Waiting for the little man in my life

Waiting.

Although I'm not sure if I have been waiting all my life for him, but I am so looking forward to meeting him and holding him in my arms. I can't wait to kiss and smell him.

Anxious and nervous.

Will it be today?

False alarm

It started last night at around 10pm. I started to feel closer and more intense contractions. At nearly midnight, we decided that we should pack and head for the hospital to play safe.

And so off we go. I was sent off to the delivery suite and was given the exact same room where I gave birth to Tessa.

After a few hours of pain going on and off, Dr Anna declared this morning that didi is not ready to arrive. So we were sent home.

Quite a night! But the contractions were too strong to ignore. I really thought didi would be a national day baby.

In any case I read up and realized false labour can feel like the real thing.

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/falselabor.html

Naughty Didi!

I just saw Dr Anna and had a slight scare. Didi is no longer in the vertex (head down) position. He is in a transverse position with his head on my right.

Dr Anna did a scan to confirm his position and then she moved his head downwards so that he's vertex. Hopefully he stayed this way. Dr Anna advised me to clear my bladder as often as possible and also to keep to a sitting position (so that your chest is very much closer to your knees) as much as possible to "lock" him in the vertex position.

Although it is possible for a breech baby to be safely born vaginally, it is almost always impossible for a transverse baby to be born vaginally. The baby is not able to fold himself in such as way as to fit a doubled up body with the shoulder coming first through the vagina.

Fortunately, from what I read, less than 20% of the babies who are transverse at 37 weeks will remain transverse when labor begins, so another option is to wait for labour to start and attempt to turn the baby. If all else fails, a caesarean is inevitable.

So please Didi, be cooperative, stay vertex OK?

Poll: Which Name for Didi?

We asked Tessa: "What's Didi's name?"

She replied: "Tiger."

Erm..... I don't think we are ready to name our little boy Tiger.

So everybody, we now need your help to choose a name for didi. We've narrowed it down to a chosen few, and we'd like to know what you think. =D

• Dylan
• Kyler
• Javen
• Others: ____________________

又痛

它悄悄突然来袭，毫无预兆。防不甚防、措手不及、穷于应付、招架不住。

痛。痛。痛啊~~~

痛

可喜的是，步入36周，弟弟现在已经2.86公斤了，而且发育成长的进度良好。现在就只是等待他何时要出母腹。

可悲的是，妈妈每天都很痛。到处都痛，到处不舒服。坐着痛、站着痛、走着痛、躺着也痛。那种滋味无法形容，只能意会不能言传。周围的人有时候好像漠不关心，仿佛我痛是我家的事、我活该。

的确，我活该，活该我还要再次怀孕。

不过，我也期待，期待抱着我十月辛苦怀胎的宝贝。

Finally... 30 Weeks Down!

Finally, Didi is 30 weeks old. We'll be meeting him in another 2 months' time.

I can feel that Didi is doing well. He now kicks with alot of punch. We are all very excited and very much looking forward to his arrival.

IUGR

Never have I ever thought that I would encounter any major problem in pregnancy. As much as I thought that those problems that I have (piles, constipation, SI joint pain) are bad enough, the news I received yesterday was way much worse.

Although Dr Anna reassured me that it is nothing major at this point that I should be worried, but hearing that there was reduced blood flow to baby made my heart sunk. I was suddenly very afraid. The more I googled on the topic, the more worried I get.

But I am sure my little boy is a warrior and he'll fight alongside with me. I will give my all to protect him from harm. I am sure both of us will emerge stronger from this battle. From now on, I'll have to eat well and rest well. Nothing is more important than keeping myself healthy so that I can provide the best for my little baby warrior inside me.

Some ways to improve blood flow to foetus:
(1) nutrition - Some studies have shown that increasing maternal nutrition may increase gestational weight gain and fetal growth.

(2) bedrest - Bedrest in the hospital or at home may help improve circulation to the fetus. Lying on your left will also help in blood flow to the foetus.

For those who are like me, unsure of the severity of the condition, you may be interested to read this article: http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/UVAHealth/peds_hrpregnant/iugr.cfm

"Chronically" Ill Preggie

In my line, I come across many chronically ill patients. People with diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, etc.

Now I feel like I'm also one of them, except I suffer from chronic pregnancy problems. Constipation, piles, headache, nausea, gastric bloatedness, SI joint pain, bad complexion; you name it, I probably have it.

So that makes me a "chronically" ill preggie.

Everyday when I reached home after work, all I want to do is to lie down and be confined to my bed. I will feel so guilty. I should be relieving my parents and take care of Tessa myself when I'm home. I want very much to sing songs with her, play flashcards with her, read to her and fool around with her or even take her downstairs for a walk, but I simply do not have the energy to do so. I am really glad that Daddy comes by every night to accompany Tessa.

I am sorry baby, Mommy will try my best to perk up, OK?

Pregnancy Piles

Constipation in pregnancy is one of the main causes of pregnancy piles. For me constipation has caused piles when I was pregnant with Tessa. Now it's happening again.

The last time after I delivered, I suffered serious pain down there because my episotomy wound was very close to my piles. This time round the piles problem seem to arrive even earlier.

It seemed like a never ending cycle. I’d get constipated and try to go to the bathroom, only to end up straining and making my piles problem worse. I experienced piles pain and nothing really seemed to help. I increased my water intake as well as tried to eat more fruits and vegetables. Doing these things helped get things moving for a while but then constipation would strike me again.

My bottom hurt while sitting and lying down. I had no idea how to get rid of piles but knew I could not just accept them as a normal part of being pregnant. And I was leery of trying over the counter creams and ointments. Dr Anna prescribed a gel which she has also given to me after I delivered Tessa, but the gel only helped to numb the pain a little but does not elevate the problem.

I am starting to get really worried about delivering this baby. I can't imagine the enormous amount of pain I would then have to go through. I am scared. So scared. I don't know how this is going to affect my postpartum recovery, but recalling the past experience that I have, I'm definitely not looking forward to it.

Week 11

I am now 11 weeks pregnant. Still, I'm feeling awful each day, especially in the evening and night. I can't eat anything after 5pm, otherwise, it'll most likely end up in the toilet bowl. But even when I don't eat anything, I also puke like mad.

Somehow, you get so engrossed in motherhood that you forgot how hard the pregnancy period was until it hits you all over again. Then when you came to the delivery stage and became a parent all over again, the pregnancy woes will drift far far away and it'll almost become the best part of the entire game.

This pregnancy differs from the time when I was carrying Tessa. I did not have such bad night sickness back then. Also with this pregnancy, I've had a few scares of pain in my abdomen. The other night, I was attacked by this sharp pain that I got really frightened. Dr Anna has said that it was probably due to my constipation.

With this pregnancy, I've not been gaining weight and my complexion has turned bad!! Quite depressing I must say. I just wish the discomfort will go away soon.