Week 13 - Thumb up!

My body:
* Whoever said I'd feel better after 12 weeks, come forward please so I can beat you up! My evening sickness is still pretty much happening every day. Most of the afternoon I would slump down on the couch by 5pm, can't even move to greet my husband who comes home from work. I have started watching Home and Away (eeeks.. well I try not to watch it but most of the time I would be too sick even to change the channel that I just watch it anyway. Although don't worry, I am still not following the plots and don't know what's going on. Didn't even know a character from the show :P).
We would have dinner (as early as 7pm) and I would slump back to the couch after that until it's time to go to bed (although most of the time I fall asleep on the couch anyway).
* Some predicts it's going to be a boy. This is due to the fact that I have made the sofa as my sanctuary and sink there most of the time without any desire to do anything. Dishes and laundry accumulate before my eyes. I am even too lazy to dress up. Apparently baby boy makes you lazy (can't see any correlations but as long as I can blame my laziness to something else, I am happy.)
* This just came to my attention - I belch like a man/pig now. I am not denying that I belch and burp in my previous life (as unpregnant woman) but it looks like I can't really control it anymore. It doesn't matter though, with so much gas in my tummy, every burp is like sent from heaven.



You live, you learn. My lesson for this week is that a)I am not very good in delivering good news and b) it is not easy to keep your social life when you're pregnant in your first trimester.

I have gone about telling people about my pregnancy. I had been planning to tell some friends here about my pregnancy, but I told them "we should catch up because I have some news" so when we told them about the news, they have already suspected it.

This was held during a course of a meal, which during that time I was constantly feeling sick and just wanting to go home and lay down (but could't do that either when we got home because one of them was staying with us that night)

I also told some people from old work that we are expecting, and that we should catch up before we're moving to Australia when in realities it might never happened. Blame it to the pregnancy, it's a social-life downhill for us mothers to be.

Wednesday 30 August,

Our first ultrasound scan. We went for the Nuchal Translucency test today, where they checked the thickness of baby's neck in corelation with my age and the size of the baby to see what is the risk of chromosome abnormality, in particular Down syndrome. It is an elective test, but we wanted to make sure everything is okay so we decided to go along. Plus, we got to see the baby way earlier than we would normally have (which is around week 16-18).

The baby is soo small - he's 7cm long which made it 13 weeks and 1 day according to their calculation.
The result was fine - the thickness was way under what the concern would be.

But holy cow, it's amazing to see this little thing moving around in my tummy. He's soo beautiful! He moved around so fast and so active (although I can't really feel it since it's still too early and he's still too small), one second his legs were kicking and the other second he wiggled his thumbs as if saying, 'dont worry mum, here I am, everything is fine!' We could see his eyes and his face although it wasn't really clear and I don't think it has shapened completely yet.
The heartbeats were captures as blinking motions on the monitor.

When we got home I told Scott that maybe it wasn't the baby thumb that we saw (since it was too early to tell the sex) and Scott said, "do you think Bob (he doesn't want to call the baby Steve anymore, incase we grow accustomised with the name) was wiggling his p***s in his hands?"

(unfortunately the pics are being sent to the midwife so I can't show them here until my next appointment with the lady)

"We are not a couple anymore. We are now a triple," my husband said when we were home.

Week 12 - The sweetest sound

My body:
* I am constantly thirsty. I think this is my body telling me I need to keep hydrated. I didn't really drink enough water up until last week but now I have to have my water by my side.
* My weight has gone up a little (under different circumstances I would have been panic) and my waist definitely growing (maybe because my weight has gone up?)
* Woo hoo.. Boobsie are not sore anymore. Although they won't stop growing until about 6 months into pregnancy.
* The metallic taste in my mouth is gone, but I still feel nauseaus from time to time.
* More tired this week - This weekend I got up at 10am, had a nap at 3 and was ready for bed at 9pm.


