Drink more milk 31 August, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Around the House, Baby, Dear1, Food & Beverages.add a comment
“Drink 2 glasses of milk everyday.”
That was the simple instruction our gynae had for Dear2 and baby’s nutritional needs. So with that, we started buying lots of milk from the supermarket. Our favourite product is the Marigold Milk. It rather light and tasteless, making it easier to drink in bulk compared to say HL Milk which we found too flavour-ful.
Oh, but the gynae didn’t define the volume of a glass. “2 glasses of milk” can mean anything. Hmm… Forget it. Let’s just drink as much milk as we can every night.
Get 1 Tupperware box free with every 2 Marigold Milk. There are (at least) 4 colours. Collect them all!
As a result of buying lots of milk recently, we also receive many colourful Tupperware containers as part of a promotion from Marigold. For every 2 Marigold Milk purchase, we will receive 1 Tupperware box. :D We’ve already collected 4 different colours and 1 more pink duplicate. I wonder if they have more colours…
The Tupperware box itself is quite useful. It is square in shape and fits about 4 slices of bread nicely with a layer of kitchen towel or plastic sheet as the base. And I’m guessing it would also hold a good standard serving of fried rice with a couple slices of luncheon meat for lunch too. That is if Dear2 wants to prepare lunch boxes for us. *hint hint*
Blue and green for Dear1. Pink and yellow for Dear2 and baby. We share share lah. Gee…
-Dear1
It’s Week 14!!! 30 August, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Baby, Dear2.add a comment
It’s end of week 14. What a eventful week this week!
Firstly, Dear2 miraculously became energetic beginning this week. It has been a while since Dear2 is so productive at work. The past few weeks of no energy and xian-ness and queasy stomach made Dear2 think that it’s gonna be like this for the rest of the next 6 months. Luckily, like what the books and gynae promised, mtbs really do feel more energetic during this week. Haha, Dear2 did not experienced the ‘you know that you are in second trimester one fine day when you wake up’, most probably due to the sneeziness that Dear2 was still feeling, but definitely that ability to multi-task and multi-think is back again. Yeah!!
Dear1 and Dear2 visited the gynae again this week, largely to hear directly from the professional’s mouth on the results of the Oscar Test. Baby has a risk of Down Syndrome that is the level of a 32 year old mum, slightly higher becos Dear2 is only 28 years old. Nonetheless, gynae assured us that this risk is still within normal levels, and continually assured us that it is normal and we do not need to go for the amniotic fluid test which has a 1 in 200 chance of miscarriage. There will be another detailed scan at week 20, so let’s not worry ourselves for the time being (hmm… come to think of it, isn’t there this famous saying to the effect that all parents worry constantly about their kids. OMG, Dear1 and Dear2 are already entering this phase of parenthood. Haha).
During the gynae visit, gynae attempted to check if baby is a boy or girl. Guess what, co-operative baby revealed that it is a princess!! Dear2 was somewhat disappointed at first, cos she has all along preferred boys to girls for the fact that boys are easier to take care, less worry for them and that they cost less to maintain (no need to buy many pretty clothes or shoes or bags or accessories; boys are definitely more cost efficient, haha), and that Dear2 knows that the grandparents will surely be disappointed that the eldest grandchild is not a boy (admit it, though we are in 2009 now, but the traditional view still holds today, sigh..). To Dear2′s surprise, her initial disappointment vanished even before the scan is over, and Dear2 was just so glad that baby is healthy and fine. Again, how amazing and true that all parents only wish for their baby to be healthy. Haha.
