2008 Resolutions

As usual, every year I will have resolutions to make. Most of the time, I try to ensure that I keep to my resolutions or rather set realistic resolutions!

My 2008 Resolutions:

1. To regain my pre-pregnancy weight
2. To settle Claire's baby sitting arrangement ( Keeping fingers crossed that Mum can take care of Claire when Claire is older.)
3. To find a new job that can meet my childcare requirements & pay!

Hopefully, I will be able to meet the above resolutions!

Happy New Year!

2007 Review

In another 2 days, I will have to bid 2007 goodbye. It is definitely a year of events for me!

I got married, pregnant and now I m a Mother of a 2 month old daughter! Its like i almost completed what is the most important events in a Woman's life within a year!

It has also been a fruitful & testing year for me in terms of family & work life. Work life is forever the same, its work and work except for the occassional event like colleagues resigning and new colleagues!

Family life wise, my priorities have changed with the birth of Claire. It seems that everything is centred on her and even though, she is a bundle of joy & challenges. With her birth, Pirate King & I lost our freedom! But, this loss is nothing as compared to seeing her grow day by day!

Also, i am thankful for the support that my family has given especially during the period that I m staying at my parents' place to cope with taking care of Claire. My family dotes on Claire and she is the Princess! For my in laws, I came to realise a lot of things about them and I tried to turn a blind eye to their antics but when it comes to Claire, I won't hestiate to make my turn as her mother.

The only regret is that Pirate King and I did not go to Egypt as planned for our honeymoon due to my pregnancy. Looking back, I m really thankful for all the love & support given to me by Pirate King and my family!

Merlion

Initially, I thought Claire's reflux problem is getting better as she seems to learn how to get rid of the air herself.

But, i was wrong. For the past few days, her reflux problem has gone back to the old days and she is a Merlion on the go everytime after her feed!

Pirate King and I had tried so many methods. The method that proved to be the most effective is actually placing her on her tummy but she simply hated it! It only worked if i placed her onto me, perhaps the fact that hearing my heartbeat simply calms her down!

Now, the only thing is for Claire to grow up and when she is six months old, her reflux problem will be able to go away as by then, she will be able to sit up by herself!

2 months old

Claire 's development since birth has never failed to amaze me!

Her reflux problem is getting better and she seems to know how to get rid of the air herself more efficiently.

She is starting to see colours and she smiles more often whenever we talked to her. The best part is she will initiate a conversation with us even though she can only coo & ah! Also, she is not so resistant when i fed her water! (I forced fed her water every day!)

Basically, she is starting to be cute and I really can't bear to leave her at the infant care centre! Sobs! The only thing that remained unchanged is a hungry Claire is an angry Claire!

Toys

Pirate King and I had always wanted to buy a play gym for Claire. Everytime, I mentioned about buying a play gym, Mum will tell me not to waste money.

Last Sunday, after the dim sum lunch at Raffles Hotel. We went to Robinsons for shopping and they are having a sale. We saw this Fisher Price play gym and we just got it for her even though it costs $79.

Yesterday, Rosalind dropped by my place and passed me the gifts that she had bought for Claire! She bought Claire a worm that is huggable and that could make sounds, plus a play gym too! She told me that she rather give her toys than other stuff as babies are learning and these are good for her development!

Claire is thrilled by the play gym and she is trying to learn to play with them! I guess the money should be considered well-spent! She is one lucky baby! :)

A tough decision!

After several thoughts, I decided to put Claire in an infant care centre.

It was a tough decision but i guess this is the best for everyone. I dun have to worry about bad nanny and my Mum's health (if she looked after Claire for me).

The only problem about infant care centre is that Claire will be subjected to more virus and i need to bring her for additional immunisation on top of her normal ones!

Dilemma!

Its such a dilemma!

Now, i m trying to find a care taker for Claire. The original plan is for my Mum to take care of her but now, my Mum's health is not in a good shape. Thus, I have to look for alternatives!

I went to an infant care centre yesterday. The centre is bright and cheery. the only con is that it is at least 20 mins walk from my Mum's place.

Sigh, i really dunno what to do.

Smiling

Little Claire is smiling!

The first time she smiled at me was in the morning when she just woke up! My heart literally melt when i saw her smile!

Now, she is smiling more often than before especially when she s satisfied after her feed!

Claire - The Merlion

Claire is really a mini Merlion. Everytime after a feed, I will be stressed up on whether i have burped her enough!

In the last 2 weeks and currently, she will really vomit big time even after burping. I m as much at fault, guilty of overfeeding her!

Even though at times, I used the pacifier to soothe her. It doesn't work all the time and whenever she does her ultimate stunt. Meaning she will cry till her whole face is so red and she can't seem to breath... I will give in and let her suckle on my breast as this is also a cue that she is extremely hungry!

Guess Claire lived up to her new nickname!

End of Confinement!

Claire is finally 1 month old, her official celebration will be on 25 Nov 07!

I m happy that my confinement is finally over! Meaning i will be able to eat whatever i want (still have to observe the 100 days rule) and most importantly, I can shower and wash my hair!!!

I will be moving up to my parents' place on Thursday as the confinement lady is leaving on this same day too! I m actually quite fearful as I dunno whether i can cope with looking after Claire 24/7 especially night time. Currently, the confinement lady is looking after Claire at night for me... Even though at times, i will wake up in the wee hours to pump breastmilk (due to engorgement or leaking breasts)

Keeping my fingers crossed for the challenges ahead!

1 month old

Most people will realise that my blog is full of words but not much or even no images in it.

I m pretty tempted to put images of Claire in my blog but i guess i still want to retain some privacy of my own. A blog for Claire serves as a reminder of raising her!

Claire is finally 1 month old or rather 33 days old... depending on how you calculated... ie does her birthday is counted as 1 day or not!

Quoting my friend's words, "Claire is my new & unreasonable boss" now!

I guess Claire is really an amazing baby. Last Sunday, my relatives dropped by to see her and guess what she slept through the whole time that my relatives were here amidst all the noise. Even with the vacuum cleaner switched on full blast, she still slept! Mum asked me whether Claire has any hearing problem coz she remained asleep for the whole time despite the noise!

Pirate King freaked out whenever Claire poo and he will pass her to me to clean up. Today, Claire pooed on him and i forced him to change her diaper..... Guess what, he made a mess out of it! Claire's booties were dirtied by her own poo and Claire's little legs also got poo on them. At the end of the day, its Mama (ie ME) that saved the day!

Claire is also a powerful milk vomitting machine, she can spit up milk via her mouth and nostrils at the same time. This scared the shit out of me initially but once i realised that Claire is putting on weight etc.... Its really no cause for alarm!

Anyway, i will be bringing Claire for her Hep B shot tomorrow! Keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be fine! Claire is really a challenge!

Sleep

Claire belongs to the category of babies that slept a lot in the day and refused to sleep at night!

Today, she really made me so exhausted that I could sleep on and on! She woke up to have her afternoon feed and after feeding her. I sensed something strange with her... She POOED! And being the clumsy Mum, i sung her the poo poo song so that she can finish pooing while i clean her up later!

After cleaning up her poo etc, guess what! Claire pee on me! Her expression is so funny! She looked at me with her Bambi eyes as if to say, "Sorry Mum!" Once i finished clearing her mess, i thought she wanted to sleep but she looked as if she is hungry. So, i put her down in her cot and went to kitchen to make her milk.

This naughty gal of mine fell asleep the minute i came back with the milk! Guess, i need sleep to replenish my energy!

Claire the Rascal

Claire is 16 days old as of today!

She is really a rascal, just a 16 days old baby and she has given me so much joy & trouble!

Trouble => Being hospitalised for 2 days to treat her jaundice, refused to be breastfed and refuse to sleep at night!

Joy => Everyday, i see changes in her and amazed by her changes!

She is definitely my darling and i foresee the amount of sleepless nights that i am going to have once the Confinement Lady is gone!

Arrival of Ms Claire!

Claire arrives on 17 Oct 2007, 6.44am in Mt Alvernia Hospital weighing 3.12kg and 50cm long!

Piglet at 38 weeks!

Piglet is 38 weeks old and ready to face the world anytime now!

Yesterday was my gynae appt, Piglet is in an engaged position. That explains the pms like pain i have in my pelvis area, Dr Chan mentioned that its my body's way of preparation for labour! Piglet weighs 3kg while i din put on much weight, my weight remains constant since my last visit!

Dr Chan even joked that Piglet might be a Hari Raya baby and be called Mohammad! I was like, no Hari Raya baby! I kept on telling Piglet to be born on 26 Oct 07! That is the day Sis will be back in Singapore from San Francisco and also Piglet will be sharing the same birth date as Pirate King and me coz both of us are born on the 26 but in different months!

Also, one good news.... The breast pump has been finally shipped and now keeping my fingers crossed that it will reach my Sis!

Moods

Ever since the start of this week, I have been feeling moody and tired. Piglet is like getting heavier and heavier, my backaches get worse and I feel pain in my pelvis area. That kind of pain is difficult to describe.

