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Been pretty busy the past 2-3 weeks hence the long silence…

Just got back from another checkup with the gynae today. Baby is growing nicely, and the doctor estimated that she now weighs about 800gm. Which left me wondering…where did the rest of the 7.2kg that I’ve put on so far go to (other than the amniotic fluid)?!? Probably my bum and hips, no less…sigh. Like I just told a friend…70% to my hips, 20% to my waist and only 10 measly percent to my boobs…

Got some rashes on my tummy recently…I thought it was due to an allergic reaction to a new dress that I wore without washing first (it came packed in a plastic bag, but who knows what chemicals were left on the material, eh?), but when I went to see the doctor today, he said that it’s probably due to the pregnancy. It’s gotten better since, and I’ve been continuing my regime of slathering on the tonic oil from Clarins daily. No stretch marks….yet…but….cellulite! OMG, why didn’t anyone tell me about cellulite during pregnancy? It’s everywhere I look! *wails* Feels like even my toes have cellulite…

Baby bump-wise…it’s obviously getting bigger…duh! The top of my uterus is now about 3 finger-widths above my belly button (still an innie as opposed to an outie!), and I can now feel baby’s kicks near my diaphragm. It’s still a pretty neat bump though, which led most colleagues to speculate that baby’s a boy! Yes, I still don’t look very pregnant from the back and at certain, more flattering mirrors, I still look like I have a teeny tiny semblance of a waistline!

My little girl is still as active as ever…kicking, squirming…and lately, doing something that feels alot like she’s drumming her fingers… Yes…a very distinct feeling of four consecutive tiny little jabs! I confess that I do miss her movements whenever she goes to sleep…I really do enjoy this little bit of interaction with her! I’ve sort of recognized a pattern to her kicks…she kicks a few minutes after I wake up and when I’m still lying in bed. Then she goes back to sleep as I get ready to go to the office. She hardly ever kicks when I’m in the car. She kicks more frequently when it’s near lunch time, and is most active throughout the day when I’m working (and it’s pretty fun to watch the skin of my belly jump out at different places when she’s kicking). And lastly, when I’m back in bed at night and about to go to sleep, she’ll start squirming and kicking for a while before settling down for the night. And oh…she apparently doesn’t like it when I turn to the side coz I can feel her jab-jab-jabbing until I turn back onto my back!

The newest development thus far has been the round ligament pain that I started to experience after walking around too much during my lunch hour. It’s a slight jabbing/throbbing type of sensation, and for me, it only occurred on my right side at the top of my hip. The first time I felt it, I thought it was appendicitis! Confirmed with the doctor today that it’s round ligament pain, which isn’t so worrying since it’s part and parcel of being pregnant. It comes and goes, and usually only occurs after I’ve walked too much…so I suppose I’ll just have to be careful not to over-exert myself.

With the third trimester coming up, I guess it’s time to start eating bird’s nest (yummy yummy!) and more cooling stuff. I’ve been told that towards the last few weeks, I should start drinking coconut water…it apparently helps to prevent baby from having jaundice (though whether it’s scientifically proven or not, or it’s one of those pregnancy myths, I have no idea!). I’ve also started eating bananas…why? Bananas are rich in potassium, which apparently helps to prevent leg cramps - another one of those lovely pregnancy side-effects! Doesn’t hurt that bananas are one of my favourite fruits and goes deliciously well with ice-cream (and superbly well when eaten on its own with a dollop of peanut butter…but unfortunately, peanut butter is one of the things pregnant women are advised to avoid). Oh, and here’s a tip I got from my parents…when the bananas are ripe, pop them in the fridge. They somehow keep longer (ie. doesn’t go black and rotten so fast), and it tastes much better cold than at room temperature (at least to me!). Village Grocer @ BV sells organic bananas which is practically double the price of the ‘normal’ ones, but they are wonderfully sweet!

Baby shopping…we’re now in the midst of searching for baby cots. Been to a few shops so far, but the good ones are too expensive and the not-very-expensive ones do not look very sturdy. Sigh. After going back and forth a few times (on average, I think we visited each shop twice!), we’ve more or less decided on one…so we’ll probably go back to the shop to take another look and make our final decision. Can’t wait to get it over and done with…it’s the last ‘big ticket item’ left on my baby shopping list and the sooner I buy all the stuff that’s on that list, the more relaxed I’ll feel!

And so, there you have it…my pregnancy update at 24 weeks and 5 days, recorded for posterity!

Argh…what the *toot* is wrong with my blog? I don’t touch it for one week and suddenly the pictures aren’t appearing, the categories have errors…?!?!?!?

…baby has caught up with an ear of corn in size and gained about 1/4 pound since last week. (Length: almost a foot.)

Photo and info from: Baby Center, edited by yours truly

PS: Been really busy this week, will reply your comments and put up a new post soon!

