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Belly wise…baby’s presence is very apparent. I’m sporting a definite baby bump now, and I can feel a hard mass below my belly button especially when I lie down. It’s still too early to feel baby kick, but sometimes, if I place a gentle hand on my tummy and breathe slowly, I can feel very very slight movements…I suppose this is what the books call quickening (tiny flutters that feel like champagne fizzling)? Also, at different times in the night…before I go to sleep, when I get up to go pee, when I wake up early in the morning, that hard mass appears to be at slightly different locations so looks like baby’s shifting around!

I guess it’s really true that the second trimester is the honeymoon period. Nausea only rears it’s ugly head when I’m feeling particularly tired…I noticed this usually happens on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings when I get up to go to work. I still need afternoon naps on weekends, but 1-2 hours is more than sufficient to recharge. I do start yawning away earlier in the night though, but then I suppose it’s my body telling me to get more rest.

Skin has been getting a little dry, so I’ve been using up my stash of L’occitane moisturizing creams. I’m also deathly afraid of those dratted stretch marks, and after reading some pregnancy forums and hearing recommendations from friends, I’ve started using Clarins’s Tonic Body Treatment Oil. It’s supposed to help prevent stretch marks…although all the pregnancy books that I’ve read thus far have said that there’s practically no way in heaven or hell one can avoid stretch marks - 90% of pregnant women will get them due to the breaking down of elastin and collagen fibers in the skin…so, if you’re gonna get it, you’ll get it…

The oil smells nice, very spa-like, and the sales assistant at Clarins told me to apply it on damp skin after showering by massaging it into my abdomen and thighs, and then rinsing off with cold water. I did that for about 1 week before realizing that my skin was totally absorbing the oil, so now I just dispense with the cold water part. Any difference in skin texture since I started using it? Most definitely…my skin feels really soft and very moisturized, so maybe there’s some hope in that tiny bottle after all! That, and my weight gain, which seems to have slowed down ever since I entered the second trimester…not a bad thing since rapid weight gain aggravates the occurrence of stretch marks.

Digestive system has definitely slowed down and doing a number two is becoming a slight problem now despite drinking a cup of prune juice every night (yes, I’ve increased it from half a cup to one cup!). Gotta ask the doctor this Tuesday if there’s anything else I can do to alleviate the problem. One of my biggest concerns is hemorrhoids/piles. It’s one of the common problems pregnant women suffer due to constipation as well as the additional pressure from the uterus. Both my parents strongly believe in practicing good bowel habits daily, and that’s one of the things that I’ve picked up from them, so this is the one aspect that I’d hope would bypass me. Well, I’ll just eat more prunes and hope things improve from there.

We’re going for another checkup this coming Tuesday, and I’m so extremely excited as I can’t wait to see how much baby has grown! And maybe maybe if we’re extremely lucky, the doctor will be able to tell us if baby’s a boy or girl so I can start going clothes shopping!! Pretty unlikely though as people usually find out their baby’s gender around 20 weeks, and some even later.

Just two more days, precious baby…! Can’t wait!

…baby measures up to an avocado, now, and weighs 3 1/2 ounces. (Length: 4 1/2 inches, head to bottom.)

Photo and info from: Baby Center.

…baby has grown to the size of an apple and weighs about 2 1/2 ounces. (Length: 4 inches, head to bottom.)

Photo and info from: Baby Center.

I just realized I never wrote a post about our trip to Singapore 2 weekends ago! We were initially supposed to go in early July to attend a friend’s wedding, but had to postpone the trip due to the bleeding episode. Luckily, the hotel allowed us to change the dates of our booking and we pushed the trip back by a month.

As with our previous trip to Singapore back in May last year, we stayed at Royal Plaza on Scotts. It’s conveniently located at the Orchard-Scotts crossroads, within walking distance to the MRT, Wheelock, Taka, Shaw Centre, Paragon. A plus point is that it’s a smoke-free hotel. The rooms aren’t spanking brand new despite undergoing some renovations about 2 years ago (if I remember correctly), but it’s quite spacious plus there’s free broadband and drinks from the minibar.

