End of the 9 mths journey... Embarking onto the next phase of Lifelong commitment

Finally.... In bout less than 9 hrs, Baby Javier will be delivered from my womb. Can't believe time flies past so quickly thou these 9 mths did seemed to be crawling at times. More or less experienced some not so nice things bout being preggy (infection, hormonal inbalance, morning sickness, tired aching legs/body), on the other hand, also had loads of nice memorable moments that are really beyond description.

Anyway, loads of mixed feelings now. Anxious. Excited. Worried. Happy. Actually I don't know what to expect lah. Haha.... too many thots running thru my mind. hee... Past. Present. Future.

Ok. Shall end here cos thoughts kinda gettin incoherent le.

Baby Javier, Mummy & Daddy can't wait to hear your first wails and carry you in our arms. :)

1 more week to go!!

WEnt for my last checkup today before the delivery next wed. Baby Javier is 3kg tdy. DUn tink can reach my target of 3.5kg next wk. Nvm... He will gain wt fast when's he out! Quite pleased with my glucose & bp monitoring so far. Under control le but gynae still wants me to continue with my blood glucose monitoring so feelin so sian. Seriously, it's no fun pricking your fingers so many times a day. Blur me even slit across my entire right thumb when I was replacing the needle on the pricker. Darn... Mummy was telling me the pain will be worse off when the C-sect op is done. Guess this prick is currently building up my pain tolerance for the real thingy? Haha... DEar suggested takin pics of all the needles I've used for the glucose test but I told him I'll prefer to keep nice memories of my pregnancy thou he said its to show Baby Javier how "noble" I am...

1 more wk to go. Yet to let the feeling of anxiety set in... Hmm...

9 more days to go...

Getting abit restless as the delivery date draws nearer. Seemed to be having prob sleeping too. Baby Javier was so active last night that I slept like at 3.30am and woke up without the alarm goin off at about 5.15am! Javier woke up to with me as he was wriggling so much inside me. When I reach my mum's place at 7am, he is still doing his morning exercise. Dearie was saying Baby is also excited to see us next wk so he's kinda preparing himself.

Guess this is the surge in energy I read about when a woman's pregnancy is coming to an end? Kept thinking about the prep for my delivery & confinement stay @ Mum's place. Ambitious me went to pack most of my nike clothings (which I usually wear at home b4 preggy) for my confinement and then Dearie & Mummy told me I will not be able to fit into those clothings within such a short period of time. Mum told me to stick to my maternity wear for a period of time 1st. Was whining and sulking when I heard it. :(

Anyway, booked the lady who does home post-natal massages and tummy wrap le. Can only start her services after 6 wks cos need to wait for my wound to heal. Recommended by my mum's friend so hope she is really cheap ($380 for 7 sessions) & good! LL was telling us her fren's size changed from M to XL after pregnancy and I was like totally freaked out. All I want is seriously to regain my pre-preggy frame of M size esp getting my waist back! Kept thinking bout the post-delivery tummy flap that was talked about and think that is so much scary than stretch marks! Arghh... think pregnancy really "ugly-fied" me. Really a noble sacrifice for baby Javier huh...

So baby Javier must love Mummy more than Daddy k? Haha... Looks like being a father is so much more easier... Must make sure Dearie is more actively involved in parenthood and not juz play with baby like most men... :))) Already told DEarie that he must master the art of changing diapers, bathing, feeding, carrying him, rocking him to sleep in 3 wks' time when he's on leave from 27th July-17th Aug! Mummy will simply focus on nursing baby only and regaining back my health & body during my confinement! :)))

Over the years...