My Baby
Weighs about 14 grams and is about 2-1/2 inches in length. Her reflexes are functioning, and the digestive tract is active and secreting bile - all to prepare your baby for life outside of your body. Stem cells, the "mother cells" that will become heart, brain, liver, bone, blood, nerve, and immune cells, continue to differentiate to form baby's major organs. Although baby's brain continues to grow, the components now have the same structure they will have at birth. If your OB or midwife uses a fetal Doppler, you may be able to listen to your baby's heartbeat many moms-to-be are amazed by how fast it is. This may be the sweetest sound you have ever heard.

It was indeed the sweetest sound!
The midwife put the doppler scan on my tummy and suddenly there it is!! My baby's heartbeat. Throbbing through out the speaker. Very clear.
It was a very very emotional moment. I didn't even realise that I had tear coming out of my eyes.
Her heartbeat was very strong, twice as fast as regular one. The midwife said it's because she's only small she works hard and it takes a lot to pump the blood into the system.

It suddenly became real. Everything, that I am going to be a mother, that we are going to be parents. Scott said it just made his life listening to her heartbeat.

I had my concerns about the alcohol that I consumed before I found out I was pregnant, unfortunately the midwife wasn't really assuring. She said so many factors depend on it and she said she could not say if it's okay but everyone drinks before they know they are pregnant. But then she also said, they said if something is to happen, it happens on day 21. Which was exactly when I was drinking.
I am super duper paranoid. I am aware there's nothing that we can do - fingers crossed and hope for the best but I'll be worrying about it the whole pregnancy!

It's just it's so true what people said about wanting the best for your kids, but I never realised that it would start from even before she is born.

I've been soo lucky and so blessed, we've been happy, we've got everything we wanted. We are very very lucky. But I couldn't keep questioning in my mind, does this mean something bad is bound to happen?
I think it's time to stop worrying and start being grateful of all the good things that happened to us :D

HOT PRESS

Rianti just adopted a pup and called her Zoe!!
Hi hi hi.. So much for persuading Scott to call our daughter Zoe. Definitely dog's name.
That's it!

Week 11 - Exotic baby

My body:
* Early this week I thought I finally got rid of my morning sickness - but I lied. It came back in Wednesday or so. I spent the weekend laying in the couch not able to move an inch.
* I feel more tired than usual, but it's probably because I am working
* Craving for exotic fruits: pineapple, manggo, etc (maybe the baby will be exotic). I am still very picky with what I eat and definitely can't cook yet. Been eating very plain and bland food like porridge and the like this whole week, athough my appetite is a bit better -I might have already put on some weight!

My baby:
is now fully formed — measuring 1 1/2 inches long and weighing in at a quarter of an ounce. His skin is still transparent, allowing many of his blood vessels to show through. Some of his bones are beginning to harden, and tiny toothbuds are starting to appear under his gums. His fingers and toes have separated, and he may soon be able to open and close his fists. He's already busy kicking and stretching, and his tiny movements are so fluid they look like water ballet. These movements will increase as his body grows and becomes more developed and functional. As his diaphragm develops, my tiny tenant may also start to get the hiccups. Because he's still so small, though, you won't feel any of his workouts or intrauterine gulps until sometime between weeks 16 and 20.


I am working for two weeks. Dragging my sorry ass every morning in the cold winter weather, no parking available so usually have to walk ten to fifteen minutes walk to the office from where I usually park - one way! The only good thing about it is that I am forced to take my 30 minutes exercise everyday.

Of course it is because I am lazy. It's an okay job - being an account executive for another ad agency, which is not as boring as my other temp job and it pays a lot better.

I am working from this girl's email - her name is Zoe. I always like that name, sometimes I wish my name was Zoe and when I was travelling in Europe a few years ago I sometimes told people that my name was Zoe. When I sent email to Scott he said, 'I always like Zoe's name, why does it have to be the name of my exes boss dog?'. Scott used to work at this cafe for this very nervous and agitated man who owns a dog called Zoe. He said he will always associate that name with the dog. Bummer! We've got a nice name for a girl but now Scott is changing his mind because it belongs to a famous Hollywood actress and he doesn't want to be told that we're trend affected.

I see pregnant people...
I see pregnant people. Walking around as if they don't know they are pregnant. Well mm.. not really. But I've seen soo many birth scene on tv for the past week, and everytime I saw it I nearly winced. Then Gita told me detailed descriptions on how it feels in the labour! Damn you Gita, now I have to sleep with it.

