Pregnancy at Week 37+

I've been having discomforts on my tummy for the last 2 days, discomforts similar to PMS and tightenings. I'm not too worried coz my csection is scheduled for Wednesday next week and should the baby decide to come out earlier, I'll be more than happy. I just can't wait for this baby to pop as I feel so, so uncomfortable now.

Forbidden Food

What are the food forbidden to be eaten by an expecting woman? Don't know if it's just a myth or a fact, some of the food forbidden are raw pineapple, tea, starfruits, watermelon, papaya, basically anything that is considered too 'leong' (literally means cooling) for the body, lamb, crabs and the list goes. I have friends who ate these food almost everyday (especially Malays) yet they did not face any problems during their pregnancy and went on to deliver healthy babies. Since the Chinese forbide, I just abided and did not touch these food during the first 3 months or so of my pregnancies.

Last week, we had high-tea at Paya Serai Coffee House @ PJ Hilton. Since I'm about to deliver, I indulged in my favorite food, food that I haven't touched for months and geez, it feels good to be able to taste them finally, albeit I only ate them moderately.

Putumayam - I was already craving to eat this when I saw it at ChumsyAshley's blog.


Ooooh, my all-time favorite Sarawak pineapple..... tasted sooooo sweet and refreshing.


Starfruit juice and teh tarik.

Also ate assam laksa and sour mango (from the rojak counter).

Hubby was looking at me with sharp sideway glance and shaking his head as I ate these forbidden food, haha.....

Pregnant Belly At 35 Weeks

That's my big baby belly at 35 weeks. Most people have commented that my belly looks small for the gestational age and that I look neat. They think I am having a real smooth pregnancy because of the neat and 'small' belly but they don't know that I am actually having lots of discomforts and pains now. I can't walk or stand too long, otherwise my Braxton Hicks contractions and 'tummy tightenings' will become more intense. When the baby kicks me too hard and hits some of my nerves, I will have Sciatica, which is a sharp pain that attacks my buttocks and legs. I have Sciatica attacks everyday. Sometimes the pain is so bad that I have to sit or squat immediately and wince in pain. I started to have Sciatica when I was carrying Sherilyn during the last trimester. The pain went away after I delivered Sherilyn.

I have 3 more weeks to go before the big day but I am really hoping that the baby will come out a little earlier, naturally and without much labor pains.... to save mummy from having to go through another scary major surgery and to save daddy from having to burn a big hole in his pocket.

Pregnancy At Week 31+

That's my big baby belly at week 31+. The 2 gals still love to hug and kiss my belly, especially Sherilyn. Baby is very active and is moving, squirming and kicking mummy all the time. She's also very prone to hiccups. The tightenings and Braxton Hicks contractions are very frequent and I get them throughout the day. They are more frequent when I need to pee, when I move too much, when the baby moves and stretches, when my tummy is being touched or pressed (especially during ultrasound scans) and after every meal. That's the reason why I can't eat much these days. My guts are now all squeezed by the enlarging uterus to a point where I hardly feel hungry these days.

I Feel Really Heavy

As my tummy is getting bigger, I feel really heavy. I find it hard to walk fast and extremely difficult to get up when I am in a sitting, squatting or lying down position. My baby should be around 2kg by now. When I get up from a lying down position to an upright position, I even have to lift my tummy with both my hands, otherwise my tummy will tighten or harden again. I am only 31 weeks+ preggers and I am sure I will find it even harder to move about as my pregnancy progresses. I can't imagine how difficult it is for women carrying twins, triplets or more babies to move about during their pregnancy. Chin Nee, all the best to you!

3D Ultrasound Scan

That's the 3D ultrasound scan of my baby at 29 weeks+. Read more about this here.

Sherilyn Loves Her Baby Sister

Read about it here.....

Pregnancy at 24 Weeks

My tummy feels so uncomfortable now..... feel like pooping but can't poop. It must be the overnight watermelon that I had eaten this afternoon. I had just eaten a small slice but I feel bloated now, can't even slouch when I sit as I feel terribly uncomfortable.... got to sit so upright on my computer chair now till my ribs hurt.

Today I'm into the 24th week of my pregnancy. Went to see the fetal specialist today to assess my baby's dilated kidney. Read more about it here.

Pregnancy Worries

Reading stories about unlucky couples with deformed babies and sick babies make me sick with worries. This morning, I read about this 18-month old baby with both kidneys that are damaged and his parents need more than RM70k for his kidney transplant in India. Later in the afternoon, I received the latest copy of my Reader's Digest and had read the story about a baby boy (who has a twin sister) born without any eyes. Though his mother had done an Amniocentesis during her pregnancy and the test showed that she would be having 2 healthy babies, the baby still turned out with deformed eyes. Whenever I turn on the TV, there are always documentaries on babies with some form of deformities. The latest one I had watched was about a baby girl born without a chin. Both the parents were very good looking and it is just so sad looking at their baby girl who can't eat, talk, smile or make any facial gestures as she did not have a chin. Worrying about my unborn baby is something that I hate to do, yet I can't help but worry once in a while.

