Z is 21 weeks old and he has TEETH! :D

As I am typing this, Z just had his feed about half an hour ago and he is fully awake. He must be thinking that it's morning now because he has been sleeping for so long. Z goes to bed at 7pm every night since he was about 7 weeks old but we feel he sleeps lesser recently. Can't believe that he is 21 weeks old now and growing incredibly fast. I wished that I have a slow down and rewind remote control so I can slow down and rewind to watch those many beautiful moments that I have witnessed over and over again.

He is now talking baby language to himself or at his mobile in his cot while hitting his feet on the mattress  trying to get our attention. He has not started crying or making the fussy 'ngek ngek ngek' sounds yet, so we're just going to leave him there so he could sleep by himself. SJ is doing a great job as a daddy; sitting beside the cot to make sure he is ok and trying to coax him to sleep.

Z is so heavy now that my arms hurt when I carry for him a little too long. The last time we weighed him at the pediatrician was when he was 7 weeks old and he was 6.4kg. I believe he should be around 8 to 8.5 kg now :S

Can you see Z's two front teeth? 

We noticed Z's bottom two front teeth popped out on the 1st December. It can be visibly seen on the 6th December that we took a picture and announced in our Facebook. SJ & I are so excited for him. Most people commented that he is growing extremely (or maybe too) fast and my mom thinks he is really matured. My colleagues deduced that it could due to the high calcium that he gets from my breastmilk as I am taking calcium magnesium supplements even before I deliver until now. Usually babies would have their first tooth cutting out after 6 months and boys' growth are usually slower than girls. So, Z is really quite fast. We gets shock or surprise looks most of the time whenever we tell people how old is Z now. Most thought he is 3 months older than his current age.

So much to record and I have a almost 5 months worth of things about Z to record here! Things are very hectic and busy at the moment as we're preparing to move to our new home next week. SUPER YAY!!! *am jumping with joy while screaming with joy inside!* The house was abandoned for more than a year since we bought it in 2010 and the renovation works were almost 1.5 years. Really so glad that we're finally moving to our own place. I can't wait to unpack all our things, start organizing my things and decorating our home :)

Am going to stay up a little while to get some work done. I am going to end today's post with a sneak preview of our new home.. taken a nite this week. We loved the lightings!!  Thanks to our wonderful architect for all her suggestions & ideas :)))))) Have a great Sunday everybody!

Yesterday was not such a happy day..

this sounds way better than, 'it was a sad sad day', right? I used to play this game called 'Mafia mafia' and the game facilitator would announce this sentence every round of the game when someone is out of the game. Monday midnight, I went to my Facebook after I published my post and was shocked to hear the news that a friend lost her baby at 8th month pregnancy. I was quite disturbed by this news that I could not really sleep that night resulted a tired and sleepy Tuesday. Hence, no post on Tuesday night because had to sleep early. Everything about this couple (they're quite close to SJ and I) just kept on running in my head over and over again and I thought of them so much the whole of yesterday.

I guess I'm feeling really sad for them because I'm also going to be a parent soon and it's so devastating to have this unfortunate incident to happen. It made me believe even more that many things are not in our hands.. it's in God's hands. I'm not a spiritual person but I do believe there's a bigger force out there. Maybe certain things are just meant or not meant to be. I really hope this couple will recover soon emotionally and physically.

One of the topic that I researched on when I was in uni studying Psychology was on coping with changes in life stages and how much stress each person would experience when going through these stages such as positive ones; starting work, getting married, being a new parent, children leaving home, being a grandparent etc and the negative aspects; divorce, death of family members, death of best friends etc. Death of spouse was rated as the most stressful of all followed by death of child. I remembered that I did not agree with the findings because I really think they both should be rated the same. There were some coping mechanisms suggested but there is really not much other people can do or say to make the situation better. SJ was very sweet suggesting that maybe we should send flowers to the couple but I thought we better not because they might not want to be reminded about this.

So, it's really true when people said that babies are miracles! And I'm thankful everyday that I'm blessed with many wonderful things happening and people around me every single day. I'm appreciating everyday and I wouldn't want everyday to go by feeling less grateful or thankful for all these great things happening to me. There is no reason to not smile everyday (especially after I had a Bell's Palsy scare!) or getting angry/frustrated over small things. MUST SMILE EVERYDAY! On a happier note, baby is moving/kicking a lot these two days (yesterday & today)!! Maybe because baby knows that Mommy is worrying a lot & baby's kicks is reminding me to not be a worry pot!. Must stop worrying or not my baby will be a worry pot too! :S Can't wait to see baby (in the ultrasound) on Friday!!!