Pirate King took the risk of buying my breast pump over ebay and getting the seller to ship to Sis' apartment in San Francisco, the damage done to our pockets if the breast pump dun gets delivered to Sis is SG$420! And now, he is thinking of getting this Fisher-Price mobile for Piglet. I m telling him to hang on to it first. If the breast pump gets to my Sis, then he can buy it!

Guess, Piglet is going to be a Daddy's girl. Pretty amazed by Pirate King's transformation on his attitude towards Piglet, from bo chup till now, he is even more anxious about Piglet than me! This definitely lightens my mood!

In the meantime, I just wish my mood will lighten up alot and I dun be so grouchy!

Care & Concern

Yesterday, I was extremely fed up with Pirate King that I "fired" at him and I m still ignoring him.

I almost cried out loud when Sis told me that she just wanna fly back to Singapore to see me giving birth and fly back once she has seen Piglet. Mum called me and told me to inform my confinement lady that she dun have to buy the special bathing herbs for me. Mum even has many advisors in Bentong on the dos & donts of confinement for me!

I will say, the kind of care & concern that I received from my family is definitely much more better than my parents in laws. I know that it is wrong to compare 2 different families or that I might not even give any chance for my in laws to do things for me. Its the gut feelings that tell me not to expect too much from them!

Like ah bond, he called me today and confide in me that his sprained ankle is actually hairline crack in one of the bones in his ankle. He told me not to worry about him and he will let me know once everything is settled or he needs help in getting home. The care & concern shown by us is natural.....

Whereas in the case of Pirate King's family, the siblings themselves can't be bothered with each other. Perhaps, each one of them has their own family? Or it boils them to how my parents in laws teach them the values etc?

Regardless of the child's personalities that might be inborn or not, the universal truth is how the children turns out to be, its the Parents' doing!

Thus, I kept on telling myself that where possible, I must teach Piglet the importance of family values etc.

Fed up!

I m simply so fed up with Pirate King! I can't stand it and "fired" at him today!

Yesterday, I told him where to find the contact no of the confinement lady in case of early labour. Guess what he told me, "You have to put it in a word document and print it out nicely for me to read." Sounds as if I m his secretary!

We are supposed to meet for dinner today but I was in discussion with my boss at work when he called me in office. He din even bother to sms me that he is hitching a ride from his colleague!

Afterwards, we agreed to meet at Vivo City. I was late and he complaint about having to wait for me! Somehow, something just snapped inside of me and I fired at him for being insensitive to me and my needs etcc especially in my current state! Imagine me hungry and always having to wait for him for dinner.... He s the one that is perpertually late!

Plus, he has the cheek to complain that he is tired! Why is he so tired? Coz he likes to watch animations on his PC at home till wee hours of the morning! Just simply fed up with him!

Tired

I m simply so tired! Realised that I m getting more and more forgetful these days! Is it due to my pregnancy or simply i m so tired that i refused to remember anything else except sleeping!

Went for my gynae check up on Mon, Dr Chan commented that Piglet is long again and her weight still remains the same as 2.7 kg whereas I m at 72 kg, ie I had put on 17 kg since the start of my pregnancy!

Wonder how the hell am i going to lose the weight after giving birth to Piglet. Till now, i dun have the nesting instinct... So mabbe Piglet won't be born that early yet! Keeping my fingers crossed that Piglet could be born on 26 Oct 07! I told Piglet that its best that she be born on 26 Oct coz everyone in my family will be back to welcome her arrival in this world! Mum has gone to Msia and is back next week, while Sis is still in San Francisco and will be back by 26 Oct 07.

My family and Pirate King told me to clear all my annual leave after my month end closing is over and once the annual leave is cleared. I should get Dr Chan to issue me MC to rest at home till Piglet is born!

Talking about family ties, I was mentioning to Pirate King about changing to a smaller flat after 5 years here in our current apartment. He mentioned that we should still get a 5 room flat as our parents might live with us, then i realised his intention of his parents to live with us. I m resistant to this idea coz I m selfish. Living with my in laws mean loss of freedom, personal space etc etc to me! Plus, i dun quite agree with my in laws take on bringing up children etcc.

No wonder, my Father in law was so concerned when he heard me mentioning about selling off our apartment. The way he sounded as if he has a stake in the house. No doubt, there comes a time when we have to honour our parents but somehow i m resistant to this idea. Perhaps it could be due to the fact on how my parents in laws treated Pirate King as compared to his brother. Well, i could only console myself if ever, i have to live with my parents in laws is that my children will be filial to me too... Coz i always believe in karma! :)

Fortunate Piglet!

Piglet is a fortunate baby! My Mum, siblings, cousins and relatives all bought gifts for her even before she is born! My only fear is that Piglet might turn out to be a boy coz all the gifts bought are in pink color or dresses!

Mum bought my confinement herbs, PJs and some piglet stuff. She bought a set of clothes for Piglet to wear during her 1st month celebration! All are pretty stuff!

Ah bond bought a McDull bolster for Piglet. He wanted to get an Elmo but Mum stopped him from getting it from me coz i simply hate Elmo!

HK Auntie bought a set of baby clothes and a baby potty for Piglet. Not to mention, Doris bought a Mickey blanket for her too!

Michael & Polly passed some hand me downs clothes of Grace and they bought a set of clothes, receiving blanket and a gold pendant for Piglet!

Based on all these, Piglet is a really fortunate babe! Even Pirate King also commented that she is so spoilt!

I m just keeping my fingers crossed that Piglet will be a good gal when she grows up! :)

Couple's Watches

Yesterday, Pirate King & I got a pair of couple's watches. This pair of watches are our birthday gifts to each other for 5 years starting from 2007.


What watch did we buy for each other? Its a pair of Tudor watches and both of us are paying it via a 24 months interest free instalments. Anyway, the simple reason for getting the watches, our old watches are dying on us and if we sent for repair... It will be a major overhaul & expensive... We might as well get a quality watch within our budget.

Piglet Updates

Last Friday, I went for my gynae appointment. That was definitely not my day, the escalator broke down and I gotta climb a long flight of stairs. I ended up reaching Dr Chan's clinic perspiring like MAD!

Piglet is 35 weeks old and estimated to be 2.7kg. Dr Chan commented that I might have an easy labour and i m keeping my fingers crossed on that. Mum told me not to eat too much junk for the fear of a big baby and a difficult labour for myself!

I bought a sarong sling on Saturday so that I could carry her around if we goes out or when i ferried her to and fro Bedok & Redhill. I wanted to get a toy mobile to put on her bed but they are so expensive especially those nice ones!

The things i m left undone for Piglet is tidying up her room, washing some of her stuff and packing my hospital bag! I m keeping my fingers crossed that she will be born on her EDD, 26th October 2007!

Items to get from USA

Sis is in San Francisco now and we are compiling a list of items for her to get for us from US.

The 2 major items that we are thinking of getting, a Samsonite suitcase & a breast pump. It never crossed my mind to get a breast pump but Pirate King was the one who did all the research for the cost of breast pump and breastfeeding accessories.

The breast pump that I was eyeing is Medela Pumped in Style Advanced, it is selling at SGD$754 whereas in US, it is selling like USD$280 = SGD$450 or even lesser based on the exchange rate. Its liked 40% cheaper in the US for the same thing. Pirate King advised me to buy, my only concern is that if I dun have the necessary milk supply.... Won't the pump become a white elephant? He assured me that we still could sell off the pump!

Anyway, I m still contemplating what else to buy..... I think US is such a big market that they have all sorts of things that can't be found in Singapore and some of the things they sell are applicable to the Singapore market!

Scared the shit out of me!

Yesterday was a scary day, i faced the same symptoms again.

Contractions in the middle of Orchard Road! It must be due to the food that I had for lunch & dinner. I had 五香 & Roti Prata for dinner and not to mention a heavy lunch. The last time I contractions, I also had an oily lunch & dinner.

The contractions were so painful that I was listless and Pirate King was so worried for me. By the time, i got home, it wasn't so painful and the contractions sort of stopped. But, I had diahorrea at home! That's the price to pay and the contractions really scared the shit out of me!

Piglet Update at Week 34

Went for my routinue check up yesterday at Dr Chan's place. His pretty nurses gave me a piece of paper that has all my health details. They told me to keep this paper with me at all times as I m ready for delivery anytime now.

According to Dr Chan, Piglet is 2kg and i find it strange. How could my little piggy lose weight? He told me that Piglet is 2.1 kg in my last visit. I have a feeling that he might have eyesight problem as he is squinting at the screen. He commented that Piglet is long for her development.

Suddenly, everyone is skeptical about his judgement on Piglet's gender since he has made the error 20 years ago on Bond's gender!

My little son, Hendrik claims that Piglet is a boy! I guess he said that coz he is a boy himself!

6 more weeks to go before meeting Piglet in reality! :)

My day...

I m writing this post from my Sis new laptop, staying for the night at Mum's place coz i m sending her off at Changi Airport tomorrow morning!

Went to my in laws' place for lunch today. Nothing much happened except that my Sis in law gave me some used milk bottles and baby magazines. She even asked me about the baby stroller and diapers. I have no choice but to accept them all. My in laws are kind enough to send us to Bedok so that we can send my Sis off.