Timing of the trip was pretty good as I’d just crossed over into the second trimester, and the nausea that plagued me for the past few weeks was slowly but surely disappearing. My appetite while we were in Singapore was at an all time high…I felt like I could eat anything! However, unlike earlier trips, we didn’t make plans to try any new places as I wasn’t sure if I would feel up to it. As it is, we revisited some oldies but goodies: Sun and Moon @ Wheelock, Marmalade Pantry @ Palais Renaissance, Chatterbox @ Meritus Mandarin (the super-ex chicken rice place), Tony Romas, the Muddy Mud Pie @ Coffee Club…and stumbled upon some new ones:

1. Canelé Pâtisserie @ Shaw Centre - this branch probably opened within the last year or so as we didn’t see it during our May07 trip. I’ve never eaten in the one at Paragon, but Friday’s shopping left me feeling very peckish in the evening, and I nipped down for a bowl of mushroom soup which turned out to be rather yummy!

2. Cedele @ Wheelock which is situated right next to Sun & Moon - We had breakfast there one day, and it was good! I had Caramelised Banana Pancake with Orange Butter & Maple Syrup…you know it’s going to be a good day when brekkie sounds and tastes delicious! I really want to go back there one day to try their soups and mains.

3. La Strada @ Shaw Centre - among the few places we tried, I’d expected this to be the best, but it was sadly disappointing. Hubby’s cod fish was not cooked in the middle, the menu wasn’t all too exciting…we both just had a main course each and left without even trying their desserts.

4. McDonalds - haha…yes, I know we have McDonalds in Malaysia, but what we don’t have are the super awesome fried chicken wings that the McDonalds in Singapore has! It’s crispy, succulent and slightly spicy and oh so good as a late night snack!

5. Bistro Petit Salut @ Chip Bee Gardens - we went to Chip Bee Gardens because I wanted to stock up on chocolates from Shermay’s Cooking School. We ended up having the 3-course set lunch at this restaurant, and maybe we lucked out in choosing the restaurant (there are quite a few to choose from) coz the food was delish! Hubby had (and I’m quoting directly from their website) 1/2 dozen baked escargots with cherry tomatoes and garlic butter, oven-roasted chicken leg confit with wild mushroom cream sauce and gratin potato and choux buns with vanilla ice cream, warm chocolate sauce and sliced almonds, while I had the vine ripened tomato salad with basil, parsley, balsamic and olive oil (very refreshing and tangy), Provencal-styled slow braised pork ribs in tomato and white wine, gratinated in mixed herbs (very nice, tasted like goulash!) and mixed tropical fruits crumble infused with vanilla beans (piping hot and a perfect end to a light lunch). Best of all, each set only cost around $25++! Granted, the portions were not huge, but it was just right for us as we wanted something nice and light.

Shopping wise…well, hubby made a trip to Funan sans moi and came back with a whole load of little goodies, like these X-mini speakers. It’s quite a funny coincidence coz I’ve been wanting to buy it for ages (god knows why, it’s not like I need ‘em, but it’s just so cute!) but never mentioned it once to hubby, so I had quite a good laugh when I saw that he bought one on his own! Take a look, isn’t it cute?? Packs a punch too! Hubby bought the black one, but I think the one in red is even nicer…

He also bought me a shocking pink Speck MacBook cover that I could never seem to find in Malaysia…

As for myself, I stocked up on chocolates and finally bought the Microplane grater that I’ve been lusting after for ages! Ya, I know…not very exciting… Oh oh, and I found an orange cutter in Tangs! It cuts the orange into segments and separates it from the skin…how cool is that? Well, I used it when we got back to KL and while it does work, it leaves an awful lot of the orange still stuck to the skin which is extremely wasteful. Luckily, it doubles up as a juicer…haha…so that’s what I’ve been using it for since!

The bulk of our shopping, however, consisted of baby stuff! We bought the Quinny stroller & MaxiCosi infant car seat from Baby Avenue (thanks to Sherl’s recommendation!), the Medela breast pump from The First Few Years @ Paragon as well as the Pigeon bottle sterilizer @ Taka’s baby fair. Oooo…the baby fair! Lots of items with really good discounts and bargains…seriously, you can save alot of money buying stuff there instead! I also stocked up on Pigeon’s disposable breast pads as I plan to breastfeed…again, it’s cheaper in Singapore than in M’sia, even with the high exchange rate!

Needless to say, our car was literally filled to the brim when we came back!