially and occasionally milk though he is learning to accept the latter now. He tells me when he’s hungry and needs more food and that’s when I feel nauseous. Though I haven’t felt him kick yet, its only a matter of time before I wish he would stop. Then again, maybe the lil fellow is a night owl – I’m losing sleep regularly because of him I think; though part of the problem is really getting up to pee and then finding it hard to sleep again because the husband snores like thunder. :/
Since this is the second mention of the husband, can I just let it all out?
Ok, so in barely 4 months of my pregnancy, I’ve fallen sick 3 times. The first was when we just found out about beanie’s existence. He refused to see a doctor, refused to finish his antibiotics, refuse to rest (because of his never-ending work) and refuse to sleep separately from me. When beanie was still literally a bean, I had to take medication in order to get better and I’m honestly not sure if beanie was in any way affected by that. Second time the husband was better; he slept in a different room when he fell sick again. The third he also slept separately from me but because it was gastric flu, it eventually found its way to me and I ended up vomiting more than usual and running to the toilet more often. Now a few weeks later and again my throat is hurting. I don’t think there’s ever been a pregnant woman sicker than I’ve been. What to do? I can take all preventive measures in the office and at home but if people are sick and don’t stay home to rest, take their medicines, cough and sneeze freely, don’t wear a mask etc, there’s only so much I can do. And yes, I am grumbling now.
Oh and by the way, beanie is most probably a boy; 80% to be exact. The next check-up, which will be our detailed scan at 20th week, would determine the gender for sure with close to 100% accuracy rate.
Till then!
It was the morning of 13 October 2012 that I decided to take a home pregnancy test since my period was late for about 10 days. Prior to taking this home test, I had been fighting fatigue for days and hadn’t been able to sleep just the night before. So I woke up earlier than usual and went to the toilet with that stick. Read the instructions carefully and tried to stay calm. Half of me wanted 2 lines, half of me wanted 1 line. But regardless of the result, I would have to accept it, no?
The hubby was still happily in dreamland when I was in the toilet fretting away and thinking how my life would be soon over at 29. I had wanted this; I had wanted a child with my man for as long as I could remember and especially after we got married barely 5 months ago. Often, it is the fear of the unknown that shakes our decision and choices. So there I was in that all-familiar toilet cubi that I was about to meet the result that would rock our whole world and the rest of our lives. The first line came out strong and obvious, while the second one took awhile to appear in a very faint blue. First thing I did was to wake the hubby up and showed him the stick and all he did in his semi-conscious state was smile as if he was in a sweet dream. *bleah
I quickly took a picture and texted some of my buds and they all congratulated me. One buddy even called to tell me what to do and we did as told. After the hubby finally woke up and reassured me that everything would be fine, we went to the GP to get it verified and I went home to tell my mother the wonderful news of her being a grandmother soon! Needless to say she was overjoyed and yet at the same time found it a little hard to believe. Then my father, who was also asleep but was slightly aroused by the commotion only said one word to me “congratulations” and he fell right back to sleep.
Men.
The next thing was to tell my sisters of course. But how? Just the night before I had a huge fight with my second sister and we were not exactly on talking terms but informing them was the only right thing I knew I had to do because I grew up with them; they were the closest people to me. The fact that I was the first in the family to conceive wasn’t exactly gonna make me any superior or look any better than either of my sisters and I just wish they would - like when we grew up playing with each other - know that I have zero ill-intention. And so I took the plunge, and informed them of the news. They were both in a state of shock but still congratulated me and were happy for their little sister, or so I thought. Even people closest to you would sometimes misunderstand your happiness for arrogance.
Now there was only one problem: I had been spotting the last 3 days and now I knew for sure it wasn’t my period, then where was the blood coming from? We got worried and felt something wasn’t right and went down to KKH’s 24-hour O&G department where they supposedly had "qualified" gynecologists on shift. We waited close to 2 hours before we finally saw that rude doctor and confirmed that there was a yolk sac and that I was indeed pregnant at 5 weeks and that the yolk sac and water bag were exactly where they are suppose to be – in the uterus. So we had dismissed the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy. However, spotting at 5 weeks with no clear sign of a fetal heartbeat because it was too small signaled many things, of which the most uncompassionate doctor told us nonchalantly to prepare ourselves as there eventually may not be a heartbeat and there was a high chance I will miscarry my baby.
In a span of 1 day, we had fallen into 2 complete opposite dimensions and wondered if the day could get any worse?
On the way home, we were both silent save for the phone call the hubby made to inform his mother of our new creation. In my heart, I was both scared and worried for my lil one’s well-being and if the baby is growing healthily.
The next day, we went to visit our usual TCM doctor and she looked worried when she read my pulse. Her diagnosis was this: there was a severe lack of hormones supporting my pregnancy, hence the spotting. She urged us to fix an appointment with a private gynecologist as soon as we could to see how he could help us. We called and the appointments were full; we could only do a walk-in which would be hours of wait but we did not have a choice, our lil one was of top priority now.
After close to 2.5 hours, the gynecologist finally saw us. It was only a very short consultation and the only thing he said, apart from what the TCM doctor already told us was to have complete bed rest. No work if possible, no more walking (read: no more shopping) and no more chores. I could not do anything all day but just sleep and rest. He took my blood for some tests on 2 separate occasions and we saw him a week after and the “enhancement” treatments started. Apart from the oral hormone pills that would make me drowsy, I was to religiously go for a jab in my buttocks, twice weekly. The pills made me miserable; I couldn't work without feeling sleepy and sometimes nauseous. And up to now, I have had to endure this for another 2.5 more weeks.