Mum gave me a big lecture on eating sweet & cold stuff and chocolatey stuff at Changi Airport. Sis buey tahan and asked Mum whether is she sending her off or lecturing me. I know what Mum did is for my own good. Its just that its kinda scary on her method of expressing her concern!

After sending Sis off, we went to Bedok Swimming Complex for a swim. Pirate King managed to see how the way Dad swam. The way Dad swam is as if a shark is going after him, I told Dad to relax but somehow, he wont!

We went to Parkway and had MOS Burger for dinner, Dad went home first to help Mum run some errands. We window shopped for a while before catching a cab home!

So now, i m just waiting for the ZZZ monster to invade me! :)

Gathering

We had a gathering at Mum's place yesterday. It was a small one, with my family, Aven & Sandy, Hendrik, Darryl & their father.

The gathering is for Sis' farewell and Bond's welcome! Lian Ann went to the Naval Base to pick ah Bond up and at the same time helped him lugged his stuff home coz Ah Bond is still walking with a limp!

Ah Bond told us about the funny incidents he encountered in Vietnam & Brunei. He din get to spend much time in Cairns due to his torn ligament. Bond was telling us that everyone will keep on asking them whether they want prostitues in Vietnam. I believe it s the way that Bond and his fellow Navy colleagues are dressed. They have to be in their smart Navy attire, meaning white shirt, pants & shoes when they disembarked from their ship!

Sis' room was streaked with stuff for her San Francisco trip. She lamented to Bond and how is she going to pack. Bond's answer, "Just zipped up the suitcase!" I was helping her out with her packing and she got all the stuff sorted out. She did not bring a lot, its just that the things are disorganized. Sis is funny, she told me that it will be better if Piglet is born before her return so that she could buy the right type of clothes especially now everyone is skeptical of Dr Chan's judgement on Piglet's gender!

Will be going to my in laws place for lunch later and sending off my Sis at Mum's place. Tomorrow, i will be sending Mum off too. Mum is going to HK on Monday, Mum told me that its her final holiday before she is tied down with looking after Piglet! :)

Personal Assessment

In my current situation, I m awaiting for the arrival of my little Princess and at the same time assessing my options for the future.

At work, i have this fanastic work title, "Management Accountant" but the amount of work i do is increasing and getting more shitty. Somehow, its promotion in job scope but not $$$. At first, i tot it was my pregnancy that led to this conclusion but after checking with my fellow colleagues, i realised its not my hormones that caused such a feeling. Its the REALITY!

As for the arrival of my little Princess, called me paranoid. I m worried and stressed over the arrangement of ferrying her to and fro Bedok & Redhill when i m back to work. Guess, i might be thinking too much in this aspect. I could just let go of my worries and let nature runs it own course.

Mum did suggest to me about taking no pay leave to look after Piglet for a while. I told Mum that its not feasible in my current company. Plus, financials will be tight if the whole family depends on Pirate King to support us. Ie, i have to give up my personal indulgences!

Mabbe i should just adopt a wait and see attitude towards things after the birth of Piglet and when my maternity leave ends. I will only leave my job when i had taken my maternity leave. No point in forsaking the money in a moment of folly!

Lunch!

Lunch today was a busy affair! My colleague and I went to buy mooncakes!

My colleague has a friend who is working in OCBC and OCBC has this mooncake roadshow whereby the mooncakes from top notch hotels are having a 25% discount. This discount is more than what the major credit cards are offering!

I bought 2 boxes of durian mooncakes from Goodwood Park Hotel. One box for myself & family while the another box is for my parents in law.

After getting the mooncakes, my colleague drove us to McDonald to buy lunch. I was quite happy with my Chicken McNuggets lunch and i m still quite full with it now.

Just now, i had a small piece of lotus paste mooncake! It just tastes so good coz the yolk has oil in it! :)

Blog reading.....

Been reading alot of people's blogs recently and i find that it is entertaining and at the same time, mabbe intruding on others' privacy especially if there're photographs etcc....

No matter what, humans being humans... Blog reading is really a good source of entertainment, the only problem is to be glued to the PC and causing my myopia to be worsen further.

As for my own blog, i guess its boring but its a way for me to vent my frustrations and for my friends to know my latest updates. Pray that I dun get into any legal lawsuits over my posts that I had written!

My cousins....

HK Auntie has 2 children, namely cousin Michael & Doris.

Doris came to Singapore to study when she was 16 and she lived with us till she got married in 2000.

Doris has no children and i guess she dun intend to have one either. I find her quite "crazy" due to her behaviour last Saturday. Last Saturday, we went to her place for a swim. While waiting for my Sis to arrive at her place, I was sitting in her living room patting my bump.

I dunno what strikes Doris, she patted my bump quite hard till you can hear the rebound sound of my waterbag... and she was amazed by the sound.... Piglet kicked in response to it! It was so painful and she find it so amazing that she wanted to do it again! Mum commented that Doris is "psycho".

The next day, we met again for some shopping. I got tired and wanted to go home, Doris commented that I m "useless" for not being able to shop for long. I told Mum & Sis about her comments, Sis commented that Doris will be even more "useless" if she is pregnant.

As for my cousin Michael, he is in HK and he dislikes Singapore as Singapore is not a free country like HK. He is married with a daughter, his daughter is turning one in Oct. His daughter, Grace is being taken care by Michael's parents in laws.

HK Auntie wanted to "show off" Grace to her friends and requested that Michael let her looked after Grace for one day. Both Michael & his wife refused, HK Auntie was so upset that she complained to Mum. Mum told HK Auntie that if HK Auntie has agreed to be the main care taker for Grace, such situation won't happen.

Anyway, I guess my 2 cousins are sometimes too absorbed in their matters that they dun realised their actions hurt others.

My siblings....

I have a younger sister and brother, my Sis is 5 years younger than me and my brother is 10 years younger than me.

I will say the 3 of us are pretty close and both of them are my great helpers in many ways!

Sis is working as an IT auditor, recently she has been promoted to the rank of a Senior and her workload has increased significantly. She is going to San Francisco on this Sunday for 6 weeks to work and she is not looking forward to it. As her bosses had told her and her team that they are expected to work late till 2-3am in San Francisco.

Bro aka Ah Bond is doing his NS and he has signed on with the Singapore Navy. He is returning from his training soon. He has been out at Sea for 6 weeks, travelling to Vietnam, Brunei & Cairns. During his 6 weeks stint, he hurt his ligament in Cairns and Mum was worried about his injury especially when he told us that the Naval medical officer might want him to go to the hospital in Cairns for X-ray.

I will say both of them are doing very well for themselves as compared to me. I m just an ordinary salaried employee with not much accomplishments except for the fact that i m going to be a mother soon. That i doubt both of them can match me! :)

My dear siblings, your useless eldest Sis will miss you folks terribly when both of you re out for work or training! So, i m telling my little piglet to be born when all of you are back in Singapore from your overseas stint!

Rainy day

This morning, I woke up early to meet Mum to pray at the temple in Bugis. It wasn't raining when i left my apt but it was raining cats & dogs when we reached Bugis.

Mum and I were stranded at the MRT station, we decided to walk to the temple even though we had one small umbrella. Before, we walk to the temple, Mum adjusted my dress so that I won't be cold. While walking to the temple, being sheltered by Mum's umbrella. Its like back to the those days that I m a little girl well protected by Mum. I felt very fortunate to have Mum around me. Guess no matter how grown up i am, I will forever be Mum's little girl! I think it will apply to my little piglet when she is born!

Yippee! It's Friday!

Finally, its Friday! I dun have to do Saturday duty tomorrow! :)

Will be meeting Mum & Pirate King for Sushi dinner and followed by mooncake tasting!

I must admit that my piglet is a smart girl. Yesterday, I was telling Mum about how i dread bedtime coz I can't sleep well due to piglet's movements and cramps etc.... Piglet let me had a good nite sleep yesterday... Perhaps, its due to Fat Bond's doggie or she knows how to sayang me..... This doggie is a soft toy gift to Bond from my younger Sis & me as a reward for his "A" Level results!

Bond loaned me his doggie as a companion to Piglet whenever i stayed over at Mum's place. Mabbe Piglet missed the doggie much and last nite, she has the doggie as her companion. She was satisfied!

On Wednesday, Pirate King & I went to Mothercare to get the belly support belly. The salesgirl did a demo on me on how to wear the belt. The belt was uncomfortable even though it supported my belly but it seems to compress my tummy. The minute, i took the belt off... Ms Piggy protested by kicking me as if to tell me, "Dun buy it coz its making me uncomfortable!"

Idling.....

Yup, idling during office hours or rather multi-tasking at work! Anyway, I have got tonnes of things to do....but you know..... Its the month end closing at work... Had a long day at work yesterday, the first time i reached home at 11.55pm last night!

This morning, i woke up and asked Pirate King, "Can i resign and be a tai tai at home?" I usually popped him this question when i m frustrated with work. His reply is, "U can be a "dai dai" (meaning a goon) coz i can't afford you the lifestyle of a tai tai."

