EXERCISE

Just attended our very first antenatal lesson on Saturday night at AMK Hub. You may think that we are too “kiasu” to attend the class at such early stage. Hm...the reason is I left with not much choice on Mrs. Wong Boh Boi’s weekend class when I called up TMC at around 17weeks. Mrs. Wong, Senior ParentCraft/Lactation Consultant of TMC is highly recommended by many mommies, who attended her class before. She is also author of books titled Childcare, Breastfeeding and Chilcare, which given free to us when we signed for TMC’s First Born Incentive. Since there is no price difference for the class conducted by Mrs. Wong, I opted for her class of course!

And yes, Mrs. Wong’s class is fun and interesting! She is humorous, and I enjoyed her class pretty much. She is highly experienced and seems to have wealth of knowledge. Thus, she provides a lot of good info and hands-on training. Hoho…quite funny that Mrs. Wong worried people mistaken her as an actress, as she appeared countless time on TV, seminars and workshops. But One thing hubby and I dislike is the venue of the class. AMK hub is very crowded and the parking is sucks! The classroom is also quite small and crampy. You will have difficulty to watch out Mrs. Wong demonstration if sit at the back. They should find a bigger room with stage or mirror, for more effective presentation.

Hee…I indeed attended the class slightly early, as my tummy appears to be the smallest among the mommies! Hee….I would said it was “inconspicuous” as compared to others. Hubby joked that people must be wondering what is this “non-pregnant woman” doing here? He also felt “paiseh” that will people think that he abusing me by not feeding me well? Haha…my silly hubby!

Actually I find it is all right/good to start early. The first lesson covers antenatal exercise, coping with pregnancy discomfort, the correct way to get up from bed or fall without assistance (to prevent injuries), back care & postures, nutrition before and after delivery, myths & traditions (e.g. showering and washing hair during confinement) and etc. Hoho…I have to admit that I am a lazy mom-to-be, do none of exercise except walking after conceiving. After attended the first lesson, hope I can be persistent in doing antennal exercise (from head to toes) taught by Mrs. Wong. The exercise is beneficial to prevent neckache and back ache, as well as legs cramp; to increase the lung capacity to prepare for delivery; to firm and tone the breast and so on. However, dun think I can remember all as she demonstrated too many exercise in a lesson, sigh…with no notes provided.

On top of that, Mrs. Wong shared with us the “four rhythm” and “butterflies” method in communicating/playing with our unborn baby. Hubby practices them and happily interacts with our unborn baby these two days! Most importantly, hubby also learnt how to massage me during the class, which I enjoyed the most! *GRIN*

At the end of the session, we were giving some free gifts, including an Avent bottle, baby teethers and milk powder sample. Looking forward to the 2nd lesson.

P/S: Mommies who like to rub their tummy in circular motion, please stop doing that immediately! According to Mrs. Wong, this will induce contraction and result in premature labour. Hoho…I am one of them!

KICKS

I was actually feeling quite anxious few weeks ago when approaching my 20 weeks, as I could not feel my bb’s movement. I talked to my bb every night, hoping that he could give me a hard kick that I can feel, but in vain. It became worse when I get to know some moms-to-be actually felt the baby’s movement/kicks as early as 14-15weeks. Hubby commented that my skin must be too thick to feel the kicks! *fainted* Fortunately, my tummy is growing bigger. At least there is something I can use to console myself that my bb is growing well!

The first time I felt baby’s kicks on 9 Jun, around 11pm+ was a surprisingly powerful moment of joy! I can recall vividly I was lying and reading a pregnancy-related book on the bed. It was a hard-covered book and too heavy (lazy) for me to hold it, so I rested it on my belly. Who knows, my boy might probably feel the pressure and he decided to give me 3 strong kicks to protest!!!! Hahaha…..finally! I was unsure for the very first time, so I waited and sure enough, he did it again. It was so cool and incredible! I told my hubby immediately, but he could not believe and said is my illusion! Anyway, I was convinced that it was my little one’s kicks/punches!

Since then, my boy has been updating me on his well being by occasional kicks here and there, now and then. It was more like a “heartbeat” at first, and slowly ranges from fluttery kicking sensation to bubbles feeling in my tummy. *amazed* My boy is very active during daytime, seems that I always can feel his strong kicks when I sitting/working in front of PC! There was many times hubby tried to put his hand on my belly to feel the kick, but no response so far. Guess that is the privilege to mom-to-be, as dad-to be would not get it! I hope that hubby can feel the kick soon, and sure the kick will bring us closer to our baby!