Going to end this post with this quote by Mickey Rivers, "Don't worry about things that you have no control over, because you have no control over them. Don't worry about things that you have control over, because you have control over them". Haha. This make really good sense! ;)

Belly measurement - Oh my! :S

I haven't been doing much measurement of my belly or taking many photos since I've got pregnant. I used to love taking photos with my slimmer face/body and long hair.. just posted an old photo which was taken in April 2011 as my blogger's profile photo. My goal/resolution for 2012 is to get back to my pre-pregnancy clothes by December 2012!

Photo taken in April 2011

I think I'm definitely much bigger compared to many other expectant mothers. My Mom & Mom-in-law were so slim when they were pregnant that no one could see their bumps until they were in their 5th to 6th month! I have got so much bigger even before I reached week 13 :/ I couldn't fit into any of my pants or skirts by week 13. The only pre-pregnancy clothes I could still wear were my low-hip jeans, leggings and some dresses. It was pretty stressful standing in front of the wardrobe & staring at my clothes trying to figure out what I could fit in, almost on a daily basis. I want to be an awesome stylish looking mom-to-be but at the same time I don't want to buy too many maternity clothes because I know I would not be wearing them very much often. After the announcement of my pregnancy, I was really lucky that I inherited many maternity clothes from my aunty, architect and my friends/clients :)))))) It was as if the universe has answered my calling that I was stressed with nothing to wear.. I can throw a maternity wear exchange party now!

I would expect to 'inherit' some slim genes from Mom because I was told how big I get when I am pregnant or whether I would get any stretched marks depending on my 'genes'. I am trying to prevent the stretched marks from happening by putting a lot of oil on my tummy area like crazy; everyday, morning and night. I'm using Bio-Oil for night and L'Occitane Supple Skin Oil for day because it has a nice fragrance and less oily compared to Bio-Oil. I want to wear bikini with my baby in the pool!

I am concerned with my much bigger size. I am quite confident that I would be gaining quite a bit of weight compared to my previous Dr's visit when I get weighed on this Friday, 9th. I measured my belly (around the belly-button/navel point) for the first time last week, 27th Feb at week 20 and it was 37 inches!! Pre-pregnancy waist line was about 27 inches.. I gained 10 inches in 20 weeks, averagely 0.5 inches or 1.27cm in a week. Measured again yesterday, 4th March at week 21 and I was 38 inches!!! That's like a gain of 1 inch or 2.54 cm in just one week (2.7% growth)! If I continue to gain an average of 1 inch for my remaining weeks, that is another 19 weeks to week 40, I would be gaining an extra 19 inches, to a total of 57 inches!!!!!! OH MY!!! That is going to be a really SUPER HUGE BUMP!!

I have asked my yoga instructor, exchange notes with some mothers for their past experiences and even checked out the internet and all of them told me the same thing: not to worry and every pregnancy is different. My major concern if I get too big are gestational diabetes or other pregnancy complications and difficulties in delivery. It's not so much on the 'vain' factor. I am going to ask my doctor about my size this Friday and he probably says it's nothing to worry about. I usually have quite a long list of questions to ask him, which is quite funny. Dr. Choong has an amused look every time I takes out my phone from my handbag to look at my notes before I ask him questions. He usually ends his consultation by saying, 'do you have any questions?' and of course I would use that privilege! Dr. Choong has been very nice and patient. He would answers all my questions and sometimes he would take out articles/scientific journals to back up his explanations.

Well, I guess it's pointless worrying about something I can't control. I cannot control if my tummy gets too big or any other pregnancy matters; it's not in my hands. I guess I'll just do the very best I can in my circle of control.. that is to eat well, have less sugary food (I really miss my chocolate cakes & chocolates!), drink lots and lots of water during the day, exercise and most importantly THINK HAPPY thoughts every single day!

Cravings..

I am feeling very HAPPY this weekend! Sunday has been the day that fulfilled my food cravings :) I haven't had much cravings in this pregnancy. The foods that I am loving more since I've got pregnant are noodles/ramen soup (YUM!), tempura (YUMMY!) and 'char siew' (barbecued pork) (SUPER YUMMY!!!). On Saturday night, at about midnight, I told SJ that I feel like eating pancakes and 'char siew pau' (chinese barbecued pork steamed buns) & he was really nice to offer to drive out and look for these for me. I think he can get char siew pau along Jalan Ipoh in one of those midnight 'dim sum' places but I don't think he can find pancakes in the middle of the night. Of course I didn't let him go out in the middle of the night.. I told him that the cravings feelings will go away and I didn't want to eat middle of night because I don't want to gain too much weight.