Little Piggy is quite active these days and man, her punches and kicks are something to be afraid of...... She weighs 2.1 kg during my last checkup on last Saturday. My only consolation now is that the weight i put on now, 80% will go to her... ie I dun have to exercise too much to get back to my pre-pregnancy shape..... At the same time, i m worried that I might have difficulty in giving birth to Piglet if she s too heavy!

Okie, some updates on my weekend. Went to Mum's place on Saturday and met up with the family for lunch on Sunday. Oh, ah bond is sailing back to Singapore from Cairns today... Poor Bond, he overstrained his ligaments and on MC (on board the ship) for a week!

Had dinner with my parents in laws & my sister in law on Sunday nite. Well, its lament time whenever i mentioned my in laws. I simply find my sister in law strange. Last Sunday, they came up to my place and saw the baby chair that my colleague gave it to me. My in laws shook it and proclaimed it wobbly..... On the way to dinner, my Sister in law asked me whether do i need cloth diapers.

I told her a flat no as i had bought 2.5 dozens of it. I find her strange coz if you want to pass me baby stuff... You should have just passed it to me but not when you seen people passing stuff to me and asked.

How i spend my birthday!

On Sunday, i turned 29 and i realised my birthday was spent with my loved ones!

Pirate King and I met up with my parents, Sis and Doris at the temple in Geylang to pay our respects to our grandparents (both maternal & paternal). Afterwards, we went back to my parents' place for lunch and spent our time napping!

Mum, Pirate King and I took the free shuttle bus to Parkway Parade to get Sis' shoes mended and had our 1st round of dinner there. Subsequently, Sis met up with us at Parkway and we took a cab to the Food Centre at East Coast Park for our second round of dinner.

We had junk food at the Food Centre. Junk food meaning BBQ Stingray, Satay Beehoon (I still prefer the one at Redhill), BBQ Chicken wings and chendol! I ate alot and everyone was amazed at my food consumption (except for Mum).... Guess pregnant ladies really ate a lot! For me, i ate really a lot in my last trimester as compared to my first & second trimester!

Afterwards, we walked to the Seafood Centre and took a cab back home! So, this is how i spent my birthday... No birthday bashes or anything... Just another normal day! :)

My Mum....

My Mum is a housewife, in today's term, she will be known as SAHM => Stay At Home Mum or a homemaker!

She is a fanastic Mum. She has little education but she bought up the 3 of us well, imparting all the values and trained us to be independent, not to take things for granted etc etc.......

For me, I m the eldest so her expectations on me are high to the extent of being too harsh on me at times. Plus, i really set a bad example to my siblings. If, you looked at it objectively, I m the model example of "reverse education"... ie my siblings are self trained to avoid provoking my Mum during their growing up days!

No doubt, my Mum loves me the most! Somehow, now that i 'm married and pregnant with my 1st child. I relied heavily on her to advise me what re the necessities to get for the birth of my child!

So, we went to the Baby Fair at Takashimaya..... Pirate King and I wanted to get the baby sling so that we could use this to carry piglet around without straining our arm muscles when fetching Piglet to & fro Mum's place. Wow, Mum's opinons about the baby sling is so strong that we put off the idea of getting it for the time being.

Basically, Mum is not objecting to us getting it but she feels that it is cumbersome to use the sling... Plus, it might not be useful if Piglet is a notti baby... She feels that its better for us to buy the stuff if we really need to use it!

Pirate King and i discussed about the differences of opinions between Mum & our friends who had children. I came to a conclusion that times had changed and Mum meant for our good so that we dun spend too much on Piglet and waste resources.

After all, she is my Mum and I respect her for all that she has given me! :)

Names

Names are important. It is an identity of us and a lousy name can be the butt of all jokes..... Especially, i had seen some of the Chinese names my classmates had and they choose to use English names when they started working.... Aim is to prevent themselves from being the butt of name jokes!

Pirate King borrowed a book on Chinese names. Yes, he is thinking of a good name for our piglet! For the past few days, i haven't been feeling well.... Thus no inspiration to think of any characters for our dear piglet.....

In the end, he decided on this name for her, "子晰", meaning bright. It does click with the meaning of the English name he decided for piglet, "Claire".

Guess, he is more excited about piglet than me now! My notti gal gets excited upon hearing Daddy's voice. The moment she heard his voice, she will respond by alot of movements in my tummy.... It's confirmed, Piglet will be Daddy's gal!

Sick & Tired

Yup, i m down with flu.... Its' due to insufficient sleep and being too heaty! But, i can conveniently blame my colleague who spread the virus to me!

Tired is because i have been working late since Monday.... And it gets worse when u re sick!

So, after writing this post, i keep my fingers crossed that I can get to sleep easily!

Still at office....

Its unusual for me to be in the office at this time of the day.....

Gosh, i m so tired...... I dunno what time i can go home... I m waiting for my boss to discuss the variance of my work. She s still in discussion with my colleague. So, there are 4 of us in the office.

Thank god for the fan and radio on my workstation if not, i will go crazy due to the heat and lack of entertainment!

My day was okie... Denise treated me to a birthday lunch.... Yup, will be turning 29 on this Sunday. I have yet to apply for leave on next Monday & Tuesday! Must get it done by end of this week!

Okie... got to go to the loo to clear my bladder.... Till the next post!

My Pig Princess!

Okie, all along i dun want to know the gender of my piglet coz of the unnecessary pressure that I might face from my Mother in law..... The pressure of producing a male offspring... Anyway, the gender of the baby is determined by Pirate King not me! If one fine day, my Mother in law will to complain about the male offspring, i will point the finger at her precious son!

So, we went for my routine check up today.... Dr Chan was late due to an emergency C-selection that he has to done for a preggie and i got an MC from him today... coz today is supposed to be my duty! :)

I told Dr Chan about the horrible pain i felt on my left side of the tummy. He prescribed me some medication to soften the uterus. He told me that the pain is contractions... I was so scared... I think it could be due to the massage i had that might bring it on.

Pirate King asked for a double confirmation of the gender of piglet.... Its confirmed, I m having a PIG PRINCESS! Yup, i want a gal as my first born! My little princess weighs 1.8kg and everything is on schedule... So, i m expecting to see her in end Oct!

Anyway, i think Pirate King prefers a gal than a boy even though he did not explictly stated his preference! Whatever it is, to hell with the attitude of my in laws!

Arggh..... Please help me!!!!

Last night was Sleepless in Redhill....

What happened was I overate during the day (too much oily & deep fried food), my left side of the tummy was so hard that its so bloody painful! I started to panic.... could it be due to the massage that i had done in the evening? But, i only massage my back, shoulder & neck! Could something happened to piglet?

1001 panicky thoughts came to my mind and it all revolved around the well being of piglet... It turns out that its actually diahorrea cum constipation.....

Sounds complicated huh? Diahorrea cum constipation? Okie, diahorrea coz i know i kept on going to the toilet to pass out... but it comes to a point whereby you know there is waste inside your body but you can't pass it out.... That's constipation to me!

All i know is i need help to get rid of the waste and gas in my system! Please help me!!!

Ailments that i m suffering now.....

My Lamenting Campaign has started with the first post in the afternoon....

This post will serve as the continuation!

I m suffering from the below:

1. Piles
=> Very simple reason for this one, it must be due to constipation plus the long hours spent in the toilet reading.... The official reason is "PREGNANCY"!

2. Lack of sleep
=> The need to find a good position to sleep well is always my first priority.... However, reality sucks... Whatever position i am sleeping, the sleep will be disturbed and piglet will be the one protesting if the sleeping position is making it uncomfortable!

3. Food Cravings
=> Food cravings must be satisfied at all times.... Poor Pirate King has to grow fat with me and endure my grouchiness when the food can't be found.....

4. To be continued.... or will there be more laments?

Monday Blues!

Its such a drag to get up and go to work on Monday! I wanted to wake up early and go to the temple at Bugis to pray coz its the 1st day of the lunar month.... However, I just switched off my alarm clock and slept till Pirate King's alarm clock woke me up!

Gotta talk to my boss about taking leave at the end of this month by today if not, Pirate King will kill me for not doing so!

My weekend was ok, nothing too fanastic or too bad!

On Sat, went to the in-laws for lunch. As usual, the brat was up to her stunts but i ignored her unless she acknowledged me, plus her Mum told her not to disturb me. As usual, my Mother in law broached on the subject on the care-taker for Piglet. She told me to find a baby sitter near my place if Mum won't be taking care of Piglet.

I told Sis that how fast she changed her statement. In front of Pirate King, its "Find someone near your place to take care of the baby, dun tire yourself on fetching Piglet to and fro Bedok!" In front of me, its, "Find someone near your place to take care of the baby if your Mum can't take care of Piglet!"

Went back home after lunch and took a nap.... Woke up in time to catch "The Bourne Ultimatum" at Cathay Cineplex! It was a so-so movie.... I still prefer "The Bourne Supremacy".... through out the movie, Piglet is so active.... Thus, i put Pirate King's hand on my tummy.... Piglet stopped its movements.... It resumed its movements when i removed Pirate King's hand!

