I'm 40 weeks pregnant today!

A photo of me taken yesterday, 11th July; a day before I'm 40 weeks pregnant. 

SJ and I were sharing a Baskin Robbin's Brownie Ala Mode ice-cream :)))) 

Yes, TODAY is the date of my estimated due date (EDD) of baby's arrival but there's no sign of baby coming tonight! Can't believe that 40 weeks have gone by so fast and we're anticipating baby's arrival anytime now! Dr Choong told us that baby most likely will be late based on his 30 plus years experience because it's our first baby. In my last antenatal visit, which was last Monday, 9th July, as usual, we (or rather just me) have many questions to ask him. Questions that we've asked were: 

1. How long should we wait before we induce labour? Dr. Choong said that the EDD is just an estimate and usually it's not accurate. We should not use this date as the last date for baby to be born. He is willing to wait for another 14 days but he is up for negotiation to induce earlier depending on how I feel as many new expectant parents would be pressured from the grandparents and friends. Dr doesn't suggest induce because it puts a lot of stress on the mother and baby, which could cause a difficult labour and delivery; unless both mother and baby have medical risks such as gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, low amniotic fluid etc. Dr. thinks my pregnancy been good so far, so it's good to wait. SJ and myself agree with him too.

 2. I was concerned about baby swallowing feces at birth because I was told by my colleagues that this is very possible if the baby is overdue. SJ has no idea what was this about when I mentioned it to Dr. Choong. Dr. Choong explained and clarified further that baby could be ingesting his own poo (meconium aspiration) starting from week 38 onwards. This means that it could be happening way earlier and before baby is due and I should not be worried about it because there is nothing I can do to prevent this. Of course I had to find out more about this from the internet and I found this site to be very informative in this area: 

Meconium (the first stool that passed out by baby) aspiration is a potentially serious birthing complication that could result in severe respiratory complications in affected newborns. This condition occurs when a baby breathes in meconium, the black, sticky waste product that has been present in their digestive tracts since the 10th week of pregnancy. Factors that might increase your baby’s chances of suffering from meconium aspiration include an extended or difficult labor, a history of gestational diabetes and a prolapsed cord. 


 Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/530644-signs-symptoms-of-meconium-aspiration-in-newborns/

3. Is SJ going to cut baby's umbilical cord? Throughout this pregnancy, Dr. Choong never mentioned about cutting baby's umbilical cord. We have friends telling us that their doctor would ask the dads to decide whether they want to cut the umbilical cord on the birth-day or not and I was wondering why Dr. Choong never asked us this. When I brought up this question, he said that it has been his standard operating procedure for the past 20 years that the fathers were the ones that been cutting the umbilical cords. He has not been cutting umbilical cords for many many years. He said that if the dads are not going to cut the cord, he would offer it to the grandmother and if the granny doesn't want to do it, he would offer to the new mommy to cut it herself. I thought it was pretty cool and I was happy with his reply.

I'm liking Dr. Choong more and more as this pregnancy proceeds. He is experienced and he never fails to give me comforting and positive replies. Most importantly, he is always patient and answers all my questions. Both SJ and I like his standard operating procedure and we know that he will respect and will work together with us on how we want our baby to be delivered ;)))

I am off from work since beginning of this week! FINALLY! It was so difficult to tear myself away from work and finally able to do so this week. I guess I just love my work too much :D Been wanting to stop work for the past 3 weeks! Will try to update this journal as much as possible on my experience in this pregnancy while waiting for baby to 'decide' to come out. :P