Sunday morning came and we went to one of our favourite brunch cafe, Antipodean Cafe along Jalan Telawi, Bangsar so I can have my pancakes!!! Super yummy banana pancakes with butterscotch sauce. Such a great to start my day! Below is a picture of my breakfast today! Banana pancakes & hot chocolate.. so yummy!!! :)))))))

Later in the evening, SJ asked me what I feel like having for dinner & I said bread. Haha. Sounds quite weird because his reaction was like.. erm bread? Yeah, I said.. toasted garlic bread.. and his face was like clueless.. bread for dinner?! I asked how about him? What he feels like? He said pizza.. so great, we can go eat gourmet pizza :) We drove to Bangsar Village (drove to Bangsar twice on the same day!) and had Ben's for dinner.. pizza (I've suddenly started loving pizza crusts!) & salad.. yummy! :)))

Here's a picture of supposedly tiger prawn (but the prawns were so tiny) pizza and SJ's chunky monkey milkshake at Ben's.

It has been a perfect Sunday! A brand new week tomorrow! :)))

Pregnancy Yoga classes

I started pre-natal yoga classes at Fit For Two, Bangsar Village 2, KL when I was in week 14, on the 12th January 2012. I was so excited that I could still fit in my pre-pregnancy gym wear and was back to exercising again that I posted this photo in Facebook to announce my pregnancy for the first time in FB :) This was the one and only time I wore this top to my yoga class, could not fit into this same top anymore the following week :(

SJ & I were so surprised to get more than 100 likes and comments within a day.. was super happy that many of our friends and family were happy with this news. We decided not to tell anyone except immediate family and best friends until after we are 3 months into the pregnancy. There is this Chinese belief that it is better to wait till the pregnancy is stable before announcing to the world because the baby may be 'sensitive' and something unfortunate may happen. We did not really believe it but thought we better follow this ritual to be safe.

Since then, I have been trying to attend at least one class per week. The fees of the class is RM50 per class (one hour) but it's cheaper if bought a dozen classes in advanced. I bought 12 classes for RM480, which expires in 3-4 months. I'm trying to attend 2 classes in a week now as I am in a more comfortable stage now. So proud of myself that I attended two classes this week.. Tuesday and Saturday (today)!

Taking two hours off in a week, another 1.5 hours travel time for each class, which totals to 5 hours off in a week is a very hard thing to do for a workaholic person like me. I was a member of Fitness First back in 2006 but never made it to the gym for more than 2-3 times in a MONTH because exercising has never been a priority to me when I first started my career in the life insurance business. I would block my time for gym in my calendar but somehow it got cancelled at the last minute because meeting clients and new associates were so much more important than exercise. Don't get me wrong thinking that I hate sports or exercising because I was a super active sports girl when I was in school and in university years. I have participated in many school sports and competitions; I would spent many hours under a hot sun to practice netball and was an aerobic class freak when I was in uni. I would go for various aerobic classes up to 4 to 5 times in a week! The ambitious and career passion-driven me has changed all that. 

But how things have changed now! I would pack my yoga clothes in the mornings before I head to office and do my utmost best to make sure I would allocate enough time and reach my yoga class in time.. but somehow most of the time, I was late and sometimes I had to call to cancel my attendance at the last minute because I was just too late :S I am really trying to do my best to make sure I have better fitness and the stamina because I'm sure I would need it at the delivery and after baby arrives. Being at these yoga classes is fun because I get to meet other expectant mothers and most of them are also first time mommies. Fit For Two has 'Mom and Bumps Meets' every Saturday afternoons and I'm looking forward to attend one soon to exchange pregnancy experiences with others. 

Yoga classes in the past few weeks have been rather challenging. I remember telling SJ & my family members that pregnancy yoga classes are like nothing.. because we just sit on the mat most of the time, doing stretching & I did not even break a sweat.. but boy, so much have changed recently. It's either the classes intensity have changed (which I'm sure it has NOT!) or I'm just getting bigger and my body is changing. The yoga instructor mentioned that it would just get harder and harder and I didn't believe her at first! I have been getting shoulders and upper back aches after classes and on the next day. I really need to work on these muscles at home before I become like an instant old lady at the end of this pregnancy :S 

So now, I just need to find the motivation that I had in my younger years to love exercising again and my next target is to start swimming!! We have been talking about swimming even before I started yoga! Hmmm, I know what will give me motivation to swim..I'll go buy a nice swimwear! :))))))

My favourite MOMENTS..

Is listening to baby's heartbeats aloud every time at my antenatal visit. I could remember my feelings when I first heard baby's 'galloping' heartbeats.. SJ & I was like 'WOW!'. It was like one of the most amazing things that I've ever heard. We were in the room with my doctor on my very first appointment.. the room was very quiet.. Dr. Choong was handling the ultrasound machine & our eyes were on the screen the whole time trying to work out that tiny dot on the screen.. then, suddenly, it was as if the whole room went silent.. we heard this fast 'horse galloping' sounds.. & Dr. Choong said this is baby's heart beating! That was when I was in week 6. Could not believe that there was a 'living being' in my tummy & this living being has its own set of heartbeats! 