Met up with Sis on Sunday to catch up things with her, I had not seen her for some time even though the last time i saw her was on Thursday but for a while. We went to the Cedele Cafe in Wheelock place for lunch! The food was great and Sis fed me well! Sis updated me about her life, she seems to be occupied with work 99% of her time! Told her about lunch at my in laws and the reason for not wanting to know the gender of Piglet. She agreed with me and commented that my in laws are conservative in the bad sense.... which i totally agreed!

Anyway, i just want the rest of my pregnancy to be ok.... I still have another 10 weeks+ to go before delivering the little piglet in my tummy! Just let me grind through another BLUE Monday!

Belly Pose

This is my belly at 29 weeks! I had put on at least 10 kg since day 1 of pregnancy till now.... My face is rounder now and i prayed hard that I will be able to wear my pre-pregnancy clothes after giving birth to piglet.

Now that i m in my final trimester, Piglet's movements are getting more and more "violent" as it does not have that much space to move as before. Plus, it seems to respond better to me than anyone else..... not even its father, Pirate King!

Been talking to Piglet alot, about my expectations of it etc etc etc. The only grouse now is I have not been sleeping well and too lazy to go even swimming!

Will be going for my next gynae checkup next Sat! Looking forward to see the size of piglet and the stunts its pulling in my tummy (to be precise, uterus!)

Sleepless in Redhill....

Yup, what the hell am I doing now? I m supposed to be sleeping but not blogging at this hour of the nite!

I can't get to sleep! Being able to sleep well these days are really hard to come by! Either i woke up in the middle of the nite to pee or my little piglet will wake me up with its fetal movements!

Recount of my day,

1. Went to Mum's place for lunch.
2. Went to a temple in Geylang to pray to my paternal & maternal grandparents for the lunar 7th month.
3. Got the tickets to The Bourne Ultimatium at Orchard Cineplex
4. Got my pedicure (Still prefer the one done at Tg Pagar coz its better & cheaper)
5. Checked out the DVD recorder for Dad (Dad wont be able to buy it till it has been approved by the rest)
6. Bought some items for Piglet & me
7. Went to the Hour Glass to check out Tudor watches, seems like there isn't much selection.
8. Had dinner at Mos Burger
9. Walked to Wisma & Wheelock Place for some window shopping before heading home!

Guess what, i did my ironing etc and realised that I m hungry... Went to cook a packet of instant noodles & finished the whole bowl by myself! I m really a non-stop eating machine!

I was kinda depressed that my wedding stuff has not been sold. Its not that I need the money but you just wanna recover your wedding expenses as much as possible. I really dunno where to find the storage place for my wedding gown & evening gown even though Pirate King & I are living in an apartment that is 115 metre square. That is more than enough to store our stuff sans all the furniture etcc....

Ugly toenails!

Yup, my toenails are really ugly! I have been addicted to pedicure ever since I m pregnant and can't bend down to cut my toenails!

I dun trust Pirate King to cut for me coz he will cut till its so short that the risk of having ingrown toenails is high! Just the other day, i requested his help in removing my toenails' nail polish for me and even though he did a good job in removing them but its painful!

So, I had removed my nail polish and i looked at my toenails... They are so ugly as they are long and out of shape.... And my big toenails are getting itchy and painful, ie my ingrown toenails are back! I think i gotta a pedicure done to re-shape my toenails and ingrown toenail settled soon!

Bonding

As i progress into my pregnancy, the movements from piglet is getting stronger & stronger each day. Its movements sometimes caused me pain and amusement... especially when i feel its hiccups... The bubbly feeling inside my stomach!

Everytime, I feel piglet's movement, I will ask Pirate King to touch my tummy and feel it. Unfortunately, piglet will stop the movement once his hand is on my tummy and resume the movement when Pirate King took his hand away!

Yesterday was the first time Pirate King felt Piglet's movements and he was so excited about it! I was just lying down on the daybed and Piglet's kicks are so forceful that its painful. Pirate King came over and decided to feel it. He put his ear on my tummy and tapped my tummy with his fingers. Guess what, my little piglet responded immediately by kicking the place where Pirate King 's ear is!

Pirate King is so excited that he told me that he will try it again the next day! :)

My "Interesting" Weekend!

Last weekend was "interesting"......

Mum, Lian Ann & me went to Changi Naval Base to send Fat Bond off on last Sat. He will be away for 6 weeks and travelling to Brunei, Cairns & Vietnam. His stops are like this order, Vietnam, Brunei & Cairns and back to Singapore.

The send off is about 4 hours. We board the shuttle bus to Changi Naval Base at 12.15pm from Expo MRT station. We reached the base at 12.45pm and exchanged for pass etc. Fat Bond bought us to his "home" for 6 weeks. The naval ship is of LTS type, I dunno what it means... Bond told me that the ship is used for logistics purposes.

His bunk is buried deep into the ship. We had to climb like 2 - 3 storeys of stairs and the stairs are so steep that I m having muscle ache in my thighs since Sat. His bed width is 2/3 of a single bed size and the ceiling is so slow! The saving grace is that his bunk is air-conditioned!

Seeing such a bunk bought back memories for Mum, she had slept in such a bunk before when she boarded the ship from Singapore to Hong Kong back in the 70s. Mum was pretty worried about Fat Bond but she didn't show it out. We were shooed out of the ship by 2.20pm. Ah bond and the rest of his batch waved us good bye from the open deck of the ship!

Both Mum and me had a hard time trying to look for Bond! As all of the looked identical in their naval uniform! By the time, we went back to Expo MRT station, its already 3.30pm! Mum commented that she wont send Bond off when he is going off for his next sea training in Feb 08 as it is so tiring! :)

Yesterday, I had no intention of going out but to stay home to do my household chores.... But Mum dragged me out as she and Sengkang Auntie are signing up for a tour package to China, if they pay the tour package by OCBC credit card. They will be entitled to an additional $100 discount of their package price.

So, i went to Marina Square to meet up with Mum, Sengkang Auntie & Sis. We had lunch first, Sis fed us well and we went to make the payment for the tour package later on.

Once, everything is settled. We did a bit of shopping, Mum & Sis bought some clothes and I can only looked on at the stuff they are buying! After that, we went home! It was so tiring for me.. I can't imagine that I m able to shop throughout the whole day previously!

Piglet at 27th Weeks!

This is a 3D picture of Piglet at 27th weeks! Piglet looks liked an alien in the picture. My family commented that Piglet has the bone structure of Pirate King and I have this feeling that Piglet won't be a pretty woman or handsome hunk! But, most importantly Piglet does not have any cleft lip and I just want it to be healthy!

Piglet is quite stubborn in its own way. While Dr Chan is trying to get a good scan of its facial features, it initially uses its little hand to block its face partially.... Subsequently, it blocked the whole of the lower half of its face! No matter, how Dr Chan tried to get Piglet to remove its little hand from blocking the facial features on my tummy.... Piglet simply refused to budge and it protested by kicking me and using its little hand to block even more of its face!

Actually, I m even more excited to see Piglet when i gave birth to it in another 13 weeks time! Now as i progressed into my 3rd trimester soon, i get tired more easily and I can't walk for too long without sitting down to rest!

Piglet, Mummy & Daddy love you! We re looking forward to see you soon! :)

Busy Weekend!

I had a busy weekend!

On Friday, i went for my pedicure & eyebrow trimming after work! Yup, i m a vain Mama... I can't help but admire my toenails! Its painted a dark red!

On Sat, I went for my facial first followed by lunch at Chinatown! I managed to eat my fave Yong Tau Foo... even though i got to queue for 15 minutes... Afterwards, Pirate King & Mum met up with me to get those big pots for my confinement use.

We bought 3 pots and they costs us $76.95! I can't imagine such pots are so expensive! Poor Pirate King was our chaffeur for the day, he dropped us at Tangs and went back to Redhill to dump the pots & returned the car to my parents in laws.

For dinner, I gave them an early birthday treat coz Fat Bond is sailing off on 4th Aug and Hui is leaving for San Francisco on 28th Jul. We went to this Japanese restaurant at Clarke Quay. Their food is authentic Japanese but pricey!

The last stop of the day was going to The Cathay to catch, "Invisible Target". Mum treated us to watch! We had popcorns & peanuts! It has been so long since the whole family went to catch a movie together! My dear little piglet was startled by the loud, explosive scenes and started to kick me. I have to constantly pat my bump to calm it down and to reassure it!

On Sunday, Pirate King left the home early for his Batam trip. I did some housework and went to Mum's place to spend the rest of my Sunday. I even trimmed my hair! Now, i think i looked like a boy from the behind!

Forgetful Me!

I m getting more and more forgetful!

Received a letter from the bank for a returned cheque coz i forget to sign on the cheque! This cheque is for the payment of my credit card bill. I called the bank immediately to resolve my credit card bill! Thank god, $45 for late payment charges is being waived and i made the payment via internet banking!

The next thing i got to do is to get Citibank to waive the charges for the returned cheque! Really damned forgetful of me!

Keeping my fingers crossed that my next 2 cheques sent out for UOB & Citibank credit card bills payments are all signed!

Diaper Bag

Okie, i m a vain Mama cum brand queen! I go for quirky brands rather than the mainstream luxurious brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel etcc....