Another show that I have taken interest in watching is.. Supernanny. It is a show about a nanny who comes to the rescue for the families who could not handle their kids. The show had been putting me off (because most of the children are super trouble - or maybe I should say it's their parents who don't know how to handle it)but now I have to watch it and see if I can learn from it.
I know it's still a long way away but the more you watch, the more you will learn, am I right?

Week 10 - Guessing game

My body:
* I still can't smell things and I have forgotten how it feels not to feel sick - can't wait for this to be over. Apparently they said it will go PUFF - just like that - on the 12th week. But so far the following things that I can't stand include: olive oil, raw vegetable & raw meat (no supermarket!), my husband's smell (poor thing!!), curry, meat, the fridge, our home (!!) but not limited to that. Morning sickness is more to evening thing for me - been going to bed at around 9pm because lying down helps me with that motion sickness feeling.
* I crave for fruits, looking at fruits section in the supermarket makes my mouth watering - and I have never eaten so much fruits in my life before!
* Incredibly sexy boobsies - and they are still growing. Errrr.. look only not touch, they are as sore as being constantly pricked by needles all over them.
* My jeans got suddenly very tight around the waist. Although my weight hasn't gone up yet and the book said it's most likely gas & constipation that reside in there, not the baby yet.

My Baby:
Baby is somewhere between 1 and 1-1/2 inches in length and probably weighs about 4 grams (or as much as 4 paper clips). He or she has lips, toes, eyes that are usually open, ears that are completely formed, and the genitals are becoming more clearly defined. The little pollywog has lost its "tail" and this week marks the end of the embryonic stage and the beginning of the fetal stage!

This week I got paranoid about the long hot shower that I have been taking - it's bloody winter here, how am I supposed to go through without long hot showers? I knew you're not allowed to take hot bath/pool/sauna/spa and the likes because increasing your body temperatur to more than 38.9 degree and keep it there for a while may harm your baby. I am always under impression that hot shower wouldn't cause that, but suddenly I got this panic attack and spent houuurs google-ing trying to find out right information - which is of course, in the era of global and free information, you can never know which one is the correct one. Will have to ask my midwife next week.
I am still worried about other things, think I will only stop worried after we hear the first heartbeat and when I am sure baby is fine.
Poor midwife, bet she didn't know what kind of neurotic mum to be that she's getting!!

I told my agent about us moving to Melbourne in October and she was fine about it. In fact she put me through for an interview this morning for a contracting job - I was supposed to pretend that it is still a possibility that we are moving in October, but I forgot! I told them that we are definitely moving in October so they might not want me because i can only offer about 2 months contract.

The next day I got a call from her saying that they want me for initially 2 weeks - yay! But as I started my first day I realised that I have gotten very comfortable and lazy after my long 8 weeks of doing nothing, I just wanted to stay home and put my feet up. (So chances are they will keep me only for 2 weeks *grin*)

Friends are speculating on the sex of my baby already. Irene & Arti said it's a boy because I don't really get that sick (apparently having baby girl caused high hormone fluctuation, so the fact that I am not so sick means it's a boy), and because I got lazy (honestly - this can't really be justified because I think I am lazy by nature). Rianti bet it is a girl - without any strong argument about it.

It has started to sink in though - we are going to have baby! Life is not going to be the same again. There will be three of us instead of two of us, no more sleeping in, no more take it easy. Everything needs to be planned now, because there is another human being that we will need to look after and think about.

I can't wait!

Week 9 - Breaking the news to friends

Did I really complain the other day that I didn't feel pregnant enough?

Well, that was a lie!!! I have almost had enough of all the symptoms.

This is a little insight on how you feel when you're pregnant: Everything smells horrible.

When everything smells, you can't really eat but you know if you don't eat then you'll feel sick. Very sick. Then you start eating every hour even though you don't want to and you are not very sure if that actually helps you in anything - except putting on weight.