…baby weighs about as much as a large mango — just over a pound. (Length: more than 11 inches.)

Photo and info from: Baby Center, edited by yours truly

Actually, not that much to update other than I’m losing my memory and my baby girl definitely inherited hubby’s jabbing and my kicking skills in spades…

Memory wise…oh dear, it’s quite worrying! I drove home all the way from work this afternoon because for the life of me, I couldn’t remember whether I locked the front door. Geez. I used to be able to trace my steps backwards, but I just couldn’t do it this morning, and I fretted my way through the whole morning till lunch time. I actually rely on my ability to retrace my steps when it comes to remembering where I parked my car, and guess what, it failed me last week when I was leaving work. Yes, I forgot where I parked my car…

Kicking…wow. I can’t say if baby’s really active since I have no comparison, but she really does move around quite alot and once she starts kicking and jabbing, she can go on for some time. My baby book says that at this point, baby is already swallowing the amniotic fluid, and apparently, the amniotic fluid does take on some taste of the food that you eat! How true it is, I’m not sure, but I did notice that baby moves more after I eat something particularly sweet like chocolates, cakes & ice cream.

The funniest thing happened last night, though! I was reading a book before going to bed, and as usual, this baby girl was doing her nightly exercises. She was moving so vigorously that I put down my book, lifted up my top and just stared at my tummy…and suddenly, she kicked me twice, really hard, and the skin of my belly visibly bulged out both times at the part where she kicked (or jabbed, I don’t know!). I was rather taken aback at first…it’s the first time I’ve seen it happened although I’ve seen my belly getting distended to one side (she favours the left) when she squirms…and after getting over my initial shock, I started laughing! Too bad hubby was already asleep and he missed it…oh, how I wish I managed to record it for him to see!

My belly button, an innie, has yet to turn inside out. The opening, has actually almost completely closed up…so from an “O” it has become a “~”. And with the uterus growing bigger and upwards, I’ve started feeling some aches near my ribs, particularly if I sit for a long period of time.

Appetite and weight…appetite has been great, actually! My mom said that I’m really lucky coz I don’t seem to have any particular aversion to food after I passed the first trimester (she, on the other hand, lived on milk and cheese when she was preggers with me…couldn’t stand the smell and taste of meat), and neither do I have any particular cravings either…so, count your lucky stars, hubby! Weight wise, according to the scale at home, I’m now at 47kgs, but I should get a more accurate reading when I go for my next checkup (the scale at home is really dodgy at times!).

Hubby and I have signed up for antenatal classes, commencing this coming November at the hospital that we’ve chosen to deliver the baby. RM150 per couple, comprising of four two-hour sessions. The classes cover things like the role of the father (be generous with the credit card…haha…), admission & preparation of childbirth, breathing and relaxation exercises and a baby bath demonstration among others. I’ve been reading alot about the labour and birthing process and already have a pretty firm idea what I want in my birth plan (more about that in a later post), but more information never hurt anyone.

The other exciting thing now is thinking of baby names! It’s really not an easy task…one of the names we shortlisted has been taken up already, and the rest just doesn’t sound right with hubby’s surname. Not because of the pronunciation of hubby’s surname though…his surname is actually pretty easy to match, but the names that we came up with sounds nice by itself but doesn’t really flow when said together with his surname, if you know what I mean. Anyways, after some ding-donging here and there, we’re finally quite close to selecting one!

As for the Chinese name…lets not go there yet… I’m enlisting my mom’s help to give some suggestions though, since the both of us (hubby and I) have practically no clue! We did shortlist some, but since there’s the meaning, the strokes, the elements, the aesthetics and finally, the pronunciation in different dialects to consider, I don’t think it’s something the both of us can accomplish alone! Oh well, another 4 months to go, so no rush there!

And to end on a fun (and name-related) note…

My dad forwarded this to me some time ago. It had me in stitches…though I really do apologize beforehand if your name happens to appear below:

Why Chinese shouldn’t have Christian names:
Anne Chang => Dirty (Mandarin)
Anne Chin => Keep Quiet (Mandarin)
Faye Chen => Dusty (Mandarin)
Carl Cheng => Buttock (Hokkien)
Monica Cheng => Touching your buttocks (Hokkien)
Lucy Leow => You are dead (Hokkien)
Jane Tan => Frying eggs (Mandarin)
Suzie Leow => Lose till death (Hokkien)
Henry Mah => Hate your mum (Mandarin)
Paul Chan => Bankrupt (Mandarin)
Nelson Tan => Bird laying eggs (Mandarin)
Leslie Tong => Rubbish Bin (Mandarin)
Carmen Teng => Leg hair long (Hokkien)
Danny See => Squeeze you to death (Hokkien)
Rosie Teng => Screws and nails (Hokkien)
Pete Tsai => Nose droppings (Hokkien)
Macy Koh => Never die before (Cantonese)