This is the diaper bag that I m lusting for. It is expensive considering the fact that I will be paying $425 for a Toki Doki Le Sports Sac bag. Le Sports Sac bags are made of parachute materials aka nylon. I like their bags as they are trendy, light and won't go out of style!

So, i was thinking to myself so i should get the normal range of diaper bag from Le Sports Sac instead of the Toki Doki series. Unfortunately, it was not sold in Singapore. Thus, i will be asking Sis to try to get the normal range from US when she is flying there for a month on business trip!

Another Task Settled!

Yesterday I took leave to meet up with the potential Confinement Lady that will be taking care of piglet & me for 1 month after the birth of Piglet.

The lady reminds me of my Auntie that has passed away 3 years ago in terms of her outlook. Mabbe, she has the confinement lady look. At least, i got this major task settled! :)

Boredom at Work

Today is Friday the 13th! Yup, extremely bored at work even though i had 1001 things to settle for our work!

Perhaps, just wanna relax during this week and start the engine next week to get things running!

Counting down to 6pm.... I still habe 47 mins more to go!

Have a good weekend!

Piglet's development at Week 24

gPiglet is now 24 weeks and 6 days!

Last Sat, we went for my gynae checkup. Piglet is still clamping its little legs tightly, no way to see its gender!.... Everything is fine for it, it is weighing 675g!

Everyone is still speculating on Piglet's gender.... Piglet is more active now, moving around and keeping me awake at night with its movements!

For me, i m getting more and more tired easily. The feeling of travelling with a basketball is even more intense! Can't seem to get enough rest for myself. Just want to sleep and sleep.

A Satisfied Me!

Been bz for the past week with month end closing and BA2 to settle!

I m extremely satisfied as I finally had my DURIAN! Been having the urge to eat durian for the past few weeks, I din eat coz Mum told me that it will be too heaty plus there was no company to eat with me!

Today, i went home to have dinner and Mum told me that Hendrik (my "little son") will be dropping by.... The perfect excuse to have DURIANS! Hehehe, i ate quite a fair bit of the durians! My craving is satisfied and i guess i wont be eating it for a while!

Will going for my gynae appointment later on at 9am, followed by 2 beauty appointments and a lunch appointment! All the appointments are situated at Orchard area! Yippee! :)

How to deal with it?

My Mum ever doting on me, sew a swaddling cloth for my Piglet. She is going to sew a blanket later and I will be doing the finishing touches on the beansprout pillow for Piglet. My stewpig hubby saw the swaddling cloth that Mum has sew. He shown no signs of appreciation....

Never mind about this since Guys dun understand such stuff.... Yet, he choose to anger my Mum with this stupid comment of his. I guess i m partly to blame for letting my Mum knew about this comment!

Its a tradition for my hubby side to give Pig Trotters' Vinegar to my side during Piglet's full month celebration. Also, it is meant as a gift to friends and relatives too!

So, Piglet being the first grandchild at my side... My side will be enthusiastic and excited about its birth! My Mum wanted to preserve the ginger (essential ingredient for the Pig Trotters' Vinegar) first as the longer the ginger is preserved, the more tasty the Pig Trotters' Vinegar is!

At first, my stewpig hubby tot it was a Cantonese thing. After explaining to him about the above and commenting that how much his family loves to eat it. He commented, "My family dun have such high class taste in pig trotters' vinegar as yours!" My Mum is furious! She is doing it as a favour to my in laws... Yet my stewpig hubby dunno how to appreciate it!

It was agreed that tomorrow, we borrowed my in laws' car to buy the giantic claypot and the sweet vinegar to prepare the ginger. Actually, I dun want my Mum to do the ginger as my in laws dun appreciate things that people had done for them and take things for granted!

As much as i know my family is particular about things, still it is wrong of my hubby to comment on it! Guess, I have to learn how to filter information! :(

Down with Flu!

Flu strikes me! Yucks, feeling very horrible! Groggy and grouchy!

I was on MC yesterday, slept the whole day. I felt better but i m so sleepy today!

Managed to sleep during lunch, to hell with the co policy of no sleeping during lunch! What can you do to a pregnant mama who is sick? Plus all the big bosses are out of town for a meeting! Who gives a shit!

Just keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to recover soon!

Mum's back!

Mum is back after 1 week in Msia! She went to Redang, KL & Bentong!

Pretty surprised that Mum is back home so early... Usually, she will be in Msia for at least 1.5 weeks!

After listening to Mum, Sis & Bond's recollections of the Redang trip, I came to a conclusion. It was not enjoyable for the young ones! Sis & Bond laments about the elders' pattern etc. I told Mum that I m neutral to everything... Just accept it coz mabbe when i m old, i might have such pattern too!

My little piglet is really so realistic! Ah bond let me slept on his bed on the condition that his Elmo & Nici have to be sleeping with me. Then, this morning, Bond told my piglet to kick me coz i din sleep with Nici. Guess what, piglet really kicked me!

Think piglet is starting to react to sounds. It can recognise Lian Ann's voice liao... it will kick me when i stayed overnight at Bedok and meet Lian Ann the next day!

Current craves~

Being a pregnant Mama, I have so much cravings till my dear hubby dunno how to react to them!

My current craves, Burger King breakfast, coffee ice cream, wanton noodles at Sunshine Plaza and pedicures!

Dun ask me about the food cravings, i can't explain! For pedicures, i can't bend over to cut my toenails... So, i find it a luxury to get my toenails done and painted nicely! Not to mention, getting my poor feet pampered! :)

Guess that explains y i m so broke!

My Early Birthday Gift to myself!

This is the birthday gift that I had bought myself!

Its Philips latest home theater system, model HTS6600. It can play music, DVDs, has a FM tuner and comes with an IPod docking station! Though, i had given my ipod mini to my sis!

This system costs me S$999 but i m paying it via 36 months interest free instalment!

My only concern is that when Piglet is a toddler, this system might be destroyed by it! :(

Invasion of the cockroaches!

I dun understand y cockroaches invaded my home! I dun cook!

I had killed 2 just now and some in the past. Those roaches are small in size but equally disgusting!

Dear hubby says we must buy those cockroaches pellets to kill them! The problem is I dun even know where the source is! I just prayed that the invasion will stop soon!

Shopping for Baby Stuff!

This weekend, Pirate King and I spent our time shopping for Piglet's stuff. We ended up as poor parents especially Pirate King!

On Sat after sending Mum, HK Aunt and my siblings (going to KL) off at Novena Square. We went to get Pirate King's swimming googles and got my new specs done. After we settled our personal shopping, the quest began for Piglet's stuff!

Pirate King's colleague advised him to get stuff like diaper swipes etc during the Great Singapore Sale as such items can be kept and used like nobody's biz! So, we went to 3 different places to shop for baby stuff.

First stop - OG Orchard, we bought "Monks' robe", mittens and booties. As the hand me downs from my friend don't have those. Plus, the items bought can't be found at the next 2 stops we went and not forgetting a 20% discount on those items! Damage to the pocket at the 1st stop - S$34.40.

Second stop - Robinsons Centrepoint, this shopping mall is just besides OG Orchard. We bought Aprica milk bottles and teats. Initially, i have no intention to get them but Pirate King insisted on getting them. As the milk bottle has this special feature to reduce the amount of air sucked in by the baby. Plus, it is highly recommended by my friend! Thank god, they have this promotion whereby 2 milk bottles/teats are bundled for the price of one! So, we bought 4 milk bottles and 4 teats! Damage done to the pocket at this stop - S$69.80. After payment for the bottles, i rubbed my tummy and told Piglet to be filial to the parents, Pirate King emphasized that Piglet must be more filial to him coz he spent the $$ buying the stuff for it!

Third stop - Takashimaya Dept store, we went after having a quick dinner at MacDonalds. They will having this promotion, 20% discount for all Pigeon products except special buys. We checked with the sales assistant on the discount and we realised that those Pigeon products found in the first 2 stops are eligible for discount here! So, we bought cloth diapers, baby bath, baby bathing sponge etc etc etc.... Damage done at the last stop - S$153.3o! Thank god with the shopping vouchers we got, we paid S$3.30 only!

Today, we went to Furniture Mall to get the furniture for the baby's room and a latex mattress for Piglet! Colonial Antique (the store that we got most of our furniture from) has a new outlet at Furniture Mall, we dun have to go to their warehouse in Balestier!

Furniture we got from them today, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe and a bench. It costs us S$2,250 and we paid them via a 12 months instalment plan. This helps to lighten our cash outflow burden.

It was really difficult to find a 2" single size latex mattress for Piglet. In the end, we settle for this super single latex mattress for Piglet. It costs us S$350 and will be delivered to us by end of June!

Pirate King just rubbed my tummy and told Piglet that its a fortunate pig! :)

Piglet's development

Yesterday, Dr Chan gave Piglet a thorough scan!

Piglet now weighs 300g. It is 20 weeks old and i m looking forward to see it in another 20 weeks time!

Everything is developing properly for Piglet. It is normal and healthy! I told Dr Chan not to tell me about Piglet's gender but he can let Lian Ann know.

I had told Lian Ann that he is not to broadcast to the rest of the world what Piglet's gender is! For me, whether boy or gal... Piglet is my precious child..... Whatever discomforts i suffered during my pregnancy is worthless when Piglet calls me Mummy for the 1st time!

