Tiga puluh tiga!!!!!!

Homai.. Super busy today! It's Monday, and everyone wants to call in sick! Some are really sick, but most are just pretending to be sick and bugging me for MCs!! Heck, if I am working, all you lazy bums must work too!

And.. Drumroll please! We are now 33 weeks! Excuse me while I go hyperventilate in a corner for while...!!! And we're left with 49 days to go (to 40 weeks that is) but we are fit to go into labour anytime in another 4 weeks! That's in just another 28 days!!!! See, my heart rate is racing even as I type, and LilBums is thubthumping away..!! Homai.. Homai...!

We were at Chapati Man's last week. My weight is up, that's a good thing. Put on 2kgs in the past 2 weeks. Good weight gain, finally. Noticed I've gotten a bit gundu too, Bums say I don't have a neck anymore! And LilBums is doing ok too. Discrepancy is less this time, compared to the previous Scan.

I was just telling Dheepa the other day, at this stage pregnancy is no joke! It's such a reality check! Legs swelling up, becoming so super gravid, dad nearing close, SPD getting worse and the dos!

Speaking of SPD, we've been hunting for the support belt high and low an suddenly they are all extinct! Bums has been searching thru the net and checked out several outlets, but to no avail! Looks like we've either gotta settle for the size L one we saw at Subang Parade, or get the uncomfortable band type. Will post up pictures soon. Apparently it really helps relieve the pressure over the pubis symphysis. And I really need that now. Tha pain is sometimes utterly unbearable.

On the other hand, I think I've been sleeping better past few nites. That really is a blessing, as it makes such a vast difference to my day ahead. I think it's mainly coz Bums has been giving my foot rubs to reduce the leg swelling, and that really helps me sleep better. The swelling has reduce significantly, and doesn't trouble me as much as the SPD pain now!

Happy Monday, all and have a productive week ahead!

Bummer.

Woke up this morning to horrible nightmares. One of them was of me giving birth, and when they placed the baby in my hands, he dint have a left arm and a right earlobe :( Was so disturbing.

Got dressed, and dragged myself to work. Legs were already swollen in the morning, it'll prolly gonna be so painful and oedematoused by the end of the day. Sigh. Realized, that driving makes it more teruk.

But, the pelvic pain wasn't too bad today. Hopefully it stays that way.

Feeling utterly down and upset today. One of those day, I guess. Just gotta put up a strong fort and fend forward.

Kerandomness!

After a consultation earlier this morning, a patient commented on how pretty my Mehndi was. Explained it was for the 'Vallai Kappu' over the past weekend. And how we celebrate pregnancy and pray for a safe delivery at the 7th month of pregnancy. To which she replied, in utter shock, 'Huh.. You're expecting?!? 7 months?!? Hardly look anything like it!'

Compliment? Well she was pleasant, and wished me a safe and joyous labour process. So guess she was genuinely awed!

Have to see the dentist soon, my gums are really becoming so teruk! We are finally going this Friday after many times canceling!

LilBums is super hyper this morning, happily acrobating in his lil nestle! I can feel his bums pushing on my hands as I rest my hands on my uterus fundus and type this! Both my legs are still slightly swollen, shall raise them up thru out the day. Was supposed to have slept on my left last nite, but forgot. May the swelling subside gradually!

Can't wait to see how it goes with ChapatiMan later!

Woraits! Happy Thursday, ya'l!!!

Oedema is back!

Just when I was getting excited that the swelling subsided, it came back again today :( Towards the end of the day today, I felt my legs were really heavy and the ache was getting more unbearable. Pitting up to the ankles :( But it's so fun to keep pitting the oedema and watching is rise again! We made dinner, and chilling now with my feet resting on a cushion, and it hurts :(

Speaking of dinner, it was simply yum tonite! Bums pan seared salmon fillets to perfection and I made yummy mashed potato with sauteed onions, garlic and olives. Aaahh, so sedap!

We've been doing antenatal exercises diligently these past 2 days. Really need to strengthen my pelvic floor muscles and my back. I managed to duck squat all the way to end today, without stopping. Trust me, that's a mega achievement! The whole Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) is causing more pain than before. And hence, being my wake up call. To get those muscles kuat kuat for birthing!