Ah-girl is 8.0 cm this week, gaining 2.2 cm in 2 weeks while mummy gains 0.6kg during this week. Dear1 says that baby’s favourite food is the daily multi-vitamin tablets, but this ‘favourite food’ is causing mummy much distress everyday. This multi-vit tablet is about 2 cm in length lor, and Dear2 has to cut it into 3 every time to swallow. Sob sob… Luckily for Dear2, the queasiness is very much easing, and the appetite is pretty healthy now (aka, have to eat constantly, haha..). Dear2 also found that prune juice and pears really do help with the constipation. :)
One day suddenly this week, Dear1 and Dear2 also noticed that the bump is finally showing!! Amazing, cos Dear2′s tummy had looked no more like a super-bloaty case of bad bloatiness, but suddenly Dear2 looked indeed that she is pregnant. The stretch mark cream which we bought last week at TMC came timely, heehee… For those who take public transport, please do be kind enough and give up your seat to those who need it more than you. Thank you. Haha…
The week passed fairly quickly, and it was very soon the weekends. Dear2 finally did some housework which had been left undone for the past week (OMG! Luckily Dear1 has been doing the rest of the weekly essentials. Thank you Dear1!!) – ironing of clothes and the tracking of the past 2 months’ finance. It is indeed a very nice feeling to be back to being energetic Dear2 again, yeah.
- Dear2
Week 13 in Review 29 August, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Baby, Dear2.add a comment
Week 13 had been an awful week. Dear2 had just recovered from a 2-weeks long cold, and was down with a cold again. Groan… Dear2′s immune system is so vulnerable now, how I wish that I can just stay in a vacuum-tight capsule every minute until baby is born. Go away all the viruses and bugs and flus!!!
Pregnancy books always talk about how the mtb’s motherly instinct suddenly comes alive during the third trimester and she will do a total thorough spring cleaning cum nest-building (aka baby nursery room arrangement) during her third trimester. Dear2 didn’t have to wait until third trimester; come 13w1d when Dear2 took medical leave to see the GP for her cold, and that was a total house cleaning day for Dear1 and Dear2. Mop the floor, clean all the cupboards, clean all the dusty corners, attempt to clean the toilets – that was what sick Dear2 did on a medical leave/ rest day on Mon. The house feels and smells cleaner now, so go away all the bugs and viruses, yippee!!
Oh, earlier last week, Dear1 and Dear2 went on a TMC tour and signed up for the TMC First Baby Incentive (FBI). Quite a bad decision to do both things together, cos the huge goodie bag that came with the FBI application was a chore to lug around the half hour guided introduction of TMC. A tin of milk powder for mummy + 3 books on pregnancy and birth + lots of other brochures + some other baby-related items from sponsors coupled with the little goodie bag given by the TMC tour was quite a handful to lug around. Luckily Dear1 is muscular enough, heehee… We saw the Birthing Room, Delivery Room, and the high ends (ie, expensive) wards, and were pretty impressed with the infrastructure. I’ll akin a 3D2N stay in TMC to a 3D2N stay in a hotel. Okay, maybe at least it seems so for the luxurious 1-bed wards that we’ve seen. $$$ alert!!
Gynae says that 13w1d is considered to be second trimester already, but there’s also other sources that says 14w1d is then considered to be second trimester. End of first trimester (= second trimester) means a big deal to new parents, cos baby is now considered more stable and Dear1 and Dear2 can finally heave a sigh of relief (at least for now). So while week 13 was still a bit grey whether first or second trimester, we patiently waited through this week….
- Dear2
Pregnancy related expenses 27 August, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Baby, Dear1, Dollars & Cents.2 comments
Over the past weeks, we’ve come to realize that there are a lot of different costs related to pregnancy, such as doctor consultations, scans, vitamins, supplements, maternity wear, childbirth related courses, baby clothes, bottles, etc. And this is going to be an ongoing thing. So we’ve decided to dedicate 1 post to track all our expenses over the 9 months of pregnancy. This post will continually be updated as and when the expenses are incurred. Hopefully, this will give us a good guideline as to how much we need to save and prepare for this and also subsequent child. Of course, our readers can also benefit from this and plan their finances ahead.