Nov 2008

(On my wedding day)

July 2009
(36 wks pregnant)

These friends of mine have been with me throughout the many significant moments in my life... From taking our O-levels tog - graduating from NUS tog - planning & being the bridesmaid gang for my wedding - going through my pregnancy phase now. Wow... Thank you dear friends for going through all these significant phases in my life and very soon... I'll be entering motherhood which will be another impt phase in my life and I know you gals will be there to share my pride and joy! :)

Counting down... 13 days more

Went for checkup tdy. BB Javier weighs 2.9kg at week 36. 100g short of my expectation. Wanted him to be at least 3kg... Haha... Anyway, Gynae estimated that he should be ard 3.3kg when he's born in 2 wks time. Oh yah... the ultrasound also showed that Javier has also engaged which means his head is now down at the birth canal. No wonder I kept feeling his kicks at my upper abdomen nowadays...

Went thru the fetal heartbeart & movement test too! Javier is kinda notti tdy. Irritated that Mummy is strapped on to the machine, he tried so hard to push and wriggle so that the heartbeat attachment on my tummy will fall lose. Ended up Dearie and me have to hold on to the attachment for like 20mins so that the machine can record his heartbeat properly. Dearie even complained that his hand was tired after some time...

Hmm... Guess tdy's checkup left me with a heavy heart... BP still not ideal so I am placed on anti-hypertensive medication to control my bp for the 2 wks. Gynae intially comtemplating to bring forward the C-sect date but we came to a conclusion that it will nt be too good for Javier to come out before Wk37 as such we will still stick to 29th July.

On top of that, thou my previous blood tests results shows that I do not have gestational diabetes, there is some indication of slight glucose tolerance impairment so she wants me to monitor my blood sugar level next wk since I am entering the crucial period. This monitoring involved the finger-prick test to be taken 7X a day! Dearie was kinda shock to hear it when the nurse was teaching me how to use the glucose test machine and he even tried correcting her by saying it should be 7X a wk bah and not a day! haha... The nurse then told us it is indeed 7X a day and Dearie responded by saying to me: "NI SHI GE WEI DA DE MA MA!" (translated: " You are a noble mummy") & I went like #&%#$%! As the nurse realised I was looking kinda sad today, she kept comforting me and told me not to think too much. She then jokingly told me if the prick tests hurt alot since I need to prick 7 of my fingers within a day, I can prick Dearie's fingers instead.

Despite all these, I did not cry today le thou my eyes were teary for a moment when Nurse Alice asked me why I looked so down today... I have to go through the next 13 days and I am determined that Javier will be born no earlier than 29th July. I know what I have to note in the next 2 wks and will hang on no matter what. I will stay positive so that Javier will be happy inside me too and not feel sad along with me!

BABY JAVIER, YOU MUST JIA YOU TOO AND WE WILL MAKE IT TO YOUR BIRTHDAY ON THE 29TH JULY!!! :)))) Daddy & Mummy LOVES YOU ALOTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!

Javier's favourite position

(View of my tummy from the top)

A loopsided tummy! Javier enjoys staying on the right side of my womb which results in an unequal distribution of stretch marks on my tummy too. Sigh. My right side has so much more stretch marks than the left nw! Shall nt show the pics here cos dun wanna frighten you ppl about the "ugly and unglam" moments in a pregnancy. HAha...

Can you see a faint vertical dark line running down in the middle? It is called the Linea nigra. It's much darker actually but nt so obvious in this pic due to my lousy hp cam. Anyway, it is caused by pigmentation in the skin when the abdominal muscles stretch and slightly separate, to accommodate the baby as it grows. Supposedly will disappear a few wks after delivery. Juz recalled the joke made by my boss back then that this line is actually a "guide" for the gynae to "slice" open my tummy... Diaozzz... He even added that I should use markers to draw dotted lines on it!!! 8)

A new addition

Gotta this little number 9 Serta sheep to signify Javier's birth in 09! My little family... :))

"Last Day" in school

Went back sch to settle some admin work and YW kept taking my preggy pics as she said it's my "last day" in sch! HAha... Anyway, think I did not take much pics in my entire pregnancy as I kinda feel "ugly &huge". Anyway... some pics of my huge state now;

Total wt gain = 17kg at ard 35 wks

Find my nose gotta bigger eversince I am preggy. Cos of Baby Javier?