Bums is much better now. Finally back to work, after 2 days of MC. High grade fever, which was hardly responding to anything I gave. And then suddenly, his fever just subsided. Just like that. Weird person, with weird penyakit!

Oooh, last nite we went over to MBO to watch Insidious 2!! T'was so super scary. One moment, I felt LilBums literally jump out!! Watched the rest of the movies between Bums shoulder and partly covered eyes! Phheeww... no more horror movies!

Have to sleep with the legs raised again, and get back to bananas (eewww :( I hate bananas), and lotsa fluid and sorts. Have to get rid of the swelling. Deepavali's next week, and Im sure Im gonna be on my feet much :(

Off to see ChapatiMan tmrw. Hopefully LilBums behave, and doesnt appear so gundu anymore!

Vallai Kappu!

Whhooaaa boy, (literally!) time's really zooming past! Tomorrow we will be 32 weeks, yo! Im just very anxious and nervous at the moment. Honestly, Im more scared than before. But sometimes, I try not to show that Im very really just scared. Homai....

So, the weekend was pretty busy! Mummy & Daddy organized my Hindu ceremony of a baby shower, the Vallai Kappu, literally translated to The Bangles Ceremony! Was quite fun actually, it was like my nallugu all over again (albeit, a bit too soon!). Wore my wedding saree again, this time with LilBums popping out thru the front making it pretty complicated drape. Made a mistake by agreeing to sit on the floor, coz half way thru I couldnt feel my legs and when I stood up, it felt as though I was gonna have a syncopal attack. It's basically a ceremony where married ladies bless you and pray for a smooth delivery, though I dont know how this works out with the bangles though. Each of these ladies, will sprinkle rose water and rub on some sandalwood on me, and then don me with some bangles. By stringent tradition, apparently I'd have to wear the bangles till I give birth (yikes..!) But with work and all, it kinda doesnt apply nowadays I guess. Overall, it was a nice pleasant ceremony!

The set up for the day

Tried sitting down, was ok till mid way of the function.

Bangling time!

I love this photo! 

Apparently to ease birthing. They pour milk down my spine. Not sure how this works out though!

Patti's turn!

Bum Bum mengambil kesempatan!

My Periamma, my Godma! Who's always been there for us!

Le familia!

Teeheheehehe...Kabi!

Daddy and I. With LilBums peeping out thru the saree :D

Bums woke up that morning with a sorethroat, and halfway thru the function he was burning up. Poor thing. Gave him a jab today, fever is now low grade and hopefully he feels better by tmrw. He be sleeping in the second room tonite, coz we cant risk me falling sick too. Especially, not now.

New symptom: Bilateral lower limb swelling. Yea, it's finally here. Hurts like hell. Pitting oedema all the way up to the shin. The pitting part is pretty cool, I keep pitting it and looking at it. A bit jakun, I know. Can hardly stand for long, it really really feels super heavy and hurts so damn much. Gonna try to reduce it a bit. Really hope it subsides a lil bit, coz this week's gonna be a full swing locum week.

Have an amazing week, all!

31!

Wwhhhheeeee... We are now in our 31st week!! In just another 6 weeks, we'll be considered full term and it'll be perfect for LilBums to finally pop out. Homai... So nervous!

I think with LilBums growing bigger, he's getting a bit restricted in doing his routine daily acrobatic acts in there. His kicks are less pronounced, but I can feel his bum bum push up against my rib cage, and that kinda suffocates me sometimes. Otherwise we are both doing fine!

I think I've put on a bit of weight, noticed my face is a bit mee gundu with the double chin playing hide and seek sometimes. Also from the luscious glow of early pregnancy, now my skin is very much hyperpigmented with areas of dark spots and dry skin. Sometimes on my face, sometimes on my arms and mostly over the gravid uterus. All the roller-coasting hormones are taking on different roles I assume. I miss te natural glow though, now I look haggard and old :(

Bum bum will be back tmrw!!! It feels so odd not having him around, I couldn't sleep at all past few nites, the bed felt so spacious without his gundu self around. Although he annoys me much, I miss him dearly. And I think LilBums does too :(

Just had my once-in-a-while coffee fix, and it feels so damn good! LilBums is also a bit hyper now!

Gonna be a busy week, lots to do. Small lil function over the weekend, sounds like fun seeing how mum has this and that all planned out!