- Singapore Women’s Clinic – $174 – 1st visit tends to be more expensive, folic acid, supplements
- Singapore Women’s Clinic – $157 – 2nd visit, folic acid, supplements
- Healthline – $24 – Dear2 had cough due to weaker immune system during pregnancy
- Healthline – $15 – Dear2 had not recovered
- Triumph – $6.90 – 1 bra extender
- ACJ Clinic – $154.08 – we decided to switch gynae, 1st visit more expensive, no medicine
- Thomson Medical Centre – $148 – First Born Incentive program (FBI)
- Thomson Medical Centre – $393.85 (10% off FBI) – P6 (OSCAR + FA scan)
- ACJ Clinic – $798.01 – 2nd visit, antenatal package (includes consultation, ultrasound & urine test, excludes medicines), multi-vit
- Healthline – $22 – Dear2 had running nose
- ACJ Clinic – Free! – 3rd visit, no medicine
- Thomson Medical Centre – $47.30 (1-for-1) – 2 bottles Galenic stretch marks cream
- Online shopping – $75.55 – 2 maternity dresses
- Online shopping – $67.80 – 1 nursing top, 1 maternity pants
- ACJ Clinic – $88.06 – 4th visit, multi-vit, fish oil, Gaviscon Advance
- ParentCraft – $192.60 (10% off FBI) – Childbirth course
- Thomson Medical Centre – $94.60 (1-for-1) – 4 bottles Galenic stretch marks cream
- ACJ Clinic – $8.35 – 5th visit, multi-vit
- Pasar malam – $1 – 1 bra extender
- Marton Bell – $42.40 – 1 short pants
- ACJ Clinic – $50.08 – 6th visit, multi-vit, iron pills, fish oil
- Medela Spree – $480 – 1 Freestyle breastpump
- Gymboree Spree – $15.55 – 2 baby shirts
- Old Navy Spree – $37.11 – 1 maternity pants, 3 baby bodysuits
- Aussino – $53.35 – 1 comforter set (free 1 bib), 1 bath towel set, 1 bath face towel set
- Metro – $65.70 – 3 bras
- Mothercare – $24.65 – 1 toy animal giraffe
- The Children Place Spree – $7.23 – 1 baby dress
- Old Navy Spree – $22.85 – 1 baby bodysuit, 2 baby pants
- Aussino – $9.95 – 1 jersey blanket
- Mums & Babes – $6.90 (after trade-in) – 1 Medela bottle
- Taime warehouse sale – $353.26 – 1 abc mat, 2 123 mat, 1 stroller fan, 1 rubber cot sheet, 1 swaddle-me, 1 baby nail care set, 1 Capella S705-RED09
- Carrefour – $25.55 – 1 500ml thermal flask
- Aussino – $49.90 – 1 comforter set (free 1 bib), 1 jersey blanket
- Shen Kwong Trading – $21 – 6 baby shirts, 6 long towels, 12 face towels
- Metro – $284 – 1 cot (free 1 mattress, 1 activity mat, 1 bean sprout pillow), 1 Pigeon Rapid Steam Sterilizer
- Daiso – $2 – 2 stroller handle hooks
- Toyogo warehouse – $55 – 1 704-5 drawer
- Gymboree Spree – $12 – 2 baby bodysuits
- Baby Kingdom – $32.06 – 2 boxes Pigeon baby washing detergent, 1 box 72′s Pigeon nursing pad, 1 pacifier
- Shen Kwong Trading – $17.50 – 12 cloth nappies, 1 receiving blanket
- Tom & Stephanie – $10.50 – 3 packs 82′s baby wipes (free 1 dispenser)
- ACJ Clinic – $136.96 – 7th visit, no medicine, pay for earlier blood test
- Taime warehouse sale – $23.85 – 1 123 mat, 1 rubber cot sheet, 1 mesh bath support, 1 toy
- Baby Kingdom – $362.90 – 1 Britax Premier car seat, 1 bottle brush
- NTUC – $1.10 – 1 packet cotton balls
- Downstairs – $7.50 – 1 baby bath tub
- JW 502 mkt – $26.80 – 1 mummy pajamas, 1 nursing bra, 1 pack disposable underwear
- Kimberly Clark – $72.80 – 1 box 3000′s disposable toilet seat covers
- NTUC – $6.45 – 1 Kodomo baby bath
- Mothercare – $21.25 – 1 toy animal cow
- Lansinoh Spree – $17.50 – 1 box 50′s milk bags
- Lansinoh Spree – $17 – 1 box 50′s milk bags
- Jusco JB – Free! (paid by Dear1′s parents) – 2 packs 10′s Kotex maternity pads, 1 pack S 54′s Fitti, 1 pack S 80′s Kiddisoft, 2 packs M 84′s Drypers.