AVERAGE

Phew!!! My detailed scan (DS) went well! *chuckles

And yes, it is confirmed that I am expecting a baby boy! According to Dr. YC, baby’s growth is average and this applies to all parts of body. As you can see from the charts below that baby’s growth is really right in the middle following average curves. His weight of ~300gm is average, the dimensions of his head, abdomen, the sizes of his hands and feet are average. We are glad with the results!

Unlike others, my DS was done by Dr. YC in her clinic. Of course we have to pay slightly more for her service, instead of scanning by sonographer. But we have not given the choice! As usual, Dr. YC is very patient in guiding us to read the u/s throughout the whole scanning, and it is worth the money spent on her service!

Hm…btw, we took quite some time (2 attempts) to complete the DS as our baby was not cooperative. It probably because of I did not “edify” him before going for DS, hee… During the first half of scanning, my boy was in “somersault” position (again?!), thus it really restrict us to have a peep on his head and face. Dr. YC really tried her best to capture whatever organs that baby allowed us to see, and made necessary measurements during 1st scanning. We managed to check his legs, feet, hands, heart (we can see the valves and 4 chambers of heart), kidney, stomach, bladder, diaphragm, umbilical cord and etc! So amazing…And again, Dr. YC commented that my bb has very long legs and arms, like his father! Hoho…my hubby was thrilled with her remarks!!!

I was asked to go for a walk after that as my bb refused to move no matter how we disturbed or agitated him. I tried my best to psycho my bb to show us his head and face. Hee…I even bribed him with gifts (there are still many items in our shopping list, I need to buy them anyway, keke…)! Who knows this trick really work! He was facing us when I returned back to my 2nd scan! This made 2nd scan trouble-free. We were able to check his head, brains, eyes, lenses, nose, ear and mouth (lips). All look normal! According to Dr. YC, my boy has a sharp nose and my mouth?! *giggles* Besides checking on bb’s organs, gynae also checked my placenta, am glad to know that it is in good shape and right position.

After all, my boy was very naughty throughout the scanning. He fisted when we tried to count his fingers; he covered his face by rubbing his eyes when we wanted to take a closer look on his face; he showed his armpit when we checked on his hand (Hee…Dr. YC scolded him being no manners) and he posed and showed us his muscle when we measured his arms (Ya baby! We know that you are strong!). Very cute right?

In conclusion, we are very happy with the proper and average growth of baby, and sure will be enjoy our parenthood real soon! In fact, I cant help feeling very high after the DS! Last but not least, thanks my dear hubby for being a videoman again!

EXHIBITION

Just back from Motherhood Exhibition 2008 @ Singapore Expo. It is better than what I have expected, there are many booths selling mommy and baby stuffs, tonic, diapers, milk powder, cordblood storage, insurance, as well as car!!! So funny!

I am glad that we went. We were quite hesitating to make a trip down, as u know Expo is super far from our place. Anyway, besides the free gifts, there were some good buys too!

So after spending >2hrs in the fair, aiyo…damage was done!

1. Subscribed to Motherhood magazine. We are entitled to a big goodie bag stuffed with many free gifts, as well as a piece of EGG nursing top (it cost $115, dun know how true?).
2. Diapers. Really have some good deals for diapers, e.g. 2 packs of EQ S size diapers (40pcs) only cost you $10. However, we did not buy much as it is still early and we worried our baby may be allergy to some brands.
3. Neurogain. The price is slightly cheaper than outside.
4. The big damage was from breast pump. We have pre-ordered a dual electric breast pump which is Ameda Lactaline Personal bundle set (together with Pumpin' Pal's super shields and handsfree strap). I have read some good comments for this pump and it is about half the price of “branded” Medela Pump-In-Style. Hoho…told hubby that since we have bought such a good pump, I will try my best to breastfeed our bb as much/long as I can to cover the cost! Keeping my fingers crossed.
5. Fridge-to-go. A special price is offered with the purchase of breast pump.
   

P/S: Went Cheong Choon @ Chitatown on Fri, they indeed offering quite reasonable price for baby stuffs. We may consider buying nitty gritty stuffs from them if cheaper than getting from JB. Hoho…since when I become shopping queen le? @_@

DRESSES

I finally received my two new maternity dresses last week! I ordered them through an online-store, unfortunately they were out-of-stock. So I waited for about 3 weeks before delivery as the seller needs to import them from Taiwan for me. I feel so happy upon receiving them, coz they are really nice and worth waiting for! Most importantly, their prices are quite reasonable and I believe I can still wear them even after delivery! Hee…it is show time now!