I Feel Obese!

My brother and sil came from Singapore today and we celebrated my brother's birthday at PJ Hilton. I didn't eat a lot but definitely more than what I usually eat and I feel so bloated now. Only drank some chicken watercress soup and nibbled on my gals' french toast with cheese for dinner. I can now feel my boobs touching my belly when I sit and slouch and it feels awful. I feel obese! I feel really fat each time I am preggers though I didn't really put on much weight. That's the problem with a severly self-conscious vain-pot who is a health and fitness freak!

I Can Go Nuts Over Nuts

These days I can't eat much, especially meat and sweet stuff. On some days when I have totally no appetite to eat anything for breakfast, I will just nibble on nuts and a glass of milk. These nuts can keep me full till 10am when I have another light breakfast with the gals where I will much on some fruits and crackers and share a hard-boiled egg with Alycia. Alycia only eats the egg white and I always wallop the egg yolk.


Walnuts, pecan nuts, macademia nuts, hazelnuts and almonds - I just love these nuts.

My Favorite Cream Puffs

Before hubby left for the gym located at Mid Valley yesterday, I had told him that I was craving to eat Beard Papa's cream puff and asked him to get me a few after his gym session. When I called him during lunch time, he told me that he was rushing and did not manage to buy the cream puffs. I was really disappointed. You know, when a pregnant wants to eat cream puffs, she has to eat cream puffs.

In the evening, when hubby came home, he surprised me with a big box of Beard Papa's cream puff - 6 of them! My hubby, he just loves to pull my leg all the time, from day one I had known him.


And so, I relished every bite of the cream puff. They are the tastiest I have ever eaten. Alycia and Sherilyn loved them to pieces too and we all finished them in 2 days. My maid had one too.

Pregnancy at Week 19+

Some updates on my pregnancy at week 19+ :

1) Weight stands at 49kg, i.e. a gain of 5kg from pre-regnancy weight of 44kg. I foresee I will gain a total of 10kg this time and that's a lot to me.

2) Appetite is pretty bad as I feel bloated and full most of the time. Though have not been eating a lot but weight is shooting up really fast, gosh!

3) Baby is quite active and movements can be felt almost throughout the day.

4) Skin is ultra dry and looks withered and peeling. None of the oils seem to be helping in moisturizing my skin. Also have red rough patches that are itchy over my neck and belly.

5) Still feel nauseous after meals, thus, cannot really eat a hearty meal.

6) Baby weighs around 390gm as of last Thursday, 29 November 07.

7) Baby's right kidney is still mildly dilated and both my gynaes expect the dilation to increase as the baby grows bigger. Hopefully this problem is just transient and will resolve by itself in utero soon.

Pregnancy At Week 19

Finally I can feel my baby's kicks and movements. Though I could feel them from as early as 8 weeks (my gynae said it's impossible but I swear I felt fluttering movements. I know how they feel like as I've gone through 2 pregnancies), but those fluttering movements were far and apart and not frequent.

At 18 weeks, I started to feel stronger movements and now at 19 weeks, the movements are more intense and frequent, more so after my meals and especially so during the ultrasound scans at the gynae's office.

When I was carrying Alycia and was bed-resting, I even charted every single movement and hiccups in a diary from the 18th week through the 38th week. With Sherilyn I was too busy with charting the movements as I was working full-time. With this baby, more reason why I am not charting the movements coz my hands are all tied being a full-time housewife and part-time working mum. I am also too busy to even notice the movements at times.

My 2 gals are also putting me to shame coz they have been talking to the baby more often than me. When I have the time to lie down and feel the baby move, I'm already drop dead exhausted and would normally doze off during my prayers or within 10 minutes of hitting my pillow! Shameful mummy!

Pregnancy At Week 19 - Detailed Ultrasound Scan

Today we went to see the fetal specialist to do a detailed ultrasound scan and to evaluate the dilated kidney. This was the longest ultrasound scan I have ever done for my 3 pregnancies as it lasted almost 1 hour. My lil’ one did not cooperate as she kept facing down. When she finally flipped over, she played peek-a-boo by covering her face with her hands. She was also having a hiccup. After the first round of scan which lasted almost half an hour, we got out of the scanning room into the dr’s office and he explained the diagnosis and the prognosis. About 15 minutes later, we did another round of scan in the hope of capturing the face and thankfully, we managed to catch a glimpse of the face during a brief peek-a-boo moment. The dr quickly saved that moment and transformed it into a 3D scan.