- ACJ Clinic – $40.45 – 8th visit, multi-vit, fish oil
- Daiso – $6 – 8 corner guards, 1 baby rear mirror
- JW 502 mkt – $19.90 – 1 mummy pajamas
- Palmax – $25 – 1 musical mobile
- ACJ Clinic – Free! – 9th visit, no medicine
- Thomson Medical Centre – $47.30 (1-for-1) – 2 bottles Galenic stretch marks cream
- Giant – $3.99 – 1 packet cotton wool
- Tom & Stephanie – $13.90 – 1 box 72′s Pigeon nursing pad
- Healthline – $22 – Dear2 had running nose
- Online – $30 – 1 Moms in Mind cotton sarong sling
- Downstairs – $2.90 – 1 pair bedroom slippers
- ACJ Clinic – Free! – 10th visit, no medicine
- Thomson Medical Centre – $24.30 – 1 box Anakku 150′s nappy liner, 1 Avent Baby Bottom Balm
- Giant – $39.88 – 1 Powerpac 4L airpot
- Confinement – $300 – Food expense, 10 bottles rice wine
- ACJ Clinic – Free! – 11th visit, no medicine
- Thomson Medical Centre – $2445.55 – Delivery by C-section, 5D4N Normal 1-bedded hospital stay with companion, 1 day phototherapy for Baby1
- Thomson Medical Centre – $37.71 – 1 Medela Breast Shells, 1 thermometer
- NTUC – $41.80 – 1 Enfalac A+ Stage 1 900g
- Thomson Medical Centre – $39.40 – Birth certificate
- Thomson Medical Centre – $7.20 – 1 pack 10′s incontinent sheets
- SBCC Clinic – $209.19 – Baby1 checkup, jaundice test, The Metabolic Screen
- ACJ Clinic – $103.79 – 12th visit, no more package, post-natal follow-up consultation, erase gel for scars
- SBCC Clinic – $16.05 – Repeat jaundice test
- Thomson Medical Centre – $58.56 – Repeat jaundice test, includes surcharge for public holiday
- Tom & Stephanie – $13.05 – 1 Pigeon nose cleaner, 2 pack 100′s Pureen wet wipes
- NTUC – $40.14 – 3 pack S 70′s Drypers, 1 bottle Ru Yi oil
- Gin Thye Cake Maker – $198 – 22 boxes full month cake (700g cake + 2 red eggs + 2 ang ku kueh)
- Tom & Stephanie – $22 – 1 Avent moisturizing nipple cream
- Guardian – $5 – 1 bottle gripe water
- GNC – $38.60 – 1 GNC VIP card, 1 bottle 100′s Fenugreek (20% with VIP card)
- Polyclinic – $17.10 – Baby 1 month check up, repeat jaundice test, liver test, no injections
- ACJ Clinic – $113.42 – 13th visit, post-natal follow-up, last visit
- Polyclinic – $31.10 – Repeat jaundice test, Hep B 2nd dose
- Total so far – $8854.03
-Dear1
17 Feb ’10: I initially started this post to record pregnancy related expenses. My idea was to record expenses before baby’s birth up till the delivery charges. But now, many after birth expenses seem relevant for inclusion as well, such as the many repeat jaundice tests and postnatal follow-up. This got me thinking, when should I stop updating this list? Baby’s full month celebration perhaps?