Kinda scary to know that I am responsible for Piglet's future! Piglet, Mummy loves you most! U must be filial to your parents & family, be a well-mannered person and not let your parents worry about you constantly! :)

Unbearable Pain

There is this persistent throbbing pain at the left side of my chest. It has been there for 2 weeks plus and it gets worse whenever I m hungry, after a meal or whenever i need to shit!

Last nite, the pain gets so unbearable that I cried! Pirate King comforted me... I told him i felt so useless for not being able to endure the pain... If i cant endure this pain, what about the pain when I m in labour?

Piglet seems to sense my discomfort and kicked in response to my cries. I reassured piglet that its not its fault! The happy thing is Piglet is connected to me... Even though, i m unsure whether the feeling is piglet's movement... While i was suddenly startled out of my sleep by inconsiderate neighbours upstairs, piglet was also startled at the same time. This feeling is just wonderful!

Happy Shopping Spree

After being angered by my hubby, i went on a shopping spree with my family!

I bought a pair of shoes, some maternity wear and a Tempur lumbar support pillow! Not only that, I went for a hair treatment and a pedicure! I feel so happy after that!

I guess i m a Vain Mama! My dear sis commented that piglet is most likely a boy coz my fashion sense had gone from bad to worse.... For me, its more like, i simply refused to buy any maternity wear and i m digging clothes that can still accomodate my tummy to wear... Thus, the lousy sense of dressing!

My Bump at Week 15

This is a picture of me at week 15. Yup, I ma vain Mama to show off my bump!

Currently, i m in my 18th week! Will upload more pix of this vain Mama with the bump! :)

Slow in Reaction....

Last Sat, Pirate King & I went for my gynae check up. Upon hearing that Piglet is most likely to be a gal after the ultrasound scan, Pirate King commented: "是女的，没有燕窝吃了!"

Come to think of it, i m quite slow in reaction... Even though, he dun mean it... I m quite hurt by this comment. In these days and times, does carrying on the family surname that important?

Even though, my Mother in law emphasized that it doesn't matter whether Piglet is a gal or boy, they will still dote on it. I was like BULLSHIT! Gender does matter to them since they already have 2 女内孙, they will prefer to have a grandson this round!

No matter what, I should just filter out all these negative thoughts and feelings. I have to be happy so that Piglet will be a happy baby too!

Happy for Piglet!

I m so happy for Piglet!

My colleague just asked me whether do i mind hand me downs for baby stuff? It turns out that her sister is giving away her maternity wear and baby stuff. Of course, i dun mind hand me downs!

So now, I dun have to worry too much about buying Piglet's stuff!

Just saw my Sis's blog on her illness! I just pray that my Sis health will be better! :)

Mother & Child Connected!

Its an Universal fact! Mother & child are connected!

Yesterday, i went for my gynae check up and blood test. When Dr Chan tried to scan for Piglet's gender, Piglet's 2 little legs blocked its gentials! Thus, Dr Chan concluded that the possibility of Piglet being a gal is very high!

Y do i say Mother & child are connected? Coz all along, i dun want to know Piglet's gender. Piglet seems to know this fact by blocking its gentials! Anyway, i had already told Piglet not to show its gentials when I go for all my check ups.... I told it that I wan a surprise!

Another thing, pretty worried abt Mum's health. She is going to SGH tomorrow to see a specialist for her gastric problem! Keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be fine for Mum! Mum, i still need you to look after Piglet for me when I m done with my maternity leave!

Also, Dad & Sis had been down with diahorrea. Dad was given 2 days MC for food poisoning... Whereas poor Sis fared even worse, she went to the hospital coz she was vomitting and having diahorrea at the same time! The doc diagnosed her having weak digestive system due to inadequate rest! Keeping my fingers crossed that both of them will recover soon!

Looking forward to the weekend!

Today is Thursday..... Super sleepy.... Went to the temple early in the

Spent the last nite at my parents' place. Poor Mum, she has been feeling unwell for the past few days and she went to see the Chinese Physician yesterday. She has been diagnosed with insufficient "qi" and she really has to watch her diet. Mum complaint of the doctor's fees, $70 to see the doctor inclusive of medicine. It is even more expensive than seeing our normal GP!

I gotta missed the Redang trip in Jun 07 due to work commitments! Pirate King & I might have to pay for the cancellation charges of air tickets as the tickets had been issued! HK Aunt has agreed to go, thus we need to cancel one person only.

This weekend will be a busy one, will be having my blood test on Sat, a posible family gathering on Sat... Not forgetting having dinner with my in laws on Sunday.

Piglet's Mercedes Benz

This is the $599 Mercedes Benz that I wanted to get for Piglet yesterday at the Robinsons' sales!

Robinson was selling it for $399, it was so tempting! Imagine Piglet in it, it really has the "WOW" factor... Yup, its the vain Mummy me!

I din buy it after my Mum's advice and a lady's advice at Robinson. The lady told me that the pram is more suitable for newborns and not so when the baby is 6 months and above. Even though, it is supposed to be from 1 mth - 3 yrs old. Mum further emphasized the lady's point...

Thus, no Mercedes Benz for Piglet yet.... But Piglet dun have to worry coz its vain Mummy will buy one with the ultra "WOW" factor for it!

Funny Dream!

Last nite, i had a funny dream! I dreamt that Piglet is a girl!

Piglet is so cute in my dream, it has big eyes, long eyelashes and fat! Piglet looked almost the same as my younger sis when she was a toddler!

I told Pirate King about it, he was saying that Piglet's eyes resembled him then!

When I told Mum & Sis about my dream, my Sis says "Scully, its the opp.. Then how, eyes small small, short eyelashes and single eyelids!" She is even funnier, confirm is gal lah.... Coz i m quite vain mah...... :P

Went shopping with Mum & Sis to get fabric... Mum promised me 2 new maternity dresses! Sis rode on the bandwagon and bought some fabric to sew a skirt & a pair of pants! We met up with Doris & Harry later for tea at Orchard! Later on, we went to CK Tang where Mum bought a pair of pants, Sis a top and me a skirt! A new skirt to wear to Paul's wedding! Yipppee!

In a serious dilemma now, dunno should i get piglet's Mercedes Benz now or later? Coz Robinsons has the stroller that i have in mind on offer..... Think piglet is gonna spoilt rotten by its Mummy & Daddy.... Imagine getting a $600 Mercedes Benz for it! Anyway, like what Mum says..... Its up to me!

Gender of Piglet

2nd post within a day......

Like every parent, Pirate King is anxious to know about the gender of Piglet! For me, i rather not know coz Piglet will always be my fave child regardless of its gender!

Even though my Mother in law told me that she dun mind the gender of her grandchild but i know that she is very anxious to have a grandson. As her fave son had given her 2 granddaughters, she will prefer to have a grandson instead!

I dun wish to have such unnecessary pressure when piglet is being scanned as a boy but born a gal! I know i should not be bothered by what my Mother in law thinks... Still, i admit i m someone who will be bothered by words! Pirate King is already taken for granted... I dun want it to worsen!

Piglet, you will be forever Mummy's fave!

Baby Items

Call me kan cheong or anxious!

Ever since with piglet growing in my tummy, i have been window shopping for baby items. So far, i have listed out 3 essential items that i need to buy for piglet...

1. Baby Walker => Will cause damage to everyone except piglet coz Piglet will be on a rampage with this piece of equipment!

2. Mercedes Benz aka Baby Stroller => This is important coz we can't possibly train our arm muscles too much by carrying piglet. This is handy especially when we go out!

3. Baby Sling => To carry Piglet so that i dun have to put strain on my poor arms!

I have yet to draft out what else to prepare for the arrival of piglet..... In fact, there is 1% of nagging fear that something will happen to piglet during my pregnancy now... Kept on telling myself not to think too much... What will be, will be! Just ensure that I be happy! :)

Beijing Photos!

For my friends, please go to http://community.webshots.com/user/kayern13 to see my Beijing Trip pictures!

Piglet Development!

Went for my Gynae check up last Sat!

Piglet is 15 weeks... Thus, I m into my 4th month of pregnancy!

Everything is fine for piglet, it weighs 120g and it is actively moving while doing the ultrasound scan!

Will be going for my blood test in another 2 weeks' time.... Kinda afraid to go for all these tests!

Piglet, for the sake of your well being... Mummy has to go thru all these! U must ensure that you grow fat & healthy!

Its' FRIDAY!

Its' Friday! Finally, the tough part of closing is coming to an end!

Have no plans for tonight but will be going home since Mum will be back tomorrow nite!

Told Pirate King and my Sis about my fears. Sis' conclusion is that I have too much free time to think about it... Pirate King dismissed all my fears!

Will be seeing Dr Chan tomorrow... I gotta tell him that I dun want to eat any more vitamins and fish oil! Even though, they re supposed to be good for my piglet.... Somehow i just dun feel like eating them!

To all my friends, have a good weekend ahead!

Just being vain!

This photo is taken during my co D&D in Feb 07. This is to remind myself of how i look before my tummy gets bigger by the day..... Yup, i know i m vain! :)

Back from my Holidays!