First Trimester @ 11 Weeks Along
So I officially turned 29 two days ago and I will be 29 when I deliver beanie. Not too bad in a society like ours right? Oh and for your info, "beanie" is our new nickname for our lil one, hehe ;p
I am really thankful for everything that is happening in my life right now save for the hormone jabs that cause me pain and then bad rash after; as well as the hormone pills that make me drowsy all the time because I need to take it 3 times a day.
And other than the fact that I’ve been given a new job scope at work because a pregnant lady (a Japanese) simply requested for a lighter workload even though I raised the point that I am also now pregnant and in a far more delicate situation than her, but they didn’t seem to care because this company is bias and it sucks! Since this is a contract position anyway, and they will most probably not want to renew my contract after I deliver beanie then I may as well just resign, recuperate, spend time with my new born and find another suitable job..or not. I could be a stay-at-home-mom to spend real quality time with my newborn in the first 2 years of his/her life! Ooo sounds interesting HA! I only have that much of time I could influence in their growing-up years and I sure hope I’ll do a good job of teaching them godly and biblical values so that they will grow up to be god-fearing man/woman. Of course I would definitely need the man in my life to help and guide me along the way as well.
“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve; as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15
So anyways, according to the many baby apps I have on my iPhone, today officially marks the start of the 11th week of my pregnancy. We were worried about beanie because all my pregnancy sickness miraculously went away by itself one fine morning after we had one huge (and very bad) quarrel the night before. I kept getting paranoid and the hubby decided to call almost every gynecologist clinic in Singapore just to see who had available slots to see us yesterday. Finally he found a Dr. Lee @ Gleneagles and so we went. The nurse was so much friendlier and nicer and the doctor was also chattier than Dr. Fong..but maybe a tad too long-winded? Anyway so he did the ultrasound scan on my abdomen and first thing we saw was our lil beanie jumping up and down on the screen!
Amazing.
And for once, I think the reality of beanie's presence and life finally settled down with the husband. He melted at that scene of course and couldn’t stop marveling. He said he even wanted to photocopy beanie’s picture and hang it on his work table.
The price of assurance cost us $204.
Because it was the doctor’s new ultrasound machine, he hadn’t had time to figure out the buttons and so we were really lucky to look at beanie for a good 15-20 mins. From the time we saw beanie jumping up and down, until the time he fell into slumber mode and dozed off, it was barely like 5-7 mins. Beanie must have been playing by himself in there prior to us catching him on screen bouncing up and down. Haha how cute! According to Dr. Lee, babies usually wake up every 20 mins to play and stretch before falling back into slumber. It’s like we could almost see beanie’s facial features since his hands and feet were almost developed! I am really so amazed by God and His wonderful creation. I think the hubby must have been very impressed by God’s creation too. Having said that, I hope the hubby will finally mature and grow up and let the reality of beanie sink into his head and the fact that carrying beanie aint an easy feat so during these 8 months or so, he had better learn to accomodate accomodate and accomodate!
Second Trimester @ 17 Weeks Along
Pregnancy is a whole new adventure for us. To think I’ve survived 17 weeks. I’m pretty amazed myself.
Looking back, the horrible morning or rather, pregnancy sickness that did not look like it would ever go away but finally did at 10-11 weeks with occasional vomiting thereafter. The constant nausea if I didn’t have food going into my system every 2 hours. The great aversions I had towards some of my favorite food like fish, prawn and mushroom. The sudden love for meat (beef in particular) and fruit juices. Equally as sudden was the outbreak of hives all over my body plus the acne and pimples that never seemed to go away. My erratic emotional outbursts and mood swings which the husband still sometimes forgets when he feels the need to showcase that his ego is bigger than his own child and pregnant wife.
Does that sound like im ranting and complaining already?Haha rest assured I am not.
With all the downside that pregnancy brings along also comes the beautiful side of life and the abundance of it.
Our lil beanie communicates with me when he doesn’t like certain food by making me puke it all out. Carrot juice especially and occasionally milk though he is learning to accept the latter now. He tells me when he’s hungry and needs more food and that’s when I feel nauseous. Though I haven’t felt him kick yet, its only a matter of time before I wish he would stop. Then again, maybe the lil fellow is a night owl – I’m losing sleep regularly because of him I think; though part of the problem is really getting up to pee and then finding it hard to sleep again because the husband snores like thunder. :/
Since this is the second mention of the husband, can I just let it all out?
Ok, so in barely 4 months of my pregnancy, I’ve fallen sick 3 times. The first was when we just found out about beanie’s existence. He refused to see a doctor, refused to finish his antibiotics, refuse to rest (because of his never-ending work) and refuse to sleep separately from me. When beanie was still literally a bean, I had to take medication in order to get better and I’m honestly not sure if beanie was in any way affected by that. Second time the husband was better; he slept in a different room when he fell sick again. The third he also slept separately from me but because it was gastric flu, it eventually found its way to me and I ended up vomiting more than usual and running to the toilet more often. Now a few weeks later and again my throat is hurting. I don’t think there’s ever been a pregnant woman sicker than I’ve been. What to do? I can take all preventive measures in the office and at home but if people are sick and don’t stay home to rest, take their medicines, cough and sneeze freely, don’t wear a mask etc, there’s only so much I can do. And yes, I am grumbling now.
Oh and by the way, beanie is most probably a boy; 80% to be exact. The next check-up, which will be our detailed scan at 20th week, would determine the gender for sure with close to 100% accuracy rate.
Till then!