13 Mar ’10: I decided to stop recording expenses as all major events had passed, Baby1′s full month baby shower, 1 month check up, and Dear2′s 1 month check up. Hope this will be a good guidance for number 2. :D
Kia Movie Night 26 August, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear1, Moving Pictures, Vroom Vroom.add a comment
Kia Movie Night occurred some time ago, on 21 July 2009 if I remembered correctly. I think it was quite smart of C&C to organise such a movie event to thank and bribe their customers who bought their car recently (like us). After all, movie tickets are so cheap on a weekday evening. But the impact of a movie event is much higher compared to, say, a $20 Starbucks voucher. Sure, the $20 voucher is worth more, but a movie ticket is perceived as more glam.
So, after attending with Dear2, what do we think of the event?
First, venue was great, at Lido Hall 1, the largest. Yeah…
Second, it was great of them to be thoughtful enough to provide dinner refreshments before the movie becos the movie timing is 7.45pm. People can just go directly after work and have some food before the movie. But they made 2 blunders in the organization. First, they started the refreshments almost 10 mins late and it was visible that all the hungry guests were quite irritated. Second, there wasn’t enough food to go around. People at the back of the queue only had egg sandwich. It turned out that they replenished all the food about 20 mins later for guests that were late. But still, the food should have been continuously replenished and not replenished at a predetermined timing.
Third, the timing wasn’t fantastic. Only people who have bought a normal plated car would be able to drive to the movie event. Those who bought OPC (like us) didn’t have time to go home to pick up their cars and drive to Orchard. Saturday or Sunday evenings would have been a much better time for everyone, but of course they would need to spend more money to book a weekend theatre.
Fourth, they didn’t provide snacks and drinks, no popcorn and coke. This left us with quite a bitter taste as we’ve attended other movie events before that gave a complimentary popcorn and drink to all guests. A small popcorn and a coke at wholesale price shouldn’t cost much, so we were quite disappointed when we didn’t receive any this time. -_-
We arrived early to an empty theatre at Lido. The poorly done powerpoint slideshow was horrible.
Fifth, they looped a poorly done powerpoint slideshow on the big screen before the start of the movie. The slideshow was meant to promote their upcoming products such as the Forte Koup and others. However, there were only about 5 slides in total (I think) with nothing more than a picture and the name of the car, coupled with bad music. I think they should have made full use of the large cinema screen and show a full feature advertisement for all their upcoming products. Or even just a documentary style corporate video that demonstrates what goes on behind the scenes in making a car.
Sixth, the movie was rather bad. But it wasn’t their fault. After all, they did give us free tickets to the blockbuster movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It’s just that the movie wasn’t very nice.
Overall, it wasn’t the best movie event that we’ve attended but still thumbs up for the efforts. Hopefully, they’ll learn from their shortcomings and run an even more successful event the next time round.
-Dear1
In the working mood 21 August, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear1, Slice of Life.add a comment
What is the working mood? It’s a question that I often ask myself over the past 3 years. ‘Work’ can mean both at the office (writing a report for boss) or at home (spring cleaning, etc). I’m quite sure the answer will be fairly philosophical and will no doubt lead to discussions about what we want in life or what do we live for. Although I still do not have an answer for this question, I was able to identify some conditions under which a good working mood can be achieved, at least for me.
It’s a matter of setting goals. In some ways, everyone wants to be a winner. And part of being a winner is to accomplish a preset goal. This is also one of the reasons that we always set new year resolutions, so that we have clear goals for at least a 12 month period that will serve to motivate us to work hard towards it. It also helps us remain focused and not be swayed by the delightful distractions of life (shopping, singing, sleeping).