Have a good week, all! Much love!

Gundu LilBums

Halo..!!!!

I'm at locum, trying not to fall asleep. It being a Friday, and the weather being so rainy and sleep inducing is making it a whole level harder to stay awake!

So, ze MGTT is normal. Though slightly within upper limits of the normal range. Very borderline. And last nite during our routine visit to chapati man, LilBums is still slightly gundu, about 300g excess! Seriously la, I don't look like I'm carrying a 30weeker.. And chapati man keeps telling me LilBums is gundu! How la? I no understand! So he said have to repeat MGTT in 2 weeks! Bummer..! Thru chapati man's super canggih 3D scan machine, we always catch a beautiful image of LilBums at every visit! Last nite, we saw how he was opening his mouth like a lil fishy! And how cute his curled fingers were! Also we noted how chubby his cheeks were, and I immediately thought of how that gundu head is gonna crown out thru my you-know-what! Chapati man also showed us LilBums' cuckoobird and his bilateral descended testis! So big, I terkejut! Seriously gundu boy la..! He's otherwise doing well, good heart rate and all.

So yea, have to repeat MGTT sometime next week! Blleerrgghhh...

Bums has been helping me do duck squats and other antenatal exercises at home! Duck squats look easy, but with a gravid self, it brings it to an almost gila state of difficulty level! New found respect for ducks, especially pregnant duckies! :)

Cooked sambar, and chicken varuval and some cabbage thingy for dinner the other day. And Bums ate like a monster! Typical Indian man who loves his rice and curry! Truly became a believer of 'a way thru a man's heart is thru his stomach'! :)

Sorethroat and flu is back, though not as bad as before. Hopefully it stays mellow! I really don't wanna fall sick!

New symptom: very gnawing lower abdominal pain as LilBums' head crushes thru my pelvic floor! Sometimes it's so painful, feels like I'm in labour. Though I really don't know how how being in labour feels like. Yet!

Bums will be in JB over the weekend, and so I'll be staying with Mummy n Daddy. Think since we've got married, this be the first time we are gonna be away from each other :(

The Result!

Good afternoon all! It was such a heavy downpour the past hour! Hope mommy and lilbums got some sleep at home. Today I took the results of MGTT from PathLab. What is MGTT? It stands for Modified Glucose Tolerance Test. Some pregnancy cases, the mother will be at risk in being a diabetic. So this is not a good thing since this will impact the baby as well. We decided to do this since the baby seems to be heavier than what is suppose to be currently.

The MGTT result is normal. So mommy has no diabetes. So my conclusion with the baby being big and all, I think it is because the parents are big! Haha..

After work, we are going to the gynae for the routine checkup. I always get excited when seeing lilbums in the stomach. For the past few times, he seems to be really active. And also his face, feet and hand is becoming more well defined. The house is slowly getting ready to welcome him. Planning to turn the second room into a nursery. Need to clear some big items in the room. Give it a more baby friendly appearance. Would be cool if we buy those glow in the dark star stickers and stick on the wall. So lil bums can sleep well and tight.

This year is coming to an end soon. This i think is one of the best years for me. I married the love of my life, and its close to 7 months of married life. And plus with the baby coming soon in december, I have a family to love and care for. Nothing gets better than this. Although I think it comes with huge responsibility, I hope I am able to keep the family happy and safe :). Mommy is becoming more pregnant day by day. We are doing duck squats as often as possible as apparently this will come in handy during delivery as it strengthens the pelvic muscle. There are scores and scores of youtube videos out there. Initialy i thought we missed out going to prenatal classes but I guess with the abundance of pregnancy videos out there, we might as well do it at home with comfort.

Ok ciao people. Have a wonderful day. Just a day more for the weekend!

Eventfulness!

Whooaaaa... we are now finally in our last 10weeks!! Hit the big three-oh today!! So fast, really. Felt it was just a copla weeks ago we were staring at the UPT stick in shock, wondering how (we knew how!) but more of... WTH how? WHoaaaa! And other mixed emotions...