Went to Hong Kong & Beijing from 14th - 25th April 2007....

The whole trip was okay. Managed to get some Beijing 2008 Olympics stuff in Beijing. I climbed the Great Wall of China... So, piglet has became a 好汉 even though its still inside my tummy.....

A lot of sights in Beijing is under renovation or maintenance.... So, the best time to visit Beijing is after the Olympics in 2008. The weather is cooling but very dry.... The tour that we joined from HK... is simply no comments. Sight seeing time is kept to a minimum whereas shopping time like for jade, chinese medicine and the Chinese mythical 貔貁 is miraculously extended!

Basically, Pirate King bought quite a fair bit of stuff.... For me, my major induglence is shoes! I bought 2 pairs of shoes! Mummy dearest saw the shoes and commented that i might not be able to fit into it after i had given birth to piglet... But, the shoes are for my current use. I dun hv any decent shoes to wear now esp its difficult to find nice, decent flats in Singapore!

In conclusion, the holidays are fun and it is a well deserved break after all the major events (personal or work) had ended! :)

Boredom

Boredom is the word to describe doing work on Sat!

Today is my turn for Sat duty.... Spent the whole morning downloading some data... Keeping my fingers crossed that the data won't be updated on the coming Monday!

Fat Bond just sms me to inform me about Mum's mood... Was just wondering what did my younger sis and her argued about this morning? I hope it wont spoilt my Dad's birthday celebration tonight!

My latest update...

It has been a while since I had blogged....

So many things had happened... The recent events in my life:

1. Housewarming party
2. Discovery of piglet
3. Attended a wedding dinner
4. Conference & Training (Work)
5. Attempts to sell off my wedding & evening gown

Other than that i can't remember what I had done since my last entry on 16th Feb 2007......

1. Housewarming party

It was held on 17th Mar, we invited our families, relatives and friends. It was a mad house coz there were so many ppl coming in and out of our home! Just wanna make use of this blog to thank all our guests for their gifts and appearance at our home! :)

2. Discovery of Piglet

Piglet is currently in its 8th week inside my womb and expected to face the world in late Oct or early Nov 07. Piglet came as a surprise to me and Pirate King, the best part is me. I tested 3 times to ensure that Piglet is not a joke to me! Anyway, i m keeping my fingers crossed that Piglet will grow well and healthy..... So, my dear piglet, Mummy will always love you.... :) Btw, according to the Chinese supersitition, i m not supposed to announce Piglet before Piglet is 12 weeks old.... Anyway, some people had already guessed my condition without me or Pirate King saying anything.

3. Attended a Wedding Dinner

Pirate King & I attended his fren's wedding on Mon, 26th March 2007. It was a small affair as compared to ours. The major complaint is the food! Hotel food literally sucks unless the host are willing to fork out a sum of money to have better food! The fun part is listening to Pirate King's frens' conversations ranging from RA topics to Cars.... These guys are super funny!

4. Conference & Training (Work)

My company had a regional meeting on the 15th - 16th March 2007. I was assigned to give a presentation on a topic. Thank god, my presentation went smoothly with the support of my boss. I also had to give training to my fellow colleagues from other areas too after the Meeting. It was a 2 busy weeks of March 07 for me!

5. Attempts to sell off my wedding & evening gown

I had posted online for the sale of my wedding & evening gown. I guess it takes a bit of time to sell them off. There is only 1 lady who expressed an interest in my wedding gown, unfortunately she was too well endowed to be able to fit into my wedding gown... Guess the search for the buyers continues...................

No mood to work!

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year's Eve.... The office is like a ghost town. Half the staff had gone on leave!

While some of us are still here... Struggling to keep awake and waiting for the arrival of 6pm!

Preparations for Chinese New Year is tough boy! I wanted to go to Mum's place for dinner but with the amount of housework piling home. Its best that I go home and clear the household chores with Pirate King!

Will be going to my in laws place for the reunion dinner... The thought of going to their place for the dinner really unnerves me... Guess, i will be having a super full lunch at Mummy's place tomorrow before going for the dinner! :)

Recap on the banquet in Bentong, Pahang on 10 Feb 2007

Just came back from KL....

Mummy dearest had thrown a dinner banquet for her friends & relatives in Bentong, Pahang. As they are unable to attend my wedding on 27 Jan 07. Another one was held on 10 Feb 07 for them.

Its so heartening to see Mum's friends who had watched me grown up from a naughty toddler to where I am now! The person that is the happiest is Mum! I never seen her so happy before....

Dad is even funnier.... He got smashed and Pirate King and brother have to attend to him... Quoting my Uncle's words, "Your Dad is just too happy!"

Its just so funny.... The wedding on 27 Jan 07 is like a rehearsal! The one last Saturday was a more personal affair... At least, I got to eat all the food!

Execution of the Grand Plan - Night

We din get to rest much from our day's program....

The driver came to pick us up at 4.30pm.. We went to Fullerton Hotel first to collect the Birthday Cake that Pirate King had ordered for G. It was G's birthday and he was the best man!

We reached Noble House (the restaurant) at 5pm and the next moment, I got to do my make up. Denise & Lucas were there early to rehearse. Both of them agreed to be my emcee for the night!

After my make up and everything was done, I was all ready to mingle with the guests.... Everyone commented that I looked like a Barbie doll! I think so too.... Like a little princess with a tiara on my head! :P

The minute I mingled with the guests, time seems to fly and everything happens like a flash... We marched into the banquet hall with See Ying & Yuxuan playing Canon in D on the piano. There was smoke and bubbles.... Everything seems so dreamy!

Once we are seated, Pirate King's side screwed up again.... Apparently, his relatives were late and the best part is they re not assigned seats. My in laws kept on asking him where they re supposed to sit but.... Pirate King is totally clueless! Anyway, after our first course, we re whisked to the make up room to change into my evening gown and my last make up...

We marched into the banquet hall again.... After the toasting session, Pirate King gave a speech, it was the 1st time I seen him so nervous before... His army friend, Kheng Leng gave a speech about us... After that, it was photography session again.... Ie taking photographs table by table... It was so tiring!

Anyway, to cut the long story short...... Our colleagues forced us to drink brandy & red wine. Both of us were smashed! Thank god for Denise, she sent the both of us home!

To sum it up, the Grand Plan was a success!

Execution of the Grand Plan - Day Program

The Grand Plan was finally executed on 27th Janaury 2007!

That's like 2 weeks ago!

On 27th Janaury 2007, everything happened so fast! Its like what Pirate King says, "Its like a dream!" For me, I can't believe that I m starting a new life with Pirate King!

I woke up at 5am.. I was unable to sleep the night before... The thought of leaving the home that has sheltered me for the past 28 years was certainly unbearable.... My Mama was unable to sleep too... coz her baby (yup, that's me!) is leaving her coop! Thank god, both of us din cried on that day!

Woke up early at 5am, ate some breakfast.... Sharon, my make up artist came to do the make up for me. My jiemeis reached my place at 7am... Took some photographs with them... And i was sitting inside the room.... Waiting for Pirate King to pick me up!

The funny thing that happened in the morning was that Fat Bond was late! Fat Bond 's job is to open the car door for Pirate King before he could pick me up! Fat Bond was late coz he couldn't get a cab from Novotel Hotel back home.... Nevertheless, Pirate King and his entourage waited for 15 minutes before Fat Bond went down to open the door!

The only thing I missed was the sabotage session on Pirate King & his band of brothers... Apparently, the tasks given to them to execute were not tough but yet.... Nevertheless, it was quite funny to hear Pirate King to read Cantonese!

It was followed by a tea ceremony and photography session at my place....

After that my parents sent me off to my in laws, Dad was sheltering us with the red umbrella while Mum was scattering rice on me. At my in laws place, we prayed to the Gods and had a tea ceremony and another photography session.....

We stayed for 1 - 2 hrs at my in laws place... After which, we went to my parents' place and had lunch... After the lunch, we went to our apartment to rest before the banquet starts at night...

I looked like SHIT!

Its 1.49am....

Just managed to finish a tentative plan of the seating arrangement....

Guess what, my pinyin sucks big time! Gotta check with my siblings later in the morn on the correct pinyin for certain Chinese Characters!

Whoever says the Bride to be will look pretty & radiant on her wedding day is BULLSHIT big time! For the past few days, I dun get enough sleep.... Y? I gotta spend my time doing last minute shopping and packing up my stuff to my new apartment!

Gotta discuss with my parents on the seating arrangement... I dun wanna waste seats! Its such a headache in seating ppl!

Glad that its a once in a life time thing to do! My left arm is hurting again.... Going to sleep soon... If not, i looked even worse than shit!

Adieu.......

Countdown to my Big Day?

It has been quite a while since my last entry!

I was busy with work... Month end closing and plus my new home move in date ceremony etcc....

Just realised that its another 2 weeks to my customary wedding on 27 Jan 07!

My feelings at this moment is in a mess... I feel lost coz i m leaving the coop that has protected me for 28 years +++... And i dunno whether i can adapt to and cope with the new life that Pirate King & I going to have...

Perhaps, i should just let nature takes its own course! Just wanna get my wedding over & done with!