There were days when I did not feel so 'pregnant', on those days when I was feeling all good, no nausea and I had a high level of energy; I would start to worry about baby a little.. and I always thought wouldn't it be great if I could have a device or a stetescope to listen to baby's heartbeats, so that I would be reassured that baby is doing alright inside. 

That's why I was incredibly jealous of my colleague & distant cousin, Chee Wai when he could download & save his wife's ultrasound visual & heartbeats audio into his computer! He was showing me on his computer the movements of his baby & he could listen to the baby's heartbeats anytime they wanted. I really really wanted that!! :( I requested from Dr. Choong in my very next visit which was on the 13th of Febuary, that I wanted to save the visual & audio of the ultrasound.. but unfortunately he doesn't know how to do that. Dr. Choong is a rather old man and not very tech-savvy but he said I could bring my thumbdrive in my next visit, we can meddle around his equipment & try to save them :))) We're definitely going to try saving the ultrasound in our next visit on the 9th March.

Recently, I have a new favourite moment, which is baby's kicks! Never felt so happy getting 'kicked'! Haha! Started to feel some baby's movements about 3 weeks ago, at week 18 but I was not sure because it could be gas. It was those gentle fluttering sensations in your belly and I was told it may not be easily identified especially in the first pregnancy. Baby's movements are more prominent in week 19 and I can definitely feel baby's kicks in week 20 onwards :) I always feel baby's movements/kicks on my right side on my tummy, I have made a note to ask the doctor which part of him is kicking me.. his hands or feet? 

Baby started kicking more after I started using Baby Plus in week 19. Baby Plus is a prenatal education system, which was introduced to me by SJ's colleague, Kenneth & his wife Hui Ming. We read more about it in the internet and found that it could be helpful and got it right away. I thought the sounds made by this Baby Plus device was rather loud and wondered whether baby likes or hates it. I'm not sure if baby's constant kicking during this system was played (an hour, twice a day, everyday) was baby telling me, 'Mommy, I'm loving it!' or 'Mommy, please stop this one hour torture!'. :S 

SJ's interpretation was that baby would NOT kick if baby hates it. Baby's kicking is because he is responding and loving it. The hours that I use this system are in the mornings (about 7-8am) and nights (about 10.30-11.30pm). The manual advised to use the system at the same time everyday. I could feel baby's kicks around these hours when I did not start the system on time or decided not to use it. So, baby kicks mean he was asking for his pre-natal lessons! I guess this system creates a routine and hopefully it will be helpful for baby's developments in the future.

Just like with the heartbeats, I get worried too if I did not or could not feel baby's kicks. I'm such a worry-pot! I would voiced my concern to SJ & we would put our hands on my tummy.. speaking to my tummy, asking baby to kick. Magically, baby responds to our requests everytime & that would bring a HUGE smile to my face. Really never felt so happy/relieved being kicked! SJ probably thinks I'm weird-worried-over-nothing but I'm thankful that he is always there so reassuring and telling me that everything is going to be alright..  :)))

I'm 21 weeks pregnant TODAY..

Apparently my pregnancy week starts on a Thursday because I received a newsletter/update from www.babycenter.com.my telling me that I'm 21 weeks pregnant today! I have been following babycenter.com since about week 10, after my friend, Audrey introduced this website to me. This website has been incredible useful. It answers many questions I have about pregnancy especially on the what not to eat part at the beginning of my pregnancy.

My last visit at the doctor's was on the 13th February which was quite exciting because we were about to find out our baby's gender!! It was really funny because everyone in the Chong family was so excited especially my sister. My sister, Jamie and mom were sending whatapps messages at 4.30pm after my dr's appointment asking for Dr's findings. I didn't answer Jamie quick enough because was chatting with the staff nurse there and she got annoyed! So funny! Dr Choong couldn't confirm the gender as baby was rather shy that day, but he was 90% sure it's a BOY!!! Hence, this blue coloured background blog :P

Almost everyone 'predicted' that I am carrying a baby boy.. my mom & mom-in-law dreamt that I was carrying a baby boy, a feng shui master predicted that I will have a boy as my first child.. my friend, Cin Neng thinks I'm having a boy because the father-to-be gained weight.. my friend, Yin Teng and my colleague, Cindy thinks that I'm having a boy because I'm looking less 'feminine' while pregnant, this could be my super short hair & I gained quite a lot of weight at the beginning of my pregnancy.. another friend, Mazzy thinks that I have a baby boy bump.. others think it's a boy because I didn't experience major morning sickness at the beginning.. 

I guess only my sister, Jamie wanted a girl.. to both SJ and myself, it doesn't matter whether it's a boy or a girl as long the baby is healthy. I just can't wait for my next visit to see the doctor on the 9th March! I hope baby will be less shy then ;)