Anyhow, it has been a good 30 weeks. Im thankful it has been pretty uneventful, no massive red flag issues. Normal backache, hypereming, leg cramps. I find it harder to sleep at nite, just to get into the right position. The other nite, I was awake from 5am and was talking to Bums, who was asleep but still replied me. Told him that I wanted to go eat Dim Sum, and he remembered :) Woke up early, and we did go have Dim Sum for breakfast! Bestest Husband! Sometimes, I end up playing Candy Crush til I fall asleep again. At times I start thinking of labour, and get all worked up and that makes the insomnia worse!

This weekend has been pretty hectic. Had to attend to a family emergency. Grandma sorta had a TIA. Over these past few days, Ive learnt a lot about my family (nothing new, though!). It's good to know we still have some we can depend on during emergencies, but at the same time it's disheartening to know of some who appear more like a visitor rather than a family member. Many know-it-alls made things more complicated during the admission process, I understand many were concerned but it's best to take a back seat when you're merely assuming not giving out proper correct details. I try my best to offer the best for my Grandma, alter her medications as per when needed as she complains of the many side effects. But it becomes so troublesome when others kacau things again, and it all becomes a rojak yet again. For example, she was on a anti-hypertensive which was long put on hold. Dunno who told her to go back on it. This made her HR lowish, and during admission it was with held. Someone also removed her statin, I just found out. How can a 2VD patient, post angioplasty not be on a statin? We have two qualified doctors in the family who try to help, but at the same time, there are also many other self educated 'doctors' who create a mess. Things will never change, I guess. But Grandma is doing ok for now. Will prolly be discharged tomorrow.

Bums was also sick thru out the weekend. Good thing he's not a horrible patient, like I am, and took to his medication and other measures willingly, without much fuss! Hence a speedy recovery, and he's a-ok now!

Finally did the MGTT at PathLab last Friday. Think I'll prolly drop by tmrw to collect the results. Blood taking x3, and that yucky 75% dextrose. Somehow survived, and dint throw up. The Indian uncle Phlebologist was quite cekap, so that made things better! Hopefully, the result is normal *fingers crossed*

We bought our first piece for LilBums, despite all the pantang! It was too hard to resist! We got him a blue hippo bathrobe, and it's super cute!!! Though we prolly have to wait till he's about 1 yr old to fit into it..but still! :D

Oraits, have a good week ya'll!

29!

Homai LilBums.. We are now in the 29th week of this journey!! Big 3-0 next *so nervous and anxious and scared and excited, can pengsan* last week you were a mere 1.1kg estimated Chinese cabbage, according to Baby Bump! Today at day 204 you're roughly at 1.4kg, 15inches long squash! So cute how ur being compared to common vegetables :) Past few days, ur kicks were a bit mellowed, and that kinda got me worried. I sometimes wake up in the middle the night, and kacau you just so you'll kick just to know. Yes, Mummy is sometimes very paranoid! But today u seem to be kicking well and strong again, so I'm a bit relieved. Go on kicking LilBums, I may cringe in pain sometimes but at least I know you're well!

I think I sorta pulled strained my back during those few days of swimming. Been having sharp pain just over my left shoulder blade, sometimes making it hard to even drive. With ample rest over the weekend, and routine hot compressions and massages by Bums, it definitely feels better today. Just have to take it easy a wee bit.

Went to get my MGTT done yesterday, hut the situation at the health clinic was so disappointing we left. I waited 1.5 hours just for my turn, and even then I had to wait another 2 hours for the test to take its course. Very disappointing and frustrating, since I'm a staff there and heck.. I'm one of the doctors even! By then, my reflux symptoms were getting really bad and I started to wanna throw up really bad coz I had to be kept fasted. Couldn't tahan, and decided to abandon ship and get it done at a private lab instead. Very disappointed with the system. We give so much, yet we get nothing in return. Truly fits the name, just a mere government SERVANT!

Sometimes I feel with so much going on with me and LilBums, other aspects are taken for granted. Like the husband, who's done so much for us over these past months. Hope he knows he's well appreciated despite how cranky I may get sometimes. And some friends and relatives too, hope they understand when I'm not too well to come out and play. It doesn't mean I'm anti social or sombong, I'm merely having a rough day and I'd rather just stay in. My parents have done so much for us, complying to our every need and I really thank them for it. Some people I still take the effort to stay in touch with simply coz they matter. But to some, hope u know its a two way road. Sometimes it helps if u drop us a line once in a while as well :)

Oraits, enough emofying justifications.

Have a good day ya'll!