It’s a matter of timing. Everyone has a certain ‘golden time zone’, such as late night owls who are extra productive after midnight. So it is up to the individual to understand him/herself to identify such a period of time and exploit it to the fullest. For instance, I tend to be more productive towards the end of a day (5pm onwards) and towards the end of a week (Thursday onwards) at the office. It funny cos most people tend to switch off and get ready to knock off or go into TGIF mood, but I’m suddenly productive during these times. So I try to laze around in the morning by going to morning tea breaks and early lunches, do the mundane tasks of checking emails, data entry and read literature in the first half of the day, then get ready for more creative work during the later half.
It’s a matter of situation. Different work requires different environment or situation. For example, I like to sweep/mop the floor when Dear2 is asleep. I like to write with my earphones on my ear but without music in them (<-weirdo). Putting on earphones also has the added advantage of making less people come to disturb me cos they will think I’m preoccupied. Also, sometimes they gossip about some juicy stuffs they dun want me to know becos they thot I can’t hear them, but I can. *evil grin* Whatever that gets things moving, just do it.
It’s contagious. And it works both ways. Mine being motivated may rub off on you, so will your enthusiasm spur me on. This is something out of our control in worklife. After all, we can’t keep changing jobs to search for the right bosses and colleagues to work with. It helps if the people around us are hardworking and motivated but that may not always be the case. Luckily for me, these lazy people had left and I’m currently sitting beside a hardworking guy.
I think we (Dear1 and Dear2) are at an age of self discovery. We’re seeking to understand ourselves and also life in general. Maybe we think too much. Maybe we’re over-informed. Maybe we need to appreciate the simpler things in life. Maybe that’s what they meant by 三十而立.
-Dear1
Our E66 and E71 16 August, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Consumer Electronics, Dear1, Shop till you drop.add a comment
When we signed up for mio Home, we also signed up for two mobile lines with Singtel. After all, it is the 20% off mobile lines with the mio Home plan that constitute most of the savings in our phone bills. And since we’re signing up for new mobile lines, it also meant that we’re eligible to get 2 new mobile phones at contract prices.
Dear1 had recently gotten a Window Mobile phone in the form of the HTC Touch 3G so there’s no real need to get yet another phone so soon. Dear2 was still using her Nokia 6288 which had began to give problems so it was a good opportunity to get a new phone for her.
After seeing how *useful* my HTC Touch 3G is, Dear2 decided that she also wanted a smartphone, with GPS and WiFi, capable calendar/organizer functions, and Microsoft office like functions so that she can write a post whenever she gets an inspiration (i.e. on the MRT). Of course there’s also the budget constrain, hopefully we can get something cheaper than my Touch 3G.
A small search finally settled us on two candidates. The sibling phones, Nokia E66 and E71. Their differences are quite minor. E66 is a smaller slider with standard mobile keypad and equipped with accelerometer. E71 is a candy bar with QWERTY keyboard and a larger battery capacity. Other features are nearly identical. So the decision boils down to the difference in appearance. We went down to the Singtel Hello shop to take a look at both models and to have some hands on. Dear2 still couldn’t decide. So we decided to buy both the phone and decide on one eventually at home.
Now, buying at Hello shop normally isn’t a good bargain because the Singtel Shop online almost always offers a better deal. So we went online that night and ordered the E71 at an online exclusive price of $148 (it would have cost $300 something from the Hello Shop). There wasn’t any exclusive for the E66 but we waited until after 9pm to place our order because there was a 9pm~9am online discount of $30. So our final price for the E66 was $338 after discount.
Delivery was swift and we received our phones within 1 week. For the next few days, Dear2 held both phones in her hands to judge which one she would prefer. I forbade Dear2 from turning any of the phones on for trial because a brand new unused phone would fetch a higher price should we wish to sell one later. Finally, Dear2 made a choice and picked the E71 (I would have picked E71 too). Yipee!