The gynae who was super patient did a thorough scan of the heart, the brain, the stomach, the hands and legs, the face and finally the kidney. He explained that the dilation is a mild one and looking at other factors like the water and tissues surrounding the kidney, there is good chance that the dilation will resolve by itself either in utero or after birth. Having said that, I am still worried of all the ‘what ifs’ and worst case scenario.

Throughout the scan, Alycia sat quietly and watched the scan intently while Sherilyn asked tons of questions, jumped and hopped about and investigated every nook and corner of the room. She also made everyone at the clinic from the doctor to the nurses and patients laugh with her antics and the things she said.

Pregnancy Problems

My 2 previous pregnancies were not smooth sailing and so is this pregnancy. Apart from the terrible varicose veins sprouting out on my legs which Sherilyn calls them "monster legs", I have itchy, dry and peeling skin. Now, I have gums that bleed easily. When I was pregnant with Alycia, my sensitive and bleeding gums were so bad that I had developed a big lump on my gum called 'pregnancy tumour'. Yes I know it sounds serious, like it's something malignant, but it's just a medical term for it. After delivering Alycia, the lump miraculously subsided. Now, another lump is slowly forming and I have to be really careful and gentle when I brush my teeth, else my gums would bleed easily.

Apart from sensitve gums, I also have nose that bleeds easily during each of my pregnancy. Now, picture how I look and do you not think I really look like a monster? Sherilyn is so right. Mummy indeed looks like a monster - legs with ugly protruding purple veins, a face with zits (oh how I miss my porcelain smooth flawless skin), skin that's dry and peeling, a pregnancy tumour in my gums and a huge belly that Alycia calls "balloon tummy".

I just can't wait for April 08 to arrive. I can't wait to see and cuddle my baby and I just can't wait to get rid of all these pregnancy problems that's plaguing me now. Most of all, I just can't wait to start jogging and exercising on my fitball again. How I miss working out and sweating it out every morning.

Pregnancy Crave

During the initial weeks of my pregnancy, I had a strong craving for fried vegetarian vermicelli. I could not stomach any other food for breakfast except for this and for 3 months, I had been eating this dish every morning. Most days, I will add a fried egg and some days, I will add some chicken curry or fried fish cake. Now that my appetite has declined substantially, I no longer crave for this dish. I just don't feel like eating anything in the morning except for my all-time favorite banana flavored fresh milk from Marigold HL. But I still force myself to eat a slice of toast with sugar-free peanut butter jam and sugar-free strawberry jam.

Varicose Veins

The varicose veins on my legs are becoming worse. Whenever I get up from a sitting or lying position, I can feel an immediate heavy pressure and pain on my left leg. It feels as if the veins are about to rupture. It's so bad that I have to either sit down immediately or raise my leg on a chair to remove the pressure on my leg. I know it's only going to get worse as my pregnancy progresses and the baby gets heavier. Sherilyn calls my legs 'mummy's monster legs!'

Pregnancy : 18th Week Check-Up

Had a check-up by my gynae today. Both my gynae and I were equally surprised on the 'change' in the baby's gender. Both of us saw the little dicky bird at 14 weeks. As for me, I was more worried than being disappointed that it's not a boy. I was worried that my Amnio result could have been switched!! My gynae did another thorough scan and this time, he was quite certain that he saw a female genital. I'm actually relieved that it's indeed a girl and not a boy. If the little dicky bird can still be seen, the Amnio result could have really been switched and I may have to do another Amnio. My gynae explained that at 14 weeks, it is often still too early to determine the gender as the baby's genital is still forming and changing; mistaken gender like my case is very common.

The right kidney still looked dilated but since the baby's chromosomes are normal, close monitoring is required. I'm scheduled to see the fetal specialist, Dr Patrick again and see what he has to advise. Meanwhile, I can only pray that all goes well with this baby and my pregnancy.

Pregnancy at 17 Weeks

As my belly is growing bigger, I am feeling really bloated and don't have much appetite. This has always been the case during each of my pregnancy and the moment I reached the 20th week, my appetite would decrease substantially and I would not be able to eat much during each meal. Also, during both my pregnancies, I had a very sensitive uterus. After each meal my stomach would hardened and I would start to have 'contractions'. I could actually feel my uterus contracting whenever my guts are full or when my bladder is full or when I need to do my poopie business. My gynae told me I have a very sensitive uterus and I was also at risk for pre-term labor. When I was carrying Alycia, I even had to spread out my dinner into 3 courses so that my uterus would not contract - first I drank the soup, half an hour later I ate the vegetables and lastly the meat. I could not even sit for long during a car ride, else my uterus would contract again. I hope all would go well this time.