THe people I am gonna miss while I am on leave!!!

Daddy Vs Mummy

Juz read my colleague's baby blog and her latest post seemed to be a ranting on her hubby if I am not wrong. Somehow she felt that all Mummys have to "do-it-all" & "know-it-all" while the Daddy is always a not so proactive caregiver.

This leads me to pondering what type of Daddy will Dearie be in 3 wks time? Dearie is also like my colleague's hubby, can spend loads of time with the computer and games (think mine worse cos Dearie is into Com games, PS3 AND PSP). Recalled we bought a book in US on "Everything a father-to-be needs to know" and guess what? I've finished reading the book on Dearie's behalf and he hasn't really like read more than a page... Guess the 1st line on the 1st chap should tell all Fathers-to-be to first give up on all their addictive habits, well if they bother flipping the pages in the 1st place?

Funny thing was that Dearie was praising himself last night after watchin some HK drama show. Commented that he is unlike the actor in the show who enjoys going out to meet friends for drinks in town at night and abandoning his wife. Told me that I am "lucky" to have a hubby like him! A husband who will give up work to rush home to attend to his wife's needs and one who goes home straight after work to accompany his wife. Haha... Well I do admit that DEarie does spend loads of time with me and he doesn't abandon me lah. Eventhough he can be engrossed in his games at times while I will be usually reading books, online surfing or watchin tv in the room alone, he will constantly check on me (like once/twice every 1 hr) to see if I need anything in particular. Eversince I am preggy, he will like constantly keep asking me if I want to drink milk every now and then. Wondering if he is feeding me or baby? Hmm...

Anyway, the real deal will arrive in a few weeks and that will be the time to see how Daddy will fare. And of cos how Mummy will fare too. Somehow, we are kinda lax with my mummy the Know-it-all + Do-it-all Super Nanny on the frontline. Anyway, I believe Dearie will not let Baby Javier and Mummy down. :)))

Go slow and easy...

Went for my blood tests ytd. Earlier than scheduled since my bp kinda raised to >140/90mmHg on Thu.

WEnt through 3 rounds of blood withdrawal from 0830-1030, once every hourly. Guess the glucose drink (for the Diabetes Test) wasn't as bad as mentioned & I kinda enjoyed the drink which is super sweet! Guess the fasting from 10pm the night before causes the drink to be more tolerant in me as I was hungry and thirsty by the time I reach the hospital. BB was even kicking and kinda dancing not long after I gulped down the drink so guess he is enjoying the sudden glucose rush too?

Anyway, gotta the results in the afternoon and while a sigh of relief that I cleared the glucose test with no signs of diabetes, the risk for PreEclampsia is there. Which means if my bp continues to be high, I will risk going into fits/convulsions/stroke and also lose my baby if the placenta stopped sending nutrients/oxygen to bb. Guess this came as a big shock and can't help it, I finally broke down. Kinda freaked Dearie out with my sobbing and he needs to keep assuring me that with ample rest at home, my bp will be under control.

For now, I have to learn to stop my super-fast paced walking. Got reprimanded by Mummy too last night as she said I am not walking like a pregnant woman, instead at a too fast pace which she can't even catch up at times. Think alot of colleagues at work has been "reprimanding" me for the pace I used in school too? Didnt really occur to me that this will raise my bp... :( And of cos my twice daily bp monitoring at home and the weekly gynae checkup from nw on. Juz praying hard that my rest at home will be fine as I do not want to be hospitalised early for monitoring or even worse still, to deliver BB prematurely.

Go slow.... Go easy... Keep my spirits high... Even decided that I will cut down on the com/PSP games which I planning to play when I am bored and they should be of less intense nature. If possible, think I will like juz sleep and go on a hibernation mode. Somehow, I juz can't stay still if I m awake?

3 more weeks to go... Baby Javier, Hang in there k? Everything will be fine soon. Juz keep growing and be strong my dear little precious one...