The next thing to do was to sell off the spare E66. I went to Mobile Square website to get an understanding of the current market price for a no contract E66. It was selling at around $540. This meant that $540 was the theoretical upper limit for the selling price of the E66 (the selling price of E71 was $550, just $10 more). I advertised our E66 around and before long, we had a buyer and agreed on a price of $450.
So, to sum up, we spent a total of $138 + $338 = $476 to buy two phones from Singtel at contract prices. Then we sold off the E66 at $450. This meant that in effect, the E71 that Dear2 is using now cost just ($476 – $450) $26! Great deal. *thumbs up*
Actually, if we dun try to keep up with phone-fashions, and our phones are still in good condition and we dun need to get a new one, we can always stand to gain a few hundred dollars profit by recontracting, getting a new phone and selling it off. With the mio Home plan, the main line gets to recontract every 12 months, so let’s try to make use of it.
-Dear1
12w4d 13 August, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Baby, Dear2.add a comment
Baby is 12w4d old today. The biggest discovery over the past week is that, a bra extender is indeed a very great invention! Haha.
Dear2 has been steadily increasing in size, at the hips and at the chest area. Not that I deliberately measure myself with a measuring tape, but when your pants that were a-little-too-tight-but-still-can-button can no longer button anymore, and when u feel ‘tight’ everytime u wear your normal bra to work (vs the lousy home wears), you know that the infamous bodily changes are indeed taking place. Dear2 is getting bigger, but just in overall size wise and not at the bump yet (hee… At this point in time, colleagues can’t tell that, becos Dear2 so cleverly hides her figure behind a shawl. Everyday. Haha.)
So when enough is enough, let’s just get a bra extender, Dear2 finally drag herself to a lingerie shop. It’s quite paiseh to ask for maternity wear when u dun look like it at all, but who cares, I needed to breathe! The Triumph shop at UOB plaza though small, seems to have all u need. The bra extenders are displayed nicely at the counter, in black and skin color, and in 2 sizes. Dear2 grabbed one of those at $6.90, and shun bian went on to enquire about maternity bras. Oh, so these are never displayed among the rows and rows of beautiful and colorful bras that are so often seen. Instead, the shapeless, skin colors are all stashed inside among the cupboards. I see…
That increase by just an inch using the bra extender is enough to be heavens for Dear2. At least I can breathe better now. But the next problem came soon after – constipation. No amount of pelvic floor exercise of the rear can help, though Dear2 suspects that downing myself in lots of fluids probably can aid a bit. But then again, when u are feeling queasy all the time, and water (now even including flavoured fruit juices and ribena) taste yucky, we will have to solve the water problem later on. For now, Dear2 is just feeling like a blown up ballon ready to explode. Urgh.
Haha, again we found another saviour – prune juice. One bottle in 1 big gulp (haha, too exaggerated), but the idea is there, to finish one whole bottle concentrated, and u will soon find yourself relieved of the torture. But bear in mind this solution only works occasionally, so a bottle of prune juice a day does not keep your gut smooth and clear everyday. Lots of fluids, vege and fruits are still de best way to keep your bowels healthy. Haiz.
Dear2 also went for the Oscar Test that day. The gynae had initially planned for it on week 13, but the nurses felt that baby at week 13 might be a little too big to measure. So Dear1 and Dear2 hastily went down to TMC the next day to join the waiting list. A word of advice, never try to see a specialist on a waiting list, cos that means that even if u are the first person to reach the clinic, it’ll only likely to be your turn just before lunch. Haiz.
The Oscar Test measures the risk of baby having Down’s Syndrome, and it’s done by trying to measure the height of baby’s nose and the length of his neck. Down’s kids supposedly have flatter nose and thicker necks. The Oscar Test seems like a very delicate feat, when baby is only 6cm in length now, and with him bouncing and turning constantly in the amniotic fluid.
The clinic has not informed us of the test results yet, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed for now.
- Dear2