Another thing is.. I can't stand my husband. Suddenly he is using wrong soap, wearing wrong perfume. He just doesn't smell right (had to go to supermarket and get him a new soap bar)

Wednesday was my birthday and I thought it would be a good time to break the news to my closest friends. Course, no one is actually live in the same city as me so I had to break the news via email! Their responses were all different but it took them by surprise. Rianti forgot to tell me happy birthday (overshadowed by unborn baby already!!) and Sharon still couldn't get over it. When last time I saw them 2 months ago, I had technically been pregnant even though we didn't know that (I had my suspicions though).

The week is getting even crazier. I had one good interview and I think I am very close to getting a job. They want me to come back for second interview - which mainly is going to see how my presentation is, since the client is in Australia and these people think I have a bit of accent which worries them (Dooh!!).

But then Scott told me he got a job promotion and we'll be moving to Melbourne in October!!

Eveything definitely falls into places. I started to feel that everything is meant to be - from me quiting the job before the holiday, then came home finding the place burglared (that made us think that we're almost ready to go home), then finding out we're pregnant (and we always want to have baby in Australia) then he got this job!!! It's all too exciting!

Bloody hell, the only thing I am not looking forward is telling my agent that I will need to pull out from the job market. She's been very active in finding me interviews, and I turned her down once last year and she wasn't happy. I am sure she wouldn't be very happy either now that I am very close in finding something. Aargh, not to mention that she must be the most vicious lady in the recruitment industry.

Week 8 - Sweet cravings

I am a cookie monster. Can't stop eating sweets - am hunting every chocolate in the house... I had to eat some of Rianti's personalised M&M's from her wedding because we didn't have any chocolate at home the other day (with her permission. She actually was wondering why I hadn't eaten them, and I told her I couldn't possibly eat something with her name on it.)

I am sure I have a baby bump - Scott said it's impossible, I think he might be right too given my eating habits nowadays. (although the book said it is possible, especially when you start with slender petite body and small amount of fat to cover your womb! But the book also said it might be because your tummy is full of gas & constipation (ewww....) and also might be because you put on weight too much!)

Finally went to a doctor on Friday. I had a blood test to check my immune system and iron and all, also to check if I am 'well and truly pregnant', since I complaint that I don't think I was sick enough, that I was tired enough to be pregnant.
She said if I didn't hear from them that mean everything is good. Except then I remembered that I didn't actually fill in any patient information record the other day. I had to ring them today to make sure that they had my details. Fortunately they did, they said they must have put it in the system when I made my bookings.
Well hopefully I won't hear anything from them.

Also finally rang National Women's Health Hospital to find out if there's any midwives that can look after my pregnancy. Gave them my details, and the lady on the other side said, "Thank you, the midwife will contact you within 2 weeks." Whaaat??
Glad I rang them now instead of next week!

Tue 25 July
Went to work assignment today. How horrible! I was sitting there minding the phone - except it didn't ring a lot and most of the time doing nothing. Internet didn't work, I dont' know why. They didn't give me any other works. My back was sore sitting all day and I couldn't distract my mind on anything else - so I felt sick all day.

They wanted me to come back the next day, but I made up my mind not to. I had to tell fibe to the agent by saying I have other assignment somewhere else. And the great thing about being pregnant is, Scott didn't have any saying about me not continuing my job (it's only a day anyway!). Although I did wonder myself, if I was just purely lazy.

Doctor rang and said I had a very high iron level. Which was fine during the pregnancy, but it was very high that she wants to make sure that it was correct so I had to do another test - when I had my blood test last week the lady at the lab was soo useless. Had to prick the needles into both of my arms, and still couldn't get enough blood. Needless to say, I won't be going back there again this time.

Email from Karen, Scott's sister:

Congratulations again. That's lovely news. Very exciting. I hope it all
goes well for you both :)

I told the kids last night and they were over the moon with excitement. As
I said, they frequently ask when you're going to have a baby. When I got
off the phone, Chloe said - mum why did you say congratulations? And I
said "guess" and she said - they won the lotto - and I said no - and then
she had another guess (cant remember what that was), and then she guessed
the baby. And they all squealed and Chloe said that was the first thing I
was thinking and hoping but thought no it wont be.